Women and children who work with YWCA Dayton can now access art therapy, thanks to a grant from the Montgomery County Arts & Cultural District and CultureWorks. The grant has allowed YW to partner with We Care Arts to provide art therapy to individuals in the YW’s Children’s Program, Permanent Supportive Housing, and Center for Survivors of Sexual Violence virtual support group.While the type of art therapy session is different for different groups, overall art therapy fosters self-esteem and self-awareness, cultivates emotional resilience, and reduces and resolves conflict and distress.This is YWCA Dayton’s first grant from Montgomery County Arts & Cultural District and includes:

• 12 sessions to art therapy for its Children’s Program, for a total of $3,000.
• 12 sessions to art therapy for women living in permanent supportive housing, for a total of $3,900.
• 5 sessions to art therapy for support groups for survivors of sexual violence, for a total of $1,950.
• YWCA will also use the funding to request a custom-designed local art piece to be displayed in the newly renovated Center for Survivors of Sexual Violence.

Em Ellis, clinical care manager, said that one of the residents living in YWCA's permanent supportive apartments said after the September group session that the month's project was a way for residents to express themselves."What I liked about the September session from We Care Arts was the mindset that we were creating art for ourselves and it didn’t have to be exactly like anyone else’s," Ellis said.