Polly Barks moved to Wheeling in February 2025 from Lafayette, Indiana. I met Polly the first week she moved to Wheeling as a customer and knew right away she was going to fit well here in the Friendly City.
I recently sat down with Polly at Mugshots to ask her a few questions about herself, what she thinks of Wheeling one year in and about some of the great things she’s involved with here.
First of all, why choose Wheeling? Polly’s first answer, “pure vibes.” She knew she wanted to leave Indiana and started looking closer to family in Northern Virginia (where she was born and raised). She had been traveling through the Wheeling area for about a year on this search and the beauty of it struck her as potentially a good place to settle down. Originally she was looking at places to live in WV closer to Virginia. Ultimately, the affordability of the Ohio Valley led her to look into Wheeling. She spent time driving around and checking out the neighborhoods, looking into local businesses and non-profits. She returned to the area three times to look at houses and fell in love with her place in Warwood.
As someone who’s also moved a bunch of times as an adult myself to new towns/cities alone, I was interested to know how Polly was able to find a community and forge friendships upon her move.
She joked that she just stalked people and businesses on social media but it’s not a half-bad strategy, and one I’ve used myself! Polly found local businesses and organizations that resonated with her and kept in touch with what they were up to and introduced herself. She had already connected with Ohio Valley Mutual Aid soon after the move, so when the flood hit in June of 2025, she jumped right in and was very involved in the massive community effort to help those affected.
From a little food pantry outside of her home, to community dinners, food distribution, and helping with the community garden, Polly is a FORCE in Warwood, in just one short year of residence. When asked about her drive to start community projects in that neighborhood she explains that a lot of stuff seemed to be happening downtown. She saw less happening in Warwood, and there is a lack of transportation with buses running less often to the neighborhood and during limited times. The Loveland Community Garden was already in the works, so it was easy to hop on board. Grow Warwood Pride was getting some new energy with the addition of some other new community members besides herself. Taking some of the initiatives of the Mutual Aid group into a smaller setting in the Warwood community was important to Polly.
Through Polly’s Feeding Warwood initiative, 45 warwood families were served during the SNAP cuts with her help. The group has held two community meals and has a third planned this Saturday, April 11th at 1208 Warwood Ave. from 12-2pm.
They’ve also hosted a coffee meetup in Garden Park, one of the community’s best assets. For Polly, getting to know your neighbors is important, and she doesn’t just talk about it, she is out there DOING IT.
Polly’s future agenda for the Warwood neighborhood includes starting a skill library, seed starting for the community garden, cooking classes at Warwood Terrace and continuing efforts with Feeding Warwood.
I asked Polly what has surprised her since moving to Wheeling, and she said just how much of a small town feel it has. Growing up in a town of three thousand people in Virginia, she thought Wheeling seemed like a “bit city,” but the community is more tight knit than she expected.
I wanted to know if Polly has discovered any “hidden gems” since moving to Wheeling that maybe locals are sleeping on and her first answer was “The Cheese Melt” — a food truck turned Warwood brick and mortar restaurant. She also mentioned the Heritage Trail as a mode of transportation.
To wrap up our conversation, I wondered what she was excited about in the future of Wheeling. Her answer: “the group of people building people power here is really exciting, building connections that will hopefully meet the actual needs of people that live here BY people that live here.” I hope she’s right, that’s a future Wheeling we all deserve.
