Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Seattle Youth Garden Works


 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review).  No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was keep. (non-admin closure) (t &#183; c)  buidhe  08:34, 8 July 2020 (UTC)

Seattle Youth Garden Works

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WP:NORG/WP:NONPROFIT failure. Local run of the mill thing. Graywalls (talk) 22:09, 23 June 2020 (UTC)
 * Note: This discussion has been included in the list of Business-related deletion discussions. Graywalls (talk) 22:09, 23 June 2020 (UTC)
 * Note: This discussion has been included in the list of Organizations-related deletion discussions. Graywalls (talk) 22:09, 23 June 2020 (UTC)
 * Note: This discussion has been included in the list of Washington-related deletion discussions. Graywalls (talk) 22:09, 23 June 2020 (UTC)


 * Delete articles need more coverage then the organizations own website.John Pack Lambert (talk) 17:37, 25 June 2020 (UTC)
 * Delete Article lacks enough independent reliable sources. Nika2020 (talk) 19:15, 27 June 2020 (UTC)

Keep per the significant coverage in multiple independent reliable sources.     <li></li> <li></li> <li></li> <li></li> <li></li> <li></li> </ol>

<ol> <li> The article notes: "In Washington State, for example, the Seattle Youth Garden Works (SYGW) program offers employment opportunities to youth, aged 14 to 22, who are homeless or involved in the juvenile justice system. The streets of Seattle are home to an annual average of 800 youth who do not have a permanent residence and are susceptible to dropping out of school, drug and alcohol use, and other exploitations (J. Dilworth, personal communication, 2008). Since 1995, SYGW has employed young, homeless people at one of two urban farms to develop job and social skills and help them find more stable employment or return to the school system. For some youth, the chance to work in a market garden or sell their produce at a farmers' market is the kind of life-altering experience that can turn it all around. The success stories are inspiring and positively impact not only the youth, but the communities in which they live. However, managing the day-to-day operations of this organization and overseeing the market garden poses sizeable challenges to the SYGW staff. The focus of SYGW is youth development, but the vehicle for delivering their program is the urban market gardens in the University District and South Park neighborhoods of Seattle. This concept of pairing social programs and market gardening has been employed in several cities where urban agriculture is often part of bigger projects aimed to reduce poverty, increase food security, and provide employment and education opportunities for at-risk groups including the homeless, pregnant teens, former prisoners, and others (Feenstra et al., 1999; Kaufman and Bailkey, 2000). The staff of SYGW is well-trained to work with homeless youth; however, a good youth counselor is not necessarily skilled at growing vegetables or direct produce marketing. To help with this imbalance of knowledge, SYGW contacted cooperative extension state specialists from Washington State University to assist in developing intensive production and marketing plans for the Marra Farm market garden in South Park. This case study is based on the plans developed for SYGW by WSU specialists in agricultural economics, horticulture, and soil science."</li> <li> The book notes: "A Brief History of Seattle Youth Garden Works Seattle Youth Garden Works was founded in 1995 and fiscally sponsored by the Church Council of Greater Seattle. The program started as a volunteer landscaping project to address the needs of homeless youth in Seattle's University District. The program developed its mission to empower homeless and underserved youth through through garden-based education and employment and grew to having paid staff and offering wages to qualifying youth, offering multiple 12 week employment opportunities during the year. By 2006, youth grew produce at two Seattle-area gardens, one in the University District and the other at Marra Farm in South Park and providing fresh produce to area food banks and selling harvests weekly at the local Farmers Market. In 2009, the Seattle Youth Garden Works advisory council decided to suspend operations due to financial challenges. Under the leadership of Executive Director Andrea Dwyer, in 2010 Seattle Youth Garden Works became a program of Seattle Tilth, fitting well into Seattle Tilth's array of programs and mission to inspire and educate people to safeguard natural resources while cultivating an equitable and sustainable local food system. The addition of SYGW supported Seattle Tilth's expansion towards production-scale agriculture, green jobs and social justice programs. Seattle Tilth was able to offer an existing organizational infrastructure to quickly re-launch and stabilize the program." The book notes: "Volunteers provide essential support for Seattle Youth Garden Works. The number of volunteers typically changes depending on the season but there are usually around 12 volunteers at any given time. The volunteers serve as mentors to the youth and assist in other programmatic ways. To become volunteers for the SYGW, mentors go through a Seattle Tilth screening process and also receive program specific training. Additional volunteers help with harvest during the spring and fall when the youth crew isn't able to come in the mornings due to school schedules. Seattle Tilth partners with over 20 organizations to ensure the success of Seattle Youth Garden Works. For example, SYGW partners with Goodwill to provide program participants with job readiness and resume training. They also partner with Boeing Educational Credit Union, which provides financial readiness classes including banking 101, budgeting and credit information."</li> <li> The book notes: "Seattle Youth Garden Works, a program of Seattle Tilth is an after-school job training and education program for youth who are homeless or at risk of dropping out of school, and the community farm is their outdoor classroom. Participants are paid a modest stipend to plant, grow, harvest, and sell their produce at local farmers' markets, all the while acquiring meaningful experience in urban agriculture. For many, it is their first exposure to nature and gardening, not to mention personal responsibility and teamwork. Participants spend half their time working at the farm and green market stand and the other half in classes focusing on nutrition and business and leadership skills. The farm is adjacent to the University of Washington's Center for Urban Horticulture; it is a nonthreatening, green sanctuary where gun violence and the temptation to engage in deviant behavior are absent. Enthusiasm for gardening may be perceived as being 'uncool' in their home environments, but when at the farm the youth embrace it, and their shared endeavor unites them. Deep and unique bonds of trust form between group members, strengthening self-identity and building confidence and sense of mastery. Staff and mentors not only instruct the youth but serve as role models, providing guidance, connecting them to housing and social services, and troubleshooting problems to ensure they stay in school. The mentoring and support the youth receive may be the critical component that transforms their lives for the better."