0:00

Hi, thanks for joining us for another episode of Patrons & Partnerships.

0:03

Our guest today is Abigail Perret-Gentil, the Founder

0:06

and Executive Director of GRACE Grows, a nonprofit which,

0:08

in collaboration with GRACE Marketplace, seeks to empower individuals

0:12

who are experiencing homelessness or food insecurity through horticulture.

0:15

This episode has been split into two parts; the first half

0:18

was posted on May 12th and can be found anywhere you listen to podcasts.

0:21

[music]

0:32

That's the USDA Community Food Project Planning Grant.

0:36

Right? How successful has that been so far?

0:38

So it's an implementation grant, and so - or not -

0:42

sorry, apologies, not implementation. It was a planning grant.

0:47

And we did everything we said we would do. There's more that we

0:51

would like to do to connect the dots. We would like to take

0:54

all this data and feedback from the community with what they say,

0:59

the assets that exist, and the gaps in the systems

1:02

that are very particular to that community.

1:04

And we would like to show solutions that had been implemented elsewhere,

1:11

and get more feedback from the community on which solutions

1:15

they would like to see here. And use that as like, the final presentation,

1:23

like a pretty document to give back to them, but also to give

1:26

to people in positions of power who can actually help resource stuff like that.

1:31

So there is implementation that still needs to be done.

1:35

But we've just gotten incredible feedback from the community.

1:39

It's been difficult because it's a pandemic, through a whole pandemic.

1:43

But we - there's so many people that have gotten so excited

1:47

that are just so like, tired of this subject matter.

1:50

Because they've been advocating for the same things

1:52

in their community for 30 years. And we didn't want to just repeat what they were saying.

2:00

We wanted to take what they were saying and amplify it in ways

2:04

that could garner funding and resources for that community

2:08

and generate power within that community. But honestly, like,

2:12

we're not really saying anything that hasn't been said before.

2:15

I was going to ask if you've learned anything new, if there were any surprises in the feedback,

2:19

anything that prompted you to change old practices?

2:22

You know, there's some interesting stuff in the data.

2:26

I think one of the more powerful things is like the quotes that we got

2:32

from the focus groups that we did. Because you know,

2:36

people’ve been saying we need a grocery store, we need transportation,

2:39

we need access to healthy food. There's all these different things

2:42

that we know people have been asking for.

2:45

But when people really relate it conversationally and we can give these quotes

2:52

to elected officials and to other people, I think it really has a powerful effect.

2:58

And the other advantage of doing it this way is that

3:03

we put the whole process in the hands of the people who were impacted.

3:07

And so I think it went a long way to garnering trust,

3:11

because we didn't just go into the community, get information,

3:16

and then publish an academic article. Like, we're in it for the long term.

3:20

And we were in it to like take a step back and have people tell us

3:24

how they wanted it to be done. And to like, amplify that voice

3:29

anywhere where we would be advocating.

3:31

It's still in like, the planning stage. Right?

3:35

Nothing has actually been implemented yet?

3:37

Yeah. So we will be applying for an implementation grant.

3:42

But even if we didn't get that implementation grant from the USDA,

3:45

we plan on still pursuing.

3:47

Are you able to talk about what that might look like going forward?

3:51

Or is it under wraps, because it's still in the planning stage.

3:54

It's not that it's under wraps because it's in the planning stage,

3:57

I just think that we need a little bit more feedback from the community

4:03

connecting those dots to the solutions. I just don't think it would be like

4:08

ethical or responsible to kind of like, pick something.

4:12

And so even when I'm talking to elected officials and community leaders and stuff,

4:18

I kind of have to explain that, you know, we've done this work,

4:22

we need help continuing this work. And this is what I see

4:28

as the final piece of garnering that feedback, connecting

4:32

the solutions to the disparities, and all those logistical things

4:37

that people outlined within our research process that we already did.

4:43

Okay. And yeah, that's -

4:43

Abigail: I want them to - I, you know, they are the ones

4:46

to select the solutions, you know? There's really cool stuff

4:50

that's been done all around the country, but it's not in the hands

4:54

of the people who are impacted, it’s not sustainable, it’s not respectful.

4:57

Yeah, you don't want to just come in and impose an outside solution

5:01

that might not even be what they're asking for.

