Free Food for Thought with Echo Louissaint

On this episode of the Public Hearing Podcast and Radio Show; our host, Joshua Croke, connects with Echo Louissaint - one of the cofounders of the Worcester Community Fridge Project - and talks about the power of community coming together, food access and the right to be fed, and getting involved in your local politics — yep, that’s right; vote folx!

Learn more about Worcester Community Fridges here.

Follow Echo and her work at AWordFromEcho.com.

Transcript for this episode

Joshua Croke (00:03):

Thanks for tuning into today's episode, where I talked to Echo Louissaint, who's involved with the Worcester Community Fridge Project, and also other work of hers in the community. I do want to give a quick content warning that there is a discussion about sexual violence and abuse in this episode.

Joshua Croke (00:22):

Worcester and the world, Josh here, your host of the Public Hearing podcast and radio show that airs Wednesdays at 6:00 PM on WICN 90.5 FM Worcester's NPR affiliate station public hearing is also available wherever you listen to your podcasts. Our show is about exploring inclusive and equitable futures in our cities and communities through the lens of my home city of Worcester, Massachusetts, you are listening to the Public Hearing podcast. Today I'm excited to talk to Echo Louissaint. Echo and I were recently introduced by Jen Gaskin, who we had on the show earlier this year and Echo I'm so happy to have you on the show and welcome.

Echo Louissaint (01:01):

Thank you. Thank you. And yes, Jen is fabulous. She's also someone who I've recently met in the community who is, you know, doing big things, making big splashes and so excited to have met her as well.

Joshua Croke (01:12):

Yeah. So thank you Jen, for the connection. And this is really what the show's about connecting community, connecting people to other folks, doing various things helping to really transform and continue to support the growth of the city in ways that are centered around inclusion, equity, sustainability, and the celebration of people and culture and experience, and really making that the focus of you know, bringing joy into our community in our spaces and seeing our cities thrive. So Echo, I always welcome guests at the top of the show to share a little bit about themselves, personal professional, whatever you might want to share, including parts of your social location and for listeners who are new to the show. When we talk about social location, we're talking about parts of our identity or experiences that have been deemed important in the society and in the context of the time we're living in.

Joshua Croke (02:05):

So things like gender, race and ethnicity parents' status. I share often with folks that, you know, I grew up in a conservative Baptist home I'm queer and non-binary which conflicted with some of my upbringing navigating some of the structures in my own life. I'm also an uncle and someone who's college educated moved across the country a few times and really just is passionate about connecting with local voices to lead the change in their communities. And that's the work that I do with my consulting company, Action! by Design, is help organizations, amplify community power through community centered and equity centered design practices. So that's a little bit about me, but listeners want to hear about you Echo so welcome and thanks again for being on the show.

Echo Louissaint (02:58):

Hi, my name is Echo. I am from A Word From Echo. That's one of my organizations, I'm also from Worcester Community Fridges. One of the things about me is I'm a twin. I was the second one born of twins. I was raised by a black single father. My mom is white and growing up in a very small white town, Maynard. It was a little bit interesting to find out where we belonged. We were a little bit of like the normal white sports, iconic people. We were really excellent at sports. We are in our sports hall of fame, thousand points for us in basketball, you know, and that became our identity because I didn't know what my identity was like. It wasn't white enough for the white people. I wasn't black enough for the black people, but I was a sports superstar.

Echo Louissaint (03:54):

So I put all my stuff into sports. I came to Worcester and I've been in Worcester ever since Clark University. I played basketball there and Worcester has become a huge part of my community. I played sports here, made a name for myself here, and then coached basketball here for quite a long period until the pandemic set in. And then that's when my passions had to turn to something different and community service. And that's when Worcester A Word From Echo was born and Worcester Community Fridges in the midst of a pandemic. So don't think that you're limited in the space of a pandemic. This was all started virtually, via internet, even making moves, compassionate, motivated people just linking up together in community started Mutual Aid. You know, so that's a little bit about me.

Joshua Croke (04:48):

Thank you so much and really excited to talk about a lot of the work that you're doing now in the community. And we'd love to hear more for our listeners. Tell us more about A Word From Echo.

Echo Louissaint (04:58):

So A Word From Echo is super powerful. It is a movement. It's about helping the homeless. It's about healing people. It's about women or men who have faced trauma. And I am telling people it's not about your looks, it's not about your body. It's about who you are. It's about the contents of your heart that we need to look past. Our outer beauty and focus on our inner beauty and know that no matter what we've been through no matter what's happened to us, no matter the mistakes that we've made or the traumas that have occurred in our lives, that we are more than that. And we need to start focusing on our internal beauty and heal and become really productive, amazing positive members of society.

