B U I L D A B R I D G E

BuildaBridge Arts Relief and Restoration

Arts Relief and Restoration

Executive SummaryArts Relief and Development is an arts intervention and restorative development program that focuses on the holistic health of children living in communities of poverty and crisis. This initiative is accomplished through strong alliances with local organizations involved in reconstruction, rebuilding, education and community development efforts. At the core of the program is effective training of local artists and community workers.

Our main objectives are, through training and direct service, to: 1. Train local artists and community

workers in creative arts methods for

education, holistic healing, and the environment.

2. Create safe places for children to live and learn,

3. Provide healing and psychosocial support

4. Educate children living in transitional environments (shelters and residential care institutions).

Since 1997 BuildaBridge has served communities in “tough places” of the world where children suffer as a result poverty. In 2006, BuildaBridge began to develop long-term collaborative relationships with local organizations for capacity building.

Primarily a volunteer professional organization, BuildaBridge engages creative artists, creative art therapists, educators and social workers as both trainers and direct service workers.

The program is funded through discovery tours, grants and donations, and service contracts with local organizations.

Build capacity. Engaging and training artists, caregivers and community workers in healing and community art practices. Establishing creative safe places for children to learn and live.

BuildaBridge PlanThe strategic model of training and service is based on years of experience with children living in poverty and alliances with organizations serving them.

Page 2

DefinitionsRead the definitions of terms that form the basis of our program.

Page 3

TrainingLearn about the certificate program that includes residency-based, on-line courses and in-service Page 3

Creating Safe Places

How are safe places created?

Page 3

ExperienceLearn about BuildaBridge’s experience with children living in poverty.

Page 4

AlliancesOur work is

accomplished though educational and service alliances.Page 4

Planning Document February, 2011

Students at North Haiti Christian University complete a course in Arts for Healing July

2010

A R T S R E L I E F A N D R E S T O R A T I O N M O D E L

2 BuildaBridge Arts Relief and Restoration

This model is based on over 14 years of experience in working with local organizations.

BuildaBridge Arts Relief and Restoration begins with forming collaborative alliances with universities and colleges; and, local, national and international organizations that work for the betterment of children and youth living in communities of poverty.

The primary goal is to meet the needs of children and youth for hope and healing through trained and effective creative artists as teachers, psychosocial support, and community workers.

Training is provided through residency based institutes, supplementary online course work, and supervised in-service experiences; such as, serving as a teacher in a local model school.

Our core areas of expertise are in: 1. arts-assisted education, (engaging creative arts

to teach non-arts subjects)

2. holistic healing (includes trauma-informed classrooms, safe spaces for play and learning, life-skills training in healthy life-styles) and

3. community restoration (projects in clean environments, community arts murals and other projects that engage parents and families).

Based on our experience in Philadelphia and internationally, BuildaBridge assists local organizations working with children for: • annual arts camps, • creative arts therapy, • life skill and healthy life-styles training, • creating safe spaces for children to live and

learn, • after-school programming,• community cultural projects, and• environmental education and projects.

Our goals are to:• Work with 10 education and institutional

alliances per year in developing sustainable and effective programs for children

• Select 10 artist teachers/community workers for the Certificate in Healing and Community Arts to be assigned to alliance schools for in-service training

• Provide a local Institute annually for the training of teachers and community workers.

• Conduct 4 community service projects annually through groups and Artist on Call.

A R T S R E L I E F A N D R E S T 0 R A T I O N

BuildaBridge Arts Relief and Restoration 3

DefinitionsArts-Based Intervention and Relief:  Arts relief (or psychosocial support) refers to the use of the creative arts in the event of a catastrophe, violence,poverty, terrorist attacks, or homelessness to help the survivors of such events process through healing (Wilcox: 2009). In response to natural disasters, political crises and religious conflict, and extreme poverty, BuildaBridge serves as second responders (after the first response of emergency intervention of food, clothing, shelter and medical intervention) through:

• Arts-based psychological first aid and creative arts therapy, dealing with the effects of trauma; 

• Creating safe and creative spaces for children; spaces that are both emotionally and physically safe; and, where children feel free to play and create, and

• Providing for holistic wellness through arts camps that specifically assist children in learning about safe living practices.

Arts-Based Intervention and Relief should lead to Restoration Development.

Arts-Based Restorative Development (ARD): ARD is a long-term collaborative and restorative project assisting both individuals (primarily focusing on children) and communities with the goal of restoring holistic wellness in the physical, psychological, emotional, social, and spiritual dimensions of life. The primary areas are:

• Training of artists as community workers (and including health, community and congregation workers) in arts-based  methods of psychosocial support and restoration,

• Educating creative artists as arts-assisted education practitioners with children in residential and after-school programs, 

• Collaborating with local organizations for restoring the environment as a livable and creative cultural place,

• Empowering local organizations to develop capacity and sustainable arts based education programs, and

• Developing artisan job skill programs for children and youth

Certificate TrainingThrough educational alliances with universities and national organizations, BuildaBridge provides training and education for arts-based holistic healing, education and community development.

HEALING AND COMMUNITY ARTS CERTIFICATE

The Certificate of Training is awarded as a non-degree and non-credit certificate granted to students who have completed all requirements through residency-based training and online coursework in preparation to serve their communities effectively as arts-based teaching, psycho-social support assistants, and community workers. The Certificate of Training is awarded by BuildaBridge in alliance with universities and national organizations. This certificate represents a minimum of eighty (80) hours of on-ground instruction, forty (40-80) hours of online course work, and one hundred and twenty (120) hours of practical supervised experiences.

