Update from the Director!

Dear Friends:

Happy almost end of summer! Bread of Life/Spirit in the Arts is back up and running full bore. We reopened this week having painted the hallway and the gallery space, cleaned the carpet and made some termite damage repairs. You are right if you are saying that does not sound like a restful time. For some of us it was not, but thanks to some awesome volunteers: Leanne, William, Cindy, Brittany and Mike it required far less staff time.

We have a wonderful array of arts opportunities beginning now. Please check out our calendar on the website to check for the latest. Some require a very quick registration so you might want to check it out right now. People who have taken the classes over the past year and others who have spent time in the art studio are describing healing of mind, body and spirit through their time with us. Tapping into that “power bigger that us” or the Mystery we call God” has oodles of benefits. Please help yourself to all we have to offer, we support your life!

See our flyer describing our Celebration Dinner on October 6, 2007. Please come and bring people you think would like to hear about Bread of Life/Spirit in the Arts. The evening is a Celebration—Bread of Life has been serving the community for 10 years—and there is much to Celebrate as we honor the past and look forward. Attendees will hear about the various programs we offer and their impact on people in the community. It will be a fun, informative and engaging evening. All information is on the flyer. If you have wanted to tell others about us or reconnect yourself, this would be a great way to do it.

Stories: You know how we love to tell you about the amazing people we meet—true treasures.

1. A sad note: During our vacation one of our wonderful volunteers relapsed and is now dealing with serious health problems. Though we know we need to take breaks, it is also apparent that the support and care we provide can make all the difference in the world. There are times in all our lives where we need help to take care of ourselves. When that help is unavailable it can be especially difficult. Part of our work is to help people make connections with each other so that when our program is not open there is still a community of support. It helps us to remember that building communities of support takes time and energy; it also takes as many people as possible. Think about volunteering will you?

2. “What a woman”. She came into the Open Studio space just yesterday. She has 5 brothers and sisters and was thrilled to find a place in the community where they could all come and play with art. “Both of our parents are in jail. Dad just got a life sentence so we are really on our own. We are doing everything we can to not be like our parents. They are both Methamphetamine addicts.” As the story continued we learned that this woman is 21, she just had her own baby. She and her 20 year old brother work to support the others. The 18 year old is in school. Two younger ones are with them and attending school the youngest is with another family member. These ‘kids’ are bound and determined to stay together, keep ‘out of the system’ and make something of themselves. Our gal was astounded that we were in the neighborhood, excited to meet them and willing to do what we can to support their goals. Please keep this incredible woman in your prayers and thoughts and help us to be available to this family as a place in the community to support.

Come to the dinner. Hear more of the stories. Come by and hang out with us or take a class. Incredible life giving things happen here and you are most welcome to be a part of it.

Blessings,
Jean Holsten
Director, Spirit in the Arts
650 El Camino Avenue
Sacramento, CA 95815
(916) 648-1803
jean@breadoflife.org

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