I am a social worker by trade. This means I have made a career of showing up when things go wrong instead of right. And you know what I have found to be true in all those “wrong” scenarios?
It’s never the paperwork that brings people relief or the list of educational resources regarding system navigation. It’s never the method of diagnosis or the explanation of necessary treatment. All these things are important but they can not carry compassion.
Humans must do that.
Compassion is carried in our bodies when we choose to kneel so we are eye level with someone who can not stand. Compassion is given through our hands when we bring flowers into a beige recovery room. And compassion is spoken with our words when we have the courage to say, “I don’t know but I am here.”
My friends, it is in those places of compassion that we can dare to dream of a more right world together.
This is why I farm.
May you taste and see the abundant love of God in each and every one of our crops and may that taste give you the courage to believe in and work toward a more just and merciful world.
Vice President
Faith Carlson, MSW
Faith Carlson is a registered ASW with the Board of Behavioral Sciences. She has served seniors and the homeless population in San Luis Obispo County for eight years. She currently works as an ACSW Counselor at Pinnacle Treatment Centers. Faith provides management and community program development experience.
Faith has been involved at the farm since 2013.