By Donald Gilpin

A Holiday Market, November 11 to 13 at HomeFront’s newly expanded headquarters in Lawrenceville, will offer the public a chance to purchase works of art and handmade goods created by HomeFront artists, who have experienced homelessness and poverty. 

“When buyers select a painting, set of heartwarming holiday greeting cards, or other handmade items designed by HomeFront artists, they experience a double win — buying something they love and supporting a cause they believe in,” said HomeFront’s ArtSpace and SewingSpace Director Ruthann Traylor.

Also featured at the Holiday Market will be works by A-NEW Artists group, as well as the White Elephant Holiday Shop selling festive creations from local vendors.

“A dedicated team of volunteers helps us create exhibits throughout the year that showcase and sell our clients’ works, helping boost their self-esteem and providing them with vital income,” said Traylor. “At the 2022 Holiday Market, everyone will find something they’ll love for themselves, or as an extra special holiday gift.”

The week following the Holiday Market, HomeFront will be hosting its annual Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week, with an art exhibition opening and discussion on November 15, 4 to 8 p.m.; service-learning opportunities — assisting in the diaper resource center on November 16; preparing Thanksgiving food baskets on November 19; and more  throughout the week. A panel discussion, “Smart Solutions, Breaking the Cycle of Poverty,” is on December 1.

The art exhibition “Through the Storm, Finding Home,” at HomeFront’s Family Campus in Ewing, was created by ArtSpace participants and was on display all summer at the National Liberty Museum in Philadelphia.

In a statement sent out by HomeFront, the artists provided a preview of the images and the experience that visitors to the exhibition will encounter.  “As parents of young children who found HomeFront in Mercer County during the darkest time of our lives, we hope our exhibit will both engage and educate,” they wrote. “We invite our visitors to feel what our families experienced in the bruising chaos of homelessness and to recognize our efforts to build a new future of dignity, safety, and independence for ourselves and our children.”

The statement continues to describe in detail the three phases of the exhibition depicting the chaotic inception of homelessness, the many efforts to escape homelessness, and the eventual emergence into clarity, comfort, rest, and a comfortable chair representing home, “an essential place for all of us.”

One wall of the exhibit displays a collaborative quilt, and another wall features additional works, all by homeless artists. A monitor presents some of the artists telling their stories.

“HomeFront’s core mission is to end homelessness and to break the cycle of poverty for families in our region,” said HomeFront CEO Sarah Steward. “Every HomeFront program is designed to give local families the support, skills, and resources to transform their lives and put them and their children on a path to thrive.”

ArtSpace, HomeFront’s therapeutic art program, is one of the ways HomeFront supports this transformation. “ArtSpace is a special place where the creative process becomes a tool for self-expression, critical thinking, and problem-solving that can change the lives of the artists,” said Traylor.

In the more than 30 years since its founding in 1991,  HomeFront has developed affordable housing, residential facilities, programs, and services that have impacted thousands of lives, providing homeless families with the tools and supports they need to find and maintain a home and become independent.

For more information on the HomeFront Holiday Market and Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week, contact Ruthann Traylor at (609) 883-7500, ext. 316 or ruthannT@homefrontnj.org or visit HomeFront at homefrontnj.org.