Building a Dream from the Kitchen Table to the Heart of Our Community
When people hear the words “small business owner” or “non-profit founder,” they often picture a business plan, a storefront, or a dream taking shape around a kitchen table. For me, the journey to creating Bee Courageous @ Garden Grub was born from something much deeper: survival, healing, faith, and community.
I was a single mom who spent years struggling just to keep my family afloat. There were seasons marked by trauma, loss, addiction within my family, broken relationships, courtrooms, health battles, and moments where I truly did not know how we would make it through. But through every difficult chapter, there were also people who stepped in to help carry us forward. Teachers. Church members. Friends. Mentors. Counselors. Neighbors. People who showed up with meals, prayers, encouragement, opportunities, and sometimes simply the reminder that we were not alone.
One of the hardest seasons came in 2019 when I made the painful decision to ask police to arrest my son because addiction was destroying his life. What looked like devastation at the time became the beginning of healing for our entire family. During that same season, my husband and I found ourselves walking into Praise Fellowship Church and reaffirming our faith and starting the healing process. Through that community, our lives began to change. We found healing, restoration, support, and purpose. I also began participating in healing classes that challenged me not only emotionally and spiritually, but physically as well. That journey led me to take control of my health, lose nearly 70 pounds, and begin rebuilding my life from the inside out.
As I continued healing, I realized something important: there are so many women and families quietly carrying overwhelming burdens while trying to survive day to day. Many need more than encouragement. They need community, practical support, nourishment, skills, and a place where healing can begin without shame.
That realization became the foundation for Bee Courageous @ Garden Grub.
What started as a love for cooking, serving others, and gathering people around a table slowly grew into a larger vision: creating a faith-based healing and empowerment program for women while using food and community engagement as the bridge that brings people together. Through meals, community dinners, catering, and gardens, we are proud to create a space where absolutely anyone—regardless of their background—can feel seen, valued, nourished, and encourage
Entrepreneurship in Warren County is special because it is deeply rooted in the community. Small businesses here are not just places that sell products or services. They are people investing in people. They are neighbors helping neighbors. They are communities rallying together during difficult seasons and celebrating together during good ones.
Bee Courageous @ Garden Grub would not exist without that spirit of community. Every opportunity, every connection, every encouraging word, every shared meal, and every person who believed in the vision helped move this dream forward.
Summer of Small Business is about more than entrepreneurship. It is about resilience. It is about ordinary people building something meaningful out of their own life experiences and using it to strengthen the community around them.
My story is proof that healing can become purpose, and purpose can become something that helps others heal too.
Written & Photographed by: Sandra Howard Blum
Bee Courageous at Garden Grub
Published June 15, 2026
