With the number of homeless people in the city climbing, one shelter is turning to an unlikely tool to help the homeless get back on their feet. NY1's Michael Scotto filed the following report.

At the 30th Street Men's Shelter in Manhattan, residents are learning to rebuild their lives one brush stroke at a time.

For the last year, the shelter has been offering art classes twice month.  Residents learn not just the basics of painting but how to express themselves. 

"It's an outlet. It helps me take it out on the canvas," said Markus Viacava, a resident at the shelter.

Viacava, 28, has been taking classes since arriving here about three months ago. His talent and skills are still raw, but he's prolific, creating some 40 paintings so far. 

"I have a lot on my mind," he said.

Local resident and area activist Mary Silver started the program. She sits on the shelter's community advisory board.

"I think it builds confidence. I think it allows them to express themselves. I think it allows them to be proud of who they are and what their talents and abilities are," Silver said.

She says she came up with the idea after meeting Richard Outlaw, a former correction officer who once taught art to inmates at Rikers Island. 

Outlaw volunteers his time; the Department of Homeless Services provides the supplies. Silver and Outlaw say painting is a form of art therapy that can help the homeless change their lives. 

"They get a chance to go into another space. They get a chance to put the world behind them, into their own universe," Outlaw said.

Outlaw says 10 to 15 people usually show up to his class. The men's paintings tend toward nature and roads. If there is an overriding theme, it is escapism.

The de Blasio administration is highlighting the program in a new video, hoping to change perceptions of the homeless as the city moves forward with a controversial plan to open neighborhood shelters citywide.

At 30th Street, the program has transformed bare institutional walls into a makeshift gallery.

Improving the feel of the shelter and the attitudes of residents like Markus Viacava, who is now finally dealing with emotions that have haunted him for years. 

"They were built up and they would feel uncomfortable. They come up more natural and it helps," Viacava said. 

He's now working toward creating new art and, he hopes, a new life outside the shelter.