Progress 06/01/23 to 05/31/24

Outputs
Target Audience:Our primary target audience for this project is 26high school age youth in Providence, Pawtucket, and Central Falls engaged through our Green Teamyouth program. We had a team of 26 youth and returningyouth leaders in summer 2023. Our summer 2024 team consisted of 24 youth, 8 ofwhom were returning youth leaders from the prior year. 12 of these youth also participated in our September 2023-May 2024 academic year program. 42 individual youth have been engaged through the Green Team thus far (26 + 24 - 8), but only 26 in thisreporting period. All Green Team youth members are residents of disadvantaged communities within our three focus cities,and/or are youth of color. Weprioritize engaging and employing youth living in the communities where Groundwork RI conducts our environmental and health-related projects such as tree planting and stewardship, composting and gardening, etc., in order to reduce environmental and health-based disparities experienced by lower-income, communities of color in urban areas. In addition, we reached 115other school-age children through other educational efforts. These include: Young Makers@ Washington Park: 4 Pumpkin smash: 10 Earth day workshop: 4 Gordon School: 3 SCLT youth: 12 Nuestro Mundo K-1 classes: 60 Central Falls High School: 22 All of these K-12 age children were engaged in hands-on activities focused on composting and urban gardening projects at their school or community garden, a public library where we run a composting operation, or at our composting site and Ring Street community garden. These school-age children includedresidents of Providence, Pawtucket, and Central Falls, many of whom, but not all, are residents ofdisadvantaged neighborhoods. Our project also reached adult residents in Providence, Pawtucket, and Central Fallsto encourage participation in our Harvest Cycle composting program. We increased the number of paying subscribers from 400 to 600 this past year, and increased the number of non-paying/subsidized subscribers from 60 to120. At least 260 Providence residents were reached through educational tabling efforts at farmer's markets, 90 reached in Pawtucket, and 20 reached in Central Falls to promote composting particpation. At least 30% of all 370 adults reached can be described as living in disadvantaged communities. Changes/Problems:We have been asked to report on food loss and waste metrics as part of our project. Harvest Cycle diverted 145 tons (or 290,000 lbs) of food scraps between June 2023-June 2024, mostly from Providence residents. The composition of the food scraps we divert is approximately 90% vegetable scrapsand 10% mix of dairy, grains, and other plant waste. The amount of food waste overall in Providence's municipalsolid waste stream is approximately 20,070 tons. In terms of changes or problems in our project approach, we have not made major changes. However, the West End Compost Hub opening has been pushed back based on the need to continue fundraising for the facility construction. The pilot project to match residents with school gardens has proven to be as challenging as we anticipated due to the limited capacity of schools themselves to engage in these efforts. However, we have built some great new relationships at schools where our Green Team is now actively supporting garden stewardship. There is also a good deal of resident and schoolparticipation in a community garden and park space Groundwork RI redeveloped in Central Falls with other funding. The Green Team and other Groundwork RI programs continue to beinvolved in that CF garden project as well. Building routine participantsurveys into our programs and timelines is something we will be working on this year to ensure we are measuring the more qualitative aspects of our project and that participants are gaining the increases in knowledge, interest, and sense of personal agency that we are aiming for. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Training and professional development opportunities have largely taken place via our Green Team youth program. The structure of the Green Team allows for youth to build their knowledge and leadership skills over the years they are involved with the program. Youth start their firstsummer, then elect to participate in the academic year program, then are paid a higher wage the second year they participate in the summer program, and can return for as many future summers as desired. We had 8 returning youth in summer 2024 who helped run the Green Team program alongside adult staff. We have two youth who have graduated from high school who have stayed on in part-time employment roles at Groundwork RI. One of these young adultsis now enrolled in college locally but continues to work with us for approximately 15 hours/week, or more when school is not in session. The other young adult is now serving as an AmeriCorps VISTA with us. For adult staff we provide