Riverview Gardens, Inc.
Excellent
Riverview Gardens is a financially self-sustaining social enterprise, focused on job training for people in need, using urban farming in a park-like setting in Appleton, WI. Our core concept is that all people have value and can contribute to the community where they live. We emphasize serving without judgment to: • empower people to build transferable work skills and strong work histories, allowing them to secure permanent employment and housing; • provide meaningful activity for socially isolated individuals; • make healthy food accessible; • change the community's perceptions of people in need through the creation of a thriving, highly interactive environment located in the center of our community. Founded in 1898, Riverview Country Club and golf course was Wisconsin’s oldest private country club and an Appleton institution until its closing in 2011. Riverview Gardens’ founders saw the beautiful, prominent property as an opportunity to address critical community needs in a completely new way, at the same time preserving and protecting the land for agricultural use. Riverview Gardens is the collaborative transformation of a 72-acre golf course and related country club. This transformation addresses serious regional challenges, including rising unemployment, homelessness, poverty, and lack of access to nutritious, fresh food, all with a financially self-sustaining model.
