Live Wire's Courtenay Hameister talks about p:ear programs

We're fortunate that so many talented members of the community donate their time in support of p:ear's programming. During a recent interview with Street Root's Joanne Zuhl, Live Wire host Courtenary Hameister discussed a writing group she did a p:ear:

J.Z.: You’ve gotten involved in the homeless front, doing an event for p:ear a few years ago.

C.H.: I did, and I got to go in one time for a writers group with some of the teen-agers there, and I got to sit in with them, and I got to read some of their stories and talk to them, and that was an amazing experience. And I was just blown away by the talent and how genuine these kids were and how much potential they had. It was just extraordinary. The work that p:ear does is unbelievable. I was really lucky growing up. I was slightly upper-middle class, and so I never had to deal with being afraid of not having a place to live, but I do know that had I not had a creative outlet, I don’t know what would have happened to me. I very well could have taken all that neuroses and allowed it to feed on itself instead of sending it out into the world. I think that all of our fears inside of us can just grow to be gigantic, and as soon as we speak them, they shrink. So an outlet like p:ear for these kids, it’s a place, for people to go and have that recognition — that there are people like me, and we matter. If that person matters, then I matter to.

You can do what Courtenay did! Contact joy@pearmentor.org to learn about volunteer opportunities and share your skills.