12 Apr Keystone Mission in Scranton Starts “Seeds of Hope”

Contributed by Taylor Whartnaby, FOX56

Scranton, PA – Homelessness continues to be a concern within many communities, and not just in big cities.

Finding food, gaining work skills, or even a hobby when homeless can be a big challenge.

Keystone Mission in Scranton has created “Seeds of Hope”, as a community initiative, using their backyard to plant, grow, and harvest fresh fruits and vegetables.

“In order to make improvements in solving homelessness, we have to get everyone involved, and this is kind of a light-hearted way to get everyone involved, that benefits the community and homeless individuals in this area,” said Lasha Wyman-Klein, Program Director at Keystone mission in Scranton.

“It helps cultivate skills that make them more employable, community inclusion, that’s a big thing we strive for here is dignity first, we look to make every homeless individual feel like they are part of this community because they are, and that’s what this garden will do for them,” she said.

Danielle Keith-Alexandre, CEO and Executive Director of Keystone Mission in Scranton sees firsthand that homelessness is at an all-time high.

“We are seeing individuals from various backgrounds that are homeless. Some have lost their jobs, we’re seeing families, individuals who are divorced, we’re seeing individuals who do not have the support from their families or loved ones, but don’t have access to a lot of things that are needed,” said Danielle Keith-Alexandre, CEO and Executive Director.

Danielle says efforts are being made to combat it, but believes the best way is to come together.

This will provide a way for that to happen and a chance for members of the community to get to know each other through gardening.

“I’m standing in the space. We have three beds already, of course, it’s not good weather to clean up anything yet, but we’re going to add more beds and make sure we have flowers and vegetables, we’re looking forward to the upcoming meeting, come out and join us,” she said.

A meeting will be held on April 26th at 2 pm, here at Keystone Mission in Scranton, to organize and implement the “Seeds of Hope” program.

Keystone Mission Guests will be responsible for the ongoing garden maintenance throughout the season.