Resilience tool for children after Hurricane Maria

There are so many experiences that can help our children and youngsters learn about emotional resilience when facing a disaster. 

The arts are particularly relevant. That is why one of our recent events was a theater piece about the Perez Family -- a family like mine or yours that faces the challenge of getting ready for a hurricane. The parents, the grandmother, a boy and a teenager made us laugh and also think about our own experience. The show was enjoyed by children and their families, who gathered at our basketball court on a Friday afternoon to watch the story and learn something about how the disaster has transformed their own families.

The students of our alternative high school also had a unique opportunity to reflect on Hurricane Maria's anniversary. They were invited by the local Center for Investigative Journalism to listen to community leaders and journalists talk about what worked and what went wrong in media coverage one year ago. After listening to panelists, students were challenged to design the newspaper cover and headlines they would have liked to see the day after Hurricane Maria. A news editor guided them in recalling the stories and the images they remembered, and stating the ones they would have preferred to see in the news as a reflection of their communities.

We continue to look into diverse and creative opportunities to teach our children about emotional resilience. Please donate to this project so we can help them grow into healthy and emotionally strong adults.

Thank you!