BB Podcast Episode 87: Hannah Bonham Blackwell
Subscribe to the Podcast: Apple Podcast | Google Podcast | Spotify
Today we’re visiting with Hannah Bonham Blackwell of Southside Blooms in the Englewood community of Chicago, Illinois. Southside Blooms, which is a project of Chicago Eco House (a 501c3 nonprofit with a mission of using sustainability to alleviate poverty), is a farm-to-vase florist providing unique and fashion-forward arrangements, while maintaining an uncompromising dedication to both the environment and the surrounding communities. One hundred percent of their money goes directly towards fulfilling this mission. That means every flower purchased from Southside Blooms creates jobs for at-risk youth, converts vacant lots into safe and productive community assets, and actively contributes to the health and resilience of the environment through regenerative farming practices.
We hope you’ll join us for this conversation as we talk with Hannah about:
- using sustainable practices in flower farming
- unlocking creativity in the youth who work at Southside Blooms
- the importance of being based in the area where Southside Blooms employees live
- how Chicago Eco House acquired land for 4 urban farms in Chicago (plus another in Gary, Indiana)
- thoughts on expansion
- staffing wins and challenges
- finding farming techniques that work for the Southside Blooms business model
- the key to offering opportunities that are compatible with the community you serve
LEARN MORE ABOUT SOUTHSIDE BLOOMS HERE:
Website | Instagram | Facebook
Hannah with her family as her husband Quilen Blackwell, President and Founder of Chicago Eco House, receives the The FBI Director’s Community Leadership Award for his efforts in getting Chicago Eco House and Southside Blooms off the ground as a viable alternative to street gangs in Chicago.
Images: Southside Blooms, Chicago Eco House, Patty Wetli of WTTW News
TODAY’S EPISODE IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY:
A SPECIAL EVERYSTEM OFFER FOR BB LISTENERS:
Enter referral code: flowerwithpurpose when you create your EveryStem account to receive a free month of service.
Monthly members receive their 2nd month free. Annual members receive 13 months for the price of 10.
Join today with EveryStem’s risk free 90-day money back guarantee.
Host: Amy McGee (Botanical Brouhaha + Bloom Trust Co.)
BB Podcast Sound Engineer: Grayson McGee
Music Written & Performed by: Landon McGee
If you enjoyed this episode, you might also enjoy our conversation with Steven Dyme, owner of Flowers for Dreams. Click here to listen.
Leave a Reply
Share your Thoughts:
Subscribe and stay connected
This site may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. It is being made available in an effort to provide educational information about all things related to floral design and production. It is believed that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is available for viewing without profit to those who have an interest in reading or viewing the website information for educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. If your copyrighted material appears on this web site and you disagree with our assessment that it constitutes "fair use," please contact us and we will remove it from our site.
Comments: