Hearts, minds and bodies nurtured at p:ear

Story and photo by Faye Powell
The Portland Upside
September 2009

p:ear gives homeless youth like Letti a space to grow creatively, intellectually and emotionally.

If home is where the heart is, what happens to the heart when one is homeless?

Seven years ago, Joy Cartier, Beth Burns and Pippa Arend had a vision of a safe haven for homeless youth in Portland that would address the needs of the total person—heart, mind and body. The three committed teachers from the alternative Greenhouse School were unwilling to give up on their homeless students when the school lost its funding. They also realized that education was only part of the solution. So together they raised $2,000—enough for one month’s rent—and p:ear (project: education, art, recreation) was born.

Associate director Cartier succinctly sums up p:ear’s innovative approach: “No one can do fractions all day.”

Today the trio’s vision is realized in an open, spacious and well-lighted building in Portland’s Old Town. Here homeless youth gather to create, study, and find emotional support, and encouragement from staff, adult mentors and one another. Daylight streams through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the art gallery. At the back of the gallery a darkroom and music room beckon. Adjacent to the gallery is a large space with tables and easels for art projects, a kitchen, library and comfortable reading chairs. A staircase leads up to an open office area where a staff of six takes care of administrative functions.

Formerly a doggie daycare, the p:ear facility was completely renovated by SERA Architects as their first 1% Solution project, a national initiative that challenges firms to donate one per cent of their staff to pro bono work. SERA gave time, energy, and resources to designing and furnishing the entire space. The firm donated much more than one per cent, according to Cartier.

Each day an average of 45 clients between the ages of 15 and 24 come to paint, draw, photograph, play the piano, read, work on their GED (General Educational Development) certification, or just hang out. Approximately 350 young people participate in p:ear’s programs throughout the year. Local artists, photographers, and teachers mentor the youth. Every two months the gallery mounts a new exhibit of youth art alongside a featured professional artist. p:ear participates in First Thursday, and the proud young artists receive 90 per cent of the proceeds of their sold art.

Nutrition is another important aspect of addressing the total needs of the young homeless. Some of Portland’s best restaurants have committed to providing food, enabling p:ear to feed the kids at least two meals a day. Additionally, both the Oregon Culinary Institute and the Western Culinary Institute donate time to teach the young participants how to prepare nutritional meals. Once they get their food handler’s license, the youth can work in the p:ear kitchen.

“Not having a home is not the major problem of homelessness,” says Cartier. “The major problem of homelessness as we’ve seen in young people is how they feel about themselves.”

My concrete heart I have found
There it lay beneath your feet on the ground

This poem, penned by Letti, a 20-year-old Alaska native, accompanies one of her paintings on exhibit in the gallery. Raised by her artist father, she is part Yupik, part Scottish. Letti says she left Alaska a couple of years ago because neither she nor her family felt accepted by the community there. She moved to Seattle first, then to Portland last year because she felt she would have more opportunities to pursue her art here. Since coming to p:ear, Letti says she has received much emotional support as well as opportunities to develop herself as an artist and work toward her high school diploma. Someday she hopes to become a social worker.

“It’s kind of like a family here,” Letti says. “The staff and volunteers accept you for who you are. I lost my ability to create art for a while. They [p:ear] are like the family I never had. My dad raised my sister and me singly so there wasn’t much maternal support … it’s like having so many moms here. They are awesome!”

The backgrounds of homeless youth and the circumstances that lead to their homelessness are diverse.

A girl lives in an apartment with her mother and attends school, getting by even though her mother is a heroin addict. Eventually, however, the mother stops going to work and falls behind with the rent. Finally one day, she comes home to find her mother and all of their belongings gone.

A boy barely makes it out of middle school and has never been to high school. Since the age of eight or nine he has run drugs for his mother. When she is arrested and sent to prison, he finds himself on the street.

An honor student and captain of the soccer team until he comes out to his parents as gay, a young man lands on the streets when they kick him out of the house and refuse to allow him to return.

Some kids end up in foster care where their experiences range from very good to worse than where they started. Even still, the foster system provides for them only until their 18th birthday. Because most at-risk 18-year-olds are not mature or skilled enough to function as adults, p:ear includes youth up to the age of 24.

The actual number of homeless kids in the Portland area is unknown. There are only 80 shelter beds for them in the city. Most sleep under bridges, in doorways or abandoned cars, two or three together for safety. Others occasionally stay with a friend or relative for a day or two.

“Imagine a war zone where just surviving is your concern,” Cartier says.

While p:ear cannot provide housing and other pressing needs of these young people, it can help them develop self-confidence as they participate in a community where they are supported and encouraged to grow creatively, intellectually and emotionally.

p:ear receives no public funding. Like other charitable organizations, it has seen monetary donations decline in the current economic downturn. There has been, however, a tremendous increase in material donations.

As Cartier says, “p:ear has become the queen of the in-kind donation.”

Volunteerism has also increased during these difficult economic times. Indeed, volunteers are the backbone of the organization. In addition to artist and teacher mentors, other volunteers bring in their own hobbies and projects to share. Volunteers also pick up food and supplies and take kids on recreational outings.

Cartier would like to see p:ear—with its unique way of putting education, art and recreation all together under one roof—become a national model for programs that work with homeless youth.
By addressing the combined needs of their hearts, minds and bodies, p:ear truly helps homeless kids build self-esteem, learn skills, successfully transition into adulthood and make choices formerly beyond their reach.

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p:ear is located at 338 NW Sixth Avenue. The gallery is open Tuesday through Thursday 10 a.m. - 1 p.m. as well as 6-9 p.m. on First Thursdays. For more information, go to www.pearmentor.org or contact Joy Cartier at 503-228-6677.

Faye Powell has master’s degrees in library science and anthropology and writes both fiction and nonfiction. She may be contacted via phaysee1@gmail.com