"What advice would you give to someone just starting out in community development or asset-based work?”  It's Wednesday, August 6th. Evening is descending on the home base of New City Neighbors, the youth development organization I lead in northeast Grand Rapids....

The students are asked to take a look around them by one of their facilitators. They are asked, "What community assets do you see right here on this block?" I'm standing on a triangular city block in the Creston neighborhood of Grand Rapids. The triangle is formed...

The nonprofit New City Neighbors has achieved its goal of acquiring a parcel of land in Grand Rapids’ Creston neighborhood to expand local urban farming operations.

…if we are going to grow farmers, we need to go beyond youth employment. Our hope for the Ball property is that it will serve as a training center, equipping passionate, talented, hard-working youth and young adults with the skills to benefit their community through small-scale farming.