Between caregiving and a full-time job, one Granville County farmer is cultivating more than crops—she’s growing community support
Kisha (MK) Jeffries works full-time for a lab company and is a founder of Handéwa Farms, alongside her daughters, family and friends. This Afro-Indigenous collective grows hemp for CBD products. They also grow vegetables and melons that are shared in the community.
A farm hub at Handéwa has four spaces where people with insecure housing can stay while working on the farm and getting their feet under them. At Thanksgiving, Handéwa supplied a community meal. “We always give back,” Jeffries said.
“Handéwa” means “generational” in Tutelo-Saponi, and Jeffries hopes that the farm can sustain future generations. It already nourishes two generations, as they care for the land and each other.
Handéwa represents an economic opportunity, but Jeffries also wants to build something that supports people, motivated by the system gaps she navigates as a caregiver.
Jeffries is a caregiver for both her brother and for her adult son, besides farming and working full-time. “Being in a rural area makes it even worse,” she said of the medical options available for family members…
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