The Farm and Farm Bus are new programs of the William S. Davies Homeless Shelters in partnership with South Rome Redevelopment Corporation and several other organizations launching in 2019.
In our work to address the root causes of homelessness, three major issues always come up: food insecurity, health, and unemployment. This new program will work to address all three of these issues.
The Shelter has had a successful community garden program for several years. In 2019, we are partnering with South Rome Redevelopment to expand that community garden into a community farm in South Rome. The South Meadows Farm will grow healthy produce for the shelters and provide transitional employment opportunities for several shelter guests.
We will also be launching the Farm Bus, a mobile farmers market two afternoons per week selling produce from our farm and several other local farms. The Farm Bus will provide another transitional employment opportunity for shelter guests, provide income from produce sales, and make fresh produce available in several low income neighborhoods throughout Rome. Through a partnership with Wholesome Wave Georgia, customers with SNAP/EBT will be able to double their food stamp dollars at the Farm Bus.