Taproot Collective

Our Roots

Founded in 2017, Taproot Collective is a nonprofit organization with the mission to design and implement successful models of resilient local food systems. We partner with youth and families through collaborative partnerships and educational programs to ensure equitable access to resources.

Our vision is a city filled with thriving neighborhoods where youth and families have equitable access to healthy local food, dignified housing, and educational opportunities. We operate with the guiding values of stewardship, integrity, justice, cultural humility, equity, excellence. These principles are central to everything we do.

Team

Taproot is a collection of teachers, community leaders, volunteers and social advocates, all of whom found themselves united in the common goal of employing the vast resources here in Rochester to implement accessible, sustainable and regenerative food systems. We are currently looking to expand our nonprofit board. If you are interested in joining our team, please contact us at info@taprootcollective.org.

Individual board members are expected to:

  • know the organization’s mission, policies, programs, and needs
  • follow the organization’s bylaws, policies, and board resolutions
  • prepare for, attend, and conscientiously participate in monthly board meetings
  • faithfully read and understand the organization’s financial statements
  • participate fully in one or more programs or committees
  • serve as active advocates and ambassadors for the organization
  • give a meaningful personal donation (money or time)
  • maintain confidentiality about all internal matters of the organization

As the highest leadership body of the organization and to satisfy its fiduciary duties, the board is responsible for:

  • determining the mission and purposes of the organization
  • strategic and organizational planning
  • ensuring strong fiduciary oversight and financial management
  • fundraising and resource development
  • approving and monitoring the organization’s programs and services
  • enhancing the organization’s public image
  • assessing its own performance as the governing body of the organization
  • selecting and evaluating the performance of the chief executive (if applicable)
Stephanie

Stephanie Benway

Board Member

Stephanie is an ecological landscape designer and educator. She earned a degree in Anthropology from SUNY Geneseo and developed her passion for the environment while doing archaeology fieldwork from 2007-2014. After completing a Permaculture Design Certification from Permaculture Kauai in 2014 she returned to her hometown of Rochester, NY to add her efforts to the fight for a sustainable future.

Leslie

Leslie Knox

Board Member

Leslie is an alumna of the Simon Graduate School of Business with over a decade long background in varied social work areas. She is currently working with Americorp through Connected Communities in the Beechwood neighborhood to enhance the community and urban farm outreach services of St. Mark's and St John's Church. With her creative approach to resource use, development and problem solving she is continuing to make the world a better place, little blittle.

Lauren

Lauren Caruso

Board Chair

Lauren is an educator, community activist, and urban homesteader in the 19th Ward neighborhood. She facilitates community-engaged teaching and learning with faculty, students, and partners at the University of Rochester. She holds degrees in sociology, organizational management, and public policy. Lauren enjoys making things and giving thanks with friends, neighbors, and family.

Amber

Amber Powers

Board Member

Amber is a passionate supporter of the environmental justice movement in Rochester, NY. She holds degrees in Urban Planning from the University at Buffalo and Teaching English as a New Language (ENL) from Nazareth and received a Fulbright Scholarship to work in Nepal from 2011-2012. She works as an ENL teacher and registrar for the Rochester City School District. At home, she is an avid gardener and composter.

Chris

Christina Cretelle

Board Treasurer

Chris, a champion of nonprofit business development, leverages fiscal policy to maximize impact. She has a process approach to her work that leaves a lasting impact on organizations she gets involved with. Her passion is to compel the next generation to make meaningful changes in their community through responsible, effective fiscal . She has an MBA in Entrepreneurship from Rochester Institute of Technology. In addition to Taproot, she serves on the Board of Directors at the Flower City Arts Center.

Lisa

Lisa Zeller

Board Secretary

Lisa is a Rochester City School District middle school science teacher who co-facilitates a student-run community school garden in the Marketview Heights neighborhood. An advocate for young people, she works on our team as an educational consultant in multiple settings. She is also currently working towards her doctoral degree in education at the University of Rochester and hopes to conduct research and program evaluation work for various urban agriculture projects in the Rochester community in the future.

