“When the world wearies and society ceases to satisfy, there is always the garden.” - Minnie Aumonier
Shining Rivers Waldorf School located in St. Louis, Missouri, was awarded a RSF Seed Fund grant last spring to support its biodynamic garden program. We receive many applications for school gardens, but we found this project particularly unique in its purpose. This garden is intended to not only educate and engage students, but also to demonstrate that it can be self-sustained through a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program.
Shining Rivers had historically maintained a large vegetable garden space at the school, and with the hiring of a Garden’s Keeper with 10 years of urban farming experience at the end of 2010, the school’s goal of kicking off a CSA program became attainable. Not only did the school receive support from the RSF Seed Fund, it also received parent and faculty donations, and support from Slow Food St. Louis and the Webster Groves Women’s Garden Association. I recently corresponded with Ann Wiedemann, the school’s director, and she reported that while they knew the community was excited about the program, they had no idea that the 10 available CSA shares would sell out in less than 2 hours!
While the children are not specifically responsible for aspects of the CSA program, they are exposed to the entire process from planning, planting, caring, harvesting and prepping the CSA shares, and the Garden’s Keeper is responsible for coordinating curriculum with the classroom teachers. The school is currently expanding its garden space and starting the second year of the CSA program, with plans to develop a guide to starting school CSA projects. In June, the garden will be part of the St. Louis Sustainable Backyard Tour!
Shining Rivers was founded in 1992 and is a developing school member of the Association for Waldorf Schools of North America, currently serving 85 children through grade 6. To find out more about the school, please visit their website.
To learn more about the RSF Seed Fund and how you can help support new and inspirational projects like this one, click here. Also stay tuned in the coming weeks for the announcement of our 2012 Seed Fund Grantees!
Catherine Covington is Senior Program Associate, Philanthropic Services at RSF Social Finance.
When you are ill, one of the last things you feel like doing is cooking a healthy meal for yourself, even though you know that it is part of what your body needs to heal and recover. When the majority of us get sick, it is usually only for a few days, maybe a week, but imagine how debilitating it could be to have an illness for an extended period of time. What would you do? Who could you depend on during such a time?
The Ceres Community Project in Sebastopol, CA, one of RSF’s recent grantees, provides those facing cancer and other life-threatening illnesses with nourishing meals and educates the larger community about the connection between food, healing, and wellness. Its mission is to restore locally-grown, organic whole food to its place as the foundation of health for people, communities and the planet. Ceres has been serving the local community for over five years and recently delivered its 100,000th meal. Having just moved into a brand new kitchen with increased capacity, Ceres plans to provide 45,000 free meals in 2012, a 50% increase over last year!
Ceres Kitchen
One of the beautiful things about the Ceres model is that the majority of its chefs are teen volunteers from over 35 different middle and high schools. As many as ten teens a day prepare, cook, and package the meals that are delivered each week to Ceres clients. They work with professional chef mentors and learn how to cook healthy meals using fresh, local ingredients. While volunteering, teens not only develop culinary and leadership skills; they are given the opportunity to make a substantial contribution to their community. Teens are the backbone of the Ceres Community Project, and many become frequent and long-term volunteers.
Ceres Delivery
To learn more about the Ceres Community Project and how to become a volunteer (they take adult volunteers too!), please visit their website.
During the months of January and February, RSF’s donor advisors recommended 71 grants from their Donor Advised Funds for a total disbursement amount of $1,430,321.43! Donor Advised Funds are a unique charitable giving vehicle offered by RSF that allow donors to make tax-deductible contributions to RSF and then recommend grants from their fund to qualified nonprofit organizations of their choice. A donor can be an individual, group, family, corporation, trust, or a foundation, and they benefit from access to RSF’s innovative Impact Investment Portfolios. Unlike other Donor Advised Fund investment programs, a donor’s contribution is invested directly in enterprises and funds with core social and environmental missions to ensure greater mission-alignment and the deepest impact possible.
Education & the Arts
Asian Communities for Reproductive Justice
Boulder Institute
Center for Ecoliteracy
Centro de Negocios Sustentables, A.C.
