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Art with Heart 

Description

Art with Heart develops and provides innovative, research-based, therapeutic tools, and trainings that extend the resources of direct service providers in order to bridge the gap for mental health support to under-served populations. Based on best practices of cognitive behavioral, narrative, and art therapies, we help address the emotional needs of children struggling to overcome profound challenges such as serious illness, abuse, and trauma, and enable them to safely and constructively express their anxieties and needs, and cope with difficulty.

Mission Statement
Our mission is to improve the mental health and well-being of high-risk youth through therapeutic books, programs and trainings.
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Art with Heart
PO Box 94402 
Seattle 
WA
98124-6702 
(206) 362-4047 

Ms. Steffanie Lorig 
Executive Director 

Programs

Art with Heart Programs

Our CHILL & SPILL program helps adolescents experiencing crisis and centers around a guided, therapeutic journal that:
  • Fosters Social and Emotional Learning
  • Encourages the Therapeutic Use of Art
  • Supports Direct Service Providers working with high-risk youth

Chill & Spill combines creative and thoughtful activities with the best of art, cognitive behavioral and narrative therapies. It helps bridge the gap between youth in need and the availability of professional mental health workers. Art with Heart offers trainings and supportive curriculum to teach professionals how to utilize the book with youth in their care to reduce the harmful effects of stress.

OODLES OF DOODLES is a therapeutic activity book based in art therapy that offers hospitalized children:
  • Therapeutic distraction during their treatments
  • A meaningful way to express fears and concerns
  • Stress relief and encouragement
  • A much needed sense of control
MAGNIFICENT MARVELOUS ME! helps meet the emotional needs of siblings of children who have passed away, are dealing with a serious illness or disability, or other familial challenges. It was designed to:
  • Decrease their sense of isolation
  • Increase self-esteem and communication
  • Give them a safe place to explore and work through complex feelings
  • Help build resiliency and coping skills
INK ABOUT IT is a therapeutic activity book designed to: 
  • Help struggling teens and ‘tweens adapt and adjust to life’s ups and downs
  • Lead kids toward social and emotional wellness
  • Explore and express what’s going inside of them through a combination of writing and art prompts

 

 

Recent Successes and Current Challenges

In July 2011, Art with Heart launched Ink About It, a new art & activity book for youth in their 'tween years. In six months, the resource sold nearly 1400 copies and received rave reviews from organizations like Committee for Children. Joan Duffel of Committee for Children, "From helping youngsters set goals to discovering the difference between ‘assertive’ and ‘aggressive,’ this gorgeously designed, interactive book takes kids on a journey of self-discovery that will foster their emotional growth during the sensitive period of pre-adolescence."          

Art with Heart is excited about and looking for support for development of two new program initiatives.  The Magnificent Marvelous Me After School Program and Kit would target elementary-age children dealing with family challenges. The “kit” will teach users how to form an after-school club to help address kid’s emotional issues. It will include curricula, discussion questions, and artistic expansion activities to solidify learning.  Our Trauma Response Workshops for local schools are designed to help children process trauma and grief after a crisis.  They include a therapeutic activity book for each child and 3 strategically time visits by volunteers and an art therapist who lead healing art workshops  based on activities in the book.

Evaluation


Art with Heart's therapeutically based programs and services help youth in crisis improve their emotional wellness through age-appropriate are therapy.

Proven Success
Art with Heart has developed a series of art therapy work books that can be used one-on-one or in group settings along with a therapist or on your own. The books are designed with the help of therapists experienced at helping youth deal with trauma and health crisis’s affecting themselves or family members. Though focused on King County, Art with Heart's books also have an international distribution and various schools, grassroots organizations and hospitals across the country use these publications.

Art with Heart materials go well beyond the art and are comprehensive, intervention/prevention tools that combine cutting edge, age-appropriate activities with proven research-based therapies that increase youth’s resiliency and ability to cope with stress. Art with Heart recently trained 24 mental health counselors from Sound Mental heath.

The organization recently completed a thorough external evaluation on the impact of the Chill and Spill program on youth. The results proved that the guide effectively helps therapists and other facilitators to engage with even the most hard-to-reach youth in a high quality individual process that results in social and emotional learning and personal healing.

Use of Best Practices
Effective train-the-trainer programs allow for broader community reach by training licensed health care providers throughout the county and state. They work with a number of licensed therapists who provide training to those working with their books to use them effectively. They also use therapists and other staff (teachers, social workers, grief counselors) working directly with affected populations to help design work books and programs.

Accessibility and Cultural Competency
They have created a culturally appropriate, Spanish language version of “Chill and Spill” which has been enthusiastically received and shown to be successful

Collaboration
As a relatively small organization, Art with Heart has a strong commitment to collaboration and partnerships. They have solidified a partnership with Casey Family Programs and the YMCA Transitions program - working with children that are in the foster care system and transitioning out of this system. Casey has underwritten the cost of Chill and Spill books to ensure that youth in foster care have access to the materials at no cost. In addition, Casey Family Programs is supporting efforts to have staff from all DSHS offices in King County trained as facilitators of the Chill and Spill method.
 
Art with Heart provides a critical and unique service to mental health counselors, teachers and others working directly with youth dealing with emotional crises, both locally and nationally. Evaluations have proven that their tools and programs are effectively helping youth involved in their program and that therapists highly value their workbooks and trainings as effective tools for their work. Art with Heart has a strong foundation of community partnerships and they have continued to grow their collaborations and outreach to ensure that youth can easily access their programs.

Grant History with The Seattle Foundation:

Grants Awarded through The Seattle Foundation Grantmaking Program:

DateAmountPurpose
12/10/2010 $10,000.00support general operating expenses.
12/10/2009 $15,000.00support general operating expenses.
6/21/2007 $20,000.00support general operating expenses.
3/16/2005 $10,000.00support general operating expenses.

Financials

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