EarthLinks was founded in 1996 by Bette Ann Jaster and Cathy Mueller, who witnessed profound fragmentation and a deep hunger for connection and belonging in society, particularly among people experiencing homelessness and poverty.

 

Among this population, they also observed a disproportionate exclusion from the natural world and subsequent deprivation from the healing power of connection with others and nature. These observations and their acknowledgement that all of us, regardless of our identities or experiences, are deserving of connection and belonging as inhabitants of Earth, our mutual home, was the motivation for beginning EarthLinks.

 

In EarthLinks’ infancy, participants experiencing homelessness and extreme poverty turned unwanted goods into artisan crafts, stewarded small garden projects at homeless shelters, and took day trips to natural areas across the state. Over the years, the EarthLinks community has grown alongside the harvest of its garden, the variety of its crafts, the diversity of its services, and the depth of its impact on participants, community, and the earth.