A friendly community nestled in the southeastern part of the state, Whitley County provides a rich history and natural beauty. Known for its stunning Appalachian landscapes, the county is home to lush forests, rolling hills, and outdoor recreation opportunities, especially around the nearby Cumberland Falls State Resort Park. The area has a tight-knit, rural charm where residents take pride in their local heritage and traditions. With a blend of small-town warmth, scenic views, and a strong sense of community, Whitley County offers a peaceful, laid-back lifestyle while still providing access to modern amenities and a growing economy. There are two cities within Whitley, Williamsburg, KY, the county seat and Corbin, the largest city within the county. And, in that city of Williamsburg, Save the Children sponsors a Community Impact initiative with a small but mighty team of two, Veronica (your author) and Tammy, and a myriad of loyal, ride or die, community partners.

While we obviously take pride in the natural resources afforded to us, we’ve found that gardening and farming is a bit of a lost art. Something that we are going to try to remedy in 2025, starting with the Housing Authority of Williamsburg. We’ve been told that this creating a community garden is a unique take on utilizing the gardening grants with Grow Appalachia, but with our fearless leader, Tammy Meadors, we are more than willing to give it a go. You see, we’re not just growing a garden for the sake of it, but we’re offering a sacred family bonding and educational opportunity to families that are not given much on a regular basis. We’re setting out to reverse as many cyclical patterns as possible by offering a sustainable way to grow fresh vegetables in abundance, ease mental health issues, bolster kindergarten readiness and create community in a place that is hungry for it. We’ve got a lot on the line and we mean business.

Our journey with the Housing Authority began in the spring/summer of 2024. An event called Prime Time Family Reading was implemented in the Housing Authority’s community room and took place every Monday at 6 for 6 weeks. Within the program, we learned how to read and storytell, we learned about the importance of humanities and acknowledging feelings, using deductive reasoning and building reading comprehension. Each family took home 2-3 books each week that they got to keep to build their home libraries, we supplied dinner every night, childcare for the younger children was taken care of by Busy Beez daycare, and there were door prizes galore. We considered it a small success and were very happy with the partnership.

Bouncing off of that success, as she so often does, Tammy birthed a brainchild. She wanted to make sure that all of the kids in the neighborhood were set the first day of school with all of the supplies and resources that they needed. A ‘school readiness’ event was born and involved over ten partners, booths, toys, school supplies, a petting zoo, the fire department, a cookout and the unveiling of a little side project, a reading room, specially renovated by the Housing Authority specifically for the families residing in the neighborhood. A ribbon cutting and a visit from our local representative later, and you’d think enough was enough, right?

Something you’ll come to find out over these next few months is that nothing is ever enough when it comes to the children of Whitley County and Tammy. And I couldn’t be more supportive.

In an unlikely turn of events, I, Veronica, while on an educational excursion of my own sponsored by Berea College, met Steph Hamborsky. She graciously filled me in on why a past program of ours, backyard gardening, would be perfect in our community and we couldn’t think of a better launch pad than the Housing Authority. One grant application, and many, many budget revisions later, here we are.

Our goal is to create a thriving Community Learning Garden. We will employ master gardeners, K Readiness experts and folks of the Housing Authority itself to create an outdoor ‘third space’ that will be used for years to come.

We don’t expect that any of this will be easy. So far, our timeline has been set back as we reevaluate the area that we have set aside for the 40×90 gardening space. Aggressive bushhogging will be required. There’s been miscommunications about purchasing guidance and budget within our partnership. We are biting nails trying to get prepared for the upcoming growing season within a reasonable time frame. After all, all well laid plans go awry. However, we are learning and not stunted in our growth. We never thought it would be a simple process. And with Grow Appalachia by our side, we are up for the challenge.