Victoria is from Chicago, Illinois. Victoria started working in non-profits through an after-school program and day camp in Chicago with K-6th grades focusing on art activities, herb gardening, and community field trips. They were a part of the WWOOF Future Farmers Program in 2023 where they spent one month in Cerrillos, New Mexico milking and caring for goats, and tending to plants in a greenhouse and outdoor garden. They have also spent 4 months in 2024 as an Outdoor Educator for an Environmental Education Program in North Carolina which included daily hikes, outdoor cooking, intro to mountain biking, and intro to backpack camping. In their spare time, Victoria has volunteered for community gardens in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Albuquerque where they enjoyed hearing stories about individuals’ connections to different plants. Victoria was drawn to Hidden Villa because of the mission of respecting the land and each other. Their favorite activities at Hidden Villa include looking for banana slugs on the hiking trails, visiting the pigs, goats, and sheep, and spending time in the garden to observe the birds and changing plants. The Art and Practice of Spiritual Herbalism by Karen Rose is Victoria’s favorite mission-related book because it emphasizes that every person is capable of tapping into herbal medicine and can learn how to connect herbalism to the collective wellbeing.
Victoria Parra (she/her/they/them)
Outdoor Educator