Joshua Croke (05:49):

And, and that's such an important message. And a lot of the work that I do relative to education is talking about informed practices for education and learning, and really understanding and starting to not only observe and start to understand kids and their various experiences and the various traumas that they can bring into into the spaces that they occupy, but really centering on how do we create nurturing environments that allow for, and support and lead with trauma informed practices, social and emotional learning. So what are some of the ways that A Word From Echo you know, connects with folks and, and really centers that healing activity?

Echo Louissaint (06:33):

Well, the first thing I had to do was be vulnerable and brave enough to lead with my trauma, right? Cause I think the biggest thing is shame whether or not we want to admit it, there's shame involved with trauma, whether we were raped, whether we were abused, whether we were molested, whether you had a struggle with your sexuality growing up, whether you did terrible things, whether you were an alcoholic or drug addict or a prostitute, or, you know, whether you were in a gang or you sold drugs or you hurt people, there's shame involved with normal human error. We all make mistakes. We've all been through terrible things. And I had to acknowledge to, in order to heal that, yeah, I was molested by a family member. I was molested by a babysitter. I was raped in high school. And I was so traumatized and scared to admit that I was raped, that I never said anything.

Echo Louissaint (07:31):

So I hung around in the same circle of people like nothing was wrong. I got raped again by the same person, because it's scary to acknowledge and put the light on you when something terrible has happened to you, because society has taught us that through everything we've seen, whether it's rape, whether it's, you know, black man shot by white man, white man shot by black man. It's what was wrong with that person. We start digging up their history, we start digging up their past, their trauma, their mistakes to make it okay. That terrible things happened to them. And that's not okay. It's not okay. But it is time for us to say something horrible happened to me. I need to acknowledge it. I need to forgive myself, right? Because so often the, the Bible that the AA, every source tells us, we must forgive other people.

Echo Louissaint (08:26):

So we spend all of our time forgiving everyone else for what they did for us, so that we can get a sense of normalcy or healing. But we never forgive ourselves because what I found is when we go, Oh, I forgive you. We're blame shifting. We're going, I forgive you because it's really my fault because I deserved it because I'm not worthy because I wasn't qualified because I'm not good enough because I'm gay, because no one loves me because I got raped because I got molested, whatever it is, we put the blame on ourselves and say we deserve this terrible thing in the end because that's what the world has told us. And we don't deserve it, but we need to forgive ourselves for telling ourselves that it was okay, what happened to us? And then we need to move forward and surrender that pain.

Echo Louissaint (09:17):

And just know that we can be shame-free and set free. We no longer have to be bound by shame of what happened to us because bad things happen to good people and it's not your fault. And then we can have beauty for ashes. We can have just courage and strength and a good life. And we're no longer claiming victim status or trauma status. I'm a person that bad things happen to you, but that's not me. That's not who I am. Right. I'm amazing. I'm loving, I'm compassionate and caring. I'm encouraging. I'm motivating. Sure. I was molested and raped. I was in a marriage that didn't work out. You know, I was rejected. Who cares? I'm still worthy. Nothing that happened to me can disqualify my worth or my value or the limitations of who I'm going to be or how far I can go in life.

Echo Louissaint (10:16):

And I really need people to understand that because there's an alcoholic out there thinking that that's the end, there's a drug addict out there thinking that's the end. There's a person out there who doesn't know what they are sexually thinking. That's the end. There's so many people out here. There's prostitutes. There's people who've been molested and abused and sex trafficked. And they're thinking that that's who they are and it's the end, but it is not the end. I have been through it all. I always say this I've been through hell, right? I've come out on fire. And now I'm here. I'm coming back with buckets of water to pour all the rest of the people who think that they're stuck in hell, because you're not stuck there. So let's heal mentally and emotionally and know that our value is internal.

Echo Louissaint (11:05):

We were born and formed with innate value. We were formed. We were here with a purpose. And if we discover that purpose, you know, we could heal and I healed through God. But then after that, I needed something deeper and community service and volunteering and feeding the homeless and telling people that you are not your trauma. And then the Community Fridges feeding people who have been told that they don't qualify for normal human necessities. You're not qualified because you're an undocumented immigrant. You're not qualified because you don't have an ID. You're not qualified because you make too much money, but your kids are going hungry. We're qualified. And that's my message.

Joshua Croke (12:00):

And I want to talk about the Community Fridges, but also want to jump back to like the importance of words. And, you know, you're talking about A Word From Echo, the importance of words, the importance of recognizing that traumas are things that are part of people's experiences, but don't define them. And I think that's one of the things that I've found is so important when shifting stigma, shame and bias of people's experiences, and often, you know, even starting to shift language and the importance of that and saying, you know someone who's struggling with addiction is struggling with addiction. They are not necessarily, you know, what society labels as like, Oh, that person's a drug addict, that person's an alcoholic. Those people are experiencing and struggling with addiction that can be addressed. And it is not their whole story. It is not, you know, who they are, you know, women who are being exploited in systems of prostitution, that is something that's happening to them. And that needs support and love from community. And also really focusing on like these again, like what you're saying, traumas have happened to us and claiming that and coming to terms with that accepting and embracing that as part of your story, as difficult as it is, and being able to move from that as so powerful.

