“Farms Grow People”
— Shellie Zias-Roe, PhD, FOUNDER & Executive Director
Urban Earth Care Farm strengthens the local community by merging environmental/sustainability education and horticultural therapy to create a program where friends with unique needs and challenges work together and farm in community gardens throughout the country.
Urban Earth Care Farm, a 501c3 non-profit organization, is an urban farm program that connects farming, a nature-based setting - with health, social, and educational benefits. Care farming in the Netherlands, England, and other European farming communities partner established large commercial farms with social services & agencies who serve individuals that need extra help with life and career building skills.
Our urban care farm model advances the traditional community garden forward serving a broader purpose: to teach and inspire a vulnerable population to be self-reliant and resilient by creating a place of acceptance & belonging in a nature-based setting so that all can live well in their environment.
Urban Earth Care Farm puts into practice Civic Ecological Principals such as:
Fostering Well-Being
Creating Opportunities for Learning
Re-Creating Place & Community
Producing Eco-System Services
Emerging in Broken Places/Forgotten People
Instilling a Love of Life/Love of Place
Our Beginning
Urban Earth Care Farm began as a pilot project to provide environmental education to special education students in middle and high school on the Sustainable University of Redlands Farm, fondly known as the SURF Garden. The bi-weekly, hour and a half program included safe gardening practices, planting and growing organic vegetables using a variety of farming methods such as hugelkulture and spiral herb gardens, and lessons in environmental and sustainable education. Camaraderie and friendship building was a natural outcome of our time together. The uniquely abled participants gained strength, balance, eye-hand coordination, new knowledge, self-confidence, and much much more.
Meet Our Legacy Farmers and Civic Ecologists, Paul & Cade
To learn more about the early gardening program, Dr. Shellie Zias-Roe’s Dissertation - Equity and Inclusion in Planning: Engaging a Uniquely-Abled Population in the Participatory Process shares how the garden program was a catalyst for young adults with special needs - providing them a platform to express their experience and concerns in a local planning process.
“Urban Earth Care Farm – Inspired by Inclusion & Created for Equity”
— Shellie Zias-Roe, PhD, FOUNDER & Executive Director
Capitalizing on knowledge regarding the practice of Care Farming in communities throughout the US and the world, Dr. Zias-Roe’s vision for contributing towards creating a sustainable community became a reality. Having access to public gardens allows for the development of future programs & projects that will serve more uniquely abled individuals through potential partnerships with agencies & organizations:
Inland Regional Center
City of Redlands
University of Redlands
Redlands Unified School District
Inland Empire Conservation District
Natural Resources Conservation District
County of San Bernardino
Arrow Commuter Rail & Metrolink
Care Farming Network
Local Clubs & Organizations
Our Mission
Urban Earth Care Farm establishes its roots in meeting the needs of the uniquely abled. Our mission is to create a care farm program that connects nature and nurture to foster wellbeing for those who need it most. A care farm sows hope, sprouts dreams, and grows self-worth by providing an opportunity for life and career building skills for vulnerable people through an environmental and sustainability lens on an urban plot of land. With a focus on environmental education and resilience through horticultural therapy practices, Urban Earth Care Farm creates a sense of place where vulnerable individuals can build connections with others in a safe and caring setting.
Get Involved
If you would like to volunteer, we accept volunteers regardless of skill level. There is a rotation in roles and we’ll teach you all the skills you need to know. Teenagers 14 years and older can earn community service credits for school credit. Donations are also vital to our growth, as we use them for garden production, educational supplies, and outreach.
Rocky, 10 years Old (2023) - Farm Supervisor and Greeter
