Urban Community Agri-nomics Ucan

What it reported doing in 2025

Youth programming increased with the implementation of a seven member and two supervisors youth conservation crew project. Youth were paid a salary for four weeks of training in the completion of an ada walking trail, rebuilding of garden fencing and trail maintenance. We continued with our youth gardening program, teaching youth how to select, plant care for and harvest vegetables. In addition, we focused on the techniques of harvesting and bottling honey for distribution. In 2025 ucan conducted health related workshops through a program called gardeners as teachers. These workshops taught citizens how to use herbs, native plants, fungi, grass/weeds (often how people them then), tree leaves/bark, etc. For better health and wellbeing by infusing them into their diet and use to make tinctures. We conducted nine workshops in 2025 providing direct services to 70 individuals. The only notable government relation that we had in 2025 was the application for funding through our county government nonprofit and community support programs, i.e. Durham open space and trails funding. Our outreach is primarily through our social media platforms, tabling at community events and other organizations resource information sessions. Our outreach is also conducted through one-one encounter/engagement with volunteers, schools and universities. Finally outreach is accomplished through interviews with local entities such as podcasters, documentarians, professional or university masters and phd projects. Ucan collaborates with a number of the local universities for research in how to clear land in an environmental way or how to successfully create a reentry program. Our infrastructure rebuilding/repurposing initiatives continues with the addition of more walking trails for programming and healthy environments that provide access to open green spaces. Trail maintenance is ongoing. With the completion of the millhouse we are now able to provide training in food preparation and preservation. Having hvac, an equipped kitchen, bathroom and meeting spaces, the catawba trail farm is now able to host and serve year-round. We are well on our way in repurposing an old corn crib into an intergeneration house; a place for the generations to learn to value each other and engage in oral history, the art of storytelling and traditionally interactive skill building. Since all of our community garden beds are utilized by local residents ucan invested in the construction of a 32'x71' high tunnel thereby allowing us to introduce another agriculture method, to have fresh produce to donate to those facing food insecurity and to create more self-sustaining support of the organization. Knowledgeable contractors and staff are an integral part of our ability to provide quality services; researched, best practice techniques. Having staff is an expensive luxury. Full time and three part-time employees getting paid a living wage (although still below market value) is costly when one factor in local, state and federal taxes and mandates. The need for skilled contractor in the construction of facilities/buildings, environmental management and delivery of services is unquestionable. It is only because of grants and donations that we are able to afford this much needed support. Capacity building grant funding and unrestricted donations made this possible.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 38.5%; rating input score 38
• Program expense ratio: 31.3%; rating input score 31
• Fundraising efficiency: $25.85 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: Limited
• Foreign activity oversight: Limited
• Grant itemization coverage: Limited
• Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
• Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

• Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
  • Whistleblower policy: Pass
  • Document-retention policy: Pass
  • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
  • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
  • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
  • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
  • Audit committee oversight: Missing
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

• Operating margin: -22.8%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.74; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 12.1%; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 47.6% per year; rating input score 100; 95th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 31.5% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 48.4% per year; rating input score 100; 95th percentile among comparable filings