About Us
Transforming Lives in Suffolk
We exist to empower people to flourish in all of their relationships – including their relationship with nature! We hire teenage interns to work on our organic farm. We sell the produce to our dynamite customers. We pay our interns and provide them with training, resources, connections and support through our stellar volunteer team.
Created to Serve Our Local Community
Hope for Suffolk was founded in 2010 as a community development initiative to assist families in crisis. Over the years, we have evolved into a youth development organization that has 2 components: (1) a paid internship and (2) training in life skills. Over 40 high school interns work on our organic vegetable farm and learn first-hand how to thrive, not just in the workplace but in life. The internships is 8 months and we work intensively with our teens to set and achieve goals, develop relationships and learn skills that will serve them throughout life.
We are explicitly Christian and teach from a biblical point of view, although our teenage interns are not required to be Christians.
We cater to youth who often lack access to opportunities.
We work with teens but support the whole family.
We have academic scholarships, college internships, volunteer & community service opportunities, leadership development opportunities and an amazing Harvest Festival that the teens put on.
In order to pay these amazing teenagers, we sell the organic produce they grow in a “CSA” (Community Supported Agriculture) or “Farm Shares.”
Our Mission
Our Vision
Our Purpose
Our Values
- Relationships: People are relational beings with 4 key relationships: with God, others, ourselves and creation. These relationships are of utmost importance.
- Reconciliation: Reconciliation is about making wrong things right. We believe that relationships are essential but are often distorted and in need of reconciliation.
- Access to opportunities: All people should have access to opportunities. We strive to make all of our services accessible to as many people possible by having extremely low barriers to entry and making necessary adjustments to accommodate differences.
- Participation: We are all participants in the process of community development, reconciliation, and transformation.
- Holism: We are whole people and so the physical, mental, spiritual, emotional, and relational aspects of ourselves are all intertwined and important.
- Integrity: Integrity results in behavior that reduces distortion in relationships, promotes a healthy conscience, reduces the need for reconciliation, and fosters an environment where transformation can occur and true leadership can be cultivated.
Hayden Blythe
Director of Hope for Suffolk
For her entire career, Hayden has been driven by the quote:
“Give a man a fish and he has food for the day;
Teach a man to fish and he has food for a lifetime;
Empower a man to think about fishing in new ways and his life will be changed forever!”
– Scott Allen & Darrow Miller, The Forest in the Seed
Hayden believes that the key to poverty alleviation and community development is in empowering individuals to think about life, the world, relationships and work in new ways, informed by the Bible. By creating adult learning experiences, affirming the dignity of individuals and equipping the church to do the same, Hayden seeks to see the city of Suffolk look more and more like the Kingdom of God.
She hold a degree in Economics and Community Development from Covenant College. Hayden is the founder of the Coalition Against Poverty in Suffolk, a non-profit organization in which over 20 churches partner to provide effective and appropriate emergency bill assistance. Prior to working at Hope for Suffolk, she worked in Tanzania, East Africa as a community development worker.
Hayden is married to her rock star of a husband, Chris Blythe, and they have 2 daughters who fill their lives with color.
Sarah DePhillips
Farm Manager
Since her teen years, Sarah has been passionate about living a lifestyle that embodies social justice and community building. Much of her work has been focused with teens and young adults. Her journey with sustainable agriculture was born out of a desire to connect people with God, with each other, and with the Earth. Born and raised in rural Pennsylvania, Sarah spent seven years in Hawaii where she studied sustainable development, permaculture, and agroforestry. Combining this with a background in missions, Sarah founded a church-sponsored community garden with the goal of bringing the church and community together around a better understanding of stewarding God’s land in a way that is just and abundant for all.
Sarah has also worked in the sustainability private sector, specializing in energy and water efficiency, circular economy business models, green living and zero waste blogging, non-toxic personal and home care, and rainwater harvesting. She enjoys hiking and diving with her husband, paddle boarding with her dog, and seeing how many fruit, vegetable, and herb plants she can cram into her 1 acre suburban lot.
Nyasia Johnson
Program Manager
Growing up in a low-income neighborhood, Nyasia always wanted to help her community and peers. Through mentoring and tutoring people from her neighborhood and city, Nyasia found a passion for helping others. This passion has led Nyasia to serve on different committees, jobs and teams designed to serve the community. In high school, she served as the President of the Community Restoration club where she was able to chair events aimed to beautify and help the community. At a young age, Nyasia accepted Christ into her life; her favorite scripture is, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
Nyasia has a media production company, NyaVisions where she spends majority of her time away from Hope for Suffolk; if she is not working, Nyasia enjoys playing video games, and spending time with her family and friends.
Get Involved
Find out how you can help make a difference in the life of young men and women in Suffolk today.
Email Us
Call Us
(757) 202-6084
Visit Us
3488 Godwin Blvd.,
Suffolk, VA