Green House 17 is magical.

I originally conceived this blog as a comprehensive summary of our time in this place, but as the week went on, I realized that was never going to be possible. How can I capture the feeling of heavy, wet soil with words? How can I record my happy, aching bones? How can I recreate the joy of affection from children and horses and plants?

I can’t. But I’ll give it my best effort.

My co-site leader, Shelby, and I are a part of an organization called Mizzou Alternative Breaks. It used to just be Alternative Spring Break, but now we do thanksgiving, winter, weekend and spring trips, so we had to switch up the title a little bit. Through this org, we have been planning this trip since last May. The logistics were uninspiring, the meetings were boring, and it was hard to know if it was going to come together and be something really great. It just seemed like a foreign concept during the planning process. Is this trip even happening, or are we just running around writing stuff down on these papers for nothing?

But we kept the faith and kept working.

Shelby and I didn’t really understand these shirts.

I can say now, without a doubt, that all of that work was more than worth it. We packed up 10 students in a van, drove to Lexington, Kentucky, and moved into a beautiful antebellum building right next to the University of Kentucky campus for a week. We were there to eat, sleep, and serve (although it sure did feel like a vacation when we got a private concert from a bluegrass band that first night).

Green House 17 has space on the farm for dogs, cats, and horses.

We were serving at a domestic violence shelter called Green House 17. Here’s the most amazing thing about this place: There is zero apathy on the premises. Everyone who we worked with was so open and welcoming and passionate and fierce about they work they did. This place is just amazing. Their mission is to provide a space for survivors of domestic violence where they can grow and heal through nature. Women can work on the farm and grow flowers and vegetables to sell and eat. They also make soaps, candles, salves, and lip balms that they sell on Etsy. The shelter also has a partnership with the trustees at the local prison where they can help out around the shelter and often shorten their sentences. If that’s not enough, the place is called Green House 17 because they serve 17 different counties in Kentucky.

Our wonderful group.

I’m just in awe of these people. Outside, we have Jessica, our wonderful farm advocate. We worked closely with her and shoveled, weeded, planted, seeded, and built. Inside, we have Darlene and Scott, our director and child advocate. They all work so hard. Darlene just got a bill passed through Kentucky’s House and Senate about dating violence. We asked her how long she’d been working on the bill, and she said it was over a 10-year process. Through 10 years, she never gave up. Scott runs the co-op for children up to four years old. Children in shelters often don’t have a lot of agency, and he works really hard to give that back to them. The children’s space is beautiful and immaculate, and Scott says they keep it clean because it’s their space and they care about it. The kids run that space, and as Scott says, they love him “like a rock star.”

We came home every day pretty exhausted from digging in dirt or running around with children, but it’s that “good tired” you’re always hearing about. Tired but inspired. MAB has seven principles, but there’s only one that really matters: Bring It Home. That means that every person we met, every experience we shared, and everything we learned stays with us long after spring break ends. And they will. Love y’all.

Outside our little hoop house.