Every day, families seek safety and refuge at one of the several domestic violence shelters in the valley. Frightened, exhausted, and needing care, these families need a full array of wraparound services. Free Arts’s mission includes serving those affected by this unfortunate reality by partnering with shelters to offer programs that transform trauma into resilience through the arts. Expressive Arts heal families affected by domestic violence.
As much as possible, Free Arts delivers programming inside Valley shelters serving families who have experienced domestic violence. Often, their needs are critical and result from the culmination of a series of very stressful experiences. They need the chance to regulate strong emotions, to relate to caring individuals, and the opportunity to use their resources to develop their next steps. At Free Arts, we believe that arts and cultural experiences create a unique and powerful space to regulate and relate.
Mayani Jinel, Shelter Program Manager at CPLC- De Colores said, “An essential part of that healing is in providing children with a safe and happy place to just be kids. The partnership De Colores has with Free Arts has helped cultivate such a space through weekly visitations to the shelter from the kind and trauma-informed Free Arts staff and mentors. These visits provide families with time to bond and create fun and exciting arts and crafts which help children express themselves and process emotions.”
One of the Free Arts program models, the Weekly Mentor Program, was designed to assist families as they familiarize themselves with their new environment, seek safety, and find support from Free Arts’ partner agencies. Through expressive arts, children, teens, and adults can soothe their nervous systems, use their bodies and minds to create, and have the autonomy to design beauty that expresses their personal identity and values. Because Free Arts uses a group mentoring model, the expressive art experience connects participants to trained trauma-responsive volunteers who create safety and provide encouragement and support at a critical time.
The Weekly Mentor Program (WMP) has three critical elements: adaptability, relatability, and family orientation. WMP programs can run for as long as sixteen weeks, and usually more than eight. This is intentional and allows for easy entry to the program as families enter the shelter or residence. Children and families affected by domestic violence can access the program within days of entering the residence.
During the program, the Free Arts mantra “there are no mistakes in art” builds a supportive and welcoming environment that creates safety, familiarity, and predictability, which are all important to families who have had high stress experiences. WMP is delivered through teams of mentors in a group format with easy to understand and flexible expressive art activities. Art forms include visual arts, poetry, mindful movement, and bead making, etc. The activities can be led and enjoyed by people with a variety of prior art experiences. Each activity is accessible to all skills and allows for stress reduction, increased collaboration, and self-expression.
Over time, parents and other family members began to show interest in the expressive art programs, and now WMP includes opportunities for caregivers to participate. These art programs provide new opportunities for individuals and the whole family to regulate and relate. As this process unfolds countless families find hope, safety, and opportunities for the future. Free Arts offers these programs free of charge to participants and partner agencies. You can help by donating, becoming a mentor, or becoming an artist ready to demonstrate that art heals!