Optimizing Underserved Youth’s Potential by Building Community Partnerships through Poetry and Art

Format

Individual Presentation

First Presenter's Institution

University of North Florida

Second Presenter's Institution

Hope at Hand, Inc.

Third Presenter's Institution

NA

Fourth Presenter's Institution

NA

Fifth Presenter's Institution

NA

Strand #1

Heart: Social & Emotional Skills

Strand #2

Health: Mental & Physical Health

Relevance

Combining creativity, poetry and elements of art, Hope at Hand, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides healing and personal growth for at-risk, underserved children and adolescents. With poetry as the foundation, H@H provides strategies that support youth overcoming barriers to successful participation in society. H@H teaches independent wellness strategies that can easily be internalized and sustained, all through poetry and creative expression. Lessons are carefully designed to engage hard-to-reach youth, blending honest reflection and visions of choice and positive change. According to the Centers for Disease Control (2020), providing youth with healthy opportunities and reducing adverse childhood experiences are the keys to wellness, resilience and to optimizing their potential. Rates of criminal behavior among youth drop when communities provide them with constructive activities which are protective factors against adversity.

Brief Program Description

For ten years, a unique, awards’ winning community partnership between the University of North Florida, and Hope at Hand, a non-profit has contributed to the impact of arts-based teaching and learning opportunities for increasing mental health .The purpose of this session is to discuss how mental health providers (community, school, criminal justice) can leverage community partnerships and use therapeutic art and poetry lessons in area schools, homeless shelters, detention and disability centers to help youth recognize and overcome circumstances that limit their successful participation in society.

Summary

Being a teen is difficult! Being a successful, productive teen is daunting! Many of the youth H@H works with are unsuccessful in their daily attempts to ease into adulthood. H@H’s poetry lessons around confidence, self-esteem, choice, and change provide at-risk youth populations the safe space to consider hopes and dreams. With poetry as the foundation for all programming, H@H provides youth with strategies to support them as they overcome barriers to their successful participation in society. Lessons are carefully designed to engage hard-to-reach youth authentically, blending honest reflection and visions of change through poetry. Programming focuses on independent wellness strategies that youth can use to strengthen their own self-esteem beyond the scope of the actual lesson. All sessions include opportunities to immerse youth in joy and success, since many of them are rarely involved in ongoing positive experiences…and it all begins with poetry.

Evidence

“Poetry therapy involves the use of language, symbol, and story in therapeutic, educational, growth, and community-building capacities” (Mazza, 2017, p. 3). According to the Journal Poetry Therapy it is inclusive of bibliotherapy, narrative therapy, expressive writing and healing, and journal therapy. Multiple methods were used by the authors to support evidence-based practices used in H@H’s ten-year community intervention, including case studies, (Stanley and Stanley, 2020,) narrative inquiry research (Nguyen et. al, (2016), client self-report surveys, testimonials, video, TV, poetry, and art artifacts. Ancillary positive community impact evidence includes numerous awards and recognition by the Library of Congress, AETNA Insurance, Partners in Health, Florida Division of Cultural Affairs, and National Association of Poetry Therapy. Additionally, H@H has received positive evaluations for programming from 23 community organizations including PACE Center for Girls. Gateway Steps to Recovery, and Big Brothers/Big Sisters. Here are examples of evidenced-based impact. Increased arts opportunities for youth in low income areas. Studies show that students in low socioeconomic residential areas who are engaged in a high level of arts enrichment are more likely to attend some college. H@H has employed students (CareerSource and the Mayor's Summer Work Program) from a Title 1 high school during the summer for the last 3 years. Rapoport and Lansing (2016) University of Chicago Crime Lab study substantiates a dramatic decline in arrest rates for teens that participated in a summer job or had meaningful activities.

References

Centers for Disease Control (2020). Protective factors for youth. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/protective/index.htm

Lansing, J., & Rapoport, E. (2016). Bolstering Belonging in BAM and Beyond: Youth Guidance’s Becoming a Man (BAM) Program Components, Experiential Processes, and Mechanisms. A Report to Youth Guidance. Chicago, IL: Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago.

Nguyen K., Stanley, N., Rank, A., Stanley, L. & Wang, Y. (2016): The relationship among storytelling, values, and resilience of college students from Eastern and Western cultural backgrounds, Journal of Poetry Therap.

Mazza, N. (2017). Poetry therapy: Theory and practice (2nd ed.). New York: Routledge.

Stanley, N. (2020). Poetry and media for improving upper elementary African American science learning. Under review, Journal of Poetry Therapy.

Learning Objectives

Participates will:

1.Learn how they can leverage community partnerships for greater impact.

2. Use therapeutic art and poetry lessons to help youth recognize and overcome circumstances that limit their successful participation in society.

Biographical Sketch

Nile Stanley is a performance poet, storyteller, and associate professor of literacy and arts education at the University of North Florida. Nile is the author of two books and numerous articles. He is a founding member of Hope at Hand, which provides poetry and art for underserved youth.

Hope at Hand was founded in 2009 by Steffani Fletcher, a Language Arts teacher in Jacksonville, FL. She has 23 years of teaching and administrative experience with Duval County Public Schools.Ms. Fletcher holds degrees in Elementary Education and Educational Leadership. She has earned national certifications from the American Montessori Society and the International Federation for Biblio/Poetry Therapy.

Keyword Descriptors

Poetry and art therapy, arts education, underserved youth, mental health, community partnerships

Presentation Year

2021

Start Date

3-10-2021 3:00 PM

End Date

3-10-2021 4:00 PM

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Mar 10th, 3:00 PM Mar 10th, 4:00 PM

Optimizing Underserved Youth’s Potential by Building Community Partnerships through Poetry and Art

For ten years, a unique, awards’ winning community partnership between the University of North Florida, and Hope at Hand, a non-profit has contributed to the impact of arts-based teaching and learning opportunities for increasing mental health .The purpose of this session is to discuss how mental health providers (community, school, criminal justice) can leverage community partnerships and use therapeutic art and poetry lessons in area schools, homeless shelters, detention and disability centers to help youth recognize and overcome circumstances that limit their successful participation in society.