“I felt like I should be holding it together better. But I couldn’t. I just cried the whole way through.” Event Host, Shirley
We are greeted by masked figures straight out of the pages of a fairytale. Thus begins our journey. This band of animal musicians leads us in a gentle dance across the fields, past the poet reciting her words of wisdom by the pond and into the woods.
Three women are standing there in the changing light.
They begin to sing their lament, weaving together their stories of how they came to find themselves on the wrong side of the law, what it was like to loose everything, how they have grown and changed and overcome and fallen down again, their struggles to find someone who would believe in them again. To give them a chance.
As the women grow silent again, the strains of a violin can be heard in the hands of a small boy slowly walking into the shadows.
He leads us to a clearing with a shocking sight. Women in white dresses who are stuck. Literally buried in the ground; to their ankles, to their shins, to their waist.
One gets free and begins to walk toward the light. She stops to help the next woman pull her leg free. Together, they see the woman ahead of them, buried to her waist… The one who has given up. They rush to comfort her while frantically trying to dig her out. They convince her to join them… to try digging herself out again.
Finally freed, they pull her out of the hole and support her, step by step, until she can walk on her own two feet.
As this story is played out over and over again across the field, step by step they move forwards and together.
Sad, scared, hopeful, discouraged, angry, apprehensive, resolute, determined. Together they walk out of the woods, over the bridge separating them from the wide open fields ahead.
As we stream through the gate, a great white bird glides over the crest of a hill to greet us. A harbinger of hope and opportunity ahead.
We had the lovely opportunity to donate our services for this event benefitting Benevolence Farm.
“Benevolence Farm will provide a transitional living program for up to 12 women leaving North Carolina prisons. We recognize that change must come from within, but can be cultivated and inspired through a supportive, natural environment. Our goal is to give our participants the time and space — figuratively and literally — to make real, lasting changes.”
Many of you may not know this, but my mother and step-father founded a very similar organization about 5 years ago. They serve a different population (men overcoming addiction) but have the same goals. To create a safe place for the healing and rebuilding of lives. To provide the structure, support, compassion and tough love needed to find a new way of being. Sharing their belief that change is possible and that your past choices do not have to forever define your future. ~ Sarah
A few of the people who brought this magical day to life:
Event Designer: MARIELLE HARE
Venue: The Sculpture farm of SHIRLEY & WAYNE, Graham NC
Dancers: LEAH WILKS, NICOLE DAGESSE & Crew
Puppeteers: Paperhand Puppet Intervention – DONOVAN ZIMMERMAN & Crew
Poetry Recitation: JAKI SHELTON GREEN
Live music: Bucket Brothers
Actors: JANE HOLDING, CASEY ROBERTSON, KATIE NUNN
Catering: CAMERON RATLIFF & PATTI GALLIVAN of Saxapahaw General Store Catering with food donations from Cozi Farm & Braeburn Farm
Photography: SARAH COOK & NATE PERRY of Luck Photography
Videography: JOANNE HERSHFIELD
Event Volunteers: KAT BAWDEN , DANIELLE PURIFOY, MEG VANDEUSEN, LINDSEY PAYDON, EAMONN O’BRIEN, RHONDA GOOLSBY
