Arts Based Anti-Violence Program
HEBCAC is a key partner in a demonstration project funded by the Centers for Disease Control and awarded to Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing. The overall purpose of the project is to implement and evaluate school-based programs to promote healthy relationships and prevent violence (intimate partner violence and sexual assault) among predominantly African American middle school adolescents in four (4) Baltimore City schools.

HEBCAC has operated several very successful community-based strategies to address the issues of domestic violence and teen dating violence in our community. Our goal has been to reduce the domestic/youth violence in East Baltimore through increased awareness, education and outreach.

Theater Project
In 1996, our Domestic Violence Prevention Initiative developed the idea of a summer youth theatre group as a creative mechanism for heightening awareness/providing education to the community about issues related to domestic/family violence. We partnered with the Baltimore Summer Youthworks Program and recruited twenty (20) teens, ages 14-21, who were seeking summer jobs. We also hired two professional artists to direct the project. The teens spent eight (8) weeks participating in an intensive artistic/self development process that included instruction in acting techniques, psychodrama, meditation, sound therapy, spirituals, Native American chants and African songs. They also learned about issues related to violence and were taught conflict resolution skills, ways to control impulses, problem solving skills and anger management strategies. With this new knowledge, drawing from their own personal experience and a gifted staff, the teens were able to break through their “emotional armor” and create an original production for the community. The project ran for five consecutive summers and gave birth to the NU World Art Ensemble, which is now a recognized theatre project in Baltimore City.

Human Services Staff Training
HEBCAC has been very interested in building the capacity of local service providers to better serve individuals and families experiencing the effects of domestic violence. We also wanted to build a coordinated community based response as an option for victims who did not want to leave their homes and move into a shelter.

We designed and delivered a sixteen (16) hr. training program for caseworkers representing over 20 local social service organizations. The program was repeated twice a year for a period of five (5) years. The House of Ruth, a local shelter for battered women, was our key partner in this endeavor.

For more information contact: Karen Kemp at (443) 524-2597 or kkemp@hebcac.org .