A free community resource from Headwaters
Grow food. Save seeds. Find free support close to home.
The Fox River Valley Food Resilience Project brings practical food-growing knowledge and local resources to families across Aurora and the Fox River Valley.
Explore free guides to growing in small spaces, saving seeds, and finding food and growing resources in your community. Start with what fits your home, your budget, and your time.
Explore the free guides · Find local food resources
Free to use and share. No school enrollment required.
Start where you are
Find food and growing resources
Connect with local food pantries, learn how to look for free seeds, and discover places to ask questions or keep learning.
Save seeds for another season
Seed saving is part of our practice at Headwaters. Learn the basics of collecting, drying, labeling, and storing seeds—and how to choose a manageable first seed-saving project.
Grow in a small space
A container or a small outdoor space can be a place to begin. Find a growing activity that fits your available light, the season, and the care you can give it.
Explore indoor growing
Curious about growing indoors or trying hydroponics? Get an introduction to the space, lighting, supplies, and ongoing care involved so you can decide what makes sense for your household.
Food resilience grows through community
Knowing where to find support is part of building a more resilient household. So is having people and places nearby where you can learn, ask questions, and share resources.
Food pantries, gardens, libraries, and schools all contribute to that network. This project builds on Headwaters’ existing relationships with Marie Wilkinson Food Pantry, OLI Gardens, and NIU STEAM, connecting food access with practical learning.
Our local resource guide includes:
Marie Wilkinson Food Pantry, an existing Headwaters partner in community food-access work.
Aurora Area Interfaith Food Pantry, another local source of food assistance.
Santori Library and the Aurora Public Library District, places to connect with information and learning opportunities.
Information about finding seed libraries and other local growing resources.
Visit each organization’s own website for current services and availability.
Expanded local resource guide coming soon.
Learning at Headwaters, shared with our neighbors
At Headwaters, students grow food, tend gardens, harvest produce, and save seeds. Through our community relationships, student-grown food also contributes to local food-access efforts. The Fox River Valley Food Resilience Project takes that learning beyond the school. We’re adapting our food-production curriculum into free resources that households can use in everyday life.
You might begin by finding a pantry, saving seeds from one plant, or choosing something to grow with your child. Each is a worthwhile place to start.
The project is open to the wider community. You do not need to attend Headwaters or homeschool to use the resources.
What we’re building next
Phase two: A working growing lab and community workshops
Our next phase will bring hands-on learning to a working growing lab at Headwaters’ current Aurora location.
We plan to create a place where families can see indoor growing systems in action, explore hydroponics, and participate in workshops on seed saving and growing food at home.
This phase will move forward through a partnership with NIU Edible Campus and the space, funding, equipment, and ongoing care are ready. Workshop dates will be announced when those arrangements are in place.
Our free family resources will remain available as the project grows.
Help a neighbor find this
Do you work with a food pantry, library, community garden, school, or neighborhood organization?
Help families discover these free resources by sharing a link, displaying a flyer, or making take-home cards available. We’d like to hear what would be useful in your setting.
Request materials or talk with us | Download the partner guide (no email required)
Interested in supporting the future growing lab and workshops? Get in touch to discuss the next phase.
Keep growing with us
Receive one monthly Northern Illinois gardening lesson, along with seasonal guides, local resources, and future workshop opportunities.
Fox River Valley Food Resilience Project
A community initiative of Headwaters Community Farm & Academy, Aurora, Illinois.