Every year, Hope For Creation in River Falls holds Earth Fest! It is a free event that highlights sustainability efforts in the area. The event was fulling in swing with live music, local vegan food, and fun family activities. GROWW was present to connect with the community and talk about our current projects.

Housing Affordability

Our newest project is looking to tackle Housing Affordability in River Falls. Last summer, we walked around various towns in Western WI to see what issues are facing our communities. Overwhelmingly in River Falls, we heard about rising housing costs and difficulties finding affordable renting options. Everyone deserves a safe place to call home. This project looks to identify and remove those barriers that make it difficult to make ends meet and find a home. Together, we can build a stronger, more inclusive, and economically vibrant community that values the well-being of all its residents.

If you are interested in getting involved with this project, want to share your experience with housing affordability in River Falls, or to learn more, contact Jessica Rein at jessica@gro-ww.org.

Bridge the Divide

Bridge the Divide aims to build relationships, promote civic engagement, and organize residents to demand that legislators pass Final Five Voting in the Wisconsin legislature to reduce extreme partisanship and divisiveness in politics. This project kicked off last summer and brought together members that are tired of the power of extremists overshadowing the common good. 

At every event Bridge the Divide is at, members hold a mock election using the Final Five Voting process. At Earth Fest, the elections were to decide the Best Starburst Flavor and the Best Water Activity. Over 100 attendees participated in these elections. After a few rounds of vote tabulation, Cherry Starburst won in the last round over Strawberry Starburst. For the Best Water Activity, Going to the Lake won over Kayaking.

If you are interested in getting involved with this project or learning more, contact Danny Akenson at danny@gro-ww.org.

Stopping the Ridge Breeze CAFO

GROWW is a community-driven organization, and we believe that people have the power to become leaders and create the change we need in our towns, county, and state. We are proud to stand with the residents of Salem Township and the surrounding areas to stop the expansion of the Ridge Breeze Dairy CAFO.

Ridge Breeze Dairy in northeast Salem Township operates a milking herd of approximately 2,000 cows. Based on verbal discussions with several Ridge Breeze Dairy staff, they are looking over a significant expansion of the herd (possibly to 5,000 – 6,000 milking cows), making it one of the largest, if not-the-largest, CAFO operations ever in all of Pierce County. A herd increase like this could have significant impacts on Pierce County roads, land, water, air quality, and tourism. The goal right now is to ask the county to enact a 12-Month CAFO Moratorium, effectively putting a halt to any expansions until operative ordinances and bonding policies are put in place.

No matter where you are, you can share and sign the petition to enact the moratorium! Sign the petition now:

If you are interested in getting involved with this project or learning more, contact Bill Hogseth at bill@gro-ww.org.

Earth Fest was a big success! We talked to over 150 people and had a ton of fun. Looking forward to connecting again next year. We are always up to something! Follow us on Facebook to keep up with our latest actions. Find our page here.