Arte Unido

On August 25, 2016 Arte Unido, an art therapy group that meets at CHS-Ceres Partnership, celebrated their one year anniversary. Arte Unido is one of many groups at the Ceres Partnership that are part of the Promotora Program. The Promotora Program is a program to promote good physical and mental health in the Latino community. Promotores serve as community health advocates and outreach workers, helping connect Latino community members to health resources.

Arte Unido meets every Friday at the Ceres Partnership and makes art pieces entirely out of recyclable materials. When the group first began, it was facilitated by a paid staff member. Today, there is no paid facilitator and leadership responsibility is shared among the women in the group. They take turns leading projects.

Each week the group does a different project together and they prove that even the most simple and overlooked pieces of “trash” can be re-purposed into beautiful art. At their anniversary party, they showcased art pieces made of toilet paper rolls, milk and egg cartons, cereal boxes, soda cans and more. Besides encouraging sustainability, these women are practicing self-care and contributing to good mental health by participating in art therapy.

By running the group themselves, sharing responsibility among the 20–25 women in the group, they are building leadership skills. Not only are they building skills, but they are building relationships. They are friends. They all live in the same community and share both common struggles and joys. They are proud of one another. Even though many are hesitant to show off their own accomplishments, they are quick to celebrate one another’s.

Along with Arte Unido, there are many other Promotora groups at Ceres Partnership including knitting and dance therapy groups. On Friday mornings, three of the groups meet at the same time in the same room. Entering the classroom you can feel the excited energy in the air. Though they are three separate groups, they have become one large social network of support.

CHS just provided the space. In the space, these women developed leadership skills and their self-leadership is what allows the group to thrive as it does. The groups grew because group members shared the information with their friends and now lead the groups on their own. The groups continue because they have become natural systems of support.

See more of their beautiful art work below. To learn more about the programs offered at the Ceres Partnership and our other Family Resource Centers visit: http://www.centerforhumanservices.org/family-resource-center.html

For more information about the Promotores Network visit: http://www.stanbhrsprevention.com/promotores.shtm