New nonprofit helps people find artistic voice

BELLEFONTE — Abby Minor has been always been drawn to people who feel like they don’t have a voice. With the new nonprofit, Ridgelines, she is working to give those people a way to share their stories.

Minor, a poet, holds a master’s degree in creative writing. In 2012, she created a writing program for residents of Salem Hill Haven, an assisted living facility near Spring Mills. After the success of the program, she expanded the class and offered it in other facilities. Now, with the founding of Ridgelines, she is ready to take her vision further.

“I’ve always imagined expanding the work I’ve done with low-income nursing homes to other populations who feel disenfranchised and misrepresented,” said Minor. “… Ridgelines has been in the works for a while.”

Recently, Ridgelines held a nine-week course, “A Poem in Our Eyes,” creating poetry with the memory loss unit at Centre Crest. During class, she would show residents a piece of art, usually from a local artist, and ask them what they thought about it. Minor would write the responses on a white board and arrange them into a verse, creating with the participants a reading of the artwork that was unique.

“It is important to write down what people say, so they know that what they say is important,” said Minor. “So, no matter what someone in the class says about the artwork, I write it down on the board.”

She feels that residents benefited from the class.

“They would say things like, ‘That was a wonderful sermon,’ or ‘We should write a book,’ and I feel like we made an impact,” said Minor.

“You can tell that people felt very pleased. Everyone was responding and sharing.

The work from that class and the art that inspired it was displayed at the Bellefonte Art Museum. Eventually, Minor plans to put the poems into a book for the residents, so they can see their words in print.

Minor said Ridgelines is branching out, and she is seeking other sites at which to expand the program. Coming up is a summer class with residents at Centre County Youth Service Bureau’s Stormbreak home in State College. Minor also is working on starting a class at the State Correctional Institute for women in Muncy.

In the future, the plan for Ridgelines is to expand and provide services  to people with refugee status, migrant works, sex workers, people in recovery from addiction, people who have stigmatized reproductive experiences — really, anyone who has been impacted by stigma and injustice.

“I think that there is a real power in telling your story, in any way you want to tell it. We have these language arts tool and we are open to people using them however they want to use them to tell their story. There is a power in that, giving someone a voice. It really is about mental health, which kind of moves out into social health,” said Minor.

For Nicole Gargiulo, the president of Ridgelines, the power of the program goes both ways.

“There are huge therapeutic benefits for the unheard voices that that we are working with, and that is the most important thing that we do,” said Gargiulo. “But, to me, there is also this added benefit to the whole greater community. I think a big part of it is that we are introducing people to the weight of perspectives that they usually don’t see, and changing their minds.

“Maybe we can help them see that every voice is important.”