Kristin Wright Dreams of Giving Killeen Room to Grow

By Fred Afflerbach | Photos courtesy of Killeen Creators

Kristin Wright has a dream. “My vision is there will be a community garden within walking distance of every citizen in Killeen.”

Wright is the board of directors chair at Killeen Creators, a year-old nonprofit that is plowing fertile ground in a city where many neighborhoods have been deemed a food desert. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a food desert is an area where many residents both live in poverty and reside more than one mile from the closest large grocery store. And because low-income residents who live across town from stores such as H-E-B have scant access to public transportation, they often opt for buying food at convenience stores that sell mostly processed foods packaged in cans and cardboard boxes.

Killeen Creators response to the food desert status is already making a difference.

Two community gardens on the city’s north side are now under cultivation. Volunteers who don’t mind a little dirt under their fingernails till the ground, pull weeds, shovel dirt and come home with a basket of onions, tomatoes, carrots, or whatever’s in season. Wright says the experience is transformational. Sharing a garden with neighbors and strangers brings people together.

“Growing your food is up there with creating a work of art, or raising children, or starting a business. It’s a very empowering thing for a community that’s been depressed, oppressed, disenfranchised and end up feeling pretty powerless,” Wright said. “When you start with a seed, and you show your child that together you grew a tomato that tastes so much better than anything that you can buy at the store, it’s incredibly uplifting.”

The Killeen Creators concept sprouted from a Facebook Live interview last May featuring Killeen resident Kelly Flading. Flading had volunteered at a community garden in Seguin and witnessed first-hand the joy and love that grew from the activity. She said community gardens would benefit Killeen as well.

“The community gardens do a lot of things,” Flading said. “They decrease crime. They lighten up the area. They just bring joy. I think a lot of people who come to our workdays experience that, and that’s why they keep coming out. They can really get the feel of what it’s like to be part of community. And that’s what will make our city grow, to improve the quality of life here in Killeen. It shows that we have roots. It shows we nurture our neighborhoods.”

Shortly after the Facebook Live interview aired, a local contractor, Louie Minor, donated the use of a vacant lot he owns on West Avenue J. Volunteers soon built about 20 raised beds, two with access for wheelchairs, and a shed for gardening supplies. With some tender nurturing, the garden has produced a veritable horn of plenty: corn, cantaloupes, watermelons, squash, tomatoes, onions, carrots, asparagus, kale and more.

Anyone who wants to pay a small monthly fee, from $2.50 to $65, or just work a few hours on weekends, is welcome to share the bounty. (There are no personal plots.) At the end of the workday volunteers help themselves to a cornucopia of fresh groceries.

Killeen Creators recently raised enough money to purchase a vacant lot on Bundrant Drive, also in North Killeen, which is now producing fresh veggies. With two locations now under cultivation, organizers are busy scouting more sites. City councilman Ken Wilkerson says there is ample open space owned by the city, typically in parks, that would make great community gardens.

“There’s quite a bit of green space where we can put something there,” Wilkerson said. “It brings ownership to that park, too. You have a vested interest. I would really like to set up something that is local in the neighborhood area, and these parks are perfectly nested within those communities.”

Volunteers who gather at the gardens on Sunday afternoons are a diverse cross-section of residents. Many struggle with special needs, while others may have taken a wrong turn somewhere. Wilkerson, a veteran who served 27 years in the Army, says gardening is especially helpful for veterans with PTSD. And seniors with rheumatoid arthritis somehow manage their walkers and braces and kneel to tend the soil. Also, a 70-year-old man with obsessive-compulsive disorder has taken charge of watering. Twice a day, without fail, he’s on the job, ensuring the gardens don’t dry out. His caretaker says this activity has mitigated the effects of his disorder. Parolees needing to complete community service hours also work the gardens.

Jonathan Hildner, a 2012 Killeen High School graduate, has canvassed neighborhoods, handing out fliers with information about the gardens. “In a city like ours, so diverse and transient, you get people from all over,” he said. “Giving people opportunities where they can get involved is just huge. Strategically where these gardens are placed is important because these are parts of our community that haven’t been touched in a long time. We’re putting the gardens in places where we hope to empower the people to invest of themselves.”

Besides gardening, Killeen Creators is working on two additional initiatives: “The Art of Recovery” will use painting, drawing, journaling, to help people who have experienced trauma. The other initiative, “Civic Empowerment,” will encourage people to get involved locally through participating in elections and contacting local politicians.

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For more information about Killeen Creators: https://www.facebook.com/KilleenCreators.