"...You cannot save all these starfish. There are so many you cannot possibly make a difference.” The child persisted, picked up another starfish, tossed in it into the ocean, and said, “I made a difference to that one.”
Five residents of The Haven gathered around a table one evening to do something they’d never done before. One by one, taking a small paper star or a circle attached to a copper wire, they glued tiny pieces of colorful magazine paper to it, meticulously selecting the colors and patterns to create something unique and beautiful.
As the group members focused intensely, they were quiet, letting the creative juices flow. They added colorful beads, Rub n’ Buff for sheen, Liquitex for shine, and an earring hook. And—voilà!—a stunning pair of papier mâché earrings. Within just a couple of hours, they had created twelve pairs of handsome, one-of-a-kind earrings, and they were eager to compare their works of art. Now the room was abuzz with chatter from women surprised at their newly discovered talent!
More importantly, for two brief hours, these women, all of whom have experienced homelessness, abuse, and exploitation, left their problems behind as they focused their minds on creativity.
“It’s healing and can often be more therapeutic than a support group where they just talk,” says Ruth Micklem, community response advocate at The Haven. “When trauma survivors can use fine motor skills and their hands creatively, it helps to create new pathways in the brain. There is just so much therapeutic value to creating, to using their hands, to making intrusive memories fade, at least for a while. While many want to drink and use drugs to forget painful memories, using your hands creates an alternative with positive, therapeutic value.”
The jewelry making at The Haven, the Northern Neck’s shelter for victims of physical and sexual abuse, grew out of Project Starfish, the brain child of artist and therapist Diana Jamison.
One Sunday morning, while attending the Unitarian Universalist Church in White Stone, Jamison noticed that her bulletin had a green dot on it. She was puzzled and learned at the end of the service that she and nine others were being given $100 with the challenge to make a difference in the life of another.
Jamison’s head began to spin. What could she do? “How could I make this money multiply?” Jamison asked herself. “How could I be creative? How could I use my talent to create a product, perform a service, and get others excited about helping to make a difference?”
And she thought about the starfish story:
A small child was on the beach one day after a big storm. As far as the eye could see, starfish lined the shore’s edge. From a distance, it looked as if the child were dancing. As a man walking down the beach approached the child, he saw that the child, in her dance, was throwing a starfish into the ocean. When he got close enough to speak, he asked the child, “What are you doing?” The child said, “I am saving the lives of all these starfish that if left upon the beach, will surely die.” The man, looking up and down the shore, shook his head and said, “You cannot save all these starfish. There are so many you cannot possibly make a difference.” The child persisted, picked up another starfish, tossed in it into the ocean, and said, “I made a difference to that one.”
Jamison asked herself what kind of difference she could make. “What person or organization do I want to support with my efforts and these funds,” Jamison asked. “As I began to ponder these questions, it seemed to me that the world would be a better place if there was less violence, less of people hurting people.”
Project Starfish emerged. She began making papier mâché earrings in her studio to raise funds for The Haven. She sold them to friends, friends of friends, and at farmers markets for $15 per pair.
One evening, she took Project Starfish to The Haven, near Warsaw, to make earrings with eighteen volunteers, staff, and residents, and three women from the Unitarian Universalist fellowship.
“It was the most amazing experience,” says Jamison. “For two hours, we talked, laughed, and had fun. It was a therapeutic experience for all of us. One woman said she could not do this and she discovered she could. She was so pleased.”
Soon, Jamison decided Project Starfish needed to be more structured. After raising $1,508 from sales of Project Starfish earrings, which Jamison contributed to The Haven for art supplies, she transitioned Project Starfish to The Haven in April.
Now, women at The Haven will have the opportunity engage in a craft that is therapeutic while learning a skill that can help them earn money when they leave the shelter. Many of the women in the shelter have few resources, have experienced intergenerational poverty, and have been the victims of a lifelong pattern of childhood neglect and physical and sexual abuse, according to Micklem. They often go to the shelter because they have no place else to turn to and no support system.
Suzanne Shepherd, Micklem’s daughter, will lead Project Starfish at The Haven. She will manage the program and train the volunteer staff and residents in making the jewelry. Hopefully, over time, the program will expand to other craft products that can be sold at The Shoppe for Haven Sake Thrift Store, 5726-VA 4, in Warsaw. All proceeds will benefit The Haven shelter.
The program will be “self-generating” in that the products made and sold will generate cash to purchase supplies to keep the program going.
“For people who think they can’t do anything, this gives them a way to produce some discretionary income,” says Micklem. “Hope grows in many directions. Here, we have the opportunity to use our hands to heal, and it also enables our clients to create an opportunity for economic stability. It shows them that they can create and accomplish something. For many, who have been so injured by exploitation and violence, this is quite significant.”
The Haven Shelter & Services: havenshelter.org
This article appeared in the Fall 2015 issue of The Local Scoop magazine, pg. 38-39.
