Mission

The mission of Community Greenhouse Partners is to grow and plant Urban Farmers.

We are a sustainable urban farm that applies ecological design principles and engages community participation to grow wholesome food year-round, improving personal health while generating training, mentoring and employment opportunities.

The CGP Vision:

•  Our most valuable assets are our people and our customers.

•  Agriculture is the key to a sustainable future.

•  We reach out to our neighbors and help them by helping themselves.

•  We create a better future through education and training.

•  We respect the community and the environment.

•  We insist upon integrity and responsiveness in all our interactions with constituents.

 

In order to meet this mission CGP will develop programs that combine earth, food, employment, self-worth, education and opportunity into a replicable sustainable system that benefits both the individual as well as the community. These programs will be based on the following values:

•  A valued, sustainable community is one that integrates human capital into a balanced ecosystem.

•  Changes to the environment must be considered in context of their impact on the next seven generations.

•  Changing the dynamics of a community begins with opportunity and creating the tools to achieve it.

•  A healthy community is one that provides for the whole person.

•  Respect for the individual, community and the environment must be integrated into all our actions.

•  Our actions and accomplishments will be measured by our impact on the individual, the community and the environment.

 

Commercial Greenhouse Enterprise

CGP will operate a large-scale commercial greenhouse complex year-round wherein CGP will raise thousands of pounds of vegetables and fish for sale via the Visiting Nurse Association and City Fresh networks and operate a market to bring fresh food into the St. Clair Superior Neighborhood, an area recognized as a “food desert” due to the lack of stores selling fresh food within a reasonable distance. Approximately 60% to 70% of our output will be distributed through the VNA and City Fresh, while the remainder will be sold on-site and to area restaurants.

•  CGP will hire and train at least 15 local residents and pay them a living wage with full benefits. CGP will generate approximately $1 million in taxable wages and $2.5 million in sales revenue annually

•  The CGP will implement sustainable practices such as composting and on-site, renewable energy generation toward a goal of operating off-the-grid.

•  Through the organization’s extensive education program, middle school and high school students will learn about sustainable, commercial greenhouse practices and acquire the skills necessary to pursue employment and further education in this sector. They will also receive school science credits.

•  CGP will build a community kitchen that will teach cooking skills with the goal of increasing nutrition levels in urban households, and offer local gardeners and farmers the opportunity to create value-added products from their crops.

•  Using the kitchen, CGP will also operate as an aggregator of crops for area gardens and urban farms, helping market gardeners expand their marketability, offering training on season extension and yield maximization and opening opportunities for insertion into larger area markets.

•  CGP will also assist area market gardeners in accessing and utilizing economic development grants from the City of Cleveland designed to create micro-businesses.

•  Our ultimate goal is an effective business model that will serve as a template for other cities and communities in the U.S. that would like to replicate our commercial greenhouse initiative.