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ATI’s two largest programs – The Exceptional Children’s Program <br />and the Newcomers Art Therapy Program – take place within public <br />school systems. During the school year, ATI clinicians prov ide art <br />therapy serv ices to more than 120 children (K-12) with intellectual <br />and physical disabilities in Orange County. This past year, ATI also <br />started EC Art Therapy groups at Voyager Academy in Durham, <br />serv ing 14 middle and high school students. Through group therapy, <br />EC children dev elop creativ e expression, interact with peers and <br />learn social skills, and gain a sense of mastery through the creativ e <br />process. ATI also works with adults liv ing with intellectual and <br />dev elopmental disorders. ATI clinicians use art-making to help these <br />clients identify and accept their emotions; increase their ability to <br />communicate in a group atmosphere; and dev elop a sense of <br />assurance that positiv ely impacts their educational and v ocational <br />pursuits. <br />ATI’s Newcomers Program serv es more than 300 refugee and <br />immigrant children and adults from more than 30 countries <br />worldwide. Through this program, newcomers are prov ided <br />accessible, art-based mental health serv ices across the Triangle and <br />Triad regions of North Carolina. In addition to serv ing newcomer <br />children in the school systems, ATI also offers art therapy to adults <br />through the Carrboro Community Health Center, monthly women’s <br />groups and through groups offered by Church W orld Serv ices in <br />Durham. Newcomers present with a unique set of mental health <br />concerns. Beyond the potential - and probable - trauma experienced <br />before and during migration to the United States, newcomers also <br />contend with difficulties experienced post-arriv al, including language <br />and cultural barriers, financial concerns, ongoing legal battles, <br />homesickness, ethnic discrimination, and other barriers to housing, <br />employment, and education. ATI’s Newcomers Program helps clients <br />express and process this complex trauma, build confidence lev els, <br />learn social skills, and acquire acculturation practices. <br />ATI’s Arts and Peer Support Group serv es div erse adults liv ing with a <br />range of sev ere and persistent mental illnesses. Using the <br />expressiv e arts, group members learn to celebrate themselv es as <br />artists and integral community members rather than as stigmatized <br />people. ATI does not charge a fee for participants to attend this <br />weekly program, helping under-resourced community members since <br />2011. <br />ATI also serv es as a co-located mental health agency in the Chapel <br />Hill Carrboro City Schools, allowing us to serv e students not reached <br />by our other programs. This spring, ATI was approached by the <br />Orange County Schools to be a co-located mental health agency <br />within their school system as well, affording ATI the opportunity to <br />reach more youth in Orange County. <br />DocuSign Envelope ID: 40D2FB7D-C998-4FDC-9F70-09BAD1598B33