Charter Foundation
Children of Nepal
Circus Amok
Collective Heritage Institute
Common Fire Foundation
Fielding Graduate University
FJC- A Foundation of Philanthropic Funds
Foundation for the People of Burma
Freunde der Erziehungskunst
Fund for Idaho
Global Citizen Year
Global Rites of Passage
Grammar School
Helen Lubin
Housatonic Valley Waldorf
Institute of International Education
Journey Waldorf School
Lawrence Academy
Marin Waldorf School
Marion Institute
Monadnock Waldorf School
Northfield Mount Hermon School
Occidental Arts and Ecology Center
Pacifica Foundation
Rudolf Steiner College
Sanderling Waldorf School
ShadeTree Multicultural Fnd.
Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs
Steiner Books
Sunbridge College
Teen Talking Circle Project
The Huichol Center for Cultural Survival
The University of Maine System
Tides Center
Tides Foundation
Tucson Waldorf Education Association
University of the Pacific
Vivekananda Sevakendra-O-Sishu Uddyan (VSSU)
Ecological Stewardship
Leadership Institute for Ecology and Economy Food & Agriculture
Androscoggin Valley Council of Government
Biodynamic Farming & Gardening Association
Ceres Community Project
Cobscook Bay Resource Center
Family Farm Defenders, Inc.
Food Project, Inc.
Global Exchange
Green Belt Movement International
Michael Fields Agricultural Institute
Pie Ranch
Spikenard Farm
WhyHunger
Social Finance
Hawthorne Valley Association
Social Venture Network
Other
Boulder Shelter for the Homeless
Brattleboro Area Drop In Center
Emergency Family Assistance Association
Paint Lick Family Clinic
Catherine Covington is Senior Program Associate, Philanthropic Services at RSF Social Finance
I attended a book signing at the Ferry Building a few weeks ago. While listening to a short Q&A session led by one of my favorite cookbook authors and entrepreneurs, a man who has been at the forefront of good-food entertainment for over 30 years, an audience member asked for his view on organic food. He replied that if you want to be sure that you are purchasing really good, clean food that was grown in a way that nurtures the land rather than depletes it, your answer isn’t necessarily “organic” anymore. Rather, conscious consumers should start to pay attention to the word “biodynamic”, and keep an eye out for biodynamic CSA opportunities since biodynamic food on our grocery store shelves may still be a ways off.
The gardeners stock the Pfeiffer Center Farm Stand every Monday and Wednesday morning with fresh-picked biodynamic veggies from their many gardens.
As the standards for organic certification are increasingly called into question, the conversation about sustainable food and agriculture is frequently turning to biodynamics, making the work of 2011 RSF Seed Fund grantee The Pfeiffer Center even more important. Located in Chestnut Ridge, NY, the Pfeiffer Center seeks to teach and spread awareness of the biodynamic method, which they define as: agriculture and land care beyond conventional notions of sustainability that demonstrate actual improvements in soil vitality and the taste and nutritional value of produce. The founder of the Pfeiffer Center, Ehrenfried Pfeiffer, believed that the human being, “who guides and directs the beginning, the course and the end of the natural growth process, is the strongest force of nature. His capacity is the final decisive factor.” The Pfeiffer Center reaches out to the youth in their community, in hopes of planting the seed of ecological responsibility and encouraging an attitude of reverence towards their environment through gardening and experiential education.
Youth experiencing an “Outdoor Lesson” at The Pfeiffer Center.
The Seed Fund grant will support its Neighbor to Neighbor Gardening Program, an afterschool program that bridges diverse communities through experiences in nature and gardening, as well as social activities such as games, projects, and guided conversation. In collaboration with Green Meadow Waldorf School and nearby public schools, the program pairs high-school students with middle-school students in a mentor-mentee capacity and guides educational and social outdoor learning experiences for sixteen weeks of each school year. The program brings together children who normally would not meet in other academic or social settings.
During the months of June and July, RSF’s donor advisors recommended 46 grants from their Donor Advised Funds for a total disbursement amount of $536,211.69! Donor Advised Funds are a unique charitable giving vehicle offered by RSF that allow donors to make tax-deductible contributions to RSF and then recommend grants from their fund to qualified nonprofit organizations of their choice. A donor can be an individual, group, family, corporation, trust, or a foundation, and they benefit from access to RSF’s innovative Impact Investment Portfolios. Unlike other Donor Advised Fund investment programs, a donor’s contribution is invested directly in enterprises and funds with core social and environmental missions to ensure greater mission-alignment and the deepest impact possible.
