Tarajii Brown and her children know first-hand what it’s like to be hungry and homeless.
Eight years ago, after the breakdown of a relationship, with no family to support them, they were housed in a hostel and struggled to get by.
Now back on her feet, Tarajii is calling on the community to help her launch a food pantry in Hoxton through her not-for-profit organization: ‘It Takes a Village.’
It will run out of St John the Baptist School with a daytime session for families at the school and an evening session for the community. Visitors will be able to buy a big bag of food for just £5. Tarajii will purchase stock and the rest will be food reaching the end of its shelf life that’s donated by local businesses.
She said: “When my children were aged 10 and 15 months we went through a really tough time and experienced homelessness. We stayed with a friend for a bit until the Council found us a hostel – but it was basically a crack house. The next hostel was better but it was noisy and uncomfortable and the rooms were like a prison. I had a mental breakdown.
“Now we live in a Housing Association home in Hoxton and I work in hospitality. Life is so much better. Because of what we experienced, I have an overwhelming desire to help people who are going through hardship.
“It Takes a Village comes is rooted in African ancestry where nobody was alone – people would come together to solve problems. Nobody would go without food. I don’t want to live in a community where people are suffering. My idea was to bring a village together within the community.
“There’s less stigma around food pantries because you’re paying a small amount for your food, you’re taking food that might otherwise go to waste. We’ll be able to let people know about all the different services out there – when I was going through all of that, I never knew how many different things were available.”
Tarajii, who got the idea after volunteering at a food pantry in Islington, received National Lottery Funding to buy an outdoor storage unit for the pantry, which she has in the school playground. For the past eight months, she’s been collecting food from local supermarkets and bakeries and passing it on to the school for families there.
She’s been networking at community events to help form the connections to make the project a reality and is urging the public and the local business community to donate funds to help her buy stock.
To donate to the It Takes a Village food pantry, visit www.ittakesavillagecharity.com/donate-to-a-charity
