The grant will facilitate expansion throughout the state, allowing Free Arts to apply innovative clinically and culturally focused programs such as their Weekly Mentor, Professional Artist Series, Free Arts Days, Camps, Young Adult Empowerment, Family and Resilient Roots programs. By integrating cutting-edge therapeutic techniques with artistic expression, Free Arts aims to provide participants with the tools they need to heal from trauma and build resilience.
“Free Arts has created lasting impact in the lives of vulnerable youth,” said Renee Parsons, co-founder of The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation. “They are leveraging the ability of art to transform, helping foster and homeless youth learn new coping skills that they will carry throughout their lives.”
This grant will enable Free Arts to expand the geographic reach of its programs beyond Maricopa County, reaching participants in Pima, Pinal, and Yavapai Counties, as well as Native nations and Southern Tucson. This expansion is essential to ensuring that all children in Arizona have access to the healing power of the arts, regardless of their location or background.
The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation has granted more than $5 million to the organization with its first gift in 2012. In 2017, they granted Free Arts $2.5 million to establish The Bob & Renee Parsons Center for Hope & Healing, providing funding to purchase their building and operate two signature programs.
About the Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation
The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation offers support to nonprofit organizations successfully working to empower, educate, nurture and nourish people during what is often the darkest time of their lives. Founded in 2012 by philanthropists and business leaders Bob and Renee Parsons to provide hope and life-changing assistance to the country’s most vulnerable populations, The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation offers critical funding at critical times to those in need. The Foundation’s giving is driven by the core belief that all people – regardless of race, religion, roots, economic status, sexual orientation or gender identity – deserve access to quality healthcare, education and a safe place to call home. Follow @WeDealInHope on social media or visit TBRPF.org, to learn more about partner organizations and the important work being done in the community.
About Free Arts for Abused Children of Arizona
Founded in 1993, Free Arts for Abused Children of Arizona is a non-profit organization that transforms children’s trauma to resilience through the arts. Free Arts programs include creative elements that promote safety, self-expression, and a sense of belonging. Free Arts programs are delivered by 900 volunteer mentors and artists who serve more than 7,000 children annually through partnerships with 43 social service child welfare agencies at 120+ sites across Maricopa County. For more information on Free Arts for Abused Children of Arizona and its programs, please visit www.freeartsaz.org.
Media Contact
Lindsay Hansen, The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation, 1 4802056195, [email protected], www.tbrpf.org
SOURCE The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation
