On Saturday, February 22, 2025 in Rancho Cucamonga, foster care service provider A Greater Hope participated as a partner with the Central School District in their Essence Fest – Black Family Festival. The air buzzed with joy and unity as families gathered to celebrate Black history, culture, and resilience. At the heart of the celebration was an interactive art workshop A Greater Hope hosted entitled the Paper Hands Mandala. The mandala project, which came from A Window Between Worlds, invited participants to express their collective strength through creativity.

The workshop began with a reflection: “What does community mean to you? How do we, as individuals, come together to create something bigger than ourselves?” Inspired by these questions, participants then selected their “hands,” layering them in a circular formation—a mandala—representing unity, healing and transformation. Each handprint held a story: a child’s hope, a mother’s wisdom, an elder’s strength. Words of empowerment, symbols, and personal affirmations filled the mandala, turning it into a living testament to Black resilience, culture and love.

As the mandala took shape, so did the connection among participants. One family shared how the workshop was an uplifting reminder to her and her daughters, Malay and Imani. “They were a lovely family and just moved here from Arizona a few months ago. The mom was another one of the vendors promoting her small business and we really hit it off,” said D’ellen Hutchens, A Greater Hope AWBW Facilitator. The final mandala, a fusion of hands, remained on display throughout the event—a reminder of the beauty that emerges when a community comes together. The Hands Mandala workshop was more than an art activity, it was a celebration of identity – a visual echo of the strength and unity that Black History Month embodies.