Camille Hyberger, a senior Agriculture major at Berea College and one of the Edible Landscape Manager’s at the college’s Ecovillage, transports composted food waste from one of the communities collection bins to a garden plot to use as fertilizer. The eco-friendly community encourages its roughly 50 families, mostly made up of single-parent homes, to compost their leftover food to leave a smaller footprint on the environment.
Ophelia Gonzales, 5, Lincoln Ruuska, 9, and Isabella Gonzales, 11, (L to R) play on the Ecovillage playground in the community center. The playground was built so that children who lived in the community would have a safe environment to play in. It also serves as a catalyst to bring together the parents who watch their kids as they play which in turn helps to create a tighter bond between the community members.
Somerset native Eric King feeds his stepson Thurgood Hare, 8, the leftover mushrooms that he did not want to eat inside the families Ecovillage apartment. “I really hate mushrooms,” says Thurgood. The family which includes Thurgood’s fraternal twin Gordon (left), their mother Candace King (right), and his sister Marieca, 11, have been living at the Ecovllage since August of 2013.
Kailey Burns, a freshman Music major at Berea College, picks a variety of fresh peppers from the Ecovillage greenhouse. The vegetables are grown through the communities Aquaponics system, a sustainable solution to harvesting fish and growing vegetables simultaneously. Working roughly 15 hours a week, she is one of two student workers who help to maintain and clean the greenhouse making sure pipes are clean, vegetables are watered, and fish are fed.
Shortly after school lets out children flood the villages inner courtyard to play games and test out new toys.
Fresh carrots, harvested from one of the Ecovillage’s many community garden plots, wait to be cut up and served.
Savannah Osborne, 19, feeds her 3-month old daughter Avery inside her apartment that she lives in with her boyfriend Tyler. “We have a huge support system here,” Savannah says. “When I leave here I know I’ll still have the people I met here.”
Many of the residents of the Berea College EcoVillage are young, single parents. The community provides support and affordable housing for students at the school.
Wrapped tightly in a warm bath towel with head burrowed in his father’s arms Stellan Gonzalez, 1, stares on with sleepy eyes as Fred Gonzalez Jr. carries him to his room to prepare for bed.