Maureen Brower begins her workshops at the Mustard Seed family centre with the same kind of hospitality she shows at home. “I love to bake, so I bring something homemade, fresh from the oven,” she said.
The ritual sets the stage for what’s always a diverse group of participants whose personal struggles have brought them to the food bank’s financial and life-skills program.
“That atmosphere of acceptance, taking a breath, hopefully allows them to lay their burden down for a while and take in the workshop,” Brower said, noting topics range from learning styles to first aid, finances and cooking.
But it’s how Brower closes the workshops that struck a chord with several past participants, some of whom recall a particular story about a tomato plant. “I try to close every session by finding a word of hope everyone can take with them,” Brower said. “It’s a benediction of sorts ... and I’ll use anything in my possession to illustrate that.”
She has brought in squares of fabric from a quilting project, for example. “If our life is like a quilt, so many things are already put into place that are beyond us: where we’re born, if it’s to privilege. But there are things we can add into our quilt to bring colour, to bring what we want.”
The tomato-plant story is a personal one. “For many years, my dad would grow tomatoes in his greenhouse and each year give the plants to family,” she said. The fall after her father died in July 2005, Brower knew that when she pulled her plants at the end of the season, they would be the last from her dad.
“I was very sad about that,” she said. But the next spring, as she was cleaning out weeds, she came across something surprising. “What did I find? These tiny tomato plants sprouting up,” she said. The plants grew from the seeds of fallen, rotten fruit from her dad’s last plant.
“I’ve learned so much from the plant since then ... When something ends, out of a grievous loss can be new life.”
Brower brings in pots of tiny seedlings grown from fallen tomatoes for the women in the workshop.
She speaks about growth being a slow process and each phase a necessary one.
This story resonated with Janice, a past participant who didn’t want to use her last name. She came to the Mustard Seed during a difficult time, as a new immigrant feeling isolated in Victoria.
“I was really struggling because I had stopped working, we had bills to pay and the culture was hard for me,” said Janice, whose family arrived from the Caribbean in 2009 for her husband’s work.
She also started working, but both faced difficulties when their overseas qualifications were not recognized. Her husband had to go back to school and the family of four was forced to live on employment insurance. For Janice, a big challenge was feeling part of a community.
“Back home, when a foreigner comes, everyone is very hospitable and welcoming. Here, it took me three years to learn my neighbours’ name,” she said. A friend from her hometown recommended they check out the Mustard Seed workshops.
“We thought it was a good way to get to know people, to settle in,” she said. “When we met a bunch of the ladies, we found we had common ground.”
She said those relationships and Brower’s guidance have helped lead her on a more positive life path. She now has her licence to practice as a nurse. “It made me feel like I was finally part of a community and I’m thankful for that,” she said.
In addition to its regular programs, the Mustard Seed helps hundreds of families and individuals each Christmas with holiday food hampers and home-cooked meals. This year, the Times Colonist will help support those efforts. You can help by donating to the Christmas Fund.
Your help is needed:
It's quick and easy to donate online. Just go to:
timescolonist.com/christmasfund
By phone: 250-995-4438
By mail or in person:
2621 Douglas St., Victoria, B.C.
V8T 4M2
Make cheques payable to "Times Colonist Christms Fund"
