Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Mobile Market
Our Mobile Market provides weekly pop-up farm stands in communities with limited access to fresh, local produce. Launched in 2016, the market visits 15 locations each week from June to November, including low-income senior housing communities, community health clinics, and Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority (RRHA) communities. The Mobile Market directly connects families with an affordable source of fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as community resources to maximize the benefits of a healthy diet.
Produce Rx
Our Produce Rx Program (formerly Prescription Produce Plan) equips participants to live healthy lives by providing educational resources and supports to increase the use of fresh produce. We partner with healthcare providers like Bon Secours, Health Brigade and the VCU Richmond Health & Wellness Program to provide cohorts of this evidence-based program. Shalom Farms provides weekly prescriptions of fresh produce and our staff meets with participants for cooking and nutrition education classes.
Nutrition Distribution Program
The food-at-home (grocery store or supermarket food purchases) consumer price index is now measuring 12.4 percent higher than in October 2021, and it is predicted that in 2023 food prices will increase between 3.0 and 4.0 percent. Record inflation is putting a strain on households across the country, and more families than ever before are seeking emergency food assistance via food banks, food pantries, and community kitchens. Our Nutrition Distribution Program provides fresh produce to food pantries, feeding programs, and mutual aid groups across the city to ensure that everyone has access to fresh, healthy options, regardless of their income or ability to pay.
Community Food Skills Education
Our Community Food Skills Education classes provide participants with easy to use kitchen skills to help take their healthy cooking to the next level. In partnership with community centers and other nonprofit organizations, our Food Skills Education classes engage youth, adults, and seniors in positive experiences preparing healthy meals. Our curriculum includes lessons on building kitchen confidence and time saving strategies to help eliminate barriers to healthy eating. We do not track participant demographics by race; rather, we work in partnership with specific community partners and organizations who serve low-income populations, and aim to serve youth, adults, and senior citizens within target neighborhoods, such as the East End and Southside, where instances of food insecurity and poverty are high.
On-Farm Learning
On the farms, we recognize the enormous opportunity our large-scale volunteer program has provided us with. We have created robust curricula for both volunteers and K-12 field trips, which covers topics such as food apartheid, sustainable agriculture practices, composting, soil health, and nutrition. Additionally, we offer learning resources through a curated “Little Free Library” on the farm, and have plans to launch an online resource library, which will include downloadable content available free of charge. We offer workshops in the Spring and Fall to individuals participating in our Lead Volunteer Program (usually 60-75 folks dedicated to volunteering once or more a week for the duration of the season). Past topics have included bee keeping, greenhouse growing techniques, whole-farm planning and crop rotation, and at-home composting.
Where we work
Accreditations
Service Enterprise 2018
Affiliations & memberships
Service Enterprise 2018
External reviews

Photos
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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Who are the people you serve with your mission?
Shalom Farms serves individuals, families, youth, and senior citizens living in census tracts of dense poverty across the city of Richmond.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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What significant change resulted from feedback?
In 2022, our Mobile Market customer survey indicated that shoppers would like to see changes to the program. These changes included extended market hours, evening and weekend markets, and the inclusion of dairy, meat, and value added products. In 2023, our Mobile Market will implement all of these changes.
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback, We ask the people who gave us feedback how well they think we responded
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, The people we serve tell us they find data collection burdensome, It is difficult to find the ongoing funding to support feedback collection, Staff find it hard to prioritize feedback collection and review due to lack of time
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Shalom Farms
Board of directorsas of 03/07/2023
Sharon Blount
Johanna Gattuso
Grassroots Health Advisors
Term: 2023 - 2026
Eric Clay
Community Foundation for a Greater Richmond
Whitney Van Der Hyde
Community Volunteer
Patricia Sauer
Community Volunteer
Jennifer Wicker
Virginia Healthcare and Hospital Association
Helen Ragazzi
Active Health Management
Darren Broughton
Altria
Sharon Blount
Community Volunteer
Johanna Gattusso
Grassroots Health Advisors, LLC
Steve Russo
Community Volunteer
Tamara Young-Elmore
Community Volunteer
Elesha Belke
Capital One
Isabel Eljaiek
Community Foundation for a greater Richmond
Jeff Fender
Performance Food Group
Linda Georgiadis
Community Volunteer
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Not applicable
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data
Equity strategies
Last updated: 03/07/2023GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.