Art & Creativity for Healing Inc.
PROGRAMS
Healing for Heroes and their Families
In 2008, ACFH began to facilitate a series of targeted on-site Art for Healing workshops designed to address the unique needs of military personnel and their families associated with deployment through the use of collage, journaling, and painting. only organization on Camp Pendleton to offer such a program. We are aware of individual artists who have come to the base to offer “arts and crafts” programs, however, there are no other formal programs similar to those offered by Art & Creativity for Healing. We initially launched this program at San Onofre Elementary School, located at the northern tip of Camp Pendleton. In 2010, Art & Creativity for Healing expanded the “Healing for Heroes and their Families” program to include special workshops for veterans, and Wounded Warriors. We created a unique curriculum designed to meet the needs of veterans, and Wounded Warriors, relative to the stress of deployment, resettlement or injuries, as they process their personal journey from deployment in a war zone, to the peace of the home front. Through this program, we teaches veterans a new and creative way to express themselves to that they will be able to continue to process their journey on their own, following the workshop. These programs are offered at the Wounded Warrior Battalion West, at on-base community centers, and other locations on Camp Pendleton.
At the end of each workshop, participants complete written surveys regarding the extent to which Art4Healing helped them to identify, process, and express their feelings in a constructive way. These workshop questionnaires are entered into an online survey system and when sufficient data is compiled, a third-party research firm quantifies the program results into outcome reports. Based on data collected from 861 Art4Healing® workshop participants, we completed an Outcome Report for “Healing for Heroes and Their Families” program over a 2 year period. We are thrilled with the results and excited to share the key findings below:
-The top two psychological reasons that adult participants took the workshops was Anxiety/Stress (81.45) and Sadness (77.20%).
-The top psychological reason that child participants took the workshops was I Like Art (89.74%)
-74% of all participants strongly agreed that the workshop helped them express their emotions
-79% of all participants strongly agreed that they felt better after the workshop
-95.80% of all participants agreed they would take another workshop in the future
Exceptional Family Members
Our Exceptional Family Members Program provides free Art4Healing® workshops for individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities, including Down syndrome and autism, along with their families and caregivers. Through creative expression, participants are given a safe and supportive space to express feelings that may be difficult to put into words while families and caregivers are given an opportunity for connection and self-care.
Reached a milestone of having served more than 120,000 children and adults through our "Art for Healing" workshops and program since 2001.
At the end of each workshop, participants complete written surveys regarding the extent to which Art4Healing helped them to identify, process, and express their feelings in a constructive way. These workshop questionnaires are entered into an online survey system and when sufficient data is compiled, a third-party research firm quantifies the program results into outcome reports. We collected statistics over the course of 2 years for the Exceptional Family Members Program and are thrilled to share the following key findings. Overall, it is significant to say that 98.2% of the participants reported that they were satisfied with their workshop. 99.4% of participants strongly agreed that the workshop helped them express their emotions. 99.1% of both children and adult participants agreed that they would refer a friend or family member to an Art4Healing workshop and 98.2% of all participants agreed that they themselves would take another workshop from Art4Healing.
Art4Healing: Creative Tools for Children and Their Families Facing Homelessness
Our “Creative Tools for Children and Their Families Facing Homelessness” Program offers Art4Healing workshops to homeless children and their families in crisis. We partner with two partner agencies: OC Rescue Mission and American Family Housing. Participants create a series of abstract works of art that help surface their personal journey with homelessness. Through the process, they learn new and creative ways to intuitively express their feelings and emotions on canvas. This Program is specifically designed to help with the stress of growing up and coping without a permanent place to call home. We also give 300 Healing Art Boxes and bags to children in our program. Each box is valued at $50 and contains 10 new art supplies, including paint, paper, colored pencils, oil pastels, and other items. With these Healing Art Boxes, children will be able to continue to process their journey.