Echo Louissaint (13:27):

Yeah. Yeah, it is.

Joshua Croke (13:30):

And so you talked about community service and how that was part of your own kind of healing and coming forward and working with folks in the community and especially through the pandemic I think people were, I will say a broader amount of people who experienced higher levels of privilege were exposed to some of the things in our communities that are often intentionally unseen, poverty, homelessness, people struggling with substance abuse challenges, kids who are trying to get and receive their education, but don't have access to technology in the home, or don't have access to the internet. These are things that are not new, but so many people are starting to see in a much more glaring way because of the pandemic. And so in the challenge that we've faced over a year now in this pandemic, you identified opportunity to support and bring community together. So I want to talk about the Worcester Community Fridges. So tell us a little bit about how that started and how it's going.

Echo Louissaint (14:48):

So Maria Ravalli and I are the co-founders, she's the genius behind the fridges. I love you, baby mama. She was, you know, having a night with their friends and she was talking about food injustice, food insecurity. And she said, we're going to start a community fridge. And then she posted on Mutual Aid. And within a week, people started responding. Location popped up, which is Fantastic Pizza and said, I'll host it. XL Studios popped up and said, I'll, I'll build it. You know? And then we had a fridge. It's like, if you build it, they will come. Right. Then we had a fridge. I linked up with Maria probably a day after the fridge opening. And I said, I love what you're doing. It is what I'm doing through A Word From Echo. You know, I'm feeding the homeless.

Echo Louissaint (15:39):

I had a big project, you know, throughout the city that the community supported and we were able to do about 150 blessing bags that had about $20 worth of really necessary items and winter items and hats and scarves and gloves and water and hand warmers and snacks, and toothpaste and toothbrush and soap and, you know ponchos and a bunch of good protein snacks and things that people would need. And the community came together. When I put a call to action and we were able to do like, you know, 200 of these things I saw that Maria was doing. And I said, gosh, we would be a super power team if we got together and sure enough, we did. And it's such a beautiful mix. She's the brains and the logistics and the mutual aid, love and power. And I am the voice and the motivation.

Echo Louissaint (16:35):

And I've been in the community for, you know, for 20 years and, you know, volunteering and making these connections. So like the resource hub where I'm reaching out to people and places and people are going, Oh my gosh, and they're coming together. And now we have two fridges. You know, we have one on 910 Main Street. That's our first one. And now we have one on 44 Portland Street, which is a big deal because it's at the historic Printer Building, which says to us that there are people in this city who welcome us, who see the important work that we're doing and who want to be a part of it. And somebody said to us yesterday as I was loading the fridge, she said, you know, I want to let you know that what you're doing has changed the community.

Echo Louissaint (17:23):

She said before, there was a lot of hate here, a lot of black and white and police and, you know, and whatnot. And now the community is coming together in such a great way. I've never seen so much love and you guys are really bringing the community together. And it, I just had to shout right there because that's the purpose. We're trying to change the landscape of the city to where we go. Let's help one another. This is stone soup. I give a little and you give a little and you take a little, and I take a little, they can sustain us all and we can all have something amazing. And that's what those two community fridges are.

Joshua Croke (18:06):

And that piece right there, I feel like is one of the unfortunate challenges of trying to convince people that it works. You know, that if we all give a little, there is enough to allow for all of us to be rich, you know, enriched, have food, have shelter, have access to resources and opportunities and America and American society, I think is, as a broad description if I were to state it is individualist mindset. It doesn't mean

Echo Louissaint (18:43):

Resources. The most is the best. I have it. You don't, I'm better than you. I agree.

Joshua Croke (18:49):

And we need to change those measures of success to not be about pointing at what I have and what someone else doesn't have, but to say a measure of success is when we all have access. Right. And how do we solve that? And, you know, the planet is finite. Yes. But it's also a very large resource, right? And we know from stories like the Community Fridges and Mutual Aid and these different programs and things that come together that are community-based are able to be successful. And so how do we change and shift mindset? So more people believe that these projects and these initiatives that are community-based work?

