We had two different corporate funders come for a socially distanced site visit at A Greater Hope’s Headquarters in Victorville, CA. That office, once a thriving hub of activity with foster youth, families, therapists, and social workers buzzing about from place to place, became silent during the pandemic. The funders walked through our still empty office and paused, predictably, in our Hall of Healing. Everyone does. But they were the first to have done so in a long time.
They marveled at the beautiful images adorning the walls. A self-portrait painting showing the profile of a young, proud Black woman, with a feather adorning her hair and the background painted bright magenta pink. Watercolor of a little girl with brown hair, red rays of anger emanating out from her head. Her monster inside, coming out. Photos of touchstones, shiny and clear containing words like “love,” “my life” and “strong.”
Ursula, one of the visitors, was in tears. She found the power of artwork, created with the AWBW curriculum, to be overwhelming. Another said, “Now l really see what you guys do.”
That is the power of AWBW’s art expression workshops. They communicate so much to the survivors and to outsiders, too. They convey hard truths in beautiful images. They encapsulate hope, healing, and pain transformation. For the foster kids and teens living in the remote, rural, vastly underserved communities of California’s North High Desert, they are a lifeline.
