In the summer of 2012, the Wrangell Mountains Center with the help of the Rasmuson Foundation expanded its traditional writing workshop to include performance and visual arts. I worked with all of the students and teachers from the workshop to create the quilt McCarthy Day.
Yesterday, I met with staff from Urban Ministry Center (UMC) and Moore Place to discuss how my sewing skills might benefit the community they serve. To quote the UMC website “The Urban Ministry Center is an interfaith organization dedicated to bringing the community together to end homelessness, one life at a time”.
UMC believes that it you give a homeless person housing you can then tackle the problems–addiction, disability, mental and emotional issues–that create homelessness.
In 2012, UMC created Moore Place which is permanent supportive housing with wrap around services for the homeless of Charlotte. Research documenting their program clearly demonstrated that Moore Place is working.
Over the next two months, I am going to be building a relationship with the residents of Moore Place. We will start with me lugging a sewing machine over there. I’m hoping some of the residents will be interested in learning how to sew.
If everything comes together, the end result will be a quilt celebrating their community.
To give the staff of UMC and Moore Place a visual on what building a community quilt looks like, I created this gallery. The progress photos were all taken by Nathaniel Wilder. The quilt photos were taken by Chris Arend.
I am grateful and honored to be able to have the opportunity to help the residents of Moore Place document their experiences and their community in a quilt.
