Donna Nickerson admits that her pocket-sized farmers market on a quiet East Waco street looks like its name, Da’ Shack.
But a step inside or a walk around the building shows first appearances can be deceiving.
Planted in the property around what was once a small grocery store at 925 Houston St. are beds of lettuce, cabbage, celery and onions with herbs, vegetables and flowers in dozens of flowerpots and ad hoc containers.
They provide the raw material that’s sold in the main front room that’s the reason for Da’ Shack: small baskets of fresh greens and vegetables for a neighborhood with limited grocery options and potted plants for those who want to start something at home. This month, the food items became even more affordable for low-income customers as the market got certified to take payments through SNAP, or Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
But Da’ Shack isn’t just about feeding the body.
A back room furnished with a couch, table and two padded chairs allows Nickerson, a Dallas-Fort Worth psychotherapist, another option for residents’ well-being, namely family and individual behavioral therapy. A sheltered outside space adjoining the room will house her next project, a smoothie bar to entice the veggie-phobic into drinking their vegetables, and nearby are a handful of lawn chairs for those who simply want to come and chill.
Nickerson’s parents John and Melba Wesley, North Waco residents, have owned the property since the 1990s, but were never able to make a business venture fly. As their health declined and the 41-year-old Nickerson found herself driving to Waco on a regular basis to care for them, an idea sprouted in her mind.
Plants were already there, the result of Melba’s green thumb and Filipino upbringing. Nickerson figured she and her mother could share their gardening skills, and the fruits of those skills, with the neighborhood. Sister Cherise Wesley, a Dallas-area school teacher, supplied the name and Da’ Shack came into being last year.
The produce is priced low — signs inside advertise this week’s offerings of $2 baskets of yellow squash, zucchini, tomatoes and cabbage — as are the potted plants, herbs, compost and growing advice. The therapy sessions, offered on a sliding fee scale with plans by seven major insurance companies accepted, were added when Nickerson saw fresh produce wasn’t the only item the neighborhood lacked.
“I noticed that there were not any behavioral health services here in East Waco,” she said.
Da’ Shack, located just off Faulkner Lane, is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays through Wednesdays, with Nickerson and Melba handling much of the gardening and store operation as well as caring for 16-month-old Zake, Donna and Roderick Nickerson’s son. It’s been busiest in late spring and summer with as many as 30 customers a day, Nickerson said.
Da’ Shack does sell surplus produce from area growers — peaches and melons last summer — but only if Nickerson can check on the farmers’ operations to make sure they’re in line with her organic gardening.
Many of Da’ Shack’s customers have come from Woodway, Hewitt, and China Spring, and even Temple and Killeen. Nickerson hopes the SNAP certification will broaden the customer base to include more local residents.
“I hope we get more customers (with SNAP),” she said. “I want to destroy any barriers for any social classes here.”
Nickerson has worked with area churches, Caritas and Baylor’s Texas Hunger Initiative to spead the word about Da’ Shack and its services.
Downtown Waco Farmers Market manager Bethel Erickson-Bruce applauded Nickerson’s efforts with Da’ Shack, noting that it complements the Saturday market she herself runs in front of the county courthouse on Saturdays.
“I think it’s great,” she said. “It’s serving a much different neighborhood . . . and offers more things that we don’t have.”
— WACOTRIB