To the Editor: Help HomeFront Send Kids Back to School
The feeling of a fresh start each new school year often begins for a child as they pick out new shoes, a first day of school outfit, and a backpack, brimming with supplies from their class list. “For children who are homeless or live in poverty locally, having all of these new items goes a long way to building their confidence to take on a new year,” says Chis Marchetti, director of HomeFront’s Joy, Hopes & Dreams children’s program. “It gives a kid a fresh start to begin school on the right foot like everyone else.”
HomeFront’s Back To School Drive is one piece of the nonprofit’s comprehensive services model to help local families break the cycle of poverty. HomeFront’s mission is to harness the community’s resources to ease the immediate pain of homelessness and provide all the tools necessary for families to become self-sufficient. To that end, HomeFront provides dignified shelter, manages affordable housing, and provides homelessness prevention funds that last year ensured approximately 515 people had a safe roof over their heads. In addition, HomeFront has a high school equivalency and job readiness program, distributes food, furniture, and household essentials, and provides children’s programs and case management for local families who are homeless or in need.
“HomeFront was like a supplementary piece to school,” says Essence Scott, an adult who received help from HomeFront’s Back to School Drive as a child. “There were things because of living in the motels and below the poverty line, that we couldn’t get. HomeFront help leveled the playing field. It made it like ‘ok, I can work with this,’ from Back to School, to trips to see plays and do art, to food. With the Back To School stuff, I felt cool, like I didn’t have to come in school will ill-fitted clothing. I felt that, especially the older you get, there are more eyes and more people paying attention, so the more you stand out and the easier it is for people to bully you. Being able to come to school with new clothing and school supplies meant a lot.”
Community members interested in helping HomeFront reach its goal of preparing 2,000 children to return to school ready to learn can sign up to sponsor a child(ren) or start a collection drive at www.homefrontnj.org or email homefront@homefrontnj.org. HomeFront is requesting all items by August 16, so the nonprofit can distribute them to our students before the first day of school.
Updates from the Ellarslie Open
William R. Valerio, the director of the Woodmere Art Museum in Philadelphia and past curator at the Queens Museum of Art in New York City, served as the juror for the “Ellarslie Open,” currently on view at the Trenton City Museum’s Ellarslie Mansion in Cadwalder Park through October 3.
Valerio noted the following about his involvement in selecting the work and provided a glimpse into the vitality of art in the region:
“The backbone of the arts in many cities and regions across the country comes from organizations like the Trenton City Museum at Ellarslie that offer hands-on creative experiences and intimacy with works of art, right in our own backyards. As juror of this year’s Open, I was deeply impressed by the range of work and diversity of artists who submitted for consideration. There was much excellence, and it was a challenge to narrow the field to a selection that could be accommodated in Ellarslie’s generous galleries.
“A friend of mine often says that art is a big house with many rooms, and the current show is a case in point. There are as many approaches to making art as there are unique forms of sophistication. It is my understanding that artists came from far and wide. One sculptor traveled by motorcycle from New York City with her delicate work packed carefully in a backpack. Another artist came to Ellarslie with a large, unstretched canvas and built his work on site. Egg tempera is an ancient technique of painting, and you will see works made in that exquisite medium hanging alongside digital art made with computer programs and Epson printers.
“As we all know, the times are challenging, and to have organized this complicated exhibition through the many months of the pandemic is a feat to be admired. It was my honor to be juror. I hope the exhibition sustains the confidence of those who make art and believe in its importance.”
The Trenton City Museum is open Fridays and Saturdays, noon to 4 p.m., and Sundays, 1 to 4 p.m. Free; donations accepted. Visit www.ellarslie.org.
