Program development and execution is the follow through for the excitement and motivation generated during performances by Corinna West and Wellness Wordworks. This is how we are working to revolutionize mental health outcomes so people recover from lifelong diagnoses. We seek to design or collaborate with creative and attention grabbing programs that help people in fresh, sustainable, reproducible ways. We seek to nurture and support catalysts for change.
Current Programs: (click on each name for a more detailed description)
- The Chocolate Fairy – The Chocolate Fairy is a person that delivers high cocoa content chocolate to People In Need of Chocolate. The main Chocolate Fairy messages are how to handle sugar addiction, the value of exercise and wellness strategies, and abstinence vs. moderation. Really, we all use some kind of drugs, so we might as well pick the ones that do the least damage and are the least addictive, and this is different for each of us.
- Poetry for Personal Power – Helping young adults aged 18 – 25 to use wellness tools to overcome adversity in their lives. We are hosting 10 open mics in universities across Missouri where people can win cash prizes for mental health related poetry. We are also hosting 10 information exchange sessions on First Fridays in the Crossroads Arts District where we use a rolling bicycle based health fair display booth to generate conversations about building social connections and using wellness tools. Collaboration with Heartland Consumer Network, American Jazz Museum, Park University, and the American Jazz Museum. Funded by Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration.
- Combat Arts for Recovery - Promoting the combat sports included in the Olympics: Judo, fencing, boxing, wrestling, and Taekwondo. Social media campaign to promote the 90 or so programs in Kansas City and providing scholarships to people with emotional struggles with a doctor’s prescription.
Members of the 2008 CAC Board of Directors
- The Story Project – This is a participatory action research project with a collaboration between Wichita State University and Kansas’ Consumer Advisory Council, the statewide mental health consumer network. We are analyzing and finding recovery themes 400 minutes of video and art gathered from consumers at the Kansas Recovery Conference. It is possible that we might frame the project according to current research on stigma reduction, trauma-informed care, or empowerment.
- Wellbeing for All. This is a program of the Heartland Consumer Network, Missouri’s statewide mental health advocacy network. The idea is that we can use a reproducible research based tool to find out how friendly a community is to mental health consumers. This is similar to how the League of American Bicyclists measures how bicycle friendly a city is. This is a participatory action research project.
- Car-Free Challenge – Register for the Wellness Wordworks Team at www.kcbike.info to log any trips you make by walking, public transit, bicycling, or carpooling. This helps promote Wellness Wordworks while encouraging physical activity and more environmental transportation methods.
-
B4B Board Member Susan Crain Lewis en route to winning the Tricycle Challenge
Bike for the Brain – I am in charge of social media – website, Facebook, and Twitter for Bike for the Brain. Bike for the Brain is a community bicycle ride, run and walk to increase awareness that all people have the potential to recover from mental illnesses. These are emotional, behavioral, and cognitive experiences that are common to many people. We provide funding for Kansas City based organizations that help people to reclaim their lives on the other side of a diagnosis.
