The kind of place where someone can still make a difference

April 2010

"Downtown" Floyd Virginia

“This is the kind of place where someone can still make a difference.”

I recall quite clearly having that recurring thought when I moved to Floyd to start the farm and my homesteading career.

Wherever I’d lived before, it just felt like it was too late, the place was toast, paradise lost.  A sense of helplessness hung over these communities as they transformed before one’s eyes into something unrecognizable.  It weighed particularly heavy on me.

And then I found Floyd and knew this was where I would make my stand.

SustainFloyd believes we can still make a difference and now is the time, perhaps more than ever.  The time is now to shape our future, not when we are in crisis. To paraphrase Bill McKibben when he spoke at our event just about a year ago:  The arc of history is coming back to places like Floyd.

So what is this “make a difference” thing anyway?  I know what it’s not.  It’s not about “changing” Floyd.  The dominant and quite vibrant thread running through our Board of Directors and Advisory Board is a deep love of this place.  This love kept them showing up through the long, inglorious months building the foundation of the organization.

In fact, when we were crafting our mission statement, the suggestion was made – only half in jest – of adopting  “Keeping it like it is.”

Now, we can debate the pros and cons of globalization and our place in it.  But let’s face it, the global economy does not give a hoot about little ol’ Floyd County.  Nonetheless, unless we are proactive now, this system will be imposing decisions on us that are quite out of our control.

Yet “proactive” is not the first word that comes to mind when we think of the natural inclinations of a small, rural community in Southwest Virginia.  Give us a good crisis and we’ll activate.  Someone in trouble?  Get out of our way!  (True story: My car broke down on Floyd Highway last fall.  I swear at least ten total strangers stopped to make sure I was alright and see if I needed help before the tow truck arrived. It was almost comical if it wasn’t so awesome!)

But mostly, we just want to go about our business.  I have been a card-carrying member of that club.  Well, we may not feel like we are in crisis but I do feel we have lost that luxury.

So perhaps that is the difference we are trying to make.  Maybe to stay the same, we have to change a bit.

If SustainFloyd can help our community make conscious, well-informed decisions and apply our local genius to real actions, we’ve met our mission.

Here we go!

Mike Burton