The Community Ecology Institute

Cei offers four core experiential education programs:-a Community of families in nature (cfin): The mission is to provide frequent, fun and friendly nature-based experiential education that can be enjoyed by The entire family - children of all ages and their caregivers. -roots & wings learning Community: The mission is to offer supplemental experiential education for home-schooled children that nurtures a deep connection to self, Community and The environment through programming that emphasizes creativity, social and emotional learning, and hands-on, nature-based exploration.-green seeds internship: The mission is to provide experiential education and work experience for high-school, college, and graduate students across a range of social and ecological themes.-nourishing gardens: The mission is to transform lawns into gardens that nourish our families, The Community, and The environment. The goals of The program are two-fold: (1) installing food and pollinator gardens in yards, Community spaces, and with community-based organizations and businesses, and (2) providing a green-infrastructure jobs training program. The program brings The benefits, learning, and experience of freetown farm directly to The front doors of our neighbors.

In december 2022, cei became The new owner and steward of The green farmacy garden, a unique teaching garden based on The work of world-renowned ethnobotanist dr. james a. duke, who curated more than 300 plant species traditionally used and/or researched for their medicinal properties. The 6.08-acre property is in fulton, Maryland, approximately 5 miles southwest of cei's freetown farm location and will be used to further our educational programming.

Freetown farm: in 2019, cei purchased a 6.4 acre organic farm in our hometown of columbia, Maryland. We have created a Community center on this unique property where people can learn through hands on experiences about how they can have happier, healthier, more connected and sustainable lives. We are actively farming this property and collaboratively grow tons of produce for our Community each year with an emphasis on education and provision of food to those who are facing food insecurity.