Chambana Sun

The executive director of Urbana's Sola Gratia Farm says she is worried about losing a $99,500 U.S. taxpayer grant her organization receives to provide food to Urbana School District 116.

Traci Barkley expressed her worry at a roundtable event at their four acre farm, 2200 South Philo Road in Urbana, on Wednesday March 19 with Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker and U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski (D-IL). 

She said the money was promised to her by the Biden Administration.

“We are extremely alarmed with the chaos regarding freezing federal funds and widespread layoffs. Each of these federal grant programs was approved and funds were appropriated by Congress…the contracts have been signed," Barkley said, according to a Budzinski press release.

The $99,500 Sola Gratia Farm grant was one of 154 "Farm to School" grants issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) last year, totaling $14.3 million.

Biden Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said taxpayers should subsidize non-profit farms like Barkley's, helping children "eat more tasty, nutritious foods in school, while supporting farmers and producers in their local and regional communities."

Sola Gratia Farm has benefited from myriad taxpayer grants from the federal government, state of Illinois and City of Urbana.

In 2022, Sola Gratia Farm received a $249,825 "Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production" grant from the USDA.

Sola Gratia Farm also received two grants totaling $150,000 and $74,998 from State of Illinois taxpayers through the Illinois Department of Agriculture in 2024, and another for $30,678 in 2023.

In 2023, City of Urbana taxpayers gave Sola Gratia Farm $150,000.

In 2022, it received a $20,000 grant from State of Illinois taxpayers through the Illinois State Treasurer's "Charitable Trust Stabilization Program."

Internal Revenue Service records show that revenues at Sola Gratia Farm jumped 800 percent between the non-profit's founding in 2017 and 2022.

Sola Gratia Farm revenue was $172,842 in 2017 and $1,427,181 in 2022, the last year for which its annual 990 form is on file with the IRS.

Sola Gratia Farm board members are President and St. Matthew Lutheran Church Pastor Paul Chapman, Vice President and Faith in Place "Green Team Director" Cindy Shepherd, Treasurer and former Urbana Mayor Tod Satterthwaite, Secretary and Illinois Wesleyan Political Science Professor William Munro, University of Illinois Agriculture Professor and member Jonathan Coppess, Urbana School District 116 Art Teacher Beth Johnson Satterthwaite, Sue Guirronet, Urbana School District 116 First Grade Teacher Jill Quisenberry, former Judah Christian and Decatur St. Teresa Basketball Coach Bill Ipsen and Barkley.