Nonprofit extends helping hand to immigrant farmers

The Gresham Outlook, Mar 14, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (1 Reader comment)

Merry MacKinnon / The Outlook

With help from New American Agriculture Project, Alexander Velikoretskikh has tools, water and land (a half-acre in an urban neighborhood of Southeast Portland) for farming. Velikoretskikh, who emigrated with his wife and eight children from Russia 15 months ago, hopes to provide his family with fresh vegetables and to sell the surplus at local farmers markets and restaurants.

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The offer of land and water at no cost are the incentives a Portland-based nonprofit uses to encourage refugees and immigrants to begin small-scale farming within the Portland metropolitan area.

On a recent Sunday, client Alexander Velikoretskikh dug up carrots and installed an irrigation system on a half-acre lot he farms in Inner Southeast Portland.

“It’s a hobby farm,” said Velikoretskikh, glancing around the plot, which faces busy 39th Avenue.

As his children picked flowers, the white-haired father of eight rolled up a long piece of clear plastic, part of the free materials and tools the nonprofit gives to its farmers.

Having emigrated with his family 15 months ago from Russia, where he said he had grown tomatoes, potatoes and carrots, Velikoretskikh figured he’d try growing and selling vegetables here, too, after hearing about New American Agriculture Project (NAAP) through Outer Northeast Portland’s Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization (IRCO). But he’s also seeking work as a truck driver.

Administered by Mercy Corps Northwest, the agriculture project encourages refugee and immigrant self-employment within the local organic food economy.

“A lot come to us without any income, and they’re receiving welfare,” said Drew Katz, NAAP program coordinator.

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