Uncommon Good has a mission: to help break the cycle of poverty and help raise awareness about environmental issues. Uncommon Good is a non-profit organization that was founded by Nancy Mintie in Claremont in 2000. Uncommon Good is a corporation that has many unique features, such as the first commercial earthbag building, and it also teams up with students at Pomona College. It is located in the parking lot of the Claremont United Methodist Church. Uncommon Good sells organic foods produced by Fiddleneck Farms and is a part of the community called Community Alliance for Urban Sustainable Agriculture Program (CAUSA), which is a food manufacturing program that distributes organic food and provides education for the community.

Uncommon Good offers programs such as Connect to College, which encourages students to create goals to be able to reach college and provides mentors and volunteers to help guide them at the Uncommon Good site. Junior Evelyn Torres is a student at CHS who has been a part of Uncommon Good for five years and enjoys the opportunities that Uncommon Good has to offer, such as volunteering.

“Uncommon Good is unique in many ways. It gives all the tools and resources possible to help their students reach their main goal: college. At the same time parents are involved by learning how to support their kids and helping them understand that any one can reach a successful life,” Torres said.

Teen Green is a program for teens to develop leadership skills and raise awareness of environmental issues. They meet from Sept. to July and have service projects like beach clean-up projects, and beautification projects for school parks. One of Teen Green’s missions is to strengthen the bond between Pomona College and Uncommon Good through becoming involved in the community and meeting at Pomona College to bring the two of them closer together.

“We work with Pomona College students who play the role of our mentors, and at these meetings we help plant and maintain the plants in the gardens as well as discuss environmental issues,” Torres said. “We don’t always have meetings because we have outside activities as well, like cleaning up local parks or beaches. As of now, Teen Green consists of about 50 students from different grade levels, but all with the same purpose.”

Uncommon Good formed the CAUSA Program to help feed the hungry and be able to provide education. CUASA is a network of a few dozen urban farm plots called Fiddleneck Farms and has been producing organic food since 2011 that is chemical and pesticide free. They are located within Claremont, Pomona, Ontario, and Covina in several home plots and some churches and synagogues. In fact, 50% of the food grown is sold at the Uncommon Good building.

Uncommon Good has a strong mindset of creating not only a world without poverty but also a healthy and green environment for everyone to be able to grow. With their programs such as Urban Agriculture and Connect to College, they can help support students to succeed in school and take care of the environment.