Announcement
Gardeners harvesting corn at one New Roots' six garden sites around Charlottesville
Photo: IRC
New Roots Charlottesville works with refugees and New Americans in support of their health, community connections and household economics through agriculture and food initiatives. Over the past 10 years, New Roots has become the largest non-profit-managed community gardening network in the Charlottesville area. Our programs include community gardens, urban agriculture and small-business development, nutrition education, and other wellness and educational activities.
New Roots programs directly impact the food security of 150 newly arriving refugees and 85 gardeners each year. IRC is an active member of the Charlottesville Food Justice Network and collaborates with many local food access partners.
Gardeners grow a variety of culturally appropriate fresh produce including long beans (pictured above), bitter melon, and pumpkin shoots.
Photo: IRC
What We Do
Community Gardens
New Roots currently supports 85 community gardeners cultivating a total of four acres on 6 properties throughout Charlottesville and Albemarle County.
Our largest community garden is located across Moore’s Creek from Azalea Park. This 8-acre property supports more than half of the IRC’s gardeners, who cultivate nearly 3 acres of land on this site alone.
If you are interested in applying for a plot or have questions about our community gardening program, please reach out to [email protected]! The annual plot application process begins in February.
Micro-Producer Program
In 2014, the New Roots team in Charlottesville launched a dedicated Micro-Producer Academy to support refugee farmers in developing their own small-scale agricultural enterprises. To-date, the Academy has trained a total of 23 participants and hosts 8 active growers. Each Micro-Producer sells their produce into wholesale and/or direct-to-consumer markets, including restaurants, farmers’ markets, and non-profit fresh food distribution programs.
Micro-Producers sell produce and flowers at IX Farmers' Market
Photo: Terry Allan/IRC
Support New Roots
Volunteer with IRC Charlottesville!
The IRC offers volunteer positions throughout the year. You can see open volunteer positions here.
Recurring volunteers must complete IRC’s formal orientation process, consisting of filling out the volunteer application and attending an orientation. Reach out to [email protected] if you are interested in volunteering with us, and fill out the volunteer application!
Attend Farm Workdays
New Roots hosts several volunteer days per month during the growing season (April through November). Workdays typically take place on weekends and weekday evenings. New Roots volunteers offer hands-on help with gardening and site maintenance, ranging from planting, painting, mulching, or fixing fences.
Recurring volunteers must complete IRC’s formal volunteer onboarding process by submitting a volunteer application and attending an orientation. Please fill out the volunteer application below to get started.
Current volunteers are notified of workdays via our biweekly newsletter. Subscribe to our newsletter.
Donate
Your donation to the IRC in Charlottesville works to provide New Roots Farm with resources to better help its gardener! Donate here.
At a recent workday, volunteer garden stewards prepare several garden bed for planting.
Photo: IRC
Contact Us
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International Rescue Committee in Charlottesville
609 East Market St, Suite 104
Charlottesville, VA 22902
(434) 979-7772
[email protected]