Operating in nine Bay Area homeless shelters in three counties, DrawBridge provides a safe environment where homeless children use art to express their needs, fears and hopes. DrawBridge brings art facilitators and trained volunteers to shelters on a regular basis in order to give children a voice and an opportunity to feel valued. High-quality and varied materials are provided, including paint, clay and collage materials. An important component of DrawBridgeÌs program is the inclusion of formerly homeless mothers and teens as staff. They relate to children because of their shared experience. The DrawBridge School Education Project takes a video about a homeless boy to local schools as a means of helping youth understand family homelessness and substitute fact for fiction. Formerly homeless teens help with these presentations and assist students with art projects. Through Our Eyes, DrawBridgeÌs Traveling Art Exhibit, features the artwork of homeless youth. Suming up the program, one 11-year-old participant noted, "ItÌs like when you play telephone, and it never comes back the way you mean it. When you draw your feelings, people canÌt misunderstand you. Like if youÌre really mad and you may not be able to tell the exact words, you can draw lightning flying down or something like that."