One Year Ago

One year ago Playing to Live! began. We cannot believe the amount of work, children and communities reached, and what has been conquered in a mere 365 days. We want to thank all the incredible volunteers, our clinical team, our partners in Liberia and South Africa, our board, and all the absolutely incredible people who have made this possible. The best way we know how to share with you about our incredible journey is to give you the break down of this last year:

​September 27 2014

Alexis began our journey by developing the idea and laying the foundation for Playing to Live! and incorporated it as a non profit in response to the Ebola epidemic. 

She believed that the children in Liberia needed essential emotional support during the epidemic, and as an art therapist and past resident of Liberia, she knew that expressive art therapy would be the perfect tool for the Liberian community. 

​October 2014
​Jessi Hanson flew to Liberia and, through the connection of the Liberian Ministry of Health, she was invited into the isolation centers to train the female Ebola survivors in the center to utilize out pilot program with the children in 21 day isolation.

We were able to see a marked difference in the children and women of the isolation center. The children went from crying and not communicating  to playing and interacting with the other children in the center. 

November & December 2014
​Playing to Live! built their clinical team of an art therapist, Alexis, a child life specialist, Cat, a yoga therapist, Kristin, and a play therapist, Rebekah. We also received many great volunteer hours from different people all over the country

We also built our wonderful board of directors. Our team was coming together. 

During this time we received some great coverage for the work we were doing in the New York Times, ABC, Chattanooga Free Press, Harvard, and Johnson City Press.  

January- March 2015 
Playing to Live! had received just shy of $2,000 in donations, but with $500/ month, we were able to hire 2 women to interact with almost 70 children 2-3 a week. The children were either orphaned from the epidemic or highly affected. 

Prisie and Jessica became the face of Playing to Live! in Liberia. We received weekly reports that the children were showing HUGE emotional improvements, and they would call our staff on days they couldn't make it asking why their aunties weren't coming.

We were quickly becoming an essential program for the support of the survivors of this terrible epidemic. 
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April- May 2015
Jessi, who had been already working in Liberia, started working more hours with Playing to Live! The clinical team began to really finalize our initial program and training, and we continued to support the team in Liberia. 

The question soon became, where do we go from here?

May 2015
Through a growing partnership with the Liberian NGO, RESH, UNICEF funded our program and training. 

So RESH and Playing to Live! began the 6 month grant, where we would soon hire 40 female Ebola survivors and by the end of November 2015, reach 850 highly affected children. 

We couldn't believe this huge growth!!

June 2015
Alexis flew to South Africa to work on her doctoral field work. Through this work we partnered with a South African NGO, TLF. 

The Liberian UNICEF grant was in full swing, and Jessi and Alexis were reunited for a week in Monrovia. For the first time ever both founders, our Liberian team, and our Liberian partner were together!! 

July 2015
Our program in Liberia was continuing to grow!!

In South Africa Alexis and our wonderful liaison Megan trained 40 people in Playing to Live!'s program at TLF. The focus in South Africa being on children experiencing homelessness and urban poverty.

We implemented our program during their school holiday and reached over 80 children. Our theme was Creative Superheroes. 

The children were invited to explore their individual and group strengths through play, art, singing, and expression. 

August 2015
The Creative Superheroes closed the first round of South African work, and Alexis and Kathryn, who joined Alexis for a few weeks, explored new and exciting opportunities, which we plan to develop over the next year 

Liberia continued to grow. We are in constant contact with our team in Liberia, and we are blown away by the stories we are receiving. 

And now and to the future:
We have grown exponentially throughout this year, and this is such a short snippet of what all has developed. We are looking into our second year of existence, and our excitement grows with ideas, opportunities, and continued need in high affected areas Africa and beyond. We also want to thank our special volunteer Laurel Morrison, who is in Liberia at this moment supporting the ending months of the RESH UNICEF grant. 

We cannot do this without you, and we ask you for your support. We have received so many requests for services and partnerships, but we are beyond capacity in terms of funds. In order to grow we need your support. Will you be our Creative Super Hero?
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