As the Make-A-Wish Mural Project kicks off this week we want to introduce you to our first mural location – Brookdale University Hospital Medical Center!

Brookdale has been a partner of Make-A-Wish for many years, treating our wish kids and referring them to receive a wish. They’re true believers in our mission, that a wish works in tandem with medical treatment to help a child fight their illness, and to find strength, hope and joy. When we began to look for locations for murals, they were at the top of our list.

Brookdale is located in one of the hardest hit communities in Brooklyn. They are the hub that covers Brownsville, East New York, Flatbush and Canarsie. “We have a very vast population that we take care of that are plagued by a lot of negative things, particularly gangs and gun violence,” said Sharon Devonish Leid, Vice President, External Affairs at Brookdale University Hospital Medical Center. “We’re in the midst of everything.”

The idea of murals at the hospital surfaced when Dr. Sandra R. Scott became the hospital’s Executive Director. She wanted a way to lighten things up and give the hospital a different feel – particularly in the emergency room. “Usually when someone has their first interaction with Brookdale, it’s through our emergency room,” Sharon said. “But it wasn’t inviting, our building is old.”

Dr. Scott believed murals would create a more inviting setting for the hospital and the community, and looked into having two developed - one inside the emergency room itself and one outside, visible when coming down the street. But financial issues kept the hospital from bringing the idea to fruition. “We’re a safety net hospital, our funds have to go to more pressing things – patient care comes first,” Sharon said. 

So when Make-A-Wish and LISA Project NYC approached Brookdale about gifting them two community murals, they welcomed it with open arms. The murals are being funded by a generous Make-A-Wish donor whose goal is to increase awareness of Make-A-Wish in the community while enhancing it through art. 

Not only will these murals beautify a part of Brooklyn and a hospital that serves our wish kids, it will spread much needed awareness among the community to help us reach more children and grant more wishes to children who need them.

“It’s a small, overpopulated community. I know that there are children and families that don’t even know about Make-A-Wish and what it can do to help them,” Sharon said, “Expanding and letting families know about the great work Make-A-Wish does, that it’s not only for terminally-ill children, is important. Make-A-Wish is there as a resource, to help. We can expand our partnership to let the community of people who really need it, know about it.”

The team at Brookdale was inspired by the story of Rey Rosa, a wish alum, artist and co-founder of LISA Project NYC. “Rey’s story is just amazing – and those are the types of stories we have here in this hospital, too, that people don’t know about. We actually save so many lives,” Sharon said. “We're excited to participate in something like this, something positive, especially with Make-A-Wish.”

Rey and LISA Project NYC have brought together two amazing local artists to design and paint two wish-inspired murals at the hospital – Indie184 and Peach Tao. The first, a collaboration between Indie184 and Rey, will be on a wall outside the Brookdale Urgent Care Center and seeks to reflect the vibrant community surrounding the hospital. The second will be created by Peach Tao, directly outside the emergency room.

“Having artists of this caliber getting involved, coming to just give back, it means a lot,” Sharon said.

And the children at the hospital got to take part, too! For her mural, Peach provided three different designs of her interpretation of the magic of a wish and gave the kids a chance to choose their favorite.

“It was important to us to let the kids have a say in the mural design, because they’re the ones who are going to remember it the most,” said Sharon. “We have a pediatric emergency room, we have two pediatric floors, we have a sickle cell center with a doctor who is heavily involved with Make-A-Wish, so to allow our kids to be part of this decision meant a lot to us. These kids are our future.”

Many of the kids involved in voting were part of Brookdale’s Healthy Families program, which helps families that are expecting, from the time they conceive until the child “graduates” at age five. It provides any resources the family might need – diapers, a support system, workshops, and more.

“The kids that are part of the Healthy Families program can come back and know that they were part of this, they were part of history,” Sharon said. “It was great to see them so happy.”

And excitement is building not only among the children and families of the hospital, but in the staff that has faced one of their toughest years yet. “The Brookdale staff has gone through so much. Just to see something like this go up on their buildings, something new and beautiful and color that just brings life to the building and the community, it means a lot. They’re excited,” said Sharon.

The murals will also be part of something that has been years in the making – of making Brookdale truly a community hospital, with a focus on giving back.

“We’re always trying to be in that give-back mode. Anything we can literally give out to the community, whether it’s a school fair, food, or this mural, we want to do.” Sharon said. “We’ve been trying to get a mural for years, because it could change the perception of us in the community, the perception of us as a hospital. It changes your mind, and makes you feel more comfortable – people will see that we’re here for them.”

Sharon is hoping that the murals will bring people to Brookdale, and that it’ll bring positivity, happiness, enjoyment and excitement to a neighborhood that’s often overlooked.

“The murals have color, they have kids - all things that are enticing to the community. It just makes us feel like we’re really contributing to the community, to the change. We want to be part of that change in a positive way,” said Sharon. “It’s something that will symbolize our community. It’s symbolizing giving back. It’s symbolizing enjoyment. It’s symbolizing brightness and excitement.”

Learn more about the Make-A-Wish Mural Project and follow along on social media as these murals come to life!