Roots & Dreams and Mustard Seeds Inc.
Inspiring Impactful Change
At Roots & Dreams and Mustard Seeds Inc., we aim to empower vulnerable community members through economic participation and ownership opportunities.
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Alongside our member organizations, we also engage in critical community development initiatives that resource our communities basic needs, from food access and wellness to social, educational and artistic programming.
¡Para los lectores en español, presione cualquiera de nuestros enlaces de botón
para leer sobre nuestros programas en español y ingles!
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Our Story
Roots & Dreams and Mustard Seeds Inc. believes that economic participation and ownership is key to the empowerment of our most vulnerable community members. This type of participatory cooperative model aspires to true equity and justice, where everyone has a voice in their work, housing, local, state and national government and can easily access basic needs that extends to social, educational and artistic endeavors.
Organized and led by members with lived experience of poverty, projects include worker co-op development, community owned real-estate, co-op housing, food security and food sovereignty, mutual aid, youth and wellness programming, a community center, and mobilizing for direct action for legislative change .
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Since our founding in late 2017, we have witnessed how our seeds, empowered by community roots, have grown to include so many solidarity economy projects. We welcome you to join us!
Contribute to our work by donating or volunteering today!
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We're on the Hilltown Country Observer Cover!
Downtown Revival with a Social Mission -Click here!
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Philosophy
Creating Something Better
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At Roots & Dreams and Mustard Seeds Inc., our change-making process is deeply rooted in community organizing and coalition building with local and statewide networks. Our economic development goals can only be accomplished with our incredible mentor, Cooperative Development Institute and our key statewide coalitions, Coalition of Worker Owner Power (COWOP) and MASEN (Massachusetts Solidarity Economy Network).
Together with local partner movement building groups, we bring to life community and economic development projects that create access for vulnerable citizens, focusing on three development prongs: cooperative business development, community owned real-estate, and food sovereignty.
As our local cooperative eco-system grows, so does our solidarity network. In the past eight years since our founding , seven cooperative businesses have been seeded through our business development program, which works in tandem with the community owned real-estate project at 117-133 Fenn St. as we slowly but surely access rehabilitation grants to retrofit spaces within our building to meet the needs of vulnerable cooperative businesses. King Kone, La Cocineras Latinas, Artisans, and Handyman Group Services are the first co-op beneficiaries of this model.
Other cooperative start-ups in our development program include the Ecuadorean Cleaning Cooperative, Language Justice Solutions and a budding child care, cooperative!
Food sovereignty programming includes Mercado De Vida free market, open 6 days a week, Madre Jardin community garden, and as of this summer, a small shared commercial kitchen, to be followed by a much larger shared kitchen, all located within our community owned real-estate project.
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Our community center, located within the community owned real-estate project, at 119 Fenn St., hosts the Mercado De Vida free grocery and clothing market (open 6 days a week), resource navigation, youth and art programming, peer skill sharing classes, and fosters mutual aid support.
Together, with so many wonderful people in our community, all with unique skill sets, we are movement building toward more sustainable and just structures that empower working class people. With this strength behind us, we feel confident we will reach our goals!
Our Programs
Making a Difference
Economic Development
Transforming Lives -
From worker co-op development, to community owned real-estate to co-op housing, the opportunity for vulnerable citizens to democratically participate in their lives is both meaningful and transformational. Ownership opportunities opens up avenues for low income people to build generational wealth. Click here to read about all eight of our developing cooperatives!
Community Development
Empowering Others
For vulnerable citizens to feel empowered, they must have access to basic needs which extends to social, educational, and artistic opportunities. Our community development projects include O.U.R. Community Center, Mercado De Vida free food and clothing market, Madre Jardin - Let's Grow Food Together, Subsidized Transportation, resource navigation, youth and arts programming, and peer led skill sharing classes. Join our efforts today!
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Coalition Building
Activism for Equity and Justice
Change-making doesn't happen in a vacuum. We know that we must mobilize and organize with like-minded citizens for change. We work closely with COWOP, MASEN, and the Change for Miguel Coalition to pave important roadways in legislation and/or open avenues to local participatory governance so that our most vulnerable citizens can have their voices heard and counted.
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Food Security/Sovereignty
Mercado De Vida
Food Access and Food Sovereignty has become a critical aspect of our organizing work. Thanks to food justice collaborators, Berkshire Bounty, Western MA Food Bank, Greenagers, and so many volunteers, Mercado De Vida, our free grocery and clothing market is now open 6 days a week. Serving 580-650 unique families per month, the market includes 4 community fringes, one freezer, and a small used clothing store. The market works in conjunction with our community garden, Madre Jardin, (right across the street from us), and our shared commercial kitchen at 117 Fenn St. which will finally open up this summer (to be followed by a much larger shared kitchen at 129 Fenn St)!
Thank You!
Donors and Granters like you make our work possible! Thank you for joining us in change-making!
We're sorry we don't have room to mention all of our incredible donors but we inserted our monthly sustainers!
Program Sustainers
Community Empowerment and Reinvestment Grant Program
Community Preservation Act Grant
Transformative Development Initiative Grant
​Berkshire Taconic Foundation
Berkshire United Way
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Food Security Sustainers
Western Ma Food Bank
High Spirit Community Farm
Greenagers
Mumbet's Freedom Farm
Pittsfield Community Gardens
Kamaar Talieffero
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Community Center Sustainers
Health Resources in Action
City of Pittsfield, Human Service Grant
Jewish Women's Foundation
Pittsfield UNICO
Member Org. Grants - Manos Unidas
New England Grassroots Fund
Markham Nathan Grant
Humanities Grant - Immigrant Stories
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