WELCOME FROM HAYWOOD STREET:

UPDATES:
Wednesday at the Downtown Welcome Table was made incredibly
special by visiting partner restaurant, Strada Italiano. We’re all still
daydreaming about those cannolis!

 
Wayne and Eva are two amazing folks who have played valuable roles
not only at Haywood Street Respite, but in each other’s lives as well. This
week, they sat down with Amplified Media to create a StoryShare video,
answering the question “What does healing look like at Haywood Street
Respite?”. We can’t wait to share this video with you soon!

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
1. Click HERE for UPDATED Haywood Street Congregation parking options.

2. Haywood Street is now accepting applications for the 2018 Community Resident position. Click HERE to learn more.

3. Join other faith communities in the Blue Ridge District in celebrating and working towards equality. Click HERE for more information.
Make a gift to Haywood St.

A HAYWOOD STREET REFLECTION BY: JANET

My name is Janet Taylor, I am the founder and director of the I Am Home art project.  The mission of this art initiative is to provide a safe and nurturing environment where those who find themselves without homes can express themselves through art and in the process experience healing, dignity and hope.

There are days in one’s life that forever change their world, for me it was October 12, 1998.  As my daughters and I were walking in downtown Austin, I spotted a homeless man selling a crude ashtray he had made.  Compassion welled up in my children and they begged me to buy the ashtray, which I did.  As my children rejoiced in their new piece of pottery an idea began brewing in my heart; “the homeless could make and sell art.”

I was able to spend two years as an Americorps volunteer bringing this thought to fruition. In January 2017 I moved to Asheville to begin the I Am Home art project as a nonprofit.  What I have discovered about the creation of art with the homeless is that a new identity begins to evolve.  The idea that one is not identified by where they do or don’t live but by who they truly are inside, a creator, an artist.  Art also becomes a conduit for creating relationships with those outside the homeless community as respect and understanding are built around conversations with one another.

Haywood St. Congregation opened their arms to these aspirations by allowing the art project to begin meeting and creating art every Wednesday from 10-12.  I feel so fortunate to be able to be a part of what Haywood is doing in the Asheville community.  There are few places that offer such unconditional love and acceptance to those around them.

It is with much joy and hope that I look forward to the New Year as the I Am Home artists gather around the table at Haywood to create art and share our dreams.

We would love to have you follow our adventures on instagram @iamhomeartproject and Facebook at I Am Home art project.

For more information please contact Janet Taylor: iamhomeartproject@gmail.com

For more faces & stories from our Congregation, click here.