ALUMNAE PROFILE
Plant a seed
Harvest a dream In 2008, Jessie Jollymore (BScAHN ’99) walked by an abandoned plot of land in Halifax’s Uniacke Square and a seed was planted. Eight years later, Jollymore and others have harvested a dream for the youth and their families in their community. Today Hope Blooms directly engages upwards of 40 youth and their families. Youth learn how to grow food, produce and successfully market value-added products – including their nationally acclaimed salad dressing – grow a small social enterprise from the ground up, and give back to their community. They are reconnected with basics as they take the lead in planning the garden, growing the food, cooking meals for the community, building relationships with their peers and elders, and supplying their community with healthy food choices. “It’s about bringing food to life,” says Jollymore, who is executive director of the non-profit organization.
Jessie Jollymore (2nd left) and members of the Hope Blooms team.
For the community dietitian, Hope Blooms is both a personal and a professional passion. Jollymore’s love of nutrition and her belief in the importance of growing food in the inner city were the foundation on which hope bloomed. “I felt I was not doing my duty by telling people who couldn’t afford it what to buy,” says Jollymore. Empowering youth is at the core of Hope Blooms. “Together we are working to impact determinants of health with youth leading the way while instilling confidence and a belief that no matter how little finances you have, you can create change, build bright futures, and contribute to your community,” says Jollymore, whose personal code is “beauty and brilliance do not have a postal code.”
Participating youth also learn how to tempt taste buds. They manage and run a seasonal, organic and sustainable, farming-based, fresh herb salad dressing production and sales operation (under the helpful eyes of Hope Blooms staff). The healthy and delicious dressings, made with fresh, quality ingredients and no artificial preservatives, are a sell-out every Saturday at the Halifax Seaport Market.
Together we are working to impact determinants of health with youth leading the way while instilling confidence and a belief that no matter how little finances you have, you can create change, build bright futures, and contribute to your community. Jessie Jollymore
Two years ago Hope Blooms further enriched the community when a group of youth successfully pitched their idea to expand Hope Blooms’ salad dressing business to the CBC reality show Dragons’ Den. The youth had a business plan to pitch: they asked the TV team of venture capitalists for a $10,000 loan toward building a greenhouse. In return, they offered up five per cent in royalties until the loan was paid back. Four of the show’s five entrepreneurs were hooked – and gave Hope Blooms $40,000 free and clear. For Jollymore, Hope Blooms demonstrates her belief that “when you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” There are currently 12 youth leaders involved in the organization, most of whom started when they were only six or seven. This past summer five full-time jobs were created while other youth work for honoraria. The Mount alumna says her degree in human nutrition and the advice she got from colleagues and faculty played a key role in the sowing the seeds for Hope Blooms. Jollymore encourages others to find their own way to contribute to community. “Any act of giving back, no matter how small, is never wasted,” she says. “It always makes a difference.”
Fall 2016
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