(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Jessica Housely is trying to add color to Chicago — and social media — while giving people a boost.
“I want to just do something that will just brighten up peoples’ day,” she says.
The creator of With Love Chicago places bouquets around the city with a note, “If you find this, it’s for you.”
The Chicago native got the idea in 2017.
“I was just hearing a lot of negativity and division,” she said.
The effort to add a little kindness and color to the world led her to flowers. Housely said her mother has a large garden, so she had a good supply for bouquets that she would give to friends.
Then she started placing the arrangements around her home on the North Side and posting pictures to the withlove_chicago Instagram account.
The effort has grown. Groups of people now get together to make the flower arrangements. You can find the bouquets at restaurants, L stops and grocery stores. Her goal is to place flowers all over the city.
“To reach all different neighborhoods,” she said. “That’s the next thing, is just spreading it a little.”
The flowers are a small gesture that can have a big impact on the person who finds them, Housely said.
“That changes our mindset. Even if it shifts it one degree, that can change and entire trajectory of a day, a week, a month, a year, a life.”
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