Cardinal Services has been awarded a $3,000 grant through the Kosciusko REMC RoundUp Fund at the Kosciusko County Community Foundation.
The monies will help to create a new interdisciplinary performing arts project, which will use the activities of performing arts to enhance the mental health and quality of life for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Participants will learn creative tools for self-expression, increase their artistic skills, deepen social connections and cultivate a strong sense of purpose. The project’s goals include creation of a performance troupe, and the community will be invited to future performances, according to a news release from Cardinal Services.
The project also includes training for Cardinal Services’ staff on the use of effective methods of working with people with disabilities in the performing arts arena. The training assures that the program will continue and sustain itself well beyond the grant period, the release states.
While the grant specifically supports Cardinal Services in Warsaw, the performing arts initiative will be implemented collaboratively at Cardinal, Easterseals Arc in Fort Wayne, Easterseals RISE in Angola and Easterseals Passages in Columbia City. Foundations in each community are funding the efforts in each area.
“We’re tremendously excited to implement this new project,” said Vickie Lootens, executive director of Cardinal Services. “We know from past experience that the more people are given opportunities and encouraged to express themselves, the more confident, independent and outgoing they become. They find themselves trying new things and meeting new people.”
To learn more, visit www.cardinalservices.org.
