Cultivating Change and Empowering Communities

As the Garden Education and Outreach Coordinator at The Foodbank, Inc., Audrey Heiser’s role is to foster and develop the ongoing relationships of her site’s Urban Garden with local schools and other community organizations. So far in service, one of her proudest projects has been planning an educational event for Ohio Soil Health Week, scheduled for mid-November. Leading the charge on this event, Audrey is excited to bring together numerous organizations around a common purpose.

“I envisioned an event that would unite critical stakeholders and organizations in the Dayton community who are passionate about soil health, all at The Foodbank Urban Garden,” she says.

Through this experience and others like it, Audrey has felt her confidence grow in her ability to organize the community and carry a vision to reality. Serving at The Foodbank, she has also been grateful for numerous opportunities to learn and develop professionally. Alongside her site’s Garden Team, Audrey attended the Cultivating Community Composting Forum organized by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance in Cleveland. At this event, she found herself sitting amongst many accomplished composters, each working on projects in service of their communities.

“As someone still new in this role and recently graduated from my undergraduate program, I felt intimidated by the talent in the room and questioned my worthiness,” she says. “However, recognizing this valuable networking opportunity, I pushed myself out of my comfort zone to make new connections. To my surprise, the attendees truly valued my input. As the days went on, my confidence grew, and I eventually led a discussion on environmental justice, food access, and partnerships with schools. This experience taught me to value myself as a contributing member of the conversation surrounding alternative agricultural practices for community benefit – I realized I am not an imposter.”

Audrey has also been grateful to play a strong role in expanding educational partnerships between the Urban Garden and local schools and universities. Through these partnerships, the Garden will be better equipped to teach composting and urban gardening, providing the community with the skills necessary to produce food sustainably.

In addition to building these partnerships, Audrey has also utilized her knowledge of Geographic Information System mapping to create visual ways of locating nearby food pantries and mobile distribution sites. With these maps, she has established systems that deepen the Foodbank’s effectiveness in its mission of fighting food insecurity. Building on each of these experiences, Audrey is excited to start in an agricultural extension master’s program following her service.

“As an extension educator or nonprofit employee, I will focus on community outreach and education to build strong leadership within underserved communities, providing these individuals with the tools and resources to create positive change,” she says. “My goal of addressing disconnections in transferring cultural and generational agricultural knowledge will empower communities and heal food systems.”

With the understanding that agriculture can be a powerful avenue to address hunger, poverty, and environmental injustices, Audrey is passionate about cultivating pride in the agricultural practices of each community and promoting the sharing of knowledge and experiences. Moving forward in a career advocating for regenerative agriculture techniques, she has aspirations of improving food security and climate resilience in her community. Hearing the stories of community members impacted by systemic injustices has also worked to bring empathy to the forefront of Audrey’s focus.

“My vision is to empower a network of leaders committed to sustainable development and social equity in their communities,” she says.

Great work, Audrey, and thanks for your service!