HELP US KEEP WRITING FROM THE HEART
Donation protected
Writing from our hearts is needed now more than ever. I‘m reaching out for your support so that our workshops may continue to bring joy, healing, and a strong dose of laughter during these uncertain times and well beyond.
For nearly 20 years, we have been a place of originality, fun, and the freedom to express ourselves without fear. Due to COVID-19, we will now meet around the table...online! For the moment, all Write From the Heart workshops are going virtual, via Zoom video conferencing. However, this transition, and my livelihood, depend on your contributions. As soon as we receive the “all clear,” we’ll be face-to-face again while keeping the door open to the online option for those who can’t join us in person.
Write From the Heart has found its place in the world, but I must now ask for your help.
HERE IS WHAT YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS WILL SUPPORT
Our existing cancer writing workshops at hospitals
Our existing workshops within the school system
Our existing workshops at retirement communities
Our Lancaster studio adult workshops
Our Lancaster studio summer camps for children and teens
Our one-on-one sessions for all ages
Advertising our online option to the world
Pencils and pens
Colored staples to impress the teens
The maintenance and management of Melissa’s sense of humor
Please note: We will always favor the human touch. But this is an opportunity to connect with each other when we need it most. We’re also discovering that online gatherings have their charm - classes will take place in “real-time” which means we’ll be able to see each other and share our work, as always.
Creativity lives everywhere. Please help me continue to bring the beauty, hope, and joy of art into our lives.
Melissa Greene
Founder, Teacher, Writer, Friend
WHAT PEOPLE SAY
"It was fascinating to watch Melissa transform the mood of our cancer clinical study writing group from sad and solemn to joyful and light. She is a master at using humor and compassion to bring patients out of themselves, while gently urging their imaginations to take flight. The room was filled with vitality and laughter."
Monika Joshi, M.D, MRCP
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Division of Hematology and Oncology
Milton S. Hershey/Penn State Cancer Institute
********************************************
"When I came to writing class with Melissa, I saw my life as a tragedy. I see my life as poetry now."
Judie Gemmell
Retried Counselor
Ephrata Intermediate School
********************************************
"Melissa guides with an astute sense of human emotion. She is perceptive and insightful while employing a remarkably gentle touch. She is well-practiced in recognizing and softening the pain of anxiety through humor, warmth, and the written word.”
Dr. Clarice J. Kestenbaum, MD
Professor of Clinical Psychiatry Emerita
Director of Training in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Emerita
Special Lecturer, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
********************************************
"Melissa’s support showed me how writing connects me with my true self. I can’t emphasize enough the impact that working with her has had on my creativity and self-knowledge. The joy and liberation that accompanied our work together fostered and cemented this passion, and I may not be writing at all today without her, much less pursuing it in college."
Frances Lindemann
Writing student since age 10
Writing major, Yale University
********************************************
"We see the same things. She gives me ideas about how to describe what things look like: like how the black swan looks like a boat. And the ducks look like drops of rain."
Zachary Goyda
Age 10
********************************************
“A cure for the standardized test. Our 10-year-old daughter went from feeling overwhelmed and frustrated by writing, to experiencing joy and excitement.”
Jennifer Taylor
Cassie’s mom
********************************************
“Melissa empowers young writers to find their voice in a way that feeds them academically and emotionally. I am always in awe of the writing they produce under her quiet, open-ended guidance.”
Janice Estabrook
Coordinator of Gifted and Enrichment Student Services
Lancaster-Lebanon Intermediate Unit 13
********************************************
“Write From the Heart is a wonder. Melissa generates trust. She generates confidence. She works tirelessly to embrace joy through the art of creating.”
Jim Shepard
National Book Award Finalist
J. Leland Miller Professor of English
Williams College
********************************************
"I earned a B.A. in journalism. I never thought of writing as a therapeutic activity. Within minutes of our first session, Melissa easily made me see how my passion for writing could be transformed into a way of coping with my chronic physical pain. She guided me to understand how focusing on talent and passion can replace sadness and fear with energy, happiness, and hope!"
Jeff Cofer
Master Golf Teaching Professional – PGTAA
********************************************
“The fact that you have chosen to join forces with so many people who are suffering is not lost on me. I dearly thank you for that. It’s been said in class many times...when cancer shows up, people leave. But you...you are every bit like the firefighters who ran into the twin towers while everyone else was running out.”
Charmaine Gaudet
Cancer Patient Caregiver
Penn Medicine/Lancaster Health Ann B. Barshinger Institute Cancer Writing Class
********************************************
“You’re a mental sea salt caramel chocolate bar.”
Jen Quigley
Fine Artist
Expressive Arts Therapist
MELISSA WHO?
Melissa Greene is a professional writer and writing coach, devoted to bringing out the best in people. Fascinated with writing as a therapeutic tool, she created Write From the Heart workshops after 9/11 to share her belief that the act of writing – taught thoughtfully, and without stress – can promote joy, hope, and calm. She teaches all ages and collaborates with schools and therapists. She also leads workshops for cancer patients at the Milton S. Hershey Penn State Cancer Institute and the Penn Medicine/ Lancaster General Health Ann B. Barshinger Cancer Institute in Pennsylvania. She is fond of pancakes, 100-year-old trees, and cats.
