I was raised in Winnebago, Nebraska, until I was about 12 years old. Throughout my childhood, my family almost always had a garden, or we harvested what grew wild in and around Winnebago, like mushrooms, plums, chokecherries, black walnuts, and milkweed.
Bringing that tradition to the areas I serve today by planning activities and educational workshops in Native communities will hopefully encourage more home and community gardens. I enjoy organizing our program events such as the Omaha Nation farmers market, doing outreach, and building partnerships within the communities we serve.
Previously, I was the community garden coordinator for the Tempe Community Action Agency in Tempe, Arizona, and I was responsible for maintaining and overseeing the sustainability of multiple community gardens and their farmers market. In that position, I also worked within each community to provide fresh, organic produce to the locals through volunteer work and by donating the produce that was grown to the local food pantry and senior centers.
My previous experience helps me empower the communities the Center serves through education, empathy, and support. I’m grateful to be able to work within and have the chance to make that happen in the community that I currently live and grew up in.
