Healing on The Hill: Resident returns to hometown
to help transform neighborhood
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Tucked away in an area known by locals as The Hill, a neighborhood that has seen its share of illegal drug activity, there stands a botanical bliss surrounding the home of one 79-year-old woman who is on a crusade to teach and heal neighbors through serenity.
Fannie Sullivan lives on Pine Ridge Drive just outside of Bowdon. She spends nearly every afternoon outside planting and tending her flowers as she works to create what she has named the “Healing Garden.” The garden will serve as a refuge and place to heal in the community for those who may be battling addictions, or simply needing to talk about their problems with a trusted listener.
The area around Pine Ridge Drive is not embedded with money or fancy houses. Many of the residents live in mobile homes. Even without a budget for repairs and renovations, many neighbors keep their grass cut and have even added a few plants of their own after Sullivan moved back to her hometown in 2004 and started her garden.
“When I first came here I found people were worse here than in the city, because they were not relating to each other,” she said. “The grounds were trashy and the environment was not kept up. It looked like a junk pile on The Hill. That’s when I got busy cleaning and cutting down and planting flowers.”
She said many years ago bootleggers lived on the land, and the trash and debris were a part of their lifestyle.
“That was the main way of living,” she said. “I told the neighbors it was time to change, because God has a plan. I have to use the gifts God gave me from the beginning. It was the attitudes that needed to change in the community. We are supposed to help one another and love one another.”
Sullivan said she lived in government housing in Bowdon before leaving in the early 1960s to move to Ohio, where she participated in the Model Cities program that provided rehabilitation and social services to urban areas under the federal aid program. In 2004, Sullivan said it was time to leave Ohio and return to the city she always held in her heart as home.
“I chose to live in Pine Ridge, because a lot of children live there,” she said. “I thought I could make a difference, and I like being in the neighborhood. I can help here, and I speak with many people who come to my home needing help.”
Even the summer heat and humidity have not slowed her down from working in the many garden beds on her land. Without having a lot of money, Sullivan dug up and moved plants from the woods and took in plants given by family, friends and neighbors. She has created a virtual oasis of colorful displays.
There’s a holly bush, a cactus picked up in a field, mint and roses that adorn several beds facing the street. Sullivan has turned cinder blocks, plastic bins and even an old john boat into eclectic flower pots and planters.
“I’m trying everywhere I can to make it a place you can enjoy,” she said. “I use everything I can find out here. I want to make this a healing garden for people to sit under the shade and talk. When you go to church, you don’t get a lot of one-on-one, and I want this to be a place to talk and heal.”
Sullivan said those with limited financial resources can find themselves in difficult situations and not know where to go for help.
“I hope to organize a club and use the Healing Garden,” she said. “People don’t understand how much poor people hurt. When they are not making enough it can be difficult to pay for things like a water or electricity bill. It can be really hard. People need to be able to relate to each other, and we all need to help each other and love each other.”
She said she could move out of the area and into an apartment in another part of the community, but that is not what she wants to do.
“I want to be where I can help people,” she said. “I love people. God gave me this life. I talk to my neighbors and give them spiritual literature and listen. Some people I meet with are on drugs and reaching out. I tell people about treatment, but I also want a place that they can go and relate and help heal themselves.”
Carroll County sheriff’s Capt. Shane Taylor said The Hill has changed from its former days as a hub for drug abuse.
“It is pretty quiet now and has been within the past year,” he said. “Prior to that, a deputy could drive down there anytime and make a drug arrest. The next day, someone else would be in there selling drugs.”
Taylor said it’s residents like Sullivan working with her neighbors with the goal of community improvement that can curtail crime.
“It’s great anytime we see neighbors assisting and helping in the area,” he said. “That helps us do our job. There has always been a lot of good, decent people there who didn’t approve of what was going on.”
Since the grandmother of more than 70 grandchildren and great-grandchildren began beautifying the landscape at The Hill, she said other neighbors have followed suit and started their own gardens. She has also seen the neighborhood quieten down, literally, with the use of less vulgar language on the streets.
“There’s not a lot of that cussing and carrying on that was here,” she said. “I told people we have to change that vocabulary in order for us to get what God wants us to do. I put plants on my lawn and that gave people the same idea. We are all working on this together.”
Sullivan said the gardening has not only given her something to do that can help the community as a whole, but it keeps her busy almost every day.
“I come out here every single day unless I’m sick,” she said. “I want to make this for the people to come to. There is so much history, and I want to tell that history, to get back to loving one another. We always need each other. I want to be able to share what I have learned through all of my work. There are many young people who didn’t finish school and don’t know much about political science. I want to be able to reach out, so when they do vote they will know what they are voting for.”
