GODRICH
Nested at 700 Lafollette Street within Akron, Ohio resides the home to the GodRich Food & Farmers Project’s Urban Farm.
BTC RESOURCES
Welcome To GODRICH
The BTC Resources Sustainable Agriculture Initiative, based in Akron, Ohio, is a community-oriented endeavor aimed at advocating for pesticide-free farming techniques and bringing fresh, nutritious food to lower-income regions. This initiative was launched in 2015 by a collective of passionate local farmers and food activists, in a bid to tackle the dual challenge of food scarcity and ecological damage in their vicinity.
Here, we're pouring careful attention into our community's collective health and wellbeing, diligently studying community and public health indices to discern where our assistance is most urgently required. The hostility of COVID-19 has significantly disturbed Ohio's health trajectory, making it imperative for our residents to grasp the transformative potential of healthy nourishment, and how it can invigorate a healthier community.
● Increase our capacity to feed Akron residences healthy, high quality and nutritious food
● Ensure healthy foods are physically and economically accessible
● Combat crime and violence with urban farming
● Minimize greenhouse gas emissions from urban food systems
● Support regional food and agricultural economies
● Incorporate innovations across the urban environment for urban food systems design
URBAN FARM
Urban agriculture shoulders an emblematic duty in buttressing urban food security. As the expenses of procuring and supplying food to growing urban centers, largely reliant on rural yields and imports, escalate, these methods cannot satiate the demand, especially for the economically vulnerable urban inhabitants. Beyond ensuring food security, urban agriculture bolsters local economic progress, poverty reduction, and the social integration of the underprivileged urban populace and women. It also enhances urban greening and the productive recycling of urban waste.
GODRICH
Motivated by an ardent desire to address these community challenges, and leaning into our passion for farming, the GodRich Food & Farmers Project inaugurated the Urban Love Farm Initiative. We maintain an unwavering belief that we can combat these issues head-on, by empowering our youth and veterans with the requisite skills and knowledge, arming them for these collective challenges.
MENTORING
Our strategy to cater to these distinct needs involves the creation of community programs poised to make a tangible impact. By offering training, mentoring, and lessons in health sustainably, particularly during these trying times, we're setting the groundwork for lasting change. Initiating robust community engagement initiatives will spark involvement, and consulting with various stakeholders, ranging from private and public enterprises, to spiritual leaders and community-rooted organizations, will help us formulate solutions to the multitude of barriers hindering the disadvantaged population from grasping opportunities. Here, at GODRICH, we sow the seeds of change, one healthy meal, one job, and one opportunity at a time.
Building Futures 1 Brick At A Time
One of our key answers to these predicaments is the GodRich Food & Farmers Project at 700 Lafollette Street, Akron 44306. A comprehensive revamp of the community's health and wellness is essential, especially given the profound impact of Covid-19 on Ohio's well-being. The equation is simple - healthier food means healthier individuals, paving the way for a healthier community at large.
A common place, a special purpose – this echoes the core tenet of our mission. As we navigate the volatile landscape of a dynamic workforce and emerging health issues, we aim to ensure that our workforce members are not just knowledgeable but also healthy, and capable of thriving sustainably in a challenging job market.
Now more than ever, there is an urgent need to focus on the wellbeing of our community members, especially in the urban areas of Ohio, where there has been a notable decline in workforce productivity, primarily due to factors such as lack of education, inadequate skills, and health issues. An unforeseen consequence of this scenario is a striking increase in unemployment and workforce development. In particular, this has been acutely felt by our stakeholders in metropolitan communities. Further exacerbating these challenges is the phenomenon of food desert. Defined as an urban area where it is arduous to find affordable, high-quality fresh food, an alarming 37 million Americans are reported to live in such regions as per the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). This puts residents at a higher risk of obesity, diabetes, and other weight-related complications, with African Americans and Latinos of all age groups being disproportionately affected.
