Featured Artist

FEATURED ARTIST FEATURED ARTIST Justin St. Cyr

Justine St. Cyr is a Galveston resident, artist, and activist working in our undeserved communities.

“If God is Willing and the Creek Don’t Rise” is a piece I created during a printmaking class at Galveston Arts Center. It was inspired by a gentleman who would ride the van I drove from Our Daily Bread to Salvation Army and back. He was in a wheelchair, so he’d often sit up front with me and tell me stories about growing up in Kentucky. Every time I’d say “See you tomorrow!” he would reply with, “If God is willing and the creek don’t rise.” a saying taken from his grandfather stemming from living near a creek prone to flooding. ”

Already knowing that she wanted to go into a field to help the undeserved, hearing and being a part of her once homeless fiancé Jon’s story, made Justine want to learn the stories of others who have had similar experiences. Keeping this goal in mind, she landed her first position with Gulf Coast Center as a PATH Case Manager in homeless services connecting people to mental health services. In addition to driving the van, Justine’s days consisted of driving around Galveston County conducting outreach, completing screenings and intakes for GCC services, attending community meetings to collect resources, and once a year working on the Point in Time (PIT) Count. The PIT Count is a national event that occurs every year in the middle of January where agencies in each county come together to count and provide resource bags to all of the people without homes in their community. The purpose behind this count is to inform government agencies of the number of homeless people in an area which leads to grant funding for agencies who serve that population. Justine describes this as, “an amazing event” that she has had the pleasure of being the lead coordinator for Galveston County in 2020 and 2021. Her next role with the center was as the Homeless Services Team Lead, where Justine helped oversee both the PATH and PSH (permanent supportive housing) programs. She is now the Pathway to Care Navigator in crisis services, where she provides short-term therapy to people who engaged with the crisis team due to suicidal thoughts or a suicide attempt. Justine doesn’t see her homeless neighbors as often as she used to but will always cherish her time serving them and hearing their stories.