Echo Louissaint (19:40):

Well, one of the ways that we shift focus is by bringing more attention to the local things that are happening to these organizations that are making a difference and being part of the central Massachusetts conference for women and she's local, that's what they've come to Worcester to do, which is shine a spotlight on local women in the Worcester, you know, central Mass area who are making a difference who are local, who are doing fabulous things who may be overlooked because the Senator or the governor, or the big, you know, CEO, or, you know, that those things are going on. But there are people who are here making a difference in our local city. We've got the Jennifer Gaskins and the Linda Lloyd's and the and the Nellie Medina's. And, you know, we've got so many different people out here. Johanna Hampton, like there's a lot of people working in the city doing amazing things.

Echo Louissaint (20:41):

And they're getting overlooked, you know, and I want to bring light to that, and the more we talk about it, the more we have podcasts about it, and the more we have awareness about it, that's how we do it. And one of the big things I've been doing in Worcester Community Fridges is really promoting that organization comradery. There are several organizations that consistently help us and without them, we couldn't be successful, but we acknowledge where our help is coming from so that people know that it takes a community, right. It takes, you know, New Hope, The New Hope project with Bill Moore takes Angel's Answers, anchored by Linda Lloyd it takes the Belmont AME church. You know what I mean? It takes all these, you know, organizations along with the community because these organizations are the community, right?

Echo Louissaint (21:39):

They are the community. So when we stop looking at it as my organization in your organization and my grant money to help my organization, let's start looking at it as a whole, like, I want to get all these organization leaders together, you know, the ones out here making a difference and not going, you know, it's about me. And I want to do a, know your city night. Like, and what happened to me is I was getting all these calls from the school call after call, after call, after call. And I was like, okay. And it reminded me that we have the, know your school night, but why don't we have a, know your city night? Why don't we have a monthly night in Worcester where, where Worcester is lit up with the organizations and the Mutual Aids and the helps that are available.

Echo Louissaint (22:25):

And we're saying, this is Worcester, this is who we are. And here are the help available to you. Nobody knows about these things. So there are amazing resources being under utilized like Jessica Reyes Worcester Families, Feeding Families. Do you know that if you know, somebody who has COVID, who has a positive test, or is in a household quarantine, because someone has a positive test through Worcester Families, Feeding Families, you can sign up for a program and you will get fresh, hot restaurant meals delivered to your house daily during your period of quarantine for every member of your household. Why doesn't everybody in the city know about it? They don't have enough people to support the program, which is nuts. There's a, you know, there's another one where they'll bring you groceries if you have Corona, but these are free programs, free programs that nobody's talking about.

Echo Louissaint (23:24):

But if we had to know your city night, if we actually cared to talk about what one another is doing, instead of focusing on what I am doing, you know, we would know these phenomenal things are going on. We've got two community closets going on right now in the city, you know, but who knows about it? You know, not unless you're on the mutual aid website, but let's further it out. Aside from the Mutual Aid Facebook group, let's let our community members know that there are people and organizations in this community who care, who can help you. And let's spotlight those organizations and let's help one another, let's be an actual community that cares. Let's make Worcester a loving place,

Joshua Croke (24:08):

Right? And there are so many different types of modalities that people can find information on. And I think that's one of the challenging things as well is, you know, how do people get connected to what's going on in community? You know, oftentimes communities like peeling back different layers of the onion, depending on where in the community you are, how long you've been there. There's like these different things that factor into what, and when someone is exposed to things that are in the community that could support them, that they could lend support to. And I think a, know your city is such a great idea of how people might come together in celebration of each other. And I think that that doesn't happen frequently enough. And I think one of the disconnects, and when we're talking about city development and growth, you know, from a lot of my work, there's the conversations about foundations and grant money.

Joshua Croke (25:10):

You mentioned like, how do we better share these resources? And one thing that I talked to folks about is, you know, the nonprofit industrial complex, I'm all about systems and thinking about how do we reimagine those so that they actually work for all people in the ways that members of the community need. And we've created these systems where unfortunately, community based organizations often feel they need to stay private or to fight with someone else who's providing similar services because they have to get the grant because there's a finite amount of money out there. Right. And so how do we challenge that notion? Because again, this is about resources. It's about bringing people together. It's about spreading that wealth and sharing that across community. But if you talk to certain folks that, you know, represent a foundation, it's like, sure we'd love to give everybody money, but we can't. Right. So how do you, how do you challenge some of that mentality as well so that we can bring these people closer together?

Echo Louissaint (26:17):

So Worcester Community Fridges is 100% mutual aid based, meaning we're not a nonprofit and we don't get money, but you know what, the beauty of what has happened, the entire city has been lit up. Their hearts have been moved and they see the benefit in what we are doing and how it is affecting people. And nonprofits are coming out of their way to say, let us help you, let us bring you food, let us be a part of this. And I think if we all knew that what everyone else was doing was truly benefiting the community. It's easier to want to be a part of something that's helping the masses. And it's more difficult. Like you said, when it is labeled, this is just for XYZ community. And this is for XYZ community. And this is only for these type of people. But when we have more organizations that are for everybody, and they see the benefit for everybody, and you're actually trying to help everybody.

