Creative Healing

    Whether writing poems, attending lessons on drawing, or learning to bead, Friday nights at the Wellness Shack, Inc., a grassroots recovery center for mental illnesses on Barstow Street, provides a place where people can just come, sit, and relax.

    “Art is a way of expressing oneself,” says office coordinator Nora Bates. For a group who may feel shy or misunderstood, the draw to the Wellness Shack is its openness. “We promote safety,” Bates says. “When this is a safe environment, people can come and be and don’t have to explain themselves.” They view a recovery-oriented atmosphere as non-judgmental and confidential, where people are free to take risks. “Sometimes we have arguments,” says Bates, “but we talk it out.”

    The Wellness Shack provides services for adults with mental health issues. These illnesses aren’t choosy, though. “We serve people who are homeless to retired ministers to gainfully employed. There’s quite a variety,” Bates says.

    Begun in 2004, the Wellness Shack is one of five grassroots recovery centers in Wisconsin. Bates says that being consumer-run means people decide for themselves that they have mental health issues and want help. “We’re here to help others wherever they’re at,” Bates says.

    The arts that the Wellness Shack offer often have a calming effect for people. “I used to not sleep at all and then I got into knitting. It’s very meditative for me,” says Bates, who struggles with a mental illness herself. “I can tell when I’m not doing well. I can’t even make a straight row.