A Summer of Bread and Roses

“I haven’t done my yard walk yet this morning.” Standing, grabbing a cup of lukewarm coffee and a cigarette, Meta and I move off the back porch of The Big House. We meander around the back yard and over the the chickens to bully them into laying eggs. We touch and poke the various plants that are just coming up, about to fruit, or already exploding with produce. We talk about probably ripping out the dying pea plants on the far side of The Guest House as we move around to the front yard. “We should probably re-mulch with straw in this bed.” “Look how huge that pumpkin is getting!!” “The asparagus is blooming!” This is generally how my mornings started this summer: four days a week I biked to Bread and Roses in Olympia, Washington. Bread and Roses is a Catholic Worker associated organization that houses three hosts and up to twelve women at a time that are in transition to more stable and safe housing options. The facility takes up two adjacent houses-one old victorian (The Big House) and a duplex (The Guest House)- and is surrounded by the ever expanding garden, fruiting trees, a colorful chicken coop, and a back shed that has tools in one half, the supplies for a homeless outreach program called EGYHOP in the other, and Phil and Meta’s room upstairs. My position as an intern there was one they haven’t filled like that in some time; right as I was transitioning into the positing there was an intern from The Evergreen State College that had been working there for the Spring quarter, but before that their past experiences with interns had been very mixed. Because of this relative lack of a structured internship program I got to shape what I wanted to do with my time there and have it be largely self-directed and flexible. We made a plan of some projects we wanted to get done and usually added to the list as we walked around the yard each morning. My being there allowed more projects to be completed, supplied an additional point of view and opinion about how to do things, and boosted the productivity and output of the garden for this summer season…The range of activities and flexibility in my work allowed me to work on my initiative and leadership skills, and though I don’t think I did exactly what we had talked about me doing before I came to work there ,I think I filled the spaces that needed to be filled and did the projects that obviously needed to be done. Bread and Roses is in a place of immense transition and I helped to build the foundation that will support their imminent rapid growth. My work felt important and constructive.  

Before working at Bread and Roses I had no experience or understanding of the homelessness services available in Olympia. In my time living there for 21 years I’ve experienced the homeless population downtown and volunteered at the Thurston County Food Bank, but my knowledge of the range of agencies and shelters in town, their various reputations and services offered, and the reasons and stories behind the situations many of the people experiencing homelessness have was non-existent. I now feel equipped to direct people with questions about housing and those in need of advocacy to a reliable source and I feel informed and opinionated about this issue in my town. My work at GRuB, also in Olympia, last summer allowed me to engage in my hometown in a way I hadn’t before, and my work at Bread and Roses expanded that engagement and commitment to this community that I have felt continuous support and love from. I had so many conversations with people this summer about how they hope I come back to that community and do good work there; maybe that will feel like a burden later, but I kind of don’t think that’s going to be the case. I’ve been gifted with a place that loves me and is supportive of me leaving to learn so I can come back. That’s pretty special.