As an emerging, volunteer-run community organization, the Collective’s principal short- and longterm goals are:
1. to implement an evidence-based educational model serving young children and their “villages,” which we define as the entire network of relatives and friends who help raise children by sharing in knowledge, providing enriching life experiences and giving emotional and mental support, especially during transitional or difficult periods. We envision the Collective as a place where families from Hyde Park, Woodlawn and the greater South Side can find support and build community regardless of where they live, who they are, or what differences exist among them.
3. to sustainably build and operate an indoor/outdoor Community House and Farm site in Woodlawn that will serve as the hub of the Collective’s early childhood, youth and family programming. The Collective implements a State-standards compliant, emergent, project-based applied fine arts, music and urban agriculture curriculum that emphasizes early literacy and math and develops social-emotional skill and resilience, while strengthening each child’s connection to Chicago and its culture and natural resources.
2. to create a safe, developmentally appropriate green space where children and their families can reap the abundant therapeutic benefits of gardening, augmented by the physiological benefits of an organic plant-based diet. While the Collective does not espouse one particular modality of health and wellness, educators at the Collective seek to affirm and enrich children’s earliest wellness experiences by growing, tending, eating and cooking with fresh produce as part of the Collective’s own nature-based early childhood curriculum.
4. to build connections with diverse stakeholders across the Chicago area with a dedicated focus on primary and secondary education, community reinvestment, sustainable urban planning and economic literacy. By participating with teachers and parents in the Collective’s environmental stewardship program and nature-based curriculum, children are engaged with their neighborhood, its challenges and its beauty in a hands-on, experiential way. The Collective’s educators strive to build trust and mutual respect among children and adults by creating many opportunities for group-based learning and reflection.
5. integrate a series of local applied fine art and music residencies into the Collective’s educational team and strategy, providing a space for local talent to develop while forging a connection between teaching artists and young children where each can share their productions and creative process.
