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The Mission of Abundant Grace is to transform the lives of Coastsiders experiencing homelessness through meaningful employment, skills training, community-building, food justice and other supports, enacted through three program branches: Full Circle Food Justice, Coastside Clean Team, and services at the Workforce Development Center. AGCW provides work and growth opportunities to the Coastside homeless community, and provides low-income residents with 15-20,000 pounds of free, nutritious food annually. These programs transform lives through relationship-building, skills-building and consistency. The produce grown and distributed builds community connection, deepens relationships between housed and unhoused neighbors who are struggling, and improves health outcomes.
In 2023, AGCW cleared 154,580 lbs of mostly ocean-bound trash from beaches, trails and waterways in Half Moon Bay and grew 16,000 lbs of food for 88 low-income households; low-income individuals, couples, and families with children, in addition to program participants who received over $150,000 in stipends. Of participants in 2023: 14 found housing, 15 found employment, 7 entered recovery and 10 maintained sobriety.The five outcome goals for participants are housing, employment, health and wellness, food security and sobriety. The experience of responsibility and teamwork, the self-awareness of being a valuable part of a larger community, and the pride that comes from work with dignity are key steps toward making better decisions toward self-care and life transformation.
Abundant Grace's operational philosophy is called “accompaniment;” setting the stage for transformation by working side-by-side and encouraging participants to determine how they want to change their own lives. Together, staff and participants work in the fields at the farm, collect trash from coastal trails and local beaches and neighborhoods with the Coastside Clean Team, and build community at the Workforce Development Center (WDC). These employment programs allow participants to make dignified money doing useful work, work on their emotional and physical wellness and improve their own quality of life.
Abundant Grace’s target population is twofold: people experiencing homelessness utilize most programs, while low-income individuals and families receive most of the food grown. The primary needs Abundant Grace addresses are: supporting the homeless community of Half Moon Bay with work programming, referrals, showers/laundry/mailing address; and supporting low-income farm worker and service worker families with weekly food distribution that increases food security. The unique focus is on providing excellent content for employment programming, while utilizing time with participants to focus on outcome goals of housing, employment, sobriety, food security and health and wellness.
