Like DeWayne, I grew up in deep community – filled with collective work and collective fun. As I grew older, however, I noticed a dark shadow hovering around the edges of this deep community: unacknowledged and untreated trauma – both individual and collective.

This launched me into a 20+ year career in the field of child & adolescent mental health where I learned that “behavior problems” are often survival skills and that trauma can affect brain development with impacts which, left untreated, can last a lifetime. As a mental health professional, I also know the power of gardens and green spaces to heal and restore, to transform a wounded spirit and bring us home to ourselves.

So in 2003, DeWayne and I created the Peace Gardens – which has evolved into both a healing space for transforming trauma and a social enterprise that provides opportunities for neighbors and visitors alike. And, in 2021, I made the leap from a career in public mental health to join DeWayne in the ever-growing work of Hood Huggers International.