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Impact in the Community

Since 2008, Hope Blooms has had a measurable impact on the community of North End Halifax in food security, community confidence and inclusion, and education.

Hope BloomsImpact in the Community

Empowering youth to be actively engaged in building environments that impact their communities

Thanksgiving community dinner at Hope Blooms

Food Security

  • Over the past 15 years youth have grown over 60,000 pounds of organic vegetables and fruit for community members dealing with food insecurity, all free of charge.
  • Each week, we run a culinary program, Elders community lunch and youth program snacks, all with ingredients from our own gardens.
  • We have 1 acre of land on the South Shore where we run camps with our youth, as well as grow additional food for our community members and programming.
  • The youth manage our inner city garden and are able to take fresh veggies and fruit home to their families over the course of the entire summer.
  • Hope Blooms held more than 100 food literacy /cooking skills training workshops, 12 community suppers, and more than 500 free soup-meals deliveries to seniors in the community in 2020.

A community member waters plants with her infant

Community Confidence & Inclusion

In 2016, Dalhousie School of Health Promotion conducted research to measure impact through the lens of the youth parent (s)/ guardians:

  • 100% of respondents said they believe having a plot in Hope Blooms garden has increased their ability to provide healthy food for their families.
  • 99% felt a greater sense of belonging in their community since participating in the Hope Blooms garden and programs.
  • 92% indicated that their level of community involvement has improved since joining the garden.
  • We now have 375 youth (in-person and virtual), more than 100 families, and seniors from diverse ethnicities across the province (including 20 newcomer families from Syria) that volunteer, and grow food, relationships, and community.
  • We share our commercial kitchen, free of charge, with new members of our community, and some have even begun selling their products in our annual farmers market. Our youth leaders have mentored them in social entrepreneurship and customer engagement skills.

Hope Blooms Kolade Boboye graduates from Citadel High

Education

  • In June 2016, our first Hope Blooms member, Mamadou Wade, graduated from high school. He received an $8,000 Hope Blooms scholarship, through sales of our dressings, and won the $70,000 TD Community Leadership Scholarship award. Mamadou graduated from the University of Toronto with a degree in Business in April of 2020, and currently works for the BBI.
  • Since 2016, 21 youth have become alumni, with all pursuing some form of education or joining the workforce after high school, with 90% of them being the first in their families to do so.
  • Kayleigh Bowes was a 2022 recipient of the Loran Award, a Canadian scholarship valued at $100 000 for her dedication to community work and leadership qualities.
  • In September 2023, 3 youth will be starting their post-secondary journeys, and 10 of our alumni will be continuing theirs. $64 000 will be given out between the 13 youth, the highest amount given out to date. ALL of this money is raised with your help from the profits of our fresh herb salad dressings.
  • All of the youth who come through our programming learn invaluable life skills throughout their time with us. Culinary skills, gardening skills, knowledge about green energy, entrepreneurial skills, public speaking skills and many many more. Education is all aspects of life is at our core.

Our Journey to Net Zero

Since day one we have been as gentle and loving to our environment as we can. We want to leave this world better than it was. More than a program, together we are creating a lifestyle for children, youth, and caregivers who are a part of the Hope Blooms family.

What does it mean to be net zero? The amount of greenhouse gas that we produce and the amount of gas that is removed is even, in other words:  We are offsetting the emissions we produce with the green space and the technology that we are implementing at Hope Blooms and the community we serve.

This community that has historically been marginalized, and usually left out of conversations when being disproportionally affected by the climate crisis. We want to disrupt this cycle by being climate stewards and creating a clean technology hub run by youth. 

Ways we are doing it: 

  • Our 10,000 sq. ft  garden soaks up CO2 and releases oxygen back into the air. 
  • We have been farming organically from the beginning. Composting all of our food waste and bringing it back to the gardens through innovative methods such as Bokashi Composting.
  • Off-the-grid Greenhouse that won the Lieutenant Governor’s Awards for Excellence Design in 2018
  • Solar Powered Aquaponic system designed by youth at Hope Blooms, combining raising fish in tanks (recirculating aquaculture) with soilless plant culture. With this we teach the nitrogen cycle and how the fish waste can be used as to help grow produce. 
  • Outdoor Labs with Solar Awnings. With wifi hotspot, wireless phone chargers, seating areas to gather in the garden, and photosensitive outdoor lights.
  • In our Green Labs Program  we focus on experiential science, environmental stewardship, renewable energies, and health in an outdoor setting.  The program seeks to inspire the next generation of clean energy leaders
  • Coming in 2024, our Global Kitchen for Social Change will be 100% powered by a Solar Tracker!