HOPE Gardens is a student-run community garden and urban farm in Chapel Hill, and has long been host to community potlucks and celebrations with CEF members. Their community garden workdays every Saturday have been a great way for CEF members to get active and grow their own veggies.

HOPE Gardens is launching a new program that will ensure CEF graduates who have moved into their own apartments have access to fresh, healthy produce. For a sliding scale subscription payment, HOPE Gardens will deliver a box of fresh produce from the garden directly to the doors of CEF graduates. Low-cost access to fruits and vegetables make a big difference for CEF graduates, many of whom suffer from diabetes and high blood pressure and yet struggle to afford the food best for their long-term health.

CEF and HOPE Gardens are both projects of the UNC Campus Y committee HOPE (Homeless Outreach Poverty Eradication), and have been closely connected to each other since we both were started in 2009. From CEF’s perspective, this new program at HOPE Gardens is a huge step towards making sure CEF graduates stay connected to resources and can sustain their transitions out of homelessness.