Why I Like Playing in the Dirt
Meet Board Member Ivan Hovis Gobern
On your next trip to the Raleigh City Farm (RCF), you might see a tall, really energetic African American man with a huge smile quietly standing in line at Farmstand, greeting strangers or pulling weeds. Meet Ivan Hovis Gobern, a volunteer whose activities run the gamut from being an RCF board member to supporting programs, stepping in to help fundraising or just playing in the dirt. Ivan has been a regular fixture on the RCF board for five years.
Ivan is a real estate broker with the CHAPPELL Team @ Compass, which according to him is his fifth and final career. You might be wondering — what’s the connection? Why would a realtor be so committed to volunteering on a farm?
For Ivan, it’s a continuation of a theme, he’s always worked helping people. In college, he majored in gerontology and helped disadvantaged older Americans nationally, low-income seniors find jobs, and even protected social security in the Clinton Administration. In his words “being a broker is the culmination of being self-employed and helping people”. Having been a nationally certified wellness coach, he also leverages project management skills gained from over 35 years of working in businesses and nonprofits. He fancies himself a conservationist and enjoyed 5 years in leadership roles at The Nature Conservancy.
Several years ago, Ivan chanced upon Raleigh CIty Farm while riding his bike and researching neighborhoods. It was an intriguing, verdant one-acre patch in the middle of the city. Once he learned it was a nonprofit and the farmer on-site invited him for a tour, it kick-started a chain of events. First, he began, like everyone else, pulling weeds on Wednesdays. This progressed to leading Wine+Weeds and falling in love with a few programs and eventually joining the board.
Ivan has some beautiful stories to tell, like helping lead the summer Farm to Camp Salvation Army program with inquisitive and excited urban kids. Many have little idea where their food comes from beyond the grocery store. Each summer, the executive chef from the NC Governor’s mansion comes to the farm, picks produce with the kids, and walks back to camp to create the magic of healthy vegetable meals before their eyes. There is a real sense of wonder and excitement watching kids pick zucchini squash and witness it morph into a mouth-watering spaghetti entree in front of their eyes. These experiences are what motivate him; volunteering on the Farm is not just fun but creates a sense of purpose and community.
It’s good to know that Ivan isn’t the only one who thinks Raleigh City Farm is special. He joined the board just as it transformed its operating, business, and staffing model. As a result, the signs of success are everywhere. According to Ivan, it’s amazing, to see and support growth in the quality and size of partner organizations, funding, output, and programs with an active and engaged board supporting our Executive Director, Farm teams, and volunteers. In 2022, the Farm harvested nearly 12,000 pounds of produce and 5,000 pounds were donated to organizations addressing food insecurity including A Place at the Table, Catholic Charities, Food Bank of Central and Eastern NC and Inter-Faith Food Shuttle, and others. The number of people that want to dig in on the Farm has exploded and there is a multitude of programs that seemed unimaginable a few years ago including workshops, outreach and yoga.
And you can be a part of this turnaround story. Whether you live in Midtown, Mordecai, Oakwood or Brier Creek, Ivan invites you to stop by and visit the Farm on Wednesdays from 4-7pm beginning on April 19th to grab produce that was just pulled out of the ground hours earlier. It’s fresh and local and you’re making an impact by helping reduce food insecurity. And who knows… there is a very good chance you might see Ivan stopping by to grab an arm full of kale at the Pay-What-You-Can Farm Stand!