“Art keeps me sane,” said Tabia Salimu as she shared her latest tissue art piece at Studio 526, a community arts center located in Los Angeles’ Skid Row neighborhood for individuals experiencing housing instability and mental illness.

Queen Mama Tabia, as she is known in her community, has spent long stretches of her life homeless.

Although she was diagnosed with serious mental illness in her teens, Tabia went to college and moved to Los Angeles where she started a family. She was removed from her young children when authorities found out she did not have a treatment plan in place. She was deemed unsafe for her children and she became homeless again at 33. This time for 14 years.

Despite life’s setbacks, Tabia managed to find the road to recovery.

Along with a proper treatment plan for her bipolar schizoaffective disorder, art and creative expression have played a great role in her healing, she said.

In stable housing now, Tabia spends most of her time “harnessing the tools in her wellness toolbox,” which includes painting, photography, music and writing as well as traditional medical and mental health therapy.

Even though an underlying fear of homelessness creeps up from time to time, Tabia feels settled and happy with her life.

Tabia shared her story to inspire others who go through similar challenges.

“[The] road to recovery is a lifelong process,” she said while referencing her infinity art. “And I just take it one day at a time.”

To see Tabia’s tissue art via augmented reality launch Snapchat and scan this Snapcode.

Or click on this link: http://bit.ly/jovrnalism-hr-tabia

For help on how to unlock and use Snapchat Lenses: https://homelessrealities.jovrnalism.io/2018/12/01/how-to-unlock-and-use-snapchat-lenses/