Wednesday 7th May 2008
In association with Transition Town Totnes
Venue: St John’s Church, Totnes (please note venue)
8pm
Entrance: £4*
Cathrine Sneed: Originally from a suburb outside of Newark, New Jersey, Cathrine came to California in the early 1970’s. She enrolled in law school and took classes with a professor named Michael Hennessey, who would soon become Sheriff of San Francisco and ask Cathrine to join his staff in 1980. Cathrine decided to leave law school and take a job as a counselor at the San Francisco County Jail.
In 1982, after a life threatening illness, Cathrine decided to begin a gardening program at the jail. Taking her inspiration from John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, Cathrine sought to give the prisoners hope in their own ability for personal growth by giving them a sense of purpose and connectedness. Prisoners grew organic vegetables and donated them to soup kitchens. While the program thrived, in 1992, Cathrine saw the need for a post-release program. So began The Garden Project. The mission of The Garden Project is to offer structure and support to former offenders and at risk youth through job training in gardening, counseling, and assistance in continuing education. Over 4,000 former prisoners have gone through the program.
Cathrine and her work have been featured in The New York Times, The Economist, The Chicago Tribune, The Los Angeles Times, US News and World Report, and The San Francisco Chronicle, among other publications, and the A&E Channel’s “Uncommon Americans” and the Lifetime Channel. Cathrine has spoken across the country and has been honored with such awards as the National Caring Award, the Hero for the Earth, and the National Foundation for the Improvement of Justice Award.
Cathrine will be joined by Christian Taylor from South Devon Community Supported Farming who will talk about what has been going on locally to prepare the ground for what is now an exciting possibility of Community Supported Agriculture.
Each month some of the tutors from our Short Course programme kindly share their knowledge and views at our regular public Open Evenings – usually held at the College or in Totnes.
On the day? Call 01803 865934 to confirm the latest details.
This open evening is held in association with the following Schumacher College short course: Reconnecting with Nature as Healer
*Please note the new price of our Open Evenings as of April 2008
