New American Voices: From Harm to Home

The Colorado New Play Festival in partnership with the International Rescue Committee will conduct art therapy retreats for their clients. The mission of the International Rescue Committee is to help people whose lives and livelihoods are shattered by conflict and disaster to survive, recover and gain control over their future. At the core of this program is the hope that will provide a way for resettled people to tell their stories. To give them a tool that will allow them to tell the world what they have endured and overcome.

They are ordinary people like you and me, who have lost everything. Their lives have been ripped away and the pain of that fact is unceasing.

Through outreach programs, the process of self-development, expression and healing can begin. The program will help resettled individuals identify their assets and strengths, cultivate resiliency, and establish connections with one another and their new homeland. The United States has a long tradition of offering refuge to those fleeing persecution and war. Just like us, they deserve a life of dignity, freedom and security. When we welcome refugees, they change our lives and communities for the better.