HEARTFUL HEROES Seeds of Hope

Seeds of Hope

BY MICHELE VINER PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF SEEDS OF HOPE

CHESTNUT PARK’S

Heartful Heroes 1. The power of caring.

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Volunteers at 6. St. Joseph Street.

When Kimberly Curry first started coming to Toronto as a young child, she would often ask her parents why some people were lying in the streets, and why other people were walking around them? Years later, as an adult with a background in writing and design, Kimberly returned to the city to find her career and instead found even more homeless people, and a new direction. She began to volunteer for charities that provided food and care to those in need and found herself at an organization called Seeds of Hope. Twelve years later, she is still there, no longer as a volunteer, but as its Executive Director.

Started in 2009, Seeds of Hope is an organization that works to create spaces for food, warmth and comfort to people in need; people at a crossroads in their life. Through a variety of services and centres, Seeds of Hope offers transitional homes, safe places and creative spaces that enhance livelihood, learning, and social opportunities.

“We are a peer-to-peer organization that believes everyone can care and help,” says Kimberly. We are not social workers; we work with professionals in the areas where people require help but we exist to offer support alongside that help, and as conduits to this expertise.”

Seeds of Hope works with people in every capacity - from supplying food and shelter, to offering various programs in everything from art and wellness courses, to planting and tending gardens, to training for employment.

Tending to the Healing in Nature garden.

All programs are run by volunteers of the organization.

“Our volunteers are our lifeline,” says Kimberly, “our work goes far beyond one person. We would not exist without the help of incredible people who care deeply about others and who put that caring into action.”

Joanna Sable is one of those many volunteers. A Cordon Bleu chef who has trained and worked in some of the finest kitchens in the world, Joanna’s “kitchen” of choice these days is the back seat of her car as she works to deliver food to those in need.

Nowhere has the need been greater than in the area of food insecurity, particularly since the pandemic hit in 2020 and things turned dire for many families. Before that, Seeds of Hope would prepare 500 meals a week for people who were in need; since Covid, that number has risen to 5,000 meals a week.

“When Covid first hit, it was virtually the 9-1-1 of food,” says Joanna, “and many organizations were shutting down just as the need to feed people was becoming greater. The restaurant and food industry in Toronto is filled with incredibly generous people who suddenly found themselves with excess food in the early days of the pandemic and didn’t want it to go to waste. We worked together to find an organization that could put the food to use and we found Seeds of Hope.”

Joanna credits a group effort of many giving and incredible people who have ensured the effort of delivering food continues, something that makes Kimberly Curry feel very grateful.

“I have seen over the years that people do care about each other – it just takes a bigger percentage of people doing a little bit more. No one has to stop what they are doing and spend every day with the homeless, they just need to go that tiny bit further. You don’t have to be an expert to care or to encourage a fellow human being.”

Healthy ingredients make healthy meals for those in need.

YELLOW DOOR LEARNING CENTRE

Joseph House - art, music and wellness courses.

SAINT JOSEPH TABLE

The cafe at 6 St. Joseph House where all are welcome.

HEALING IN NATURE

A garden designed, built, planted, and harvested by Seeds of Hope volunteers and residents. Also, farm, hiking and camping excursions.

SOCIAL ENTERPRISE

Facilitating people training experience and jobs to aid with a self-sustainable, joyful life.

BROADVIEW HOMES

Abstinence-based supportive housing for people in early stages of recovery from addiction.

LAZARUS HOUSE

Transitional housing for women who become homeless lving with mental illness.