Stars of Hope

We usually don’t even notice them anymore. I guess that’s to be expected, because they have been hanging there for over a decade now. Those wooden stars have just become a part of the backdrop of our community. There are dozens of them scattered throughout town. Each one is unique, powerful, and beautiful in its own way. Where did they come from and how did they wind up in West, TX?

When a community goes through a disaster, there are many different organizations who show up to help the residents recover. Each organization brings different resources, perspectives, and methods of helping people in crisis. One such organization is Stars Of Hope. What they do brings healing on multiple levels.

First, they set up opportunities for people who are facing tragedy to express themselves through art. As it says on the Stars Of Hope website ( https://starsofhopeusa.org ), there is a “transformative power of therapeutic art.” Plywood stars and paints are provided so people can express themselves and offer messages of hope to their friends and neighbors. Second, those stars are then displayed in the affected community to bring hope and encouragement to the people who are hurting and undergoing the hard work of recovery. Third, painting and displaying the stars is especially helpful to the children. The adults in the community can work at cleaning up, rebuilding, raising funds, making plans, reorganizing, etc. Children want to (and need to) be a part of the recovery efforts as well, but what can they do? As kids, they can’t do all the hard work the grown-ups are involved in, but they can paint! When Stars Of Hope came to West, they brought a project with them that kept the children busy for a while and allowed the adults to have some time to work, but more than that, the kids got to do something meaningful! The children were not just occupied for a little while, they were making a difference! Their stars brightened the dark days of struggle and recovery, bringing the hope and encouragement our community needed to keep going.

Why are the stars still there after all this time? Becasue they are a part of our story. They remind us that as a community, we depend on each other. They remain as testimony of what a community can accomplish when we work together. They also serve as expressions of gratitude to all the organizations who showed up to help us. I don’t know how long those stars will hang there, but I hope they last a long time, continuing to shine out their messages of hope.