Strategic Plan2014-2017

Strategic Plan 2014 - 2017

In the seven years since an intrepid group of Weavers Way Co-op staff, board and members formed Weavers Way Community Programs as a separate non-profit organization, we have grown organically in response to community interest, fortuitous partnerships and staff capacity. Our farm education and school marketplace programs have touched the lives of thousands of children, and have brought us well-deserved recognition and support. Now it is time for us to grow strategically – to survey the needs of our community, assess our capacity, identify our strengths and weaknesses, and envision our future.

The board of WWCP is very proud to present this strategic plan. Its core includes new vision, values, and mission statements to articulate who we are, who want to be, and why we do what we do. Implementation of this plan will make us more effective, more efficient, and more engaged in our community. We invite you to join us.

Mira Rabin, Board President

Vision – Mission – Values

VISION

Just as the cooperative business model gives people more economic power over their lives, WWCP gives people the knowledge and power to make healthy food choices for themselves and their families.

We envision being an organization that:

makes a significant difference in the nutritional lives of underserved communities in the Philadelphia region, including those living in transitional or emergency housing;

is a recognized advocate and champion of healthy, sustainable foods and food systems in school communities in the Philadelphia region;

is a respected educator of children and youth about planting, growing, harvesting and preparing food; and about cooperative farming and business skills.

Service learning students from Abington Friends School seeding

in the greenhouse.

Vision – Mission – Values

MISSION

Weavers Way Community Programs empowers children, youth, and families with

the values and knowledge to be healthy, strong, and informed through

experiential activities centered on urban agriculture, nutrition, and the

cooperative economy.

Vision – Mission – Values

VALUES

We believe that access to healthy, affordable and culturally relevant food is a

human right; that we can, and must, work together as a community to educate

our children and neighbors about cooperative values, nutrition and the value of

local, small-scale agriculture.

The Children’s Garden @ AwburyWWCP’s annual Farm to Table dinner

Strategic Recommendations

The WWCP Board and staff approved the phased implementation of strategic recommendations in the following areas:

• Programs & Services

• Governance

• Human Resources

• Facilities & Technology

• Resource Development

• Financial Management

• Marketing & Communications

• Relationship with Weavers Way Co-op

Programs & Services

Since 2007, WWCP has been committed to

strengthening the connection between

agricultural sustainability, the economics of

food, and healthy living. Our programs focus on:

• improving nutritional choices for children

and teens, especially those at greater risk of

obesity and related health problems

• providing unique and innovative

opportunities to learn about, and benefit

from, the production and sale of fresh,

healthy food in an urban setting.

Marketplace sale

WWCP Programs

WWCP programs serve children, youth, and families. They are school-based, as well as place-based, and focus on urban agriculture and nutrition.

Programs are tiered in the following ways and build from each other:

Tier 1: Visitation Raise awareness & change perception/attitude

Tier 2: Visitation with school-based curriculumRaise awareness, change perception/attitude, increase knowledge

Tier 3: Curriculum with on-site farming component Raise awareness, change perception/attitude, increase knowledge, change behavior

Programs Serving Children (Pre-K to age 12)

The Children’s Garden @ WW Farm at Awbury

The Children’s Garden is designed to be a living

classroom that offers visitors the opportunity to

use all five senses to appreciate farming and fresh

food in an urban environment. WWCP seeks to

raise participants’ awareness of the connection

between nature, nutrition, and well-being

through unique lessons designed to be fun,

engaging, and hands-on.

In addition to hosting children ages pre-K through

age 12, The Children’s Garden regularly welcomes

high school service learning groups.Students from Sankofa Freedom Academy enjoy kale salad on a visit to The Children’s Garden

Programs Serving Children (Pre-K to age 12)

WWCP will:

• further develop curriculum goals and objectives, accounting for:• Year-round curriculum (rather than

just seasonal curriculum)• PA educational standards• Sequence-based and project-based

learning experiences that culminate with the inclusion of parents;

• expand program offerings at The Children’s Garden to create a sustainable program with multi-visit offerings for children & youth.

Cucumber planting in The Hope Garden

Programs Serving Youth (Ages 13-18)

WW CSA Farm @ W.B. Saul High School

This unique partnership between Weavers Way

Farm, Saul High School, and WWCP allows Saul

students and teachers to use the Weavers Way CSA

farm as a “land lab.” Each semester WWCP provides

up to 400 Saul students with hands-on experience

applying classroom learning to real-world farming,

and further connects vegetable cultivation with

nutrition, healthy living, and food justice.

WWCP provides an intensive 6-week paid summer

internship program for Philadelphia high school

students that includes farm work, nutrition

curriculum, and an independent study.

WWCP’s youth farm interns participate in the 2013 Youth Growers’ Market

Programs Serving Youth (Ages 13-18)

WWCP will:

• teach employment skills to teens through structured farm/market internships that build entrepreneurial skills and promote the cooperative economic model• Merge Marketplace into the Farm

Education programs, using those parts of the Marketplace curriculum that focus on building entrepreneurial skills;

• seek mentors from among Weavers Way members to work with teens served by WWCP in a professional development/mentorship program.

Programs Serving Families

The Hope Garden @ Stenton Family

Manor

Established in 2009, The Hope Garden

provides a safe space for fun and

educational lessons related to gardening

and nutrition to the residents of Stenton

Family Manor, one of the City’s largest

emergency housing facilities for families.

Younger residents participate in Garden

Club after school and throughout the

summer. As a result of the strategic plan,

WWCP will expand programming at

Stenton to include adult residents, as well

as programs that serve the entire family.

Garden Club participants in The Hope Garden at Stenton Family Manor

Programs Serving Families

WWCP will:

• develop intergenerational programs that strengthen the family unit by supporting time together, including gardening, cooking, shopping;

• develop and implement an adult education program that includes:• Life skills (e.g. shopping for and preparation of fresh

foods, budgeting)• Workforce development skills (e.g. time

management, professionalism, customer service)• Health & well-being (e.g. disease prevention, chronic

disease management, cooking, nutrition);

• partner with Weavers Way staff and members to develop and deliver adult programming;

• ensure that youth education programs complement adult and family education curriculum.

Brothers harvest carrots during Garden Club at Stenton Family Manor

Special Thanks

We are grateful to all those who lent their support and voices to this project. This strategic plan would not have been possible without the generous support of The Philadelphia Foundation, nor without our many community stakeholders who shared feedback along the way. We are especially thankful to those whose envisioned, brought to fruition, and nurtured Weavers Way Community Programs through our first seven years.

Thanks to Jeremy Thomas, John Barone, Laurie Beck Peterson, and WWCP staff for photos.

Picture courtesy of Jeremiah, Garden Club participant at Stenton Family Manor