We are caregivers, weavers + storytellers
Recently, the team at Free to Feed sat together, in a peer support circle, created to talk about the pain and anguish in our community and our own experiences of holding grief for the horrific scale of displacement, grief and loss unfolding in Gaza. This is a conversation we have been having together for the last two months and this peer support circle was created to allow us to talk and process our unique experiences together.
We ARE truly stronger in moments where we are united together holding space for one another’s unique experiences and voices and manifestations of social justice. One of our beautiful team members, Hind, helped us explore this by sharing with us an insightful compass finding tool to help find your voice, place and people: Deepa Iyer’s Social Change Ecosystem Map.
At Free to Feed, we are caregivers, storytellers and weavers.
As Caregivers, we reach out to communities and ask if they are okay. Our programs and support structures are designed and delivered by social work and mental health professionals to offer people with experiences of forced displacement access to support and ingredients for a brighter future in Australia in which they can lead meaningful and connected lives. For our team, we act as caregivers in creating spaces and circles of support to process and care for each other.
As Weavers, we bring communities together through our stories, cooking experiences, events and gatherings. These are special spaces where those with lived experience of forced migration and displacement can be understood, advocate for themselves and set their own boundaries. These experiences are healing and unifying. We weave diverse people together by making space for dialogue, connection, solidarity and understanding of our shared and unique histories. Every year, thousands of community members hear stories firsthand, learn generationally-whispered recipes and experience the cultural leadership beautifully expressed by a newly arrived community member.
As Storytellers, we amplify the perspectives of those within our community affected by forced migration and displacement. This has always been true to the core of Free to Feed. We create non-judgemental, spaces of welcome for anyone willing and open-hearted. It's our mission to embrace with open arms all people seeking asylum, safety and community here.
I would like to take this moment to deeply honour all of the roles that make up the Social Change Ecosystem; to those Frontline Responders (raising funds and organising calls to government and politicians), Disruptors (attending protests and speaking truth to power), Visionaries, Guides, Experimenters, Builders, Caregivers, Disrupters, Healers … I want to thank and honour each of you for your part in the ecosystem.
Most of all, I would like to take this moment to acknowledge the strength and resilience of those who are fleeing conflict, who carry their children, parents and grandparents through unspeakable hardships in pursuit of safety, remaining fixed in survival mode for years if not generations. This ancient survival response is reactivated by division, threats and escalation of hostilities abroad, which we have seen at Free to Feed over the past month.
With love and peace,
Loretta xo