Last Fall, when Leaven began holding weekly community meals as a new (to us) experiment, we noticed something extraordinary: When folks stopped by the Leaven Community Center for a tasty pay-as-you-can meal, they often also participated in any number of the additional events or activities that take place in our building.
Perhaps they checked out a tool at the NE Portland Tool Library, or repaired a household item at a Repair PDX repair café. Possibly, they created something beautiful at the Collab Maker’s space down the hall, practiced their English or Spanish at the Intercambio language exchange, or participated in a restorative Community Rest Session.
Week after week, neighbors who hadn’t known each other before kept seeing each others’ faces, built relationships with each other, and got to know the civic organizations and community groups that call Leaven Community Center home. We learned each other’s names. We ate each other’s cooking. We learned to run the industrial dishwasher together! This is the kind of trust that can’t be built overnight - and it is exactly the kind of trust that we all need as we navigate uncertainty together.
At a time when the cost of living just seems to keep on climbing, finding a community hub where a person can access an affordable meal, free tools, language classes, collective rest, and a sense of belonging is truly priceless.
To keep building this Community Meal tradition, we need volunteers to set up, cook, serve, and clean! Can YOU sign up to do your part?
