Christopher Broussard has seen his fair share of struggles. However, he does not want to see others go through the same things he did.

“I left town, lived in Colorado, lived in Washington, lived in New Mexico,” Broussard said. “I was homeless for a while and went through a lot of this and that.”

So to make sure no one else faced the same struggles, Broussard had an idea. A nonprofit that provides fresh, local produce to those in need. Thus, Joseph Gardens was born.

Named after his father, Joseph Gardens had been bouncing around in Broussard’s mind for a while.

A chance schedule change during his final semester at Mississippi University for Women really kicked it into gear though.

“My final semester of my undergraduate studies at MUW, I took a nonprofit management course to fulfill a credit,” Broussard said. “It kind of seemed like that was the universe telling me, ‘Hey, it’s time to get back on Joseph Gardens and make that dream a reality.’ I filed articles of incorporation because prior to that, it had always been just a Facebook page, there was never an actual legal entity.”

This pointed him in the right direction and he kicked the organization into overdrive.

While Broussard grows some produce himself, he does not plan to be the only gardener to provide to the organization.

“The thing is, when people hear about the organization, they assume that I intend to grow all of this fresh local produce myself,” Broussard said. “That is not the case. I live in a pretty small apartment. The mission of Joseph Gardens is to provide that fresh local produce. I intend, in the long run, for the majority of that produce to come from local farmers and gardeners that will donate from their crop and I distribute that to those needy individuals. Gardening on my own is also a part of that.”

Broussard has plants in growing bags in front of his apartment and he tenderly cares for them.

He has also cleared his backyard to accommodate more space.

However, the main thing he wants to do right now is spread the word about Joseph Gardens.

To this point, the organization has been limited to a small Facebook presence. Broussard, along with his fiance Mollie Broussard, are trying to grow the group’s footprint in the area.

“I have very few followers right now, so I am still trying to grow that following,” Broussard said. “I’ve had a few gardeners tell me they intend to donate when the crops come in.”

He added that he actually met Mollie through the organization. He, at one point, repaired children’s bikes and distributed them via the organization. Mollie and her brother donated some bikes and the relationship between her and Broussard began to blossom.

Now, Mollie takes care of managing the Facebook page, and she is happy to see him making his dream a reality.

“There are so many people out there who need help but don’t know how to ask for it and we wanted people to feel like they could approach, Chris especially, and feel comfortable saying, ‘I’m hungry, can you help me?’ It’s a real passion project of his and we are really excited about it. We are hoping we can touch a few lives,” Mollie said. “I’m incredibly proud of him. He’s been working on this for years and he’s just gotten to a point where he can put time and effort into it.”

Anyone who is in need of produce or is interested in donating, can make contact through the group’s Facebook page.

“Anyone who reaches out to me, if it’s available, I will meet them and provide them with what I have on hand at that time,” Broussard said.

“If nothing is available at that time, I will put them on a waiting list. It’s a first-come-first-served basis, so once you make it on the waiting list, you’re where you are on the waiting list. Hopefully, in the future, people won’t be waiting long.”