Treasuring the moms of our Family Dining Room
Video by Bruce Cooper and Chris Peterson
Article by Troy Hill
Being a mom is one of the most important parts of Joy Dravecky’s life.
“For me, it’s probably been a picture the greatest love that you can feel. And obviously connecting to my faith, it gave me a glimpse of how God sees me,” she said. “It's really just an eye-opener and such a beautiful part of my story.”
Knowing that most other mothers feel the same way about their kids, and wanting to get involved in the community after moving to the area last year, Joy decided to do something special for Mother’s Day. After her husband met a leader at St. Vincent de Paul, they knew just where to give back.
“I'm just like, blown away that there's a place that is able to stand in the gap and provide help…” she said. For the Family Dining Room, she was, “amazed that the dinner happens Monday through Friday. I thought, ‘Oh, maybe this is once a month or because there's a holiday coming.’ I’m blown away with the capacity and also just the consistency of having it daily. It’s really cool.”
Joy and her husband, Jonathan, own and operate a successful jewelry business and had the idea of incorporating jewelry into their effort to give back.
“Jewelry can feel like a luxury, because when you’re in a difficult situation and have the choice of paying for a ‘need’ or a ‘want,’ you do the need,” she said. “I think this is a great opportunity to be able to have something that feels special.”
They settled on an activity that perfectly fit them and their expertise with the upcoming holiday: A jewelry making station located in the dining room's adjoining educational Dream Center, where kids could pick out chains and charms to make a necklace to give to their mom on Mother’s Day.
“I'm just hoping that the kids get a chance to make something that feels special to give mom,” she said. “I think this is a really cool way for a child to put thought into something that they think that their mom would want to have, and also for the mom to be able to have something special that you know connects them back to their child.”
The activity turned out to be a hit with the kids.
"It gives us a chance to express our creativity, and to give it to our mothers and whoever we love," said Ariel, a girl visiting the dining room that day.
Alyssa, another young dining room guest, plans on giving hers to her grandmother.
"She adopted me and raised me, and I appreciate that," she said.
The evening was made extra special by the addition of another group. Rise48 Equity brought a flower stand to the dining room on the same evening.
Rise48 owner, Grace Haptonstall helped the visiting moms make bouquets with whichever flowers they chose.
“We want to be able to help pay it forward, be able to bring light to them,” she said. "I know Mother's Day is a hard time for some people... so we just want to do whatever we can to spread a little joy."
