La Colmena- First Anniversary Celebration

Join us for food, music, and a report launch and documentary screening showcasing our history and the lessons learned along our journey.
About this Event

SALSA Food Hub, La Milpa Cafe, Duugich Art, and THRIVE Santa Ana invite you to:

La Colmena’s First Anniversary Celebration

One year after our opening, La Colmena shows us what is possible when we walk together, listen to our communities, and support them to make decisions about their own territory.

Join us for food, music, and the launch of a report and documentary showcasing our history and the lessons learned along our journey.

Program:

• 1:00pm: Doors open and a welcome by THRIVE Santa Ana

• 2:00pm: Report launch of Planting a New Economy: Stories and Lessons from La Colmena, a Cooperative Hub Held in Community Trust.

Engage R+D y Community Hub de Santa Ana will moderate conversations with the operators of La Colmena and with Cooperacion Santa Ana and THRIVE to provide a preview of the report that documents what it takes to build community-driven economic development in practice— the challenges encountered, the progress made, and the lessons learned along the way.

This report was developed by Engage R+D in close collaboration with Cooperación Santa Ana, THRIVE Santa Ana, Community Hub de Santa Ana, Radiate Consulting, and La Colmena’s worker-owners (resident businesses) with funding from the Jobs First Initiative. It brings together the voices of the partner organizations, worker cooperatives, local community, and city officials who made La Colmena possible, and the lessons we seek to share with others.

• 3:30pm: Screening of short documentary by Tony Marino Films, featuring original music by composers Amor & Mar.

• 4:00pm: Visit the site operators and community resource tables
• 5:00pm: Dinner and Music
• 6:00pm: Announcements and Closing

Located in the heart of Central Santa Ana, La Colmena is the city’s first-of-its-kind community-led land trust project—a space where land is held for the long-term benefit of residents, and where two worker-owned cooperatives and a small business have taken root: La Milpa Café, a women-owned coffee shop and gathering place, where coffee and desserts are shared celebrating culture and tradition; SALSA Food Hub, an urban farm building local food sovereignty; and Duugich Art, preserving Oaxacan weaving traditions and cultural heritage. Together, they form more than a marketplace. La Colmena is a living example of what it looks like when a community owns and shapes its own economic future.