- U Grow Girl
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
Six years ago, on January 31, 2020, U Grow Girl became official.
This was our very first photo.
Leha Marshall - Cofounder, Executive Director | Crystal Wood - Cofounder, Program Director
We started as the world was shutting down — in flowery masks, in uncertainty, in a moment where anonymity quietly disappeared and commitment began.
What most people didn’t see then was how hard it was to say yes to this.
To name ourselves publicly. To step into work that would ask us to be visible, honest, and brave — long before we felt ready.
This didn’t begin as a polished plan or a brand.
It began with one woman.
One retreat.
One life changed.
Crystal came home knowing, without question, that healing like that should exist in the world — and that it would be called Time to Heal.
One became two.
And every time another survivor found us, trusted us, or spoke their truth, that ripple grew.
From there, everything followed.
We went all in.
We left behind what was familiar.
We bought land we didn’t know how to farm.
We learned as we went — how to grow flowers, how to fund healing, how to build something meaningful without a roadmap.
And we learned something else too.
Once you name what you’ve carried quietly, there is no putting it back.
Once you speak out loud, stories come — real ones.
Not highlights. Not fluff. Not easy truths.
That first year was terrifying.
We lost anonymity.
We cracked open something bigger than us.
We realized this work would ask more of us than we had ever anticipated.
And still — we stayed.
What staying required was something we didn’t fully understand at the time.
It required uncomfortable conversations.
It required learning in public.
It required making mistakes and continuing anyway.
It required building something we had never seen modeled — survivor-led, land-based, community-funded healing — and trusting that even when we couldn’t see the full path, we could take the next right step.
Staying meant choosing integrity over ease.
Six years later, we understand that staying was never about stubbornness.
It was about stewardship.
It was about protecting something sacred — a room, a retreat, a place where survivors could exhale without explanation. It was about proving to ourselves and to our community that this wasn’t a moment.
It was a commitment.
And commitment, especially in work like this, is a quiet revolution.
This journey has been hard.
And it has been deeply, profoundly rewarding.
We’ve learned that healing isn’t linear.
That community doesn’t happen by accident.
That staying — especially when it would be easier to soften, shrink, or step back — is an act of love.
As we step into our sixth year, this feels like a celebration.
Not because it was easy.
But because it was real.
Because it mattered.
And because we’re still here.
Still learning.
Still growing.
Still healing — alongside the women who have trusted us to walk this path with them.
Thank you for being part of this ripple.
Thank you for staying with us. 🌱
Next in our story: Chapter Two — The Spark.
