Catching up with Sarah
Hiya GRP community! I’m Sarah, Green River Preserves new Americorps member for the 2024 - 2025 season.
My main focus this service term will be on maintaining and expanding our K.A.L.E and S.E.E programming as well as working on the farm (stay tuned for some exciting new projects!)
I am a recent graduate of New York University with a BFA in Studio Art and Minor in Creative Writing. My studies focused on heritage crafts and environmental art. My passion is finding the intersections between conservation and art, especially through the lens of cultivating community by using creative solutions to mitigate climate change.
Thank you all for the kind welcome so far, and I can’t wait to meet more of our wonderful GRP community throughout this next year.
Over the past few weeks life in Western North Carolina has dramatically changed. As an Americorps member, I’ve been working in the community assisting with disaster relief while GRP has been closed. Confusion, grief, heartbreak, and overwhelming thankfulness have been the themes of life recently. Out of these emotions and unexpected experiences I’ve found that hope is not an intangible experience, it can very much be witnessed. I’ve spent most of the past 2 weeks at the Estes Elementary Distribution Center helping to provide food and water to Buncombe County residents. I met hundreds of new people, some picking up food and water for their elderly neighbors, others volunteering who’ve lost everything just trying to make time go by. I’ve never known my community as well as I do now. I’ve never been offered so much help or genuinely asked how I’m doing this many times before. Among the many memorable moments that have come from assisting with disaster relief, I’d like to share one in particular.
While on a wellness check in the Swannanoa area, I had the pleasure of meeting a woman named Georgia. My volunteer partner and I managed to deliver 10 gallons of non-potable water, 2 cases of potable water, bags of food, and necessary medication for her. It was towards the end of the day after a week of nonstop chaos. I was burned out and ready to be done for the day, but when Georgia opened the door for us in her silk jacket and sparkly sunglasses I felt more than ready to carry up her aid. She told us about her hurricane experience and navigating this time while being visually impaired and having very limited mobility. Regardless of being stuck in her second-floor apartment for a week, she was one of the happiest people I think I’ve ever met. We talked about our hardships from this disaster, and about things we were looking forward to. On the way out as we were taking her trash, she made a joke asking where her cupcake was and then proceeded to tell us that it just so happened to be her 69th birthday that day. What a birthday to have! Wanting to do something special we got her some requested peach juice and came back to sing her happy birthday. Afterwards, she gave us each two bottles of the water we’d just brought her so we could stay hydrated on the road. We were the first people she had talked to in 9 days, and sitting outside on her balcony to feel the fresh air kept her hopes up. Since that day, I have reminded myself to find joy and take rest. Georgia gave a great example of how important experiencing our environment is right now. To my local friends, we have lost some of our regularly anticipated Autumn but the leaves are still beautiful and the air is crisp. Make sure to slow down, rest, as well as take note of what we have and what’s still to come (Our Winter birds are beginning to move in, I’ve been resetting through some bird watching the past few days).
A huge thank you to all of the former GRP staff and students who saw my GRP shirt while I was volunteering and came to say hi. It was great getting to serve alongside many of you and see the impact Green River Preserve has on its community. In light of this event, environmental education is more important than ever. Seeing the mutual aid and support we’ve had in WNC over the past few weeks has made me undoubtedly certain that the strength of our community in Appalachia is one of a kind. We are resilient people on resilient land, and I am grateful to exist within that. I look forward to continuing my service through GRP over the next season as we all navigate this new normal. Wishing you all S’mores, smiles and healing as we move into a colder season. See you all in Spring on (and off) the preserve!
