The program will run every second Friday and aims to help those staying at the Inn, the County's only homeless shelter, offering free creative writing lessons and help with writing a resume.
WOODSTOCK - An expanded Operation Sharing program aimed at boosting budding writers and other artists is launching a satellite initiative at the Inn homeless shelter.
The Writers’ Café/Expressive Arts satellite began at the shelter, operating out of Old St. Paul’s Anglican Church in Woodstock, last night. The program will run every second Friday from there on in.
Coordinator Eric Schmiedl says they wanted to provide people staying at the shelter with another life skill.
"Many of the existing programs for homeless people focus on such things as rehab. This program aims to say to these people that your ideas, your creative thoughts, matter. You matter."
The program had been running at the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) at 522 Peel St. in Woodstock previously but was put on low rev when the CMHA suspended programs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is hoped the program will resume at the association building at some point in the future, but will continue at the Inn (which serves all of Oxford County) regardless. Schmiedl says they will have several safety measures in place.
"Of course, we will have to adhere to safe practices surrounding the coronavirus. But the Inn already does that."
The Writers’ Café/Expressive Arts program focuses on various aspects related to writing and other art, including the following:
- Creative writing (this could include short stories, poems, songs or more)
- Drawings of various sorts
- Assistance with résumé writing
- Writing stories, poems and other pieces, as well as drawing pictures, for publication in Operation Sharing’s newsletter, Helping in Unity
The program will be open to any guests of the shelter.
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