Help Interfaith Works Give to the Max!

If you've heard me talk about my work, you know that my favorite part of my job is meeting with clients to share their stories with our community. This summer I got to meet Robert, an artist and a former resident of our Carroll House Men’s Shelter who painted an amazing abstract mural in the shelter’s entrance hallway. Since my mom is a fine artist oil painter, I was really excited to meet Robert, and talk to him about this piece of art he has created for us. When I met him at the shelter, I was taken aback. He was well spoken, smart, and had an incredible creative drive to pursue his ultimate passion in life – art. I thought – wow, this could be my mom. This could be any of the artists she has painted with, and hung art in galleries with. This could be any of the gallery owners who are struggling to stay in business because with the economy so bad, art is selling poorly.

Robert has been an artist all his life painting and selling wonderful pieces of fine art. He also owned his own remodeling business for 30 years – he loved learning new things about design and construction and seeing his hard work and creativity translated in someone’s home. Then, as he put it, “The economy just murdered me.” He shook his head when he told me this, and I could see on his face that it had hurt him. All the years of hard work and passion he had put into running his own business and creating his art – gone. When he arrived at our men’s shelter, he had almost nothing. He showed me the one thing he had managed to keep when his life was turned upside down – a worn and tattered copy of a 1988 Museum and Arts: Washington magazine, in which he and his art were published.

At the men’s shelter, Robert was connected with a case manager, Lottena, who he described to me as his “guardian angel”. When he had recovered enough mentally to pursue work, he reached out to one of our vocational counselors, Carolyn. He worked with her to build his resume, take computer training courses, and prepare for interviews. Through hard work and perseverance he now has a full time job at home depot, and has moved on to temporary housing. On his one day off each week, he returns to our men’s shelter to work on his mural.

The mural is an intense interweave of vibrant colors, patterns, and forms. Robert described the weave as “symbolizing an intersection of clients and counselors in a helping and unique environment. 'Carroll House' is subtly spelled in colors, shapes, and forms, while the plaid woven background forms the fabric of both safety net and opportunity.”

As Robert talked about the interweaving design of the mural, he called it a “tartan”. I told him that this reminded me of the tartans of Scottish clans and that he has really created a tartan for the clan of his shelter family. He smiled as he contemplated the idea of his “Carroll House clan”. And in the two hours I spent talking with him, I saw how much this “clan” meant to him. As we spoke, men would come in the shelter to visit with case managers, and leave the shelter to go to work. Though Robert had moved out months ago, he knew every single one of them – and shook hands with each one. He told me, “painting this mural has been a real healing process. You can’t put a person in a hole and expect him to have faith. A lot of my fears and failures went away in doing this.”

Robert is a shining example of how Interfaith Works is transforming communities. Not only has his art brought the shelter residents together, but his hope is that the community will recognize Carroll House - and the other programs of Interfaith Works - as something special, a unique and vital part of the community that provides necessary services to people who have reached the lowest point in their lives. While Robert is one of the lucky ones who has succeeded in getting work and housing, there are thousands of others who still need help.

Please support Interfaith Works today for Give to the Max! Just $10 can make a huge difference for a neighbor who needs a hand up.