Photo by Jesse Kincaid

Photo from the Bread&Roses Newsletter Archive

 

Mimi will be remembered, perhaps quietly — but deeply.

As a voice that didn’t seek the spotlight, yet changed the room when it sang. As someone who believed music was not decoration, but service. As a woman who understood that art and justice belong together.

She’ll be remembered for Bread and Roses — not just the organization, but the idea: that people deserve beauty alongside dignity. For bringing music into prisons, hospitals, places forgotten or avoided, and treating everyone there as fully human.

She’ll be remembered as a folk singer, yes — but also as a listener.
As someone whose songs carried grief, resilience, tenderness, and resolve without ever needing to shout.
And for those who knew her personally, she’ll be remembered in smaller ways: the way she spoke, the way she showed up, the way she made space. The kind of presence that lingers long after the sound fades. Not loudly remembered. But lovingly.
And for a very long time.

80th Heavenly Birthday

 

"Been Up So Long"

For Mimi Farina, By Hammond Guthrie

From Jack Magazine vol. 1, no. 4

As it has been,

Some petite flowers

Climb the hardest walls

Bread & Roses Supporter Appreciation Celebration - 50th year anniversary

The event took place on September 22, 2024, at the historic Log Cabin in San Anselmo.

In honor of othe 50th anniversary, the event celebrated all the volunteers, hosts, donors, staff, Board of Directors, Circle of Advisors and other dedicated communit members.

It was a sunny sunday afternoon filled with great music.

Bread&Roses 50th birthday ♥

Bread&Roses has a very special place in my heart. It may be geographically far away but for several reasons, it means more to me than any other organization I know. It was founded by the person I admire most, it is a non-profit organization, it is related to music and brings people together. And this year it celebrates 50 years of existence.


Fifty years! As my cousin would say "'s not every day!"


There is a very solid base of values ​​and a set of determining factors for a non-profit organization to be able to maintain itself for half a century doing what it does best with all the challenges it has encountered along the way. (If it survived the most isolated days of all times - Covid - it survives anything!)

 It was founded by the best and kindest person in the world, with the best intentions, thinking not only about the people who would benefit from it but also about the humanization of those who embody it. It was thinking about the dignity of people as artists and performers that Bread&Roses took its first steps.

The experience of bringing together people who have so much to give, with people who do not have access to culture either for health or social reasons, is the perfect combination for any community. Entertainment should be accessible to everyone, because we are all made up of body and soul and both need to be nurtured. Like bread for the mouth, roses for the soul. It seems pretty obvious and easy, but we all know that sometimes it isn't. It takes will, availability, commitment, but above all you need to believe the organization's values and mission.


Bread&Roses is a local, transparent organization, created for the benefit of the community. It's not about numbers, it's not about global recognition, it's not about money or big shows and events, it's about people at their everyday life and about the global goal of those who live on earth: to be happy and to feel a sense belonging.

Every show gives hope and joy to those who don't have it, in the form of music and smiles. In the form of time, art and dedication to others. Sometimes you just need to listen, and be heard. Because it is by serving others that we serve ourselves. It is by giving to others that we receive. And at the end of the day, and of life, it is these experiences, connections and exchanges that go with us. It's those hands on the shoulders in form of songs that says "i'm with you, i know  what you're going throught" or "i don't know what you're going throught, but i want you to get better and to heal", the stories, the smiles, the time, the hugs, how we made each others feel, that's what Bread&Roses is all about. 

The benefits are visible, the emotional connection by evoking memories - which is trully important specially for older audiences because it stimulates memory and brain areas that are not very stimulated on the daily basis. It provides entertainment and distraction - sometimes isolated folks just need to break the routine and monotony. It helps to create community building by sharing experiences and improving bonding among individuals, it reduces stress, opens horizons by cultural enrichment, audiences became more aware of creative expression and the performers and artists get some artistic fulfillment and validation and last but not least, it brings a sense of normalcy, offering a comforting presence amid unfamiliar surroundings.


I keep the Bread&Roses newsletters hoping that in twenty or thirty years I will be able to look back, read them again and be even more happy of what was built there in that corner of the street and of the world that sadly - at least until today, I haven't had a chance to visit but it feels like home away from home. I'm grateful to every single person who helped and made part of it: because we all know that our bodies will disappear one day, but our souls - despite there is no scientific evidence of it - I believe it remains in some way and...

I am left with the joy of believing that there is a soul who left in 2001 who remains very happy and proud of everything she witnessed from another plane over the last 25 years.

A very special thanks to Catarina Rolim from Golden Hands for doing this embroidery exactly as i wanted it with so much care and detail. For all the patience - I am sorry for being so picky!

Mimi's poem for a high school English assignemtn in 1960 (age 15)

Searching for the real good is like looking into a rose;

in each petal grows an idea from the stem that holds the answer.

A rose must be nourished for the beauty of its bloom, 

as a person must give kindness to experience "good": 

If a flower isn't cared for, like a person it will die with all potential goodness just wasted.

As a stern is to a flower, the heart is to a man, 

every beat a starting point of kindness to do with it what he can.

Source

I was very surprised and moved to tears when Mrs. Maureen shared this memory, i looked by my side at the flower bouquet i got for her birthday, right beside her photo and paintings and got really sad that for some reason nobody remembered her birthday that year. It broke my heart to believe that everybody forgot such a special day while she was still around. I tend to forget that her birthday is the same day he passed away, and i tought to myself maybe i should have a photo of him beside her as well. I think she would like it. She will always have flowers around here, specially on important days, like today.

"WILD IRISES

—for Mimi Fariña

April 30, 1945-July 20, 2001

Sweet Mimi. I once brought

her a childish bouquet of wild irises

plucked from beneath the cypress

in our lower garden, not knowing

it was her birthday—she was moved to tears,

saying she thought everyone had forgotten.

I was embarrassed, but also pleased

knowing that sense of diminishment

and loss when a birthday goes unnoted.

A small spur-of the-moment gesture

became something much larger.

Her eyes welled as she set those irises

by the photo of her long-dead husband.

Whenever I see wild irises I think of her.

I like to think she returns to us each spring,

a white dove circling the long-armed ridges

and slopes where Mt. Tamalpais sings."

From Mrs. Maureen Huler

🌼 78th Heavenly Birthday

 

 Today there's a Big Party in heaven. In my heart, every day is your day ♥ Happy birthday to the best role model any girl could ever dream of. Love you. 

I cannot avoid to feel sad for not having you here so i can serve you in your eldery the same way you served so many in your life, to retritube all the time, the care, the patience, the kindness, the atention, the affection, the music and the love, but i'll always remember, celebrate and honor you in every possible way i can.