Whenever I do a Crossroads residency with At-Risk Youth, our activities culminate with a celebration of their accomplishments. They each share their stories and I tell on also. Then, their wishes are collected in a round basket and we "break bread" which is usually more like pigging out on pizza or ice cream! I make the promise not to throw their dreams away when the basket becomes full, and not to burn them either. Instead, I make the promise that we will plant their wishes in the garden. We end up doing this once every year or two, usually in my garden under the prayer tree. This time we are very fortunate that the runaway shelter has offered to let us use their garden and we are opening it to the public. See below for the deatils on date, time and location.
We begin with an explanation as above and the story. We create a sacred space. Each participant will be invited to read aloud one or two of the youths' wishes and make one of their own if they would like. These slips of paper are placed in the ground and this year we are planting a perrenial on top of the wishes along with a marker of some kind. I hope you can join us and help make these wishes come true.
You are invited to the Crossroads Story Center Wish Planting Ceremony, Saturday July 9, 10am at the Compass House Runaway Shelter 370 Linwood Ave, Buffalo NY. We will honor and plant the wishes of area teens along with a new perennial for their garden. Please come help us celebrate and keep an important promise to these youth, never to let their dreams die and to help them grow.
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