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Have you ever considered the impact of the flowers that you buy?

Cut flower production is a huge global enterprise. Did you know up to 80% of cut flower sales in the United States are imported? When flowers are mass imported, it is difficult to know whether they were produced using practices that are good for the environment and for employees.

Here are five reasons to sign up for our Summer Flower CSA:

1. You get beautiful cut flowers! You can choose to receive your flowers arranged or wrapped in paper. Weekly, bi-weekly, and monthly membership options are available.
2. You support a work stipend program that prioritizes safety and honors the effects of trauma on body, mind, and spirit.
3. You support a farm and nonprofit organization that is committed to the benefits of nature-based healing.
4. You minimize the miles traveled by your cut flowers. Our flowers are local — grown and distributed in Lexington!
5. Your support ecologically sustainable techniques on our farm. It’s good for the environment!

Membership in our Summer Flower CSA ensures that your flowers are locally grown, and our organizations invests the cost of your flowers right back into our programming to support local survivors of intimate partner abuse. Hope blooms!

Follow this link to sign up for our Summer Flower CSA. Early members receive 10% off regular fees through April 1. 

The first hints of spring are showing, and we couldn’t be more excited! We can’t wait to watch the flowers, vegetables, and herbs peek out of the dirt as they make their journey toward the sun.

Survivors staying at our shelter are enjoying the activity on the farm as well. Our stipend program has gotten back in full swing. Those who have chosen to participate in the farm stipend program have been getting their hands dirty preparing the earth for its harvest. And they are experiencing nature-based healing at its best.

Lisa’s Story

“The garden is a very soothing and healing place to go. Working in the garden is empowering to me. It gives me pleasure, joy, and most of all, a sense of accomplishment. Working in the garden, actually putting your hands in the soil, getting to see all of the wonderful things it produces, is a pure joy. If you give a garden love, you receive back from it. What you get back is both beauty and a harvest. It’s a win-win experience in every way.

Harvesting is nice of course, but for me, the most exciting part of gardening is watching Mother Nature at work. Starting something from a seed and watching it grow and mature is a remarkable, breathtaking journey. It is miraculous to see all of the different things it takes to make a garden grow into fruition. Soil, slugs, snails, water, sun, seeds, and love and care make a beautiful garden.”

Summer Flower CSA

Lisa and other survivors at shelter will continue working on the farm throughout the spring, summer, and fall. They will help harvest flowers, vegetables, herbs, and fruit. And as you may know, GreenHouse17 has a weekly Summer Flower CSA from June through September. If you purchase a membership, you can get wrapped or arranged cut flowers from our farm every week for 16 weeks – or less, if you prefer. For more information, visit the CSA page here.

If you have any questions about the Summer Flower CSA, please contact me using the form below. Happy spring, everyone!

We are gearing up for our 10th Annual Lunafest Lexington on Thursday, May 16 at the Lexington Theater. Lunafest is a traveling short film festival brought to life nationally by LUNA, the makers of the Whole Nutrition Bar for Women. Ten years ago, three local women came together with the goals of organizing this event in Lexington to support survivors of intimate partner abuse.  Since then, the event has raised almost $100,000 to support our services for survivors!

How can you help this year? 

Well of course, I hope you will save the date to attend this year’s event! Tickets will be available in mid-April, and we’ll be sharing the order link on the Lunafest event page. This year’s show includes eight amazing short films from around the world made by, for and about women. Films range from animation to fictional drama and all cover topics relating to motherhood, self-confidence, relationships, cultural diversity, breaking barriers and more! 

Do you feel compelled to do more? 

In recent years, we have developed Giving Circles for the event. A Giving Circle is an opportunity to go a little further with a group of friends, family members, or colleagues to support survivors of intimate partner abuse. Giving Circles receives four tickets with reserved seating at the event and the opportunity to put a name, logo, or message on the big screen before the films begin! 

Geni Osborn, one of the local founders of our Lunafest Lexington, began the event’s Giving Circles to show collective support for survivors in our community.

“We all have groups of friends, acquaintances or family members who share in the concerns for others going through challenging times. A giving circle gives us an opportunity to band together in our voice of support to support those harmed by intimate partner abuse.  It can be a special circle of friends coming together as one, stronger voice in our support of GreenHouse17.” 

Want more information?

Giving Circles are perfect for a group of friends, a book club, social group, or small business. They also offer a meaningful way to honor or remember a loved one, especially moms because the event happens just after Mother’s Day. If you’d like more information about Lunafest Giving Circles, please send me a note using the short form below. I’ll follow up with you really soon.

