Howdy folks, we are brand new to OCF but have been around for 2 (maybe 3?) years! We have been doing a lot of behind the scenes work to tackle some big projects in 2024. Here’s our what’s up(date)

1. What did you accomplish during 2023? How did you use money?
We received a 10k grant from the radical library institute to fund some exciting projects for 2024. We put a pause on events and zine making for 2023 while we worked on regrounding our selves and updating our mission, vision, and guiding values. We didn’t spend any many this year. At the time of this writing, we only have funds that were transferred over from our our partner organization, Chicagoland Food Sovereignty Coalition.

2. What challenges did you face during 2023? What did your Collective learn? How did you change or grow? 
We put a pause on any new work in 2023 and discussed and that we could stay engaged with our community, doing the work needed to sustain this project, and finding time for our team to rest and care for ourselves. In 2023 we experienced many personal and collective challenges which made it difficult for us to continue carrying out this work. However, we learned about how to hear & learn from each other and honor space & time needed for rest.

3. What are your plans for 2024? Anything exciting coming up?
We are planning on hosting a series of community cooking, zine making, and celebration events. Stay tuned!