Growing Resources After Sowing Seeds

‘Empowering A Community One Seed At A Time’

 Baltimore City, (May 2015)- G.R.A.S.S. (Growing Resources After Sowing Seeds) a youth and young adult entrepreneurship development program based on the fundamentals of gardening, agriculture and ecology, is tackling hunger and unemployment in some of Baltimore City’s forgotten communities.

Romaine Lettuce /G.R.A.S.S. Planting Beds Spring Crop 2015

Located on the south side edge of Downtown Baltimore City is Cherry Hill and its surrounding communities. Cherry Hill is a neglected community and one of the largest food deserts in the city.  With a combined unemployment rate of 37% and 35% of the Cherry Hill community not in the workforce, Baltimore City’s Cherry Hill is the pilot site for the G.R.A.S.S. program. 

Partners, Cathy Allen - The Green Ambassador – Master Gardener/University of Maryland and Karla Owens-Moody, MBA, DBA(c) – Business Entrepreneurship and STEM Educator, has teamed up to create environmental, ecological, and agricultural socioeconomic change for a community that has been overlooked for decades.

G.R.A.S.S. is partly funded by a sub-grant from the USDA, Towson University and The Cherry Hill Development Corporation.  Environmental curriculum and instruction are supported by the University of Maryland Master Gardener Extension System, while entrepreneurship development was collaboratively by The Sustained Solution Corporations’ BLOT (Business Leaders Of Tomorrow) and Black Professional Men. G.R.A.S.S. workforce participants are funded through YouthWorks a five-week summer job program that connects youth to private sectors, nonprofits, and city and state government employers.

 “As an environmental educator and environmentalist, it is my duty and honor to seed the knowledge of how you can grow, eat and prosper just by simply honoring Mother Earth.”, said Cathy Allen.

Projected in 2018, environmental engineer technicians are expected to earn $40,000 per year and those who go on to higher education in the environmental sciences will make $74,000 per year in 2018. Source: US. Department of Labor-Bureau of Labor Statistics

“I’m an educator that identifies socioeconomic problems and strategically develops comprehensive learning methods to stimulate knowledge in my students and/or participants.  My primary goal is to foster growth amongst youth and young adults by providing them with the right opportunities to become self-sufficient” said, Karla Owens-Moody, MBA, DBA(c).

GRASS Garden Party Fundraiser is scheduled for Saturday August 22, 2015 at the Cherry Hill Community Garden 900 Cherry Hill Road @ Veronica Avenue from 11am-3pm.

Cathy Allen, The Green Ambassador is an award winning environmentalist, Co-creator of  G.R.A.S.S., Master Gardener University of Maryland Baltimore City Extension with advance certification in Bay-Wise Landscape Management, Chair of Master Gardener Extension Baltimore City -  Grow It -Eat It federal campaign, Published Science Writer, and EcoBroker Associate Realtor® Buyer’s Agent with Taylor Properties,  Her Mission: to green the universe environmentally and socially.

Karla Owens-Moody, MBA, DBA(c), Founder and Executive Director of The Sustained Solution Corporation and Co-Founder of G.R.A.S.S., is a transformational social entrepreneur focused on STEM and business education.  A passionate sustainability agent committed to education and positive social change, Karla holds a B.S. in Business Administration, an MBA, and is currently writing her dissertation on Social Enterprise Sustainability Beyond the 10 Years through a Doctor of Business Administration degree program.  Karla is an Opportunity Collaborative Fellow through the Baltimore Metropolitan Council and a resident with the Baltimore City Teacher’s Residency. 

Problems cannot be solved at the same level of awareness that created them. ~Albert Einstein

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