Akron, Ohio
Urban agriculture plays a critical role in this scenario. With the rising costs of food supply and distribution based on rural production and imports edging upwards, urban agriculture holds significant potential to contribute to local economic development, poverty alleviation, and social inclusion particularly among the urban poor and women. This also promotes a greener cityscape and facilitates productive reuse of urban wastes. With these rationales in mind, we instituted the Urban Love Farm Initiative under our GodRich Food & Farmers Project. We are confident that providing knowledge and skill sets surrounding these issues to our youth and veterans can make a significant impact. Our strategy encompasses the creation of community programs addressing these specific needs directly.
We aim to empower our stakeholders through various tactics – providing training, mentoring, and teaching health sustainability are just some of them. Additionally, we envision implementing healthy community engagement initiatives to mobilize stakeholders and collaboratively tackling problems through consultation with private businesses, public entities, spiritual leaders, and community-based organizations. Our farm, located in Akron, Ohio, is just one aspect of our business at GodRich. However, it embodies our commitment to enrich communities and create meaningful change.
BTC Resources and their urban farm cultivate more than just plants; they cultivate hopes, dreams, and opportunities, fostering a thriving and inclusive community in Akron, Ohio. Through economic development, job creation, and youth empowerment, they are indeed the fertile soil from which the city’s future is blossoming. With a dedication to equal opportunities and an unwavering belief in the power of community, BTC Resources are profoundly impacting Akron, working daily to build futures, acre by acre.
With roots deeply planted in the heart of Akron, Ohio, Business Training Capital Resource (BTC Resources) is a shining beacon of community empowerment and self-improvement. As a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, their mission surpasses simply sticking to the day-to-day and encompasses a broader vision for societal progress. BTC Resources is not just a name, but a call to action, setting the tone for innovation, inclusion, and empowerment in the community.
In the bustling urban setting of Akron, BTC Resources has found a distinctive way to foster growth, both metaphorically and literally, through its urban farm initiative. Here, amidst the cityscape, is a haven of nature, spontaneity, and sustainability, bridging the gap between concrete and green, handling everything right from seed to harvest.
The urban farm plays an integral role in shaping the community’s future. It serves as a unique educational platform, where the youth can learn about planting, animal care, the importance of natural cycles, and the role of sustainable agriculture in modern life. It’s a place where a love for the earth is cultivated right alongside crops and livestock.
But the influence of BTC Resources extends beyond just agricultural literacy. It is in the essence of hard work and determination, sowing the seeds of responsibility among the youth who work the farmland. The farm offers work opportunities to local individuals, particularly the city’s youth, presenting an introduction to the workforce and teaching them the often-overlooked values of labor, patience, and the sweet reward that follows.
Moreover, BTC Resources acts as a job creation engine for the community at large. By teaching the skills necessary for city farming and planting urban gardens, it ensures that these skills are taken to local homes, workplaces, and urban spaces, thereby increasing local employment opportunities.
At its core, BTC Resources is driven by equality. Their longstanding dedication to identifying new avenues for equal opportunities is truly commendable. They continuously strive for creative ways to open doors of opportunity and provide tangible means to build futures as strong and resilient as Akron itself.
For BTC Resources, it’s not just about lifting people up today but investing in the generations of tomorrow. They are committed to the belief that every individual, regardless of their background, should have an equal chance at success, a chance to learn, work, and contribute to the very community that nurtures them.
Our gallery
Get to know our farm
At the core of the BTC Resources Sustainable Agriculture Initiative is the conviction that healthy, regionally grown food is a fundamental human entitlement, and that ecologically friendly farming methods are crucial to our planet’s wellbeing. This initiative partners with Akron’s small-scale farmers, providing support and guidance in adopting sustainable farming practices, such as crop rotation, organic pest management, and soil preservation.
One of the primary ways that the BTC Resources Sustainable Agriculture Initiative assists local farmers is through a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program. This facilitates community members investing in a portion of a local farm’s produce, offering the farmers consistent revenue and the participants a supply of fresh, locally cultivated fruits and vegetables during the growing period. The CSA initiative also minimizes the carbon emissions resulting from long transportation of produce, as everything is locally grown and distributed.