{"id":6629,"date":"2021-04-09T09:52:13","date_gmt":"2021-04-09T13:52:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/?p=6629"},"modified":"2025-08-23T19:04:54","modified_gmt":"2025-08-23T23:04:54","slug":"covid-19s-silver-linings-feeding-dreams-and-feeding-your-soul","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/2021\/04\/09\/covid-19s-silver-linings-feeding-dreams-and-feeding-your-soul\/","title":{"rendered":"COVID-19\u2019s Silver Linings: Feeding Dreams and Feeding Your Soul"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Beth Walker of Bethel, Maine, is grateful for the way COVID restrictions paused her hectic life.\u00a0 With time to reflect on what was important to her, she focused on self-care and a dream she always had.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Before the first COVID case was reported in Maine, Beth\u2019s employment working\u00a0 at Dicocoa\u2019s Bakery & Caf\u00e9, as a Jackie of all Trades, ended. Because of the owner\u2019s health history, the caf\u00e9 closed early March 2020.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Beth applied for unemployment and found that she needed to tap into her background with the state legislature to move her claim forward.\u00a0 She messaged her rep for help to complete the process. With assistance from an aide, Beth navigated through the necessary steps to success.\u00a0 Her husband Frank, who is also a chef, wasn\u2019t quite as lucky, and the process took 1 \u00bd months.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Survival on the farm wasn\u2019t a problem for the Walkers.\u00a0 Beth and Frank had a supply of their own canned produce. When Dicocoa\u2019s closed, the owner sent her employees home with food.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Beth said that her stress initially came from not seeing people. That stress evaporated as Beth and Frank found that they were thriving with the changes. Beth said lockdown gave them time to think about who they wanted to give their energy to. \u201cYou realize who your real and true friends are.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Beth described their life before COVID, trapped in Bethel\u2019s culture. Evenings with friends were spent socializing in town, going to the pub and drinking a lot.\u00a0 COVID removed the Walkers from Bethel\u2019s alcohol-based food industry.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Beth said, \u201cWe were done with not feeling great.\u201d\u00a0 She wants to use her time to be with people who spark interest. \u201cWhen you find a group of people on the same path, that peer pressure is gone.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Dicocoa\u2019s was not able to offer her full-time again: Beth was unemployed form March through June. During the summer and fall, she worked at Pie Tree Orchard until it closed Nov. 4<\/span> as COVID spiked again.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0COVID restrictions were freeing for the Walkers. Beth has more energy and ambition.\u00a0 Being healthy is part of her sustainable living goal. \u201cMy goal is to have a farmstand business. COVID was a God-saver for me and a kick in the pants.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Beth had her moments of uncertainty and self-help talks. \u201cI think you have to be conscious of your positivity. I can fall down that rabbit hole of, \u2018Can I do it? Do I want to?\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Beth and Frank are making a living, fulfilling a dream and thriving.\u00a0 The chefs are cooking and baking at home.\u00a0 Customers pick up on La Ferme\u2019s screened-in porch. Whoopie pies, cinnamon rolls and chocolate chip cookies are weekend staples.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

La Ferme offers homemade and farm fresh food on the porch. (Photo by Beth Wallker).<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The screens on the porch will be replaced with glass, and a commercial kitchen in the basement is in the planning stages. The Walkers will be raising chickens again. They built a heated addition to their barn, and their gardens are expanding.\u00a0 Beth is planning to grow greens, at the least, year-round.\u00a0 Cold storage and canning will extend the sustainability.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Beth grew up in a farming family in Jay, Maine.\u00a0 She said she knew that returning to sustainable living was always her goal.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Beth has a vision of what her farm will look like. She sees a wood-fired oven and picnic tables. Music is playing and the atmosphere attracts people who want something different from the town culture that she and Frank left behind.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Beth Walker and Vassie Fowler share similar stories. Both have connections to York County Community College: Beth as a culinary student, and Vassie as Sodexo\u2019s food and catering manager in the caf\u00e9. The impact of the pandemic is that they are exactly where they want to be<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Before March 2020, Vassie knew that the caf\u00e9 would close. She said, \u201cI saw the writing on the wall.\u201d What Vassie didn\u2019t see was that a pandemic would be the reason she would find a job that she says feeds her soul.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Vassie knew that YCCC\u2019s incoming president planned deep budget cuts.\u00a0 The college had not adapted to the traffic patterns in the caf\u00e9, and the fee contract that the college had with Sodexo was costing the college money.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0During the first week of March, Vassie put in her order to prepare for the students\u2019 return from spring break.