At the end of each workshop, participants complete written surveys regarding the extent to which Art4Healing helped them to identify, process, and express their feelings in a constructive way. These workshop questionnaires are entered into an online survey system and when sufficient data is compiled, a third-party research firm quantifies the program results into outcome reports. Based on data collected from 1,041 Art4Healing® workshop participants, we completed an Outcome Report for “Creative Tools for Children and Their Families Facing Homelessness” program from July 2018-July 2020. We are thrilled with the results and excited to share the key findings below: -Nine out of ten participants (97.5%) of participants reported that they were satisfied with their workshop. -86% of all participants strongly agreed that the workshop helped them express their emotions -87% of all participants strongly agreed that they felt better after the workshop -96.5% of all participants agreed they would take another workshop in the future
Raging Colors: Expressive Art for Teens
The "Raging Colors: Expressive Art for Teens" program introduces students to expressive art and allows youth to create a series of abstract works of art that will give them a safe, creative place to reflect and share their experiences, frustrations, and struggles, including exposure to drugs and alcohol, peer pressure, teen pregnancy, bullying, depression, mental health issues, and low self-esteem. For many of these teens, their everyday lives are often stressful and they experience many difficulties, such as legal issues, foster emancipation, and/or homelessness. Art4Healing® teaches teens that art can be a constructive part of their everyday lives and a positive way to communicate tough issues that have negatively affected them or derailed their emotional growth. We work with the following non-profit partner agencies and/or schools: OCDE ACCESS, Boys and Girls Clubs, KidWorks OC, All for Kids.
Based on data collected from 1,928 Art4Healing® workshop participants, we completed an Outcome Report for our “Art4Healing® - Children and Teens with Trauma” program from 2018-2020. We are thrilled with the results and excited to share the key findings below: -66.87% of youth/teen participants identified as Hispanic/Latino(a), -Over 42% of youth/teen participants reside in Fountain Valley, CA, -91.2% of youth/teen participants reported they liked the workshop, -87.38% of youth/teen participants indicated that they felt better after taking the workshop, -88.35% of youth/teen participants indicated that the workshop helped them share their feelings, -87.3% of youth/teen participants agreed that they would take another workshop, -85.4% of youth/teen participants agreed they would tell a friend or family member to attend this workshop, -84% of participants were referred to our services by the Orange County Department of Education ACCESS program.
Out of Darkness- Women Survivors Program
The “Art4Healing Out of Darkness: Women Survivors” Program offers Art4Healing® workshops for women survivors of domestic violence, emotional, mental, or physical abuse, human trafficking, sexual assault, and trauma. The workshops introduce participants to expressive art, guiding them through the process of creating a series of abstract paintings. The specially designed curriculum (both translated in English and Spanish) gives women a voice for their pain by providing them with a supportive environment that encourages and enables a creative healing process to take place. We teach women a new language through abstract painting and help them to get their trauma out of their heads and bodies and onto a canvas. We serve women and their children at our partner agency locations: Human Options Emergency Shelter and their satellite sites, Casa Teresa, and The Teen Project. Please see some testimonials below: “What I gained from this exercise is seeing all the love and support I have from family and friends, even when things are hard. I feel relief and at peace because of these workshops” – Human Options Participant “I came to this [Art4Healing] class to heal my soul by painting” – Minnie Street FRC Participant “I thought about the butterflies in my stomach when I was painting- I realized then that I am a lot more nervous and worried about being here at the shelter” – Human Options Participant “It was amazing to paint like this- at first I didn’t know how to start, but then I just went with what came to me. I now know what you mean when you say painting goes deeper than just words” – Minnie Street FRC Participant
At every workshop, participants will complete surveys regarding the extent to which creating art helped them to identify, process and express their feelings effectively. All surveys are reviewed by a research firm to analyze the outcome findings. We are pleased to share the following key findings from data that has been collected between 2009-2020:
-96% of participants strongly agreed they felt better after taking a workshop, -92.6% of participants strongly agreed that they would refer Art4Healing workshops to a friend or family member, -93.7% of participants would like to take another Art4Healing workshop, -The top reason participants took workshops was for Stress/Anxiety: 65%
CONTACT
Art & Creativity for Healing Inc.
23011 Moulton Parkway
STE I-5
Laguna Hills, CA 92653
Laurie Zagon
Phone: 949-367-1902