By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma
joanne@wktv.org
Smile. Love. Stay Strong. One day after at a time.
These are the words of hope and encouragement that area residents have been painting on pillowcases as part of the Dégagé Ministries’ Pillowcase Project.
Started as a 2020 ArtPrize exhibit, the Pillowcase Project is designed to honor the more than 4,700 women who have accessed the Dégagé Ministries Open Door Women’s Center since it opened in 2003.
“We really wanted to do something to reflect the number of women who have come here and received helped through Open Door,” said Bob Kreter, marketing manager for Dégagé Ministries.
While the 2020 ArtPrize has been cancelled, the Pillowcase Project is moving forward as part of The Bridge GR event scheduled from Sept. 10 – Oct. 1. With that in mind, project organizers are hoping community involvement will help them collect the needed 4,700 decorated pillowcases by Sept. 2.
“We are about half way through the process and we have about three more weeks to go,” Kreter said, adding that they still need about 2,000 more pillowcases.
All of the pillowcases will be displayed at Ah-Nab-Awen Park, located in front of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum in downtown Grand Rapids, from Sept. 10 – Oct. 1, which Kreter noted Dégagé was “honored” to have been given the entire Ah-Nab-Awen Park for this project. It is hoped that the display will create a powerful narrative concern the increasing number of women facing homelessness, a number, according to Kreter, that Dégagé expects a surge in need due to factors related to COVID-19.
Open Door is a women’s shelter that provides a safe haven during overnight hours for adult women in crisis. Women, who are 18 or older, can also scheduled to stay at the shelter with most coming in at 7 p.m., staying the night, and getting up at 6 a.m. to leave by 7:30 a.m. Kreter noted that the program is much more than just an overnight shelter.
“We walk along side of those who come to the shelter,” Kreter said. “We work with those who come here to help them find a place to live, a job. We try to discover what are the hurdles they face and then set them up so they can be more self sufficient with their lives.”
Dégagé’s Ministry’s Open Door Women Center has been one of the more well known aspects of the organization which was founded in 1967.
Those interested in participating can decorate a new or gently used pillowcase. Most people are using fabric paints for the project. Dégagé does ask participants to refrain from using glitter or other fragile materials in decorating pillowcases.
Pillowcases need to be dropped off by Sept. 2 to any of the following locations: 7 a.m. – 7 p.m. Monday – Friday and 7 a.m. – noon Saturday and Sunday at Dégagé Ministries, 144 S. Division Ave.; 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. Wednesday at the Lions & Rabbis Center for the Arts, 1264 Plainfield Ave. NE; or various Lake Michigan Credit Unions. For more information about the project, click here.
