Volunteer Spotlight: Collaging Stories

Sarah walked past Christ House for over 35 years before stepping foot inside. Then one day in March 2023, she entered Christ House and spoke with our volunteer manager, Heidi Mills, about getting involved. She had spent 20 years teaching creative writing and wanted to find a way to give back to her local community. Her original idea was to teach a writing workshop for our patients, but quickly found out that the patients were most interested in collage work.

Sarah began every session by encouraging patients to take a smooth stone and ground themselves with a moment of silence. Then patients spent the next hour or so shifting through magazines and cutting out images and words for their collages.

For Sarah, these collages became a deeply reflective portrait of our patients’ inherent creativity. “Language meets picture, and that place where language meets image is what poetry is and what good literature is,” said Sarah.

Across the table, patients shared stories about their time at Christ House and their experiences living on the streets. There was laughter and tears, joy and mourning, creativity and loss, intermingling together with the images and texts of the magazines. During one of these sessions, a couple of our patients brought up the idea of putting together a documentary about their own stories and their time at Christ House.

At first, Sarah wasn’t sure about the idea since she did not have much experience with filmmaking. However, her daughter worked with another local artist, Kristin, who lived nearby. Kristin is the founder and creative director of Unchained Stories, which focuses on creating a more just world through the power of visual storytelling. Most recently, Kristin has been involved in producing a film about the history of Adams Morgan, which was instrumental in preserving a historic plaza only a short walk away from Christ House. When she heard about potentially getting involved at Christ House, Kristin jumped at the opportunity.

With the help of Kristin and Sarah, Christ House applied for a grant through the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities to make this project happen. In October of last year, Christ House was awarded funding to develop a patient-led, patient-centric documentary workshop with the goal of producing 2-3 short films to show to our local community.

In February, we officially launched the project. Over the last two months, Christ House patients and Kairos Members have participated in workshops to discuss the importance of storytelling and develop skills to put together a documentary about Christ House and their own experiences.

For Sarah and Kristin, the most impactful aspect of this process has been seeing how the project has organically grown over time. Our patients are passionate about telling their stories in their own words. Using the oral storytelling techniques cultivated in other spaces at Christ House, like our AA and NA recovery meetings and our New Day in-house recovery program, our patients already have the conviction and determination to share their lives in front of the camera. When one of our patients, Mr. Cleveland, got in front of the camera and started singing, they knew something special was happening in this space.

For many of our patients, participating in this project has been a way for them to get to know each other and to ensure that their stories are told in ways that resonate deeply with the truth of their own lives. While Sarah and Kristen help to provide the space and equipment, the design and planning has all come from our patients who are eager to share their stories and embrace their creativity.

The documentary process itself is a form of visual collage. From interviews with patients about their time on the streets or their experience with surgery to the footage of collage-making itself, each piece fits into the larger puzzle of healing and hope occurring in the lives of our patients every day. By the end of this project later this year, these short films will be a snapshot of our patients’ lives—who they are, where they’ve been, and most importantly, where they’re going.

We are appreciative of the DC Commission for Arts and Humanities for affording Christ House patients this opportunity. We are also sincerely grateful for Sarah and Kristin’s tireless volunteer work to make these films possible and for our patients’ dedication, wisdom, and creativity in this process. We plan to showcase these films at our upcoming fall gathering and fundraiser on Thursday, September 26, so please save your seat now!