The holiday season is a complicated time for the residents of Benevolence Farm. Yes, many are celebrating their first celebration home. Along with that comes grieving holidays missed, family connections severed, and the messy attempts to rekindle relationships — if even possible.
On top of that, we are fulfilling holiday orders and fundraising for the next year. We are truly elves in the workshop and then December 24 arrives and it’s … silent.
During this quiet time, Benevolence Farm supports residents by providing structured activities to assist them as they process through the holiday season ups and downs.
This year, we had a few volunteers step up to host activities, as our board member Tracy did with New Years Day donut making (pictured below).
Here’s what a resident shared regarding how much this simple sharing of our time means to them:
“I had a great time making donuts, even with my disdain for cooking. Tracy was great and her daughter was such a gentle sweet soul. Thanks for organizing things like that for us over the holidays. People giving their time to us means the world to me. I’d like to thank them all.”
Here’s a list of other activities our volunteers and staff made possible over the holiday doldrums:
- A grocery trip outing to get New Year’s Day cooking supplies (Thanks Izzy!)
- Movie outings
- Cooking class (Thanks Lyn!)
- A tour of the local African American Cultural Arts and History Center, provided by the famous Mr. Shields
- A trip to see farm animals at Second Act Farms
- Pole dancing class at Burlington’s very own Pole Fitness Studio
Amidst all the chaos of the holiday season, we also have wins to share:
- When EK arrived home to Benevolence Farm in December, RT realized she recognized our new resident’s face. Turns out, they were close friends in prison and were excited to be reunited. (Note: It is not uncommon for incarcerated people to use other names to identify one another. Sometimes, people won’t recognize a legal name until they have a face to it.)
- NG paid off an outstanding debt and starts the year off on strong financial footing.
- Residents discovered the joys of a hot cocoa machine, which we were all introduced to by our Christmas tree decorating expert and board member, Misty!
- AS successfully changed her gender marker at the DMV so that it matches her gender identity. Once she is off parole, she plans to pursue her name change too.
- DB won a NC WORKS grant to pay for her substance use peer support certification.
Donuts made with the help of our board member, Tracy
