On Friday morning, a group gathered to assemble scaffolding inside the Denton County MHMR Center lobby, in order to hang an art project called 1,000 Cranes for Peace.
"It's Japanese legend that if you fold 1,000 cranes and make a wish upon it, that the wish will come true," Maryam Flory, a board member with The Art Room, explained. "So we started gathering and encouraging community members to make some origami cranes for us."
The cranes were folded by clients who are working on their mental health recovery. It's a collaborative effort between The Art Room and the Denton County MHMR Center.
"Some wrote messages of hope; wishes they had," Flory said. "I wrote a message to a dear friend that was really meaningful to me, and every time I look at it, um, I'm going to think of her."
The cranes dangle from a circular base; a chandelier with no lights to shine a light on mental health.
"I think the more we talk about it, the more we let others know that they can talk about it, too," Flory said.
"It changed my life, kept me alive," Melanie Clark said. Clark is a client who also works as a mental healthcare specialist at the Denton County MHMR Clinic. "A community of people that, we're supporting each other, helping each other...there's always someone that's going to be willing to help. Just reach out."
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
"We can't expect to get through this alone," Flory said.
