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April 22, 2009

Tour through a Domestic Violence Shelter

Today I went on a tour through a domestic violence shelter, and I noticed so many fake plants. For some reason, that made me sad. The shelter itself wasn't sad. There was lots of life and hope despite the obvious pain. It's a great shelter and community, but I felt ridiculous for being so sad about the fake plants. I was a case worker recently for victims and survivors of natural disasters and worked with Hurricane evacuees from Katrina and Ike. From that experience, I learned to not dwell on the past and to push for things in the now, RIGHT now because it was always urgent. Shelters are a blessing because they offer assistance and hope for the right now. They're a result of something terrible, but why the plastic fake plants? Maybe they represent that awful past and aren't in the here-now solution. They were made in a factory far away, most probably by underpaid women, and they're just depressing. They don't even make me angry, and I much prefer to get angry over these things than sad. I'm thinking about calling up my local Lowe's and asking for some of the plants they'd normally throw away. It'd be nice to surprise the families on Mother's Day with plants, but that seems like it might be silly. Still, plastic plants are an abomination and even more silly. A dead, artificial dust collector. They were so out of place.

3 comments:

  1. It is a shame and sad to have plastic plants when the real thing would be so much more cheerful.

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  2. I don't think you are being silly at all. Being around living things helps you feel like living.

    By the way, I just posted a link to your tree post on my blog. Thanks again.

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  3. That is def not a silly thing. Lowe's should go along with the idea. You may want to print out/refer to your blog post as well. It would be for a wonderful cause, and most companies give back to the community. This is a GREAT way for them to get involved with an organization that they have probably never helped out before or even thought that they needed help. This could be a really important connection for the Shelter just in case they ever need to remodel something or needed to upgrade something, maybe Lowe's would do it for free or offer a discount. Domestic violence is a horrible thing to go through, there will always be trust issues for those involved. Live plants have been shown in studies to improve moods too! Keep us posted.

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