Multiple art programs in the Valley are fully stocked with supplies, thanks to the dedication of one woman. Terri DiGennaro is using her son's memory to make a difference through art.

Standing in a room packed floor-to-ceiling with art supplies, DiGennaro is constantly reminded of her son, a street artist who passed away four years ago.

"This really is just a reflection on who he was. I mean, it's simple. It's simple to do this," said DiGennaro.

Her son, Ryan Giambattista, displayed his work on surfaces all over the Valley using the tag "HELMS," a puzzle his family never entirely solved.

"My youngest daughter, our youngest one, said 'I think he just liked the way it looked together, the way the letters just flow together.' If it had meaning, nobody really knew," said DiGennaro.

It has plenty of meaning now.

Terri started a non-profit called the Ryan Giambattista HELMS Foundation, HELMS standing for "Heal, Express, and Learn through all Mediums and Styles."

Then she used the power of persistence to paint his legacy onto a very broad canvas.

"You bother enough people, you're going to land on the right desk," said DiGennaro.

She started supplying places like Alta and Meridian, and in the process, discovered a need for art therapy in the Valley.

That created a new push for the HELMS Foundation, one that's led to both organizations bringing certified art therapists on board.

"People are finding a different energy into how they're getting help. So having art there to provide a little bit of that avenue just, again, puts energy into people," said Nikunj Patel, the director of community outreach with Meridian Healthcare. "They're happy getting treatment. They're not just getting treatment because they feel they have to get it."

"There are things that they may have experienced in their lives, traumatic experiences, that there are no words for," said Meridian art therapist Holly Queen.

"They can express themselves through the art and then often times after doing the artwork, or while they're doing it, they're able to say things they normally wouldn't be able to say. It helps them find a lot of comfort," said Alta's art therapy program coordinator Heidi Larew.

The HELMS Foundation also supplies the art room at Potential Development, and the ultimate goal is to get an art therapist in here as well.

Potential Development executive director Paul Garchar said, if the funding were there, he would gladly take an art therapist on staff tomorrow.

"For students with autism, communication is one of the main delays," said Garchar. "Receptive language, taking language in, taking information in usually isn't the problem. They can process that. But trying to express that back out is where some students struggle and get frustrated. Art would be a great creative way to express their emotions, their needs, their wants."

Even now, the art room at Potential Development is filled with projects and plenty of supplies for future projects.

A personal tragedy that instead of being the end of the story, is just the beginning.

"My baby was just meant for so much more. There was so much he wanted to do," said DiGennaro.

But now through the foundation that bears his name, he's still making an impact through art, and a mother determined to keep those shelved fully stocked.

The HELMS Foundation will have lots of artwork on display this Saturday, November 2nd, at the B&O Station in Youngstown, part of its annual fundraiser from 6 p.m.-10 p.m.

You can learn more about the HELMS Foundation, along with ticket information for Saturday's event on the Ryan Giambattista HELMS Foundation website, http://helmsmv.org.