Harlem Community Healing Project: An Intergenerational Education & Healing Program for Girl/GNC Teens and Their Families

The Intergenerational Education & Healing Program for Harlem area high school teen girls and GNC teens and their family members is an exciting new collaborative project between The Kota Alliance and 4Ward Inclusion. This program will run from November 2024-May 2025 over 15 Saturday sessions for teens and their parents/guardians.

This program will integrate The Kota Alliance's trauma-conscious holistic mental health support programming, creative and expressive arts practices, and intergenerational trauma and resilience content alongside 4ward Inclusion's racial equity and trauma informed educational practices and empowering activities that will encourage youth and families from marginalized communities to improve self esteem, self-empowerment and address the stress caused by issues of violence, grief, racism, and poverty.

We empower ourselves and our communities at all stages of life. This program supports teens and their families to engage with their own self-care, wellness and empowerment beginning with ourselves and into our communities!

The program will include:

• welcome self-care gift bag for all teens at our introduction sessions

• stipends + metro cards for all teen participants

• seasonal family programming and graduation celebrations for participants highlighting teens' creative projects

• holistic health + wellness practices (including an introduction to acupressure, massage, and other somatic practices)

• games and activities to understand and address issues of identity (gender, race/ethnicity, economics), community, and personal stress

• creative and expressive arts including creative projects to engage throughout the program year and exhibit at closing ceremonies (both end of winter and end of spring)

• snacks for each session

Program Schedule:

Fall/Winter

• 12/7

• 12/14

• 12/21

• 1/11

• 1/18

• 1/25

• 2/1 - Winter Closing (for the whole family)

Winter/Spring

• 3/22

• 3/29

• 4/5

• 4/12

• 4/19

• 4/26

• 5/3 - End of Year Closing event (for the whole family)