Working with objects and tools to create something is a critical thing for us. Creating allows us to keep our hands busy and our minds focused on the task at hand. Creating gives our brains a break from the other things in our lives that tend to dominate our thinking. It quiets the voices in our heads, however temporarily while we bead a bracelet, draw a picture, colour our drawings, sew, knit, paint or just plain doodle.

We strive to have a hands-on activity planned every night the Learning Centre is opened. The opportunity to make something pretty or useful is a major motive – it gets women in the room and generates excitement about being there for something fun. While we often have an activity planned with all the necessary supplies at hand, we also have drawing materials and other craft supplies on the table available for whatever activity may come to mind at the time.

Participation in the evening activities is not mandatory. Sometimes women come into the Learning Centre and watch other women do art while they eat their dinner. Observation is a great way that many learn and a way that many become familiar with a process and obtain ideas. The art activity draws women in the room and once there working on something fun, it’s easy to get involved in the other things being offered or talked about in the Learning Centre. Before long, women are working on a project and delaying their re-entry to the street because they want to finish the item.

Working with their hands on a creative project reminds women of what they were once able to do. We’ve heard many comments on how great it is to knit again, remembering the person who taught them the skill. It reminds women about other interests and a more “normal” lifestyle. Many women avoid holidays and other festivities such as birthdays because they don’t have any extra money to buy gifts or give cards. The art projects we create help to satisfy an important need in women – the need to give something beautiful and meaningful to a loved one.