INDIANAPOLIS — Women’s Fund of Central Indiana announced recently the recipient of a $750,000 grant that will be distributed over three years. The grant was awarded to Asante Children’s Theatre to create the Sankofa Paradigm Program, a trauma-informed, healing-centered, therapeutic theatre program for girls ages 8-18 at Boys and Girls Club of Indianapolis.
The new program is a partnership between Asante Children’s Theatre, Boys and Girls Club of Indianapolis, Community Health Network, and Dr. Sally Wasmuth of the IUPUI School of Health and Human Science. The collaboration relies on the therapeutic benefits of theatre and art as a healing technique to help girls process trauma and adverse childhood experiences.
Through culturally appropriate theatre games, storytelling, enactment and performance, girls will have a space to express their feelings, solve problems and work together to present a collective narrative. Community Health Network and IUPUI staff will provide mental health support to the girls in the program and may connect them to more extensive mental health services as needed.