Chicago Urban Art Retreat Center Provides Programming at Sacred Heart Home
Sacred Heart Home
Sacred Heart Home is a nursing home located at 1550 S. Albany in the North Lawndale neighborhood of Chicago.
The Chicago Urban Art Retreat Center provides programming at this site to assist the adults who live there to have a better quality of life. The residents at this facility have mental health issues, substance and alcohol abuse issues, and physical ailments. Most are not allowed to go out on their own and some are allowed to go out with a pass. They might go with their family on outings but some don’t have family members to check in with them.
Art Program
We have been providing supportive art experiences for over 10 years. We bring refreshments, conversation, and friendship to the Home for residents to participate in. We have put on a large art show, have helped residents to participate in the community African American Heritage Quilt Project of North Lawndale, and helped them enter the annual spring Art Fair.
Yoga Program
To add to our art program, we are working on recruiting enough yoga teachers to volunteer to bring a yoga program to Sacred Heart Home. We hope this will help residents there to relax more, find an additional way to exercise, and maybe enjoy a new source of movement.
Smoking Cessation Program
In the future, we hope to provide a Quit Smoking Program for the residents who would like to quit smoking. Residents often receive a “coupon” for participating in programming at Sacred Heart Home. Many times, smokers turn in their coupons for cigarettes. Receiving cigarettes as rewards does not seem like a very healthy or positive reward for us. Sometimes residents approach us to ask if we can help them quit smoking. Once our yoga volunteers are in place, we plan to find out how we can help residents to quit smoking.
How You Can Help
Folks who would like to support this very worthwhile program are welcome to donate supplies for us to utilize when we go there. The following supplies are needed: markers, glue sticks, paper of all kinds (including smooth paper, construction paper, and watercolor paper), blunt scissors, Elmer’s glue, 2B/4B/6B/8B pencils, and yoga mats. You can mail supplies to our building at 1957 S. Spaulding Ave, Chicago IL. 60623 or you may drop supplies off on Saturdays, or any day of the week. Thank you!
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