Rural Campus of Sustainable Living

Who We are

The mission of The Rural Campus of Sustainable Living is to educate communities of color on the benefits of incorporating sustainable practices and rural custom into urban settings. We are seeking support from the community for the implementation of our "Youth Sustainable Leadership Program", and our soon to launch, "Chicago Sustainable Growth Initiative". 

The Youth Sustainable Leadership Program is a delicate blend between STEM, Agri-Tech (Urban Farming), the Arts, and Volunteerism. Our vision for the future includes plans to acquire safe spaces for after-school time programming, aimed at not only keeping children away from violence, but is designed to prepare the next generation to break the epidemic of institutional racism and propagandized "violence-culture" that has led to the genocide of young people of color. To achieve this end, we plan to train young people in historically disadvantaged communities in booming and emerging industries, community urban farming, robotics, multi-media production and business management, and renewable energy architecture, installation, and maintenance (NABCEP Certifications for Solar Installation). 

What We are Doing

Besides our ongoing farmers market, community garden educational programs, and our urban farming capacity building for local organizations that are new to urban farming, we want to tell you a little about a special program we are designing to bring solar-powered urban farming containers to Englewood, West Garfield Park, and Auburn Gresham in 2027. 

With the feedback of members of the communities we intend to service, we have named this project, the Chicago Sustainable Growth Initiative; due to it's likelihood of establishing a duplicable model for addressing lack of after-school time programming, negative health outcomes in communities of color, and the unsustainable dependence of small non-profits on grant funding (capacity for minority ran grassroots organizations). 

Where We Are

We have already acquired 4 of the planned lots of land needed for the first phase of this project (to include the design and manufacture of two sustainable ccontainer units), and the partnerships being developed now are poised to exponentially scale the amount of impact we have plans to accomplish, as well as shortening the amount of time we know it takes to get this right!

What We Are Asking

We ask that you not only support these initiatives with a $10, $25, $50 or $100 (tax deductible) donation TODAY, but we also ask you to check out our website at www.RuralCampus.org, take a look around, and contact us on the contact form, or by sending a message directly to learn@ruralcampus.org. We would love not only your financial support, but the donation of your time, as that is much more valuable. Thank you in advance for considering giving to The Rural Campus, and sharing the message of our plans for children of color, in Chicago, with your friends and family through social media.