From Quiet Teen to Community Resilience Leader: Blue’s Groundwork RVA Journey
When Da'vante Ballou (fondly known as Blue) first heard about Groundwork RVA, he was not impressed.
At his high school, he mostly saw “farm stuff” happening on campus and assumed the program was not for him. He did not think of himself as an “outdoors person,” and he definitely did not picture himself spending his summers in the woods or leading crews of young people across the city.
That changed the summer he joined a city youth employment program and was placed with Groundwork RVA. During his very first week, Blue and a few other teens were sent to Shenandoah National Park for a week-long experience.
They barely knew each other. They had never camped together. Suddenly they were in the mountains, shadowing park rangers, maintaining trails, and spending long stretches of time outside, far from the noise of the city.
“I was kind of scared at first,” Blue says. “But once we got there, it was eye-opening, just to sit in nature. It was so far away from the city that I usually wouldn’t be able to access it. My family didn’t really do outside activities like that.”
Out in the quiet of Shenandoah, something shifted. The week was hard work, but it was also peaceful and healing. Blue was learning to use tools, to work on real projects, and to be part of a team. He was also experiencing a kind of rest and reflection that felt completely different from life back home.
Coming back to Richmond was jarring.
“After being out there, coming back was horrible,” he says with a laugh. “It was so loud compared to when we were out in nature.”
Blue kept coming back to Groundwork every summer. Each season, he learned new skills: how to build steps and pathways so hikers could safely reach a rock-climbing wall, how to use hand tools, how to work alongside elders and community members, and how to show up consistently for his crew.
He was about sixteen or seventeen at the time. It was his first “real” job.
“I never got paid to work before,” he says. “It really built my time management. You have to be there on time to get your full amount and to be there for your team. It built up all the skills I would say I lacked at the moment, like communicating, contributing ideas, working with other people.”
For a young person who described himself as “very mute and introverted,” the experience of being welcomed as he was, and not teased or pushed aside, mattered.
“Everybody was very different, but we all got along,” Blue says. “They never bullied me or minded that I was very quiet. That is something I loved.”
Growing into a Groundwork Staff Member
Over time, Blue’s role with Groundwork RVA deepened. What began as a summer job slowly became a clear path.
He joined the team at the farm site, first in a seasonal role and then as a regular staff member. That step changed how he saw himself.
“It changed my life,” he says. “I was learning more of the background of Groundwork and the fundamentals of being a nonprofit. It inspired me to do more for the team and for myself, like getting up on time, being someone people can rely on, being more business focused.”
He started going to staff meetings. He learned more about project planning and community partnerships. He became a trusted presence for youth and coworkers alike.
Behind the scenes, mentors like Melissa Guevara, Groundwork RVA's Youth Program Director, helped him navigate not just work, but life. She walked with him through practical steps that many young people have to figure out on their own.
“When I first started, it was me and Melissa,” Blue explains. “She guided me along the way, teaching me different stuff like getting my ID, learning to use hands-on tools, building a resume. Now I am able to help young people with those same things.”
A Big Pivot and a New Role: Community Resilience Crew
In 2025, Groundwork RVA faced a major funding loss that affected its farm programming. For staff like Blue, that could have meant losing a job.
Instead, he pivoted with the organization.
Blue transitioned to the Community Resilience Crew (CRC), the team that moves all over the city caring for trees and green infrastructure, stabilizing hillsides, improving trails, and doing many of the unglamorous but crucial tasks that help keep neighborhoods safer, cooler, and greener.
“The pivot was strange at first,” he says. “I went from working at the farm in one spot to working all over the city. But it taught me more about managing my time and learning different skills I can take to any job.”
The work is physically demanding and often behind the scenes, but that is exactly what he likes about it.
“Working with the crew and learning more about what they do in the community, it is more behind-the-scenes stuff that I like,” he says. “I can be in the background, but still make a change in the community and for the community members.”
Today, Blue is a reliable and steady presence on the Community Resilience Crew. He helps tend green spaces that reduce flooding and heat, supports youth crews in the field, and is beginning to lend his eye and ideas to Groundwork’s social media, helping tell the story of the work they are doing together.
Passing the Torch
What keeps Blue coming back, year after year, is not just the work. It is the chance to help younger people walk some of the same path he did.
“I see it as passing on the torch,” he says. “When I first started, Melissa helped me with so many things. Now I’m able to help the kids do different things, like learn to use tools or build a resume.”
For Blue, some of the most meaningful moments are watching teens grow from ninth graders into seniors and young adults, and seeing their confidence change.
“It is being alongside the youth and seeing them grow, not only as students but as people,” he says. “Slowly guiding them through decisions about what they want to do and how I can help them.”
In other words, he has gone from being the quiet Green Teamer in the back of the group to the person that young people look to for support, skills, and a listening ear.
Standing With Youth Through Real-Life Challenges
Like many young adults, Blue has had to balance work with serious family responsibilities. Early in his time on staff, his mother became ill. He became one of her primary caregivers, all while trying to keep his job and income.
That is where Groundwork’s commitment to “changing lives” became very real.
“At the beginning, when I first started working, my mom got very sick,” he shares. “Groundwork supported me, giving me chances to stay in the hospital with her and take care of her, being very understanding. They let me work from the computer sometimes or have flexible hours.”
Staff checked in with him not just about schedules, but about how he was doing. They made space for him to keep his job and take care of his family, offering practical flexibility and personal encouragement.
“That was one of the challenges I faced,” he says, “but they helped me through it and gave me advice about personal life stuff too.”
That kind of holistic support is part of what makes Groundwork RVA different. Youth and young adults are not just “workers” on a crew. They are people with families, responsibilities, dreams, and real-life challenges. Groundwork’s staff team walks with them through all of it.
Why Your Support Matters
If you met Blue today, you might see a quiet, thoughtful staff member in a Groundwork hoodie, out with the Community Resilience Crew, building a rain catchment system or tending trees in a neighborhood park. What you might not see is the journey behind that picture:
- A teenager who did not think Groundwork was for him, who took a chance on a summer job and found a love for being outside.
- A young person contributing to his household income while building time management, communication, and leadership skills on real job sites across Richmond.
- A young adult who stayed with the organization through a major funding loss, pivoted into a new role, and is now helping steward green infrastructure all over the city.
- A caregiver who was able to keep working and growing because his employer understood that life does not pause when the unexpected happens.
Blue’s story is just one example of what Groundwork RVA makes possible when youth have paid opportunities to learn, lead, and care for their communities.
When you give to Groundwork RVA, you are not only funding tools, trucks, or trees. You are investing in young people like Blue who are:
- Building skills that transfer to any career
- Gaining confidence and a sense of belonging
- Caring for their neighborhoods through hands-on environmental projects
- Growing into the next generation of community leaders
Your generosity helps us keep crews like the Community Resilience Crew working, even when large grants end or funding shifts. It allows us to offer flexible, supportive jobs to young adults who are balancing school, caregiving, and life. And it ensures that more teens can have the kind of transformational experience that took Blue from “I thought this wasn’t for me” to “I am making a difference here.”
If Blue’s story resonates with you, we invite you to be part of it.
Make a gift to Groundwork RVA today so that more young people can discover their own path, grow their skills, and help build a greener, more resilient Richmond.