Our friends at Heart of Kentucky United Way recently honored the Danville Tai Chi Circle with their Volunteer of the Year award.

“One of my favorite sayings is never underestimate the power of a small group of people to change the world,” says Darlene Thomas, our Executive Director. “These words certainly ring true for the Tai Chi Circle. We are blessed to benefit from their strength, grace, and friendship.”

The group of friends has been dedicated to supporting survivors for many years.

Last summer, they hosted an Afternoon with GreenHouse17 on the farm of Chris Kubale. More than 60 people attended to learn more about our mission and services for survivors. Jerry Houck and his team at The Caterer made small bites using fresh produce grown by strong survivors living at our shelter, and Melton’s Great American Deli provided delicious cookies for dessert. Generous event sponsors also stepped in to help, including Campbellsville University, Bluegrass Chiro, Coldwell Banker VIP Realty, and Stith  Funeral Home.

“It was wonderful fun,” says Chris Kubale, a member of the Tai Chi Circle and host of the event. “It was delightful to see all of those wonderful people gathered together, and it is gratifying to see so many people who are interested in paying it forward.”

The practice of Tai Chi encourages balance of strength and grace, and we can’t think of a better way to describe the group’s wonderful members.

Our friend Josh Nadzam has qualified for the Boston Marathon. And he’s dedicating his race to survivors of intimate partner abuse. 

Josh’s goal is to raise $2,040 for survivors. That’s $2 a day for every survivor of intimate partner abuse who will find safety and healing at our shelter during the month of the marathon.

This isn’t the first time Josh has run for survivors.

He also qualified for the marathon a few years ago and dedicated his race to our mission. And back in 2014, he ran from Lexington to the capitol in Frankfort to raise awareness and support for legislation to protect victims of intimate partner abuse in dating relationships.

“This cause is so dear to my heart. As a human I feel a responsibility to get involved but as a man, I feel a special duty to step up and act.”

You can cheer Josh on and contribute to his goal by making a contribution at the Bluegrass to Boston for Survivors fundraising page.

If you prefer to make a contribution by check, please include Bluegrass to Boston in the memo and mail to GreenHouse17, PO Box 55190, Lexington, KY 40555.

Image by Mothwing Photography.

Social media is a major part of many peoples’ lives, and there’s no reason that it couldn’t be part of their philanthropic life, too. Most of us see people posting about Facebook fundraisers – hosted for their birthday or other special occasions – on an almost daily basis, and for a variety of causes.

GreenHouse17 has been fortunate to be the recipient of several of these fundraisers, which are a truly easy way to donate to a cause that you care about.

Holden’s Giving Story

Holden Dillman, GreenHouse17’s Marketing and Community Engagement VISTA, hosted a Facebook fundraiser for his birthday, and he says that he loved doing it. “I have a lot of respect for Facebook for making it such an intuitive and accessible process,” he says.

Holden says he’s always felt awkward about receiving gifts for his birthday. “It stresses me out to get things I don’t use,” he says. “So I really appreciate the opportunity to host fundraisers on Facebook for special occasions.”

Holden considers his birthday fundraiser a success – the goal was $250, and close to $400 was raised. “I’m an AmeriCorps VISTA and don’t have the expendable income to make charitable donations as often as I’d like,” he says. “So this empowered me to be able to support an organization through my community.”

“It’s something that I definitely recommend others trying out,” he adds, “because it’s a way for you as an individual to connect people to projects and organizations that inspire you to do the work that you do.”

Your Giving Story

So how do you host a Facebook fundraiser? First, you click on the “fundraisers” tab on the left side of your Facebook newsfeed. Then click “raise money for a nonprofit organization.” After that, choose the nonprofit that you are interested in raising money for, and decide on the goal of how much money you’d like to raise. Then you can decide on the timeframe during which you want the fundraiser to run. Finally, choose a cover photo, fill in the details, click “create” and you are ready to start raising money for the nonprofit of your choice!

The nonprofit that you choose will receive the payment following the end of the fundraiser. Facebook charges no fees for donations made to nonprofits.

If you are interested in hosting a Facebook fundraiser and have any questions, please contact Mary Trollinger by filling out the form below.

Federal designation officially naming our organization a nonprofit entity arrived on February 14, 2005. Each year we celebrate this anniversary with a series of Valentine’s Day cards that you can share with friends, family, and partners on social media to raise awareness about healthy relationships.

Visit our social media pages on February 14 to share these cards with someone special. Or just click or tap on an image below to send one today.