Tunis, Jacob, and Katahdin sheep are raised at Hidden Villa as a part of their animal husbandry program. Photo courtesy of Hidden Villa
Spotlight on Hidden Villa
Hidden Villa is a non-profit education organization that stretches over 1600 beautiful acres of open space in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains about 40 miles south of San Francisco. With a mission to inspire a just and sustainable future through its programs, lands and legacy, it uses an organic farm, wilderness, and community to teach and provide opportunities to learn about the environment and social justice. It was founded by Frank and Josephine Duveneck, who purchased the land in 1924 and were determined to be the best stewards of the land possible. Over the following decades, the Duvenecks established the first Hostel on the Pacific Coast (1937), the first multiracial summer camp (1945), and Hidden Villa’s Environmental Education Program (1970). The Trust for Hidden Villa was established as a non-profit in 1960.
Every year 30,000 people participate in one of Hidden Valley’s formal programs which consist of school programs, summer camps, individual programs available to the public, and sustainable agriculture programs. An additional 20,000 visitors come to the preserve annually to explore the farm and gardens or to hike on the eight miles of trails. Its constituents cover a wide spectrum of age, physical ability, geography, ethnicity, cultural and socio-economic backgrounds and its organic farm, rustic barns, newer sustainable structures and pristine riparian, woodland and chaparral wilderness provide opportunities to experience the beauty of our environment on a first hand basis.
The key activities within Hidden Villa’s focus on Sustainable Agriculture are the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program and the animal husbandry program. Hidden Villa manages a small-scale, organic farm. The farming practices are driven by its agricultural mission to produce the best quality vegetables, fruits, meat, and eggs for local markets and to support Hidden Villa’s educational programs by modeling sustainable, organic practices that minimize outside inputs, promote biodiversity, honor labor, value animal welfare, and respect the capacity and wildness of the land.
RSF is proud to support Hidden Villa. To learn more or to plan a visit, please check out their website.
June and July 2011 Grantees:
Education & the Arts
Alliance for Childhood, Inc.
Chengdu Waldorf School
Community for the Renewal of Education and Work
Freunde der Erziehungskunst
Green America
GreatNonProfits
Global Citizen Year
Creative Works of Lancaster
Collective Heritage Institute
Dancers’ Group
Green Meadow Waldorf School
High Mowing School
Charter Foundation
Spirit Rock Meditation Center
Friends of CRAFT, Inc.
Shade Tree Multicultural Foundation
Hidden Villa
Maine Initiatives
Shining Mountain Waldorf School
Washington Waldorf School
Davis Waldorf School
Portland Waldorf School
Marin Waldorf School
Waldorf School of Orange County
Seattle Waldorf School
Hawthorne Valley School
Tucson Waldorf Education Association
Housatonic Valley School
Waldorf School of Atlanta
Charter Foundation
Waldorf School of Garden City
Westside Waldorf School
Honolulu Waldorf School
Pasadena Waldorf School
Cape Ann Waldorf School
Woodland Star Educational
Seminary of the Christian Community
International Community Foundation
American Hero Quilts
Food & Agriculture
Michael Fields Agricultural Institute
Other
National Peace Corps
Feeding America
Give2Asia
Catherine Covington is Program Associate, Philanthropic Services at RSF Social Finance.
During the months of April and May, RSF’s donor advisors recommended 65 grants from their Donor Advised Funds for a total disbursement amount of $1,108,627! Donor Advised Funds are a unique charitable giving vehicle offered by RSF that allow donors to make tax-deductible contributions to RSF and then recommend grants from their fund to qualified non-profit organizations of their choice. A donor can be an individual, group, family, corporation, trust, or a foundation, and they benefit from access to RSF’s innovative Impact Investment Portfolios. Unlike other Donor Advised Fund investment programs, a donor’s contribution is invested directly in enterprises and funds with core social and environmental missions to ensure greater mission-alignment and the deepest impact possible.
