| October 2003
It was the first day of my new job [at HAI assigned to monitor
a performance at Manhattan Psychiatric Center]. I had never
been around mentally ill people and here I was, sandwiched
on a couch between two severely mentally ill men on a locked
ward. I was here to observe a performance by Cajun cellist
Sean Grissom. But all I could do was think, "Help."
I was intimidated, overwhelmed, and a little scared. The men
around me were pacing, rocking, muttering and staring.
Over the next two years, I would visit many more mental health
wards, along with juvenile prisons, nursing homes and homeless
shelters. I felt intimidated on my first trip to many of these
places. When I first went to a prison for teenagers I wondered
what each boy had done...
I went to these facilities for one of two reasons: either
to coordinate a performance or an educational workshop. The
clients responded to the performances with joy and the workshops
with thought and attention. The workshops would bring out
people's fears, hopes and dreams. After attending a few of
these, I would forget that I was once afraid or intimidated.
Personalities would shine through the ugly situations in which
HAI clients found themselves.
These people who I have met and come to know motivated me
to pursue a career in public interest law. I am currently
in my 3rd year at NYU Law School and I hope to continue working
with mentally ill populations.
Dinah Luck,
NYU 3rd year Law Student |
I
have been working as a performance artist for HAI with my
music partner Susan Weber (Lord & Weber) since 1985. The
impact HAI has had on my life has been monumental. As we began
to do shows for HAI I began to see a whole different world
and I also began to see a greater value for music then I had
previously known.