By RayJaun Stelly, The Seattle Medium
Nurturing Roots, a Seattle-based community farming program that focuses on food education and environmental justice, may have to find a new home.
According to Nyema Clark, founder of Nurturing Roots, the owner of the property, Bethany United Church of Christ, is not renewing their lease and Nurturing Roots must vacate the property by this Friday, March 31, 2023. With Nurturing Roots’ lease set to end, the organization is fighting to remain on the property located in South Seattle where they have been bringing healthy food and education services to underserved families since 2016.
The organization recently held a rally on March 19 to garner community support after receiving a letter on March 1, 2023, stating that their current lease would not be renewed.
According to Clark, the organization’s intentions were to remain on the property and they had even offered to buy the property last year.
“March 1st, we got that letter, it broke me to hear that news or to read that document,” said Clark in an interview with The Seattle Medium. “We’re asking a lot of questions and scrambling right now trying to figure out how do we do this and at least get the church to reconsider.”
In response to inquires from The Seattle Medium about the situation, Rev. Angela Ying of Bethany United Church of Christ said that “Nurturing Roots is not being evicted.” According to Ying, Nurturing Roots has been on the Bethany Campus under a lease with three other non-profit entities. The lease for all entities is set to expire on March 31, 2023, and the other tenants have informed Bethany that they are not renewing their joint lease with Nurturing Roots.
“We were surprised Nurturing Roots did not inform Bethany United Church of Christ of its interest to renew 90 days before the expiration of its lease, as legally required by their lease,” said Ying. “Bethany has moved forward in building community with other justice organizations for the greater good. The church is also in need of our church buildings and property as we expand our youth and adults ministries.”
According to Clark, Nurturing Roots has developed a strong connection to the property, and because of the nature of their program, it’s not easy for them to just pick up and move.
Olivia Quarels, program manager for Nurturing Roots, says that the organization has enhanced the property, which they claim was overgrown when their lease began, including the planting of nutrient-rich soil, installing a pond, a large stage, and a 20-foot greenhouse.
When asked how much money the organization has invested in the property at Bethany, Clark responded, “I would say over a million dollars, and we have a lot of volunteers that offer support in sweat equity.”
“We’ve put in a lot of permanent fixes,” added Clark. “As far as materials, we put in brand new rocks in our pond, our entire farm pipes burst, we repaired them, we fixed our roof with a water cistern so we could catch water to water our gardens.”
In March 2022, Nurturing Roots drafted a letter of intent to purchase the property with funding they received from the City of Seattle. However, according to Ying, she and Bethany’s Board of Directors made it known at the time that the land was not for sale.
According to Clark, the rejection of their offer to purchase was not only disappointing, but it was an indication that the relationship between Bethany and Nurturing Roots may not be as good as she had previously perceived.
“A lot of the relationship we had up until then was very warm,” said Clark. “We’ve been discussing potentially buying the space for the duration. When we arrived on campus, there was a significant amount of invasive overgrowth, at least seven-foot-tall blackberries, and we spoke about figuring out a solution indefinitely. So, we’d spoken a lot about that as we developed over the years. The last conversation I had with [Rev. Ying] was in 2021, about November.”
“But I think when they started gathering money [through grants] and support they realized how beneficial this land could be if they held it as their own instead of offering it for sale like they had said,” she added. “Being able to have these verbal agreements and acknowledgments from a pastor you would think that was all you needed. All of my advisors now have helped me understand that things like this you have to get in writing and have them on record.”
Their lease is set to expire this week and Nurturing Roots is calling on the community to support them by helping them find a new location and/or investing to help them move. While the organization is scrambling to figure out its next steps, they are also urging the community to ask questions and write letters of support to Bethany.
“We’re asking community institutions if they are willing to help us?” says Clark. “Are you willing to help invest in a move? Seattle Parks, are there other locations that you see locally? We have the funding we received from [an EDI grant that is] pending and we must use it [to purchase land] in the Seattle City limits.”
“We’re trying to stay strong in what’s going on, show the community that we still love community and we’re still here for community,” said Quarles. “We’re not just one to cower down and run, we stand in what we believe in which is giving back to the people.”