Lifting Up Mill Creek Farm & Morris Home

 

Like so many of you, we are horrified by police actions across our country this month and the continued injustice and violence we are seeing against black and brown Americans. Here in Philadelphia, we mourn the loss of Philadelphia's own Dominique "Rem'mie" Fells. We at Pig Iron stand in solidarity with Black artists and all BIPOC and we are committed to working to dismantle the racist systems that are so prevalent in America. 

 

We would like to lift up two organizations in Philadelphia that have inspired our staff, our faculty, and our artists: the Mill Creek Farm and Morris Home. 

 

We’re doing our first play on Zoom next week–our COVID crisis pivot–a remount of Toshiki Okada’s Zero Cost House. The piece digs into the discomforts of new awareness, with references to Thoreau’s Walden and radical architect Kyohei Sakaguchi’s Zero Yen House.  

 

The piece touches on themes of urban farming and the right to housing. With these touchstones in mind, all proceeds from our Zoom performances will be donated to these two remarkable organizations in our community.  

 

At 49th and Brown in West Philly, Mill Creek Farm is a working farm and teaching center led by people of color. They are dedicated to promoting a just and sustainable food system, and they conduct experiential education workshops for hundreds of kids while running a forward-looking urban farm that grows a variety of fruits, vegetables and herbs.

 

You can find out more about Mill Creek here and can donate directly to them here.  

 

Morris Home is the only residential recovery program in the country to offer comprehensive services specifically for transgender and gender non-conforming individuals. Morris Home has been a steady home for BIPOC trans- and GNC people here in Philly. Morris Home is preparing to add beds in response to a growing need in Philadelphia, and funds are being raised in memory of Dominique “Rem’mie” Fells. Dominique is a former student of Jonathan VanDyke, who teaches at the Pig Iron School. Together with Jonathan and the Morris Home community, we mourn Dominique and decry her murder.

 

You can find out more about Morris Home here and can donate directly to them here.

 

Thanks for taking the time to learn more about these organizations. We wish you all well in these harrowing times. 

 

-Pig Iron