Community Ecology Institute
  • Home
  • Who We Are
    • Our Work
    • Meet The Team
    • Board of Directors
    • Our Partners
    • Awards and Press
  • Our Programs
    • Families in Nature
    • Roots and Wings Learning
    • Green SEEDS Internship
    • Nourishing Gardens >
      • Climate Victory Gardens
  • Locations
    • Freetown Farm >
      • Gray-Howell Community Engagement Center
      • Growing Together
      • Make + Repair
    • Green Farmacy Garden >
      • GFG Advisory Council
  • Get Involved
    • Volunteer
    • Upcoming Events
    • Scout Projects
  • Donate
    • Business Partner Program
  • Contact Us

Cultivating Communities
​where people and nature thrive together​

working at the intersections of education, environment, equity and health
About Us
Programs
See us on the Today Show!
events
FAQs

freetown farm:
​Where local action addresses global concerns


​In 2019, the Community Ecology Institute purchased a 6.4-acre organic farm in our hometown of Columbia, Maryland. We have protected this land from housing development and are restoring the farm using regenerative agriculture.  We have created a vibrant place of common ground where diverse people come together to learn through hands-on experiences about how to lead happier, healthier, more connected and sustainable lives. At Freetown Farm, we care for the earth and for one another with a sense of hope and purpose for the future. 

Our land was part of the Underground Railroad and is now within Columbia, Maryland—a place explicitly founded by James Rouse to be “a garden for growing people where anyone—whatever their race, wealth or religious beliefs—could reach their full potential.”
​

Freetown Farm is not collecting plastic donations for Upcycled this winter. We'll update when collections resume.

CEI Purchases the Green Farmacy Garden!

Picture
The Community Ecology Institute is honored to become the new owner and steward of the Green Farmacy Garden (GFG), a unique teaching garden based on the work of world-renowned ethnobotanist Dr. James A. Duke (1929–2017), who curated more than 300 plant species traditionally used and/or researched for their medicinal properties. The four terraced garden beds are organized by the medicinal properties of the plants each contains, as described in Jim Duke’s bestselling book, The Green Pharmacy (Rodale, 1997). We are excited to steward the property on behalf of the community!
                               Click here to learn more!
​


Please support our Work!

Can we count you in?

FOLLOW ALONG WITH US

Join Our Mailing List

Join Our Mailing List

* indicates required
CEI humbly acknowledges the Indigenous people who were wrongfully removed from their ancestral lands where we live and work today. We offer our deepest respect to the Piscataway Conoy Tribe and all other tribes Indigenous to the central Maryland region where our organization is based. To learn more about the Indigenous people where you live, visit Native-Land.ca. ​

GROW WITH US ONLINE

(c) 2022 Community Ecology Institute. All Rights Reserved.
Site powered by Flipcause Website
  • Home
  • Who We Are
    • Our Work
    • Meet The Team
    • Board of Directors
    • Our Partners
    • Awards and Press
  • Our Programs
    • Families in Nature
    • Roots and Wings Learning
    • Green SEEDS Internship
    • Nourishing Gardens >
      • Climate Victory Gardens
  • Locations
    • Freetown Farm >
      • Gray-Howell Community Engagement Center
      • Growing Together
      • Make + Repair
    • Green Farmacy Garden >
      • GFG Advisory Council
  • Get Involved
    • Volunteer
    • Upcoming Events
    • Scout Projects
  • Donate
    • Business Partner Program
  • Contact Us