Echo Louissaint (27:25):

Then more people will want to help you. So I think we need to just look outside of just stop helping ourselves and look at how they're benefiting other people. Personally, we like to put money into almost all the organizations who are working with us. It's a give and a take, right? They support us. We support them. They bring us food. We talk about them. So the people who we're working with know that there are other great organizations out there doing the same thing. It's not a competition, it's a comradery. The competition is how many people can we help together? That's the competition you want to race let's race. Other than that, you're doing a disservice to yourself when it becomes a competition.

Joshua Croke (28:14):

Absolutely. And so one of the other things that is, I think really powerful about Community Fridges and the Mutual Aid concept is the lack of barriers to receiving resources. And, you know, I reflect on a conversation. I sit on the board of an organization called Living in Freedom Together. Also known as lift here in the community that is working to end the commercial, sexual exploitation of women and other folks in our community and their founder, Nikki Bell and I were having this conversation. And, you know, she was reflecting on some of her own experience and saying, you know, when I was struggling and I was on the streets and was experiencing homelessness and was looking to get connected to resources, there are some of these organizations that are supposed to be a resource and supposed to support people, but there were often expectations of what you were going to do or what you would agree to do in order to stay at a shelter.

Joshua Croke (29:15):

Like you have to be clean in order to stay at a shelter, or, you know, we'll get you connected to a bed so you can sleep tonight, but you have to shower first. And so it's putting up these barriers, which are not what people are necessarily asking for and not what they need in that moment. And so how do we continue to create systems where we remove barriers so that someone who is hungry and needs food, they have access to food. There isn't a list of expectations of what that person has to do to earn that food. And, you know, we talked about this a little bit earlier. It's like food is a resource. It's a necessity for existence and survival, right? It's not something that should be politicized. It's not something that should have barriers. So how do we work to really remove barriers for people?

Echo Louissaint (30:06):

So, you know, that's why we have the Community Fridges because there is a system because food is political and we saw a need that there were tons of undocumented immigrants, people without us citizensship status, people who don't have IDs for whatever criminal reason or drinking reason or whatever reason it is, lost it, who can't get food because they don't have an ID. And we wanted to stand in the gap, but it's not only about mutual aid too. We're also rescuing food. That's a big part of our mission. We are going to grocery stores and farms and restaurants where people are otherwise throwing out great food that is lasting, that is sustainable. That is edible because federal regulations tell them they have to, but it's going in the trash. So we'll go into those organizations and we're saying, let us take your food.

Echo Louissaint (31:03):

And we make it simple. You let us know where it is. We will arrange a pickup. We will have volunteers, we will come get it. So we've actually made some pretty key relationships with organizations or corporations who don't care that we're mutual aid base, that we don't have a tax ID. You know, they are throwing away their food and they don't want to see it thrown away. So these fridges are being sustained through community as well as restaurants and grocery stores and other organizations that don't want to see their food go to waste anymore either. And they don't care whether they're going to get a tax credit for it or not.

Joshua Croke (31:43):

And that is so incredibly huge. I met a woman who founded a company that's Atlanta based, but they've been expanding across the nation. Her name is Jasmine Crowe. A woman founded a technology company called Gooder Co, which built a technology platform and a tool to essentially connect with airports, grocery stores, places that generate a lot of food, but also get a lot of food surplus that they end up throwing out and conference centers as another example, and thinking about how do we you know, and Jasmine's kind of question is how do we use technology to help connect people to food resources that are just going to be thrown away? And to your point, it's food surplus. It's not food waste, so it hasn't gone bad yet. It's just the fact that regulations and various, you know, amount of time businesses and organizations can hold on to food, et cetera, leads to a lack of ability to really get that into the hands of community. So Gooder Co does something similar to this, you know, mutual aid conversation of how can we help administer and take the food, package it, and to deliver it to the communities in need around those buildings, those areas, the airports, and get food in the hands of people.

Echo Louissaint (33:04):

Yeah. Yeah. It's fabulous.

Joshua Croke (33:07):

And so that's another thing that I love to explore on this show is there are examples and companies and things, not just locally, but also nationwide and globally that have processes or technology or tools and things that help to amplify the work that folks are doing, because these things have been tried and tested. And in other places here locally that are homegrown. So what are ways that we can connect to broader networks of people doing community fridges and share best practices so that all of these efforts can continue to grow and expand and continue to thrive and be sustainable?

Echo Louissaint (33:51):

Well, through the Worcester Community Fridges, we've actually spoken to several groups within Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Connecticut. Who've reached out to us and said, how are you doing this? And we want to start it. So we're taking several calls where we're actually showing other people how to do this in their community. We actually have from our group, someone who's stepped up and is actually starting, has a location in Southbridge for a Southbridge Fridge. It's amazing to see that, like the woman said, we are really sparking community, compassion, kindness, togetherness, and it's catching on. And it’s a beautiful thing.

