Through the Storm
When the August 11 storms hit, the first wave of damage was immediate. Trees were down, power was out, businesses had to close, and everyone was just trying to figure out what came next. But as the outages stretched on, the impact kept growing. Families lost food, vendors and businesses lost product, and people were suddenly trying to replace groceries and supplies they hadn’t planned on losing. During all of this, what I loved seeing was how quickly people started helping, and how many people still are.
Nonprofits, businesses, city teams, restaurants, churches, volunteers, farmers, vendors, neighbors, and community members all started doing what they could with what they had. People shared food, information, generators, meals, cleanup help, charging stations, and resources. Some of it was organized, and some of it was people stepping in when they saw it was needed.
Through Farmed & Forged, food access is already a huge part of what we do, so when families started losing food because of the outages, expanding that support was the most logical place for us to start. Thanks to support from Healthcare Foundation of La Porte, Legacy Foundation, the City of Hammond, and our food access partners, we were able to increase our SNAP matches across all of our markets for a day so shoppers could stretch their benefits even further.
For families replacing food after days without power, that support helped provide some relief and a little bit of normalcy. For farmers and food vendors who also lost income, product, or stability because of the storm, it helped put some of that lost revenue back into their pockets. When SNAP dollars are spent at the market, they not only help the shopper, they go directly back into the hands of local farmers and food producers who are also part of the recovery.
Over just one weekend in La Porte County, families redeemed more than $8,000 in SNAP benefits through our expanded match, and every one of those dollars went directly to our vendors. That is the part I love most, families get more access to fresh food, vendors receive those dollars directly, and the community benefits from both. It really is a win-win for everyone!
Our vendors have been incredible through all of this. Many have dealt with their own storm damage, lost revenue, ruined product, market cancellations, power issues, and the stress so many of us were carrying, and some still are, yet they still kept asking how they could help. They donated food, showed up, stayed flexible when plans changed, and didn’t hate us when we had to cancel a market 😅. It kept reminding me that Farmed & Forged is more than “just a market”, it’s a community because of the people behind it....and there are a lot of people behind the work we do.
Most people see the obvious parts of the market when they come. They see the vendors, the music, the food, the activities, the shoppers, and the energy. What they don’t always see is the amount of work happening behind the scenes to make all of that possible, especially when we are trying to respond quickly to something urgent.
Of course, we have the amazing vendors and market staff you see on-site each week, but behind that are thousands of hours spent on program development, creating internal systems and SOPs, SNAP tracking and reporting, training, grant writing, partner coordination, signage, graphic and web design, copywriting, social media scheduling, vendor communication & management, creating market maps, permits, insurance, health department coordination, logistics, and about a hundred other moving pieces that all have to come together. None of that happens because one person has a good idea and magically pulls it off. It takes a team, a network, and partners who believe in the work enough to support it before a need becomes urgent.
This past week really reminded me how grateful I am for that network.
In Michigan City, a woman came to use our SNAP program for the first time and told us how much it meant to walk through the market and choose what she wanted. She was so appreciative of all of the food pantries helping right now, this just felt different because she had the dignity of choice while bringing home fresh, healthy food.
In La Porte, another shopper thanked us for having the program at all and shared how often their family uses it. Another mom who used the expanded match in both cities told me she had just received her benefits and spent them the day before the storm hit and she ended up losing everything. She was so appreciative to be able to come to the markets and restock what she had lost with fresh, local food.
Those moments are exactly why this work matters. Yes, it is about food access, but it is also about choice, dignity, and helping people feel like they have a little more support when things are already hard.
As I write this, we have not done our expanded match in Hammond yet, but we did have our Art Day Market last week, a grant-funded market activation through Legacy Foundation that brought together live music, local artists, free hands-on activities, a cooking demo, and produce vouchers for kids. One of the moments that stayed with me was hearing how much the day meant to a father and his young daughter.
He told one of our team members that the night before, his daughter had asked if they could please do something fun the next day. He told her yes, even though he did not know what they would do or how he would make it happen. He had not known about the market before coming across it that day, but as he walked through, he kept saying, “God is good.”
His family got to listen to Funky Mojo Daddy play live music, create with The Art Table and Safety Pin Studios, check out chalk art by local artists, try samples from the Whisk & The Flame cooking demo with Chef Blāque and Chef Darrick, complete a scavenger hunt to pick a prize, and use Chef Cash vouchers for fresh produce.
That one hit different because in the middle of everything people are going through, we were able to give that dad a way to say yes to his daughter. It may have been a farmers market, but it was also music, art, food, something fun to do together, a little bit of normalcy, and a chance to feel connected to the community around them. Seeing the impact of our work firsthand is exactly why I am so thankful for the people who support and understand what is behind this work, because those moments don’t just suddenly happen.
They happen because municipalities, foundations, sponsors, partners, collaborators, vendors, artists, chefs, musicians, and our team all play a part in making them possible. They happen because people write the grants, fund the ideas, design the vouchers, book the music, coordinate the activities, grow the food, show up to cook, lay out the market, answer the messages, and stay flexible when the plan changes. That network is what allows us to be one small part of a much bigger support system.
We don’t operate like a typical market, and we never have. We are always thinking about how to involve more people, create more access, support more local businesses, bring in nonprofits, highlight artists, provide families with local food, and build something where the benefit reaches in multiple directions. That takes more time, more planning, and a lot more energy, but it also creates something that feels different and meaningful.
It creates win-win situations when all of these things come together. It allows us to help families while supporting farmers. It allows us to host community events while paying local artists, chefs, musicians, and small businesses. It allows us to bring people into the market who may not have come otherwise, and to do it in a way that feels welcoming and genuine.
I am grateful for every single person who has stepped in, shared information, offered support, or simply kept going when things were heavy. I am especially grateful for my amazing team and the people behind the scenes doing the work most people will never see. So much of what makes our markets special starts long before anyone walks through them.
Behind every market, program, grant, and partnership are real people just trying to make life a little easier for someone else. This is the work I love and believe in, and I am so grateful to work alongside so many people who care deeply about this community.
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