A Seat at the Table

A Letter from CEO, Tasha Kennard

Some of the most meaningful moments at Thistle Farms don’t happen in a meeting or a milestone.

They happen around a table.

There is something sacred about gathering for a meal. It’s simple, familiar—and yet, for many of the women who walk through our doors, it is anything but ordinary. A shared meal can carry memories of instability, absence, or harm. It can represent a place where voices were not heard, or where there was never quite enough.

And so, when we gather at Thistle Farms, we are doing more than eating.

We are creating space.

We are setting a table where every person is seen, where every voice matters, and where there is always enough to go around—not just food, but dignity, laughter, and belonging.

Gratitude lives in those moments.

Not as something performative or polished, but as something real. It shows up in the quiet pause before a meal, in the passing of a plate, in the stories that unfold between bites. It shows up in the understanding that being together—safe, present, and known—is something worth giving thanks for.

For women who have experienced the worst of humanity, these moments are not small. They are foundational.

They are reminders that goodness still exists. That community can be trusted. That there is a place where they are not defined by what has happened to them, but welcomed for who they are.

At Thistle Farms, we believe deeply in the importance of creating not just programs, but places. Places where healing can happen. Places where people can gather without fear. Places where the act of sharing a meal becomes an act of restoration.

Because when we create that kind of space, we begin to restore something that has often been taken—the sense of belonging.

And belonging changes everything.

I am often reminded that we are called to love our neighbors—not in theory, but in action. To be a light in the darkness. To share what we have, whether it feels like a little or a lot.

Sometimes that looks like opening our doors. Sometimes it looks like sitting down beside someone and truly listening. And sometimes, it looks like setting an extra place at the table.

What I’ve learned is that it doesn’t take extravagance to create impact.

It takes intention.

It takes the willingness to say, “You are welcome here.”

Every meal we share at Thistle Farms is a reflection of that belief. It is a quiet but powerful declaration that no one is alone, that there is enough, and that love—when practiced in the everyday moments—has the power to heal.

So we will keep gathering.

We will keep making space.

We will keep sharing what we have.

And we will keep setting the table—again and again—until every woman who comes through our doors knows, without question, that she belongs.