The Healing Power of Creativity

Our Elgin Area Leadership ACademy group identified mental health awareness as a community need in Elgin. We partnered with The Awakenings Project in Elgin, Artist Edie Freimark, Naomi's House in Wheaton, and other talented students in the Elgin Community College Certified Recovery Support Specialist certificate program, including Tara Rentondo and Trish Kudlacz, to showcase an art exhibit created by individuals recovering from mental health illness.

The Awakenings Project is a grass-roots initiative whose mission is to foster, advance, and support the creative efforts of artists with mental illnesses and/or addictions. The Awakenings Project Studio (located in the Professional Building at 164 Division Street, Room 415, Elgin, Illinois) is open every Saturday and Tuesday from 11 am to 2 pm for art-making and fellowship.

The goal of our project and this art exhibit is to increase awareness surrounding mental health and the resources available in the Elgin community.

Our EALA project team consisted of Wendy Chen (Elgin Community College), Renee Skrabacz (Elgin Community College), Sarah Vetter (Gail Borden Library), Emily Tyler (Food For Greater Elgin), Janet Aldred (JQ Designs), Betsy Yurisich (Advocate Sherman Hospital), Corey Battles (Battles Investment Group), Karyn Garcia (Ascension St. Joseph Hospital).

125 people attended the opening night reception held at Elgin Community College on 4/11/24, along with twenty-two community resource organizations including Greater Family Health, Ascension Alexian Brothers Center for Mental Health Care, Kane County Health Department, and the Coalition for a Safe & Healthy Elgin. The Healing Power of Creativity art exhibit will be on display in the Elgin Community College campus Building B hallway through 5/17/24.

The Gail Borden Library also has an art exhibit as part of The Healing Power of Creativity that will be on display through 5/31/24.