Highlights from DonorConnect: Planting Possibilities

Jun 11, 2025

At our latest DonorConnect: Planting Possibilities, we dug deep to learn more about how nonprofit organizations in our community are planting possibilities to best serve all who call it home. As Iowans we understand that our land has the power to cultivate community, promote healing and create opportunities. From workforce development, mental health support and community building, gardening and farming are transforming lives in unexpected ways – right here in our community.

We talked with four local organizations doing this work in a thought-provoking and informative panel discussion. Thank you to the following presenters for guiding us in this inspiring conversation:  

Insights from Panelists

Innovative Business Models

The nonprofit organizations featured have developed innovative business models that ensure programs support the people they serve and ultimately, the community. 

  • The Des Moines Botanical Garden offers programs like Work from Dome to encourage people to get out and enjoy nature and to connect with community. 
  • LSI focuses on helping people who want to start their own enterprise by selling what they grow.
  • In Harmony Farm has been finding ways to invite more people out to their farms by creating experiences like picking sunflowers. Experiences allow them to create a meaningful connection with people in the community and connect them to the farmers and food.
  • YSS looks at their model as more than selling leafy greens but as selling hope and opportunity to those they serve.

Powerful Partnerships

Establishing partnerships is critical for each of the organizations. For example, LSI sees themselves as a launching point for refugees and immigrants who want to farm. As farmers find their footing, LSI facilitates connections between the farmers and In Harmony Farm as an opportunity to explore a potential next step. As a result, LSI can support more farmers and help move them along a spectrum of independence.

None of these organizations can do it by themselves and when these partnerships exist the whole picture of support comes together for those they serve.

 

Mental Health and Wellness Support for the Community

Outside of benefits connected to workforce development and increasing access to food, all four organizations know the power of nature when it comes to mental health.

The Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden has started programming to offer sensory tours for people who are visually impaired and those who have dementia. Those programs serve individuals from children to the elderly and use the power of nature to tell stories and evoke memories in way that makes those individuals feel involved and included.

LSI and In Harmony Farm found that giving people, often immigrants, space to grow food gave them a sense of purpose that helped connect them to their new community. The act of farming often brings a sense of familiarity when in a new place. When they sell their goods it allows them to connect to the community and to support it by providing healthy food to their new neighbors.

Being centered in the city gives YSS Rooftop Gardens the opportunity to take a different approach. In addition to providing workforce training, the Rooftop Gardens is home to mental health services for the community. The Rooftop Gardens is located in a mental health support desert and by providing those services they are helping to make mental health services more accessible to those in the area.

Ways to Get Involved

One way to support all these organizations is to champion them and introduce their work to other people. Another is to get out in nature yourself in whatever way is accessible to you.

These organizations also appreciate volunteers, for example with LSI Global Greens you can volunteer to help package the food grown or help them set up at the farmers markets.

Support is also always appreciated whether that is through your time, talent, treasure or a combination of all three!

 

Community Foundation Resources

GIVEdsm is an online resource that makes giving simple. Learn about the pressing needs and promising opportunities of area nonprofits and support local organizations that match your passions. To give to organizations featured at the DonorConnect event visit GIVEdsm.org and search by the organization's name.

DonorConnect is part of a free conversation series designed to bring our community together to learn about and discuss our region’s most pressing issues and promising opportunities. Look for future events by visiting DesMoinesFoundation.org/Events. 

As always, our team is here to simplify your giving to the causes you care about. Whether considering ways to maximize your giving today, involving your family in charitable conversations or planning how to leave a legacy for generations to come – we are here to create a personalized giving plan for you. Contact our team to learn more about customized giving solutions that enable you to give back in the ways that meet your unique goals. We are better together.