Blog Archives

Making a Difference

12/23/2018

Making a Difference is a new series of personal stories by members of the Green Wood Coalition community.Thank you to Victoria Hepburn for sharing her story, and to filmmaker, Rob Quartly, for capturing it so artfully.

Click here to watch the video.
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By meeting a person where they are, Green Wood’s free, inclusive, Art Hive makes a difference in a life by offering studio time that supports art, healing and social connections.
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You can make a difference by donating to support Green Wood’s work in Northumberland County. Click on the Donate tab above.

Making a Difference

12/16/2018

I don’t really think of myself as being a great artist even though I’ve liked art since I was a kid. Maybe growing up I fell out of it because I didn’t think I was any good, so I got discouraged and had a bit of low self-esteem.

But one of the things about the Art Group is that it introduced me to the idea that there’s an artistic part of you – and it doesn’t really matter if you’re a Picasso or a Da Vinci or whatever great artist you think of, you can just engage with it, and it allows you to see things in a different way or to bring things to light you didn’t know were there. Maybe it’s just a nice distraction if you’re having a rough day or if you just want to have a little fun.

Art is freeing because you can express yourself without having to care so much about the rules and what other people think in society where there are always so many rules to follow. You can just explore, experiment and sort of free yourself.

At first I guess it was a bit of challenge to go to the art group because, having social anxiety, being in a social setting can make me anxious and nervous. So that, for me, was the barrier to cross. But, like most things, the more you do it the easier it becomes.
--Jordan Appleman
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Making a Difference is a new series of personal stories by members of the Green Wood Coalition community. Green Wood's weekly Art Hive makes a difference in a life through using the varied languages of the arts to act as a safe bridge out of isolation, to connection.
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You can make a difference by donating to Support Green Wood’s work in Northumberland County. Click on the Donate tab above.
📷: Jeannette Breward Photography

Making a Difference

12/8/2018

When I was 10, I looked at my ‘Poppa’ and said, things have to change today. I want to be better than this. I want to make a difference. And my Poppa looked up at the sky and said, Well, kiddo, I have something to tell you, there’s your limit. The sky’s the limit, and don’t forget it. I thought, OK, I can do this. I can make a difference in life and try to make somebody else’s days better, even if I’m having a shitty day. And then it was the drugs, so then it was back to being shitty. I didn’t think I’d ever do it, but I was 28, and I said, enough’s enough. I went back to school to get my Grade 12. I don’t know how I got it. I don’t have a clue. I told all the teachers, listen, if I don’t graduate by the time I’m 30, I’m done. Finished. The way I see it, the way I rose above the bullshit, from growing up with violence in the house, the way I said I never wanted to treat people like my family treated me, That was the 'pre' girl. Where I’m at now is in the middle. I want to become a developmental social worker to work with the developmentally challenged because they have a right to reach out and know the sky’s the limit. I’ve been judged my whole life, and I feel like people judge them. A few times at the Green Wood dinner, I’ve sat at the back table and just watched. There could be somebody that gets all nicely dressed, they could be homeless. We don’t know. They could be in hard core addiction. We don’t know. We don’t know their story.
--Cheryl Scott
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Making a Difference is a new series of personal stories by members of the Green Wood Coalition community. By meeting a person where they are and building community through weekly Community Dinners, Green Wood makes a difference in a life.
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You can make a difference by donating to Support Green Wood’s work in Northumberland County. Click here: Donate to Green Wood
📷: Jeannette Breward

Community Hive Opens

12/2/2018

Kaye Torrie, Chair of Green Wood Coalition Board, cuts the ribbon, this afternoon, to officially open our new Community Hive in Port Hope. As we begin a new chapter, we have immense gratitude for everyone who has carried us this far. If you didn’t make it out today, we’d be happy to arrange a tour.
[L-R Nicole Whitmore, Celia McBride, Victoria Hepburn, David Sheffield, Graeme Lawson, Kaye Torrie] 📷 credit: Nicole Beatty

Making a Difference

12/1/2018

Thank you to Graeme Lawson for sharing his story, and to filmmaker, Rob Quartly, for capturing it so artfully.Click here: Graeme's Story

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Making a Difference is a new series of personal stories by members of the Green Wood Coalition community. Green Wood’s free, inclusive, Art Hive makes a difference in a life by offering studio time that supports art, healing and social connections.
—--
You can make a difference by donating to Support Green Wood’s work in Northumberland County. Click here: Donate to Green Wood
📷: Jeannette Breward