On Saturday, July 23, from 1-5 p.m., you are invited to our summer garden party fundraiser at Bread & Roses House of Hospitality, 1320 Eighth Ave. S.E., Olympia.
You can tour our gardens, the House of Hospitality and the Guesthouse, meet our guests and volunteers and savor a delicious Saturday community meal.
We hope to have some music for you to enjoy as well.
We look forward you seeing you and welcome your support for this vital effort to end homelessness in our community.
This year, our new advocacy program began providing the loving link between our shelter guests and mainstream service providers. Advocates offer companionship to our guests as they support and guide them through the social service system.
Elise Filka recently completed a three-month internship as one of these advocates. During her time as an advocate, Elsie helped three guests move to housing, one guest to access outpatient mental health services, and one guest to enter inpatient treatment for alcoholism.
Elise continues to volunteer at Bread & Roses for the summer. She shared these thoughts as she finished up the term.
My internship at Bread and Roses Women’s Shelter has, by far, been one of the most challenging and empowering educational experiences I’ve had. I went into this intern-ship wanting to be a part of a community that views advocacy as a radical act. I learned that the most radical thing in a community is the willing-ness to overcome personal insecurities and to really al-low yourself to grow, and then show the women that you are advocating for that they can do the same.
Most of the challenges I learned to overcome were the same ones the guests had to. It is an act of resistance to be able to break down the barriers in yourself, and once you can do that you can learn how to break down the physical barriers for achieving goals.
In the case of the women I advocated for, I learned that once we were able to recognize invisible barriers we could move on to the ―real‖ ones, like overcoming un-healthy dependency on a loved one in order to find subsidized housing.
Finding a place for myself within the community was also difficult. I played a different role for each of the women at the shelter. In some cases, I was more of a therapist or friend—listening and validating a traumatic experience was all that was needed. To others I was a resource for housing, or even a kind of caregiver.
An example of my ever-changing role as an advocate is a personal, anonymous story that I shared in a paper for class:
When I first met “Ann” I immediately fell for her sweetness and charm. Not only that, but listening to her story broke my heart. When she first came to Bread and Roses she was in pretty bad shape, although I was impressed by how self-sufficient she was. She knew of most of the resources that I knew about, and she made friends easily with the other guests and with the people she knows at the many other shelters that she has been at.
I think that one thing I have learned with Ann is to keep my emotional distance from the person I am advocating for, while still trying to understand and care about the emotional space that they live in. It is so easy to get caught up in the way that another person thinks and feels. Ann, like me, struggles with lack of confidence sometimes. She has told me that she feels like her case isn’t as important as other women in the house. At her worst, she told me that she could leave if I wanted her to, saying that she could live in her car again. Ann, like many other women at Bread and Roses, can sometimes think of herself as a victim and not as a person worthy and deserving of help. I think that recognizing this lack of confidence in her has been im-portant, and getting her to start caring for herself has made me realize how much I need to care for myself in order to help others.
I’ve also seen how chronic homelessness affects women emotionally and mentally and can be a serious barrier to moving forward. Coming to Bread and Roses can be difficult because you have to be a part of a community once again.
Depression and anxiety result from years living on the street without support, and over time women develop a deep sense of independence which can be extremely difficult to work with as an advocate, because of resistance and distrust of people in power.
I’ve learned so much about developing trust with women that I’m working with. In addition to that, I’ve had to learn that maintaining that trust can sometimes be an endless cycle.
Because I can see in the women this fear of trust, I’ve learned to recognize it in myself as well, and to learn to allow people to come into my life for help. For example, it has been extremely helpful to trust other advocates and volunteers’ knowledge of the community and resources, and because I allowed those relationships to be trustworthy. I’ve helped many women find resources themselves.
The most rewarding thing about interning at Bread and Roses is how rewarding it is to come to the shelter every morning and eat breakfast and know that you are an important part of something going on there. I love the openness of it, and the days when I can simply sit down for coffee with a guest and talk about big life questions. Being able to create these safe, inviting spaces for one another is part of what it means to be human, and working at Bread and Roses has taught me how important that really is.
