Our Story
"North Minneapolis is going green. Give us a call and learn what we mean. Where once lay urban blight. Now sit luscious garden sites. Gardens without borders, Classrooms without walls. Architects of our own destinies. Access to food justice for all."
- Michael Chaney
What began with a passionate community of neighbors grew into: a social justice movement, an initiative promoting educational reform, an afterschool community education program, and an emerging nonprofit that supports the development of youth and families in educational initiatives centered around horticulture, entrepreneurship, and personal growth. Project Sweetie Pie continues to plant the seeds of change.
Who We Are
Project Sweetie Pie (PSP) is a staunch and passionate advocate for social change. As a progressive non-profit organization, PSP continues to lead the way in the "green movement". Since 2010, PSP has been a thought leader, the Johnny Appleseed of urban farming and local food production, and a town crier. Project Sweetie Pie has become a vibrant, singular voice advancing the need for increased public awareness and direct action on global warming and climate change on every available front in North Minneapolis and beyond.
Project Sweetie Pie works with neighborhood residents, non-profits of all sizes, universities, members of faith communities, friends, community-based organizations, educational institutions, and others to challenge the status quo. Working with community, PSP challenges the conventional wisdom of political and civic 'powers that be', and the methods and protocols that have left communities of color disheveled, disenfranchised, and distanced from opportunities to thrive.
From the desk of Michael Chaney:
In 2010 when North High was under siege by the public school administrators that were elected to lead it, Project Sweetie Pie was born. We started as an act of social justice and social protest to save North High from the proposed threat of closure. We have grown into a progressive non-profit that serves as an incubator of sustainable thought and action centered on horticulture, urban farming, and green business creation. Contrary to public opinion, we have seen the “green movement” steadily grow and continue to thrive in North Minneapolis. More importantly, Project Sweetie Pie has played a key role in growing and providing leadership and vision for the movement.
Project Sweetie Pie is the story of a city that came together and worked together on a common goal, for the common good of the youth and families of its community; for it takes a village to raise a child. Much of our work is in intergenerational teams with a strong mentorship model; from community elders and long-time residents to youth from North High and Step Up. We believe everyone lends a hand in achieving justice. We believe in co-creation and co-design and provide a supportive atmosphere where individuals work collaboratively as one team. As urban farmers, we are children of the earth and use the gardens and the projects and initiatives we are engaged in as a healing space to grow regenerative ideas and harvest solutions.
Remaining true to our mission "to inform, infuse, inspire, and instruct", we are committed to authentic, transformative change that is community led and community fed. Project Sweetie Pie is about breaking stereotypes, giving voice to the voiceless, and transforming communities that have been historically socially engineered to be consumers, into producers.
We have been vigilant in our efforts, demanding our equitable share of the pie. Strategically, we continue to set new goals and precedents as we navigate the societal potholes and financial pitfalls that have rendered our communities hopeless, helpless, and hapless. With a heightened sense of urgency, we are steadfast in our design of innovative, solution-based initiatives that put our communities firmly on the road to recovery. We stand resolutely on the front line as we market a suite of initiatives that uplift equity and inclusion as the seeds of change that fuel our nation’s future.
Michael Chaney
Michael Chaney is the founder of Project Sweetie Pie and a co-founder of TheFamilyOfTrees.org and Growing North Minneapolis. Project Sweetie Pie is a local nonprofit organization founded in 2010 that engages stakeholders in grass roots initiatives to address issues of structural racism and equity, advocates community-led green restorative development, and coordinates youth-led/youth-fed green initiatives and other gardening and urban farming operations. He has become the "Johnny Appleseed" of urban farming in North Minneapolis and is also a member of the North side Green Zone Task Force. For 2023 alone, Project Sweetie Pie and Michael have been the recipients of the Vision of Ghandi award sponsored by IAM (Indian Association of MN and Grand Patron Dr. Dash), the Living Upstream Unsung Hero award, the Climate Adaptation Partnership award from the University of Minnesota and the 2022 Community Engagement Masters award from the University of Minnesota.
Michael is a known community engagement guru and a community leader.
