Today we’d like to introduce you to Aisha Robinson.
Hi Aisha, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I had experienced the different levels of homelessness on and off for eight years. I lived in different hotel rooms, bounced around friends’ apartments, rode the Greyhound from city to city and slept in a car. During that time, my health hit an all-time low. I started having seizures, I was sensitive to light, my nails started falling off of the nail bed, and my mental health was at an all time low. After watching What the Health, I started catching an Uber with my kids to a local grocery store that had organic produce and tried to figure out how to make delicious vegan meals for my family with $300 worth of food stamps. I became housed in 2019 and I remembered all of the promises I made to myself about helping others when I finally got in a better position. I announced in a local vegan Facebook group that I wanted to have a potluck and distribute all of the food to our unhoused neighbors. I got hundreds of likes but no one actually wanted to volunteer to do the work. My mother agreed to help me prepare soup and cornbread to go distribute on Auburn Ave. I have really bad social anxiety and it’s a lot easier for me to have someone with me when I meet new people. We made 13 bowls of soup and big squares of cornbread, walked down the street and passed them out. I got in the car and cried afterwards because there were so many people we weren’t able to serve.
I decided I wanted to prepare food and give it away to as many people as I could. My mother and I would prepare food that we would either purchase, had been donated from local food rescue organizations, or donations from local farmers. After preparing the food in our kitchen at home, we would pack our 2002 Toyota Sienna up with whatever clothes we could thrift or had been donated alongside the food and drive around serving people until we ran out of food. Since December 2019, we have served over 7,987 vegan meals to anyone who is need.
Currently, we host a weekly pop up soup kitchen in Bankhead. We prepare and distribute food on site and then distribute the remainder of the food to various locations on the Westside of Atlanta.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Some of the struggles we face is funding. This year is the first time I’ve had volunteers. I have many roles to feel plus I am also a mother of three and a wife so I have quite the juggling act.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am the CEO, founder, social media manager, and head chef at Vegan Meals that Heal. I am most proud of being able to prepare meals for at least 50 people at once. What sets me apart from other organizations is that we specialize in providing healthy vegan food options and we prepare the food on the spot.
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
I don’t believe in luck. I believe that God brought me through the darkest moments of my life so that I can try to shed light on others just like me.
Contact Info:
- Email: arobinson@vmth.org
- Website: www.vmth.org
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/veganmealsthatheal
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/veganmealsthatheal
