Power of the Flower
Emily Selverian (above on left, with Project HOME Special Projects Coordinator Will O'Brien) is a fifteen-year-old student at Wissahickon High School in Ambler and a member of Senior Girl Scout Troop #577 This article was originally published in “Spark Magazine” of the Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania. Emily was a recipient of the 2013 Girl Scout Gold Award for her work on this video.
Ever since I was a little girl and saw a man eating a sandwich from a trashcan, I have been moved to help the homeless. A Senior Girl Scout in Troop #577 with my sights on the Gold Award, I knew I finally had the chance to help the homeless in a powerful way.
Drawing together a dedicated team of volunteers in scouting, film production, and social services, I was able to create a sorely needed instructional documentary movie for Philadelphia’s homeless community.
“Power of the Flower” is a movie whose message for the homeless is delivered by the homeless themselves. While many documentaries on homelessness educate those fortunate enough to have homes, “Power of the Flower” educates those who do not. The video focuses largely on the visitors and residents of St. John’s Hospice and its Good Shepherd housing program, Project HOME, The Salvation Army and the Eliza Shirley House, all of which provide services for Philadelphia’s homeless. It functions as a guide to help the homeless find the resources they need to get through a day: lodging, food, clothes/supplies, sanitation facilities, addiction support, job search advice, and other social services. Weaving the video together is the tale of Frank Camps, a formerly homeless man, and Lisa Tashjian Bass, a volunteer who held out a flower and a hand to him one cold Valentine’s Day. This is the heart of the story, inspiring the name of the documentary and demonstrating how one single act can transform a life and bud into something beautiful. Through Lisa’s outreach, Frank began on a path towards employment, residence, renewed family ties, and better health.
Along with my team, I first screened the movie at St. John’s Hospice in August 2013, at Project HOME in November 2013, and several other shelters throughout Philadelphia. At the end of each screening, I gave each homeless person in the audience a flower to demonstrate my hope that their lives would flourish again. The men at St. John’s Hospice were really listening when the speakers in the film said there was something inside of them that wanted a better life and that there were many people and resources in the city to help them achieve it. Without hope, people have no reason to try and no motivation to ask for or accept help. Without hope, knowing where the resources are would mean very little.
The most successful aspect of my project was inspiring hope in the homeless. I was able to give all the homeless a reason to believe they could have a better life, simply by allowing them to hear the firsthand success stories of other homeless people around them.
Read more about Emily here.
You can watch “Power of the Flower” here.
