Why Places Like Convivium Matter
Monday, May 11, 2026
We celebrated Mother’s Day this past weekend and hosted more than 300 people for brunch on Sunday. It was a beautiful day filled with laughter, mimosas, French toast bread pudding, and extended families gathered around tables celebrating the women who have cared for them.
For me personally, Mother’s Day is always a little bittersweet. I don’t quite fit neatly into the traditional structure of the day. I am not a mother myself, and my own mother has passed away. But every year, somewhere in the middle of the busy brunch rush, I find myself reflecting on the many ways we “mother” each other in the world.
It occurs to me often that, through the work and opportunities we have created at Convivium, I have become a kind of mother to many people. Not in the traditional sense, but through nurturing ideas, mentoring staff members, creating spaces for people to belong, encouraging growth, and helping others discover purpose and confidence. I am very proud of that.
Convivium was founded on the belief that many of our world’s problems stem from a lack of connection — connection to ourselves, to our community, and to the environment around us. Everything we do is designed to foster that connection, or perhaps reconnection, and we use food as the vehicle to make it happen.
Convivium defies easy labels. Yes, we are an urban farm. We grow food and teach people how to garden. Yes, we operate a restaurant and catering business and teach people how to cook. Yes, we have a staff that keeps things running day to day. But we also have more than 300 volunteers who contribute over 5,000 hours of service each year.
What we are really creating is something deeper: A platform for people to connect with one another.
We create opportunities for people to work side by side in the garden. To sit across from someone new at a communal table. To feel useful. To feel seen. To feel like they belong somewhere.
That kind of connection matters now more than ever.
The U.S. Surgeon General recently declared loneliness and social isolation an epidemic, reporting that the health impacts of chronic loneliness are comparable to smoking 15 cigarettes a day. Despite being more digitally connected than at any other point in human history, many people feel profoundly alone. Our conversations increasingly happen through screens, algorithms, and curated online identities. Convenience has grown, but community has often diminished.
That is why places like Convivium matter.
Not because we simply serve brunch or teach gardening classes — although those things are wonderful — but because we are intentionally creating opportunities for human connection in a time when so many people are craving it.
But community spaces like this do not sustain themselves. They exist because people choose to invest in them.
Every garden bed planted, every volunteer opportunity created, every cooking class offered, every community meal shared, and every welcoming table we set is made possible by people who believe this kind of connection is important and worth preserving.
If Convivium has touched your life — whether through a meal, a class, a volunteer experience, a conversation, or simply the feeling that this is a place where you belong — I would invite you to consider becoming a recurring monthly donor.
Monthly giving provides steady, reliable support that allows us to continue creating spaces where people can gather, contribute, learn, and care for one another. Even small monthly gifts add up to meaningful impact over time.
In a culture increasingly built around convenience and isolation, supporting places of genuine human connection is one small but powerful act of care.
If you would like to help us continue this work, we invite you to join our community of monthly supporters. Together, we can continue building a place where people feel welcomed, needed, and connected.
Yours convivially,
