Broken Beats
by Trevell Ellis (Rhythm T)
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I have lived in Herndon in a home with five roommates for about five years. I work part-time at Home Goods and play drums at the MLK Christian Church. Recently, I played in a band called Bac-Out until, sadly, the lead vocalist passed away.
My passion for playing the drums started when I was around 3 years old when I picked up my first set of sticks. My uncle played drums and taught me how to play. I continued to study by watching some of the greats like John
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Recently Rhythm T performed at the Jewish Community Center at Pathway Homes Summer of the Arts Reception. He also exhibited the poem at the bottom of this newsletter.
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Bonham the drummer for Led Zeppelin, Mitch Mitchell who played with Jimi Hendrix, Billy Cobham and Tony Williams, to name a few. I craved to learn several styles including rock, jazz, R&B, blues, funk and reggae.
I was in marching band in high school and rose to the level of co-captain of the drum-line and then moved to another high school and the band leader appointed me captain of the drum-line there. During this time, I taught the kids at the neighboring junior high the basics. In addition, I played with many churches including one where I taught a young girl, who was around 4 or 5 years old at the time, to play. She grew up to become a producer. Over the years, I continued to play with a wide array of different bands that played heavy metal, go-go, fusion, R&B and Jazz.
My goal is to join another band so I practice a wide range of music types including, most recently, learning Latin rhythms like Cha Cha, Bolero and Tango. I also have taught myself how to play other percussion instruments like Congo and Bongo drums. Throughout my life, my dream was to play with Prince. From the first day I heard his music, I was hooked. I connect with that style of music. It was a very hard day for me when he passed. To honor his memory, I recorded several tributes on YouTube.
Here is a link to one of them.
Prior to coming to Pathway Homes, I had been at a county Residential Intensive Care (RIC) program and prior to that staying in a shelter, on the street or couch hopping with family and friends. I now have stability and am working toward my goals which include finding my next band, learning how to drive and moving into a single unit apartment. In the words of the Isley Brothers I am ready for life to “Take Me to the Next Phase.”
Broken Beats are drum beats that are played with odd patterns instead of constant strokes. Most beats you can hear a constant pulse on the ride cymbal or hi hat; however, broken up beats take that feel away. By changing the pattern of your hi-hat or ride cymbal, you are adding a totally different unique sound to the groove.
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A Message from the President & CEO
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Pathway Homes Inc. is a premier provider of Permanent Supportive Housing in Northern Virginia and Central Florida. We recognize that everyone needs safe, decent, and permanent stable housing. We believe that housing is a right not a privilege! We are committed to a culture of excellence, with the intention of opening pathways to stable housing and long-term recovery. The reality is that for some of our most vulnerable neighbors— individuals with mental illnesses, co-occurring substance use, chronic health conditions, histories of trauma, and other conditions — getting a home is the first and most impactful milestone on their path toward recovery.
Pathways Homes provides housing using a Housing First model. Housing First is an approach to quickly and successfully connect individuals to housing that is non-contingent upon services. In short everyone is considered “housing ready” and the focus is on ensuring the housing provider is “consumer ready.” However, some conditions make it difficult for people to maintain a stable home without additional help. Here at Pathway Homes, our ability to be consumer ready is the reason why 99% of those we serve choose to engage in services at some point during their time with us. It is also the reason we were able to successfully serve 25 individuals through SAMHSA’s Cooperative Agreements to Benefit Homeless Individuals (CABHI) transitional funding over the past year.
Permanent Supportive Housing results in significant cost saving to communities. A study conducted by the Economic RoundTable in Los Angeles looked at cost savings generated from supportive housing versus housing without services. For the general homeless population, temporary or permanent housing (without services) reduces public costs by 50%. For the chronically homeless, supportive housing reduces public costs by 79% suggesting that adding services provides communities an even greater return for their investment. At Pathways, we know that the most important return on investment is seeing how those services help individuals become engaged and highly productive individuals in our community.
Policymakers, administrators, and Managed Care Organizations are increasingly aware that a lack of stable housing can interfere with health goals, and that integrating health care with affordable housing can produce better outcomes. Yet there is not nearly enough affordable permanent supportive housing to meet the need. With Medicaid expansion, we are hopeful that greater attention will be paid to expand the Pathway Homes model throughout Virginia. To this end, the Northern Virginia Health Foundation has provided Pathways with funding to pilot a Permanent Supportive Housing waiver project. We look forward to advancing our model and sharing a balanced approach that integrates the voice of the consumer, excellent services with positive outcomes, and provides the greatest return on investment for our vulnerable neighbors and our supporters.
On behalf of Pathways, I thank you for your continued support of the work we do and ask you to continue to partner with us on this journey.
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Sylisa Lambert-Woodard, EdD, LCSW, LSATP, MAC
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6th Annual Summer of the Arts Exhibit
Well-Received at Jewish Community Center
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For the first time ever, we held our Summer of the Arts Exhibition at the Jewish Community Center in Fairfax. Pathways curator, Jennifer Judelsohn, selected pieces and staged them for Sarah Berry and her curating team at the Jewish Community Center who added their own touches for greater impact.
Hundreds of people walked through the exhibition during its showing from June 15th through July 11th and several pieces sold this year. Many of the artists came to the Artists Reception held on June 24th and shared their process, technique and inspiration with reception attendees. We had acrylic, pastel, water-color, charcoal, and mixed-media paintings as well as crafts, poetry and music this year from a wide array of talented artists.
We thank the artists for sharing their work and we also thank the Jewish Community Center for hosting our exhibition this year. We are grateful to Executive Director Jeff Dannick for inviting us to exhibit and to Sarah Berry and Sharon King the wonderful gallery staff for installing the exhibit, setting up
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Several exhibiting artists discussed their pieces with attendees at the artist reception.
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for the reception, and the wonderful welcome they gave Pathways staff and artists. We feel like we are part of the Jewish Community Center family! Our appreciation also goes to Barry Dickman, and Sharon and Stephen Canner for connecting us to Jeff at the outset.
Summer of the Arts honors Karen Free, a long-time resident of Pathway Homes and an accomplished artist, who passed away in 2011. In memory of Karen’s love of art and culture, the Free family established the Karen Free Art and Recreation Recovery Fund to spur cultural awareness and expand artistic opportunities for residents of Pathway Homes. If you would like to donate to the Fund or support Pathways clients, please click the donate button below to be taken to our secure online donation site.
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Each day during the exhibit the Jewish Community Center preschool children waved at the lions giving them a cheerful good morning and good-bye at the end of the day. Being part of a community venue provided a wonderful opportunity to engage the children and adults in how art connects us all.
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These pieces were just a few of the wonderful works exhibited during this year’s Summer of the Arts. Please join us next Summer! Watch for details on coming dates and venues in future newsletters.
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I Am Very Glad There Is You
I love you from the bottom of my heart
The more we stick together hopefully that we don’t fall apart
And we’ll kiss before we say goodnight
Our dreams will go above
The more we stay together the more that I will give you all my love
Let’s stay together baby
In a casting brew but in my lovely heart I am very glad there is you
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