Spotlight on Every Person Has a Story (EPHAS)
One of May’s grantees was Every Person Has a Story (EPHAS), www.ephas.org, an organization dedicated to bringing voice to underserved or overlooked groups through photography and creating cross-cultural communities through the sharing of vision and imagery of our own individual worlds. EPHAS brings opportunities to learn, practice, communicate and connect through media arts to students worldwide by funding and facilitating photography clinics in the US and in developing nations. Participants connect with each other and a broader audience using the web, creating a chance for everyone to explore the common threads that tie their stories together.
In 2003, Ryan Ansin founded EPHAS as a business initiative to create promotional videos for non-profits. When asked to film a documentary on water purification in Rwanda, Ryan had an idea—why not let the people most affected by the day-to-day conditions and challenges in their communities capture and document their own circumstances? His idea was to teach the non-profit’s constituents, who were struggling to improve the cleanliness of their local community’s water, how to best photograph and record their lives. In April 2010, Ryan set off to conduct proof of concept experiments at more familiar locations in Cambodia where he had long-standing relationships. He taught for three weeks at various rehabilitation centers for war-inflicted wounds, and within the first week, he could sense he was on to something. When he returned to the US, he immediately set to work. EPHAS Productions, Inc. was officially incorporated on June 20, 2010 and became a 501(c)(3) non-profit on September 14th, 2010.
Finally visiting Rwanda after a postponement due to the presidential campaign in Kigali, Ansin and two board members, Alexander Magnin and Andrew Kurban, set out to implement the workshops at schools in Karambi and Gitwe. To validate EPHAS’ theory, this could not have gone better. Students learned photography in August. Construction began for a 7.2 km waterpipe in January, giving participants plenty of time to practice. Since then, EPHAS has received weekly shots of the construction, and more recently, waterspouts that are now flowing with clean water directly from the source. The affects of purified water on a culture are next to come in EPHAS’ ever-flowing series of images.
The goal of EPHAS’ Domestic Program is to expose youth to different cultures through the photos taken by its foreign student partners. EPHAS has partnered with many middle schools and high schools in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Illinois, and Nebraska (and they are always looking for more!) to achieve an exchange of photos and ideas between students of similar ages.
To learn more about EPHAS and to help them connect with opportunities or schools that might be interested in having an EPHAS representative speak and work with your students, please feel free to contact them directly. Take a look at the video below to see some of the amazing images taken as a result of EPHAS.
During the month of March, RSF’s donor advisors recommended 39 grants from their Donor Advised Funds for a total disbursement amount of $363,657. Donor Advised Funds are a unique charitable giving vehicle offered by RSF that allow donors to make tax-deductible contributions to RSF and then recommend grants from their fund to qualified nonprofit organizations of their choice. A donor can be an individual, group, family, corporation, trust, or a foundation, and they benefit from access to RSF’s innovative Impact Investment Portfolios. Unlike other Donor Advised Fund investment programs, a donor’s contribution is invested directly in enterprises and funds with core social and environmental missions to ensure greater mission-alignment and the deepest impact possible.
Spotlight on Women’s Initiative for Self Employment
One of March’s grantees was Women’s Initiative for Self Employment (www.womensinitiative.org), a Bay Area non-profit with a mission to build the entrepreneurial capacity of women to overcome economic and social barriers and achieve self-sufficiency. It provides high-potential, lower-income women the training, resources and on-going support to start and grow their business.
Women’s Initiative has been assisting women-owned businesses throughout the San Francisco Bay Area since 1988 and currently operates seven training sites. Women are empowered to start a new business or expand an existing business through an intensive 20-session program, taught in English or Spanish.
Graduates of the program have access to valuable one-on-one consultation and coaching sessions with expert trainers, monthly networking opportunities and ongoing training through its SuccessLink Program. Since inception, Women’s Initiative has served more than 22,000 women, helping them directly contribute to the health of their communities. Some examples of the program’s results include:
Annual household income for participants entering the business training program is just $22,000. One year after training, it leaps to nearly $35,000.
The women who participated in the training last year will bring in an estimated $18.8 million in 2011. Over the next five years, gross receipts for the class of 2010 will total an estimated $125.4 million.
One year after training 90% of graduates reported being employed or self-employed.
In 2011, recent graduates (classes of 2006-2010) will create an estimated 3,818 jobs.
