Urban Roots

Enjoy the farm, food, and community!⁠
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We invite our community to connect with us at our annual Summer Open House Series - our family-friendly kick-off event for Summer! ☀️⁠
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These are free events and opportunity to connect with youth leaders in our Summer Farm Program, try something they created in the kitchen , and hear about what they're learning on and off the farm!⁠
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Enjoy delicious lite bites featuring Urban Roots vegetables prepared by these youth leaders working with some of Austin's best chefs. ⁠
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📅 There are three dates to choose from:⁠
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• June 12 – Rick Lopez of La Condesa⁠
• June 26 – Peter Klein of Holiday⁠
• July 3 – Francisco Alejandro of Sway⁠
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⏰ 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.⁠
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📍 Urban Roots South Farm | 4711 Winnebago Lane, Austin, TX 78744⁠
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We can't wait to host you the farm 🌱

https://urbanrootsatx.org/2026-open-houses/

We’re excited to share some big news about the future of Urban Roots 🌱

Urban Roots has been selected to receive funding from Travis County, Texas - Government through Raising Travis County, a voter-approved initiative expanding access to after-school and summer programs for youth across Travis County.

This investment will allow us to grow from serving primarily high school youth to creating opportunities for children and teens in grades 2–12 — reaching nearly 300 youth and families through farm- and food-based programs focused on leadership, belonging, and social-emotional growth.

At Urban Roots, our farms are more than growing spaces. They are classrooms where young people build confidence, connection, resilience, and community while growing food for their neighbors.

With this support, we’ll be able to:
🌿 Expand free and low-cost youth programming
🥕 Provide meals, snacks, and transportation
🤝 Strengthen trauma-informed support for youth
🌎 Grow more opportunities for young people to connect with the land, themselves, and their community

This moment reflects years of hard work, partnership, and belief in what young people are capable of when they are given meaningful opportunities to grow.

Thank you to every youth participant, volunteer, donor, partner, staff member, and community supporter who helped make this possible. This is just the beginning 💚

Photo by Summer Cosman

At Urban Roots, our farm is a classroom. 🌱 While growing food is one lesson, the learning goes much deeper.

Youth in our programs practice the social and emotional skills that shape who they become — managing feelings, building healthy relationships, acting with integrity, and leading with empathy.

In our Advanced Leadership Internship (ALI), youth host an intergenerational luncheon where they cook a seasonal meal, develop conversation starters, and gather around the table with community elders. But it’s more than just a meal.

Before the event, they share their own food stories with one another — favorite family recipes, first dishes they learned to cook, memories tied to culture and identity. They practice vulnerability. They practice listening. They practice connection.

What starts as small talk grows into real conversation, laughter, and shared wisdom. Because leadership isn’t just about speaking — it’s about listening, understanding, and valuing every voice at the table.

This Amplify Austin, your gift helps create more moments like this — where youth grow confidence, deepen self-awareness, and build meaningful relationships across generations.

Amplify youth. Amplify connection. Amplify community.

https://www.amplifyatx.org/organizations/urban-roots-atx

Sometimes, the most important work on the farm happens when we aren’t moving at all. 🌿

This Amplify Austin, we’re highlighting the unique ways high school youth grow through our farm-based leadership programs, starting with our Summer Farm Program where they learn to build a relationship with the land.

The ways we begin to practice this is through the “Farm Sit.”
This exercise is simple but powerful! Youth independently explore the farm, focusing on their senses. They then find a spot that feels meaningful and sit for ten minutes. This allows them to practice slowing down, being curious, and noticing the small details that usually go unseen. ✨

When they gather back together, the farm has been transformed, and truly feels like a classroom. Youth reflect on their feelings, build self-awareness, and develop a sense of compassion for the space where they will grow together. 🥕

By giving our youth the space to introduce themselves to the land on their own terms, we set the foundation for them to become confident, conscious leaders.

As one alumni shared:
“I really love the community that it’s built for me and that it’s built around this group of people. I also really love the environment, just being outdoors and in the greenery. It’s been a great experience.”

On Amplify Austin Day, your gift ensures that youth in our community have the opportunity to build the skills they need to lead in the future.

https://www.amplifyatx.org/organizations/urban-roots-atx

I Live Here I Give Here

Today is Giving Tuesday, a day when people come together to support the causes shaping a better tomorrow. At Urban Roots that work happens every day on our farms where young people grow into the leaders our community needs.

This year Giving Tuesday carries even greater meaning.

Last month, we shared a vulnerable moment in our organization’s history, and your response has been incredible. Your encouragement and generosity remind us why this work matters now more than ever.

❤️ Today your gift goes twice as far thanks to a $40,000 matching gift from Love, Tito’s. This support helps us Grow Tomorrow, Together.

Your Giving Tuesday contribution keeps our youth leadership programs active during a critical moment. It nourishes Central Texas families and protects the future of our farms and services.

This is what Growing Tomorrow, Together looks like: people showing up, believing in young leaders, and investing in a community where everyone can thrive.

Will you make a gift that goes twice as far?

https://givebutter.com/wYMd7J