WHAT WE DO
Our primary Urban Agriculture activity, Sankofa Community Garden, has its roots in the growing urban farming and agriculture movement. This 8-week community-focused gardening program exposes 6-15 year old youth to all aspects of organic gardening and urban agriculture while providing education and an opportunity for physical activity. The garden provides an environment for hands-on, interactive, guided instruction to participating youth while also making garden plots available to community residents. Resident plots may be use for planting crops or as a commemorative flower garden.
Sankofa Community Garden is used in conjunction with our Food Champions and Health and Nutrition program series. Sankofa Community Garden grew out of the urban farming and agriculture movement. It is an 8-week “teaching and learning” program which exposes youth 6-15 years to all aspects of organic gardening and urban agriculture while also providing an opportunity for physical activity.
Urban Agriculture
Culture Enrichment
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Cultural Enrichment programs are offered throughout the year to highlight contemporary and traditional cultural events which celebrate individual and historical contributions. Programs are designed to increase exposure to culture while increasing consciousness relevant to the significance of culture and tolerance among diverse ethnic groups. They include Celebration of Kwanzaa, Juneteenth, and a series of Black History Month programs and activities.
Health and Wellness
The goal of Health and Wellness Promotion is to produce healthier communities, provide accurate health related information, encourage preventative health screenings, and reduce health disparities. Health and Wellness Promotion programs targets children, youth and adults with an emphasis on the benefits of food produced without the utilization of pesticides, understanding nutritional information on food label, and caloric intake.
Programs are designed to promote healthier diet and eating habits, regular exercise and improved physical fitness. The programs include: (1) a six-week series of one-hour sessions for 6-15 year olds in our Developing Healthy Youth: Food Champions program, (2) a series of six (6) one-hour weekly sessions conducted twice a year for Seniors, (3) an all age, annual “Take Your Loved One for a Checkup” health fair featuring a full range of preventative health screenings and information, and (4) a Health Promotion series covering a variety of health and nutrition related topics.
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Collaborations
As a volunteer-driven, community-based organization, all FOROT initiatives, programs, and activities are developed and supported by partnerships, collaborations, and/or cooperative efforts based on the principle of collective work and responsibility. We routinely engage a number of educational, health and human service, cultural arts, community-based and non-profit organizations. Each of these partners serves a predominantly African American constituency including large numbers of low income families.
The Michigan and Greater Detroit Associations of Black Social Workers, the Institute for Population Health, Detroit Black Community Food Security Network, Royal Oak Township Recreation Center, Royal Oak Township Library, Pearl-Wright Senior Center, and Optimist International-Oak Park & Royal Oak Township are among FOROT's community partners.