Left: Garden produce is first brought to the CMC teaching kitchen each Monday for THP residents. Right: Food that remains after the residents’ Monday night class is placed on the food pantry shelves in the CMC lobby.

The Gateways Garden, an outdoor space with raised garden beds developed with the help of many community partners and managed by the Catherine McAuley Center’s Transitional Housing Program (THP), now has fresh produce ready for harvest!

Many of the fruits and vegetables are used for the THP residents’ skill-building classes, where they learn how to can and how to cook healthy meals, but the garden yields more crops than can be used by THP participants alone. In the generous spirit of Catherine McAuley (foundress of the Sisters of Mercy), residents give the extra produce to CMC’s food pantry that many students in CMC’s Adult Basic Education Program access on a weekly basis.

Anne Dugger, Immigrant and Refugee Coordinator, explains that this fresh food is significant to students, “first and foremost for the health benefits. Right now produce is hard to come by if you don’t have a lot of money. It also feels good to know that the CMC community cares.”

CMC is blessed with an incredible and supportive community made up of volunteers, financial supporters, and corporate sponsors, but to see a spirit of giving among our clients is to see CMC’s vision of empowering individuals in action.

CMC also accepts fruits and vegetables from home gardens. If you or someone you know has extra produce, please consider donating it to the Catherine McAuley Center to provide a healthy meal for a student or resident.