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Greeting Creators!Summer is on it's way and here at Killeen Creators we are soaking up the sun and continuing to grow with intention. Please join us in celebrating our collective achievements and getting ready for our upcoming opportunities. Our JUNE CALENDAR
Click here to SIGN-UP for classes on our Eventbrite - 1st come 1st serve! AMERICORPS CORNERHere's this month's fun joke from AmeriCorps! Why is the letter A like a flower? Get the answer at the end of the newsletter. 🥰 
COMMUNITY GARDENSWhat Should We Do in Our Gardens in June?
Tomatoes: Your tomatoes should be growing like crazy by now. Don't give them too much nitrogen or you'll end up with all green leaves and stems but few actual tomatoes. Keep them staked or caged. Don't let them sprawl on the ground. Keep them heavily mulched and watered deeply. Harvest tomatoes before they ripen to keep pests from ruining your crop. They will ripen safely indoors in a warm sunny spot. Here's an important article on this subject, written by my friend Debbie Seagraves. Pest and Disease Management: Stressed plants are especially susceptible to pests and diseases. This will only get worse as Summer progresses. The Natural Gardener in Austin has a very useful "cheat sheet" on organic controls. Learn to be pro-active in your approach to avoid these problems altogether. My arsenal is built around several key products, all of which are deemed safe around children and pets when used according to label directions:
Food-grade Diatomaceous Earth ("DE") for crawling insects Personally, I avoid chemical pest control products like the plague, especially Sevin. That stuff is deadly to everything moving in your garden, including beneficial insects. It is particularly harmful to bees and other pollinators. Tomato Hornworm Important Garden Tips: Please look back at this column published for May. You need to continue to practice good garden management techniques, including eliminating plant debris, keeping the garden deeply mulched to conserve moisture while controlling weeds and, finally, remembering to water deeply rather than too often. Use your "digital moisture detector" (your finger!) to feel down an inch or two into the soil to see if your garden needs to be watered. New plantings (transplants, seeds and seedlings) need daily watering until their roots develop but mature plantings benefit more from deep watering because watering just the surface results in shallow, weak roots that are more susceptible to drought and heat stress. Consider rigging up 30% to 40% shade cloth over plants that need a break from direct sun in the afternoons. ~ Lois Mauk, Board secretary & certified square foot garden instructor 
Garden Rundown Everyone is welcome to come to all of our gardens to harvest what's ready. If you aren’t sure what's ready you can ask an Americorps Member or Staff that is present! What is available and ready varies day to day, season to season. Here are some of the vegetables and herbs that have been available in our gardens this last month: 10th Street Garden: green beans, zucchini, okra, lettuce, some tomatoes, lemon balm, dill, cilantro, collard greens, sage Alvarez Garden: lettuce, Swiss chard, lemon balm, chocolate mint, dill, collard greens, kale Kelly's Garden (Bundrant): currently replenishing!
Coming Soon: Garden Workdays If you've been interested in helping in the gardens or interested in learning how our garden works, come to our garden workdays!
Alvarez Garden: Tuesdays 9am-11am If there is extreme weather (like downpours and thunder/lightning) it is safe to assume we wont be having a workday! We ALWAYS prioritize the safety of our staff, AmeriCorps Members and community. ART OF RECOVERY CLUBHOUSE🌱 Seeds of Recovery Growing Healing, Connection & Community Now Offering Zoom Access! Tuesdays | 4:00–5:30 PM At Killeen Creators, we believe recovery is not one-size-fits-all. Healing can look like conversation, creativity, gardening, storytelling, quiet reflection, community service—or simply being witnessed without judgment. That belief lives at the heart of Seeds of Recovery, our trauma-informed, culturally inclusive peer recovery model. Seeds of Recovery is designed to welcome people from all backgrounds and recovery pathways — people navigating mental health and substance use recovery, trauma survivors, veterans, neurodivergent individuals, LGBTQ+ community members, people of diverse faiths, and anyone seeking greater wellness, meaning, and connection. Built on principles of choice, safety, empowerment, creativity, cultural humility, and community, Seeds of Recovery recognizes that each person is the expert in their own lived experience. We do not prescribe one "right" path. Instead, we create space to explore healing together. Our model re-imagines traditional recovery frameworks through 12 Seeds of Recovery — a growth-centered journey that includes themes such as Awareness, Safety, Truth, Healing, Boundaries, Community, Purpose, and Legacy. Rather than a rigid checklist, the Seeds reflect recovery as a living process—more like tending a garden than climbing a ladder. Each weekly 90-minute gathering includes:
🌿 Welcome & Grounding One of our guiding values is simple: "We don't fix; we witness." Healing grows when people feel safe enough to be seen, heard, and respected. New! Join In Person or by Zoom We are excited to announce that Seeds of Recovery will now include Zoom access, making participation more accessible for individuals facing transportation barriers, health limitations, care giving responsibilities, distance, or simply a preference for connecting from home. Whether you join us in person or online, you are welcome here. Seeds of Recovery
📅 Every Tuesday Come plant seeds of healing, creativity, resilience, and hope — together. 
