So, in visiting Shirley, I realized that the walls are very blah....and I wanted to change that. SO! With the great help of the staff and of course all the kids, I began a service project at my school. I'm looking to call it CARE...Creating Art for Resident Enjoyment. I sent out an email asking teachers if they would have their students make colorful drawings that I could take with me when I visit. I sent out a reminder when i was going and wow!! I had an overwhelming response! They continue to come in and I have hardly made a dent in getting them up! But i read this article on vocalpoint.com called "Living Unlimited: An Rx for art" that talked about a similar idea for patients in a hospital. Only, it has the artwork climb up the walls and across the ceiling! So, I now have another idea....to put their artwork on the ceilings in the rooms too!! I'm so excited! The author said that "studies have shown that viewing art can acually promote healing by encouraging relaxation, decreasing pain perception, humanizing surroundings and even boosting immunity." How fitting for our program, eh?
**Vanessa, I met your friend and hung up some next to her bed. She was soo excited, asking me "how much will it cost me?" and then surprised when I said "absolutely free. it is a gift." Her response was the best. :)
In doing this, I met another lady, Patricia, and ended up talking to her for almost 40 minutes. She lives just down the hall from Shirley and we had a wonderful time talking! It led me to asking my friend, Mary Jo, to bring her dog, Buddy, over to let the residents pet! It's crazy how I walked away from one visit with so many great outcomes! And with all the "!" I am putting in here, you get the idea of how excited I am for this project. haha.
