Hi Friends,
We are writing to invite you to be part of Madwomen in the Attic's annual December Letters Project. There are several ways to be part of the project, but the main idea is to make secular cards of warmth, solidarity, and support that we, on behalf of MITA and its community affiliates and allies, will deliver to local psychiatric hospitals during the winter solstice. You can make cards with our group or with your own group (of friends or an organization you are part of, etc.). We invite you to be part of the project and to spread the word. If you are not local to the western New York area, feel free to lead the project in your own community, and to use any of our materials for reference.
Our local project this year will kick off with a drop-in card-making gathering on Sunday, November 30th, from 11:30 AM to 1:30 PM at Spot Coffee on Main Street in Williamsville, at the Main and Union intersection (there are bus stops nearby, the location is mobility chair accessible, and there is a parking lot, too). Anyone who would like to make cards for the project, either at a table with us or just in the vicinity at a nearby table solo or with a couple of other friends, is invited to join us on Sunday. I will be bringing card-making supplies, but you are also welcome to bring supplies of any kind, if you have them. It's perfectly fine to make and design cards or to write notes on pre-made ones, too, and to deliver them to us at Spot on that day. Everyone is invited to do this; young people, too (we have middle and high school students who participate in the project). And if you want to bring the project to your group, we will make arrangements to meet you to collect the cards that you all make.
For those to whom this project is new and unfamiliar, here's some information-- please share it with organizations and friends with whom you're connected.
The December Letters Project is an annual card- and letter-writing campaign led by Madwomen in the Attic, a local grassroots feminist mental health literacy organization in western New York. The campaign is aimed at gathering and amassing secular but festive and spirited cards and letters of warmth and encouragement and solidarity, designed and written by members of the community to be delivered to our neighbors in local psychiatric institutions on or near the winter solstice, at the end of December. MITA delivers December letters to two local institutions each year: the Western New York Children's Psychiatric Center and the Buffalo Psychiatric Center. Typically, but not always, school-aged students who participate in the project create many but not all of the cards for the children's psych center, where children ranging in age from very young to 18 are seen. We are in need, each year, of cards for both institutions, and messages of solidarity and love from people of all ages are felt by recipients of all ages. The project is a massive community under-taking: if the community is involved, the load is eased, as each person who participates in the project only needs to do a little to have a big impact-- that's the benefit of cooperative, community forms of helping.
The December Letters Project aims to alleviate the isolation, loneliness, and stigma that often accompany inpatient stays at mental health institutions. By flooding our local MH institutions with support and love for our friends within those institutions during the winter solstice, through cards and letters, our goal is to build a bridge between institution and community. If you feel unsure about what to write, we encourage you to ponder what you might find comforting to read if you were in a psych hospital during the winter solstice or to think of someone you love, and imagine writing them a note of kindness and love. For additional inspiration, we suggest visiting our site and seeing some of the letters that have been delivered in past years of this project!
Learn more about the project by checking out the following resources:
https://madintheattic.org/.../december-letters-project.../
https://madintheattic.org/the-december-letters-project/
If you would like to be part of the project as an individual, you're welcome to join us at our meeting OR to connect with us to arrange a delivery or pick-up of your cards. If you would like to lead the December Letters Project with an organization, company, school, class, or group, we suggest checking out our website for helpful resources and information. We advise following some version of the following steps, if you will do the project with your group: (1) share general information about the project with your group, using the resources we provide through our website, discussing possibilities for approaches to the cards (2) hold a card-making party but also encourage people to make cards on their own, and (3) put out a card-collection box with a flyer about the project or some written guidance, in a place that is widely accessible, so that people can deliver their cards to one identifiable location. For reference, we have posted some photos on our site of what this might look like. The project can also be run in a way that is led by YOU and is unique to your group or organization's mission-- for instance, when teachers lead the project in schools, they often tie it into content in the course or hold the card-making meeting after a group discussion about mental health or mental health hospitals, and stigma, all of which are important subjects that appear in school subject areas, such as social studies / history, sociology, psychology, health, and language arts.
If you are planning to participate in the project, please contact us to make arrangements for the delivery of your cards in advance-- the final deadline for cards to be collected is December 18th.
Please help us get the word out about this project! Thank you so much for your consideration, as we know this is a busy time of year. Last year, we delivered 500 cards and letters to our neighbors, but we cannot do this without community help. We will deliver our cards close to the solstice again this year. Every card helps!
Warm Regards,
Jessica Lowell Mason and Melissa Bennett
MITA Co-Founders
www.madintheattic.org
(PDF flyers attached: they contain the information in this email and feature two gray-scale images, one of an owl and one of an envelope, embossed and tied with string.)
You may also like the following events from Madwomen in the Attic:
Also check out other
Health & Wellness events in Williamsville,
Workshops in Williamsville.
