Support the work

Match what your neighbors are already putting in

Every garden bed, tutoring hour, and leadership session here starts with residents giving time and labor they do not get paid for. Support from outside does not replace that. It multiplies it.

See the ways to give Download the overview

Farmers working the same field together with their tractors.

The matching principle, a century on

The Rosenwald schools were never gifts. Communities put up their own money, land, and labor, and outside partners matched it. That is why those schools belonged to the people who filled them — and it is exactly how we ask you to give here.

Three ways to give

Choose the one that fits you

Gifts of any size go to work in Somerville. Larger gifts and multi-year commitments are best discussed directly, so we can put them where the need is sharpest.

Give online

The fastest way to support a garden site, a learning hub, or a leadership cohort.

Make a gift

Give by check

Preferred for larger gifts, church and civic offerings, and matching commitments.

Make checks payable to Resource Development Empowerment Associates. Email us for the current mailing address and we will send it the same day.

Request the address

Give in kind

Seed, tools, lumber, soil, printing, meeting space, transportation, or professional hours.

Land is the gift we are asked about least and need most. A vacant lot or an unused acre becomes a garden site for a whole neighborhood.

Offer goods or land

About your gift. Resource Development Empowerment Associates will confirm in writing how your contribution is received and acknowledged, including its tax treatment, at the time you give. If your employer offers matching, tell us and we will provide whatever documentation they require.

Where it goes

What your support underwrites

No overhead-heavy programming and no borrowed models. These are the line items that actually move the work forward.

A garden site for a seasonSoil, seed, fencing, water, tools, and the workshops that teach neighbors to use them.

A learning hubTutoring and literacy help after school, in a space students can actually get to.

A leadership cohortCivic education, know-your-rights training, and mentorship pairing seasoned leaders with rising ones.

Green-trade skillsHorticulture and market-garden training that turns a season of volunteering into work that pays.

Beyond a check

Other ways to partner

Some of the most useful things a business or congregation can give have nothing to do with money.

Hire or mentor a graduate Open a door for someone who finished a program and is ready to work.
Host a hub or a meeting A room on a weekday evening is a learning hub waiting to happen.
Lead a matching campaign Put up a match and let neighbors unlock it, the way this has always worked.
Join an advisory board Bring your trade, your books, your law, or your pulpit to the table.
Bring your congregation A church that adopts a garden day feeds more than the people who show up.

A community room set up with display banners for partners and neighbors.

Partner resources

Take the overview with you

The same presentation we bring to schools, churches, and boardrooms — tailored to who is in the room. Share it with a committee, a class, or a colleague who asks what this is.

Leaders & business The case for partnership, sponsorship, and hiring. PDF Young adults Skills, mentorship, and building a life here. PDF High school Service hours, leadership, and what comes next. PDF Middle school Gardens, learning hubs, and finding your voice. PDF

Start the conversation

Tell us how you want to give

Send a note and a real person will write back with next steps — the mailing address, the giving link, a site visit, or a time to talk through a matching campaign.

Emailinfo@rdeassociates.org
Where we workSomerville · Fayette County, Tennessee
Checks payable toResource Development Empowerment Associates