Beyond the Storm: The Artists
The stories of the artists featured in our event, Beyond the Storm: The Art of Healing, as told by FrontLine staff who have accompanied them throughout their journey, are powerful reflections of the challenges many clients face and their resilency. Our art programs give those we serve the opportunity to begin to express the trauma they have experienced and the buried emotions and feelings. Art workshops have helped many clients move their story outward, onto canvas, paper or a hunk of clay. The simple act of drawing, painting, and creating can help the artist begin to find the words assocated with that story. It is then that they are able to fully work on healing.For those who weren't able to attend our art event, or for those who want to hear the stories of our clients/artists again, we've compiled them here as a constant reminder of how impactful the work done at FrontLine is to those in crisis.Erin Jane TonyaSallyEric
Meet Erin(Melissa Longstreth, Associate Director of the Assertive Community Treatment) When I saw Erin for the first time in my office, I was struck by how small she seemed. I spoke to her, introducing myself, but she could barely make eye contact with me. She was so immobilized by her own grief, anxiety and fear that she could not speak. When the psychiatrist came into the room and sat down, she leaned across the table and asked Erin if she would like to color. Erin’s response was barely audible… ‘yes’. She hesitantly reached for the coloring pencils and then selected a coloring page from the stack on the table. She began to lightly sketch colors within the lines and I could see her start to relax. And then, she began to speak.Erin is a young woman in her early twenties. She has endured multiple psychiatric hospitalizations since her mother passed away last year. She is quiet, unassuming and so very vulnerable, struggling to live on her own following her mother’s death.FrontLine’s Assertive Outpatient Treatment team was created to work with individuals like Erin. Our team works collaboratively to deliver the majority of treatment, rehabilitation, and support services needed by each individual to live in the community without needing repeated hospitalizations. Erin has had some bumps in the road along her journey with us but with the support of the AOT team, Erin has begun to open up about her grief and mental health and has started the healing process.Erin attends the art workshops frequently. She quietly steps into the room and takes a seat. She listens to the conversations of others as she works, quietly enjoying the company of the other artists. She completes multiple art pieces during each workshop, each piece depicting strokes that are loose and free. She is relaxed. Other artists ask to see her artwork and she slides them across the table. She smiles and continues to work on the piece before her. Art, and ACT, are helping Erin find a safe and relaxing space during a very challenging time.
Meet Jane(Melissa Longstreth, Associate Director of the Assertive Community Treatment) Jane had been homeless for many years. She lived on the streets, and could often be seen huddled under blankets to keep herself warm. She believed that everyone was trying to hurt her and so avoided contact with anyone. She refused help for her severe mental illness and was hospitalized many times. Because her fear of being hurt was so deep, she would not follow up with referrals for care after she was discharged.Our Assisted Outpatient Team met Jane while she was in the hospital. This team is multi-disciplinary and works with individuals who are too ill to recognize their own need for treatment. It is court-ordered, committing local mental health systems to serve participants at the same time it commits those individuals to adhering to their treatment plans. The AOT staff visited Jane numerous times, encouraging her to make positive choices about treatment when she was discharged. She began to trust the team members, talking with them, sharing information about her past and where she would like to go when she was out of the hospital. And before she was discharged, she agreed to work with the team on the treatment plan they had created together. She was discharged and the team helped her move into a group home.Jane remains fully active in her treatment plan and is working to achieve the goals she has defined for herself. With the help of her team, she has learned the skills that she needs to live more independently and has moved from the group home into an apartment in the community. She takes the bus to the art workshops. She tells the other artists in the workshop about the fine arts school that she attended many years ago. And she tells her team that when she is creating art, she feels relaxed and focused. She is able to make artistic decisions quickly. She is able to trust herself. And as we present her artwork tonight, we are proud to share with you that Jane is now beginning to work on creative writing.
