When Mayor Barbara Domain walks behind Ames City Hall these days, she sees more than rows of okra, peppers, zucchini, and squash. She sees neighbors trading recipes, children learning where their food comes from, and a community that is starting to knit itself closer together.

Ames, a small town of 937 people in Liberty County, sits in Deep East Texas. Like many rural places, it faces challenges of limited access to fresh food and economic constraints. But with the support of the Community Sustainability Team at Communities Unlimited (CU) and funding from the Trust for Civic Life, the town has turned a patch of land into something much bigger — a hub for health, learning, and civic pride.

CU’s Community Infrastructure Team first connected with Ames on wastewater system needs. That relationship later opened the door for the Community Sustainability Team to step in. CU Community Resource Manager Yolanda Martin linked the city with a new funding opportunity coming from Trust for Civic Life. Ames received over $2,500 to launch the garden, covering lumber, soil, seeds, fertilizer, and even a small stipend for local help with weeding.

Mayor Domain said the garden was born out of necessity.

“When we don’t have any food in the food distribution building, we could at least have some products if we grow our own,” she said. In a community where many residents struggle to afford groceries, she saw the garden as a way to make sure “there’s always something here — you always have a place to come and get you something to eat.”

The city is already seeing results. Residents drop by to help harvest or tend rows, often bumping into neighbors they might not otherwise talk to. Domain believes these small interactions are reshaping the town’s sense of connection.

“It’s pulling us back together as a community so in hard times we’ll be close-knit and look out for one another,” she said.

Through the Trust for Civic Life, CU became one of the first grantees of a national philanthropic collaborative investing in locally led projects that strengthen civic connection across rural America. These “civic experiments” — quick-start efforts like Ames’ community garden — are designed to spark trust and plant seeds of hope across CU’s seven-state footprint.

What’s next in Ames?

The fall crop is already being planned, with seeds on the shopping list. Domain hopes the garden will expand in size and eventually serve neighboring communities. Partnerships are forming too, like the agriculture teacher at Hull-Daisetta High School who started seedlings in the school greenhouse for Ames.

The garden, she said, has been more than vegetables — it’s been a bridge. CU’s role, from Martin’s outreach to guidance from Healthy Foods Coordinator Brenda Williams and Community Facilitator William Thrasher, has ensured Ames had the resources and knowledge to succeed.

For a town the size of Ames, a garden may seem small. But to the people who harvest its produce, share it with a neighbor, or sit down to a healthier meal, it’s a sign of what’s possible when a community grows together.