Huckleberry CARC Clients: Juan & Roberto

(Pictured: Artwork from Juan and Roberto's mural initiative, Painters Beautifying Kommunities.)

If you are a resident of an urban environment, you have undoubtedly walked past buildings covered in graffiti. Huckleberry’s Community Assessment and Referral Center (CARC) recently helped two young men arrested for graffiti vandalism become legitimate mural artists in San Francisco using strength-based Counseling and Case Management Services.
Since 2007, seventeen-year-old Juan has received Case Management services at CARC.  Over the past three years, he was arrested multiple times for graffiti vandalism. His mother became exasperated by the amount of money he owed the city of San Francisco in fines. She researched boarding schools and considered sending Juan to live elsewhere.  While a client at CARC, Juan began counseling sessions with Huckleberry therapist, Meghan, and slowly opened up about things going on in his life that led to his arrests. Meghan and his CARC Case Manager, Edwin, saw potential in Juan and convinced his mother to give him another chance and let live with her a little longer.
Sixteen-year-old Roberto was also arrested for graffiti vandalism in early 2010. Shortly after his arrest, he and his family began therapy with Meghan at CARC. They were extremely disappointed in his behavior and wanted him to give up art completely. Through therapy, Roberto’s family became aware of how passionate he is about art and CARC staff convinced them to let Roberto join the Precita Eyes Mural Arts Center, an inner-city mural arts organization.
CARC Case Manager, Harvey, took notice of how much the young men had progressed through therapy and encouraged them to team up and follow their passion for art. He suggested they apply for a grant to fund art projects through an organization called Youth Funding Youth Ideas (YFYI). The two young men wrote a proposal to YFYI and were awarded a $7,000 grant to complete four murals throughout San Francisco. For their first project, they will design and paint a mural in memory of gun violence victims at Brothers Against Guns, an organization dedicated to preventing youth violence. Both Juan and Roberto are extremely excited about this new venture and hope to eventually turn their mural projects into a business.