No, hugelkulture buries the wood. A stumpery is a different thing, the wood decays aboveground to provide habitat.
https://www.gardening-forums.com/threads/stumperies.10944/
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The easiest things to grow in any area are the plants that are native to that area.
They are the ones most suited to live there, they
want to live there! (They also help the environment more, the native pollinators evolved for them.) I saw that you do want certain plants, but if you have any wiggle room, I took the liberty of doing a bit of research for your area.
Here is a link to Missouri native perennials, suited for dry soil, that will grow to a maximum height of 6 feet. I did not specify any shade plants (2 hours or less of sunlight,) because you said the lot gets plenty of light. If you look down the right side of the page, you can reset the search for plants that bloom in different months or colors. (Might be cool to have a patch of blues, pinks, and purples, then another patch of reds, yellows, and oranges!)
www.wildflower.org
As far as getting the community involved, I suggest reaching out to them through the children. (There are quite a few reasons I think that would work.) It might take a little longer to get the ball rolling, but why go to this much effort if you don't expect it to be there in five years?
I think kids are in the second or third grade when they learn the science about growing plants. I've read a thread in this forum from a mother asking what plant her child grew, because it did not look like what they said it would be - and she wanted to help it thrive - because her child grew it. (And that right there is your key!
)
Might be worth a visit to your local elementary school!
If the kids (and by extension, their parents,) are partly responsible for "making that happen," they will take pride in their accomplishments. The kids will want to go see "their" plants. Schools are horribly underfunded, and someone willing to supply seeds and supplies for an educational project would not be refused. You could probably get donations from local businesses, especially if you think you could generate enough interest for a little write-up in the "Local" or "Metro" section of the newspaper! (If you have a Walmart close, I know they like to donate to projects like this. I've seen signs in their stores saying they donated to neighborhood projects.) I would also try writing letters to seed companies asking if they would donate some seeds. If every parent, teacher, and child knows that "XYZ company" donated seeds, then they will see that as a lot of cheap advertising
and a tax write-off for a charitable donation.
I remember we also had a member that was in high school. I think he said he was in an Environmental Sciences class.
It might be worth a visit to the local high school, it's possible that you could collaborate with one of the teachers there.
