Program News 2007
Mural Unveiling Event
On Friday afternoon, March 2nd, Good Shepherd staff and guests gathered to officially unveil a mural created by young people at the newly renovated offices of the Adolescent Unit of Good Shepherd's Foster Boarding Home Program (FBH) in the Bronx. The Adolescent Unit works specifically with youth in foster care, ages 13-21, helping them to achieve the life-skills necessary to be successful, self-sufficient adults. The FBH Adolescent Unit is a comprehensive program which equips foster care youth with the resources, skills, and support they need to successfully transition to adulthood. Eight youth from the program worked with an artist from Foster Pride - an organization that provides free art classes to foster care youth - to design and create a vibrant mural on the front wall of the Adolescent Unit office.
The event officially kicked-off with Assistant Executive Director Mary Ellen McLaughlin congratulating the young artists on their hard work and inviting Sharief Franklin, one of the artists, to talk about the mural. Sharief explained that the young artists wanted to create a mural that represented some of the experience of the adolescents in FBH as well as the agency itself, "incorporating as much as everyone wanted to put in." Under the artistic guidance of Maria Doubrovskaia, the eight teens ultimately chose to design a collage of landmarks in the Bronx, including its famous attractions as well as some local sights that make up the fabric of their day-to-day lives. Another artist present, Crystal Elias, was then presented with a plaque displaying the names of all of the artists, which she hung to commemorate their work.
Everyone enjoyed hearing the artists describe various aspects that they had painted, such as Yankee Stadium or the Bronx Zoo, and staff members swapped stories about having young people from the program come by to work on the project throughout the summer. The artists were proud to have created a space that would be enjoyed by future FBH participants in the years to come. As Program Director Denise Padilla watched the artists speak to a news reporter, she commented that the best part about the project was not simply the completion of the mural itself but also the sense of belonging it fostered in each of the participants the new relationships and bonds that developed as a result.
March 22, 2007
