Green Arrow CoLab is growing!

Green Arrow Co-Lab provides an alternative and progressive juvenile justice solution that helps individuals connect to nature, build confidence, and explore their passions.

What a transformation!

Our first project was at the Anti-Recidivism Coalition's (ARC) re-entry residence on Tongva land, (aka Koreatown, Los Angeles). Working with young men living at the ARC residence, we have designed, built, and planted a garden of vegetables, herbs, fruits, and pollinator plants to revive this piece of land.

Over the past year Green Arrow CoLab has gone from an idea on paper to a physical space engaging with previously incarcerated young people.

Your seeds of confidence and support have helped us get this far.

But there is more to come!

We have recently begun undertaking new project partnerships:

2 new locations coming in Los Angeles

1 new project launching in Pasadena

Sites interested in Santa Barbara and Santa Fe, New Mexico!

These new projects will allow us to multiply our work and strengthen our model in working with at-risk young people.

To achieve our bigger vision, we are actively developing a Healing Center for intensive healing and transformation that could act as a reentry facility, diversion program, or alternative for incarceration. We envision our Healing Center providing space for youth and young adults to heal, recover from trauma, find a connection to themselves and the world around them and engage with the healing power of nature.

Why do we teach gardening?

“Gardening is a metaphor for healing. How we care about the garden is a way of learning how to care for ourselves. Once people can change their inner landscape and the stories they tell themselves, they can tell new stories and become the change they want.” - Founder, Casey Massimino

ARC and re-entry homes like it serve people coming home from incarceration who want a community that will support their change and success. We recognize that most system-involved youth have had disruption in their life - education, relationships, and may not have had "normal" childhood and young adult experiences. Some likely have experienced trauma - emotional, psychological, or physical - both before and during their time inside. A re-entry home gives them a safe landing where their basic needs are met and they have an opportunity to grow, discover what they are passionate about, and create a more sustainable life for themselves.

Because of these realities we have created a very intentional curriculum for our program that includes discussions about race, racial theory, decolonization, transformative justice, and indigenizing. The program teaches trauma healing techniques engaging with breath, movement, and sound exercises to facilitate self-confidence and emotional balance. Instructors also integrate art and writing, classes about the environment, sustainability, culinary skills and recipes, and how to care for plants that will feed your body, mind, and soul.

The garden is the center of all of this work.

“One of the most important resources that a garden makes available for use is the gardener's own body. A garden gives the body the dignity of working in its own support. It is a way of rejoining the human race.” - Wendell Berry

How does the program work?

Participants are identified by site managers and come to the program for a year. We focus first on storytelling, so young people become centered in their own narrative, and then relationship building as they grow as a team, and finally transformation with a grounded base of skills to plan and see their accomplishments.

As part of our commitment in building self-efficacy and sustainable communities, the young people that participate in this program receive a stipend for their continued commitment to the program’s mindfulness work and upkeep of the garden.

There is a monthly Garden Ambassador of one of the participants who volunteers to care for the compost and the plants. This teaches responsibility, financial management, and a sense of pride and accomplishment.

Our core program includes key components to address internal skillsets needed for reentry and success including:

Various trauma healing modalities
Sustainable and regenerative agriculture practices
Passion exploration and job training
Leadership development
1:1 Case Management and group healing circles
Outside business partnerships for job placement

Just as the garden is built with their own hands, our hope is that participants can experience growth and connectedness in a way that many haven’t been able to in their recent past.

Our goal for young people participating include:

75% graduation rate of the 1yr program
100% of participants report a positive self-change based on at least 3 self-identified goals
75% of participants remain free of future involvement with the justice system, within two years of participation in the program

How can you help?

Los Angeles County spends over $100,000/year to incarcerate a single young person - let's invest in a healing alternative!

We need partners! In the coming year we aim to:

Develop 3-4 more project sites for a total of 40-50 young people in our programming
Expand the number of gardening beds at the ARC home and recruit more participants
Start our other two Los Angeles projects, tripling our work and reach into the targeted population
Secure funding for mindfulness instructors and garden design experts to assist in the project work at both sites
Secure funding for the project director, to head up work at both sites
Secure funding for our executive director
Develop partnership with other programs across the country to multiple our ability to help young people in need of healing

Your support can help drive our success forward and compliment the funding we are pursuing through grants and contracts.

Help support these young people in the transformation of themselves and the land! Your contribution is vital for our program to flourish and expand!

Image: Raul González, Ricardo Estrada, and Joséph “Nuke” Montalvo, Conoce Tus Raices (2009), 60‘ x 20‘, at Ramona Gardens Housing Project, Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, CA.

Thank you! We Appreciate You and Your Support.

- The Green Arrow Team

Frequently Asked Questions/Things You Might Wonder:

Who is Anti-Recidivism Coalition?

The Anti-Recidivism Coalition (ARC) works to end mass incarceration in California. To ensure our communities are safe, healthy, and whole, ARC empowers formerly and currently incarcerated people to thrive by providing a support network, comprehensive reentry services, and opportunities to advocate for policy change. Through our grassroots policy advocacy, we are dedicated to transforming the criminal justice system so that it is more just and equitable for all people. Learn more about ARC!

What are you going to grow?

This program and the development of the garden is led by the youth. Our first classes focused on storytelling, relationship building, and observing the area that we will be transforming and what plants could grow there. The students are now working on designing the garden (raised beds, how many, how big, what shape, what materials) and deciding what they want to grow. They will also understand the power and importance of pollinator plants, healing herbs, compost and more!

Is my donation tax-deducible?

Why yes it is! Green Arrow CoLab is a registered 501(c)(3) located in Los Angeles, CA. Your donation is tax deductible to the extent of the law. A tax receipt will be provided to you upon request. Tax ID #84-2135390

Do I have to donate monthly?

Monthly donations help ensure the ongoing success of our program and future programs. It also helps us budget. That being said, you can certainly do a one-time donation!

I have other questions - who can I talk to?

Feel free to email our founder, Casey at casey@greenarrowcolab.org and she will be happy to talk with you!

I want to volunteer, offer a service, or help in another way - who can I talk to?

So excited and can't wait to meet you! Please email Casey at casey@greenarrowcolab.org and let us know how you want to help!

Green Arrow Has A Garden!

Help us create FIVE GARDENS!

Team Members