The Resiliency Project

What do you really need to live a good life?

A handful of youth and volunteers gather around a farmer, leaning in to catch her answer in Mai Mai, and then translated into English by a youth intern.   The Resiliency Project was a collaboration between Cultivating Community, The Telling Room, and No Umbrella Media. 

It brought youth in our summer programs together to interview Maine refugee and immigrant farmers about their stories and their farming.  Recognizing that these farmers have a deep wealth of experience and knowledge, youth asked them to describe skills of resilience that they have that they fear might be lost or that the young people might not know.  Youth documented their answers through writing, photography, video and sound.

For farmer interviews and youth quotes click here.

Rooted In Community

“Friendship and knowledge about a healthier life are my favorite things from RIC,” said Heidy C., one of ten youth leaders from Cultivating Community and Lots to Gardens who represented Maine at the 2011 national Rooted In Community (RIC) conference in Durham, North Carolina. 

RIC is a national grassroots network that empowers young people to take leadership in their own communities.  We built community gardens, learned about other youth food justice projects around the region and the country, and soaked up the ideas and energy of a diverse and dynamic group.  In 2009, Cultivating Community co-hosted RIC.