57% of Women’s Initiative graduates have “green” businesses and sell products and services that are non-polluting and leave a small carbon footprint.
In 2009, Women’s Initiative hosted award ceremonies in all five Bay Area counties honoring trailblazing women entrepreneurs who have demonstrated leadership in their field and in the community. Enjoy the video below which highlights a woman from our very own San Francisco County!
[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/7733758[/vimeo]
March 2011 Grantees:
Ecological Stewardship
Conservation Strategy Fund
Education & the Arts
Youth for Environmental Sanity
Pomegranate Center
Sierra Nevada College
Center for Mind Body Medicine
Yuan Tze Ren Xue Center, Inc.
Collective Heritage Institute
Foundation for the People of Burma
Women’s Initiative for Self Employment
Duane Elgin
GreatNonProfits
Women’s Initiative for Self Employment
Associazione per la Pedagogia
Helen Lubin
Shining Mountain Waldorf School
Summerfield Waldorf School
Seattle Waldorf School
Three Cedars School
Cedar Springs Waldorf School
Waldorf School of th Peninsula
Charter Foundation
Global Fund for Women
Community Services Agency
Homeboy Industries
The Art of Yoga Project
Maine People’s Resource Center
Cooperative Development Institute
Tucson Waldorf Education Associoation
Christian Community in North America Central Fund
American Red Cross
Threshold Foundation
Threshold Foundation
Vermont Partnership for Fairness and Diversity
Pacific Zen Institute
Food & Agriculture
Navdanya
Biodynamic Farming and Gardening Association
Spikenard Farm
Michael Fields Agricultural Institute
Social Finance
Slow Money
Catherine Covington is Program Associate, Philanthropic Services at RSF Social Finance.
In recent years, the US consumer market has become increasingly aware of the value of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), a form of agricultural distribution inspired by Rudolf Steiner’s economic lectures. Consumers receive fresh, local, organic produce while supporting the economic viability of small farmers. CSAs connect customers to the people and land that produce their food, and offer farmers who traditionally struggle in an industry dominated by large-scale industrial agriculture, the means to sustain their business. However not all of our favorite crops, such as let’s say – coffee beans – are likely to be staples in our weekly CSA box or found at our local farmers’ market. For consumers eager to have this same direct connection with their coffee, RSF borrower, Pachamama Coffee Cooperative, just delivered the solution.
Bringing the CSA model to an international scale, Pachamama now links coffee enthusiasts directly with small farmers from Africa, Central and South America. Earlier this month, Pachamama launched CoffeeCSA.org, the first large-scale coffee CSA.
Photo credit, Olaf Hammelburg, courtesy of Pachamama Coffee Cooperative
Connecting small organic coffee farmers with the large North America consumer market has been 10 years in the making. In 2001, the Pachamama Coffee Cooperative began organizing the membership and assembling the farmer-driven board of directors which governs the cooperative’s work. Now the 100% farmer owned cooperative is comprised of over 140,000 farmers in Ethiopia, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua and Peru.
Customers have the opportunity to sign up for a monthly or annual membership to receive home delivered coffee from a specific farmer of their choice. This coffee makes its journey from the farmer to San Francisco where it is roasted and subsequently shipped to individual households from Pachamama’s headquarters in Davis, California.
In line with the benefits of traditional CSAs, consumers can relish in the fact that all profits go back to the farmers themselves. Furthermore, long-term subscription to the CSA provides farmers with the stability to withstand market changes and secure the capital for the next year’s crop.
Of course we at RSF are thrilled to share this development of one of our community members but we’re not the only ones excited about CoffeeCSA.org. The launch has received notable attention in publications such as The New York Times and The Huffington Post!
To learn more about the Pachamama Coffee Cooperative and to sign up for your coffee CSA membership visit http://www.coffeecsa.org/.
The Pachamama Coffee Cooperative is a borrower of the RSF Social Investment Fund. To learn how you can help support innovative organizations like Pachamama click here.
Jillian McCoy is Communications Associate at RSF Social Finance.
In 2010, RSF was pleased to provide Game Theory Academy in Oakland, CA, with a Seed Fund grant to support its program that focuses on improving the decision-making skills of at-risk, low-income youth. The Seed Fund provides small gifts (between $1,000 and $5,000) to launch new, mission-aligned initiatives that fall within one of RSF’s three focus areas—Food & Agriculture, Education & the Arts, and Ecological Stewardship.