training and professional development primarily via attending conferences and participating in webinars. We stay on top of composting and urban agriculture trends in our area through participation in local and statewide working groups such as Zero Waste Providence and the RI Food Policy Council. We are involved in another USDA grant that was awarded to the City of Providence to pilot composting strategies and we are part of that group of funded partners to share successes and challenges, and to be part of wider decision-making and planning for composting across the city. We also provide composting education and training through our adult job training programs and have hired graduates of the trainings for Harvest Cycle employment positions. Our adult job training program focuseson people over 18 years of age who face barriers to employment. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We disseminate results of our programs every year via a year-end newsletter which is mailed and emailed to community members and supporters. We also disseminate results via our social media accounts and website. In specific locations where we have increased food scrap drop-off and/or processing capacity, we conduct regular outreach activities such as via door-knocking, participatingin local events, and tabling at farmer's markets to inform people of new composting opportunities as well as progress on the development of the West End Compost Hub. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?In the next reporting period we will continue to set up and install new food scrap drop-off sites, as well as look for new processing site opportunities. We will conduct outreach within the local area around each new drop-off and/or processingsite to encourage greater resident participation. We are also very focused on raising the remaining funds we need in order to open the West End Compost Hub.We will increase the amount of Harvest Cycle subscribers, as well as the amount of food waste diverted from the landfill. We will continue providing school garden maintenance through the Green Team and work on strengthening our pilot program to match residents with school garden volunteer opportunities. We will continue offering community education and participating in events to educate residents about composting and gardening, and build awareness of composting opportunities in all 3 focus cities. We will conduct surveys of gardeners, Harvest Cycle subscribers, and youth to gain an understanding of the impact of our project on key participating community members.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? PROJECT GOAL AND INTENDED OUTCOMES - Goal #1 - Increase the number of Providence, Pawtucket, and Central Falls residents who have access to composting services.Outcome #1.1- Increase the number of Harvest Cycle paying subscribers from 400 to 850 households and businesses. PR1: We have increased paying subscribers from 400 to 600.Outcome #1.2- Increase the number of non-paying subscribers to 500 self-identified lower or fixed-income residents.PR1: We have increased non-paying subscribers from 60 to 120.Outcome #1.3- Increase the number of food scrap drop-off with processing sites in Providence from 3 to 6 (including at SCLT's Somerset-Hayward Community Garden, WEHDC's Sankofa Farm, and GWRI's West End Compost Hub), in Pawtucket (including at SCLT's Galego Community Farm) and in Central Falls (including at SCLT's Garfield Park Community Garden) from 0 to 2 in each city. PR1: We have added 1 drop-off site with processingin Pawtucket, totaling 4 in all cities.Outcome #1.4- Increase the number of food scrap drop-off sites (without processing) from 3 to a total of 15 in Providence only. PR1: We have added 3 drop-off-only sites in Providence and Central Falls, totaling 11in all cities.Outcome #1.5- 3,000 residents (1,500 in Providence, 750 per city in PCF) receive information about composting and available access points and services. PR1: We have directly reached 141youth and 370 adults in all cities, totaling 511 people reached.Outcome #1.6- 100% of participating residents will report increased knowledge of composting and how to access composting services. PR1: We are working on developing a better evaluation question, such as the numberof people who sign up for composting services in thereporting period divided by thetotal number reached through educational efforts in the same period, to get to a better measure of success. Goal #2 - Increase the amount of food produced and distributed through school and community gardens involved in our project.Outcome #2.1- Number of school gardens maintained during summer months increases from 2 to 5.PR1: Our Green Team maintained 4 school/educational gardens in summer 2023, and we increased this to 5 in summer 2024. Outcome #2.2- 100% of school garden leaders report increased food production and ability to distribute to students and community members due to