Programs & Services

Taproot Collective offers expertise in a variety of areas related to urban agriculture, youth leadership, and neighborhood development. Our consulting services are available on a sliding scale to community groups, educational and religious institutions, individuals, and socially-conscious businesses

  • Urban ecological landscape design
  • Curriculum development (youth and adult)
  • Fundraising, grant writing, and grant management
  • Facilitation of community-led comprehensive planning
  • Youth and adult leadership development

First Market Farm

Taproot Collective has partnered with multiple local organizations to create a unique urban homestead, First Market Farm. Located on the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and First Street, a stone's throw from the Rochester public market, First Market Farm is a collaborative project that increases long-term access to locally-grown food, provides safe community growing spaces, and offers seed to table educational programs for families facing food insecurity. The farm, now under construction, will include more than 4,500 square feet of garden space designed to maximize food production and community educational opportunities. The garden will be installed in time for the 2018 growing season.

Taproot Collective is actively searching for community volunteers and youth leaders to continue to foster First Market Farm’s growth and expansion. If you are interested in learning more about the project or becoming involved, visit Taproot's Facebook page or email us at info@taprootcollective.org.

Partners

Taproot is grateful for the collaborative relationship we have with community groups and institutions that share our vision for Rochester:

Get Involed

Our volunteers make magic happen! We are so grateful for the many volunteers with diverse skill sets and unique experiences who allow our programs and mission to work every day.

If you are interested in volunteering with Taproot Collective, check out some of our community work opportunities on our Facebook events page.

Specific volunteer roles needed:

  • Gardeners (all skill levels)
  • Educators fluent in Arabic, Spanish, and Nepali
  • Community artists

News & Events

FMFEmma

First Market Farm Harvest Party

Come join us for an afternoon of food, music, games, and fun at our farm at 20 First Street, right across the street from the public market. Help celebrate the harvest from our first growing season at the farm and tour our newly built greenhouse. The party starts at 12:00 on Saturday, October 13th. All are welcome!

D&C Worms

Democrat and Chronicle:

Simple Compost System Turns Food Scraps into Rich Soil

By Patti Singer
Photos: Shawn Dowd
A simple step-by-step introduction to setting up an at-home vermicomposting system.

First Market Farm This Way

Open Mic Rochester

Taproot Collective Gears Up for Busy Summer Months

By Alyssa Pressler
Photos: Tianna Mañón
"With a Foodlink grant and a lot of passion, Taproot Collective is getting ready for a busy summer developing the First Market Farm in Rochester..."

URnews

UR Words from Wallis Hall

Students Recognized for Community-Engaged Learning

By Richard Feldman
"...Held at the Phillis Wheatley Community Library, the event showcased posters the students made to explain their capstone projects. The final projects demonstrated the power of integrated learning and ranged from creating a new style guide for a local organization that is creating sustainable solutions for healthy food resources, to developing manuals for a nonprofit that provides housing and is working to end homelessness...."

A Farm Grows

City Newspaper

A farm grows near the Public Market

By Jeremy Moule
Photos: Ryan Williamson
"But ultimately, Taproot hopes to demonstrate what residential-scale gardens can accomplish, to encourage people to grow food and ornamental plants in their neighborhoods, and to help their neighbors reap the community-building benefits of urban agriculture, Powers and Knox say."

garlic

City Newspaper

Planting the Seed: Urban Farms are Providing Food and Hope in Rochester

By Jeremy Moule
Photos: Kevin Fuller
"...Urban agriculture, it turns out, is also a powerful tool for strengthening neighborhoods. Community gardens can develop into neighborhood anchors, places where people can gather, says Powers, who worked in urban planning before becoming a teacher. The gardens stitch communities together, she says, which in turn helps people better advocate for their neighborhoods..."

Contact

We want to hear from you! Fill out this contact form or email us at info@taprootcollective.org.