{"id":25181,"date":"2025-10-27T08:16:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-27T08:16:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/25181\/"},"modified":"2025-10-27T08:16:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-27T08:16:07","slug":"mental-health-stories-come-alive-at-journey-of-hope-exhibit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/25181\/","title":{"rendered":"Mental health stories come alive at ‘Journey of Hope’ exhibit"},"content":{"rendered":"

Stop Stigma Sacramento<\/a>, a joint program of the Sacramento County Department of Health Services <\/a>and the Division of Behavioral Health Services<\/a>, organized \u201cJourney of Hope,\u201d an art exhibit that displays real-life stories of people living with mental health challenges. The stories are brought to life visually by local artists.<\/p>\n

The art exhibit took place at Capsity on Oct. 10-12 and Oct. 17-19.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is the only intersection of art and mental health that I know of in Sacramento County,\u201d said Amelia Baynes, health educator with Stop Stigma Sacramento. \u201cIt\u2019s giving a voice to people who live with mental health challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now in its eighth year, \u201cJourney of Hope\u201d was co-founded by Laura Asay-Bemis and Aunjuli Reese-Gifford. Both women turned their experiences with mental health into a mission to uplift others.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe idea was to bridge the gap between those with mental illness and those without,\u201d said Asay-Bemis. \u201cWriters share stories of hope and recovery. Artists transform these stories into visual pieces. It helps people see mental illness in a new light, through creativity and connection.\u201d<\/p>\n

What began as a one-day exhibit has evolved into a multiweek display that invites the community to pause, reflect, and engage. But for both founders, \u201cJourney of Hope\u201d is more than an art show; it\u2019s a conversation starter.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are communities that don\u2019t even have words for \u2018mental illness,\u2019\u201d Gifford explained. \u201cBut everyone understands emotion. Art gives language to what we don\u2019t have words for. It\u2019s a friendly way to discuss heavy topics, and it helps people feel seen.\u201d<\/p>\n

The exhibit included 44 paintings, poetry, and mixed media, each piece inspired by personal accounts of resilience. Visitors were invited to leave handwritten notes of feedback for the artists and writers, which are delivered directly to them after the show, an intimate reminder that their stories have touched someone else.<\/p>\n

That personal connection is the soul of \u201cJourney of Hope.\u201d \u201cIt\u2019s not about how good the art is,\u201d Gifford said. \u201cIt\u2019s about bringing humans together, giving people a space to express and be heard.\u201d<\/p>\n

Among the featured writers this year was Waynette Brock, a trauma-informed recovery specialist and CEO of One New Heartbeat Inc., who uses journaling as a tool for healing. Another writer, Dutchess Battle, a spoken word poet and mental health advocate, turned her piece \u201cUnchained Soul of Depression\u201d into a raw reflection on freedom from emotional bondage. Her words, displayed beside her art, served as \u201cboth mirror and medicine,\u201d offering comfort to anyone navigating unseen battles. Artist Debra Ledsinger, owner of DELEPHOTO, and a professional commercial and portrait photographer, created the art called \u201cNon-linear healing\u201d from La Viola Ward-Tofani\u2019s story.<\/p>\n

Tofani\u2019s story centered on how she was raped at 12 years old, and how she grew up in a home where depression, anxiety, and therapy weren\u2019t discussed.<\/p>\n

\u201cRaised by a strong Black single mother in a strict Pentecostal home, I was taught that prayer was the answer to all struggles,\u201d she stated in her write-up, which was depicted as art.<\/p>\n

\"StoriesStories of people living with mental challenges are given visual life by local artists in \u201cJourney of Hope.\u201d Seth Patterson, OBSERVER<\/p>\n

That sense of shared humanity is what Asay-Bemis and Gifford hope people carry with them after visiting.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want folks to walk away knowing that recovery is possible,\u201d Asay-Bemis said. \u201cMental health isn\u2019t something to hide from. It\u2019s part of being human.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though the county has been the primary funder, changes in funding have prompted the founders to continue \u201cJourney of Hope\u201d independently. Next year, they\u2019ll partner with One New Heartbeat to keep the exhibit alive and expand it. Plans already are underway to bring the show to other California counties.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe county can\u2019t guarantee funds for the show anymore, but we want it to continue,\u201d Asay-Bemis said. \u201cWe\u2019re just that passionate about it, and we don\u2019t want it to end.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asay-Bemis said the partnership opens new possibilities for the exhibit to expand beyond Sacramento County.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re even thinking about bringing it to nearby counties and, eventually, in the future, maybe doing one for veterans, calling it something slightly different, that could be hosted on military bases,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

With fresh partnerships and an expanding vision, \u201cJourney of Hope\u201d continues to evolve, proving that the show\u2019s message of healing, hope, and connection can travel far beyond Sacramento.<\/p>\n

\n\tRelated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Stop Stigma Sacramento, a joint program of the Sacramento County Department of Health Services and the Division of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":25182,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[19328,19329,912,19330,19331,19332,19333,4342,121,357,123,122,19334],"class_list":["post-25181","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sacramento","tag-amelia-baynes","tag-aunjuli-reese-gifford","tag-carousel","tag-debra-ledsinger","tag-dutchess-battle","tag-journey-of-hope","tag-laura-asay-bemis","tag-neenma-ebeledike","tag-sacramento","tag-sacramento-county","tag-sacramento-headlines","tag-sacramento-news","tag-waynette-brock"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25181","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25181"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25181\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25182"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25181"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}