OAR ~ Expressive Writing & Spoken Word Operation ART of Recovery
Fridays 4–6PM Our OAR Poetry & Spoken Word Lab is a space to explore creativity, healing, and connection through writing.
• Guided prompts - to spark reflection Led by veteran Richard "Shake the Poet" White and Peer Professional Kristin Wright, who both use writing and performance in their own healing journeys. Poetry & Spoken Word Lab
Letter from our Founder Lately, I've been thinking about how connected our community challenges really are. Whether we're talking about food insecurity, housing, voting rights, homelessness, recovery, or the environmental impacts of emerging technologies like AI and data centers, these issues all come back to the same question: What kind of community do we want to build together? Recently I was appointed as a Killeen Housing Authority (KHA) Commissioner. Through conversations around housing and KHA, I am reminded daily that stable housing matters deeply to health, dignity, and opportunity. Through our work with people navigating homelessness, recovery, and hardship, I continue to see how important it is that services work together rather than in silos. That's why I remain hopeful about efforts to strengthen a local Recovery Oriented System of Care — a vision where peer support, healthcare, housing, food access, creativity, and community connection are recognized as essential parts of well being. I also believe deeply in the importance of civic participation. Our voices, votes, and local engagement shape the future of our neighborhoods, our environment, and the systems that affect our daily lives. These are complex times. But complexity is not new to communities like ours. What has always sustained us is our willingness to show up for one another, ask difficult questions, and keep building solutions rooted in dignity, accountability, creativity, and care. Thank you for being part of that work. Together, we grow community. In service,
CIVIC ENGAGEMENTHearts of Killeen Sculpture Series Celebrating Overcoming: Thank you to Our 4th Annual Hearts of Killeen Winner, Cristy Plilar! We are honored to congratulate Cristy Plilar, winner of our 4th Annual Hearts of Killeen Sculpture Series, for her moving and beautiful piece, After The Storm. This year's Call for Artists invited creators to reflect on the theme of "Overcoming" — a theme deeply woven into the spirit of our community, our artists, and the recovery journeys so many walk every day. Through a blind judging process, elementary teacher and artist Cristy Plilar's design rose to the top, capturing both the struggle and strength found in moving through adversity toward hope. Cristy then brought her vision to life by painting her design onto the iconic 4-foot heart sculpture handcrafted by local veteran and artist Perry Draper. We extend our heartfelt thanks to Cristy for sharing her talent, creativity, and message of resilience with our community. We also offer deep appreciation to the City of Killeen Downtown Revitalization Department for once again funding the Hearts of Killeen Sculpture Series. Their ongoing support helps elevate local artists, celebrate the many diverse "hearts for service" that strengthen our city, and advance the role of public art in our shared downtown revitalization efforts. To all the artists who submitted work this year: thank you! Your willingness to create, to be vulnerable, and to explore what overcoming means through art enriches our entire community. And to our community members, supporters, and art lovers — thank you for continuing to champion local artists and for recognizing the many forms that recovery, resilience, and overcoming can take. Whether expressed through a painting, a poem, a garden, a helping hand, or simply the courage to keep going after the storm — your support helps creativity and healing flourish in Killeen. Together, we are building a community where art, service, and recovery are visible, valued, and celebrated. 💙️❤️ For more pictures and to meet the artist, click here! Mutual Aid: Neighbors Helping Neighbors Our Mutual Aid Program grew from what our AmeriCorps team was seeing every day in our gardens, clubhouse, and community outreach — neighbors struggling not only with food insecurity, but with basic essentials many people take for granted: hygiene products, clean socks and underwear, bottled water, over-the-counter wellness items, and simple necessities that help people maintain dignity during difficult times. Rather than waiting for solutions to arrive from somewhere else, our AmeriCorps members helped create a program rooted in a simple belief: communities are stronger when neighbors care for one another directly. Through our Share Shelves, Little Lending Libraries, and Thrifty Thursdays Mutual Aid Tent, community members are invited to both give and receive according to need and ability. In times of economic uncertainty, rising costs, social division, and political instability, mutual aid programs matter more than ever. They help communities build resilience, strengthen connection, and ensure that support can move quickly, locally, and humanely. Our model is simple: "Give all that you can. Take only what you need." Together, we are growing a culture of care, dignity, and shared responsibility — one neighbor at a time. 🌱❤️ BOARD CORNEROur board would like to thank everyone who has helped GROW our Gardens & Recovery Community over the past months - and years! From donated supplies, to extra hands in the garden or teaching a sewing class - EVERY donated penny and minute are treasures for those struggling with both.
June JOKE Answer:
Lots of Love, Feel free to reach out if you have any questions. |
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Killeen Creators 701 N 10th St, Killeen TX 76541|254-213-2210
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