This is part 2 of the story of Art with Heart in Louisiana…

The day after the trainings wrapped up, our host escorted the Art with Heart crew to do work at the main shelter area – a fairground that had been converted to house thousands of evacuees.

As they were given a tour of the grounds, the gravity of the situation chilled our hearts. In the stadium, each bed was assigned a number, and there were thousands of them. Children ran everywhere, unaccompanied by parents. Overcrowded restrooms reeked of human waste and sweat. In every facet of daily life — food, clothing, medical assistance — over-worked volunteers tried to create order out of chaos.

The Red Cross gave the team a space to set up Art with Heart workshops. Jeanean set up an area with Chill & Spill books and markers. Steffanie set up a second area, with loose coloring pages from the Oodles of Doodles book and crayons. Vita went around the shelter, letting all the kids know that there would be art and free backpacks filled with goodies waiting for them.

Jeanean led the teens in several activities from Chill & Spill — the most memorable being the “And I Really, Really Feel” activity, where the kids would finish various prompts… “I wish… I need…”. Several of the teens answered in typical fashion — I wish I could have a Lamborgini! I wish I could go to the mall! But then a small voice from the corner of the table said, “I wish my entire family hadn’t died in the flood.” Because Jeanean’s specialty is working with traumatized teens, she was able to honor their deep emotions and guide the kids as they turned their sorrow into art, letting out the feelings they had been carrying with them for almost two months.

At Steffanie’s table, the crowd was diverse. On her right, sat a 16-year-old named Blake who wanted to be an architect when he grew up. On her left was a six-year-old who hadn’t seen her mother in two days. Across from her was a precocious eight-year-old who liked telling knock-knock jokes. At the end of the table sat a 45-year-old former convict. Because Steffanie is not an art therapist, her role was to just provide a safe place to color and connect.

As the people at the table began to color, the conversation grew deeper, and the artists young and old began to share their personal stories. The convict shared a part of the poem he just wrote about his Katrina experience, tears spilling down his cheeks as he spoke. Blake ran off to grab sketches that he kept under his cot to show Steffanie. With pride in his glistening eyes, he told her of his dream to live in a big city and design stately buildings.

As the children opened up one by one, Steffanie realized that in the shelter there had been very little attention paid to the children as individuals. Like the adults, they were referred to as numbers for efficiency’s sake. They were all starved for someone to listen to them, to share in their pain, to be witness to their stories. Through their art, they found common ground for communication, and a safe way to express the pain that was now a part of them.

Later, when comparing notes, Jeanean and Steffanie discovered that even though their approaches to art-making were extremely different, each brought about the same end – healing through connection; understanding through creation.

The time that the Art with Heart team spent in Louisiana was brief, but the impact of that experience — the deep compassion and commitment of the helpers, the resilience of the young survivors, and the generosity of our donors — lives on. It became the foundation for the training model for Chill & Spill and our Companion books, and it helped to solidify our current vision to promote creativity as an essential tool to help children navigate life’s challenges.

As one educator shared with us months after we left, “[Chill & Spill] has made a difference in the way the students perceive their plight and they are more understanding that they are not hopeless. It has given them a resolve to deal with the current situation and work towards improving their outlook on life. They are coping better.”

This is part 2 of the story of Art with Heart in Louisiana…

Steffanie and co-author Jeanean Jacobs, MA, ATR-BC, LPAT quickly realized that in order to train others how to use the new Chill & Spill book, they would need to re-visit the months of research and notes that outlined the book’s key therapeutic benefits. The pair worked around the clock for three weeks in order to create a specialized training presentation, which laid the groundwork for the Therapist’s Companion to Chill & Spill.

During that time, they also raised most of the funds needed to fly to Louisiana; covering the remainder out of their own pockets. They also collected donated backpacks, art supplies, snacks and tee shirts to create gift packs for 150 kids. Then, in mid-October, Steffanie and Jeanean, along with Art with Heart’s only staff member at the time, Vita, took off to central Louisiana to do what they could to help. Vita’s role was to document the trainings, as well as conduct interviews, and serve as general support during the art workshops with children in the shelter.

Because the hotels and motels were completely overflowing with displaced families, Judy offered her home for the trio, who stayed in sleeping bags, along with other volunteers who were also camped there.

Judy had arranged for educators and counselors from a nine-parish area to attend one of the two trainings that Jeanean led. Our purpose was to give the helpers the tools they needed to support traumatized children and teens. Jeanean taught them about creative expression – why it was so important to helping the children find the words to express what they had gone through. She talked to them about the therapeutic concepts behind each of the activities. She gave them art supplies so they could experience it first hand. As the adults participated, our secondary purpose became clear — we were also there to help the helpers deal with their own feelings of loss and grief. Their art became a communal conversation and a chance to examine, process and use art to support their own emotionally fragility as well. Each attendee got to leave with a stock of free Chill & Spill books to give to the kids they served.

On the morning of Monday, August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina touched down on southeast Louisiana, causing severe destruction, homelessness, and havoc along the entire Gulf Coast, leaving New Orleans with the most significant number of deaths. Approximately one million people fled the city, either moving north or to neighboring states.

After the hurricane hit, Judy G., who worked for the Arts Council in central Louisiana, sent a desperate email to everyone she knew in the arts. Judy was partnering with the Red Cross to train artists to help those living in shelters, but she needed supplies. Her small town now had over 13,000 homeless refugees and their school population had doubled overnight.

A mutual acquaintance had heard that our new book, Chill & Spill, had just come off the press and was created especially for teens facing trauma and distress. She connected Judy to Art with Heart founder, Steffanie Lorig, and they began an email conversation about how a small nonprofit in Seattle could help those who had been impacted by the hurricane.

Steffanie offered the first 1,500 copies of Chill & Spill to aid in the emotional recovery effort Judy had already begun. Through a local supporter, Art with Heart found a trucking company who would deliver them all for free. Judy thanked her profusely, but then said the words that ended up changing Steffanie’s life too:

“Thank you so much for the Chill & Spill books. But you know, we really need you to come down here to teach us how to use them. We are so overwhelmed and don’t know what to do.”

This year’s special guest speakers at the upcoming Color of Hope Benefit Breakfast for Art with Heart include:

15-year-old KENDRA who learned about Art with Heart when she first moved here from an African refugee camp. To help her cope with being placed in foster care, she embraced Chill & Spill – a perfect outlet for feelings of grief and loss.

ANNIE McCALL is the co-author of Ink About It, our newest therapeutic book. She will demonstrate the power of the book with high-risk youth and relate stories about kids who have experienced change.

BILL MARLER is an attorney who represents victims of food-borne illness outbreaks in the U.S. He is the hero in the new book Poisoned and has been one of our biggest supporters because he knows the importance of helping children heal emotionally as well as physically from traumatic events in their lives.

Your attendance and donation will help us further our impact on the countless children experiencing special needs and mental health disorders in Puget Sound, as well as around the world.

REGISTER TODAY to reserve your spot!

Wednesday, September 7th, 2011
7:00am Registration | 7:30-9:00am Program
Hyatt at Olive 8, 1635 8th Ave (8th & Olive), Seattle

A minimum (tax deductible) gift of $150 will be requested at the event.

If 7am is too early for you, you can still help!
Please donate today.