GRAND LEDGE, Mich. — When you’re stuck between a rock and a hard place, it’s easy to feel like there’s no way out, but one Grand Ledge woman is reminding the community that with kindness anything is possible.
The rocks in Joanne Ellena's garden may look like normal rocks to others, but to her, they're a message of hope.
Ellena enjoys her neighbors coming over to look at her garden, but lately, people have been stopping by to check out something else.
"I decided to make this perennial garden into just a kindness rocks garden," she said.
Her journey to kindness started back in 2020 during the election season.
"I was just tired of seeing all the negative messages, and so I just started painting my own signs. So you know, be the love be the light, and I put the signs up my yard just made me feel better about like, let's just instill some positive messages," Ellena said.
Some of these signs can still be seen in the yards of her neighbors, and now, she's continuing to encourage the community to stop by her kindness rock garden to pick up and drop off rocks painted with inspirational messages.
"A lady stopped with her dog and took one that said hope because she said she really needed really needed to feel some hope," Ellena said.
That lady is Andrea Clark, and she said she needs hope now more than ever.
"My youngest son has autism. And we've been struggling to get what he needs while he's in school. And so, I was out walking, and I saw the rock that said hope, and we've been really losing hope for my son to get what he needs in school. And it just really spoke to me to remember to hold on to hope, and I can literally hold on to hope with this rock," Clark said.
Each person in this community has their own battles that they're facing, and small gestures like this garden of kindness reminds us all that there's still good in the world.
Want to see more local news? Visit the FOX47News Website.
Stay in touch with us anytime, anywhere.
Sign up for newsletters emailed to your inbox.
Select from these options: Neighborhood News, Breaking News, Severe Weather, School Closings, Daily Headlines, and Daily Forecasts.
