Our Story

How a high school student turned homegrown flowers into hope for survivors of abuse.

I ‘ve grown up watching my mom grow flowers and produce at her farm. To her, flowers were never just decorative — they were the way she said 'you matter' to the people around her. That idea stayed with me.

THE ORIGIN OF BLOOMS & BLESSINGS

Blooms & Blessings for Hope started back in May 2025 with a simple question: what if the flowers we grew could do something more than look beautiful? The Abuse Prevention Council of Cleveland County, a domestic violence shelter right here in Shelby, became my answer. Each bouquet I sell funds programs for survivors and their families. Each arrangement is a reminder that beauty and dignity belong to everyone.

WHAT THE PROJECT ACTUALLY IS

Over 10 months, we have raised $1750 through veggie box sales, amaryllis bulb kits, bouquet sales, pre-order campaigns, and our GiveButter fundraiser. I grow, harvest, and arrange the flowers. I manage the social media, design the campaigns, and pack the car for the farmers market trips. It is real work, and it has taught me more about running something that matters than almost anything I have done in a classroom.

THE HEALING GARDEN VISION

The next chapter of Blooms & Blessings is a therapeutic healing garden at the APC shelter, a space where survivors and their children can grow, breathe, and heal. Research on horticulture therapy is clear: growing things restores something in people. I believe that. And I want to help build a place that proves it.

CONNECTING TO MY FUTURE

I want to be a surgeon. That might seem like a long way from a flower farm in Shelby, but to me, it is the same impulse. Understanding how things heal. Using skill and care to restore what was broken. Blooms & Blessings taught me that you can choose to direct your gifts toward people who need them most. I plan to keep making that choice.