Game Theory Academy (GTA) was founded by Patricia Johnson in 2008. Since January 2009, 165 students in Oakland and San Francisco have completed the GTA class, and 92% said they would recommend the class to a friend. To give a general picture of the community served by GTA, 33% of GTA participants have been in foster care; 30% have been involved in the criminal justice system; 20% are children of immigrants; 70% grew up in single parent homes; 15% have a family member who has filed for bankruptcy. Despite these so-called disadvantages, 65% aspire to attend college, and many are pursuing specific career interests. GTA supports these individuals in making decisions and preparing financially to achieve their goals.
Thanks to grants from local foundations, including the RSF Seed Fund, GTA has hired Michele Thorne, GTA’s first instructor aside from the founding executive director, to deliver its curriculum. Thorne is a graduate of the Presidio School of Management and brings to GTA her passion for financial literacy, experience in community education, marketing acumen and an economic education that she is eager to share with the Bay Area’s young people. With Michele on board, GTA will double the number of youth it serves in 2011.
According to the San Francisco Department of Housing and Development, funding for financial literacy programs has remained flat over the last two years, while demand from the community has increased fourfold. The support the RSF Seed Fund awarded Game Theory Academy helped it grow and play a part in rebalancing that equation.
For more information about Game Theory Academy, please visit http://gametheoryacademy.org/. In addition, watch the video below to hear a former GTA class participant talk about how the class impacted his thinking about money.
[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/11664857[/vimeo]
To learn more about the RSF Seed Fund and how you can help support new and inspirational projects like this one, click here.
Catherine Covington is Program Associate, Philanthropic Services at RSF Social Finance.
During the month of February, RSF’s donor advisors recommended 33 grants from their Donor Advised Funds for a total disbursement amount of $262,054. Donor Advised Funds are a unique charitable giving vehicle offered by RSF that allow donors to make tax-deductible contributions to RSF and then recommend grants from their fund to qualified nonprofit organizations of their choice. A donor can be an individual, group, family, corporation, trust, or a foundation, and they benefit from access to RSF’s innovative Impact Investment Portfolios. Unlike other Donor Advised Fund investment programs, a donor’s contribution is invested directly in enterprises and funds with core social and environmental missions to ensure greater mission-alignment and the deepest impact possible.
Spotlight on Sustain Dane
One of February’s grantees was Sustain Dane, a non-profit organization based in Madison, Wisconsin, committed to creating a community that deeply enjoys, cares for, and is sustained by its unique environment. It seeks to establish such a community by staying in touch with what is happening locally and globally, identifying opportunities, building networks and relationships and acting as a catalyst for big ideas and partnerships in the region of South-Central Wisconsin. With a comprehensive approach to sustainability, Sustain Dane works with all the sectors that affect our daily lives, including school districts, municipal governments, business communities and neighborhoods.
One example of Sustain Dane’s commitment to generating ideas and connecting people around the issue of sustainability in the workplace in particular is its Mpower Business ChaMpions program. Over the course of a year, Sustain Dane works with participating businesses to help them develop and advance a sustainability strategy that will lead to measurable results. This strategy can include such measures as energy and water efficiency, alternative transportation, and changes to business culture. Key aspects of the program are connecting businesses with relevant resources, the management of an online discussion platform, and monthly meetings that support networking and idea sharing. The eight businesses that participated in the 2010 Mpower ChaMpion program expect to save over $2.4 million dollars over the next 5 years from the projects they implemented. Each business selected at least 5 energy efficiency or sustainability projects to implement, resulting in a collective annual reduction of over 10,600 metric tons of carbon dioxide!
