Meet the Woman of the Year
Every year we at Starkville Daily get our readers to vote on the Best of Starkville, and this year Brandi Duncan Herrington was voted Woman of the Year.
Herrington is the head of Starkville Strong which in an organization that focuses on the betterment of the community. A lot of their initiatives have been directed heavily at food insecurity and housing for those who need it, and they have also helped anyone in Starkville who has needed a hand - especially during the ice storm last month.
Herrington started in her position with Starkville Strong in May 2020, and she has found a way to work safely for the community in a time where the community has needed to come together but cannot due to the severity of COVID-19.
Herrington learned of being voted Woman of the Year by the people of Starkville, and true to who she is, she was incredibly humble about the honor and only told two people - her husband and her best friend.
“I was completely shocked when I found out. For me, nothing that I’ve done has been on my own.” Herrington said. “Everything that I’ve done has been backed up and supported through the community, my volunteers, and people who really believe the mission, so I hate to sound cliche but getting that award for me is something that I can share with the people who have helped me do what we do. It’s a group effort; it’s never just one person.”
In a fashion worthy of the title of Woman of the Year, Herrington is keeping the ball rolling on an important project that focuses on housing insecurity in Starkville. Starkville Strong was awarded $10,000 by 100 Women Who Care for their new homeless initiative.
“Homelessness has been a problem, housing instability, people at risk of becoming homeless, and so I created an action plan and brought in some people who were very motivated about the same thing,” Herrington said. “We are going to use that money in to move forward with it, to find temporary housing, transitional housing and permanent housing for those who need it. We will hopefully rent out apartments in our name and help those who need it find permanent housing. We are working with Scott Spivey who will help with the permanent housing part.”
Herrington is helping the community in big ways with Starkville Strong and has truly embodied the community spirit.