By Shane Mead | Reporter
The Holistic Fair on Sept. 22, this year titled “Healing Harvest“, featured several small businesses teaming up to benefit The Phoenix Project, an organization with the goal of providing aid to the homeless.
Many of the small businesses under the handful of tents propped up in the parking lot of Bosque Boulevard and state Route 6 showcased hand-crafted trinkets alongside other ornaments and decorative items.
The Phoenix Project, beneficiary of the Healing Harvest fair, occupied a tent as well, open to any and all donations such as food and clothes for the homeless. Some of the small business owners even opted to split or share some of their profits with The Phoenix Project.
Cassie Robertson and Kylie Skellington, the fair’s organizers, viewed this event as an opportunity for small Waco businesses to grow their brand and build community.
“This is the whole theme of why we do this, to create opportunities for everyone who’s just getting started, people who are supporting the community,” Robertson said. “It’s just something that’s important to us.”
Robertson added that many of the businesses present at the Healing Harvest faced prejudice and discrimination from other markets. Instead, this fair encapsulated the inclusive, community-based environment she tries to maintain.
“A lot of these vendors have that same kind of experience because of the stuff they’re offering,” Robertson said. “What we want is for everyone to come and see that we can have a diverse and inclusive community without any judgment.”
Small business owner and vendor at the Healing Harvest, Claudia Salinas, appreciated the effort Robertson and Skellington have made and how it has helped her integrate herself into the community and grow her business.
“It’s nice to meet the community and their love for diversity,” she said. “I think it’s paramount to the balance of who we are and what we’re trying to accomplish in this world.”
Part of the efforts made for the community through the Healing Harvest come from its support for The Phoenix Project, which is run by Adeline Le.
Not only does The Phoenix Project actively serve Wacoans experiencing homelessness, it was built off of the community-based mindset seen at the Healing Harvest, she said.
“I grew up in a really community and family-centered culture, and we’ve always just shared the things we had,” Le said. “As I got older and became an adult, I realized that we can extend that mindset further than just my family.”
Le runs the organization through her home, storing donations in her garage. Her compassion for her community and future plans to create systemic change in relation to homelessness were noticed and praised by the organizers.
“I just think that’s so honorable and that they deserve support,” Robertson said. “They genuinely, authentically care about the unhoused community.”
Robertson stresses community because she views it as a backbone in supporting a mutual aid group like The Phoenix Foundation.
“They really rely on support from the community to be able to care for these people,” she said.
