Located in South Providence, Rhode Island, Southside Community Land Trust (SCLT) is committed to the belief that city dwellers are entitled to a healthy environment. SCLT's community gardens produce food and the opportunity for better nutrition and greater self sufficiency. These gardens provide open and healthy urban space, transform blighted vacant lots, and offer recreation to individuals and to families. SCLT's educational programs work to link critical urban environmental issues, such as lead poisoning, water conservation, open space preservation, and community development, with agriculture. Above all, Southside Community Land Trust exists as a place where members of the community can learn to rediscover their relationship with nature and with each other.
In 1981 the Southside Community Land Trust was created to help the residents of South Providence grow their own food. Debbie Schimberg, the founder and first executive director of SCLT, moved to south Providence after graduating from Brown University. She noticed a lot of abandoned houses and empty lots and worried that residents would eventually be compelled to leave due to gentrification.
At the time, the community was experiencing the first of many immigration waves from Southeast Asia and Central and South America, and many African-American transplants from the southern U.S. had moved to the neighborhood. This diverse group had something in common—many were experienced subsistence farmers who had grown up in a farming culture. "I thought that if we put those two things together—the vacant land and the experienced farmers—it would be a neat way for people to use the land productively," Debbie explains.
Fast forward 25 years. Among its accomplishments, SCLT has turned approximately five acres of formerly vacant lots into community gardens, expanded its farm operation to 50 preserved acres in Cranston, established the Broad Street Farmer's Market, and developed a successful Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program. Along the way, SCLT has grown, donated and sold hundreds of pounds of organic produce, helped 15 schools start their own gardens and garden clubs, hosted countless numbers of young people at City Farm's Children's Garden, educated volunteers about urban environmental and local food issues, and assisted in the start-up of seven new minority-owned farm businesses.
No special restrictions unless otherwise specified.
Copyright is in the public domain unless otherwise specified. We reserve the right to restrict reproduction of materials due to preservation concerns.
Southside Community Land Trust records, 2009-02, Rhode Island State Archives.
The Southside Community Land Trust records consist of a wide variety of materials relating to the activities of the Southside Community Land Trust. The records consist primarily of meeting minutes, correspondence, publicity materials, newspaper clippings, reports and site plans. Among the many unique items that can be found in this collection are copies of the curriculum and lesson plans used by SCLT staff members to teach workshops in schools and youth organizations throughout Providence on various environmental topics including ecoliteracy. The records represent a valuable resource for those researching the history of the Southside Community Land Trust and community gardening in Rhode Island.
The collection is arranged into the following series:
Gift of the Southside Community Land Trust in January 2009.
Includes reports and copies of Board of Director meeting minutes.
Includes planning notes, meeting minutes, press releases, mailings, postings, list of plants and list of seeds for sale.
Includes market reports, correspondence and budget. Also includes marketing plan, pre-market planning and urban market documents.
Includes correspondence, preliminary request, activity reports, invoices, budget and subgrantee agreement.
Includes membership and event mailings, correspondence, committee goals, fund-raising plans, project outlines and financial status report. Also includes information related to the Earth Day grant.
Includes correspondence, project analysis, cash flow statement and sales agreement, deposit receipt, purchase and sales agreement and appraisal report.
Includes master plan proposal and master contract. Several site plans that were filed as part of the master plan proposal are stored in Oversize. Also includes Includes meeting minutes, original signed agreement, memos, correspondence, site plans, cooperative agreement, correspondence, impact grant application, request for proposals notice.
Includes brochure, Providence Journal Special Section, correspondence, notes, photographs, sketches (Oversize), memos, publicity materials, questionnaire and contact list. Also includes volunteer sign-up sheets, receipts, preparation notes, publicity materials and exhibit sketches (Map folder).
Includes evaluations, records of fishguts project, financial records, Growing Women’s Power Youth Internship recruitment materials, Healthy Soil, Healthy Food proposal narrative, planning materials, press materials, project syllabus and goals.
Includes notice of sale, garden info, contract, garden reports, city farm workshops, gardener lists, gardener surveys, greenhouse, properties, photographs of SCLT gardeners, site improvement plan, site plans and water costs.
Includes financial documents, reports, meeting agendas and minutes, reports, memorandums and correspondence.
Includes Harvest Festival Flyers translations, newspaper clippings, membership packet samples, member brochure, Urban Agriculture Workshop Series brochure, membership drive flyers and appeal letters.
Includes membership materials, annual appeal, brochure development, Seeds of Imagination, sponsorships, newsletter development, plant sale, garden gala, Potters map and fundraising.
Includes correspondence, internship descriptions, Providence College Service Volunteers Evaluation, satisfaction surveys and work-study plans.
Includes correspondence, schematic floorplan, financial documents, notes and display materials.
Includes Providence Arbor Day and Arbor Day Foundation correspondence and press releases, environmental education news articles and workshop information related to the Providence School Department City Farm visit.
Includes documents related to SCLT and Providence schools, greenbox, greenlinks and copies of the SCLT newsletter Southside Green.
Includes meeting agendas, meeting minutes, strategic plan and budget.
Includes land lease, Town of Johnston Zoning Board of Review application, CSA, biodoesel, survey plans and ASTM data sheets, building permit application and zoning board application papers.
Includes the ABC's of Youth Club Garden booklet, budget, internship listings, correspondence, youth garden grants, children's garden and Kid's Garden Club materials.