This gallery is dedicated to the former residents and staff at Northeast Lodge, San Francisco, California
This is the story of a visual gift to a community.
Many years ago, in San Francisco, there was a strong safety net of services to assist people who struggled with severe mental illness. Northeast Lodge was one of several residential programs assisting clients reintegrate into the community after a stay at an inpatient psychiatric unit. The Lodge provided safety, mental health treatment, support, and programs that helped the residents develop skills that they needed to function in the community. As is often the case, the program was located in a pretty rough part of San Francisco. There was little beauty around Northeast Lodge.
And so it was that the residents and staff decided to do something about it, and the idea of painting a mural on the front of their building was born. Working with an artist, the residents came up with a series of images that were meaningful to them. Over a period of months the mural was carefully painted.
After an amazing amount of hard work and dedication, in August, 1986, the mural, called, "Transformation and Healing" was officially given to the San Francisco community in a ceremony attended by many, including the Chief of the Mental Health Department at the time. It was a day of immense pride for both residents and staff. But it was particularly moving for the residents, people who had felt so disenfranchised from much of the community, who felt so hidden from view and forgotten, to be able to create such a beautiful and visible offering and to have it received so warmly.
It would be lovely if the story ended there. But it doesn't and unfortunately, the ending is not happy.
Over time, the victim of the yearly economic tsunamis that have devastated so many mental health programs in San Francisco over the years, Northeast Lodge (and almost all similar programs) closed.
Even more sadly, at some point, it isn't clear when or why, the mural was painted over.
Very early in her training as a psychologist, Stephanie was a student for a brief time at Northeast Lodge, and she had the good fortune to bear witness to the birth of the mural and its presentation to the community. She took the following photographs of the mural at the time of the dedication. It has always troubled her greatly that the mural was destroyed. While this was probably not the intentional message, she has always felt that this was a symbolic rejection of a beautiful gift, and of the people who worked so hard to make it, and for whom it had so much meaning.
Unfortunately, we don't know the name of the artist who worked with residents on this project. And we have not been able to find any record that these images have been published previously either in book form or on the web. So the images of the mural will reside here in honor of the efforts of the residents of Northeast Lodge, their courage and their resilience. They, their gift, and their journeys towards transformation and healing, are not forgotten.
© Visual Ovation Photography