</li> <li> The article notes: "The garden is the brainchild of Margaret Hauptman, a part-time graphic designer who got together with several University District organizations this spring to create a small oasis for troubled teens in a neighborhood beset by street kids and the tensions over their presence. The fruit of their labors is the Seattle Youth Garden Works project at the University Heights Center at Northeast 50th Street and University Way. The project is sponsored by the Church Council of Greater Seattle's Task Force on Housing and Homelessness and the University District Youth Center. Seattle Youth Garden Works is designed to teach social and entrepreneurial skills to street kids - teens who often live in transitional housing or come from troubled homes where violence and abuse is the norm. ... Thus, with funding from United Way and Seattle's Summer Employment Program, the Seattle Youth Garden Works project was born."</li> <li> The article notes: "But for the homeless and at-risk youths working in Seattle Youth Garden Works, life is full of welcome ironies. Being outdoors, they say, helps them stay in school. Tiny plants make them feel taller, and hard labor yields pride. ... Seattle Youth Garden Works employs and houses eligible low-income young people ages 14 to 22, using garden-based education to redirect the lives of those who have taken a hard left from Eden. ... Eight years ago, it provided employment for 18 youths at one site; now the two-site program employs 50. It could expand further with more donations, thanks to a public service campaign announced earlier this week by Seattle-based advertising company Ad 2."</li> <li> The article notes: "In a world where there are few opportunities for advancement, a small group of street youth in the University District have found hope in a heap of dirt. They are taking part in the Seattle Youth Garden Works, a seven-week employment and educational program designed with street youth in mind. Yesterday, eight of the 15 current youth workers spent the morning preparing a radish and lettuce garden at a plot next to the University of Washington's Center for Urban Horticulture. The kids who participate in the Garden Works are, in some way, disconnected from home and family. Most either live on the streets, sleep at homeless shelters or stay at youth transitional homes. Some have problems with substance abuse. That 3,500-square-foot plot, then, is both figuratively and literally a nurturing foundation, a place that promises new life." The article notes Margaret Hauptman is the program's originator.</li> <li> The article notes: "The Seattle Youth Garden Works, one of several programs honored yesterday by the King Conservation District, gives homeless young people who want to get off the streets a chance to gain work experience by growing their own vegetables and flowers and selling them at a farmers' market. In the winter, participants make wreaths they sell at holiday fairs. Throughout the program, participants also receive employment counseling, help getting a place to live, occupational therapy screening and job placement assistance. The Church Council of Greater Seattle, which sponsors the project, pays $5 an hour to participants who also split the profits from their sales. ... Since the program's inception nearly two years ago, Hauptman boasts about a 70 percent success rate, meaning most of the program's graduates go on to find jobs and places to live."</li> <li> The article notes: "Yesterday, as he stood near the Best in Show gold medal he helped win for Seattle Youth Garden Works, a non-profit that turns homeless and impoverished kids into accomplished gardeners, Squirrel admitted he was caught off guard by this recent success: the group's and his own. ... Show organizers said it was astounding that a non-profit with a few low-paid staffers and a crew of young people with troubled pasts could win the Founder's Cup at the prestigious garden show, the third-largest of its type in the nation. It was Garden Works' first-ever entry. ... To the people who work in Seattle Youth Garden Works, beautiful gardens are not all they are trying raise. The organization, with offices in the University District and South Park, annually accepts 60 people between 14 and 22 years old who have had problems with poverty and homelessness. The youths are taught to work in the growing, marketing and selling of the plants cultivated by the organization. A few of those, like Squirrel, are offered a one-year internship. He said he found out about the organization while getting his GED through a youth services organization in the University District."</li> <li> The article notes: "At Seattle Youth Garden Works, disadvantaged kids ages 16 to 22 learn life and job skills and earn money by growing vegetables and herbs and selling them at local Farmer's markets. Their display garden at last year's Northwest Flower and Garden Show--rows of corn, carrots, fennel, and European pears garnished with primroses and a hand-painted mural--vanquished flashier and more professional displays. The judges were wowed by the authenticity and charm of the nonprofit's first-ever entry and awarded it Best in Show. Seattle Youth Garden Works is part of the thriving community gardening scene in and around Seattle. And Seattle's community gardens--from subsistence farms to butterfly borders--are part of a nationwide trend toward urban havens where the sowing of vegetables and flowers reaps a harvest of shared purpose."</li> <li> The article notes: "In a Nutshell: Seattle Youth Garden Works (SYGW) provides job training through garden-based education and employment. Youth grow organic produce and sell it at local farmers’ markets and garden fairs, and to a small number of local restaurants. Youth work after school hours for 10 to 20 hours a week, earning a wage and a share of the profits. The initial program lasts 12 weeks, with a few youths continuing in leadership positions as “lead youth gardeners” for up to one year. ... Who Started it and Who Runs It: Margaret Hauptman founded SYGW in 1995 because she wanted to provide jobs and training for homeless youth in the University District. She had become aware of the disenfranchisement of street youth while she was volunteering at a drop-in center. The organization is headed by Director Janice Dilworth, who oversees an urban farm and an employment development manager, an AmeriCorps manager and five AmeriCorps volunteers. SYGW uses about 300 additional volunteers each year."</li> <li> The article notes: "From left, Joey, Trung and Brandon work in a greenhouse at Seattle Youth Garden Works, which trains homeless and at-risk youth through garden-based education and employment. ... That something was a program sponsored by the Church Council of Greater Seattle that teaches homeless and at-risk youth how to raise organic crops to sell at local farmers' markets. Darvell says that Seattle Youth Garden Works is more than a job or learning about gardening: 'It's not just growing plants, it's helping to grow yourself. It's life-changing.' In the spring, the program's young participants can be found seeding kale, carrots, chard and tomatoes, and rooting the young plants. Though Darvell describes his favorite part as the farmers' markets where he sells the produce, there is also the work on native plants. ... Through the eco-education found at Seattle Youth Garden Works, the lives of couch-surfing or runaway youth are stabilized as they learn about nature within a community that believes in them."</li> </ol>

