This April, we join with people around the globe to commemorate Autism Awareness Month. To do our part, we are happy to announce Green Bridge Growers’ Open House on Wednesday, April 2 on the occasion of World Autism Day at the Hannah and Friends greenhouse (51250 Hollyhock Road, South Bend).  Please join us between the hours of 12-2 and 6-8 on April 2 to see our work in action.  Great things are growing at Green Bridge Growers!

World Autism Day was first declared by the United Nations seven years ago. Here are the powerful words of the current United Nations Secretary, General Ban Ki-moon, to mark the 2014 commemoration:

“This year’s World Autism Awareness Day is a chance to celebrate the creative minds of people on the autism spectrum, and to renew our pledge to help them realize their great potential.

To measure the success of our societies, we should examine how well those with different abilities, including persons with autism, are integrated as full and valued members.

Education and employment are key. Schools connect children to their communities. Jobs connect adults to their societies.

Persons with autism deserve to walk the same path.

By including children with different learning abilities in mainstream and specialized schools, we can change attitudes and promote respect.

By creating suitable jobs for adults with autism, we integrate them into society.

At this time of economic constraint, governments should continue to invest in services that benefit persons with autism.

When we empower them, we benefit current and future generations.

Tragically, in many parts of the world, these individuals are denied their fundamental human rights. They battle discrimination and exclusion. Even in places where their rights are secured, too often they still have to fight for basic services.

World Autism Awareness Day is about more than generating understanding; it is a call to action. I urge all concerned to take part in fostering progress by supporting education programmes, employment opportunities and other measures that help realize our shared vision of a more inclusive world.”

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We couldn’t agree more with Secretary Ban Ki-moon.  Awareness is the first step in moving forward for those in our communities with autism. We’re taking the Secretary’s words to heart along with so many others around the globe to educate and take action to benefit our loved ones with autism right in our own community. Won’t you join us in this mission?

It’s been a long, cold winter here in northwest Indiana. We are now thawing out, and the piles of snow that surrounded our greenhouse at Hannah and Friends just weeks ago have finally dwindled.  All the coming signs of spring bring new energy and a sense of growth to our team.

In the meantime, we’ve been busy building on the great success of our crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo that ended right before the holidays.  The way our supporters rallied so generously is nothing short of a modern-day barnraising. And in this age of amazing connectivity, those who rallied to help came from as close as our local community of South Bend to as far away as Ireland and China.  What hope that gives us as we continue to develop our mission of growing delicious, local food while creating skill-matched jobs for those with autism!

Even though the winter has been long and cold, we’ve been in constant motion. Our method of growing, aquaponics, allows us to farm throughout the year – and farming is very much a year-round job in any case!   We've kept planting and growing through the whole winter, testing new varieties of vegetables and researching new growing methods. Mint, chives, bok choy, and swiss chard are all flourishing in the pleasantly warm surroundings inside our prototype greenhouse.

We're delighted to share that we're now in the process of  researching and investigating sites where we’ll build our first commercial aquaponics greenhouse. We have a great team exploring options for us – our Chamber of Commerce, commercial realtors, and city government officials.  As we spring forward into a new season and a new phase for our venture, we’re excited to share even more updates of all that’s growing at Green Bridge Growers – our plants, our people, and our next-stage greenhouse!