April 2020 Newsletter

During the last four weeks we have found so much to be grateful for from our members and our community. Donations for art supplies are coming in for our future in-person events. New artists have volunteered to lead future Community Creation Events, once quarantine is lifted. We hear stories of creativity, compassion and collaboration daily. You can contribute to our vibrant and creative sober community through donations and volunteering.

Online Creation Events

We May Be Apart, Yet We Can Create Together

For the last month, we have hosted Hope Creates Online Creation Events. These events allow us to work on our own expressive arts projects in the safety of our homes, while we create in community through video conferencing. If you are interested in joining please email for login information.

Creations range from hand made COVID masks, drawings, freestyle embroidery, Hope Mobile designs, crocheted afghans, melodies, photographs, colored pencil designs and jewelry.

Join Our Community

The COVID Collection: Call For Entry!

Support Sobriety and Serenity by Creating During COVID-19

Many in our community have been using creativity and the arts to deal with these challenging times. We ask you to support the mission of Hope Creates by creating a piece of art to express how you are finding serenity and hope during the COVID Quarantine.

Donate your creation to Hope Creates to support our vibrant and creative sober community
Promote your art and our Online Auction of the Collection in the celebration of Hope Creates’ 3rd Birthday – Monday, May 11, 2020
Raise the most money for Hope Creates and win special prizes, details below

Submissions

If you are interested in participating, email Kathie Thomas and she will coordinate submissions with you. All art is due to Kathie by Monday, May 4. Include your name, contact information (phone and email), and a brief description of your submission.

Submit To The COVID Collection

Grand Prize

Craft Alliance is providing two vouchers, good for two six-week classes in any craft media at Craft Alliance, tuition and studio fees covered, one-year expiration date. You and a friend can create together.

Runner-Up

$40 gift card to Panorama, the Saint Louis Art Museum’s on-site restaurant

Third Prize

$20 gift card to Catalyst Coffee Bar, co-located with Art Saint Louis

We will also display the COVID Collection at our Expressive Arts Exhibition, Sunday, July 19 at 612 North: 612 N 2nd St, St. Louis, MO 63102 – Save the Date!

Give STL Day

You Can Give Today

We are participating in GiveStlDay, an online day-of-giving event, designed to ignite the spirit of giving across the region and support causes in the St. Louis area. If you are unavailable on May 6-7 you can start the ball rolling right now. Early gifts will be credited to Hope Creates and every dollar matters. Help us fund our Community Creation Events and Expressive Arts Exhibitions. We want to raise more than $10,000 on Give STL Day.

We Celebrate Our Partners

Craft Alliance provides several Hope Creates programs annually for recovering youth/young adults with individualized instruction from trained artists in well-equipped, professional-quality studios working with wood, metals, clay, and fiber.

While Craft Alliance’s gallery shop is currently close, you can still shop for Mother’s Day! Visit their online retail shop.

Shop online retail

The Next Step has moved their deadline to May 1. While we have down time, reach out to those you know in recovery who want to advance their education. Their mission is to provide tuition assistance to individuals in recovery from alcohol or substance abuse who demonstrate financial need and are pursuing an academic or vocational education.

Last year, The Next Step helped 73 individuals in recovery take the next step in their education. This year, they want to help even MORE.

If you would like to submit an application via mail or email, please download the PDF application.

Scholarship Application

Now, more than ever, it is so important to support our young sober artists during times of stress. At Hope Creates we are focusing on what we can control and creating something new everyday. The facts that compel us to support young adults as they work to maintain their sobriety.

From 1999 to 2017, more than 700,000 Americans died from overdosing on a drug
The St. Louis and Kansas City Regions have close to five times the rate of opioid related deaths than the national average
About 88,000 people die as a result of alcohol every year in the United States
More than 90% of people who have an addiction started to drink alcohol or use drugs before they were 18 years old
Americans between the ages of 18 and 25 are most likely to use addictive drugs
Alcohol and drug addiction cost the U.S. economy over $600 billion every year

With Hopes of Serenity and Health to All of You,

P.S. I invite you to share your thoughts and actions on Facebook. What are the small acts that you have found that bring joy to yourself and others during this time of quarantine?