According to Open Doors:
It all started in 2016 at Coler Rehabilitative + Nursing Care Center on Roosevelt Island, when a group of us—men decades younger than the average nursing home resident, most living with spinal cord injuries from gun violence—were looking for purpose and connection. A neighborhood artist created OPEN DOORS to meet that need, bringing in mentors and other resources. What began as a writing workshop grew into a movement.
We called ourselves the Reality Poets and began performing at schools and community spaces across New York City—sharing our stories, our truth, and our art. From there, we branched out into music, design, theater, and film, and the crew grew to include women and people with different disabilities. When COVID hit, we turned our energy toward protecting nursing home residents everywhere and amplifying disabled voices.
Today, guided by the Reality Poets, OPEN DOORS is a thriving creative community of nursing home residents, allies, and advocates.
Open Doors is invited the Roosevelt Island community to a January 30, 2026 Food Stories Exhibition at their Coler home.
According to Open Doors Associate Director Alex Eshelman:
Dear OPEN DOORS Family,
I’m reaching out to invite you to our first event of the year, OPEN DOORS’ Food Stories Exhibition, hosted at Coler Nursing Home (900 Main Street) on Friday January 30th, 5pm. This exhibition brings together over 50 resident stories collected from events that we have been hosting at Coler over the past six months under our newest program, Food Stories––a resident-led food quality campaign. We have gathered hundreds of residents to share memories of the meals and people that shaped their lives and are honoring their stories with visual artwork that will be showcased at our exhibition. Along with the art, we will also be serving some of the food from these stories.
Food Stories makes visible the profound role food plays in residents’ lives, bringing their lived experiences into view for the wider community of staff, partners, and decision-makers who shape Coler’s everyday reality. By highlighting residents’ stories and bringing them forward as a collective, we aim to clarify a shared vision of what future we must work towards: a food system built around dignity and lived experience—one that delivers comfort, connection, and health, in every sense of the word.
You can RSVP at our Eventbrite …. The event will be on the first floor in the canteen at Coler. Feel free to reach out with any questions.
Here’s the December 20, 2025 Reality Poets TV podcast:
It’s our final episode of 2025! Vince and Var chat about their holiday plans with family, share stories from their youth, discuss AI and music, and look ahead at 2026 which marks the 10 year anniversary of OPEN DOORS 10. Stay tuned for more Reality Poets TV in the New Year! Reality Poets TV is a podcast from OPEN DOORS, a collective of disabled artists, nursing home residents, advocates and allies led by the experiences and voices of the Reality Poets. Hosted by Vince Pierce and Var Viggz.