By Kellie Houx, Editor of KC Studio
Quilt
Blocks Part of Expressing Pain and Hope
At Rose Brooks Center, a domestic violence agency with goals to prevent violence through therapy, aid those affected and offer shelter, women and children can find a safe haven. In 32 years, thousands of women and children have found positive lives again. However, the process to do so involves various programming.
Art therapy plays a big role. There is the use of clay, paints, markers and sewing. Children and women sew. For kids, their designs become parts of pillows. Public Relations Director Sarah Henderson says the children’s work helps with nightmares. “Kids need to hold onto something. They create an alternative ending to the nightmare. Often it’s being a superhero or a safe place. Art therapists found this to be an effective way to calm them. It lessens that middle-of-the-night traumatic experiences.”
A few examples
of the quilts hang in the shelter, including the administrative offices and the
therapy lobby. “The women create the squares as an expression of hope and
healing. Their messages are then passed on to the next women. Even in the
outreach therapy area, women coming in can read the messages,” Henderson says.
“Some are actually used in the shelters. More than 300 squares have been
created. Probably more than a dozen quilts and at least 100 pillows have been
made. These are messages of hope. Art becomes a way to tell story that is
personal without saying words.”
Henderson says they depend on volunteers who are willing to put the squares into a quilt. She could use some quilters who might be able to help.