There is sufficient coverage in reliable sources to allow Seattle Youth Garden Works to pass Notability, which requires "significant coverage in reliable sources that are independent of the subject". Cunard (talk) 08:06, 28 June 2020 (UTC)</li></ul>
 * comment Something like "Journal of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Education. American Society of Agronomy." is great for information accuracy, but it is highly specialized resource tailored to those who specifically go research something in the narrow field of discipline, so sources of this nature is no pass on WP:AUD for the purpose of establishing notability under WP:NORG. Graywalls (talk) 07:48, 29 June 2020 (UTC)
 * WP:AUD says: "The source's audience must also be considered. Evidence of significant coverage by international or national, or at least regional, media is a strong indication of notability. On the other hand, attention solely from local media, or media of limited interest and circulation, is not an indication of notability; at least one regional, statewide, provincial, national, or international source is necessary." The case study published in the New York-based Springer Science+Business Media book meets the WP:AUD requirement that "at least one regional, statewide, provincial, national, or international source is necessary". Cunard (talk) 08:23, 29 June 2020 (UTC)
 * That's one way to look at it, but, I'm looking through the lens of "limited interest" per WP:AUD "on the other hand, attention solely from local media, or media of limited interest and circulation, is not an indication of notability" (the underline in quote added by me). Source as an authoritative area on the specialized interest which can extensively discuss obscure things of little general interest is different from being extensively discussed in the spotlight of a widely circulated general interest publication, which is what is being sought for the notability establishment purpose. Graywalls (talk) 14:08, 29 June 2020 (UTC)


