Hemphill Community Center

Grandmother Collective designs pilot initiatives that help grandmothers organize around homegrown solutions. Older women bring distinct advantages to community-led change: decades of experience that help them anticipate local needs, an unwavering investment in their grandchildren's future, and deep relational networks that can mobilize people quickly.

Hemphill, in the mountain community of Jackhorn, Kentucky, is exactly such a place. Since 1968, the Hemphill Community Center has anchored its neighborhood through traditional music, foodways, and mutual support — including through the catastrophic flood of July 2022, when local women turned the center into a lifeline. At the invitation of Executive Director Gwen Johnson, who recognized that female elders were already the backbone of community support, Grandmother Collective traveled to Hemphill to anchor a workshop around their leadership to develop community solutions.

The workshop brought together 13 female elders — retired educators, law-enforcement officers, entrepreneurs, nurses, farmers, and community leaders — and guided them in recognizing their cultural authority, mapping their leadership strengths, and exploring global models of grandmother-driven action. Working with those insights, the women developed culturally unique programs focused on mental health, youth mentoring, economic development and community resilience.