In an effort to get the clients of Safe Haven out and into the community at large, I decided to take them on a trip to the Phoenix Art Museum. Many of them had never been to a museum and they were excited. Again you can probably imagine how nervous I was taking 15 severely mentally ill homeless individuals into an art museum with art worth tens of millions of dollars. But time and time again, I am blown away by how awesome these people are.
It was a short van ride to the art museum from Safe Haven. When we arrived (free on Wed.) we began with the modern section. As we passed paintings and sculptures the clients seemed to respond very well. They laughed at the funny ones, paused and were silent for the serious ones, and seemed to really be taking it all in. It was awesome for me to see the clients blending in, not being outcasts. We were not asked to leave or not to touch anything because everyone was so well behaved. They shocked me yet again as we made our way through the entire museum without a single incident. I really feel like they got something out of their trip. I hope I can do more trips like this in the future.
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