Aviary a place where birds are kept safe, find refuge

It’s an interesting time to be launching The Aviary, a collection of stories from the community of Goldfinch Cafe.  But if I am honest, I can’t think of a better time. We are all here, together gathered in our homes, sheltering in place, anticipating to be around the table again.

If I could look each of you in the eyes and give you a hug, I would. What we are walking through is something most of us have never been asked to do. To collectively experience loss, pain, grief is hard and weighs heavy on us all. And yet still, we look around and see the community rise. Bringing joy with driveby birthday parties, supporting local small businesses,  moving houseless neighbors into hotels, volunteering at food pantries, chalking walkways, virtual concerts and countless other ways we have seen the compassion of this community come to the forefront. When we look back at this time period who will we say told the story? Who was the narrator? I think the narrator is empathy. I think we are understanding, some of us for the first time, that we belong to each other. That we need each other. That when all is said and done we find that the human spirit is lifted by knowing that someone else cares.

Goldfinch Cafe was founded with the philosophy that healthy locally sourced food should not be for the privileged but accessible for all under the pay what you can model. We still believe that. Even more so now. As a team, we are working to update our projected dates and fundraising strategies in order to bring the cafe as soon as we can to life.

How can you help?

• Share our page/posts on social media
• Donate – Make a donation to The Goldfinch Cafe fund
• Volunteer – Sign up here to volunteer for future events and fundraising

Until I can give you a hug friends join us in spreading KINDNESS throughout the community. On Facebook join Sustainable Kindness. Sustainable Community. This Group is an extension of the Goldfinch Cafe, furthering our mission to serve our community through sustainable food, sustainable kindness, and sustainable community.

The purpose of this extended group is to build a Mutual Aid network where members can request and offer aid, and connect with one another. Need resources? Need assistance? Need food? Need Yard work done? This group was made to address these concerns. Similar to our Pay-What-You-Can-Model we wish to exchange labor and resources for the benefit of the groups and individuals alike. If after this ¨sheltering in place” is done we can, if nothing else come out of our homes knowing that we listened to each other, that we made music for each other, that we created for each other, that we cried with one another, that we gave for one another, that we took care of one another. Then we know, empathy was always the answer.

Everyone. Always.
Sheli