It’s Been Quite a Year

Dear Friends,

Navigating these extraordinary and uncertain times can be challenging to say the least. Through the support of our partners, sponsors, and you, we’re proud to have helped communities when they needed it most by meaningful impacting over 50,000 lives. Now in the spirit of the season, we come to you again.

In days like these, our mission has never been more vital: We champion and enable creative arts expression as a path towards improved health and wellbeing for individuals and communities.

In practical terms, that translated into several efforts over the past year that we wanted to spotlight:

• In March our team launched the Stuck at Home (together) campaign—a curated suite of inspiring activities and content designed to build an online community centered around creative expression.
• With unprecedented challenges facing older adults, we helped senior centers across the country better manage loneliness and isolation by spreading our Aging UnLonely initiative with community-based programs using various virtual technologies to keep seniors safe.
• Our UnLonely Film Festival 4 debuted in June with a virtual celebration that included luminaries from the arts and healthcare (including a Grammy winner, former Veterans Affairs secretary, a past president of a film studio, leader of a renowned public health institution, and healthcare and advocacy leaders).

Devastatingly, this year has also spotlighted race-based health disparities and confronted us with the tragic history of the killing of Black Americans. To address systemic racism as a public health crisis, we’re committed to partnering with community-based organizations, health systems, and other key stakeholders to launch the Black Health in the Arts Initiative. Our goal is to develop accessible arts-based programs to reduce illness risk factors and increase self-care for chronic health conditions to improve overall health within the Black community.

In spite of all the challenges in 2020, we’re encouraged by the generous support and unflinching compassion you’ve shown to us and the vulnerable populations we serve. If you are in the position, please consider making a tax-deductible donation that will help us expand our efforts to strengthen community wellbeing through the arts.

As always, many thanks and please stay in touch. Wishing you peace, joy, and meaningful connections this Holiday Season!

With sincere gratitude,

Jeremy Nobel, MD, MPH
Founder and President
The Foundation for Art & Healing