Alex’s Story: Creating Community and Connection Through Art

YOUR COURAGE IN ACTION – FROM COAST MENTAL HEALTH FOUNDATION

“It’s a place that creates community for people who might not have that sense of community in their life at the moment…spaces for people who are feeling disconnected from their community to come together and find community are integral. The HUB does that in such an effective way”

When generous people like you fund spaces like The HUB, real connection and healing become possible for hundreds of people. The HUB offers hot meals, clothing donations, hot showers and bathrooms. A Coast Mental Health outreach team helps connect folks to the help they need, like housing supports, healthcare, detox and recovery programs and income assistance. Crucially, The HUB also offers community. 

Meet Alex (they/them), an artist-in-residency for the City of Maple Ridge, who found a unique way to build community at Coast Mental Health’s The HUB. Alex’s multi-year art project, “Drawing Thanks” shares portraits of people, drawn while listening to music that inspires gratitude in that person – and many of those portraits were drawn at The HUB.

If you’re curious about what it feels like to make that musical connection, we encourage you to listen to Alex’s song choice while you read their story: it’s Everyday People by Sly and the Family Stone. 

Meeting People Where They’re At

When Alex first moved into their artist residency house in Maple Ridge, they realized that their garage port was a resource for many people. Unhoused folks used the space to charge their phones, and sometimes to use drugs in privacy.

“That’s where it became a bit of a concern for me,” says Alex. “Right off the bat it had me thinking: what does me being in this community mean? I’m not just coming in and bringing what I feel is the value of my project. I’m also disrupting an existing ecosystem of people and animals that have relied on this space, which I’m now caretaking for.”

It was really important to Alex to establish positive and safe relationships with the people using that space. So when folks came by, Alex would come down with a coffee, and just have a conversation and introduce themself. “I was just trying to show up how I could.”

A Catalyst for Change

“One day,” Alex continues, “I saw someone using in the parking space, and I went down with a coffee as usual. And I said, “Hey. Is everything okay? Do you need any help right now? How can I show up for you?” And this person turned around and blew a mouthful of smoke in my face. It really caught me off guard. I just immediately started sweating, and I got the shakes, and this person ran off right away. It was a really scary experience. I didn’t know how to handle it.

I called Poison Control, and I explained the situation. They determined that because of my reaction, it was likely a methamphetamine. Based on how I described it and my symptoms, they didn’t feel that there was a need to go to the hospital – just to make sure that I’m not on my own for the rest of the day.”

“That experience was a major catalyst for me in how I showed up moving forward,” says Alex. “Because I didn’t want to pull back my kindness and start showing up without coffee, or start asking people to leave.” Alex reached out to the Maple Ridge’s Community Safety Officer Program (CSO). The CSO helps if people are behaving in a way that makes other community members feel uncomfortable. They’ll speak with the person who is creating the discomfort, and they’ll try to help them find resources.

They told Alex all about Coast Mental Health’s The HUB, and took them there to make introductions. “That really excited me because I saw an opportunity for a kind of a community partnership that I hadn’t explored yet, to include a demographic that often goes overlooked in community storytelling. I started going in weekly on my own after my first visit.”

“As soon as you walk in, you’re welcomed right away”

“The HUB is right behind the big church in town, and as soon as you walk in, you’re welcomed right away. When you come in, you’re not just isolated to grabbing your coffee and sitting on your own. It’s very encouraged that you sit with other people. You get to know the folks around you. There’s heating towers in the winter, and there’s fans in the summer.

There’s a station in the back where you can get food and coffee. It’s a very encouraging and hopeful space that I really cherish. And so that’s where I decided to start setting up shop and doing portraits, just at the community tables, putting a little sign up and saying, ‘Hey. Come share your story over a cup of coffee, and I’d love to draw your portrait in the process.’”

The portraits become a powerful way to connect. “I did portraits of people’s kids for them. And in some circumstances, these were folks who haven’t seen their kids in years and just to have that representation of them…it really made me re-evaluate the power that a portrait can have.” says Alex.

“I became so much more grateful for the opportunity that I’ve been given in sharing that with folks.” That gratitude defines their project: “That’s why I call it “Drawing Thanks”, actually, because I’m drawing the thanks, but I’m also drawing the thanks from within myself.”

“It really did scare the crap out of me, but I’m so glad I did it.”

One day, when Alex walked into The HUB, they saw the person who had hurt them. “They saw me and just jumped up out of their seat right away, ready to run,” says Alex. “And I was like, “Wait. I feel like I frightened you the other day, and I just want you to understand where I was coming from. And I wanna know where you are coming from, so hopefully, we can meet in the middle.”

And this guy just welled up, and he came over, and he said “What I did was absolutely horrible, and I regretted it the instant I did it. But I was so scared that you were about to call the cops on me, and I didn’t have an opportunity to get out, and I panicked. And I did the worst thing I could have done in that situation, and I feel so much remorse for it.” 

And it was a really intense conversation because all the other folks who were sitting in The HUB kind of froze and were listening to this conversation. And people were getting mad saying, ‘“It doesn’t matter what situation you’re in! You don’t do that to another human!” and people started ganging up. And I felt really defensive of this person, because you could tell that they felt extreme discomfort. And so I asked them, “Can we just hug it out and get to know each other, and sit down and have a coffee?”‘

“And so that’s what we did. We shared a hug, and the energy in the room instantly shifted. And, yeah, we shared that coffee, and it was a really lovely moment. And I did their portrait. And it really did scare the crap out of me, but I’m so glad I did it.”

Creating Community

Your contributions go to tangible, reliable services at the HUB – and in that way, they also build a safe emotional space. “The HUB is really special to me, especially in the context that it’s a place that creates community for people who might not have that sense of community in their life at the moment.” says Alex. 

“There have been so many moments in my life where I could just as well be that person relying on the Hub for services like food security, a shower, just looking for human connection, needing a coffee or to hydrate.  Spaces for people who are feeling disconnected from their community to come together and find community are integral.

I feel like every city – every space that people gather – we need to be considering: how do we create community in the absence of community? And The HUB does that in such an effective way. I’m really grateful for all the opportunities I’ve had to connect with other humans there – I’m just one person in a sea of people who show up in this space.

The ripple effect of these positive moments of a person meeting another person, feeling less othered and less alone, that’s happening there every day a hundred times over. And I couldn’t even begin to capture that many stories, but I certainly bring as many of them to attention as I can because it’s just a really beautiful thing.

There’s a wonderful opportunity there to challenge the way we think about houselessness and moments of vulnerability and needing support. I just hope the stories that I share from The HUB will help people remember the humanity of those who are going through hardships.”

“This is your community too”

Alex has a vision for the HUB, and it includes folks reading this story. Alex wants you to know that you have something to offer this space, and that showing up to share that with clients at the HUB can be a wonderful way to connect. For Alex, that’s through art:

“It’s been really lovely seeing this representation of the community at the Hub slowly accumulate through these portraits, and I’m really excited. At some point during my artist residency, I want to create a mural for The HUB that they can put somewhere within the space. So that people can just see: this is what we all look like together, and we’re a community. There’s a lot of love and gratitude in this space.”

If you’d like to get in touch with Alex about their “Drawing Thanks” project, or if this story inspires you to find out more about how you can connect at The HUB, please reach out to Meghan at meghan.boswell@coastmentalhealth.com

Your donations make special spaces like The HUB possible. Thank you for making your community a better place for everyone. If you’d like to read more about The HUB, click here.