June 28, 2018 — Families and guests enjoyed an exhibit of work created by mothers in the Building Bridges of Hope Art Therapy Group entitled Las mujeres inmigrantes somos poderosas / We, the immigrant women, are powerful.   The exhibit included works of papier mache, weaving, felting, doll-making, painting, photography and sculpture, among other techniques.

The Building Bridges group works with women and mothers with children 1.5 to 3 years old.  The goal of the group is to empower women, helping them to increase self-esteem, build confidence, and learn effective ways to deal with stress and prevent the negative impact of toxic stress in their children and themselves.

The group provides support to achieve these goals by providing the clients with the stepping stones in understanding toxic stress and trauma, learning self-expression, reducing feelings of shame and guilt, and developing coping skills to deal with stress, anxiety and depression.

Mónica Sanchez, senior mental health counselor and licensed art therapist, led the group, with the assistance of Argelia Tlatelpa.  Our special thanks go to:

• Partners SAORI Arts NYC, Mano a Mano and Materials for the Arts for lending their expertise t o our workshops and providing art materials and other resources.
• The musicians who came together for this special concert for LSA’s clients performing songs that were especially selected for our clients: Mireya Ramos, Grammy winner and founder of Flor de Toloache, violin and voice; Nilko Andreas Guarin, guitar and voice;  Sinuhé Padilla, leona and voice; Sebastián Cruz , guitar, requinto and voice.
• The mothers in the group who brought so much heart to each project.
• Childcare providers Natividades Prudente and Eulogio Cortez and volunteer Bonnie Jurkschat, who allow mothers in the group the time to reflect, heal and learn.

Below are a few photos from the exhibit.