The Woman Who Made It: Andrea

From our lovely summer intern, Autumn, here's a spotlight on Andrea, a Magdalene resident and Thistle Farmer.

Andrea

Today is the last day of my internship, and I am choosing to spend some of my time with one of my favorite new friends, Andrea. Andrea is a resident in Magdalene and one of our Thistle Farmers, and recently just celebrated earning her GED. I love running into her on a work day, and today we sat down while she was labeling lip smoothies to talk a bit.

“My name is Andrea and I make soap and product labeling,” she says as she slaps another label precisely on a tiny tube of lip smoothie. “What do you say to those who have never heard about Thistle Farms and Magdalene?” I ask, and she responds with “I tell them that they should get to know us because we are friendly people from the street getting recovery. Magdalene provides us with all of our needs. I tell them that they can learn more about us and see where we come from. I also tell them to donate!” She says with a chuckle. “We just have so many people on the waiting list trying to get clean and some people just don’t understand. We represent the thistle -- it grows through concrete and nobody pays attention to it,” she says with a smile that lights up her face.

We talk about some of the Spiritual Principles written on the wall across from us, and she explains to me, “I love the one that says ‘Come Together.’ Everybody needs somebody in their life that can come to them and let them know that God didn’t bring you this far for him to leave you. You always have to rely on a friend to come together with you to teach you that you’re not alone.” I ask her a simpler question: what’s your favorite product? “The body balm because I have rough feet. I put it on after I shower and it stays good for a week until new skin grows. My favorite scent is Citrus Vanilla."

I close out the interview with my favorite question:  why do you believe people should purchase Thistle Farms products? “Because everything that is purchased goes toward another lady coming off the streets. The healing oils will get a new lady a new comforter set. A candle gets them hygiene products. Buy what you can to help our community grow!”


By Autumn, Thistle Farms Intern