Children who have experienced ongoing trauma and toxic stress are at risk of long-term outcomes including substance abuse, prolonged poverty, and early death. Research shows that resilience is built when children engage in positive experiences and are supported by caring adults. At Free Arts, we use the arts to provide safe, positive opportunities for children to engage with trained, trauma-informed volunteer mentors to provide support.
Our formula is simple: ART + MENTORS = RESILIENCE
Each of our programs is built to help children feel safe, express themselves, build skills, develop self-efficacy, and build resilience and hope.
Mentors (volunteers, teaching artists, alumni, and staff) make up half of the equation that contributes to building resilience in children at Free Arts.
Your presence matters.
Each year more than 700 volunteers, 20 teaching artists, and 25 alumni come together to form a community that connects, collaborates, and creates with children who have experienced trauma.
Through Free Arts, Myra discovered dance as a way to express herself and her feelings.
This program helped me to express things I can’t say out loud.
Free Arts helped me to learn about more of myself. I felt nervous before the final exhibit and had a lot of anxiety. After the exhibit I felt good and happy. This program helped me release stress.
This program helped me cope with suicide. You guys are AMAZING!!
There are plenty of ways to help Free Arts provide transformative arts programs to children.