Mentorship 2.0 | Spring 2026

Meet our mentees: Mya, Saffron, Melina, Haley, and Ethan! Each with their own style, story, and way of seeing the world through their own lens. Our mentorship is rooted in creativity, growth, community, and providing a space for the mentees to learn, feel supported, and collaborate with other creatives. We started the first session of mentorship with introductions and shared the types of photography they do and showed their work, which included portraits, events, product, family, and sports. The room filled with conversations about technique, inspiration, challenges, and the types of photos they want to create.

After, we spent the rest of the day taking group shots and individual headshots by our Executive Director for The Firehouse Dream, Jasmine Lopez, who is also a photographer! We are excited about the upcoming sessions and the new things the mentees will be learning.

Art Therapy: Affirmation Mirror

To welcome the new year with intention, we hosted a Creative Affirmation Mirrors workshop led by our facilitator, Yekseny Guerrero. We created a space for community members to set positive affirmations and reflect on the energy they want to carry into the year ahead.

Throughout the session, participants shared, connected, and created through thoughtful, reflective conversations. Using colors, designs, beads, and meaningful words, everyone crafted their own affirmation mirror. After, we circled up and invited everyone to share the meaning behind their mirrors. Every mirror held a story, and intention for what was put on their own mirror. 

Candle Making at TFD

This candle-making workshop was led by both Liz, our Program Coordinator, and Jess, our Community Engagement Coordinator. For this workshop, it was a 2-in-1, where candle making was mixed in with a check-in circle.

They started with introductions, as each neighbor wrote down their names and chose a word that started with the letter of their first name. Next, they had the choice to select from inspiring stickers, and paint markers to decorate their candles. This allowed them to add a personal touch that reflected themselves and their stories. Each person then shared the meaning of their candle with the group.

While the candles hardened, they shifted back into a check-in circle where they played games, and fostered deeper connection and belong as a community.

Be sure to check out some of our favorite photos from this workshop below!

This program is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council.

Calm Room: Diamond Painting

This week in the Calm Room, we did diamond painting. The diamond painting consists of different colored gems, and the students had the option to choose any small animal paper to fill with diamonds. It was a quiet activity, and the students were focused on adding each gem one by one.

This program is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council.

Mentorship 2.0 | Final Session

The final chapter of Mentorship 2.0 was a celebration for our mentees and their accomplishments! The last couple of sessions were about learning, experimenting, being creative, and coming up with a project of their own. For the final session, we celebrated the mentees’ achievements by having a celebratory dinner, followed by showing their final project and presenting it. The mentees went over the challenges and solutions they had come across and their entire journey of Mentorship 2.0.

To our mentees: Adlemy, Mya, Gabi, Keilani, and Saffron, thank you for your time, creativity, and determination. It was great to see each mentee show up and talk about their projects, and being able to see the process from start to finish.

To our Co-leads: Lu’Cretia and Jasmine, thank you for the ways you have shared your knowledge, skills, and wisdom with our mentees. We are forever grateful!