SAFE Credit Union Supports Farm to Wellness for Veterans

By Georgio Salas.
Updated Jun 12, 2023

FOLSOM, Calif. (PRWEB) June 12, 2023 - SAFE Credit Union is awarding a $10,000 grant to Rancho-Cordova based Soil Born Farms in support of its farm to wellness programs exclusively offered to veterans in the Sacramento region.

This is the second year in a row SAFE awarded a grant to the nonprofit that provides job training and therapeutic experiences for veterans at its 55-acre American River Ranch farm.

Sacramento is rich in agricultural history and farm-to-fork practices. Our foundation at SAFE is rooted in supporting our military and veterans, says SAFE President and CEO Faye Nabhani. It is amazing and rewarding for us to be able to substantively support both of these efforts with this grant.

SAFE annually awards Community Sustainability Grant Program grants to two nonprofits dedicated to improving the lives of veterans. The credit union opening in 1940 as the Sacramento Air Depot Federal Credit Union, initially serving members of the military.

SAFE is also awarding $20,000 to Volunteers of America Northern California and Northern Nevada for its program assisting homeless veterans.

Soil Born Farms Founder and Co-Director Shawn Harrison says the organization plans to use the funding to provide support for two veterans enrolled in the farms Veteran Apprentice Program and to expand the organizations Veteran Field Days, where veterans are immersed in agricultural practices for a day.

The funding from SAFE Credit Union allows us to create a more gradual immersion into the farm experience for a diversity of veterans who may have little to no previous exposure to sustainable agriculture, says Harrison. This will pay long-term dividends both for the health and wellbeing for our veterans, as well as improved food security for our community.

Army veteran Bryce Wilson, who served as a radio communications specialist from 2007-12, completed Soil Born Farms apprenticeship program. He now works there as a farmer.

The apprenticeship program allowed me to rediscover the potential I had as a person, that I was more than a soldier, says Wilson.

SAFE annually awards up to $120,000 in grants in phases focusing on its three pillars of philanthropy: veterans, healthcare, and education.

About SAFE SAFE Credit Union is a not-for-profit, state-chartered credit union in Northern California with over $4.5 billion in assets and more than 234,000 members. Insured by NCUA.