Candace Jones

About Candace's Community Action Project (CAP)

The Land Mentoring Program at Greater Bethel AME Church was developed to address issues of food security and land sovereignty in a marginalized community of East Gainesville, Florida. The program serves the most impoverished zip code of Alachua County, 32641. The pastor, youth minister, environmental educator, and members of Greater Bethel AME church are committed to nurturing and nourishing this community through outreach and skill building experiences. To this aim the 10-acre forest has been dedicated to intentional ecosystem preservation and 3 acres are being sustainably developed for aquaponics farming, egg production, food forest cultivation, and raised bed gardening. 

The land is a community sanctuary offering family education, summer youth camps, and agribusiness programs. We are rehabilitating the forest ecosystem that was previously underutilized and vandalized by construction waste and displaced individuals. Our goal is to design a transferable and adaptable tool that effectively guides users through the process of developing a community (church) land stewarding program. The plan would optimize a community’s existing assets and capacity for growth while simultaneously providing environmental education resources to help fill self-identified gaps.

About Candace

I love people and this planet! Seeing communities thrive in environments that they consciously steward with appreciation and care brings me great joy. I am honored to work in partnership with innovative leaders who value integrity, compassion, and humility. 

More About Me

What is your favorite memory of being in nature? 
My favorite memories are plucked from my childhood: talking with my dad under a big Cypress tree at the edge of the lake, running barefoot, and making mud pies.

When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up? 
I wanted to be a ballerina and an artist when I grew up…my mom always told me “you already are, own it, make it your own…”

What (or who) keeps you hopeful for the future?
I am hopeful because time, like gravity, moves in one direction…nothing stays the same. Dark nights make the stars appear brighter. I believe that the spaces we occupy in love, light, and truth are burning bright enough to linger even as time moves forward, like comets in the night sky.