Death may be part of life, but helping kids understand it can be a challenge.
When one family experienced the unthinkable, they turned their grief into hope and change.
In July, Project Ujima and the University of Milwaukee’s Peck School of the Arts (UWM) were recognized for their work providing youth who have experienced a violent injury an opportunity to share their experiences through creativity.
Project Ujima and UWM were one of five hospital-led collaborations in the nation to receive the American Hospital Association’s (AHA) Dick Davidson NOVA Award for improving community health.
Project Ujima was founded more than 20 years ago with the goal of addressing youth and adult violence through individual, family and community intervention and prevention strategies. Project Ujima teamed up with UWM for two projects: a peace banner and the peace paper project.
The peace banner participants created a 3-by-50 foot banner that explored how violence affects our society and what they might do to change its impact. The banner used art, portraits and testimony. Phrases like, “I am better than this” and “My past does not define me” filled the banner.
The peace paper project is part of an international community arts initiative that uses traditional papermaking as a form of trauma therapy, social engagement and community activism. Participants transformed clothing that was meaningful to them into paper. The paper became a backdrop for their portraits and quotes. Those quotes include: “Live, learn, forgive,” “Judgment becomes permanent justice,” “Can’t speak for the future,” and “Smart, kind, faithful, strong.”
Youth who took part in the projects talked about how this creative experience helped them respond to judgments and stereotypes they often encountered when people realized they were victims of violence.
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This program supports a system-wide transformation in suicide care at children’s hospitals and will help save children’s lives.
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As the only Level I pediatric surgery center in Wisconsin, this achievement reflects the highly specialized care and quality assessments in surgical services at Children's Wisconsin.
Children’s Wisconsin is one of only two hospitals in state with this accreditation from the American College of Surgeons.