A Project of Faith Temple Complex

Our Community.
Our Health.

Reaching every aspect of life by building communities across the Southeast Missouri regions.

Saturday
May 2
2026
Save the Date

STAN’s Produce Market Grand Opening

Our community farmers market launches in Hayti — fresh produce, live music, and neighbors gathering. Open six days a week, year-round.

Learn More →
Our Mission

Building the Community is about building the foundation.

Our Community Our Health offers support, strategies, and resources to impact the five root causes of global poverty.

01 Conflict
02 Inequality
03 Poor education
04 Health disparities
05 Lack of infrastructure
The Ways We Impact

Three projects. One vision.

Each project works alongside the others to strengthen the health, food access, and voice of our Pemiscot County neighbors.

Community Farm Project

A 2+ acre community garden and farmers market feeding Pemiscot County.

Health Equity + Food Access

Preventing diet-related illness through education, partnerships, and distribution.

Community Voices in Action

Elevating residents' voices to shape the systems that shape their lives.
A Flagship Project

From our community farm to our community's tables.

The Community Farm Project is the heart of Our Community Our Health — land worked by our hands, feeding our own neighbors.

Learn About the Farm
01 Food Systems

Community Farm Project

A project of the heart — from the soil, from the land of our community, to the tables of people and families.

A mentor and young farmer working together in the okra field

This intervention is working to improve local food production outlets by establishing both a locally sourced farmers market and a 2+ acre community garden. With a master gardener as key consultant providing expertise, we have completed the launch of a successful community garden and farmers market.

STAN's Market is open six days a week, year-round, giving the surrounding community and residents the opportunity to not only purchase fresh produce — but a platform to market baked and canned goods, crafts, and a place of fellowship.

The vision for the future is to expand throughout different counties of the Bootheel, to get more organizations and individuals involved, and to help more people in need.

Our goal is for people to put aside their racial, political, and religious differences and come together to help better people's lives.
Tractor ready for spring planting at the community farm
Spring, ready to plant.
Volunteer in FAITH t-shirt working the okra field
Faith at work in the rows.
Okra crops growing tall in the community farm
Okra tall in summer.
Two young men in straw hats walking through the farm
The next generation learns.

See STAN's Market

02 Health Equity

Health Equity + Food Access

A comprehensive effort to prevent diet-related health issues in Pemiscot County.

Hundreds of tote bags packed with food ready for distribution, lined up in the church pews
Every pew becomes a pantry on distribution day.

Our Community Our Health recently launched a project targeting healthy food options in Pemiscot County. The program is a comprehensive effort to prevent diet-related health issues through a coordinated set of interventions.

The program includes:

  • Partnerships with doctors and dietitians
  • Availability of chronic disease self-management courses
  • Distribution of healthy food
  • Collaboration with Ms. Dixie Dunch of the Prevention Research Center at Washington University, who works on physical activity promotion and community engagement in Southeast Missouri
Fall into Healthy Living — Our annual one-day educational seminar includes Q&A with local doctors, dieticians, and health professionals. Average attendance: 200–300 individuals. Programmatic resources and connections are made during this forum.

The role of modeling in this project is to develop a preliminary hypothesis of the system dynamics driving food access and healthy food choices in Pemiscot County — based on information and feedback provided directly by community members.

Blood pressure monitoring and heart health education program
Blood pressure monitoring on site.
Fresh produce boxes and bagged food ready for distribution
Fresh produce for every family.
Volunteers packing supplies at Faith Temple Complex
Volunteers behind every bag.
03 Community Voice

Community Voices in Action

Established 2022. Listening at every level.

Community Voices in Action advocacy training session in progress
Residents leading their own advocacy training.

Community Voices in Action (CVA) was established in 2022 to address the specific factors that cause food insecurity in Pemiscot County, Missouri. The CVA uses System Dynamic — Group Model Build to address systemic factors by listening to the needs and concerns of residents at every level:

  • Children
  • Single mothers
  • Two-parent households
  • Elderly and caretakers

What CVA has accomplished:

  • Community garden expansion
  • Development of a Local Chamber of Commerce

In the pipeline:

  • Non-for-profit Produce Market
  • Activity Centers
  • …and more as the community identifies needs
Community members at the back-to-school supplies distribution
Listening at our events.
Easter egg hunt set up at the local football field
Showing up for families.
Community fellowship and gathering at Faith Temple Complex
Fellowship fuels the work.
Youth at the Missouri Farm Bureau education event
Youth at the Farm Bureau event.
Join Our Efforts

Help build a healthier Southeast Missouri.

If you are interested in learning more about Our Community Our Health — our mission, our vision, or how you can get involved — we would love to hear from you.

Get Involved Contact Us