As another Olympia summer tentatively opens, we are spending more and more time in the garden. Since … well pretty much since we pulled down the last tomato vine last fall, we have been spending time on the garden: visioning, designing, researching, buying seeds, starting indoor seedlings and other preparatory tasks. As soon as the weather allowed, we began building additional beds (seven new large beds so far, and at least three more planned!) and planting cold-tolerant veggies. We have accomplished everything we could do hurriedly between rainy spells. We have definitely nailed the who, what, where and how.
But June is when we get to indulge in the “why”. We rub the winter out of our eyes and lift our heads and breathe. The weather is nice enough that I am writing this while sitting on the back porch, surrounded by pea vines and beet greens. One of our residents is moving into an apartment today, and Phil’s truck is slowly filling with furniture and odds and ends for the new place. Maria is sitting beside me, also writing. Our life has expanded from 1600-odd square feet of indoor space, and now takes up two whole front and back yards. It may take over the sidewalk before August!
Saying that gardening builds community is a little clichéd, although we all know it’s true. Certainly in my quest for nursery pots, lumber and other garden goodies I’ve met dozens of new people. Many individuals, organizations and businesses have been able to contribute directly to our garden this year. And, as always, working in the yard is one way to spend social time with the women at the Guesthouse, chatting and weeding or wielding power tools.
But the most surprising thing is the increased opportunity for interaction with neighbors and strangers passing by. Many people who live in, or frequent, the neighborhood are surprised at the dramatic change our yard has undergone in the last two years. Others want to share garden tips or recipes, or comment on our funky bean trellises. The overall feeling is curiosity mixed with admiration. Rarely does someone walk by without striking up a conversation.
And in the process we get to have potentially hundreds of conversations. Those conversations may start with the garden, but they often end up covering a wide range of topics. We have the opportunity to talk about Bread & Roses, homelessness, food security and community, as well as the ever-fashionable conversation about the weather. The interactions are brief, casual and comfortable. When we are out in the garden, we are always in danger of falling into easy relationship with those around us.
So, as we appreciate the abundance of food that this garden will most certainly generate – and the capacity for generosity that comes with it – we are also experiencing an entirely new type of abundance. As our life expands out of the house, so do our opportunities for hospitality. The welcoming space we have created around the house is the perfect venue for practicing hospitality on a neighborhood level. In the future, we envision many creative additions: a community bulletin board, informal neighborhood produce and seedling exchanges, and expanded community gatherings.
In the meantime, feel free to wander past the house and strike up a conversation!
Brittany Barbour has been a live-in volunteer at Bread and Roses since August 2010. She graduated from Northern Illinois University in 2009 with a bachelor’s degree in history. This is when she was introduced to the Catholic Worker Movement and ended up writing her senior thesis on the Chicago Worker House. She is originally from Bloomington, IL and moved to Olympia in August 2009 to join AmeriCorps through Community Youth Services. She just finished her second year at the Family Support Center where she worked with low-income and un-housed families.
Maria Garner grew up in Lincoln Park, Michigan. She moved to Portland at age 17. She has lived in Olympia for six years. Before that, Maria lived in Othello, where she completed a term of service in the Washington Reading Corps.
After graduating from The Evergreen State College in Olympia with her bachelor’s degree, Maria was employed by Mason County Literacy and then by the Volunteer Center. She has volunteered with Camp Quixote, Family Support Center, Interfaith Works, and the Salvation Army.
New Board Members: We would like for you to join in welcoming two new members to our Board, the Rev. June Johnson, Assistant Priest at St. John’s Episcopal Church, and the Rev. Amy Walters, Minister at First Christian Church, Disciples of Christ.
There’s nothing like the sound of a jackhammer in the morning. Even crickets, crows, and roosters cannot match the beautiful sounds of progress developing even before you’ve had your first cup of bleary-eyed bed-hair bad-breath coffee. Or gingerly stepping barefoot on exposed subfloors; it’s better than fresh mown grass. The best is competing with a dozen other people for first crack at the coffee pot as all this goes on in the background.