February 2011 Grantees:
Ecological Stewardship
Sustain Dane
Education & the Arts
Bay Area Center for Waldorf Teacher Training
Charter Foundation
Community Foundation of Tompkins County
Dharma Seed
Eurythmy Spring Valley
Hawthorne Valley Association
Himalayan Youth Foundation
Kwan Um School of Zen
Lawrence Academy
Muse Elementary School
Noraz Poets
Project South
READ Global
Rudolf Steiner College
Rudolf Steiner Fellowship
Rudolf Steiner School, NY
Running Strong for American Indian Youth
San Francisco Waldorf School
Sophia Foundation North America
Stone Bridge School
Sunbridge College
The Dhana Trust
Tides Foundation
Food & Agriculture
Biodynamic Farming and Gardening Association
Marin Organic
Movement Strategy Center
Navdanya
Partners for Sustainable Pollination
People’s Grocery
Pie Ranch
San Francisco Parks Trust
San Francisco Waldorf School
Catherine Covington is Program Associate, Philanthropic Services at RSF Social Finance.
Several months ago, representatives from borrower Tucson Waldorf School paid a visit to RSF to share with staff how RSF financing has been put to work at their school. In the months since, I’ve continued conversations with members of the school’s staff and board learning more about the programs they are leading to expand this Waldorf Community. We invited Laura Alexander, TWS parent and Board Member, to share this work with our readers.
By Laura Alexander
Here in Tucson we like to think of our Waldorf school as a beacon of hope in an otherwise challenging educational environment. Just like the stalwart Saguaro cactus, we bloom and thrive in the desert despite the harsh, dry climate. The Tucson Waldorf School (TWS) is the only independent Waldorf School in the state of Arizona, a state that now ranks 50th in education nationwide. Since 1993 our school has offered a critical educational alternative for our children, more important now than ever as our State legislature continues to make budget cuts to education funding.
TWS plans to continue thriving despite the harsh environment. In fact, we are growing our enrollment and our facilities to match the increasing local interest in Waldorf education. TWS is in the middle of a $3.3 million construction process and capital campaign to build a solid, sustainable, model school in our region (we’ve raised $2.5 million and have $800,000 to go). This effort includes an environmentally sustainable facility and campus, as well as a biodynamic farm and community supported agriculture program on campus. Plans are also underway to incorporate a farm-to-table school lunch program that may provide a sustainable funding model for the school.
Thanks in part to loans from RSF Social Finance, TWS has grown steadily over the past two decades and now offers pre-K through grade 8 to around 150 children. TWS is considered a developing school by the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America (AWSNA), and plans to become AWSNA-accredited in the next five years. The school has an incredible faculty and staff, and a very dedicated core of parent volunteers.
In 2008 the school received an extraordinary, transformational gift when a small group of donors gave $2 million toward the purchase of just under 10 acres on River Road, a pocket of rural land in the heart of the city. The ten-acre “River Bend” campus includes the original house, two outbuildings, and several horse stalls – all of which have been renovated and adapted for use as a school (yes, even the horse stalls, which have become the lunch room, woodworking classroom, and more!). The River Bend campus currently houses grades 4-8, while pre-K through grade 3 continue to operate at our second campus on Presidio Road.
TWS enjoys a wonderful, symbiotic relationship with River Road Gardens , a for-profit biodynamic farm and CSA. River Road Gardens yields more than 10,000 lbs. of produce each year, which it distributes to shareholders and community members at weekly farmer’s markets held on campus. The Gardens also serves as a tremendous educational resource where students learn to plant, harvest and care for a variety of crops.
In December 2010 TWS launched the River Bend Campus Capital Campaign for the construction of two grade school buildings. Due to be completed in the Fall 2011, the new buildings will house four classrooms with the capacity for up to 96 children. This will allow TWS to move grades 1-8 to River Bend and expand the capacity of the Presidio campus to house more early childhood students, allowing the school to grow its capacity and sustainability.
If you would like to learn more about the Tucson Waldorf School or the River Bend Campus Construction and Capital Campaign, visit our website at: www.tucsonwaldorf.org. You can also click here to watch a video about our school.
The Tucson Waldorf School is a borrower of the RSF Social Investment Fund. To learn how you can help RSF make more loans like this one, click here.
While the children are not specifically responsible for aspects of the CSA program, they are exposed to the entire process from planning, planting, caring, harvesting and prepping the CSA shares, and the Garden’s Keeper is responsible for coordinating curriculum with the classroom teachers. The school is currently expanding its garden space and starting the second year of the CSA program, with plans to develop a guide to starting school CSA projects. In June, the garden will be part of the St. Louis Sustainable Backyard Tour!
