The unassuming structure is home to Growing Opportunities, a social business project that will combine urban farming and job training to benefit the poor and disabled.
Beginning in March, a class of 10 adult students from the community will split their time between classroom and greenhouse. They will learn to dress for an interview, cold call an employer and deal with co-worker conflicts while learning to grow produce ?without soil.
Growing Opportunities, headed by manager Nicole Wooten, is a product of the South Central Community Action Program. It was inspired by another successful program in New Jersey.
The greenhouse will operate entirely with hydroponics. According to Wooten, it’s more sustainable than industrial agriculture because it uses one-tenth of the water and eliminates soil depletion and runoff.
“It’s an opportunity for our clients to learn some real-life skills in a place where they’re not going to have the risk of losing their job if they make a mistake,” ?Wooten said.
The program is open to any low-income adult. Wooten said some students will probably come from Stone Belt, a nonprofit that provides programs to those with disabilities. The organization, along with IU, contributed land to the project. The greenhouse sits just outside of Stone Belt.
Growing Opportunities plans to sell its produce to local grocery stores such as Bloomingfoods and restaurants such as Malibu Grill and Bloomington Bagel Company. Profits will go back to the program.
The goal is to one day be self-sustaining. According to projections, that will happen when two more greenhouses are in operation.
“We’ve been learning as we go along,” Doug Wilson, communications director for SCCAP, said.
Finding a low-cost space that met regulations was challenging, he said. Raising money for a second and third greenhouse may also be tough. Wooten said one greenhouse in its entirety, including a hydroponics system, costs $80,000.
So far Growing Opportunities has been funded by a variety of grants, and the program is working on getting more for additional greenhouses. They are also looking for interns and volunteers to work with the class and with taking care ?of plants.
Construction on the 3,000-square-foot greenhouse started Oct. 30, 2014, and is now nearly finished. An inflated double layer of plastic film, stretched taut over a gray metal skeleton, makes up the exterior. A third layer prevents bugs from entering, eliminating any need for pesticides.
Upon entering the warm white bubble on a sunny day, squinting is necessary; diffused light streams onto 360 rows of stark-white channels. They are empty for now, but when full, they will hold around 3,000 plants.
They’ll start with lettuce. When the greenhouse reaches capacity it will produce 800 heads per week, Wooten said.
In the future, students will grow more varieties of produce, but the first class will focus on one.
“All of this is new to ?us ... We haven’t provided a service that’s quite like this before,” Wilson said. “It’s exciting, but it’s definitely challenging, too.”
