Fresh Start Farms provides training on land access, production, and marketing to refugees who were farmers and who want to work and contribute financially to their households, says Mukhtar Idhow, Executive Director of the Organization for Refugee and Immigrant Success (ORIS), which oversees Fresh Start Farms.

ORIS was founded to help refugees make the transition to life in New Hampshire and become self-sufficient. By helping farmers sell their produce in farmers markets, the Fresh Start Hub, and its mobile market, ORIS plays a big role in expanding food access in its communities.

“The partnership with NH Community Loan Fund has been amazing and contributed to our goal of making food accessible in communities,” Idhow says. Most recently, the Community Loan Fund provided a feasibility study, other business planning, and financing for a cargo van to deliver more food to grocers and markets around the state.

This article was published in the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund’s 2022 annual report.