Hosted by The Village and Mayo Clinic, this collaboration brings local health professionals into our largest community garden space to provide education and learn directly from our community. These discussions foster open conversations, helping the community identify health issues and become aware of local resources. Health professionals also have the opportunity to hear and understand the specific concerns of various cultural groups.

More info:

• Mayo Clinic Center for Health Equity & Community Engagement Research

• Mayo Clinic Blog

• Mayo Clinic Facebook

Past Featured Topics and Video Links:

• June – Topic: Nutrition and Cancer Prevention
  Guest Speaker: Dr. Shafii Mohamed (Mayo Clinic Community Internal Medicine)
  Watch the video

• July – Topic: Depression and Mood Disorders
  Guest Speakers: Drs. Nicolas Nunez and Manuel Gardea Resendez (Mayo Clinic Psychiatry) and Josh Jensen (Zumbro Valley Health Services)
  Watch the video
  Watch another video

• August – Topic: Addiction and Substance Abuse
  Guest Speakers: Kendra Henry and Greg Jerdon (Zumbro Valley Health Services)

This collaboration continues to build valuable connections and dialogue between health professionals and the community, promoting better health awareness and understanding.

UMR students are required to take a community collaboration course as part of their education. While several faculty members have already supported The Village through their involvement as founding members and by writing our founding grant, they have continued to strengthen this partnership by creating a learning model that integrates students into the community garden throughout the year. UMR students not only build and tend their own gardens but also volunteer to enhance community spaces, maintain pathways, and assist with the Summer of Service youth projects.

This Co-Lab cohort also contributes a significant amount of fresh produce to the campus food pantry. The university makes an effort to promote these foods, providing students with ideas on how to prepare them and encouraging healthier eating habits. UMR’s focus on educating a diverse student body aligns with the Village’s mission, reflecting a wide range of global cultures and their agricultural traditions.

More info: UMR Community Engagement

Summer of Service is a service-based summer program for youth entering grades 5-12. During the 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024 growing seasons, we collaborated with over 800 local youth who visited our community farming spaces. With support from UMR students and faculty, as well as the Master Gardeners of Olmsted County, The Village and these youth worked together on a variety of projects:

• Fencing and learning about pest management

• Building bee boxes and learning about pollinators

• Constructing and painting raised beds for farmer use

• Planting pollinator beds and mulching community areas

• Building handwashing stations

• Supporting farmer elders' needs

The participants were surveyed and shared that they enjoyed seeing foods from around the world and learning about different ways they are consumed. They also had the opportunity to witness diverse agricultural practices and share their own histories of growing food. Topics like pollinators, pests, and cultivation sparked great interest among many students. We look forward to our continued collaboration in the 2025 season.