Story Garden as Springboard
Story Garden as Springboard in New York City and New Mexico 2023
ATD Fourth World Mission
ATD Fourth World’s mission is building transformative relationships with people in poverty. We are a movement of solidarity and action that centers people who experience marginalization and isolation due to extreme poverty. People in poverty have unique knowledge and experiences. Their participation is fundamental in any effort to create a world without poverty, where each person is vital to building a community. We invite people from all backgrounds to think and act together, respecting the dignity of everyone.
As the United States branch of the International Movement ATD Fourth World, we work in partnership with communities primarily in and around Gallup, New Mexico and New York City. A more than 30 year history in Southwest Virginia, New Orleans, Washington, DC, and Boston has created a membership base that supports local initiatives and feeds national efforts towards our common mission.
Our teams have spent years, sometimes decades, fostering relationships with families and individuals with a lived experience of poverty. The people we serve are unique to each region. For example, in New York City we’ve spent more than 40 years building relationships with families living in public housing developments and the homeless shelter system. In New Mexico, members from the local Navajo and Zuni communities have largely shaped the programming and goals that are unique to the vast rural reality. However, the common goal is working in partnership with those who have a lived experience of poverty and marginalization.
STORY GARDEN
In 2023, ATD Fourth World continued its Story Garden programs in New York City and rural New Mexico, serving children in two of the most disadvantaged areas in the United States.
While Story Garden is valuable as a stand alone program, it is also the point of entry to other ATD Fourth World initiatives that have broad impact on families and communities in deep poverty.
Below are highlights illustrating the impact of Story Garden.