Bounce Back

The Bounce Back Collective is a project designed to explore the healing power of creative spaces. Bounce Back is designed to support resilience in children and youth by thoughtfully engaging the community with arts and intergenerational dialogue for transformative healing. Bounce Back is a program funded by the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Behavioral Health Coordinating Council Subcommittee on Children and Youth as part of their work to advance the President's Unity Agenda and Mental Health Strategy and HHS' Roadmap for Behavioral Health Integration. Our project was selected from a pool of over 500 Resilience Challenge applicants nationwide. IWES joins 14 other finalists in this challenge and will compete to showcase community-led solutions to support resilience in children and youth.

Inspired by a panel we hosted at our reACTion community event in May 2023 where youth, community members, and local artists led a panel about the relationship between creative expression and mental health, we decided to create an opportunity for youth, artists, and culture-bearers to further explore this topic. There is an urgent need to promote resilience, particularly among youth that are Black, Indigenous, or People of Color (BIPOC), or lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer (LGBTQ), as they are at a heightened risk for social disadvantage and marginalization. For many, having an outlet for creative expression and exploration can be life-altering, and it has historically benefited the young people of New Orleans. By engaging youth who use the visual arts, music, dance, or other mediums, as well as their peers who have an interest in exploring the healing power of art, Bounce Back presents a unique, culturally affirming opportunity to design restorative healing practices and community conversations to advance individual and collective well-being.

The Bounce Back Collective will:

  • CONVENE A COHORT OF 10 YOUTH WITH AN INTEREST IN THE ARTS TO ENVISION AND SHAPE CREATIVE SPACES FOR HEALING

  • BUILD PARTNERSHIPS WITH COMMUNITY MEMBERS WHO WORK WITHIN THE ARTS TO PROVIDE EDUCATION AND TRAINING AROUND THE CONNECTION BETWEEN RESILIENCE AND THE ARTS

  • COMPETE NATIONALLY FOR A GRAND PRIZE!

 

“By recognizing the value of artists in the community

and integrating their work into community development, New Orleans can enhance its cultural vibrancy, stimulate economic growth, and foster greater community cohesion, all while celebrating and supporting the local arts and culture scene like we’ve been doing for centuries.”

– Ka’sha Fenceroy, University of New Orleans Anthropology Major and Youth Organizer for Trans Queer Youth NOLA

“Artists in this city are doing a lot of community work

and should be recognized as more than just artists, but also community leaders. It is important that we take a different approach in discussing artistry in New Orleans and really pay attention to how it shapes the social, physical, and economic character of the community.”

– Ama Sumbry, Xavier University Psychological Science Major

 
 
 

From November 2023 to April 2024,

IWES will work closely with the Bounce Back Collective’s intergenerational cohort of youth, artists, and culture bearers to create healing spaces to promote mental health and resilience. The Collective will convene in spaces led by various members of New Orleans’ diverse artistic community, with the goal of exploring the healing effects of creative expression and expansion. The Collective will meet monthly and focus on a different modality in each session, and IWES will collect qualitative data on the impacts of these workshops on their mental and emotional health.

In May 2024,

representatives of our project will travel to Washington, DC for the Resilience Challenge Summit to present our findings. In June, Grand Prize and Runners Up will be announced; one grand prize winner will receive $300,000, and up to two runners-up will receive $175,000 each. Grand prize and runners-up winners will be offered technical assistance and mentorship post-award to scale and implement their pilot projects. Additional opportunities for cross-learning to share information, progress, and lessons learned will be provided.

“New Orleans, already being a creative hub, has the potential to foster even more community links

if the importance of the arts is pushed even further. One of the things that we discuss the most, especially with this current fellowship is youth. If youth get more involved in the arts we will be able to see stronger links of social safety and could aid issues currently present in New Orleans like voter turnout in the years to come seeing as the arts have a link to higher civic activity participation.”

- Aaliyah Bailey, Xavier University Psychology Major

 
 

To get involved with the Bounce Back Collective, please email Meagan.