food grown through collective effort should nourish those who help make it possible. Volunteering with RGI is not just about gardening. It is about understanding why food access looks different across cultures, how displacement affects health and nutrition, and how we can build systems rooted in dignity rather than assimilation. We are also calling in local businesses, institutions, and mission-aligned organizations to partner with us in sustaining this work. One of the most impactful ways to do so is through regular purchasing relationships or program sponsorships.

We invite businesses to partner with RGI by:

• Becoming consistent purchasing customers of culturally appropriate produce

• Sponsoring components of our research, education, or CSA programs

• Investing in refugee-led solutions that strengthen food access, workforce development, and community health

For businesses, partnering with RGI is more than a transaction—it is an investment in ethical sourcing, long-term stability, and community resilience.

To continue this work, we also need financial support. Research, education, advocacy, and community-led programming require sustained funding—especially when we prioritize safety, cultural integrity, and access over convenience. Your year-end donation helps make possible:

• Vertical growing infrastructure and materials

• Student interns and volunteer coordination

• Community-informed food research

• The development of the Feed the World CSA

• Advocacy for culturally appropriate food access

If RGI’s mission resonates with you, I invite you to give what you can as we close out the year. Your support allows us not only to meet immediate needs but to build knowledge, systems, and pathways that endure.

As we look toward the year ahead, I carry hope—not because the work is easy, but because it is shared. Thank you for believing in refugee-led solutions, for walking alongside us, and for helping plant what will continue to grow.

With gratitude and solidarity,
Phimmasone Kym Owens
Founder & Executive Director
Refugee Garden Initiatives

Message From The Director

As the year draws to a close, I want to take a moment to reflect—not just on what we’ve accomplished, but on how we’ve carried one another through a time of deep uncertainty. This year asked all of us to adapt, to be patient, and to lean more fully into community. Through it all, Refugee Garden Initiatives has continued because of you.

To our supporters, donors, partners, and volunteers: thank you. Your trust, encouragement, and generosity have sustained this work in moments when the path forward was not always clear. In a time marked by shifting policies, global instability, and growing inequities, your support has reaffirmed that community-led solutions still matter—and that refugee voices deserve to be centered.

As we move into the new year, RGI is entering a new and intentional phase of our work. While food production remains foundational, we are expanding our focus toward education, research, and advocacy—guided by one core truth: culturally appropriate food is not a preference; it is a necessity tied to health, identity, and dignity.

In the coming year, we will be deepening research on small-space and vertical gardening systems, addressing the reality that many refugees and marginalized communities live with limited land, unsafe soil, or no access to traditional growing spaces. In collaboration with interns from the University of Michigan, we will test what truly works and share that knowledge openly.

This research will directly inform a new international CSA program we are developing called Feeding the World, One Box At A Time—a culturally rooted CSA shaped by community input, lived experience, and nutritional insight. What we grow, how much we grow, and how food is shared will be guided by the voices of those most impacted.

This shift also means that we need volunteers more than ever.

As RGI transitions from traditional farm production into a model rooted in research, education, and advocacy—with me on site leading this work—we are inviting students and community members to commit weekly time to support:

• Vertical garden and greenhouse work

• Seeding, planting, maintenance, and harvesting

• Research documentation and learning

• Social media and storytelling support

To honor this commitment, volunteers who participate regularly will receive a CSA box of food. This is one way we practice reciprocity—recognizing that