Dorris Community Garden

Through the establishment of the Dorris Community Garden, the City of Dorris will be able to grow economically by providing a self-sustaining environment for community members. The Community Garden in Dorris started off as an idea that slowly progressed into a goal that would not only benefit all diverse groups within the community, but would create a welcoming environment for the lower and middle class families in Dorris.

Through our Community Garden, we seek to promote entrepreneurship and provide food resources by increasing the availability of fresh produce, as well as developing educational opportunities for children within the community. In order to facilitate entrepreneur opportunities, we plan to install three green houses that will be available for lease. Community members will be able to harvest their first year, allowing them to apply for further assistance through the National Resources Conservation Service. While also providing some benefits to the community, we plan on creating jobs related to keeping the community garden to standard. We find this to be crucial since in the City of Dorris the average annual household income, according to the U.S Census is $49,857. In addition to being a desert town, residents of Dorris who live in rural northern California have to travel twenty minutes north to Southern Oregon for fresh produce. This not only affects our local economy by increasing prices, but creates a disadvantage on many families by making them spend hundreds in travel costs and store bought produce.

 A Community Garden in Dorris would reduce the stress on many families and provide healthy and fresh produce. The Garden would be at a walkable distance offering our community members vegetables of their choice, while creating a healthy and safe environment for community members and their families. With the success of the community garden, produce will be distributed through Pantry drives that will be held once a month, to help families within the community.

The existence of the Community Garden alone provides a space for community members to learn and create together. We plan to expand this educational journey by providing a space for summer programs to use and teach kids a little more about this self-sustaining environment. Not only will this expand young minds, this will introduce them to new career pathways. This Community Garden is the essence that draws our community together and will create opportunities for our community. By providing these services to the community, our community will be prosperous and will create a beneficial environment for future generations.