Campus & Community Policy, Community & Environmental Justice, Education & Awareness

I would like to set up a place for those who "age" out of foster care that provides living accommodations and life skills training that use the principles of Permaculture as a guide. I envision finding & repurposing a vacant building complex in an urban setting (specifically St. Louis, MO), developing a training program that taps into the local community for education, reaching out to other organizations for support, with the end goal of "graduating" responsible, trainable citizens who can give back to their community. 

St. Louis, MO
United States

I "discovered" foster care when I was a teenager doing my Senior Service project. I chose to work with behaviorally-challenged teenagers, most of whom had grown up in foster care and became too much to handle. Later in life, I learned that foster care ends at some age and after that, those kids are on their own. I learned about Permaculture as a young adult, and for some reason, I immediately thought of this project. I saw Permaculture as a sustainable solution to aging out of foster care with no support, no skills, often inadequate education, and often with nowhere to turn. Permaculture offers a structure for addressing this issue well because it takes all aspects into consideration and stresses the interconnectedness of everything. We know that the challenges these kids face often cause them to turn to crime or life on the streets to survive, which leads to a lower quality of life for everyone & everything in the community. However, if provided with a path to productive adulthood, these kids could become assets to their communities instead.

permaculture, foster care, sustainable living