Welcome to Down Home! We are really excited to have you here. Can you tell us a little bit about why you wanted to join the Down Home team?
I believe we can create a better world by making connections and growing positive relationships with our neighbors. Living in a rural community can feel isolating. I’m hoping to bring folks together to create a positive impact in our communities while still being able to cherish all the reasons we enjoy them.
Can you give us an example of any professional, political, or personal experiences that you are bringing with you into your role that you think will help guide your work here?
Professionally, I am bringing several years of work around political campaigns, social issue campaigns, and harm reduction advocacy. Personally, I am bringing my own lived experiences to connect with others and improve lives. Growing up in a rural Appalachian community, I felt both privileged and left behind. Privileged with all the natural resources surrounding me yet left behind with fewer opportunities and financial resources than those in more urban areas. Having the opportunity to live in both rural and urban places, I aim to advocate for more resources so that a child’s chance of success, or a person’s access to healthcare, isn’t determined by their zip code.
What are you most excited about doing in this movement? What are you most passionate about?
I think the one thing I’m most excited/hopeful about is the thought of bringing folks together to organize and create change in our local communities. Living in rural communities can feel very isolating and ideas for change don’t get the chance to travel far or come to fruition because we don’t have the same opportunities to gather or be near each other like more populous cities have. I want to show that folks living in rural areas can organize and impact change too!
Best biscuit you’ve ever had?
I wish I could tell you to “go here for the best biscuit” but sadly, the best biscuit is no longer available because they were made by my granny. Oh, the amount of butter in those things!! I remember going over there as a kid, standing on a chair at the table, and using a mason jar ring to help cut the biscuits from the dough. After we had cut all we could, I’d play with the remaining dough. I can tell you that the best thing to put on a biscuit is Apple Butter and I’ll argue with anyone about that!
