ALLENTOWN, Pa. — The men begin each art class with a blank canvas. For a couple of hours each week, they are given a chance to paint something new.
It's a creative exercise that inspires them as they rebuild their lives at the Allentown Rescue Mission.
The art students are members of the Transformation Program, an eight-week residential plan aimed at assisting the men find jobs and permanent housing, while participating in counseling, life skills classes and religious study.
"Some people come here and they don't know each other. Some people don't like to talk. The class helps us to opens up, because we're all doing the same thing."Jose P., on art therapy classes at Allentown Rescue Mission
Graduates of the transformation program are able to continue in the art classes if they are part of the mission's Clean Team Workforce, where they earn a paycheck and re-enter the job market.
'We're all doing the same thing'
The art classes started in September 2021 as a way for the residents to connect during the pandemic.
For the two hours they paint, the group often listens to music while tossing around jokes. Laughter fills the room of the mission at 355 Hamilton St. in Allentown.
"It gives us time to do something different while we're here, when we could be in our rooms stuck. Everybody has a story to tell, so the classes help other people because you get to learn about other people's situations and maybe you can help that person," Jose P. said. (For privacy reasons, last names are omitted in this story).
"Some people come here and they don't know each other. Some people don't like to talk. The class helps us open up because we're all doing the same thing."
Art therapy occurs twice a month and is taught by Wendy Navarre, an administrative assistant at the rescue mission.
At each station, the men are provided with an easel, a blank canvas, brushes, a water cup, paper towels and a color wheel — one with several squirts of different paint colors.
They are given pre-printed pictures of silhouettes — skylines, deserts with cacti, beaches — suitable for artists at any level.
"Through the program, I found out that I was not perfect, but actually pretty good at art," Jose P. said. "And we learn about patience and how to become more focused on things. To not be afraid to try anything new. and move forward."
Helping with anxiety, spreading joy
In a 2021 study published by Frontiers in Psychology, art therapy has proved to have positive clinical results in the treatment of mental disorders and in reducing conflicts and distress.
"If you're going through anxiety and depression it helps to sit down and start painting. It's relaxing and fun," Javon P. said.
"Also, Wendy is really cool person. It's a time where we all open up and get to just enjoy ourselves."
Recently, the men competed in a Christmas in July holiday card contest.
Jose P.'s winter barn scene was declared the winner of among the five competing paintings created in Navarre's class.
It will be used as the mission's Christmas card this holiday season and mailed to donors and friends of the Allentown Rescue Mission, founded in 1900.
Spreading joy to others is a small part of what the men study at the faith-based, non-denominal shelter.
"Through examples from the Bible, through hearing each other stories we discuss examples of a person going through down the wrong path, hitting rock bottom. And nowadays with inflation and cost of living, some people end up homeless," Javon P. said.
"But there is hope in those stories from the Bible, there is a message [in what] God has done for us, and living [at the mission] we start to realize that."
