Hi, I’m Laura — the founder of Growing Wild, a mother, caregiver, social worker by training, and a lifelong believer in the healing power of land, community, and connection.

I’ve always moved a little slower, listened a little deeper, and dreamed a little bigger. As a child, I longed for a place where I could be fully myself—barefoot in the garden, hands messy with mud, building fairy houses, watching bees, asking big questions, and imagining new ways of being. That longing never left. It followed me into adulthood, into motherhood, and into every space I’ve worked to make more inclusive, more intentional, more alive.

My background is in social work, and for over a decade I’ve been gathering the threads that now weave together in Growing Wild.

I interned with Pacific Clinics, supporting children facing behavioral challenges at school and home. I worked at Better Health Bakery in London, baking bread alongside individuals in mental health recovery as they prepared to re-enter the workforce. At Peet’s Coffee, I served as an assistant manager—learning how to build and sustain a mission-driven business, manage systems, train teams, and serve community. I planted and harvested on an organic farm in the Netherlands—De Tuinen van Weldadigheid—where I learned the rhythms of large-scale, regenerative gardening and the importance of seed saving.

Today, I also work as a caregiver, and it’s in that role that the Bridge Program was born. Spending time with seniors, I’ve seen firsthand just how underserved, isolated, and overlooked many of them are. In many traditional cultures, elders are revered. Their age is seen as a reflection of wisdom and experience. But in Western society, they are too often pushed aside.

It shouldn't be this way.

I believe in the beauty of intergenerational community—where children can learn from those with years behind them, and elders can feel valued, purposeful, and seen.

When I became a mother, I expected to feel held by a village. But what I found was isolation—especially during COVID. That ache became fuel. I knew I needed to create the space I had always searched for, both as a child and as a parent: a place where people feel seen, supported, and able to show up as they are.