Have you ever participated in Rockville’s Buy Nothing Facebook Group? Maybe you’ve done a neighborhood plant swap or joined in a craft brunch? If you have, chances are that Kristen Schooley Rabs was the organizer.

Kristen is a Montgomery County native, born in Damascus, who moved to her home in Twinbrook nine years ago. The same week she moved in she found out she was pregnant with her daughter.

You may be familiar with Kristen’s house, it’s on Thornden Road, where she has her Free Little Plant Stand. The stand started in April 2020. After hearing about the idea on Facebook she said to herself, “What a great, socially distant thing I could set up in my own community.”

Kristen fondly remembers the beginnings of the stand, “Every day of that first year, I had neighbors coming to drop off and pick up plants constantly. I couldn’t believe how many people I met in my front yard! It was buzzing.”

At that time, she was living with her daughter, then aged four, her newborn son, and her mom and sister who moved in to bubble during the pandemic. The house felt a bit cramped, but living with so many people provided a micro-community and great support for her children during a time when her daughter wasn’t going to daycare.

The Free Little Plant Stand community is still thriving. It currently has more than 1,000 members who (now) meet monthly from March through October to share plants and nurture their community connections. Kristen is so dedicated to this work that she created the website: https://freelittleplantstand.com/ to help track other plant stands and provide free resources to those interested in starting their own.

Plants aren’t the only thing that Kristen has an affinity for. In 2023, she started a monthly crafting group where neighbors come over for brunch to create in a different craft. Kristen promises the event is very low pressure. She said, “I was looking for a way to do more of what I enjoyed and figured I could invite others to join me too.” The group has 30 members are the moment with about 10 people coming to each in-person meet up. Some of their recent projects include arm knitting of blankets and needle felt. Their next craft will be making jewelry with resin.

As a dog lover, Kristen has fostered puppies through Pet Connect Rescue for years now. Her elderly mutt isn’t the biggest fan of grown up dogs, but the puppies suit her fine.

When I asked Kristen what she liked most about Twinbrook, she started gushing. She loves how walkable everything is. The diversity of her neighbors and the friendly people that she gets to talk to every day brighten her days. She especially loves all the community resources that neighbors work on themselves, like our many Little Free Libraries, the Free Little Art Box, and the free food pantry. Our active Buy Nothing Group has often provided her with items she was dreaming about in her Amazon cart while also giving her a place to share what no longer sparks joy in her. I remember, right after my daughter was born, getting a picture from her on Buy Nothing that said, “And though she is little, she is fierce” that hung on my fridge for over a year. Thanks, Kristen!

When asked if Kristen wanted to share a message with her neighbors, she replied, “So many people are looking for community. We have to build it. If you build it, they will come.” There is no truer example of how community can be built than through watching Kristen at work.

Congratulations to our neighbor, Kristen Rabs, for receiving the honor of Twinbrooker of the Year! Thank you for your daily contributions to making Twinbrook a better place to live for everyone.

Twinbrooker of the Year: Kristen Rabs