Written by Molly Freeburg
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — For Leza Warren, a desire to give back to her community has taken root and flourished through national service with GatorCorps. In curating community workshops and building resilience in Keystone Heights, she is a true embodiment of what GatorCorps stands for.
Warren’s journey in the establishment of Mission of the Dirt Road as a GatorCorps service site started when she arrived at Keystone Heights nearly 2 years ago. With an original mission to build a community food forest amid a food-desert, she purchased land that became USDA nursery certified. At first, the property was slow-moving, with just 5 ducks to provide eggs for community members.
This did not stop Leza from expanding her outreach across the community. With the resources she had to start, she began to build relationships with the local community and understand what it was her neighbors needed. As a small town, Keystone Heights is a tight-knit community.
“The key ingredient to being successful here is the fact that you run into the people who we serve and live here daily, we are neighbors.” Leza said.
In order to get funding to expand her impact across the community, Leza gained experience in building skills necessary to run a farm. She heard about the GatorCorps program through Wealth Watchers, and began service at Eartha’s Farm and Market in Jacksonville. Eartha’s is an urban farm and initiative of the Clara White Mission, a 501(C)(3) nonprofit organization that expands access to fresh foods to community members.
Back in Keystone Heights, she volunteered on off days from Eartha’s at Mission of The Dirt Road. This experience left a lasting impression and she aspired to help GatorCorps establish a new site there. She says that she “called Jason and said, “I have to do that!”
Mission of the Dirt Road was established as a GatorCorps service site in March of 2025, with Warren serving as its founding member. Since establishment, the service site has grown to welcome 3 additional members who work continuously to build resilience and community in Keystone Heights.
“I’ve learned an enormous amount of skills necessary when dealing with those in need. I was able to work on projects like getting the property certified as a National Wildlife Habitat, creating a Rain Barrel Resiliency Program for those without water in Highridge, facilitating several Gardening Community Classes, and so much more. It’s been very rewarding!”
Since joining GatorCorps, Warren has grown as a person and as a practitioner. During her second year of GatorCorps service, she earned a Master Gardener Certification from the University of Florida’s Institute Of Food And Agricultural Sciences Department.
As a member of GatorCorps, she has established several continuous programs to build community resilience and enhance local disaster risk reduction efforts.
Several of her current projects include supplying lawn tool rentals to neighboring residents through the Tool Lending Library every Saturday, overseeing the Community Garden and occasionally teaching community classes on Tuesday evenings at the service site. She also volunteers every Monday at Lake Area Ministries Food Pantry.
Her weekly service at Lake Area Ministries helps provide large boxes of rewards and snacks for students at the alternative high school, Bannerman, located in Green Cove Springs.
“I have to say, GatorCorps has given me the opportunity to build and establish myself, after moving here from NY. I had zero direction and didn’t really know where to start. I have come such a long way in these last couple of years.”
