One of the most critical public health issues to date is the mental health crisis that the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated amongst people of color in the United States. Through our trauma-informed facility, RISE Creative Lab, our mission is to tend to the mental health needs of people of color in the vibrant NYC community.
RISE Creative Lab stands for resilience-based, integrated social arts education. It is a trauma-informed educational arts lab that aims to bridge boundaries between diverse, disadvantaged groups, artists, social health organizations, and the public. Through community partnership, we use in-depth film-based preventive strategies to help individuals develop healthy coping strategies, social inclusion, and a sense of agency while providing access to mental health resources to improve their lives.
Participants will first undergo mental health assessments conducted by health professionals. This check-in point will help gauge the mental health support needed, preferred learning styles, and workshop placement. Through hands-on learning, the film workshops help build resiliency through storytelling skills, which build emotional expression and self-awareness. The activities also foster a sense of teamwork and empowerment, which are essential in building social connection. The film screenings and panel discussions also immerse members in thought-provoking conversations that develop critical thinking skills and creatively connect the arts to the human condition. Film’s visual language teaches us to reflect on the unconscious and detail emotional experiences in an abstract or literal format.
At the end of the sessions, for interested participants, their videos will then be exhibited in public institutions to share their experiences and progress in our creative programs. Some of the intended benefits of our program include mental health awareness, empowerment, meaningful collaboration, social inclusion, and mentorship. Throughout every intervention stage, we will include questionnaires, interviews and focus groups to gather additional information about our population and the program's effectiveness.
It is important to stress that this is not an intervention that treats individuals but provides the artistic tools to help diverse groups identify their own mental health needs, ways of connecting and seeking help. Should individuals need more direct attention, health professionals will be available throughout the sessions. This approach lessens the pressure of inaccessibility to seek help over mental health issues. For these reasons, community partnership is the pulse of RISE creative lab.
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