Path to Purpose
Community Fellow 2021/2022
Grace Grows
Path to Purpose introduced me to Grace Grows, a community garden that aims to empower those experiencing homelessness through horticulture! I started volunteering in October of 2021 and continue to go to their weekend workdays.
A common thread in my exposure to community work was the importance of getting to root causes. Our bi-weekly meetings introduced me to other fellows and community leaders working across the City of Gainesville in important fields. I began to gain an entirely new perspective on sustainable development that coalesced into a leadership summit with P4H Global on Sustainable Development titled "Be the Change".
Fix Systems, Not Symptoms
This astute message was on our shirts the second day of the Summit.
Memorial Garden
As a fellow, I was encouraged to create deep connections with community partners that went past direct service through volunteering. I really enjoyed getting to know people at the Grace Grows garden as we worked to grow food and wanted to help them make their garden grow. After approaching Abigail about expanding the garden and its impact, we talked about her existing idea for a Memorial Garden that honored those who lost their lives to homelessness.
We started working together to make it a reality throughout the beginning of 2022. I applied my organizational and professional skills to new things I've never done before: applying for grants, creating line-item budgets, drawing landscape plans, and more. Path to Purpose gave me knowledge of and access to funding that pushed implementation of the project forward.
Coming Soon...
Understanding that funding is fluid and won't all come at the same time, we are doing the implementation in phases. The first of which is happening right now! Graciously granted funds from the Path to Purpose Program enabled us to install benches (already built by a community member at Grace) and put in Florida-friendly plants. But we see this as only the beginning! Abigail and I are continuing to make our garden grow.
