LOUISVILLE, Ky. — April Jeffreys feels like she is a different person now.

When you look over April Jeffreys’ recent artwork, you will notice all the colors she uses. But it wasn’t always that way.

In fact, Jeffreys admits she feels like a different person now. Jeffreys recently finished illustrating a children’s book by an Indiana author about a “sassy” basset hound teaching her friends how bullying is bad.

The book is “Lemmy Makes a Friend,” and the artist recalls one of her first interactions with the author.

“He was like, ‘draw some sketches and let’s see what you got,’” she recalled, and her creations were heralded as “spot on.”

Jeffreys went to college for art and design and in recent years has commissioned work for Basset Rescue of Kentuckiana, designing posters, murals and apparel to help raise money for the organization.

“Noses for the Rose” is a favorite of Jeffreys depicting a line of hounds captured in the homestretch of the Kentucky Derby and the dogs are decked the same as thoroughbred horses and jockeys.

Jeffreys paints too. “Even the flowers down here have a meaning,” Jeffreys explains, looking over one of her paintings.

The hallways at Bridgehaven Mental Health Services in Louisville are more like a gallery of Jeffreys’ work. She says she’s always been an artist, but for most of her life her drawings were by a different person.

The were dark and depicted a lot of pain and turmoil.

“Most of my artwork prior to Bridgehaven was extremely dark and gory,” Jeffreys said. 

Jeffreys is living with several diagnosis’s including schizoaffective disorder, which involves significant mood swings and for Jeffreys, psychosis.

“The past 20 years, they creeped along and they were miserable and I was not happy and I was still having my symptoms that whole time,” she said. “I still have symptoms. In fact, I had some hallucinations last night.”

Depression, Borderline Disorder, and hallucinations have played a role in her life, but Jeffreys is more confident than she’s ever been, confident in her ability to navigate her mental health and proud of the person she’s become.

“I started recognizing, ‘oh, I’m doing this now. Maybe I should say something.’ And that’s the key, opening your mouth and saying I need help,” she said.

That help came in the form of Bridgehaven, its staff and programs, including individual and group therapy visits four days a week. In addition, Jeffreys received her Peer Support Specialist Certification through Bridgehaven and is guiding other members of the program living with similar mental health disorders.

Jeffreys encourages other like members to attend therapy sessions, maintain a medication schedule as prescribed and to, like for her, say something when things aren’t going well.

“And they want to have something of their own. And that just makes me incredibly happy and fulfilled because it means I’ve made a difference. That’s all we can really do is make a difference in somebody else’s life,” Jeffreys said tearfully.

There is also therapy through art and Jeffreys is spends a lot of free time drawing and painting and there is always new, brighter, ideas Jeffreys is putting to paper and her friend ‘Lemmy,’ is about to make a return as Jeffreys announced “Lemmy makes a Friend" is going to be a series. “I’m his artist now.”

Jeffreys’ life is filled with more color than ever before, but dark tones are still there, just like for anyone on a mental health journey. And that’s OK. “And I started seeing that light at the end of the tunnel for what it was,” Jeffreys said. And on most days Jeffreys feels like she’s made it through.