The Importance of Service Work (NC Art Therapy Association; Town of Carrboro (CTDA); Carrboro Business Alliance; Pro Bono Counseling Network)

When I was a young adult, just figuring out how I wanted to show up in the world, Bill Clinton was president. He and Hillary promoted the idea of creating a strong community to help our children and country thrive. At that time, Hillary wrote a book called It Takes a Village which calls for all citizens to be involved in the raising of our county’s youth. To me, that also extends to caring for all people in a community.

Service work has become an integral part of the work I do. After receiving my Masters in Expressive Arts Therapy in 1998, aI serviced in various leadership roles for the NC Art Therapy Association until 2013. I have been a member of the Carrboro Business Alliance since its establishment in 2014, including serving as the chair of the organization and of both the marketing and DEI committees. In 2024 I became chair of the Carrboro Tourism Development Authority and also joined the board of the Pro Bono Counseling Network. All of the positions I have had and currently hold help me stay connected to the communities in which I serve and I hope, make them stronger by my contribution.

Newcomers Art Therapy Program 

For the last two years, Bridges Art Therapy has been providing art therapy to the Newcomer (newly arrived refugees and immigrants) students in the Durham Public Schools, serving grades K-12. Through this program, newcomers are provided accessible, art-based mental health services. Newcomer students most likely experienced traumatic events, either in their home country or on their journey to the United States. TheNewcomer Art Therapy Program helps clients express and process complex trauma, build confidence levels, learn social skills, and acquire acculturation practices. Our clinicians allow space for these children to process the trauma they experienced while also encouraging them to recognize their strengths and resiliency. The art they create often shows memories of their home, including what they miss about their homes, as well as share about their hopes for the future. During the 2025-26 academic year, Bridges Art Therapy hopes to expand its Newcomer program to include more children and adults in the Triangle area. With our current political atmosphere, this support is needed more that even!

East Chapel Hill High: Wellness Art Program

During the 2024-25 academic school year, Bridges Art Therapy partnered with East Chapel Hill High School(ECCHS) to provide art-based wellness activities to the students in all grades at ECCHS. With the support of ECCHS social worker, Melissa Breaden, Bridget provided art activities for an hour, every other week. The projects encouraged socialization, collaboration and creative expression. While the groups started off small, they quickly grew to the maximum amount of 20 students. Because of the popularity of the groups, Bridges Art Therapy will be returning to ECCHS during the 2025-26 school year and also hopes to expand to some of the other Chapel Hill-Carrboro high schools as well.

IFC: Art Hives: (Orange County Arts Commission, Town of Chapel Hill Arts and Culture)

Since the fall of 2023, Bridges Art Therapy has been partnering with the Carrboro based nonprofit Inter-Faith Council for Social Services (IFC) to provide therapeutic art activities to people in Chapel Hill and Carrboro who are housing insecure or experiencing homelessness. In 2023, the two organizations collaborated on and received a grant from the Orange County Arts Commission which was used to provide art activities for people at the IFC Commons in Carrboro. The art activities welcomed all members of the community and were held primarily in the dining room of the Community Kitchen just prior to a meal. The art activities were promoted as Art Hives which welcome all people and are focused on solidarity as opposed to charity.

Because of the success of the program at the IFC Commons, Bridges Art Therapy and IFC again collaborated on another grant, this time through the Town of Chapel Hill Arts and Culture department. This grant was used to provide therapeutic art activities in the form of Art Hives for guests at the men’s shelter (Community House) in Chapel Hill and the women staying at HomeStart, a women’s shelter also in Chapel Hill. While art making was the reason for gathering, the groups often lead to storytelling and sharing our lived experiences. Some people made art while others came for the opportunity to connect with others.