Ceramics a la carte owner lends a helping hand

Cathy Walsh has four simple rules by which she lives her life. Rules number one and two led her recently to an activity room at a downtown medical facility, where she spent a couple of hours instructing homeless patients in the art of painting ceramic holiday ornaments.

“Rule number one is get up every day and do the right thing,” said Walsh, the owner of Ceramics a la Carte in Canton. “And rule number two is be kind to other people. That’s what we’re here on earth for, to help each other.”

Cathy Walsh works with a patient at the Barbara McInnis House in the South End.

Walsh brought her craft and good cheer to the Barbara McInnis House, a 24/7 medical respite facility in Boston’s South End, run by Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program (BHCHP). Its patients are homeless men and women who are too ill to live on the streets or in a shelter, but not sick enough for an inpatient hospital stay. Over the years, Walsh has been a good friend to BHCHP, which commissioned her to do several projects, including two large ceramic installations thanking donors to its capital campaign.

On a recent Friday, as patients came into the activity room that also contains a television and an aging pool table, Walsh offered them a white ceramic ornament in various holiday shapes and a small palette of colorful under-glazes to paint with.

James “Michael” Fitzpatrick chose a Santa ornament for his daughter Amber, who lives with her mother. “I’d like to be spending Christmas with my daughter,” he said quietly. Lillian, who asked that her last name not be used, picked a stocking ornament, intended for “me, moi!” she said with a grin. “I’m going through radiation therapy and I need a lot of cheering up this Christmas.”

“While quality health care is the most important thing we offer at the Barbara McInnis House, these types of activities can be a vital part of a patient’s recovery,” said Carrie Eldridge-Dickson, manager of volunteer services and community partnerships. “They engage our patients’ hands and minds and offer the social interaction that’s so vital to all of us, homeless or housed.”

Patients sat at a large white table, chatting as they focused on the detailed work. The conversations covered a lot of ground, ranging from the merits of vocational schools to macrobiotic diets to astrology. After the session, Walsh planned to take the ornaments back to her studio where she would apply a clear glaze and fire them in her kiln. Patients will then decorate the facility’s Christmas tree with the ornaments.

Boston Health Care for the Homeless is just one of the nonprofits that Walsh has lent a helping hand to over the years, donating her time and materials or offering steep discounts for fundraisers. She has worked with the Jesuits of New England, various churches and temples, youth groups, hospitals and charities run by the Boston Bruins and Pittsburgh Penguins.

And just for the record, Walsh’s rules number three and four involve letting go of things you can’t control and avoiding “toxic people.”

Founded in 1985, Boston Health Care for the Homeless has evolved into the largest and most comprehensive health care for the homeless program in the country, delivering services to more than 11,000 homeless men, women and children a year in two major teaching hospitals and more than 80 shelters and other sites. For more information, visit bhchp.org.

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Posted by Canton Citizen on Dec 16 2010. Filed under Business. Both comments and pings are currently closed.