Just out., April 16, 2004, Page 26, Image 26

2 6 J u s t O lft • apnl 16.2004
Art ana n
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Queer-friendly homeless youth program
sparks creativity and hope
by J.B. Rabin
he first time I visit the open workspace and offices of
p:ear it is a Monday. P:ear is ostensibly closed on Mon-
days for administrative work. So when I show up, I
assume I have the staff to myself, and plenty of urv
interrupted time to interview the women responsible
for making p:ear what it is.
Within two minutes of sitting down with Pippa Arend, 31, and
Beth Bums, 32, two of p:ear’s directors, the door opens. In walks a
woman from another nonprofit asking to borrow something. Then a
nearby business owner pays a visit to see how things are going.
Not five minutes later, two of the kids who p:ear serves drop in to
see if they made any money at the previous night’s art show. One girl
had created a collection of magic wands— one has a tag that reads
“for clearing negative energy”— out of branches, wire, beads and
stones. It turns out that two sold, underpriced at $11 each, for which
Bums hands her $20. The remaining $2 goes back into the p:ear
general funds pot. The two kids stick around a little while longer to
chat with Bums and Arend and then go on their way.
It dawns on me that p:ear, which serves
homeless and transitional youth in downtown
Portland, is never really closed. And the three
directors have the schedules to prove it.
Despite the 15 weekly volunteers at p:ear,
Arend, Bums and Joy Cartier work 10 hours a
day, six days a week— which they say is an
improvement over the 12-hour days, seven
days a week they were working until recently.
“Our goal was to see 12 kids a day. We aver­
age now about 35,” says Bums, who has a back­
ground in social services and acts like the cool
older sister many youth wish they had.
Their 2-year-old program is rooted in a
strong belief that a change in behavior does
not come without a change in attitude. P:ear
aims to transfonn homeless youth into happy
members of society, not just productive ones.
The Seeds of Change
f « | | :ear— short for Program: Education,
Arts, Recreation— is the brainchild of
Bums, Arend and Cartier, who met
while teaching a G ED course for homeless
youth. Seeing that the kids’ full potential was
not being accessed, the three women began
incorporating art into break times and watched
as it tapped into a different part of the students’
brains.
“Some children don’t relate to [traditional
math), hut when they have to, they can calcu­
late the measurements of a frame for one of
their paintings within a quarter of an inch,”
says Cartier. The 50-year-old spent more than
seven years with homeless and transitional
youth at the Salvation Army Greenhouse
before co-founding p:ear. She’s as likely to call
a kid “dear heart” as she is to address him by a
street name.
The G ED program was shut down in
August 2001, leaving the three women without
work. They conspired to create a nonprofit
that would fill the gap in services for homeless
youth in Portland. While other programs focus
on providing physical necessities such as fcxxl,
shelter, medical care and job training, the
women of p:ear wanted to do something that
would address the emotional, intellectual and
creative needs of the kids as well.
“One day a kid comes in and wants to
paint. The next day she’s capable of doing alge­
bra. The day after that she wants to take a walk
or go cross-country skiing. We wanted to create
an environment where all those needs could he
met," says Arend, who ran her own welding
business before becoming involved in educat­
ing homeless youth.
In trying to identify a common thread
among the youth they have worked with, the
women realized it was something less tangible
than the need for fcxxl or shelter.
“Almost all the kids are experiencing a lack
of self-worth,” says Cartier. “Only when that is
restored is one able to move forward.”
The reasons for homelessness are as