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Word From The StreetPerforms at Open Arms
White Plains, NY – August 2007 She calls out to the man on the street 17 years ago, Phil Collins popularized the plight of individuals living in the streets. Today, for almost 750,000 homeless Americans, that plight is still a reality that’s a far cry from a “day in paradise”. Some of the luckier ones have found their way to one of the homeless shelters in White Plains operated by Grace Church Community Center (GCCC). Many of those have put their experiences and frustrations into the lyrics of songs and poetry and, on Sunday, August 13th, they will share their work with the public, and with each other, in a performance aptly entitled “Word From the Street”. The performance, which begins at 1:30 p.m., will be held at the agency’s Open Arms men’s shelter located at 86 E. Post Road in White Plains. The afternoon will showcase the talents of residents of Open Arms, a 38-bed shelter, and of Project Trust, a recently opened day services shelter for chronically homeless men and women. In addition to rap poetry and song, performances will include artistic expression through instrumental guitar, piano and dance. Artists from Manhattan who themselves were once homeless and who now devote their time to helping others get their lives back on track have been invited to share the limelight. Guest artists will include Derrick Cross, a bee bop poet who runs art and poetry workshops and who has several television appearances to his credit; Luis Bernard, a poet and writer who is a also a community activist; Chris Slaughter, a poet who has served time in prison and who now runs teen workshops to motivate at-risk youth to get a college education; and Christine Phyastarter, a poet who works as a community worker in the substance abuse field. John Rubin, Director of Shelter & Homeless Outreach Services for GCCC, says the purpose of “Word From the Street” is twofold. “We want to generate feelings of community in the shelters and to build self esteem. Just because these men and women are homeless doesn’t mean they don’t have talent. We want to encourage them to share more than just bread and space together…we want them to share their talents and to be proud of those talents.” “We also want to invite the public in so that they can see that the homeless are people too and that they don’t need to be afraid of them. Maybe if they hear about their experiences firsthand they can understand them better.” Open Arms has been providing shelter and services for homeless men for almost 17 years. Project Trust, which opened in November with funding from the federal government Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), provides a safe haven for homeless men and women not residing in the traditional DSS shelter system. Here they can get a clean change of clothing, nutritious meals, do their laundry, and receive counseling services from mental health professionals. In addition to Open Arms and Project Trust, GCCC operates several other programs to assist the homeless and needy in Westchester County. These include Samaritan House, a women’s shelter which is temporarily closed for renovations, a summer camp and after-school mentoring program for homeless children, a soup kitchen and housing services to prevent eviction and homelessness. GCCC is a non-profit, non-sectarian social services agency. Last year, GCCC assisted more than 3,000 of Westchester County’s neediest and most at-risk residents and served almost 100,000 free meals served through its various programs. For more information about “Word From the Street” or to make a donation to Open Arms or Project Trust, contact John Rubin at 948-5044 or Openarms86@optonline.net. |
