Art United focuses on all aspects of art to heal. Art therapy is a tested and true method of healing for children of all ages as well as adults. Our beneficiaries engage in simply art-based activities on an ongoing basis to help them find ways to communicate their trauma and ultimately release it.
Our Current Art United programs takes place in Vancouver, Canada and Attiak, Uganda. The children in Vancouver and Attiak are pen pals. They write letters and draw pictures to express themselves and learn about each other.
Where We Work:
United Vancouver works with kids who are victims of neglect: students who come from broken homes and suffer from problems such as poverty and obesity as a result of racial stereo-typing and extreme physical abuse.
United Van works with Strathcona Intermediate Special Remedial Student Group functions under the Vancouver School Board's Behaviour Support Program. The Special Remedial programs are intended to serve the needs of those elementary level students who exhibit severe emotional, behavioural and/or social problems. These students display behaviours of an externalizing nature (e.g. aggressive and defiant behaviours). The main goal of the program is to assist the students in managing behaviour and helping them develop coping strategies so they may return to regular classes or other appropriate programs. The program is for children from grades 1 to 7 (6 to 12 years of age)
Student Profile
Students are appropriate for placement in this program when they:
- Meet the Ministry criteria for students requiring Moderate Behaviour Support or students requiring Intensive Behaviour Support designations.
- Have emotional or behavioural problems not resultant from intellectual impairment or Autism.
- Have average intellectual potential.
- Require intervention beyond the school's resources.
We have a class of 7-10 youth. All the students have been transferred from surrounding schools because they have been deemed to not meet expectations in the class. They suffer from behaviour management disorders such as ADHD and ADD. The majority of our students who come from broken homes suffer from problems such as poverty and obesity as a result of racial stereo-typing and extreme physical abuse.
Our kids are victims of neglect. In efforts to socialize them, we are attempting to create a positive environment for them. In the past, we did operate with a limited budget, but not enough to sustain our project. And with the recent VSB budget cuts (18 Million Dollars); our program has lost over 70% of its funding.
- David DimapilisDave Dimapilis has been working with troubled youth and inner city kids in the Vancouver area for well over a decade.
United Attiak is a mentorship and therapy-based program targeting youth based in Northern Uganda who are war and AIDS orphans, former child soldiers and sex slaves, and girls who are victim to gender-based violence.
This one-of-a-kind traditional martial arts, Parkour, and arts therapy program will aid in the rehabilitation of these children and youth that have been directly impacted by war, poverty and the AIDS crisis in the region. The martial arts program is open to women of all ages as it aids in the empowerment of women and provides good defence for gender-based violence. Gender-based violence is the number one killer of women globally and has been recognized by the United Nations as a health crisis for women.
Project Objectives:
- To help alleviate and cure symptoms of PTSD in persons living in Atiak Sub-County region through physical and arts based therapies.
- To help women and girls who are victims of gender-based violence and to teach both males and females in the community the importance of ending gender-based violence.
- Provide education and awareness of both mental and physical health and wellness: to help the community to see the direct link between mental and physical health.
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