Joshua Croke (34:39):

How do you feel that this can last, continue, grow and sustain itself as an effort, but also not so much as an effort, but as that community “connectiveness”, you know, that connectivity between members of communities say, you know, I am going to continue to do this and support this. Even when the pandemic is over, like, how do we keep people motivated to support these, these initiatives into the future?

Echo Louissaint (35:08):

So this was never a pandemic based project. This was a necessity based project. I would've never even thought of it being a need for the times. It's a need for all times. Food should never be politicized, hungry people should not be going hungry when there is food. That is like you said, surplus being thrown away. Instead of given to people, food being fed to animals, instead of given to hungry people, it is a travesty. It is a tragedy. The Worcester Community Fridges will outlive the pandemic because it's time for society to step up and start looking more towards humanity.

Joshua Croke (35:55):

So if there are any restaurants or organizations or venues listening to us right now, how do people connect to Worcester Community Fridges so that they can give food?

Echo Louissaint (36:08):

So here's the beautiful part. We have their food donation guidelines are on the fridges. At 910 Main Street in Worcester and 44 Portland Street in Worcester. We also have a website www.Worcester communityfridges.com. You can find the food donation guidelines. You can donate there. You can also sign up to be a volunteer there. This is community-based. So it's all community members who are just in love with giving back. And I can't tell you personal stories, but I can tell you several men and women have said, man, this is getting me through my divorce. This is getting me through my dad's death. This is getting me through that addiction. This fridge is helping me. And I just look at them and I say, every time I fill that fridge, it fills a part of me too. And I know exactly what you're talking about.

Echo Louissaint (37:06):

And this is a way for people to feel a part of something bigger than them, and to really be affecting people. And don't we all want to feel good and don't we all want a way to do good. This is the easiest way to affect the largest amount of people. You can bring your children. You can bring your grandma, you can bring your dad, you can bring your sister. It's a family affair for me. I bring my son, my sister and my nephew met me there the other day. Let's teach our families and create a legacy of charity and philanthropy, and volunteering and community service. I've been doing community service since I was a child. My grandma, you know, took me to the long-term homes and I'd play my flute, my sister would play her, you know, trombone, right? We deliver Meals On Wheels, we'd go around and pick up trash. Like we've always done it. And it was a joy. So let's teach our children it's a joy to give and to be a part of something bigger than you.

Joshua Croke (38:10):

Absolutely. And you, you mentioned the location of the fridge at 44 Portland Street, which warms my heart personally. Cause I actually used to have my office in the Printer's Building for a few years. And I think the Printers Building, you know, Julian Wade, who is part of the family who owns that property from some of my few conversations with him really echoes the community-based approach to some of how Worcester can grow. I feel like, and I'm interested in your thoughts on this. I feel like there's some separation between what certain, I'll say a certain group of people feel about how Worcester should grow. And then there's what a lot more community and resident led voices are saying relative to development projects relative to

Echo Louissaint (39:06):

Let's call it what it is. It's gentrification. It's happening. It's absurd. And all you're going to do is raise the prices and bring in people who now have voices and opinions and who aren't going to be as quiet or as vocal because we're forced to live in situations. And it is what it is, but they're not going to want to live in these areas in Worcester because they're putting lipstick on a pig. They're making it pretty, but they're not focusing on the homelessness issue, the housing issue, the poverty issue, the trash issue, the drug issue. So like A Word From Echo, right? Let's focus on making Worcester beautiful internally before we focus on making Worcester beautiful physically.

Joshua Croke (39:59):

And I think so many folks would say Worcester is beautiful internally. And some of that is being washed over. I think by some of these specifically like gentrifying efforts, right? Like we're going to bring in new money. We're going to your point, we're going to build new buildings. We're going to replace old buildings. We're going to increase prices, but not look at how do we actively solve some of the challenges that the communities are facing. Instead, we're just going to try and actively displace. And no one behind a microphone would say that their intention is to displace people from their homes. But you don't have to say that if rent increases and like a lack of support for community members is not coming alongside all of this investment and money and growth and new buildings and very expensive sports arenas. And, you know, the different things that we're seeing is, you know, if I had a hundred million dollars to spend on something and I'm just drawing that number out of the air, right? How we spend that money shows the priorities that we have set for our community. And I don't think a lot of people who live here in the city when they see the funding decisions that are being made, feel that those dollars are going to benefit them.

