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2008 Social Innovator

ReVision Urban Farm

Social Issue Track: Nonprofit Business Ventures

Sponsored by: Fund for Philanthropy and Education

In 1993, ReVision Urban Farm was launched in the Franklin Field neighborhood of Dorchester, Mass.

The one-acre farm functions both as a center for productive work and meaningful community engagement and a supplier of healthy, naturally grown produce.

Homeless women who live at the ReVision House shelter gain job-readiness skills by working side-by-side with volunteers from Dorchester and surrounding communities to grow produce and bring it to market.

Produce from the farm is prepared for shelter meals, given to local residents in need, and sold to customers. Through a combination of revenue from grants, donations, and food sales, ReVision Urban Farm, a Victory Programs' Social Enterprise, is able to sustain its job-readiness training, volunteer, and community benefit programs.

Social Problem:

• About 30,000 people, incuding 10,500 famillies with children, move thourgh the state's system of homeless shelters every year


• Both homeless famillies and low-income populations have difficulty obtaining sufficient food and maintaining a healthy diet


• The rate of hunger in low income communities is six times higher than the statewide average, and the food that is available and consumed there can often lead to obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol, asthma, and hypertension

Key Accomplishments & Social Impact:

• Served more than 760, young homeless families since its inception


• Since 2007, grew more than 5,000 pounds of produce, donated more than 1,300 pounds and sold more than 16,000 pounds, generating $32,000 in sales


• Each year, ReVision Urban Farm provides volunteer opportunities to more than 400 Boston-area schoolchildren and resident

Two-Year Goals:

• Improve ReVision Urban Farm and launch New Rrban Farm


• Develop a formal vocational training program with multiple tracks (growing, food retail, culinary arts, kitchen skills, etc.) for shelter residents


• Triple the pounds of produce to 16,000 a year, the pounds of produce donated to ~4,000 a year, and the pounds of produce sold to 56,000+ a year, earning more than $122,000

Matthew Kochka

Urban Farm Manager