Much like its gardens, Detroit’s RecoveryPark has grown quickly as it pursues its mission of creating jobs and transforming its community.

 Although the Michigan winter may be chilly, Executive Manager Gary Wozniak says the farm’s progress has been at a rapid rate through the end of 2016 and into 2017. The Farm Team is the midst of building eight high tunnels for growing crops. These crops will then turn into jobs, which will focus on Detroiters with barriers to employment, he explained.

Wozniak, a recovering addict himself, strives to provide employment to those often hardest to hire ─ returning citizens and recovering addicts.

Wozniak and his team have begun experimenting with hydroponic systems and lighting technology, which includes the planting of 600 tomato plants and specialty squash. These seedlings are coming up impressively fast, and the Farm Team has seen growth of more than an inch already.

RecoveryPark, an independent, 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, was established in 2010. Its development strategy is to leverage the city’s underutilized assets such as land, large available workforce, abundant open space, access to fresh water, extensive infrastructure and a wide array of manufacturing and technology companies.

Its first food business, RecoveryPark Farms, was incorporated in 2012. Since then, it has run successful pilot farms, selling fresh produce to many of Detroit’s finest restaurants. So next time you get a salad at one of the city’s high-end eateries, you likely are tasting some of the Farm’s greens.

Wozniak established the overall vision and framework for RecoveryPark. He has over 30 years of experience in business development and finance. Before launching RecoveryPark, he served as the Chief Development Officer of Self Help Addiction Rehabilitation (SHAR), a Detroit-based substance abuse treatment program, where he was an integral part of the team that balanced the budget, stabilized the organization and significantly increased capacity.

RecoveryPark also is in the midst of accepting donations. The goal is to bring on more than fifteen Farm Associates this year, Wozniak said, and the Farm is challenging others to help us make this progress possible. All donations to RecoveryPark are tax-deductible. For more information, go to https://www.recoverypark.org/.

  •Gary Wozniak, RecoveryPark