5:03

Yeah. So that's why I'm kind of hesitant to say, you know,

5:07

this is like the answer. We just need a little bit more information

5:11

before we make some of those bigger decisions. [laughs]

5:15

How have you been collecting feedback from that community?

5:18

Is there any way that people can reach out to you

5:20

if they're part of those impacted communities?

5:23

Yeah, I - we did go door to door, we did surveys digitally,

5:27

door to door, we did focus groups. But if people still want to talk about it,

5:33

they can always reach out to us. My email at GRACE Grows is just

5:37

[email protected]. I'm happy to have more conversations about that.

5:43

You can also go to our website at gracegrowsgnv.com.

5:48

And all our contact information is on there as well.

5:52

Awesome. And related to that, how can people

5:54

get involved with GRACE Grows more generally?

5:57

They can email and say what their interest is.

6:01

But also, we have community garden days every Sunday

6:05

out at GRACE Marketplace at the garden out there.

6:08

It’s a really good way to be able to like interact with people, eye-to-eye.

6:13

00 every Sunday. You can just get a hold of us,

6:19

let us know you're coming out so we can show you the ropes,

6:22

and make sure to meet you out there. But from there,

6:27

we've had a lot of people get involved in other aspects of the organization.

6:33

We're also looking for board members. We also put a priority

6:38

on board members who have been impacted in some way.

6:41

Someone who can actually speak to the experience in this field?

6:41

Abigail: Yeah, yeah. And we're I mean, we're open to everybody

6:48

with the skills and insights needed. But we do want to help

6:53

upend that hierarchy that exists even in the nonprofit world.

6:57

Yeah. And you want the people you're helping

7:00

to actually feel represented, you don't want to be -

7:00

Abigail: Yeah, absolutely. [laughs]

7:04

Yeah.

7:05

It's a big problem. [laughs]

7:05

Eleanore: Yeah, for real.

7:10

So GRACE Grows used to hold events, right? Before the pandemic?

7:14

Kind of, I mean, we do fundraisers every year, and then

7:18

we used to have a lot more group activities in the garden.

7:23

But what I've noticed is that people who benefit from the garden

7:28

tend to shy away a little bit more. And so we do accommodate groups,

7:32

but we just had so many reaching out that it became more about like

7:37

facilitating these groups. And we wanted to make sure that our resources

7:43

went into actually, you know, interacting with the people that had gardens there.

7:49

And so we reduced that a little bit, which kind of sucks

7:52

because it was really helpful in other ways, for like fundraising and stuff.

7:58

But you know, we still have outside volunteers do the majority of the labor,

8:03

we like to keep the hard labor for the outside volunteers

8:07

so that the people out here can enjoy the garden

8:11

in the way that they would like a little bit more. [laughs]

8:14

That’s totally fair. Do you have any events that you're planning for 2022?

8:18

Are you planning to just keep it steady, as it has been?

8:22

So um, I don't have like a named event yet.

8:26

We will do some holiday fundraisers, we'll probably -

8:30

we usually do like one fundraiser a year. So like we did like

8:34

a comedy show dinner one year, that was really fun.

8:37

We even had some of our gardeners out at GRACE come attend.

8:41

And we would like to do something like that again this year, COVID permitting.

8:46

Yeah, here's hoping. Do you have any community partners

8:50

or partnerships that you do events with?

8:52

Not really events, but we have organizations

8:55

that really support our work that we collaborate with.

8:58

Like we've collaborated with the University of Florida, multiple departments,

9:03

the Doctor of Plant Medicine department for our Empowerment program,

9:07

and Public Health, Family Youth & Community Sciences for our -

9:13

our Community Food Projects grant. And then the Partnership for Reimagining Gainesville

9:17

has actually funded us for the past year to create a toolkit for us

9:24

to help other organizations and people to recreate

9:29

the Community Engagement process that we've been using.

9:33

That sounds really cool. Was there anything else

9:35

you'd like to talk about that we didn't cover?

9:37

So I, I was going to answer that with talking more about

9:42

being community driven, and you know, not doing like

9:46

performative community engagement and being really equity driven,

9:52

but that's, it's kind of hard to talk about because you can say it, but

9:56

the proof is really in the pudding. And like, actually following through

10:01

with what you're doing, anyone can say that those things matter.

