CANNABIS CULTURE – “Everyone knew him as Big Tom. I grew up watching my Dad feed people.”
Homelessness in Phoenix has skyrocketed by nearly 40% since 2017.
As of January 2020, there were over 7400 people experiencing homelessness in the Valley. This statistic was very likely a significant undercount according to experts then.
It is certainly a massive undercount now as a result of the Covid 19 pandemic & a concomitant severe economic recession.
Metro Phoenix currently only has 1200 emergency shelter beds.
Tammy Broselow is the founder of a Phoenix based, cannabis fuelled community support and homelessness outreach non-profit project called Tom’s Palms, lovingly named after Broselow’s father.
Her Dad – “Big” Tom – was a truck driver for most of of his life.
He drove all over California. On the road, he met countless homeless people with signs pleading for help, letting their fellow humans know they were hungry.
Big Tom invited these people to sit down to a meal with him.
“He always had his New Testament with him. He believed we all should try to be more like Jesus Christ.” Broselow says she does her best to follow her father’s example.
At 14 she got her first summer job at a Winchell’s donut shop in Norwalk, CA. After every shift she would take the leftover donuts from the to any homeless people she could find.
She continues this work to this day.
Every week – she – along with a close community of friends, & an ever-growing community of supporters – gather car loads of donated clothing, food, & personal items to take to the growing homeless community, near downtown Phoenix.
The initial iteration of what would become Tom’s Palms began approximately 5 years ago between 3 friends here in the Valley. Broselow was beginning to recover her physical health and with it a significantly increased desire to care for others.
Community service hadn’t always been an option.
“I went through a period in my life when I was so tired of taking care of other people,” she says. For nearly 20 years prior, Broselow had been confined to a wheelchair. A series of 3 left ankle fractures within a 1-year period in the early 1990s cascaded into chronic progressive leg pain & swelling. “It is hard to explain the pain. It was like a hot coal inside of my foot 24/7.”
In 1995, she was finally diagnosed with RSD (reflex sympathetic dystrophy), a form of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, a pain disorder characterized by a dysregulation of one’s flight-or-fight nervous system typically following an injury (or surgery) and typically spreading to other areas of the body. There is no known cure.
“The treatments (were) horrendous,” Broselow says.
At its peak, her daily prescription pain medication list included Percocet 10s 6 x day, 350 mg of Soma 3 x day, & 3200 mg of Gabapentin.
Broselow underwent surgical implantation of 2 spinal cord stimulators with 2 subsequent revisions. Initially limited to her left leg, the surgeries aimed at treating the symptoms of her RSD triggered its spread throughout her body. “Before I knew it, it was everywhere.”
In 2013, Broselow’s spinal cord stimulator was finally removed, resulting in significant pain relief.
The pain was crippling – and, perhaps even worse – she knew she was becoming way too dependant on her pills.
She was also introduced to CBD. For her, CBD has proved itself essential in the relief of her pain. (Without the harmful side effects of all her prior pain medications.)
Over the course of months, Tammy was able to wean off her prescribed pain medications and transition out of her wheelchair entirely. She became increasingly active in the Valley’s cannabis community and knew it was time to share her father’s
Broselow — along with friends she met through the cannabis community — decided to help their neighbours experiencing homelessness.
They set up a folding table at a public park where many homeless people lived and handed out home cooked spaghetti, salad, cookies, water, and clothing. The day was a success – until the clean up. That’s when a Phoenix police officer arrived, threatened the group of good samaritans with fines and even arrest because they didn’t have the proper permit to feed the hungry in the park.
With the park now off limits, Broselow began the search for a new location to continue the work.
One of Broselow’s friends owned a medical marijuana delivery company nearby and offered the business’ parking lot as a permanent outreach location. The lot was shared with a church. Broselow says “the church wasn’t too thrilled with it at first, but when they saw what we were doing, they were okay with it.”
In the parking lot — between the the church and the Cannabis Delivery service — Tom’s Palms was born.
At first, Broselow and crew would gather the essentials and distribute them to constituents every 60 days. However, it was immediately evident that the demand required shorter intervals.
Now – Tammy & her friends go out 1 or 2 times per week – every week. And, the group now receives so many donations that local dispensary Nature’s Medicine reserves one of its own large storage pods exclusively to house Tom’s Palms donations.
This grass roots collective has grown immensely since that first day serving spaghetti off a folding table in the park. And still, Tom’s Palms maintains the personal touch — all items are handed out by Tammy & friends – providing familiar faces to people in otherwise inconsistent circumstances.
Unfortunately – the group has grown BECAUSE LOCAL AUTHORITIES DONE NOTHING TO SOLVE THE HOMELESS CRISIS. That’s right, the same civic authorities who threatened Broselow WITH fine and arrest for feeding people in the park have yet to do anything about the problem.
But the need goes on.
In response, individuals and agents from the private sector – many of them part of cannabis companies – have risen to the challenge.
Regular supporters of Toms Palms include Nirvana Center, Jefros Botanicals, Mary Jane SmokeWear, Dizpot, Cheba Hut, & Triple J’s BBQ.
Broselow says the more people she tlks about what she is doing, the more people want to help. “Most people want to help. They just don’t know how.”
Broselow says she will continue this work as long as the need is there.
“One day I would love to feed everyone.”
Original Article