Echo Louissaint (41:25):

Can I be really blatantly honest with you right now? Up until the pandemic up until a few months ago, I had no idea what the city was spending their money on. I'd never watched a city council meeting. I had never really been a knowledgeable voter. You know, I was voting for the party I was voting for. I'm just, I'm just being very blatantly honest. I think the information, putting it out there and getting people involved and having them understand the importance of it needs to be increased because we're telling people vote, vote, vote, what does that mean? Why, why let's educate them? Right. Let's really focus on, you know, like for me, my eyes are so opened and I'm going, Oh my gosh, like I'm listening to the city council meetings. I'm quickly learning who's for me who's not, for me. Who's voting for gentrification.

Echo Louissaint (42:17):

Who's not voting for gentrification. Who cares about what I feel and doesn't, but I I'm just being very honest and letting you know up until a few months ago, I was just as uneducated as probably 75% of Worcester. And that's what we really need to change. How can we reach people and let them know and understand? And I think it starts with a, know your city night where it's not, listen, once a month you're gonna know, and everyone's going to be talking about it. It's going to be on your social media. It's going to be on your radio station. It's going to be on your bulletin boards. People are going to be, you're going to see flyers everywhere. Every program's going to be, Hey, this is what, what, what do you need tonight? Because this is your night to know about it.You need something, well, here are the seven organizations that do what you need. Let's figure it out. And I think it starts with a, know your city night where people feel empowered and not out of place, because up until the pandemic, I felt out of place and unqualified to know to have a voice or to be involved. And that's the most honest thing I've ever admitted.

Joshua Croke (43:26):

And that is so by design too. Right. You know, like, and this goes back to how, and we talked about shame earlier. I think we've built these systems to shame people out of being involved, because it says like, well, you don't know better because you don't have a master's, you know, you don't have an MPA, you don't have this level of education that I have sitting here as an elected official, or as someone, you know representing the community. And I'm using air quotes for people who are listening to the show because folks have been historically and continued to be disenfranchised by systems of power. Right. You know, and the, you admitting that there was all this that you didn't know about the city, about the budget, about

Echo Louissaint (44:22):

I'm educated. I went to Clark. I have a good job. I'm in the community, but I still felt unempowered, unwelcomed. Like my voice wouldn't matter that I wasn't qualified. Who am I to make a difference until I started asking people to help me feed the homeless. And then we started a fridge and I realized anybody can make a difference, anybody. It doesn't matter. And we need to let people know that because like Worcester is the way it is because we refuse to be educated about how to change it.

Joshua Croke (44:56):

And for those listening, who feel in similar ways. And I felt so very similar to that just a couple of years ago as well, when I started really getting into more of this work is a reminder that the city Capitol C your counselors, your mayor, they are responsible to us, to the voters, right? And so if you have the ability to vote, register, and vote to the capacity you're able look up the candidates, understand what the priorities are, and who's going to actively advocate for you. And

Echo Louissaint (45:34):

When you listen to one city council meeting, it's very clear. You watch, you see you observe, you hear, and then, you know what you know, and you're informed

Joshua Croke (45:45):

That's right. That's right. And, you know, there are so many ways to Echo's point to engage with and learn whether it's from a conversation, you strike up with someone at a community fridge, whether it's a know your city night, which I really would love to support and participate in, because I think it's so valuable for people to come together and say, this is what we have access to. These are the resources that we have, and this is the community that we can build. Yes. So before we wrap up, we just have a couple minutes left. I want to jump back to the She's Local Conference that you brought up and ask you to share with our listeners a little bit more about She's Local.

Echo Louissaint (46:30):

So She's Local is part of the Massachusetts Conference for Women. It is one of the first local based women's conferences. And why is that important? Because if you've ever been a professional or part of a world where you have to, you know, be a part of conferences or a woman looking to support and find community and wanting to reach a conference, generally their national conferences, you got to pay like an astronomical amount of money for tickets. Then you got to drive into like the city you have to pay for parking. You have to take a day off of work. And at the end of the day, you've spent five, six, $700 probably for a hotel. Cause they're usually two nights. And at the end of the day, you're looking at like the CEO of Gillette or the president of, you know, Aunt Jemima or something.

Echo Louissaint (47:22):

And as a local woman, it's great and it's inspiring, but can you relate to that woman, right? Who just so way far up there. And we realized that there were never really local women on the stage. People we could relate to, women who were moms or wives or college students are out here, you know, in the organizations, in the city locally, making differences, doing, you know, really big things who are always overlooked. So that's how the Massachusetts conference for women was birthed right now, there are five active, local women's conferences that occur annually. There's Pioneer Valley,there's Metro West, there's Merrimack Valley, there's South Shore. And now the newly formed central Mass, which is Worcester based. And we're looking for local women who are in the community, who are making a difference, who, you know, who have, who have a message who have passion, who have something to say in the community.

