Health: Project Home's Art Program Empowers Homeless People By Helping Them Overcome Obstacles
By Stephanie Stahl
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The healing power of art, Project Home has a special art program to help homeless people overcome many obstacles. It's helped people turn their lives around.
Instead of drugs, Emanuel Havens now finds comfort with art. After years of being addicted and homeless, Manny is now a regular at the project home art workshop.
"It helps alleviate a lot of stress and tension," Manny says.
The Project Home art program helps empower people who were homeless, providing them with healthy productive ways to express themselves and share ideas.
Rachel Ehrgood, the art program coordinator at Project Home says, "It helps people to be able to have self-esteem and have confidence in the accomplishments."
She says the therapeutic benefits of art therapy are well documented. For people who've emerged from homelessness, it's a way for them to feel productive and connected.
Rachel says, "It's a place where people can develop skills. So it's the socialization, the ability to explore and problem solve through the art medium."
Vince Sangmiestler struggles with severe depression that left him periodically homeless. He says his art, that will be on display at an upcoming show, depicts the chaos in his brain.
"It's literally a way of getting those emotions of your system, instead of pushing them down, letting it build up and build up, it allows you to express it in a very healthy way."
Some of the the art will be featured at the Project Home "Artists for All Seasons" art show opening Monday, April 13th at Drexel University at The URBN Center 3501 Market Street.