Of course, I’m kidding. No, really. But there is something remarkable about the chaos, the breaking out of daily routines into a new unpredictable open life – cooking breakfast at a neighbor’s house, taking a day without a shower, sharing a cup of coffee with a stranger in a tool belt.
The major repairs to the House of Hospitality and the Guesthouse are complete. We’ve repaired rotted subfloors, rotted studs and siding, a rotted deck, and rotted stairs. We’ve replaced old vinyl, carpet, light switches, and electrical outlets. We landscaped, planted a vegetable garden, deep-cleaned the houses, and painted the House of Hospitality (inside and out) and the Guesthouse (inside). We even found and refinished a couple beautiful old wood floors under the living room carpets in the Guesthouse. Continue reading
Save the date!
On Saturday, Oct. 23, you are invited to the first “Spread and Roses” at the Bread & Roses House of Hospitality, 1320 Eighth Ave. S.E., Olympia.
You can tour our gardens, our newly renovated digs, and feast on home-made breads, jams, soups, sauces, dips, and more – made by the hosts and guests of Bread & Roses. The event will be from 2-5 p.m. and while it’s more of an open house than a full-on fundraiser, any contributions you may be able to make will be appreciated.
We look forward you seeing you and welcome your support for this vital effort in our community.
by Emily Lardner, President, and Jaecye Noah Stupka, Vice President
In September 2010, the Bread and Roses Board of Directors approved three remarkable documents: one describes what women staying at the Guest House can expect of Bread and Roses, another describes what Bread and Roses can expect of women staying in the Guest House, and the third serves as a position description for hosts who choose to live in the House of Hospitality.
These documents deftly weave together Bread & Roses’ roots in the Catholic Worker movement with its non-profit status. The loving support Bread & Roses provides for Guest House residents takes many forms, but ultimately, it is grounded in the faith that with support, women will be able to get back on their feet and thrive.
Join our Board
The Bread & Roses Board needs inspired minds and devoted hearts. The Board ensures Bread & Roses fulfills its mission and vision by setting policies and procedures, managing finances and planning events and fundraisers. The Board meets once a month for about two hours; sub-committees meet as needed. We have one weekend retreat a year focused on evaluating our strategic and operational plans and goals and objectives for the next five years. We ask for a one-year commitment to work with the Board, and with the women in the Guest House in some way.
For more information on joining our Board, please call the House of Hospitality at (360) 754-4085
by Meta Hogan
Americorps volunteers landscape the garden
When Phil and I returned to Bread and Roses in August 2009 we envisioned, as part of the renewal of the community, a transformation of the landscape at our two houses. We have seen the old photos, talked with former community members, and ourselves experienced the fluctuations that these gardens have undergone over the years.
The garden of last summer was clear evidence of the state of the Bread and Roses community itself – neither cultivated nor nurtured, over-grown, unplanned, gone to seed, and unharvested. Our dream was to let the garden also be a demonstration of the community’s renewal, and of its rediscovered home-centered focus. We began the slow process of reviving.
Please visit us for our open house!
Come see the progress we’ve made fixing up the House of Hospitality, check out our garden plans, and peruse our photo album.
Meet and chat with guests, volunteer hosts, board members, and other Bread & Roses supporters.
Eat yummy snacks, listen to good music, and even dance in our kitchen if you like!
Bread & Roses’ volunteer hosts, board members, and guests will be available to answer any questions you may have.
We’ll have copies of our newsletter, progress reports, budget, and finance reports handy for you to look over.
But, most importantly, we’ll have good music and great snacks!
4-6PM
1320 8th Ave SE
Olympia, WA 98501
Donations will be gratefully accepted.
Our newsletter is now available for download (pdf format). Check it out!
Download:
Bread & Roses has served the homeless, the poor, and the marginalized for over a quarter-century.
When a person loses everything, the experience is terrifying. It is not enough to simply offer a shelter mat on a dormitory floor.
At Bread & Roses, we are committed to discovering and creating abundance in the midst of poverty. Our gardens offer oasis to guests and hosts alike.
