Tianna’s Heart

Tianna’s ‘Storm of Life’ Drawing Made During Her First LEAP Class

Last week, Tianna was in her first health class at Calvary. The topic- physical and emotional health of the heart. As she walked into the class, she never imagined this drawing would pour out of her.

The volunteer instructor spoke about how the emotional health of our hearts can affect our physical heart health and Tianna started to imagine what her own heart looked like. Near the end of the class, the instructor asked the women to draw what their hearts look like in relation to their emotional health.

Tianna was surprised by how cathartic this activity was. She journals nightly, but rarely draws. As she drew her heart, she started to understand more about herself and the other women around her. She said, “We all have pain, frustration and fear, but that’s alright. Without it, how could you grow your flower? It’s part of the soil- the same as happiness, joy and love”.

“I am the walking testimony of the storm of life and it’s beautiful. I wake up every morning at Calvary feeling happy because I have a new day. We all carry things. We all have scars. But with band-aids and stitches we can patch up the pain and fear in order to let happiness and love grow.”

Tianna continued to share her heart with the rest of the class and she began to cry. She told them that Calvary was her band-aid- a patch that was needed when she was at her lowest and feeling more pain than she could bear. “Calvary is a haven for me. This place has allowed me to focus on the positives and begin to mend my heart.”

Last month, we opened the doors to our new housing program, Reach Up. We are welcoming more women than ever before to the Calvary family. In addition to safe housing, these women also have access to the same life-changing programs as Tianna, which will help empower them to heal and begin their own journeys. You can learn more about Calvary’s programs on our website and donate here to help us continue to grow our programs.