New Orleans youth are deeply impacted by food insecurity and insufficient access to high quality housing, health care, and safe spaces. According to The Data Center, 36.9% of New Orleans youth (aged 18 and younger) lived below the national poverty level in 2015. The City of New Orleans reported that 23% of New Orleans residents, many of them youth and young adults, are food insecure. Too many youth in our city go hungry or do not have access to fresh foods.
Our Work Matters
OUR ROLE IN
YOUTH LEADERSHIP
Youth in New Orleans also have limited opportunities to engage in and facilitate community-level and systems-level change. Opportunities with a diverse group of peers are even more so. Research proves the benefits of diversity include increased rates of productivity, nuanced perspectives on social issues, and growing acceptance of social differences. Yet, many New Orleans schools and neighborhoods lack diversity.
The need for high quality youth leadership programming, supportive environments for youth, and opportunities for youth to engage diverse groups of people is sorely needed in our city.
Grow Dat Youth Farm exists at the nexus of these needs. We aim to provide unique opportunities for New Orleans youth to develop leadership skills and initiate change in their communities alongside a diverse group of their peers, staff, and community partners.