Goings and Comings

March 3, 2014

After a wonderful six years of faithful service as BSM’s therapeutic artist, Becca Blake resigned from the position in order to dedicate more time and efforts toward her work with children and families at Beacon. She co-founded this vibrant faith community with Karen Rohrer in Fishtown. The programs they are designing are grounded in artistic and other creative processes.

During her tenure at the art table, Becca teamed up with nearly 700 volunteers, and assisted more than 5,000 guests with over 200 different art projects. But the numbers tell less than half the story. They don’t capture the grace and dedication she brought to her work. And they don’t reflect the remarkable impact she had on so many vulnerable adults who – perhaps for the first time in many years, or in their entire lifetimes for that matter – began to see themselves as capable of creating beauty, and expressing joy through their handiwork.

One of the hallmarks of a leader is the ability to identify and nurture their successors. And here Becca showed outstanding leadership by preparing our new therapeutic artist, Brenna McGinnis, to take responsibility for the art table. Brenna has faithfully volunteered at the art table for more than a year. In that time she demonstrated that she is more than up to the challenge of following in Becca’s footsteps. No doubt Brenna will put her own stamp on this important work, and we could not be more thrilled at her willingness to do that.

As we welcome Brenna, the entire BSM community wishes Becca all the best as she and Karen grow their community at Beacon. We will also remember fondly the grace, kindness and compassion that Becca brought to her work at the art table and everyone fortunate to receive her gifts.