Bryant McGill, a New York Times bestselling author and Nobel Prize nominee, once said, “One of the most radical and revolutionary things you can do is grow your own food and eat from the land.”
Communities all over the world and across our nation are following suit; the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations reports 800 million people practice urban agriculture globally. Some of the benefits are obvious: Low-income families who grow their own food save money on groceries, co-operative farming efforts address issues of food access in some of the most vulnerable communities and more fruits and vegetables in turn lead to better eating and a healthier population.
In Indianapolis, the Felege-Hiywot Center takes all of that one step further by planting seeds not only for sustenance, but also planting seeds of empowerment in the lives of the next generation.
Felege-Hiywot, founded in 2004 in Martindale-Brightwood, is the brainchild of retired Eli Lilly chemist Aster Bekele. The center, which has its roots in gardening and environmental preservation, offers several programs for area high school students, African immigrants and refugees, and second-generation Ethiopian children. The Youth Farm initiative, in particular, employs students in grades 9–12 during the summer and the academic school year.
Yodit Kibrom, Felege’s youth program director, said the center’s impact goes well beyond what most would expect.
With the Youth Farm, students are tasked with growing, harvesting and selling what’s produced.
“This teaches the youth entrepreneurial skills,” said Kibrom. “We ask the kids how much it all should be sold for. They do their research on (what) other markets charge and then come back with what our price should be.”
While all students are welcome, Kibrom said there is a special affinity for those who live in Felege’s own backyard. “When they are working in the farm and then harvesting and selling it, they feel like, ‘I’m contributing to my community. I’m helping people get fed.’”
She also shared her own personal testimony of Felege-Hiywot’s influence.
“Aster knew me when I was in my mom’s stomach,” laughed Kibrom, whose family emigrated from Ethiopia before she was born.
She said Bekele not only helped her mother with prenatal care, but also helped Kibrom gain her footing after a transitional period in her young adult life.
“I did two years of college in Bloomington, and I was struggling with myself,” said Kibrom. “You know when you turn 18, it’s like that, ‘I’m 18 and grown’ kind of mentality. That hindered me, so I stopped going to school, I worked odd jobs and I went and traveled to Ethiopia.” She says the experience humbled her. In 2014, she came back to Felege-Hiywot looking to volunteer. Bekele did her one better and offered her a job.
“I was working 40-plus hours a week. It didn’t feel like work, it was fun,” she said. “It’s put education back into my life. I’m at IUPUI now getting an accounting degree.”
When asked how many other youth have been impacted by the center, Kibrom said the number is at least 1,000. When one takes into account the mouths fed by the fruit of the land surrounding the modest home located at 1648 Sheldon St., which serves as the center’s headquarters, or the families impacted by their charitable efforts, that number is easily multiplied.
“Aster always taught us about the importance of Martindale-Brightwood,” Kibrom said. “It has such rich history. It has gone through not-so-great phases, like a lot of other places. But before that, they were amazing vibrant neighborhoods.”
Two years ago, 46218 was named the city’s most violent ZIP code. Last week, tragedy struck close to home, as Bekele’s son, 40-year-old Senteayehou Henry, was found dead in his home about 3 miles from Felege-Hiywot.
Even in instances of paralyzing grief and pain, the roots that ground this organization remain strong and immovable.
Each Saturday from 10 a.m.–2 p.m., neighbors can visit the center’s market to purchase tomatoes, greens, corn, watermelons, herbs and other items. Currently, some of Felege’s students, as part of the Northeast Corridor Youth Council, have partnered with KIB (Keep Indianapolis Beautiful) and the Design Bank to construct a public space near the intersection of Carolina and Roosevelt streets. The area will be used for community gardening and informal gatherings.
“I think that what we’re doing at the center is bringing some vibrancy. We hope that with us that we’re affecting something, so that when people walk past, they see something colorful,” said Kibrom. “Sometimes people’s lives can be so black and white. They see so much of the news, so much death, and then they see us. People slow down or they stop and get out of their cars and they say, ‘Your garden is so pretty.’ And then drive away, but that makes us smile.
“I hope that with us and other people in the neighborhood we can change the narrative to something closer to what it was before, maybe even better.”
For more information on Felege-Hiywot, visit fhcenter.org.
