Founded in 1976, Urban Ministry is a faith-based nonprofit striving to help Birmingham’s West End community thrive. To help residents access fresh, organic produce and provide area youth with fair-wage jobs, Urban Ministry partnered with Church Without Walls in 2008 to create the WE Community Gardens. Today, the garden produces about 3,500 pounds of food on an annual basis—2,000 pounds of which are donated to those in need with the remainder sold at affordable rates at community markets. Some of the produce is also used at Urban Ministry’s WE Community Café, which serves quality, healthy food while providing job training and employment opportunities for youth who are chronically unemployed or underemployed. Patrons are asked to pay what they can, and those who cannot pay can volunteer instead. Revenues from the Gardens and Café help support the nonprofit’s programs.