Farm Credit Gift Supports Urban Ag Center
Louisville, KY (PRWEB) July 05, 2013 -- If Farm Credit’s latest Community Giving Grant seems a little out of the ordinary for the agricultural financial services cooperative, so does its recipient. The ag lender recently teamed up with its farm lending partner CoBank to make a major grant to the newly-opened Terrence M. Ryan Agriculture Education Center located on Stanard Farm, a 2.5 acre urban farm and campus located in downtown Cleveland. The gift will help to provide opportunities for 15 employees with developmental disabilities. Farm Credit’s share of the grant was $50,000.
“We’re thrilled to have Farm Credit’s involvement,” said Lula Holt-Robertson, communications director for the Cuyahoga County Board of Developmental Disabilities, which oversees Stanard Farm and its sister urban farms. “This will really help to make it possible for us to get the kinds of equipment and facilities we need to move ahead with our program.”
The new ag education center features 4,000 square feet of office and training space. It is named for Dr. Terrence M. Ryan, recently-retired superintendent of the Cuyahoga County Board of Developmental Disabilities, who championed the vision of an agricultural training and employment initiative serving people with developmental disabilities. Over the past three years, Ryan’s dream has blossomed into eight urban farms, four of them in Cleveland, and four in the suburbs, encompassing a total of 40 acres. Stanard Farm, formerly home to an elementary school, now includes a 1.1 acre urban farm and 15,500-square foot greenhouse.
Holt-Robertson shared that the manufacturing sector, formerly a primary source of jobs for the developmentally disabled, now had many fewer jobs for their clients than in the past due to outsourcing and technology. As a result, she said, “We came to the conclusion we needed to become very innovative” in creating new opportunities. In addition to creating jobs for the farms’ employees, the urban farms also tap the strong demand for locally-grown food and transform unused urban landscape into beautiful, productive land. The Ohio State University Extension—Cuyahoga County has partnered with the urban farms to provide on-site technical assistance and cutting-edge, research-based information on agricultural practices.
Later this summer, as a part of the new Ryan Center, Stanard Farm will open a 3,500-square-foot Food Innovation Center, a commercial kitchen where employees will add value to their own crops through all aspects of food processing, including thermal processing, dehydration, dry goods packaging, baking and cooking. Product lines featuring items like jams, sauces, salsa, kale chips, packaged herbs and prepared foods will provide additional opportunities for employees.
Employee Amy Kleinman has worked at Stanard Farm for two years, and among other things, sells produce at the Lakeside Farmer’s Market. She says her favorite part of the job is interacting with the customers.
“When I wake up, I can’t wait to go to work,” said Kleinman, who loves working at the center. “I feel so supported. It’s a safe environment, a place where I can be myself.”
David Benavides is Farm Credit Mid-America’s regional vice president for North Central Ohio and was the liaison between the Stanard Farm project and the company’s grant process. A Cleveland native himself, Benavides was excited to be a part of the project.
“Cleveland is a leading city in the urban farming concept and it’s great to see the positive initiatives happening there,” he said. “Farm Credit likes to help with projects connected with agriculture, which this is, it’s just a different kind of agriculture. It feels good to be able to help with something that’s revitalizing the city, providing nutritious food, and helping those with disabilities.”
About Farm Credit Mid-America
Farm Credit Mid-America is a $19.4 billion financial services cooperative serving more than 96,500 farmers, agribusinesses and rural residents in Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee. The association provides loans for all farm and rural living purposes including real estate, operating, equipment, housing and related services such as crop insurance, and vehicle, equipment and building leases. For more information about Farm Credit, call 1-800-444-FARM or visit them on the web at http://www.e-farmcredit.com.
Randy Barbee, Farm Credit Services of Mid-America, http://e-farmcredit.com, 502-420-3756, [email protected]
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