Our Story

Riverview Gardens is a collaborative transformation of a 72-acre golf course and country club into a non-profit organization with a mission to build dignity through job training and employment. We are addressing root causes of unemployment, poverty and homelessness through hard work, creativity and human dignity. We approach our mission with the core concept that all people have value and can contribute to the community in which they live. We engage individuals in need throughout the Fox Cities and Northeast Wisconsin in a 90-hour no-fail, no-cost, job-training program, ServiceWorks®. This program helps people obtain stable, permanent employment and empowers them to become self-sufficient community members. To provide job-training opportunities for ServiceWorks participants, we repurposed existing resources to create five social enterprises: Certified-organic urban farm; Hydroponic greenhouse; Community center and park space; Downtown Appleton building; Maintenance contracts. ServiceWorks serves individuals experiencing homelessness or living in poverty, veterans, at-risk youth, women fleeing domestic violence, single parents, previously incarcerated and others. Upon completion of the program, graduates are connected to employment and supportive services through a three-year placement success program. Our programs are about creating resilience, a support network and a sustainable future for the people we serve and therefore, the entire community.