YWCA Carlisle is a non-profit, social justice centered agency that works to eliminate racism and empower women in the Carlisle community and beyond. It runs programs for people of all genders from preschool through adulthood.

Employment Skills Center prepares adults for better employment through education and training. Through our classes, students develop skills that help them secure self-sustaining jobs and become active members of our community.

The LEAF Project is a farm-based youth employment program which employs youth, ages 14-18, to work alongside farmers and chefs in South Central PA. The LEAF Project reconnects youth to the food they eat, the land on which it grows, and to each other.

If you’re looking for delicious, local food and hope to lower your food miles or meet your local farmers personally then visiting the Farmer’s on the Square (FOTS) market is for you! The market is year round – weekly during the summer months and twice a month in the winter. During the summer you can find the vendor’s by following your nose to their setup at 2 N. Hanover Street, right at the intersection of High St. and Hanover. This location was used for open-air markets from 1751 to 1952 and FOTS is the first one to be hosted since! During the winter months you’ll find them arranged inside at Project SHARE on 5 N. Orange St. in Carlisle. All markets occur from 3-7pm on Wednesdays.

FOTS strives to provide fresh, healthy, local food to those who need it most. Many of the vendors have attained third party certifications for their produce including USDA Certified Organic, Certified Naturally Grown, and Food Alliance Certified. With every product you buy you’ll have a farmer’s face to match with it. All their vendors live and work within 50 miles of Carlisle – each one grows, raises, or makes from scratch the food that they sell!

Depending on the season and the available products you can find a amazing array of local produce and other products. Just a few examples include:

• Read-to-eat food like fresh-cut fries, popcorn, smoothies, soups, burgers and bratwurst!
• Hand-cut flowers and arrangements
• Fresh-picked vegetables and crisp, sweet fruits like apples, pears, plums and all sorts of berries
• Fresh seafood from Maine!
• A variety of fruit products like apple sauce, apple juice, and apple & pear butters
• Hearth-baked breads and home-baked crackers
• Granola, teas, honey popcorn, and cookies!

Furthermore, FOTS provides the Double Up Food Bucks program to extend the availability of their food to the community. Through the generosity of the Carlisle Area Health and Wellness Foundation, this program doubles the value of dollar benefits for eligible Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and Senior Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program (SFMNP) recipients – up to $20 per week per recipient.

The Artist Market of Pomfret St allows Pennsylvania artists to sell their wares. Hosted in the once vacant retail space of the building, the artist market brings together individuals interested in art and creates a wonderful space for the community.

Project SHARE is an interfaith cooperative effort which provides food, clothing, nutritional education, and links to programs to empower people in need within the greater Carlisle Area. They promote sustainability initiatives, including education, farming, gleaning, recycling, and many others.

The Parks and Recreation Department provides Carlisle citizens with a variety of year-round recreational programs and secures and maintains adequate parks and open space to meet the needs of the community.

The Clean Air Board of Central Pennsylvania is a faith-based citizens’ initiative dedicated to achieving clean air to protect our health and quality of life.

The services provided by the Carlisle Arts Learning Center better the Carlisle community by providing classes to children and adults regardless of socio-economic class. These programs promote self-esteem and self-expression. In addition, the Works in the Windows program provides artwork for vacant storefront windows keeping downtown Carlisle looking beautiful.

The Dickinson College Farm is a 180-acre certified organic farm in Boiling Springs that provides many different opportunities for students and community members, including working or volunteering at the farm, completing independent research at the farm, educational programs and workshops, events, and much more!

ALLARM works to enhance local action for the protection and restoration of Pennsylvania watersheds by empowering communities with scientific knowledge and tools to carry out watershed assessments.

Sustainability is about more than recycling and the environment. Sustainability is about answering a fundamental question: How do we improve the human condition equitably in this and future generations, while conserving environmental systems necessary to support healthy and vibrant societies? This is Dickinson’s working definition of sustainability. Like most definitions, ours is born of a concern for the future of the planet, its people and its living systems, which are threatened by a growing human footprint that is consuming and degrading environmental resources at a rapid pace. It recognizes essential needs of vast numbers of people are not being met in the present, and that poverty and inequality are amplifiers of vulnerability to environmental and other hazards. It is motivated by values that seek balance among economic development, eradication of poverty and hunger, advancement of social justice, and protection of the natural world.