When Hayden (Hill) Blythe, Class of 2001, spoke during an Upper School Chapel in November, her passion for the underserved community was clear. In fact, she says, “My post-secondary life has had one major purpose: partnering with God in reconciling all things to Christ, particularly among marginalized people groups.”
The summer Hayden turned 15, a short-term mission trip to the Philippines helped clarify that calling on her life.
“I spent the summer digging holes in monsoon season mud, helping with kids’ programs at an orphanage and backpacking around a tiny island to do drama evangelism. It was an incredible time of seeing God and His world in wild new ways,” she said. “That was a pivotal moment in God showing me that he had created me to serve poor and marginalized people.”
After graduating from StoneBridge, Hayden took a gap year and spent seven months in Romania working with Roma youth. She then went to Covenant College in Georgia.
“I studied economics and community development so I could be equipped to engage in holistic poverty alleviation as a follower of Jesus,” she said. “After college I spent two and a half years as a missionary in East Africa, primarily training very low-income communities in small business practices with the transformational power of the Gospel.”
While Hayden only attended StoneBridge for two years in high school, she credits the school for teaching her to be a critical thinker.
“StoneBridge encouraged and helped teach me critical thinking and the importance of forming opinions and reactions based on biblical principles,” Hayden noted. “StoneBridge also helped me become a better student, which has helped me study God’s Word and world and be a constant learner.”
While at StoneBridge, Hayden played volleyball, was in the National Honor Society, and was a Spiritual Life prefect. Her favorite memories of StoneBridge all involve the relationships she developed.
“I enjoyed the networking involved in being a Spiritual Life prefect,” she said. “I also enjoyed painting in Mrs. Hurley’s class, making new friends at retreat, and going with a big group to Chrysalis.”
After her missionary work abroad, Hayden returned to Suffolk in 2010 and took a job with a church serving very low-income communities. The organization that originally started within the church is now Hope for Suffolk, a youth development nonprofit organization, where she serves as the executive director.
“We invest in local youth through our 8-month paid internship program for 50 teenagers each year,” Hayden said. The internship has two components: paid work on the organic vegetable farm and interactive training in life skills.
“We grow and sell organic vegetables in order to pay our teen interns,” she explained. “I work with and oversee our staff and work with our Board of Directors to ensure mission success, set goals, develop and carry out strategy, fundraise, and work with our community partners.”
While the day-to-day duties are necessary, what Hayden finds the most fulfilling is designing experiences that help transform teens holistically by the Gospel.
“I get to help teens work through all the things that teens face–parental conflict, heartbreak, procrastination, navigating social media–but also healing from abuse, solving homelessness, navigating mental health crises and challenges, and facing realities of drug use. I tell people that I’m a farming youth worker.”
In 2012, Hayden founded the Coalition Against Poverty in Suffolk (CAPS) where she still volunteers as a consultant, especially with their Night Shelter, a rotating homeless shelter. She is also a trainer with Equipping Farmers International, a conservation agriculture training organization.
“I teach trainings in Tanzania, as I lived there for two years and speak Swahili,” she noted.
While Hayden’s time at StoneBridge School was short, she loved it and encourages current students to take advantage of the opportunities they have.
“As with anything in life, you get out what you put in,” she told Upper School students during her chapel message in November. “You now have a community where you can engage hard questions and take chances in such a safe place. You won’t always have that, so don’t miss out while you do.”
“I submit to you today that a key to grasping the blessings of God is engaging the struggles,” she told them.
Hayden and her husband, Chris–who she met while catering a fundraiser–live in Suffolk with their daughters, Raya (age 9) and Sienna (age 8). She loves spending time with family and friends doing outdoor activities, especially adventurous ones.
