CLEVELAND — Cleveland’s largest urban farm not only provides produce, but it also provides jobs for newcomers who want to work in agriculture. Now that the five acre urban farm is expanding, the expansion will allow newcomers to work all year long, instead of being furloughed during the cold winter months.

Tantine Mukonge is a single mother from Congo who’s been calling Cleveland home for nine years. She came to Cleveland as a refugee and escaped the dangers of political unrest in her country.

“I’m happy to work here. I love the people because they help me with everything here,” she said.

Arriving in America meant a new set of challenges for Mukonge, as she had to learn English and get food handling certification.

“The process took me like 17-years in the camp, but now I’m here in America, I’m happy,” she said.

Mukonge shuffled through fruits and vegetables during her shift. She is proud to know, they’ll eventually make it to someone’s dinner table.

“Sometimes I go to harvest, sometimes I’m planting for everyday I come here,” she said.

Ohio City Farm said it’s getting ready to expand. Re:source Cleveland, the non-profit that runs the farm, has started to build an indoor center known as the Roundstone Pavilion. The center will keep farmers warm from freezing temperatures and will promise year-round work, avoiding seasonal furloughs.

Patrick Kearns, the executive director of Re:souce Cleveland, said this stability is opening doors for enhancing the local economy and keeping newcomers like Mukonge with a job.

“This is a big step for us. It’s going to allow us to have that four season business cycle and really allow us to up our employment for our newcomers,” Kearns said.