Echo Louissaint (48:31):

And we are putting together an annual Worcester conference where you will get to hear from 30 women locally, who are just like you, right? Moms, sisters, wives, you know, whatever in the community, doing big things. And these are people you can connect with. These are groups that you can form with. The tickets are $52. That's a dollar a day to invest in yourself, to connect with women who are local to you, who are doing amazing things, where you can become a part of your community where you can understand what's going on. You can make friends, it's local, it's affordable. It's amazing. And you're hearing from women who you can actually connect with or join their organizations, or join their movements, or learn from them. And it's really creating community. It's a really fabulous opportunity. And I'm excited that I was newly added to the board of directors for the central Mass Conference for Women.

Echo Louissaint (49:37):

And I'm looking forward to see, you know, what we do. And please, if you're interested in being on the board, we're still looking for like any type of women out there, entrepreneurs, authors, writers, people in any sort of industry people who are in the hospitality industry, people who are in the arts and the entertainment, the music industry, whatever it is, if you are a boss, if you are local, if you have a voice, if you have something to say, if you value community we're looking for you either to be a part of the board, to sign up to be a potential speaker. We're entertaining 50 applications, we'll choose 30 speakers or just come and be a part of the conference and learn about what's going on around you and get involved and get some really great information from a lot of really phenomenal women who you can relate to.

Joshua Croke (50:33):

Great. Well, we'll definitely be sure to follow that and share information about the conference with our listeners. And I think you make a great point of, there is always something to be learned at, you know, conferences from voices that you might not have a direct connection to, but there's so much power in hearing from local folks who you might see at your coffee shop a week later, you know, orl you are able to connect with and build a relationship with. And that might turn into a partnership or a shared initiative. And that I think all politics and all power is local. It comes from the community it's resident led. It should be the community voice that drives decisions. And unfortunately we've built up systems and structures of power that really try and limit that. But I think, you know, with examples of the work that you've done with the Worcester Community Fridges talking about the Women's Conference, this is the work that really amplifies and elevates community-based power. And so I want to say, thank you so much Echo for, for being on the show. If folks want to connect with you or follow you on the social media platforms, how do they connect?

Echo Louissaint (51:53):

So I do have a private women's Facebook group. We do a lot of healing and growing and support it's community there. It's A Word From Echo. Follow me on Facebook for my positive messages and updates on what's going on in the community, on my Facebook page, A Word From Echo. I also have an Instagram, A Word From Echo. We have Worcester Community Fridges. We have a really phenomenal social media presence. So join our Facebook group. You'll get live up-to-date videos and pictures. It's fun. It's engaging, you'll know when to grab and when to donate. And we're also on Instagram at WOO fridge. And please, if you would like to donate and be a supporter you can donate to Worcester Community Fridges on cash app, Venmo and PayPal. It's at WOO fridge W O O fridge. And you can donate directly on our website, www.worcestercommunityfridges.com, where you can also sign up to be an active volunteer in the community. Great. Oh, and then She's Local, She's Local and Massachusetts Conference for Women. You're going to want to follow that. The CEO, Jen Maceda is amazing. We're not just coming here to do a conference. We're going to ask you, we're going to have open public forums for the women and find out what they want to hear about, and what's important to them. And then we will put on a conference customized to their

Echo Louissaint (53:26):

Leads. So check us out. She's Local, join the group, join the conference, a lot of amazing things happening in Worcester, everybody.

Joshua Croke (53:33):

Great. Well, thank you again, so much Echo for being on Public Hearing, and I'm glad that you and I are now connected in the community.

Echo Louissaint (53:41):

Yes. We're going to do great work together. I'm going to hold you to it

Joshua Croke (53:43):

All right. Likewise. Okay. Thank you. Thank you.

Echo Louissaint (53:49):

Thank you

Joshua Croke (53:49):

Thank you for listening to Public Hearing our podcast and radio show that airs Wednesdays at 6:00 PM on WICN 90.5 FM. Worcester's only NPR affiliate station. If you're not in the central Mass radio range, you can tune in live via their website at wicn.org. And remember, you can find us wherever you get your podcasts. Thank you to Echo Louissaint for coming on the show today. We really appreciate it. I'm your host, Joshua Croke. And this has been the Public Hearing podcast. Public Hearing is created and produced by Action! by Design. You can learn more about us and how we support organizations through equity centered design at actionbydesign.co that's dot CO not .com. Our audio producer is Giuliana D'Orazio. Thank you to Eric Gratton and Molly Gammon and Shawn Chung who also support the production of Public Hearing. And we would love to hear from you about what you thought about something that we talked today about on the show or what you'd like to hear on an upcoming episode or a voice of someone in the community that you think needs to be heard. You can get in touch with us on our website at publichearing.co and as always, thanks for listening.