Proposed youth urban farming program seeks federal funding through Elyria

ELYRIA — As the city debates how to use federal funds to support community organizations, one group has requested money to help start an innovative community farm to train young people and provide fresh produce in south Elyria. At a City Council committee meeting Monday, city officials presented their proposed budget for how the city should use its federal Community Development Block Grant funds, which the city receives from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The grant money must be used to benefit the development or improvement of low- to moderate-income areas, and one of the ways the city uses the grants is to support community organizations who serve low- and moderate-income residents. While most of the community organizations that requested money have received block grant funding before, one new project was proposed by the Lorain County Community Action Agency. The budget proposed granting LCCAA $9,500 to support "Project Feed," a new program seeking to turn the community garden at Elyria's South Branch Library into a full-fledged community farm worked and run by young residents. Bobby Taylor, the planning and grantsmanship director for LCCAA, was present at the meeting on Monday and provided details on the proposed plan. He said that Project Feed would see the garden turned into a "structured vocational training center" where young residents would work and be trained in urban agriculture. Upon completion of the program, participants will receive $500. The food farmed as a part of the training would provide fresh produce to the residents of south Elyria, who do not have readily walkable access to a grocery store. "(This project) represents a vital investment in both our neighborhoods' physical health and the professional future of our young residents," Taylor said at the meeting. "By transforming the community garden at the South Branch Library into a structured vocational training center, Community Action is addressing the dual challenges of food insecurity and limited economic opportunity for low- and moderate-income families. … This is not merely a gardening project, it is a comprehensive initiative that equips local youth(s) with essential skills in urban agriculture, leadership and professional responsibility." Taylor said that the farm would be run in a partnership with the Lorain County Urban League's Project Ready program and local urban agriculture experts would teach students. "The program provides direct, quantifiable benefits to the residents of south Elyria," he said. "The fresh produce including tomatoes, sweet corn, strawberries and watermelon is available to (low- to moderate-income) households, significantly increasing access to healthy foods in a high-need area." LCCAA requested $10,000 in grant funding from the city, and the budget proposal presented on Monday set aside $9,500 for the project. Almost all of the community organizations that requested money from Elyria's block grants were given the exact same amount under the proposed budget. The city expects to receive $692,349 in CDBG grant funding, but it has received requests for more than $780,000 in funding from a variety of city departments and seven community organizations. Several other community organizations were also slated to receive $9,500 under the new budget, including Neighborhood Alliance, the Salvation Army and the Legal Aid Society. Neighborhood Alliance Director Alicia Foss was at the meeting, and she said that the CDBG money her organization received would be used to support its home-delivered meals for seniors program. The organization's meal delivery program has been around since the 1960s and has grown to deliver more than 4,200 meals every week. In 2025, Foss said, Neighborhood Alliance delivered 215,000 meals throughout the county, many of which were delivered to its 181 clients in Elyria. "In 2026, our numbers are continuing to go up," Foss said. "We get calls every day from people who are looking for home-delivered meals." The Legal Aid Society of Cleveland's Lorain County office, which is based in Elyria, is also seeing increasing demand that it hopes grant funding can help it to better serve. Managing Attorney Jennifer Kinsley Smith said that the grant money that the office receives will be used to represent more Elyria residents in legal cases. Of the 794 Lorain County cases that the Legal Aid Society worked on in 2025, 547 of them were on behalf of Elyria residents. "Our neighbors are facing a growing set of challenges," Smith said on Monday. "Last year, we turned away 1,550 Lorain County callers due to lack of capacity, and we expect that number to only grow." The only community organization which requested grant funding that was not slated to receive $9,500 in the budget was Adopt-A-School, which city officials said should receive $1,500 each for its child and senior enrichment services. Some money in the budget was also set to be used to fund city programs and one capital improvement project: The reconstruction of the West Park Skate Park. Under the proposed budget, the city would provide $170,000 for the construction of a new skate park at West Park. Parks and Recreation Director Carrie Reardon said that estimates for the cost of the new park were very preliminary, but she believed that $700,000 to $800,000 was a reasonable estimate. In addition to the grant funding, she said the city would seek additional funding from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. ODNR has provided funding for two previous projects in West Park. The largest portion of the budget presented on Monday set aside $299,500 that the city would make available to residents to pay for housing rehabilitation projects. It would also use $134,349 to pay for administration costs of dispensing all the funds. The draft budget presented to the joint committee of Community Development and Finance on Monday was not voted on, and will undergo another public hearing before it is, Community Development Director Ashley Scott said. Contact Owen MacMillan at (440) 329-7123 or omacmillan@chroniclet.com.