Art Therapy at PMSA Mental Health Club

We are so excited to continue offering our programming through mental health club at PMSA. This month, Dana of Paint on Purpose led art therapy for the students. This session, the students painted cacti to resemble growth and purpose. Cacti are able to grow in harsh conditions even without water. Dana created this piece to resemble the how we are always working to a goal and we can still achieve growth even during hard time.

Thank you Dana for extending your resources to the PMSA students and thank you to the students for your participation!

Community Talk: College Hacking

We were so excited to host our second community talk for the month of October. This month, Maya Hill, Executive Assistant at The Firehouse Dream facilities College Hacking. Maya has been able to attend college for low cost and wanted to teach her neighbors her tips and tricks. She talked about her story so far, what is college, and of course the tricks she used to go for low cost. We ended with a Q&A on the importance of educating students on their options besides college and decreasing the stigma against community college!

Thank you, Maya, for sharing your knowledge!

Art Therapy

This week, we hosted Art Therapy for our community! This session, we painted sunflowers, to resemble that we can still grow within hardships. Sunflowers take up lots of sunlight but they are still able to survive off little water. Additionally, they produce many seeds when they are fully grown. Dana thought that this was a good symbolization that although sometimes there is no water in our cup, we still have the opportunity to grow and present seeds for out future. As the session went forward, the community talked about their experiences living in Maywood, and what they did to be a good neighbor!

Thank you to those who joined us! Thanks again to Dana for leading another session!

Proviso East | Mental Health Kit Giveaway and Health Fair

Yesterday, the Firehouse Dream Team went to Proviso East to hand out 153 more kits to the high school students. Thanks to our team, we ran out once again at each lunch period, but thanks to our partnership with the Loyola Health clinic, we can now do weekly drop offs to the students who have not received one. In total, we have now given away 600 kits to our local high school students. Thank you so much to our supporters for believing in this mission!

While the team was in the lunch room passing out kits, Jasmine and Maya went around to a couple of class rooms to educate our students on how money can impact mental health! Jasmine shared her story on how money has impacted her personal life. She presented '“money truths” to help the students believe in themselves and that money is a tool.

The Firehouse Dream has been making an impact in our community! Thank you all for following along in our journey!

Our First Open House!

Photo Credit: Mya Rose

Last month TFD hosted our very first Open House Fundraiser! We wanted to give our donors a chance to view the space and meet the youth they have made such an impact on. Our group of 4 mentee alumni employees planned this entire event over the Summer with our Treasurer, Karina. They worked hard to plan the layout, decor, food, invites, and more, all while applying their creative skills learned at TFD!

The event went smoothly and it was a blast! From dinner and conversation, to mentees expressing how TFD has impacted them, and presenting the work they have created. New connections were made and old ones strengthened. Opportunities like this are something we strive to provide. After this incredible experience, we are so excited to be hosting our second Open House Fundraiser at the end of Sept. Want to join us? You can RSVP Here!

It is a pleasure getting to build impactful relationships with those who have helped TFD become what is it and we are grateful for each and every one of you who supports this DREAM!

If you would like to partner with TFD, you can do so by visiting the give page on our website.

Thank you!

Photo Credit: Mya Rose, Amie, Mariah