About Me

It must have been something in the sparkling waters of the Clarion River, the bright clear blue skies, or being smack dab at the top of the endlessly rolling Allegheny Mountains. I’ve loved it here since the first moment I saw it. Elk County is teeming with possibilities and lined in self-sustainability. It is here that I made myself a vow.
I will do MORE.

But what does that mean? Do more. Do more what?

It only took me a couple shifts at my first factory job to figure it out. Location-wise my heart was happy, but to look around and see all of these things we all love and need being at risk, that’s petrifying! I decided to be the change. To take what I’ve learned so far, building on my beliefs, combined with passion for the environment and love for our little piece of paradise; to take all of these things and make a conscious effort to be the change I want to see in the world.

The next question was “How?” How do you initiate change? You lead by example of course! So over the course of the next couple years I began instituting small increments of change where I saw fit. Most easily these changes happened in my purchasing patterns - Green Alternatives in the kitchen and bathroom to be specific. I also researched, and found the local places to shop in order to support small businesses.

Finally, I asked myself the question of “why?”
Why? Because our livelihoods (forestry, powdered metal, tourism, etc) it all rests on where we live and what we do. Our area IS unique, what’s even more unique is the people that live here. We all choose to live here. Why? Because, I can go out my back door and have everything I need. To hunt, to fish, to build my home, it’s all at our fingertips. But unless we make a point to conserve what we have - it won’t always be that way. Thats why we need Community Education.

Green Alternatives & Community Education.

In its entirety, that’s the story of GrACE. This website, my mission, is to connect people with the resources and information they need to live sustainable lifestyles. Lifestyles that don’t put our resources at risk.