For fourteen years, Eco3 has been working to strengthen connections, support community-led initiatives, and build resources that make our neighborhood and community stronger. In 2025, we helped build a more connected and thriving community, improved food access, and advanced climate resilience and energy efficiency efforts. With your support, we can continue to work towards these goals and make our vision for an equitable and sustainable future a reality.
Building a Connected and Thriving Community
- In April, our AmeriCorps programs were terminated. Thanks to a court injunction in July, our programs have been restored, and we are moving forward, rebuilding our AmeriCorps programs. We have since launched the 2025-2026 year, strengthening the capacity of local partners that host our AmeriCorps members and deepening connections across our neighborhood and community.
- Since 2018, we have been renovating a condemned home in our neighborhood to expand accessible housing options for our AmeriCorps members. In October, we announced that the house is no longer condemned!
- We expanded our wellness programming to include Walking Wellness Uplift, an elder-centered, holistic health class. Over the summer, we teamed up with high school and college students for intergenerational connection. Since the start of this program, we have worked with 20 elders and 15 students.
- The Eco3 Urban Farm was a place for community gathering and connection. We led almost a dozen workshops, ranging from seed starting to mushroom cultivation to at-home soil science. During the 2025 season, over 150 community members visited our farm for workshops, community gatherings, volunteering, and tours.
- Earlier this year, we shared our excitement about the construction at the former Lincoln Park Senior Center, now our office, and soon-to-be Lincoln Park Hub. Construction has finished, and now we have a new, accessible entrance to greet community members.
Improving Food Access
- This season, the Eco3 Urban Farm grew and harvested over 5100 pounds of fresh produce for the community. We expanded our reach by joining the Central Hillside Farmer’s Market, selling around 2900 pounds of fresh produce, and we donated 1800 pounds of produce to other food access programs. This fall, we hosted a gleaning day with Lake Superior College, where over 900 pounds of produce were harvested by students.
- After hitting a number of snags with the LNPK Grocery project, we were able to advance our project of filling the food access gap in Lincoln Park, and construction has started! The floor plan is final, inventory planning is underway, and we are moving closer to bringing healthy, fresh, and accessible food to Lincoln Park.
- In addition to growing produce, we held whole food cooking classes, teaching community members how to cook and use a variety of spices, herbs, and culinary equipment. We worked with 22 adults and 9 teens to build cooking skills, making healthy eating easier and more accessible.
Advancing Climate Resilience and Energy Efficiency
- Our energy program completed a total of 172 energy audits this year. This is up from 151 last year! The team also completed 13 home weatherizations. This work keeps families warm, lowers utility bills, and helps folks live in comfort and thrive during our coldest months.
- We launched our Energy Training Corps program this spring. Earlier this year, we brought on three Crew members. We had two additional members join us recently, totaling five members for our newly developed and expanding program. These members will grow our ability to serve even more households and community members, strengthening our local workforce in the energy industry.
We have achieved a lot in 2025, and we are looking forward to continuing to build a better community. In 2026, we are committed to driving even greater impact. We’ll be opening the LNPK Hub for public use, expanding the capacity of our AmeriCorps programs with 25 new positions and new partners, opening LNPK Grocery to customers, and more. Your support makes this work possible. With your donation today, you can help fuel meaningful change and ensure we enter the New Year with the momentum we need to keep moving forward. Join us in making 2026 our most impactful year! Donate today!