Scripps seniors Adrian Hodos and Hannah Segal and their entry, “The CIW Prison Garden Project,” have been selected as one of ten finalists in the Mountain Dew ‘Energize Your Community’ Contest — and they need your votes to win.
Five $10,000 grants will be awarded to youth-driven projects that seek to help their communities operating within five major themes as directed by the contest. Projects must be youth led and driven, cultivate tangible results, focus on a specific problem within their community, strive towards a lasting change in the community, utilize a creative approach or idea and celebrate diversity. The grants are given based on the number of votes each project receives, so be sure to vote at www.energizeyourcommunity.com.
In addition to Hodos and Segal, Cassandra Gamm ’11 and Halley Everall ’10 were key organizers for the project, and more than 15 Scripps students have been actively involved.
The CIW Prison Garden Project blossomed from the interactions between the 5-C Criminal Justice Network and the California Institution for Women, located about 35 minutes away from The Claremont Colleges. After discovering that the women there had limited access to healthy food and appropriate exercise, the women of the Criminal Justice Network took it upon themselves to help these women and developed the Garden Project, which they see as both a practical and therapeutic space. Not only will the garden introduce fresh fruits and vegetables into the women’s diets, but the act of gardening and the finished garden will provide a restorative and therapeutic place for these women, over 75% of whom have experienced physical and sexual abuse, with only 25% receiving any therapy.