DONATE
Your gift creates for a better tomorrow.
Rooted Emergence is a fiscally sponsored project of Inquiring Systems, Inc. EIN: 94-2524840
Rooted Emergence (RE) is a BIPOC-led, land-based not-for-profit agriculture, education, and wellness learning center with multiple locations across the globe. RE’s focus is to address socio-economic disparities and the growing effects of climate change; create food security and combat mental health and psychosocial disorders in young adults and children with youth education reform.
​
We do this by providing access for inner-city youth to the natural world, raise awareness about surviving the current climate crisis, and help to bridge the disparities between communities.
Founded in 2021, Rooted Emergence is a fiscally-sponsored project of Inquiring Systems Inc., a 501c3 organization based in California. The Rooted Emergence (RE) Project is a BIPOC-led, 20-acre off-grid homestead located in New York, NY with plans to expand operations and replicate the project model in areas across the globe – namely Costa Rica, and Zimbabwe. The RE Project uses six pillars to holistically address disparities within underserved communities in New York: farming and ecology, nutrition, building, movement, self-development, and community service. New York is a prime location for this project, as upstate areas like Hudson Valley are burgeoning in regenerative agriculture and making great strides in preparing youth for a sustainable future. [Source: Glynwood Center for Regional Food and Farming].
Mission
The Rooted Emergence Project’s mission is to address socioeconomic disparities, the growing effects of climate change, food insecurity, and reverberating effects like mental and psychological disorders affecting our youth in underserved communities. Unbelievably, 145,000 New Yorkers aged 12-17 have depression, while 1 in 6 U.S. youth aged 6-17 experience a mental health disorder each year [Source: National Alliance on Mental Illness].
​
The RE project’s work focuses on three primary areas: the intersection of community, ecology, and food justice to relieve dependency on unsustainable, existing systems.
First, we build community in underserved areas – we establish a foundation of cooperation and communal living with youth experiencing great financial and health disparities. Then, through ecology and climate science – we help them re-establish the relationship with nature, biodiversity and self-sustaining systems to foster well-being. Finally, we introduce regenerative farming and permaculture design education to them to establish food justice in these underserved communities. The operating budget is $552,000 for Phase I of this project, which will be funded through grants and private sector contributions.
Why
“As NYC residents, we constantly see the economic, educational, and nutritional hardships in our community. With that said, we’ve emphasized the intersection of personal and planetary well-being in our project’s core processes: internal value development and skill-building that helps young adults to navigate nature and society more effectively – like a symbiotic process of building a bridge between inner-city youth and the natural world. Currently, the food production systems in place, including animal slaughter, contribute to critical issues like mass deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions that are both unsustainable and unviable amid our global crisis. Further – in the recent pandemic, local BIPOC communities worldwide suffered tremendously and scrounged for scarce resources [Source: Mental Health America].
RE’s board, staff and affiliates plan to unite to create a scalable, land-based model that involves crop growth and distribution, which assists our local communities and ecosystems to work towards sustainability and long-term healing. The combination of RE board’s shared work experiences and expertise will encourage personal growth and reflection amongst BIPOC youth through guided activities, wellness exercises, skills training and more to build shared, communal connections that accelerate the change we want to see in society.” — RE’s Executive Staff
Impact
By funding this project, you will be able to help create a foundation for healthy, self-sustainable communities within the inner-city New York area, which will stifle the cycle of food insecurity and health issues. Our Impact? The RE project will provide sustainable farming to 20-30 BIPOC, inner city youth and adults in underserved communities where food scarcities exist within New York over the course of one year. Further, we expect to plant a minimum of 90 food producing plants (harvest 75%) and build a minimum of 3 structures, while training these BIPOC youth to maintain the agriculture through regenerative farming. Beyond the direct impact, the reverberating effects of this project lie in the rehabilitation and healing of our children, creation of cash flow and real estate value – all while benefiting the planet and species around our community.
Our programs and activities will flow with the development of our project and will include but not limited to:
