Upcycled fashion show supports Superior respite house

SUPERIOR — The small meeting room at Superior Public Library was bursting with bins of fabric, thrift store finds, beads, trim, thread and creativity Saturday, Jan. 4. Fusion hats, bags made out of table runners and mittens cut out of a woolen coat were among the projects being made.

Many of the pieces will hit the runway during the Wearing Joy Upcycle Fashion Show from 7-9 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 11, at the Superior Entrepreneurship Center. The event, which will include appetizers from Northern Waters Smokehaus, cupcakes by Superior Sweets and fancy mocktails, is a fundraiser to support

Hope Haven Peer Respite.

More than 50 people attended the inaugural fashion show last year, hosted by The Pottery Burn Studio. This year, University of Wisconsin-Superior professors Lynn Goerdt and Jamie White-Farnham are the hosts.

Goerdt, who was an organizer last year as well, is a huge fan of the “Project Runway” show and was inspired by a similar fashion show from her Alaskan hometown.

“We filled it, so our goal this year, we needed a bigger space,” Goerdt said.

Goerdt and White-Farnham aim to raise $6,000 this year for Hope Haven Peer Respite House, which National Alliance on Mental Illness Lake Superior South Shore hopes to open soon.

“It’s going to be so much fun,” Goerdt said. “Like last year, we all, by the end of the evening, we were like, ‘OK, that might have been the best night of the year.’ It was just joyous, between the food and the fashion and just the laughter and the music. So it’s not a typical Saturday night activity.”

The show highlights wearable and usable items created with recycled materials. A young designer from Duluth, Evan Tomczyk, will showcase his designs along with those of workshop participants.

“People will have a chance to buy some of his designs, and he may be famous someday. Like honestly, he’s that good,” Goerdt said. “So to celebrate somebody local and then to raise money for NAMI, I mean, I think it’s just like all of that together is just the best evening ever.”

Maria Lockwood / Superior Telegram

Hope Haven Peer Respite will provide a voluntary, short-term program for people experiencing a mental health or substance use crisis. It is slated to open this year pending grant funding, according to Chrissy Barnard, executive director of both the respite home and NAMI Lake Superior South Shore. The nonprofit has already launched a help hotline and 10 staff members are in training to provide support and resources.

“This is a very important resource for Superior people who need crisis help. … When they’re open full time, a person could stay up to a week, and in that week, they would set goals. They would determine what kind of resources they need, and we would ideally help them connect to those resources,” said Trace Topping, one of the program’s peer specialists.

The respite care is free; no insurance is required, she said.

Maria Lockwood / Duluth Media Group

Crafters enjoyed creating runway-worthy items during Saturday’s workshop.

“This is my third time here,” said Diane Olson of Duluth. “It gets me out of the house. I love doing things like this. (I) get to know other people.”

Seated next to each other, sisters Jade and Desiree Jensen built fusion hats with a doily and crocheted rings, respectively. This is the second year they’ve been attending the upcycling workshops.

Maria Lockwood / Duluth Media Group

“I don’t think we’ve missed a Saturday,” said Jade, who works at the University of Wisconsin-Superior’s Jim Dan Hill Library. “It’s awesome and it’s fun to dabble with different arts and crafts. We’re both pretty into the hobbies and crafts so it’s up our alley and we don’t have to buy all the stuff to do it, so that’s also great,” Jade said.

Maria Lockwood / Duluth Media Group

Topping put the finishing touches on a pair of warm woolen mittens made from an old coat she got at Goodwill.

“I’m not great at it, and I’m not as neat as other people who are experienced, but it makes me happy and gives me some joy,” she said.

This was the last upcycle fashion workshop for the year, Goerdt said, but there are dozens of other Better Together activities available through

LiveWell! Northern WI.

“The goal was to have this be a mental health prevention strategy, especially because loneliness is such an issue, you know, globally, nationally, regionally, and so it was really like, to find ways to bring people together, to build connections,” Goerdt said.

A list of free activities taking place in Douglas County can be found at

livewellnorthernwi.org.

The number of people attending each event, which run the gamut from cooking classes and crafts to pickleball at the Superior-Douglas County YMCA, has risen to about eight, Goerdt said.

“It’s easier than tennis,” Olson said of pickleball, and no YMCA membership is required to attend the Wednesday night pickup games.

Barnard has hosted card-making and painting events, bringing in as many as 20 participants. She’s looking for larger spaces so more people can participate.

It’s not a high-cost strategy, Goerdt said, but the events are effective.

“The feedback is literally just overwhelmingly positive. People are making connections. They feel included and welcomed, and they’re having a good time. They’re having fun. And that’s the whole goal. It’s really about connection as a resilience strategy,” Goerdt said.

Maria Lockwood / Duluth Media Group

Tickets for the Wearing Joy Fashion Show are $45 for adults and $25 for students of any age. Find the event on

Eventbrite to register

; tickets will also be available at the door.

Visit the

NAMI Lake Superior South Shore Facebook page

for more information.