After a very difficult 2023 — losing my mother, receiving my own cancer diagnosis, and moving through treatment — I found myself slowly rebuilding my sense of rhythm, purpose, and connection. Music helped me breathe again. Art helped me notice beauty again. Community helped me remember that healing is not something we do alone.
Read More"We're seeing communities think more like systems," said Karen Gordon, founder of Growing Augusta and publisher of Urban Pro Weekly. "A farmers market isn't just about food anymore. It's also about entrepreneurship, public health, neighborhood development and community gathering. The same project is serving multiple purposes."
Read MoreAudacity of Humility is a community conversation for people who are ready to stop confusing humility with shrinking.
The question is simple but powerful: What if building boldly is not a betrayal of community, but one of the ways we come back better equipped to serve it with clarity, purpose, and rooted power together?
Read MoreBefore you ask people to invest their labor in a teaching farm, invest time in building the systems that support them.
Inside you'll find governance tools, startup checklists, readiness assessments, onboarding systems, agreements, community engagement strategies, operational frameworks, and perhaps most importantly, lessons learned from observing a teaching farm launch in real time.
Read MoreBecause relationships are infrastructure — and good work grows stronger when we steward them with care.
Read MoreMany of us are doing important work in our neighborhoods, nonprofits, churches, schools, markets, civic groups, small businesses, coalitions, and creative communities. But too often, the work lives in our heads, in scattered notebooks, in text messages, in event flyers, in social media posts, or in memories.
Read MoreBut as Augusta talks about data centers, industrial uses, infrastructure, and future growth, we should also make room for another type of land use: urban agriculture.
Read MoreIf you care about the future of Augusta, don't wait until the next election to get involved. Attend a neighborhood meeting. Volunteer for a community project. Introduce yourself to your neighbors. Strong neighborhoods don't happen by accident - they are built by residents who choose to participate.
Read More“This event is about bringing people together—business, workforce, and community—to focus on real opportunity,” said Gordon. “We have the talent and potential right here. The goal is to better connect those resources so our community can grow and not be overlooked.”
Read MoreDuring my work with Cross Creek, I helped revise and update agriculture curriculum to include more business development and entrepreneurship. That mattered because agriculture education should not end with production. Students also need to understand how ideas become income, how enterprises are built, and how classroom learning connects to real opportunity.
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