increased maintenance and support during summer.PR1: We will be surveying schools this coming year and using the 2024 summer results as a baseline to determine increase in production for coming years. Outcome #2.3- 90% of participating gardeners report increased crop yields after distribution of nutrient-rich compost and/or installation of food scrap composting infrastructure and education made available to school and community gardens.PR 1: We will be surveying gardeners who received our compost this coming year including where we installed new processing sites. Outcome #2.4- 6 youth garden clubs at City of Providence Recreation Centers are supported by GWRI in spring and fall each year of project resulting in increased awareness of food growing and composting and increased healthy food consumption among at least 60 elementary age youth. PR1: We have not been able to partner with the rec centers but we have surpassed our goal of engaging schoolchildren around school gardens and composting, reaching a total of 115 school-age children.Outcome #2.5- 10 prospective community gardeners in Providence participate in pilot school garden volunteer matching program through GWRI. PR1: This part of our project has been slower to proceed but there are 3 residents in Providence and Central Falls engaged in volunteer work at two school gardens where we are providing oversight and conducting stewardship and volunteer engagement activities. Goal #3 - Provide on-the-job training, employment, and leadership development in local food system development and organic waste management for Providence, Pawtucket, and Central Falls high schoolers.Outcome #3.1- 18 youth in Providence, and 18 youth in PCF (combined team) employed during summer months each year of the project.PR1: Our summer 2023 Green Team employed 26 youth total. A partnership we had planned on when applying for this grant did not end up happening, thus we kept our youth program numbers at the same level rather than increasing the number of youth employed each summer. Outcome #3.2- 12 youth in Providence, and 12 youth in PCF (combined team) employed during the academic year program each year of the project.PR1: 12 youth total were employed during the 2023-2024 academic year. Outcome #3.3- All youth will work 120 hours in the summer and 8 hours per month from October-May for the academic year (total of 64 hours each), paid at a base rate of $13/hour for first-year youth, $13.50/hour for returning youth, and $15/hour for youth leaders.PR1: This has basically been realized, with some youth working more or less than 8 hours some months during the academic year. Our base pay rate has also increased for youth to $15/hr with returning youth and youth leaders receiving higher wages up to $17/hr depending on the number of years they have participated. Outcome #3.4- 100% of youth report increased awareness and knowledge related to local food systems, waste issues and organic waste management, and how to make change happen in their community. PR1: This has been accomplished and we have survey results from each summer. We will also do an academic year survey this coming year. Goal #4 - Strengthen the ecosystem of food waste composting infrastructure and businesses serving Providence, Pawtucket, and Central Falls.Outcome # 4.1- At least three Rhode Island- or Massachusetts-based food scrap haulers serving the three focus communities report increased revenues, including GWRI's Harvest Cycle service.PR1: As reported by our partner Zero Waste Providence, 2 local haulers have increased resident subscriptions over the past year, including Harvest Cycle, supported by increased awareness via outreach and education efforts. Outcome #4.2- Opening of GWRI's West End Compost Hub provides in-city compost processing facility that serves at least 2 food scrap hauling businesses.PR1: The WECH has not opened yet. Outcome #4.3- At least 4 local landscaping companies opt to tip yard waste and leaves at West End Compost Hub.PR1: There are now 3 entities bringing yard waste and wood chips to be processed by Harvest Cycle, up from 1 before we started this grant, but not yet at the WECH. Outcome #4.4- Providence's food waste diversion capacity (via Harvest Cycle and other haulers) quadruples from 150,000 pounds of food scraps annually to 600,000 pounds per year.PR1: Between 3 composting operations that report their numbers in Providence to Zero Waste Providence, as a city, we have reached 600,000 lbs of food scraps diverted per year. Harvest Cycle diverted 290,000 lbs this past year. Together, 2 other operations - one hauler and one drop-off service at a grocery store/co-op - also diverted over 300,000 lbs combined as well. Outcome #4.5- West End Compost Hub produces 700 cubic yards of finished compost each year, distributed to urban growers in Providence, Pawtucket, and Central Falls. PR1: The WECH has not opened yet.

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