I went to the Children’s Home Society offices to sketch as 800 or so backpacks were stuffed full of school supplies. Amanda Chadwick greeted me at the door and walked me around the work space. As part of his “Available” project, Brian Feldman was in a back room removing unwanted marketing items from donated backpacks. Three young girls, children of Home Society workers, had volunteered as well. Their names were Corinne, Madison and Bailey. First all the backpacks had to be emptied of all the donated supplies inside, so that every backpack was guaranteed to have exactly the same supplies when they were stuffed. Brian goofed around and had the girls laughing the whole time. Brian would make a great dad. He found a tiny donated bicycle with rather deflated tires and rode it around the cubicles much like Butch Cassidy. The girls took great pleasure in throwing school supplies at Brian and Amanda would step in and insist we all get back on task. Somehow through all the play, the job got done. I only did one sketch because at noon I was going to meet a Children’s Society case manager and ride along to see a backpack get delivered to a child who needed it.
Backpack Delivered
Amanda Chadwick introduced me to Elaine Pelletier, a caseworker for the Children’s Home Society. We drove off in Elaine’s car on a mission to deliver a backpack to one of kids she oversees. I can’t say his name so I’ll call him Sam. Sam is now under dependency based care, meaning he has a guardian. He loves to draw and Elaine said he doesn’t get alot of one on one attention. He is highly intelligent and loves to read. They are looking into moving him into accelerated classes for reading. He has had occasional outbursts where he broke things, but hey who hasn’t ? Elaine had never been to the address she had been given before so we had an adventure to find the place. We walked into the waiting room of what appeared to be a doctor’s office. Sam was given his backpack and he looked through its contents for a while. Elaine had explained on the drive over that he doesn’t react with much emotion. He posed calmly for the quick sketch offering suggestions for color and placement of some items. There is a definite fire in his eyes. Elaine’s primary purpose is to see that he gets the mental health resources that he needs and that he follows up with appointments. Sam seemed to enjoy the attention and he wanted a color copy which the receptionist kindly offered to make. His guardian also decided she wanted a copy. It is hard to imagine what Sam must have been through in his short life but I have high hope that he will find his way through this life.
Moving School Supplies
Amanda Chadwick and Sarah Dillon had to move donated school supplies from a storage unit back to the Children’s Home Society offices. A ground floor office space had been donated by the landlord specifically for the back to school drive. An Enterprise moving truck had to be rented for the task. We all piled into Sarah’s huge pickup truck with the country music wailing and headed to the truck rental place. After a few minutes of paperwork, we all climbed up into the cab of the rental truck. There wasn’t a third seat, so I crouched behind the stick shift. There was a sliding door which gave access to the back of the truck so I forced that open and climbed back , giving me plenty of leg room. The back of the truck was rickety and noisy.
Sarah had some tight maneuvering to do since space was tight around the entry gates to the storage facility. When we found unit K-10 the hard work started. The unit was stuffed full of cardboard boxes full of school supplies. Much of the time Amanda lifted boxes and carried them to the truck where Sarah then arranged them in the truck. It was blazing hot. The transfer took just long enough for me to get the sketch one. When we got back to the Children’s Home Society, the truck had to be unloaded . Amanda called for some help and three or four women came from the upstairs offices to help. Not a single man was on hand to help out. I of course was busy sketching. I don’t think many people think about the hours of backbreaking work that goes along with the simple act of giving children the supplies they need to be successful in school.
Appeal Letters
I visited the offices of the Children’s Home Society as the organization geared up to give away 800 backpacks to children in need as part of their back to school drive. Amanda Chadwick and Sarah Dillon were in a tiny corner office stuffing envelopes. This first step in the process involved sending appeal letters asking for donations for the cause. Past back to school drives had been a huge success thanks to the many kind donations from all over Central Florida. Many children all over the state are faced with starting school without the basic school supplies needed for success. People who donated a backpack this year were given a ticket to see Disney/Pixar’s Toy Story 3 on ice.
Many of the children in the care of the Children’s Home Society have suffered from abuse and neglect and they need support to succeed both emotionally and academically. These backpacks full of school supplies can make a difference. Here are the supplies that are given away in each elementary student’s backpack. 1 dozen #2 pencils, 1 rectangular pink eraser, 1 box of colored pencils, 3 folders with 2 prongs and 3 pockets, 1 pack wide rule loose-leaf notebook paper, 2 glue sticks, 1 ruler with inches and centimeters, 1 pair Fiskars brand scissors, 1 plastic pencil box, and a new backpack.
All of these supplies are donated by people who open their hearts, giving whatever they can to help. Should you want to help with next years drive, contact the Children’s Home Society at 321 397-3000.
Adoption
Amanda Chadwick from the Children’s Home Society invited me to the courthouse to sketch an adoption proceeding. When we entered the building we had to get past security. My portable artists stool raised a red flag and the guards got into a discussion as to how lethal a weapon it might be. Amanda’s bag needed a second search and a curling iron was found which was equally lethal. The guards were considering allowing the chair, but to cut the red tape, Amanda and I went back out to the parking lot to get rid of the contraband. When it was discovered that I planned to sketch, guards and lawyers got involved in letting me know how short the proceeding would be and how unlikely it would be that I would get a sketch. A lawyer introduced Amanda and I to the Joma family who would be adopting two children this day. The baby girl was only three days old when the family first began to care for her. The little boy, a toddler, was strutting around the courthouse like he was a lawyer himself. He was dressed in a very corporate looking suit. At one point he walked over and hugged his little sister.
