Calming Corner and Art Alcove |
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Rachael Morrison, a 16-year-old Girl Scout, is helping Santa Maria provide a space for our youngest residents to learn and strengthen their emotional intelligence. Rachael’s first encounter with Santa Maria was through a donation of clothing when she visited our main campus and met our Senior Director of Community Engagement, Marcia Chaney. During this short visit and seeing our mission in action, she was compelled to do something more to make a difference in our community.
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After that visit, Rachael chose Santa Maria as the beneficiary of her Girl Scout Gold project. Gold Award Girl Scouts are leaders and great role models who want to help fix a problem in their community or make a lasting change in their world. Rachael made a proposal to the Girls Scout’s multi-member committee to obtain project approval. Her project of a “Calming Corner and Art Alcove” at Santa Maria was approved. In Rachael’s own words: "There is a mental health crisis among young people, especially kids who have one or more parents who have suffered from health challenges -physical, mental, and/or substance use. My goal is to assist these children to learn better stress relief and coping skills."
According to the American Psychological Association, there are solutions that can help kids achieve better mental well-being. For example, learning how to regulate emotions can help children cope with strong feelings. The Calming Corner and Art Alcove project aims to address this issue by providing a safe and comfortable environment in which children can engage in art and self-expressions activities to reduce stress and anxiety in a healthy way.
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Rachael and her team have diligently worked to convert a room at Santa Maria, set aside for family wellness, into a Calming Corner and Art Alcove. This space includes a comfortable and cozy reading nook with sensory items and different calming activities such as puzzling, drawing, and coloring. Rachael is currently working with her team to create posters that will help the children understand their emotions better and give suggestions to help with emotional regulation, such as breathing exercises, yoga poses, and artistic outlets like listening to music and painting.
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Thank you, Rachael, for bringing the Calming Corner and Art Alcove to Santa Maria. |
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AVDA (Aid to Victims of Domestic Abuse) |
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AVDA (Aid to Victims of Domestic Abuse) provides multi-lingual transformational life-saving services to survivors of abuse and their families. |
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Their mission is to end family violence by advocating for the safety and self-determination of victims, promoting accountability for abusers, and fostering a community response to abuse. AVDA is a program partner of Santa Maria, bringing their services and expertise to our participants. |
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Haley Anderson, LMSW is a Trauma Counselor with AVDA and is conducting weekly group counseling with two of Santa Maria’s justice involved programs and will do so for a total of eight weeks. This service offering will continue on an ongoing basis with new participants. The course is designed to provide information that can be applicable to all relationships and prevent domestic abuse in the future. |
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At the completion of the eight-week class, participants will have three main takeaways. -
A clear understanding of the 8 spokes of the power and control wheel educating participants on how to recognize tactics used by abusive partners.
- A personalized safety plan to utilize in exiting an abusive relationship if participants find themselves in need.
- Practical ideas for self-care. Being kind to yourself is important and participants learn ways to care for themselves physically, mentally, and emotionally.
Santa Maria is grateful to AVDA for their partnership and their extraordinary work in our Houston community. |
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The mission of Santa Maria is to empower women and their families to lead healthy, successful, productive and self-fulfilling lives. |
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