Friday, January 1, 2010

i can vouch for the zen of crafting


especially knitting. it puts me in another place. a GOOD place


Homeless find solace in yarn work
Program intertwines knitting and crocheting in a surprising sort of therapy


pic: At left, volunteer Pauline Edmonds gave Doc Kay a hand in a knitting and crocheting group at the Barbara McInnis House in Boston’s South End. Above, Ina Kelley, who has lived in boxes in alleys, garages, and train stations. “Being stressed, depressed with being homeless on the streets, it helps with your mind,’’ she said of working on a blanket. (Photos By John Blanding/Globe Staff)

By Milton J. Valencia

Hers was purple, pink, and green with ruffled edges. Ina Kelley had to show off the shawl she crocheted for a daughter, because after a year of living between homeless shelters and the streets, it’s one of the only things she truly had.

“I’m still working on my blanket,’’ the 46-year-old said, dressed in nightwear and sandals, opening a bag full of colored yarn. “Being stressed, depressed with being homeless on the streets, it helps with your mind.’’

Others call it therapeutic. All agree it has helped create a sense of community.

At the Barbara McInnis House in the South End, where people dealing with homelessness also suffer the pains of medical illnesses, a surprising sort of therapy has brought them together with volunteers in what has become a curative social group. Young and old, men and women, a grandmother and a young pregnant woman all use arts and crafts to ease their minds of struggles ranging from disabilities to kidney disease to drug addiction.............


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