HYANNIS – Duffy Health Center has published its own children’s book, “Perfectly Different Faces”, written and illustrated by Duffy staff.
The book is about the individuals served at Duffy Health Center in Hyannis and was written by Melissa Payne and illustrated by Jeremy Wurzburg, both Recovery Support Navigators with the organization.
The idea came from Duffy staff members’ new tradition of posting YouTube videos of themselves reading with family as a way to stay connected with coworkers during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The book emphasizes Duffy’s core values such as “homelessness is unacceptable” and “every person has the right to food, clothing, housing and health care.”
“Our team is really invested in busting stigma wide-open, so it has a lot to do with showing kids what homelessness is, compassion, empathy and the drive to help whenever we can,” said Payne.
Wurzburg joined the creation process after fellow staff members recommended he join the project due to his artistic skill.
“I was honored to do it. I’d never done illustrations before, so it was a new thing for me and a little stressful in that way, but I think it paid off and I really enjoyed doing it. I’m super impressed and honored that Duffy took it on and ran with it. Published it and made it this awesome thing,” said Wurzburg.
Payne said that the book was a positive way to teach children about more sensitive subjects and difficult issues in the world.
“We’re so excited to educate people on homelessness, and educate people that we’re all perfectly awesome and different, and just because you’re in a chaotic circumstance, doesn’t mean you’re any different from anyone else,” said Payne.
The book is available for sale via Kindle Direct Publishing on Amazon for $13.00.
$10 of each sale will go directly back to Duffy Health Center to support recovery support services.
Duffy said that it hopes to have local shops and bookstores carry the book in the future, as well.
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