Malcom Evans Recognized For His Work In The Community

Malcolm Evans is the Director of Farming at Urban Growers Collective. He recently received the Charles V. Hogren Courage & Character Award from Cabrini Green Legal Aid. Photo by Mary Rafferty.
Malcolm Evans is the Director of Farming at Urban Growers Collective. He recently received the Charles V. Hogren Courage & Character Award from Cabrini Green Legal Aid. Photo by Mary Rafferty.

Malcom Evans Recognized For His Work In The Community

By Tia Carol Jones

Malcolm Evans feels a connection to the land and has been passing his knowledge about vegetables to young people through his work as the Director of Farming at the Urban Growers Collective. Evans met Erika Allen, Founder of the Urban Growers Collective, when he was nine years old. He fell in love with farming and 25 years later, he still loves farming and is training the next generation to become farmers. Evans recently received the Charles V. Hogren Courage & Character Award from Cabrini Green Legal Aid (CGLA).


The Cabrini Green Legal Aid was established in 1973, with the mission to remove barriers to equity for people who are impacted by the criminal legal system. It provides legal services in a holistic way, which includes advocacy and social support to people and communities who have been negatively impacted by the legal system. Evans was recognized, along with the Cook County Office of the Public Defender who received the Bill Leslie Visionary Award and the Woods Fund of Chicago who received the Spirit of Generosity Award.


According to the Cabrini Green Legal Aid: The Charles V. Hogren Award is named for Cabrini Green Legal Aid’s co-founder. The Cabrini Green Legal Aid celebrates clients who demonstrate exceptional courage and character in advocating for themselves and pursuing their life goals, despite encountering challenges within the criminal legal system. Motivation, tenacity and resilience are exemplary of the courage and character that Chuck Hogren shared with us as an organization and are embodied by the life and work of Malcolm Evans.


Evans said receiving the recognition feels good, coming from Cabrini Green. He said he didn’t know people were paying attention to him to the point where they would want to award him with the honor. He said it is amazing to be recognized for something he has been doing all his life.


“I just wake up, come out and do what I love to do; grow vegetables and train the next generation,” he said.


Evans said he has been focused on the food system – how to grow food, how to understand food, how to care for vegetables and how to respond to the plants. He said he has been empowered to have a voice in the community, which has led to him continuing to take an active role in the community. He encourages others to take an active role in their communities and let their voices be heard.


Evans said that he uses his knowledge and experience to impart wisdom to the next generation, not just when it comes to farming, but also when it comes to life. He tries to teach them patience, authenticity and the importance of having direction and focus. He said those skills are necessary in life. He said the skills and energy he brings to teaching young people is his way of showing them they can do what he does and be successful at it.


“It doesn’t matter if you’ve been through some challenges; been through some things in life and been through the system, you can overcome that,” he said. Evans said the same way he used the tools and skills he learned at the Urban Growers Collective, he wants the young people he teaches to be able to do the same thing.


In addition to the Charles V. Hogren Courage & Character Award from the Cabrini Green Legal Aid, Evans was also recognized in 2024 as one of the Leaders for a New Chicago. He said he believes it means that he is making a positive impact on his community. He said that for him to be recognized it means that he is on the right path and making a difference. He credited the people who led and taught him as a driving force for receiving these recognition.


For more information about the Cabrini Green Legal Aid, visit cgla.net. For more information about the Urban Growers Collective, visit www.urbangrowerscollective.org.


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