10:04

But they really do. And, you know, I rail on that a lot with the people

10:10

that I work with just because it's my hope that we can interact in that way.

10:17

Because I really do think that it leads to more success in

10:21

addressing different injustices, and it's a more respectful approach.

10:27

And people are tired, they've been asking for the same things

10:31

and working towards those things for so long. And we need to honor that.

10:36

And it is very easy to fall into a sort of paternalistic approach

10:40

to people who need them. And to think that just because they need help,

10:44

that they're helpless, which isn't true.

10:46

We have like - so when we started the Community Food Project,

10:50

we had community members nominate people in the community

10:53

that were doing some sort of work in any kind of food systems

10:58

or related Human Services, feeding their neighbors, you name it.

11:03

And we just got this incredibly long list of people in that particular community

11:09

who've just been like helping each other for years and years.

11:14

And it was such a long list of these incredible human beings.

11:18

And they don't get traditionally recognized for what they contribute.

11:24

But it's amazing. And this community is not just a food desert community,

11:29

it's full of these incredible people with incredible knowledge

11:34

that can do really great things.

11:37

Yeah, I mean, here at Partnership, we have the food distribution,

11:40

like every other Friday, roughly, and I can't tell you how many people

11:44

I've spoken to who come to pick up food and they aren't picking it up

11:48

just for themselves. They're picking it up so that they can distribute it

11:51

to their neighbors, to people they know who have a difficult time

11:53

getting the groceries that they need.

11:56

Absolutely - that was one of the data points, actually,

12:00

that we had in our project. We asked people, you know, how often

12:04

they're helping their neighbors get food, how often their neighbors

12:07

are helping them get food, all sorts of stuff so that

12:11

we can really get an accurate picture of that.

12:13

It's heartening to know that there are organizations like GRACE Grows

12:16

that aren't just coming into communities and assuming that, oh,

12:19

these people need everything done for them. You're going in there and you're asking, What can we do to support you?

12:24

What do you need in order to achieve your goals? Not just being like,

12:28

here's what we're going to do for you.

12:30

Yeah, that doesn't work clearly. [laughs]

12:36

Abigail, thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us today.

12:39

The work that GRACE does is amazing.

12:42

And the work that GRACE Grows does is amazing.

12:45

Thank you. Thanks for having us. Yeah, it was nice to meet you.

12:45

Eleanore: It was nice to meet you too. Have a good day.

12:52

Enjoy the weather!

12:52

Abigail: I will! [laughs]

12:59

[music]

13:02

Thanks for listening to Patrons & Partnerships.

13:05

If you know of an individual or organization you’d like to recommend for an interview,

13:08

email us at [email protected].

13:12

To listen to more episodes, find us on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or Spotify.

13:17

And be sure to check out the Alachua County Library on Spotify

13:19

while you’re there for chill playlists to read to, hand-picked by our librarians.

13:24

Again, the first half of this episode was posted on May 12th,

13:26

and can be found anywhere you listen to podcasts.

13:30

ACLD is happy to welcome you back for In-person programming at all library locations!

13:34

Join library staff for arts and crafts, book clubs, and educational programs

13:38

like computer classes and Conversation Clubs for ESL speakers.

13:42

Registration is required, and seats are limited.

13:44

Visit aclib.us/events to view and register for programs.

13:50

Alachua County teens ages 11 to 17 looking to read and flex their trivia skills

13:54

this summer can join the Library District’s annual Battle of the Books!

13:57

Participants receive free copies of the three books selected for the competition,

14:01

then face off in the Battle of the Books on July 23 on Zoom.

14:04

Check this episode description for a link to register.

14:07

Join the Library District and our community partners

14:09

to celebrate the start of Summer at the Library on Saturday,

14:12

June 4 from 10 a.m. to noon at Depot Park!

14:15

Register the whole family for Beanstack, our Summer at the Library tracking program,

14:19

and receive a free book for kids and teens ages 18 and younger,

14:22

and a goodie bag for all ages. Track your reading and summer fun

14:25

from May 28 to July 31 to earn badges for chances to win a grand prize tablet

14:30

from PDQ Restaurant and weekly pizza prizes from Five Star Pizza. See you there!