Stories

A loan can be a simple financial transaction; a set amount of money repaid on a schedule. For Biplaw Rai, co-founder of Pearl & Law Hospitality alongside Nyacko Pearl Perry, the hospitality group behind Ama at The Atlas, Foxglove Terrace,…Read More

As housing costs skyrocket across Boston, the Chinatown Community Land Trust (CCLT), with support from LEAF, is fighting to ensure that the working-class families who built Chinatown can afford to stay and thrive there. A History of Resilience and Displacement…Read More

From a family farm in El Salvador to the gardens of Boston, the Friends of Gardens journey is one of resilience, growth, and nurturing the land and dreams. Eulalio Guevara’s connection to the soil was forged tending a corn, beans,…Read More

New Mexico is vast with open land. But many places—particularly Native and Pueblo communities—have limited access to healthy, affordable food. Albuquerque and Gallup are food deserts, with grocery stores scarce. On Native land, this scarcity is the result of a…Read More

In Haverhill, MA, a group of immigrant entrepreneurs is building more than a grocery store that’s giving the community access to stability, opportunity, and healthy foods. Caribbean Markets, a large-format neighborhood grocery, is owned equally by family members, Randy Mejia,…Read More

LEAF supports Project Equity in funding Softstar Shoe to become an Employee-Owned Business C.Elf.O Tricia February 10 2026  From humble beginnings in 1985, through 40 years of crafting colorful and comfortable minimal leather shoes, this year marks a special achievement…Read More

Virginia Brown carried an idea for years: a place where people of all ages would gather, relaxed with food made from scratch, thoughtful drinks throughout the day. When she found the space that would be Midnight Morning, she then needed…Read More

Fresh Food Generation (FFG), a Dorchester-based Caribbean restaurant and catering company founded by Cassandria Campbell and Jackson Renshaw, has been a LEAF partner since 2020. Over that time, FFG grew from a shared commissary kitchen to a multi-channel operation serving…Read More

In Bloomington, Indiana, like in many cities today, housing costs exceed what many residents can pay. Local residents and university students compete for the same limited housing stock, driving rents higher and leaving few stable options for people who want…Read More

Founded in 1970 by university students, People’s Food Cooperative in Portland, Oregon began with a simple purpose: to provide healthy foods that were not widely available in supermarkets. The co-op purchased a 100-year-old Italian grocery store and built something lasting—an…Read More

In local farming, growing begins with a vision and then in and with the soil. The Seattle Growers Market (SGM) is an example of small-scale farmers cultivating their selling power through their Cooperative in a healthy way, just like they…Read More

On a quiet Dorchester street, an elderly man lived alone for decades in an 1880s single-family home. As his health declined, the house declined with him. The old house became too large for an elderly person to manage on his…Read More