International Rescue Committee
Founded in 1933 at the suggestion of Albert Einstein, the IRC is the oldest and largest private nonsectarian voluntary agency dedicated to assisting refugees and victims of oppression and violent conflict. The San Diego office opened in 1975 in response to the influx of Vietnamese refugees into the area. Since then, the office has resettled over 20,000 individuals and established a comprehensive array of ancillary programs and services to augment the resettlement process. IRC San Diego assists clients in a variety of activities from renting a home and finding a job to financial literacy and micro-enterprise assistance.
In 2005, IRC San Diego launched a Food Security and Community Health Program- the first of its kind for IRC - to directly address the health and nutrition disparities often experienced by refugees. In addition to operating a school garden program, emergency food pantry, fledgling urban farm project, and nutrition education program, IRC has initiated a variety of community-based advocacy initiatives aimed at increasing access to land for food production and improving access to fresh fruits and vegetables in the City Heights neighborhood.
In the foodshed mapping initiative, the IRC will focus on food security and land access/equity issues in our dense urban core. The research findings will be summarized in a GIS map so that we can begin to strategize improvements to the overall function of our food system.
This research/intern opportunity will also include involvement in a specific advocacy effort to establish an urban farm within San Diego’s densest urban community. For the last 18 months, IRC has been working with the City of San Diego Development Department, Parks and Rec Department and Real Estate Assets Department to obtain access to a 2.3 acre vacant lot to develop as a community farm. The application process was Kafkaesque - expensive and totally inaccessible. We were recently awarded a three-year Right of Entry permit for the site and will groundbreak on the New Roots Community Farm in September.
Our ambitions for the project, however, stretch longer than 3 years and beyond 2.2 acres. Therefore, in the next 6 months we will be developing a New Roots Farm Implementation Plan that:
* Outlines a new, more accessible land use policy for urban agriculture projects in the City of San Diego;
* Solidifies the New Roots Farm as a permanent park; and
* Lays the groundwork for additional community farms and gardens throughout San Diego.
We will be partnering with City Council District 7 to draft this Plan and are scheduled to present the policy aspects to the Land Use and Housing Sub-committee beginning in late-October. An Urban Studies intern would be directly involved in the creation of this plan and its evolution toward City Council. They would also be involved in the mobilization of partner organizations and community members to support our policy recommendations.
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