We’re Back!
Joshua is passionate about movies. He shares his reviews on social media and sometimes, for a special movie, he will have a countdown, posting a picture each day. In late August, he put movie countdowns on hold and instead counted down to Creative Connections’ reopening. We were pretty thrilled to see that this September Creative Connections got its own countdown to re-opening!
We know that Joshua wasn’t the only one who was excited. Over the past month we have welcomed our artists and volunteers back to Creative Connections, and what a joy it has been!
When we asked Shawna what she missed about L’Arche, she told us, “I missed the people, the creativity, the projects, everything really!” During the pandemic Shawna said she “felt completely alone and cut off.” We know that Shawna wasn’t the only one feeling very isolated throughout the pandemic: others told us that they were, “bored at home,” and “relieved” to be coming back. One parent shared that there had been a noticeable change in her son once he knew that he would be returning in person to Creative Connections.
We thought there might be people who weren’t ready or didn’t feel comfortable coming back. But every single person has said an enthusiastic YES!
There were some nerves. Adrian shared that he had been a bit nervous, “But then I saw everybody smiling.” There were many happy reunions and lots of laughter.
While we were apart, we met on video calls to stay in touch, to share the art that we were making, and to learn new techniques. We built new friendships and even created a colouring book. It was clear in those calls just how important L’Arche is to each of us. Now that we are back together, it seems that we’re even closer.
“It’s fun to have everybody back!”, giggled Kathryn. “It’s a comfort,” beamed a volunteer.
We know that the risk of COVID is not behind us, and we are carefully following the advice of the experts. In the future that could mean getting creative once again about how we operate. But one thing is for sure, we appreciate being together more than ever!
Gray Gillies Mott
L’Arche Creative Connections Coordinator