For nearly 20 years, we have been a place of originality, fun, and the freedom to express ourselves without fear. Due to COVID-19, we will now meet around the table...online! For the moment, all Write From the Heart workshops are going virtual, via Zoom video conferencing. However, this transition, and my livelihood, depend on your contributions. As soon as we receive the “all clear,” we’ll be face-to-face again while keeping the door open to the online option for those who can’t join us in person.
Write From the Heart has found its place in the world, but I must now ask for your help.
HERE IS WHAT YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS WILL SUPPORT
Our existing cancer writing workshops at hospitals
Our existing workshops within the school system
Our existing workshops at retirement communities
Our Lancaster studio adult workshops
Our Lancaster studio summer camps for children and teens
Our one-on-one sessions for all ages
Advertising our online option to the world
Pencils and pens
Colored staples to impress the teens
The maintenance and management of Melissa’s sense of humor
Please note: We will always favor the human touch. But this is an opportunity to connect with each other when we need it most. We’re also discovering that online gatherings have their charm - classes will take place in “real-time” which means we’ll be able to see each other and share our work, as always.
Creativity lives everywhere. Please help me continue to bring the beauty, hope, and joy of art into our lives.
Melissa Greene
Founder, Teacher, Writer, Friend
WHAT PEOPLE SAY
"It was fascinating to watch Melissa transform the mood of our cancer clinical study writing group from sad and solemn to joyful and light. She is a master at using humor and compassion to bring patients out of themselves, while gently urging their imaginations to take flight. The room was filled with vitality and laughter."
Monika Joshi, M.D, MRCP
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Division of Hematology and Oncology
Milton S. Hershey/Penn State Cancer Institute
********************************************
"When I came to writing class with Melissa, I saw my life as a tragedy. I see my life as poetry now."
Judie Gemmell
Retried Counselor
Ephrata Intermediate School
********************************************
"Melissa guides with an astute sense of human emotion. She is perceptive and insightful while employing a remarkably gentle touch. She is well-practiced in recognizing and softening the pain of anxiety through humor, warmth, and the written word.”
Dr. Clarice J. Kestenbaum, MD
Professor of Clinical Psychiatry Emerita
Director of Training in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Emerita
Special Lecturer, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
********************************************
"Melissa’s support showed me how writing connects me with my true self. I can’t emphasize enough the impact that working with her has had on my creativity and self-knowledge. The joy and liberation that accompanied our work together fostered and cemented this passion, and I may not be writing at all today without her, much less pursuing it in college."
Frances Lindemann
Writing student since age 10
Writing major, Yale University
********************************************
"We see the same things. She gives me ideas about how to describe what things look like: like how the black swan looks like a boat. And the ducks look like drops of rain."
Zachary Goyda
Age 10
********************************************
“A cure for the standardized test. Our 10-year-old daughter went from feeling overwhelmed and frustrated by writing, to experiencing joy and excitement.”
Jennifer Taylor
Cassie’s mom
********************************************
“Melissa empowers young writers to find their voice in a way that feeds them academically and emotionally. I am always in awe of the writing they produce under her quiet, open-ended guidance.”
Janice Estabrook
Coordinator of Gifted and Enrichment Student Services
Lancaster-Lebanon Intermediate Unit 13
********************************************
“Write From the Heart is a wonder. Melissa generates trust. She generates confidence. She works tirelessly to embrace joy through the art of creating.”
Jim Shepard
National Book Award Finalist
J. Leland Miller Professor of English
Williams College
********************************************
"I earned a B.A. in journalism. I never thought of writing as a therapeutic activity. Within minutes of our first session, Melissa easily made me see how my passion for writing could be transformed into a way of coping with my chronic physical pain. She guided me to understand how focusing on talent and passion can replace sadness and fear with energy, happiness, and hope!"
Jeff Cofer
Master Golf Teaching Professional – PGTAA
********************************************
“The fact that you have chosen to join forces with so many people who are suffering is not lost on me. I dearly thank you for that. It’s been said in class many times...when cancer shows up, people leave. But you...you are every bit like the firefighters who ran into the twin towers while everyone else was running out.”
Charmaine Gaudet
Cancer Patient Caregiver
Penn Medicine/Lancaster Health Ann B. Barshinger Institute Cancer Writing Class
********************************************
“You’re a mental sea salt caramel chocolate bar.”
Jen Quigley
Fine Artist
Expressive Arts Therapist
MELISSA WHO?
Melissa Greene is a professional writer and writing coach, devoted to bringing out the best in people. Fascinated with writing as a therapeutic tool, she created Write From the Heart workshops after 9/11 to share her belief that the act of writing – taught thoughtfully, and without stress – can promote joy, hope, and calm. She teaches all ages and collaborates with schools and therapists. She also leads workshops for cancer patients at the Milton S. Hershey Penn State Cancer Institute and the Penn Medicine/ Lancaster General Health Ann B. Barshinger Cancer Institute in Pennsylvania. She is fond of pancakes, 100-year-old trees, and cats.
Organizer
Melissa Greene
Organizer
Lancaster, PA