As part of our Partner Spotlight Series, The Food Trust had the opportunity to sit down for a conversation with Dawn Wilkerson and Patrick Rushing from A New Dawn Inc. A New Dawn is a grassroots, community-based organization located in the Mill Creek-Parkside section of West Philadelphia. Their mission is to reduce community violence by building capacity, fostering resilience, and supporting families by providing information, education, and promoting engagement among community members. Key focus areas include:
Gardening & Agriculture: Teaching sustainable practices and community preservation.
Youth Development: Building skills and offering stress relief through practical learning.
Community Engagement: Creating safe, shared spaces for food security and neighborhood beautification.
Environmental Impact: Promoting sustainability practices to enhance neighborhood vitality.
A New Dawn’s youth programs are centered around addressing stress and trauma through mentorship, hands-on learning in gardening and agriculture, and the maintenance of our community garden and greenhouse. By empowering youth, they aim to rehabilitate and prepare them to preserve public safety and neighborhood vitality.
To these ends, A New Dawn offers a variety of programs aimed at fostering community growth, resilience and education, including Hydroponics and Soil-Free Farming, Nutrition Education/Cooking Classes, Technology Integration (incorporating AI and drone technology in farming to modernize traditional agricultural practices), Financial Literacy, and other wellness related programming like yoga.
Here’s just one success story of many that Dawn and Patrick were happy to share with us:
“One of our most successful initiatives was a nutrition class held at the Lucien E. Blackwell Community Center. We enrolled 20 students from diverse backgrounds to enhance their understanding of healthy eating while also improving their literacy skills. The program, led by a nutritionist and educational specialist, successfully bridged the gap between everyday language and academic excellence by incorporating SAT vocabulary into the curriculum.
The class was so well-received that many students returned for subsequent programs. The SAT instructor involved has since developed a separate program, continuing to promote literacy alongside nutritional education.”
The Food Trust has been excited to partner directly with A New Dawn in a number of ways, such as connecting them with opportunities to vend their produce at markets, providing promotional support through the Nutrition Navigator, and utilizing their networks as a method to distribute Food Bucks to the community.
In addition to the wealth of programming currently offered, Dawn and Patrick are always looking to the future. Prospective new programs include:
Aquaponics Classes: We plan to offer hands-on learning experiences that combine fish farming with plant growing in water, creating a symbiotic environment.
Expansion of Farmers Market Offerings: We aim to sell fresh fish, such as tilapia, alongside our produce, further enhancing our market’s offerings.
Technology in Agriculture: We will continue to integrate advanced technologies like AI and drones, helping participants learn how to apply these tools in modern farming.
Dawn and Patrick are also particularly interested in acquiring a building or lot to expand their aquaponics system, not just for educational purposes but also to develop a more comprehensive system. The Food Trust and A New Dawn have also discussed a potential new mode of partnership in arranging Sunday field trip to the Headhouse Market, offering a guided tour and introduction to our vendors to give participants a firsthand experience of the market environment.
The Food Trust looks forward to such new partnerships with A New Dawn, as well as simply continuing to watch this vibrant organization grow and serve the community!