WYOMING, Mich. — A community garden that has served Wyoming students for over a decade is being forced to scale back its educational programming due to federal budget cuts affecting food assistance programs.
H.O.P.E Gardens, which stands for 'Helping Other People Eat' is a nonprofit organization that operates in the Wyoming neighborhood.
The group will reduce its school visits from eight times per year to just four after losing a significant portion of its funding from SNAP-Ed, a federal program that provides funding for nutrition education.
"We have to actually cut back on the amount of students we see in the amount of times we get to see the students. We were seeing the students eight times a year," Julie Brunson said.
Brunson, the executive director of H.O.P.E Gardens, said the organization has been helping students learn about food production and nutrition for more than 10 years. The garden serves as a hub for students throughout the area, with produce used to supplement school gardens.
"We do year-round programming, and this particular school, the produce here is used to help supplement the school gardens that we have. We have school gardens on site," Brunson said.
The nonprofit works with 14 schools, with 13 located in Wyoming, reaching approximately 2,600 students annually.
The program focuses on bringing together students from all backgrounds through gardening and food education.
"It doesn't matter your socioeconomic status, it doesn't matter your culture. When people come together and grow, the barriers drop down," Brunson said.
The programming is particularly important for families facing food insecurity.
"A lot of our community members, especially our families, are food insecure, or they're snap beneficiaries. I thought it was like 90% of the people that we help. (receive snap beneficiaries)" said, Liberty Mason, Lead Gardener and Educator at H.O.P.E Gardens.
The funding cuts come at a time when the need for food assistance and education is growing. Recent federal budget legislation reduced funding for various food assistance programs, including SNAP-Ed, which provides about one-third of Hope Gardens' funding.
Brunson understands the challenges families face with food costs, drawing from her own experience growing up in a single-parent household of seven children who relied on assistance programs.
"My mom was a single mom of seven. I'm the youngest seven. She did an awesome job providing for us. We did. We were on assistance, and she fed us well. But we all know, even now the price of fruits and vegetables," Brunson said.
Despite the setbacks, Brunson remains committed to serving the Wyoming community.
"We're growing relationships and growing community, and you can't walk away. You don't walk away from family, not you know, so Wyoming's our family," Brunson said.
Brunson hopes federal funding for food assistance programs will be restored so Hope Gardens and similar nonprofits can continue their educational mission throughout the state.
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