Youth program leader shares story
Waller has a calling for investing in communities and is always looking to create more impact. She attributes her strength and perseverance to her grandmother.
'This woman never complained. No matter how it was presented to her, she just understood that we take the punches and we just keep moving,' said Waller.
Originally from Ohio, Waller has spent the past 16 years living in Michigan. While she has gotten more comfortable in the Great Lakes State, she said moving to Mason was not a welcoming experience for her family.
'Someone had broken in and busted out all of the drywall. There was graffiti, all kinds of profanity throughout. They egged the home,' Waller said.
Waller said the graffiti included racial slurs, and she said that incident wasn't the end of it.
'We had the Klansmen in the front yard. They followed us to flag football practices and would bang on our windows,' Waller continued, 'I'm thinking, 'They don't even know us. How do you hate us and don't know us?''
Waller is not the type to let hate win, though, and she knew she had to rise above it. So, they stayed.
'I wanted to show my kids that we didn't see the faces of the guys, but we saw their arms and a part of their hands, and that everyone with that skin color isn't a bad person,' said Waller.
She took that message and expanded it, creating the nonprofit organization Garden of Hope.
'To give back to the same community that didn't want us,' Waller said.
The youth program teaches kids self-sufficiency while giving them a deeper understanding of the world around them. This is accomplished through activities involving art, music, community service, STEM, and agriculture. Anything that helps them grow their confidence, like learning how to budget and make money.
'We've helped many get into Harvard, Yale, and some of the local colleges,' Waller continued. 'Just to help them achieve their goals has been our biggest success.'
Waller said the after-school program also offers scholarships for students. She said that in the last year and a half, Garden of Hope has erased more than $3 million dollars of student loan debt. Garden of Hope has become a national program as well, now in 5 different states with hundreds of members.
'We just want to be able to be a resource for many,' Waller said.
Waller joined the Air Force when she was 17 years old and said her decades of service played a big part in shaping her and her nonprofit.
'You see there's a problem and you either be a part of the problem or you be a part of the change,' said Waller.
In 2024, she was honored with a Governor's Service Award for National Impact. A month before that, her family received a Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award from the Biden Administration. Not to mention, Waller is also an author with 5 children's books so far that share messages of strength.
'If you can build a foundation of hope, it gives not just today a fair chance, but it gives our future a brighter chance as well,' said Waller.
Knowing she can't change the past, but she can change the future, Waller focuses on the youth with the hopes of creating a kinder, more understanding generation. A goal for Waller is to have Garden of Hope available in every state, and with her Grandma's work ethic motivating her, there's nothing that can stop her remarkable ways.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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