No. 2, Fall 1996. DrawBridge Reaches Homeless Children Picture a drawing, a child's drawing of a perfect house, boxed by a thick border. It is inaccessible to the child drawn just outside the house. Imagine a sketch of a house drawn completely intact- only with all contents systematically, and apparently unknowingly, shifted upside down. These images are the reflection and creation of homeless children.
Homelessness affects an increasing number of U.S. families each year.
Many individuals and organizations are involved in the effort to combat homelessness in the U.S., but much more needs to be done to increase funding and change government policies that limit access to affordable housing and other basic needs. While these efforts continue, one program in the San Francisco Bay Area of California concentrates on easing the hardships of homeless children, using art as a medium for self expression. DrawBridge, an arts program for homeless children, was founded 8 years ago in San Rafael, California by Gloria Simoneaux, the group's Executive Director. But the images they paint and draw are often of' spooky houses with no means of access, monsters eating children, blood, storms, and tornadoes. Through the paintings, a process of communication begins where before there was only suppressed hurt or anger When children are allowed to tell their story in their own time and in their own way, it affirms their value and their own creative process.