The mural painted by the children in Haven.
Orion Griffin | The Newberry Observer
NEWBERRY — Haven Newberry hosted a cookout and revealed a mural, painted by the children, that depicted how they saw Newberry on Friday, July 21.
“If you really look at the details of the mural, for example, it has trees on it. Most kids said that Newberry makes them think of parks and family. With your family, you have roots, with roots, you have a tree,” one of the mentors explained.
The mural included a gradient ribbon, each color representing and brining awareness to other aspects of everyday life, such as the orange, which represents gun violence, and the purple that represents domestic abuse.
“So, we wanted to incorporate any and everything to tie it back into the things that go on daily because everybody goes through different things,” Mentor Desiree Monts said.
The mural was painted without any instruction other than for the children to paint how they saw Newberry. It was to depict the good, the bad or the ugly; to depict what they feel Newberry has going on and to offer.
“We really wanted to highlight what the kids want. We didn’t give them any kind of encouragement. We told them ‘this is y’all, we want y’all to strictly be in charge of this.’ We wanted them to put whatever, it doesn’t matter if it is the negatives or positives. We wanted them to express how they saw Newberry,” Monts said.
Haven Newberry started two years ago as a way to bring the county’s middle and high schoolers together and provide the resources for them to build as a community.
“And not turn towards the negatives in the city, and to the positives and see their quality of life,” Monts said.
“I feel like Haven helps kids get out of the streets and helps them get a better education, making sure they stay in school. More lawyers and doctors in the world,” Mentor Trey Toland said.
Mentors within the program help keep it a safe place for children to go and talk, they said. Mentors reach out year-round to each of the children to see how they are doing and if they need any help throughout the school year. Mentors serve as a safe person and someone that the children can trust.
“I grew up in Newberry, so like, growing up, we didn’t have anything like this,” another mentor explained. “We didn’t have mentors; nobody we can go to. Some kids are not comfortable talking to their parents, so they come to us for a safe place.”
Haven Newberry asks for the support of the community, whether it be donations or spreading the word of what they do. They seek to help the children of Newberry and keep them on a positive track and state of mind in life and help from the community would be huge.
“If you can reach out to mentors, we would love to get the community more involved, not just with the kids, but funding wise,” Monts said. “We need funding, we need the support from the community. If you cannot donate money, spreading the word of what we do is another way to support. We really want the community involved.”
“We really need support for our programs,” another mentor added.
More information about Haven Newberry and their mission can be found of their Facebook and Instagram at Newberry Haven. Both sites have a link to buy a T-shirt that helps support Haven Newberry’s mission and programs.
Reach Orion Griffin @ 803-768-3122 or on Twitter @TheNBOnews.