Certificate Courses Institute Residency and Outline

• Introduction to Community Arts

• The BuildaBridge Classroom (BC)

• Curriculum Writing and Assessment

• Classroom Management

• Working in Cross-Cultural Contexts

• Arts Relief (The Healing Place)

• Organizing and Leading Arts Programs and Arts Camps

• Basic Fundraising and Development

• Disaster Response (Red Cross Training)

• Psychological First Aid (Red Cross Training)

Creating Safe Places for LearningWe believe that children and youth are naturally resilient. However, in the face of poverty and experiences of violence and catastrophe, trauma can result. Creating safe spaces is essential in the holistic healing through psychosocial support.

The following principles undergird BuildaBridge’s assistance in creating safe spaces for children.

1. All teaching of BuildaBridge is child-centered, hope infused and trauma informed.

2. Safe Spaces are places where children feel free to play and be themselves without fear: emotionally, spiritually, and physically.

3. Repetition is critical to providing safe spaces by creating ritual, expectation, and structure.

4. Structure is provided in classroom settings, playground spaces, and living areas.

5. Clear boundaries of behavior are to be communicated often along with the consequences of breaking the boundaries of behavior.

6. Art-making is an effective way to externalize the internal concerns, hurts, and other emotions of children in crisis.

7. Art-making provides children a way to think through and envision hope.

8. Creative artists are trained to manage groups and individual behavior in classroom contexts.

9. Classrooms and spaces where children play should be stimulating through visual art, music, dance and other forms of creative art.

10.Life values are taught through metaphors in the art led by mentoring

11.Children are given choices and have input in the learning process.

These values are part of the BuildaBridge Classroom Model as part of a sustainable creative and safe learning environment.

B U I L D A B R I D G E

4 BuildaBridge Arts Relief and Restoration

Our StaffPrimarily a professional volunteer organization, BuildaBridge engages professors, artists, therapists, educators, and community professionals for teaching, training and service.

Maeva Renaud, Haiti Project Coordinator

Danielle Dembrosky, Programs Administrator

Magira Ross, Coordinator of Community Programs (Philadelphia) and Teaching Artist in Dance.

Dr. Vivian-Nix Early, Co-Founder, COO, Psychologist and Music Therapist

Dr. J. Nathan Corbitt, President and CEO, Co-Founder and Educator

Our ExperienceSince 1997, BuildaBridge has served communities of crisis and poverty through arts-based projects.

BuildaBridge grew from a music institute in Limon, Costa Rica (1997) following an earthquake. At the core of the institute were creative experiences that sought reconciliation and hope for the future.

In 2000, BuildaBridge was incorporated and soon began work with homeless children living in shelters and transitional homes in Philadelphia. Currently, the program serves 250 children in 8 institutions, and is funded by the School District of Philadelphia.

In 2002, BuildaBridge began the BuildaBridge Institute to train creative artists and community workers in effective skills and strategies for developing holistic healing and hope in children, youth and communities. Since 2002, the Institute has trained over 500 arts practitioners from around the world. Training has been offered in the US, Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean.

In 2006, BuildaBridge formed its first educational alliance with Eastern University for a concentration in Arts and Transformation as part of the M.A. in Urban Studies.

BuildaBridge Artist on Call members have served as project coordinators in Dominican Republic, Kenya and Guatemala working with local organizations to develop sustainability and capacity for serving children living in extreme poverty.

Currently, BuildaBridge is developing educational alliances with US-based and international universities for the Certificate in Healing and Community Arts.

AlliancesBuildaBridge relies on strong alliances and collaborations to accomplish its mission and goals. BuildaBridge collaborates with over 30 organizations in Philadelphia and internationally.

BuildaBridge works with many organizations: both religious and civic NGOs.  We therefore are sensitive to the political and religious context of those organizations that request our help. We seek to be of greatest service to the requesting organization and the children they serve, in the way they have chosen to do so, as long as it is not in conflict with our values.

Our Basic Principles of Collaboration

Our goal is to be of service to communities, organizations, and persons working with children and youth who are at-risk or find themselves in difficult and almost hopeless situations.

We prefer to develop long-term relationships (instead of one-time visits) and build an on-going program of support for our collaborations.

• We assist and encourage the partnering organization in meeting their sustainable goals. 

• We strive for mutual respect and sharing of ideas. We bring an expertise of the arts in teaching and arts in healing.  Together we plan for effective service and programming. 

• We believe that both BuildaBridge and the local organization should share in the planning and operation of projects.  We therefore ask the local organization to contribute something to the collaborative project (however they are able) through joint leadership, local artist involvement, and support.

BuildaBridge International is based on the principles of love, social justice, reconciliation and service to others.  We work with all people regardless of religion, gender, race and ethnicity, or ability.  In regards to this, we prefer and rely on the local organization to set the standards for interaction based upon their cultural norms and political realities as long as they are not in conflict with our basic values.

BuildaBridge

205 West Tulpehocken Street

Philadelphia, PA 19144, USA

www.buildabridge.org

info@buildabridge.org

Haiti Arts Relief and DevelopmentMaeva Renaud, Coordinatormrenaud@buildabridge.org

Haiti: 509.34.09.0355USA: 215.842.0428