\u00a0 Like everyone, she was watching the news. When the college extended break, she wasn\u2019t surprised. On March 16, 2020, the new president arrived, but the students never did.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Vassie anticipated the day that the college caf\u00e9 would close, but she thought she\u2019d continue to work for Sodexo.\u00a0 COVID changed that. On the day that Vassie\u2019s husband had his last cancer treatment, she was laid off. \u201cI was so freaked out\u2026. I\u2019m a worker\u2026. I started to look for a job immediately.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Vassie applied for unemployment, something she had never done before. But she said that was part of her panic. \u201cFrom a political standpoint, I just kept thinking, How are we ever going to pay this back? What are our children going to be faced with?\u201d She qualified for the $600 supplement and the bonus checks. She paid down her bills and looked for a job every day.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0She searched within her profession, but she knew that the school\/college option was temporarily gone. Vassie explored hotel, restaurant and event venues.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0There were multiple job offers. One of them was as general manager for Ogunquit Beach Lobster House. Another was as catering manager for Curry College in Milton, Mass.\u00a0 Due to the challenges and\u00a0 restrictions of COVID, neither job became a reality.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In August, a friend posted a link to a position on Indeed.com. Curious, Vassie checked it out. When she told her friend that she didn\u2019t meet the educational qualifications, her friend said, \u201cSo what. Do it anyways.\u201d Vassie applied for outreach worker for special populations with York County Community Action.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0YCCA contacted Vassie and put her through a series of remote interviews. Vassie did have a couple of years of related experience in her own town, employed as a community builder with Biddeford Opportunity Alliance.\u00a0 The interviewers asked her what she had been doing the past four or five years.\u00a0 When Vassie responded that she was a food service and catering manager, they told her that it wasn\u2019t social work.\u00a0 Vassie said she told them, \u201cBut it is. I still took care of people, I still met people\u2019s needs. I still listened. I still went out of my way to connect them to resources. I did it all the time with students\u2026. Different job, different title. It\u2019s part of who I am.\u201d After careful vetting, YCCA offered the position to Vassie.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Vassie\u2019s new job is different from what it will be when the threat of COVID is gone.\u00a0 Now she meets with her clients remotely from her home.\u00a0 When the weather gets nicer, she will meet her clients outside. Her targeted populations are those affected by homelessness and substance abuse. Without COVID\u2019s restrictions, she would be working with people being released from jail.\u00a0 It\u2019s a disappointment for her not to be able to work with this population. For now, her added population is Nasson Healthcare referrals, and she enjoys being their liaison.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Vassie said, \u201cThis job is a blessing. It feeds my soul. It makes me who I am, better than I am. I love every minute of it even when it\u2019s sad and awful. It\u2019s hard. It\u2019s hard every day.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Vassie feels no loss associated with leaving Sodexo, except for missing the people she built relationships with. She still worries about the students at the college. For some, the meal she provided was the only one they had that day. Vassie knows for some of her YCCA clients, their only way out will be through YCCC\u2019s doors.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Her biggest loss is not seeing her parents and grandchildren regularly. She misses traveling.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Reflecting on people close to her who passed during COVID she said,\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s just too much\u2026. Losing people, plus losing touch with the people that are the most important to you\u2026 Losing routines\u2026. It was a really tough year.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0There are silver linings through it all.\u00a0 Besides a job Vassie loves, she says that her income, benefits and schedule are better. She is happy with where she is now. \u201cI\u2019m a firm believer in you are where you are supposed to be, meant for when you are there.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Vassie is where she\u2019s meant to be serving others, nourishing others and herself.\u00a0 Beth is, too, making her forever dream come true.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Beth Walker of Bethel, Maine, is grateful for the way COVID restrictions paused her hectic life.\u00a0 With time to reflect on what was important to her, she focused on self-care and a dream she always had.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Before the first COVID case was reported in Maine, Beth\u2019s employment working\u00a0 at Dicocoa\u2019s Bakery & Caf\u00e9, as a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":258,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7381],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archives","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6629","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/258"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6629"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6629\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8275,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6629\/revisions\/8275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}