Meet Tonya(Christina Palangio, Associate Director of Housing) We first met Tonya when she was living in the emergency women’s shelter four years ago. She was disheveled and confused because of her untreated mental illness but was able to tell us that she had been living in the shelter for a year. Prior to living in the shelter she had spent five years moving from couch to couch with various family members spending a decade without a stable place to rest. She had experienced horrific trauma during the course of her life.FrontLine staff talked with her about moving from the shelter into her own apartment. Tonya was excited and agreed to visit a permanent supportive housing program. Soon after, she was able to move into her own one-bedroom apartment at that site, where she receives case management, psychiatric and physical healthcare. She is given all the support needed to help her increase and regain her independence. She is thriving in her new home, and enthusiastically participates in every activity offered by the program. And when the art workshops started several years ago, she was one of the first to participate.Tonya remains very active in these workshops, entering the room with a big smile and a warm welcome to all artists and staff. She is excited about learning each new art technique that is taught at the workshops, giggling and proudly showing others her work, asking for their opinion. She shares with us that art gives her a break from the negative thoughts that she so often has. She tells us about her children. She does not have custody of them but is able to visit them frequently. Her artwork is often about her children or her experience of being a mother.Tonya has made tremendous progress through her work with FrontLine and through the art workshops. She has worked diligently toward obtaining her GED and proudly reminds us that she will be receiving it later this year. She has obtained seasonal employment at a restaurant and looks forward to going back this summer. We are as thrilled as she is to have her work highlighted in the show tonight.
Meet Sally(Diana Warman, Forensic Program Coordinator) When someone has lived through the trauma of prison it is difficult to remain strong and hopeful, but when I met Sally for the first time I realized that it is possible. Sally experienced significant childhood trauma and learned to cope with that trauma through substance abuse. When she returned from prison she was sent to her family’s home, but due to addiction in the home she chose to live on the streets instead.Sally was hesitant to engage in services and did not have much hope that her life could change and she could be helped until she became engaged with our Women’s Forensic Team. Our team was able to engage with Sally while she was in jail to start developing the trusting relationship that was so important after experiencing loss and trauma throughout her life. The Women’s Forensic Program meets with women in jail who have mental illness and substance use who have often experienced trauma as children and as adults. Our team helps women through the challenges of the court process and ensures no lapse in services throughout the transition to the community.Sally initially began engaging and developing a relationship with our peer support specialist on our team. She felt like she could be more open and honest without being judged because of our peer specialist’s lived experience. From that experience Sally was willing to engage with her case management team and even begin counseling services. As she accepted help, she began to better understand her mental health symptoms and she learned tools that could help her control her emotions.When I invited Sally to participate in the art workshops, she came into them larger than life, singing and laughing while she works, and is so excited to be there. The art had a profound effect on her ability to cope and has significantly reduced her anxiety and depression. She says that they have also helped her reconnect with the outdoors and nature, which she says has inspired her since she was a little girl. Sally’s case manager told me about a really meaningful moment they had recently when they were outside her home and she spotted several deer in her yard. Sally sat quietly admiring the deer and shared how nature provided sense of peace and security for her. She now feels she is able to illustrate her love for animals and nature through her artwork.
Meet Eric(Samantha Hejduk, Case Manager) For Eric, three is the magic number. Whe I ask him what his plans are for the day, he will reply, "Library, Church, Zoo." Indeed, Eric compulsively communicates in "threes," often bewildering and confusing those around him.Eric is a 58 year old man who has endured the streets, numerous hospitalizations, abandonment, and destitution. Often wandering aimlessly in dirty, stained clothes, targeted by predators, misunderstood and judged because of his often bizarre behavior, Eric had run out of options. The uniqueness of Eric’s plight called out for a unique solution.Three is indeed the magic number. On May 28, 2015, Eric entered the Safe Haven Three Program, known as the "House of a Thousand Chances." Safe Haven is the safety net in the community for those who cannot fit in traditional service models. The Safe Haven team forges powerful and restorative relationships with clients, allowing them to heal, reflect and recover at their own pace in an environment free of judgment and unrealistic demands.Safe Haven transforms barriers and challenges into growth and opportunity. For Eric, creating art has accelerated and deepened his engagement and connection with his world which now better understands him and allows him to live a quality of life that had seemed all but lost. Homelessness, hunger, isolation, assaulted, shortened life span, imprisonment, shunned, unwashed, addiction, poverty, trauma, exploitation, loneliness, torment.Even one of these experiences would radically change any of us. Safe Haven clients have often experienced many, if not, all of these. Safe Haven transforms the ruthlessness of trauma into a community of healing. Often, the magic happens in mastery of even such simple connections such as a ride through the park or a smile in the morning. This unique residential community isn't bound by expectations and demands. Instead, residents' strengths are harvested and nurtured on their own terms.They are not asked, "What's wrong with you?" but rather "What happened?" Eric’s journey is just one of the hundreds that have been transformed by FrontLine Service.The staff never forgets that our strength comes from our clients allowing us to hitch a ride on their road to healing.