Ypsilanti’s iconic cow building soon to be the Good Soil Café

2024 State Of The Soil Report

From Prison to Farmer to Changing lives

Farmer Melvin from bad soil to good soil. Melvin Parson had spent his life going in and out of prison for 13 years homeless and addicted to drugs. What happened next in his life was not planned. Melvin was living at a place that had a community vegetable garden. The man tending to the garden […]
New oral history project spotlights stories of Ypsi’s farmers and gardeners

Migration, gentrification & resilience: Ypsilanti gardeners share their stories

After leaving prison, returning citizens find new ground on this Michigan farm

Opportunity farm gives former prison inmates second chance in Washtenaw County

Ypsilanti farm program looks to help the formerly incarcerated

Ypsilanti farm program looks to help the formerly incarcerated Detroit Free Press Melvin Parson, Executive Director, watches over LaWanda Hollister, a farm intern, as she secures wire fencing during a volunteer day at We The People Opportunity Farm on Sunday, May 1, 2021, in Ypsilanti. Antranik Tavitian, Detroit Free Press Amanda Brezzell, left, and LaWanda […]
Ypsilanti farming nonprofit aims to ‘change the soil’ by breaking cycle of incarceration

Through The Seasons with Megan Gilger

Breaking the Cycle of Incarceration with We The People Opportunity Farm Wednesday, April 21, 2021 Today we sit down with Melvin Parson of We The People Opportunity Farm located in Washtenaw County, Michigan just outside of Detroit. Together Melvin and Megan discuss the story that put into motion a Non-Profit focused on helping give new opportunities and […]