The healing place she is creating will not end with just a scenic and peaceful floral setting. Sullivan said she plans to extend the project to include a walking trail through the stretch of her property where people can walk and reflect as they heal both spiritually and emotionally.
Fannie Sullivan lives on Pine Ridge Drive just outside of Bowdon. She spends nearly every afternoon outside planting and tending her flowers as she works to create what she has named the “Healing Garden.” The garden will serve as a refuge and place to heal in the community for those who may be battling addictions, or simply needing to talk about their problems with a trusted listener.
The area around Pine Ridge Drive is not embedded with money or fancy houses. Many of the residents live in mobile homes. Even without a budget for repairs and renovations, many neighbors keep their grass cut and have even added a few plants of their own after Sullivan moved back to her hometown in 2004 and started her garden.
“When I first came here I found people were worse here than in the city, because they were not relating to each other,” she said. “The grounds were trashy and the environment was not kept up. It looked like a junk pile on The Hill. That’s when I got busy cleaning and cutting down and planting flowers.”
She said many years ago bootleggers lived on the land, and the trash and debris were a part of their lifestyle.
“That was the main way of living,” she said. “I told the neighbors it was time to change, because God has a plan. I have to use the gifts God gave me from the beginning. It was the attitudes that needed to change in the community. We are supposed to help one another and love one another.”
Sullivan said she lived in government housing in Bowdon before leaving in the early 1960s to move to Ohio, where she participated in the Model Cities program that provided rehabilitation and social services to urban areas under the federal aid program. In 2004, Sullivan said it was time to leave Ohio and return to the city she always held in her heart as home.
“I chose to live in Pine Ridge, because a lot of children live there,” she said. “I thought I could make a difference, and I like being in the neighborhood. I can help here, and I speak with many people who come to my home needing help.”
Even the summer heat and humidity have not slowed her down from working in the many garden beds on her land. Without having a lot of money, Sullivan dug up and moved plants from the woods and took in plants given by family, friends and neighbors. She has created a virtual oasis of colorful displays.
There’s a holly bush, a cactus picked up in a field, mint and roses that adorn several beds facing the street. Sullivan has turned cinder blocks, plastic bins and even an old john boat into eclectic flower pots and planters.
“I’m trying everywhere I can to make it a place you can enjoy,” she said. “I use everything I can find out here. I want to make this a healing garden for people to sit under the shade and talk. When you go to church, you don’t get a lot of one-on-one, and I want this to be a place to talk and heal.”
Sullivan said those with limited financial resources can find themselves in difficult situations and not know where to go for help.
“I hope to organize a club and use the Healing Garden,” she said. “People don’t understand how much poor people hurt. When they are not making enough it can be difficult to pay for things like a water or electricity bill. It can be really hard. People need to be able to relate to each other, and we all need to help each other and love each other.”
She said she could move out of the area and into an apartment in another part of the community, but that is not what she wants to do.
“I want to be where I can help people,” she said. “I love people. God gave me this life. I talk to my neighbors and give them spiritual literature and listen. Some people I meet with are on drugs and reaching out. I tell people about treatment, but I also want a place that they can go and relate and help heal themselves.”
Carroll County sheriff’s Capt. Shane Taylor said The Hill has changed from its former days as a hub for drug abuse.
“It is pretty quiet now and has been within the past year,” he said. “Prior to that, a deputy could drive down there anytime and make a drug arrest. The next day, someone else would be in there selling drugs.”
Taylor said it’s residents like Sullivan working with her neighbors with the goal of community improvement that can curtail crime.
“It’s great anytime we see neighbors assisting and helping in the area,” he said. “That helps us do our job. There has always been a lot of good, decent people there who didn’t approve of what was going on.”
Since the grandmother of more than 70 grandchildren and great-grandchildren began beautifying the landscape at The Hill, she said other neighbors have followed suit and started their own gardens. She has also seen the neighborhood quieten down, literally, with the use of less vulgar language on the streets.
“There’s not a lot of that cussing and carrying on that was here,” she said. “I told people we have to change that vocabulary in order for us to get what God wants us to do. I put plants on my lawn and that gave people the same idea. We are all working on this together.”
Sullivan said the gardening has not only given her something to do that can help the community as a whole, but it keeps her busy almost every day.
“I come out here every single day unless I’m sick,” she said. “I want to make this for the people to come to. There is so much history, and I want to tell that history, to get back to loving one another. We always need each other. I want to be able to share what I have learned through all of my work. There are many young people who didn’t finish school and don’t know much about political science. I want to be able to reach out, so when they do vote they will know what they are voting for.”
The healing place she is creating will not end with just a scenic and peaceful floral setting. Sullivan said she plans to extend the project to include a walking trail through the stretch of her property where people can walk and reflect as they heal both spiritually and emotionally.
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