October 16, 2009

On any given weekday, she can be found carting around a variety of free therapeutic arts & crafts for the patients at the VA Medical Center, Washington D.C.

She is Felicia Picott, and she's been working as a Craft Care Specialist at the D.C. VA since 2004 through an organization called Help Hospitalized Veterans (HHV).

"The best part of this job is seeing sheer joy on the faces of veterans receiving a new kit. There are art displays throughout the hospital to show off their creativity," says Picott. "These kits have helped cancer patients get through their treatments by occupying their minds, reducing anxiety and making the treatment bearable," she added.

Kits have also shown to be highly therapeutic for those in the traumatic brain injury (TBI) unit. "The kits help TBI patients with their fine motor skills and reinforce patience rebuilding. We have one TBI patient who has become so proficient at constructing kits and putting his own creativity and style into them he is now competing some of his artwork. He even represented this medical center at the 2009 National Veterans Creative Arts Festival."

Picott, originally from Trenton, New Jersey, says she loves her job and she gets as much from the patients as they get from her. "In a way it's been a miracle of sorts, because working with the veterans here has helped me understand my father, a Vietnam veteran, so much more. They've helped me help him."

Since Picott's position commenced in September 2004, over $1.3 million in arts & crafts have been delivered to the Washington D.C. VA Medical Center, bringing the total value shipped to this facility to just over $3.8 million.

(Photo: Felicia Picott assists veteran John Ross with a wood "Keepsake Box" craft kit.)