Urban Greens was founded as a cooperative buying club in the year 2000 by a group of residents on the west side of Providence who felt that their need for an affordable source of healthy foods was not being met. The buying club has grown to over 200 members and operates out of the West Broadway Neighborhood Association headquarters located at 1560 Westminster Street in the Armory District of Providence.
An entirely volunteer-run organization for the first five years of its life, Urban Greens received an Americorps Vista member in the fall of 2005, its first staff position. Since then, the club has grown to order nearly $5000 per month from local businesses and distributors. Over the years, Urban Greens has refined its ordering processes, expanded and revised its volunteer system and added more locally-produced goods. The current focus of Urban Greens is to open a food market on the west side of Providence where residents will be able to purchase local foods 7 days a week without having to leave their own community.
Deborah Rosenberg, RN, has been on the Urban Greens council since 2008. She currently works as a nurse at the RISD Student Health Center (Providence, RI), and is a resident ceramic artist at the Providence Steel Yard ceramic cooperative. While studying nursing at Oregon Health & Science University (Portland, OR), Deb created and managed the "Healthy Snax" food co-op out of the School of Nursing, providing healthy snacking alternatives to vending machines. She became involved with Urban Greens upon moving to Providence and finding the city sadly devoid of a food co-op. She is committed to seeing a store open in Providence's West Broadway neighborhood and coordinates the Membership committee. Send Deb an email.
Kristin DiVona (Treasurer) is an art director of advancement communications at Brown University with 15 years of design, writing, and advertising experience. She runs a successful freelance business whose local clients have included the RI Neighborhood Consortium, Garrison Confections, the Highlander School, RI Blue Cross Blue Shield, and Life is Good. She currently serves as communications chair on the board of Groundwork Providence, and is a member of the Women's Community Arts Leadership group. She has also taught graphic design at the Community College of Rhode Island, RISD's youth programs, the RISD museum, and Providence CityArts for Youth.
Bridget Dignan (Secretary) has been working as Asset & Community Building Program Manager for Olneyville Housing Corporation (OHC), a community development corporation in Providence, since 2002. At OHC, Bridget has experience with event planning, managing working committees, developing organizational partnerships, grant writing and management, and meeting facilitation. She is responsible for a departmental staff of four as well as a Volunteer Income Tax Assistance site. Send Bridget an email.
Michelle Sheehan currently works for The Nature Conservancy and the Department of Environmental Management with the State Land Conservation Program. She has worked at several community non-profits including Southside Community Land Trust here in Providence and Dollars and Sense Magazine, a collectively owned and operated social justice and economics magazine, in Boston. She has experience with grant writing, fundraising, and community outreach. Michelle has lived on the west side of Providence since 2005. Send Michelle an email.
Corey Auger (Chairperson) currently works as a Systems Coordinator in the healthcare industry. He studied Social Thought and Political Economy at Umass Amherst where he spent 3 years as co-manager of People's Market, a student-run food cooperative. He has also worked with the Willimantic Food Co-op in Willimantic, CT, the 193 Degree Coffeehouse collective in Kingston, RI, and Fiddleheads Food Co-op in New London, CT. Corey has been living on the west side of Providence since 2007 and was elected to the Cooperative Council in 2009. Send Corey an email.
Jenna Hecker currently works as a Technology and Reference Librarian at a public library in Norwood, Massachusetts. Having spent time at the Honest Weight Food Co-op in Albany, NY, her hometown, she has a renewed passion for creating a Providence co-op. Jenna is responsible for much of her library's marketing and outreach activities, including the library website and social networking initiatives. She has a bachelor's degree in English from the State University of New York at New Paltz, and a master's degree from the University of Rhode Island in Library and Information Science. She is committed to the opening of a co-op in the West Broadway neighborhood of Providence, where she's lived for four years. Send Jenna an email.
Carey Jones (Vice Chairperson) currently works as an architectural historian throughout the New England and New York region. She has lived on the West Side of Providence and has been an Urban Greens Food Co-op member since moving to Providence in 2008. She also currently sits on the board of the West Broadway Neighborhood Association (WBNA) and serves on the Community Development Committee. Carey has over ten years of retail management experience including large-scale stores and a small, independent business. Having been a co-op member of every city she has lived in, Carey is looking forward to the opening of Providence's only cooperative grocery! Send Carey an email.