Painting the Possibilities

Summer is a special time at Traffick911. In the time that I spent serving as an advocate, the summer created the possibility for more frequent visits and deeper connections to be forged with the youth I served. In fact, the freedom of summer opened the door for one of the most surprising visits I had as an advocate.

I met Shania* very early on in my time at Traffick911. She was a young girl who had experienced much evil at the hands of different perpetrators. The trauma she experienced made it difficult for her to trust new people. We’d been meeting for nearly a year when summer came around, and I struggled to feel like I was actually a helpful presence in her life. 

One day, I was spinning my wheels trying to figure out what we could do for a visit. Shania didn’t express a desire for anything in particular, so my mind went a thousand different places and eventually landed on…paint. Surely anyone can enjoy putting paint on a canvas, right? I sure hoped so. 

I showed up to our visit with McDonald’s in hand, as well as an extraordinary assortment of paints, canvases, paintbrushes, and anything else you might possibly need to create a masterpiece. When Shania walked to our meeting spot in the park, I grinned sheepishly and asked, “How do you feel about painting?”

To my utter surprise, Shania lit up. Somehow, this shot in the dark landed true. Before my eyes, I saw transformation take place. The girl who struggled to engage was now open and chit-chatty. I tried to contain my excitement as she talked about school, friends, family, and relationships. She even started to give me pointers about how to make my painting look better. It was extraordinary to see the confidence that came from leaning into one of the hidden passions of this young survivor. 

This is the magic of summer at Traffick911. This is the season when we can languish in relationships and experience things together that the time constraints of the school year might not permit. Trust can become the foundation of these relationships with survivors when we have the time and resources to pour into them. I know that this summer memory is one I won’t soon forget.

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*Traffick911 uses pseudonyms to protect the privacy of clients