WHO WE ARE

The fair has since evolved to include performers, vendors, a raffle, and classes, as well as the original readers and healers. The funds generated from the fair have gone on to help people with a variety of needs.  According to the event’s Facebook page, “ We have helped pay car repair bills, funeral expenses, emergency dental and medical bills, utilities bills and rent…The annual Healing Hearts Psychic Fair provides a venue for us to offer outreach services to the Community, while enabling us to fund-raise for future needs of community members.”   As High Priestess Jessa Fasel notes, “We don’t make people prove they’re poor.”  The only requirement to apply for funds is a need. 

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Angela* was one such person with a need.  She recalls, “My husband had had a massive stroke and I was drowning with all the medical bills and utility bills coming in to the house…I had received a final disconnect notice on a utility bill. In a very difficult time in our life, I had called several churches and assistance programs. Chalice Hart is the only one that came through. It was good to know that someone out there was able to help pay it forward to somebody in their community, even to someone who was not pagan.”

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As Chalice Hart has gained experience with the fund, they have also gained knowledge of other local services, effectively enhancing their ability to provide information and referral services as well.  Fasel expressed hope that other Wiccan and Pagan groups would start community funds of their own.  

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“We’ve learned by doing,” she recalled, emphasizing that no one in the group had much experience with any of the skills usually required for such an undertaking.   

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Such efforts are reflective of community care, and as a result of the fund, Chalice Hart has enhanced its ability to generate a network of people who help one another when they need it, often without the fund itself.

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Fasel recalled one recipient who was having difficulty affording heat for their house.  The community was able to split and deliver enough firewood to keep her fireplace running throughout the winter - no HHPF funds required.

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Currently, the HHPF shows no signs of stopping. The financial need is still there, of course, but many have looked forward to the event as an annual tradition.  “The raffle is always the highlight for me,” says long-time attendee Gabriel Matson, who makes the journey from Portland, OR to attend the fair, “Seeing what's been put up each year is great fun, along with the drawings at the end of the event, filled with laughter and camaraderie." 

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And perhaps that is another need the Fair meets - community, connection, and laughter. 

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*All recipient names changed to protect their privacy