Greens Do Good Partners with BCC to Serve Neurodiverse Youth and Adults and Provide Consultative Services on Hydroponic Farming
Hackensack, NJ— Greens Do Good, a hydroponic vertical farm providing meaningful job training and employment to teens and adults with autism, is proud to announce its partnership with Bergen Community College on the New Jersey “NextGen Farm to Table Education, Employment, and Career Pathway” project. The collaboration aims to advance opportunities for diverse student populations, including neurodiverse youth and adults, in the fields of food, agriculture, natural resources, and human sciences (FANH).
The federal government recently awarded Bergen Community College a five-year, $4.5 million grant to help contribute to the growth of FANH professionals. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) “From Learning to Leading: Cultivating the Next Generation of Diverse Food and Agriculture Professionals Program” sought proposals from colleges that would create pathways to employment in FANH fields, while prioritizing the selection of institutions that serve diverse student populations.
Among the initiatives, the college will create a farm to table pipeline of food grown at Bergen Community College. Through this partnership, Greens Do Good will collaborate with the college to expand and enhance program offerings. In addition to providing consultative services on hydroponic farming, Greens Do Good will focus on supporting neurodiverse individuals, offering Workforce Development coordination, job training, and mentorship.
PJ Ricatto, Principal Investigator of the NextGen For Sustainable Farming grant, and Professor of Chemistry, at Bergen Community College, stated, “We are very excited about partnering with Greens Do Good on our new USDA NextGen project; their expertise in vertical farming and workforce development for our neurodiverse population will help us create a diverse next generation of food and agriculture scientists, producers, engineers and logistics professionals.”
Chantelle Walker, CEO of REED Autism Services, explained, “We are honored that Bergen Community College chose to engage our expertise in hydroponic farming, as well as training and employing people on the autism spectrum. We are dedicated to expanding services to neurodiverse youth and adults, ultimately creating sustainable and scalable opportunities for individuals to thrive in the workforce.”
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Greens Do Good is a 501c3 non-profit organization and part of the REED Autism Services family of programs currently operating as a 3,000 square foot vertical farm located in Hackensack, NJ, growing a variety of lettuces, microgreens, and herbs sold retail, wholesale and direct to consumer. Since its inception in 2019, Greens Do Good has built a robust customer base of country clubs,restaurants and local markets and has grown its workforce development training program for teens ages 16-21 from 4 students to over 50 autistic students from 12 public and private school districts from three counties.