The time spent in the courtroom was indeed brief. The judge quickly announced the completion of all the needed paper work and the family pledged that they loved the children and would raise them in a caring household. I glanced over at Amanda when it was over and she had gotten quite choked up. Even though she had worked for the Children’s Home Society for sometime, this was the first time she had witnessed an adoption firsthand.
Candidate Meet and Greet
The Children’s Home Society hosted a Candidate Meet and Greet. Amanda Chadwick organized the event. There was primarily a focus on issues relating to child welfare although most politicians returned to issues of taxes and spending. Valerie Seidel, the board chair of the Children’s Home Society of Florida, introduced the Board. There were two young girls seated in the front row near me. They were about 14 and 10 years old. These girls dressed in their Sunday best got up on stage to lead the Pledge of allegiance.
Candidates could only speak for three minutes each so sketching was a challenge. I drew Valerie at the podium. One candidate had actually been in foster care before. After all the speeches, there was a twenty minute break with snacks before school board candidates got up to speak. As everyone got food, I was throwing down watercolor washes. As I worked, one of the little girls sat next to me asking questions. It turns out she lives next to Bernie who is an artist that holds open studio sessions in his home. I have been there a number of times. The girls name was Catherine and I soon realized that she and her sister were pictured on a poster at the front of the room. The pair are shown seated on the grass wearing purple and pink princess costumes. The sisters were adopted by Greg and Valerie through CHS of Florida. on the poster Catherine is quoted as saying, “I am thankful that CHS took good care of me and my sister when we were in the shelter and helped us to get adopted to a new family. :)” Catherine’s sister, Cheyenne, walked up and said, “Look, that is mom.” as she pointed at the drawing. I explained to them that I had started drawing Valerie, but I had to borrow some features from some candidates since she didn’t speak very long. Amanda walked up behind me and said, “It looks like you have some new fans.” Kids love art, and I am happy I got to meet these two outgoing and curious art patrons..
WLOQ Radio Interview.
Amanda Chadwick asked me if I would like to sketch a radio interview as she promoted The Children’s Home Society of Florida on the radio. Amanda was a bit nervous anout the interview and she had just finished a gruiling morning moving hundreds of boxes and backpacks from a storage unit to the business park where the Children’s Home Society resides. Amanda had to do a quick change of clothes and freshen up a bit before heading to the station. As we drove there in her Toyota Carola, I asked her questions from a sheet of questions she had prepared and sent to the talk show host. As times she let go of the steering wheel and looked through her notes to get the right statistics. I grabbed the wheel to keep the car on the road. My nerves were starting to get shot.
Robyn Austin the Morning Show Co-Host, on Smooth Jazz 103.1 WLOQ, introduced herself to us in the lobby. As we walked back to the recording studio she said she would have to check with the station manager to see if it was alright for me to sketch. I am used to being turned down any time I specifically ask to do a sketch so my stomach tightened in anticipation. She came back beaming and told us it would be fine. For all of her nervousness, Amanda performed like a pro when she was in front of the microphone. She was at ease and managed to tell several stories which illuminated the work of the Children’s Home Society on a human level.
The Society will be handing out close to 900 backpacks this year to needy school children in the Central Florida area. Amanda told the story of noticing a little girl that was wearing one of the backpacks in the previous years style. The backpack was to large for the little girl so she knew the mom had not picked it out in a store. This bought her work right into her own front yard. The work the organization was doing affects children in all neighborhoods through out the area. Imagine trying to do your job without the necessary tools. Many children have to face this dilema every day as their parents have to choose between putting food on the table of getting school supplies.
Crisis Nursery
Amanda Chadwick is celebrating her birthday with a week long series of events she has planned. This is the greatest idea I have heard in a while. Why only celebrate on one day of the year? The first party was at the Children’s Home Society, Crisis Nursery where Amanda is an events coordinator. I was the first to arrive and gradually 6 or 7 of her friends trickled in. Most of her friends are comedians so I knew there would be plenty of laughter. Before we were let in to play Amanda explained a little about the Nursery’s function.
The home is a place of refuge for children who been abused or neglected. Sometimes new born infants come straight from the hospital. It is hoped that all the children will find foster parents in a loving and stable home. Some children who have developed behavioral issues, end up returning to the Crisis Nursery. Amanda said that most visits are rather structured but this time she wanted to have a free and open play period. When we first entered everyone sat on the couch in the living room area. Within minutes children were hugging and playing with the newcomers. I thought I would sit down on my portable stool and start sketching, but the children were soon standing in front and beside me asking what I was doing. They immediately wanted to sketch themselves and I gave each a pencil. I had another pad for them to sketch in. One boy asked me to draw him. He then took the sketch and went over to a corner table to work on it. He worked for the longest time hunched over and focused. Amanda came over and told me I had inspired him.
I drew a little girl and then she asked me to draw her dress so I sketched her from head to toe. She was thrilled and took the sketch to hang in her room. The electronic piano was bought in by Elizabeth Drake Forbes. The children crowded around it, discovering new sounds and beats. This moment gave me a center of interest and finally gave me time to sketch. Most children were still running around with balls flying and bouncing off of heads and ceiling fans. Amanda bought cupcakes and everyone sat around the table to eat them. Then the children went outside to play and burn off the sugar. I stayed and finished up this sketch. One little girl loved the piano so much she returned to it when everyone else had lost interest. She began to develop a beat and sound that finally resembled music.
One little girl was sad and crying. Mary Hill saw the girl crying and she sat down on the floor near her. Mary said, “I hear you, you are sad. I hear you.” The little girl didn’t quite know how to process this but as Mary continued to talk soothingly to the little girl, she slowly inched towards Mary until she was sitting on her lap. When it was time to leave there were many hugs. This was the best birthday party ever!