 * Keep – Meets WP:ORGDEPTH and meets WP:AUD, as per a source review. I consider the Seattle Post-Intelligencer to meet the requirements of WP:AUD. When it was a print publication, its circulation included all of King County, not just Seattle (source, from 1962). As such, this qualifies as regional coverage. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer has since changed to an internet-only format, but that does not automatically mean that its reach has all of the sudden shrank to exist only within Seattle. Irregardless, Seattle Post-Intelligencer articles such as this published about the topic in 1995 were published before the newspaper went to online-only in 2009. I'm unable to access the Springer Science+Business Media source in entirety, but per the "Sources with quotes" box atop, I consider three decent-sized paragraphs specifically about the topic to comprise significant coverage.


 * I noticed that both of the delete !votes above after the nomination appear to be basing notability upon the state of sourcing within the article when it was nominated for deletion (diff). However, notability on English Wikipedia is not gauged by the state of sources in an article. Per WP:NEXIST, "Notability is based on the existence of suitable sources, not on the state of sourcing in an article" (bold emphasis mine). It is unclear whether or not these !votes are also based upon source searches, because they do not state if said searching occurred.


 * It is important for notability guidelines to be applied correctly and accurately, rather than basing notability upon a simple conflation of an article presently lacking verification. This is why WP:BEFORE-style, due diligence source searches prior to !voting is important, and should be performed. While it is important that articles are properly verified, a lack of verification being present does not mean that a topic is then somehow automatically non-notable. North America1000 05:54, 30 June 2020 (UTC)

<div class="xfd_relist" style="border-top: 1px solid #AAA; border-bottom: 1px solid #AAA; padding: 0px 25px;"> Relisted to generate a more thorough discussion and clearer consensus.

Please add new comments below this notice. Thanks, <span style="font-family:'Trebuchet MS',Geneva,sans-serif"> qedk ( t  愛  c ) 07:56, 1 July 2020 (UTC)


 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. <b style="color:red">Please do not modify it.</b> Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.