It's A W.I.N. (Art & Wellness in Nature)
The It's A W.I.N. (Art & Wellness in Nature) program runs on a partnership-based model, and supports children through their ecosystem of care. We collaborate with vital community organizations who support youth education and health, and shape our program around community-defined goals, knowledge, and feedback. In order to deliver culturally-competent programs at multiple touch-points in a child's life, we intentionally partner with a wide variety of organizations, including healthcare providers, libraries, childcare providers, nature organizations, immigrant support organizations, and school systems.
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Our Approach
Our program strategy is rooted in the asset-based community engagement model, which is a bottom-up way of working with communities that focuses on community strengths and assets, rather than on deficits, problems. Specifically, Brushwood Center prioritizes:
- Building authentic, long-term relationships with community-based organizations and partners;
- Collaborating with community assets to develop mutually beneficial programs and contributing resources where needed to advance the health of people and the planet; and
- Combatting settler colonial legacies and false narratives, such as white saviorism, through cultural and artistic platforms.
Program Goals
We partner with youth, families, and community partners across Lake County to:
- Increase equitable access to the many health benefits of nature
- Strengthen environmental awareness and action
- Cultivate rich cultural connections to the natural world
Why Nature?
Research shows that access to nature is critical for both human health and learning, leading to:
- Improved academic performance and test scores
- Increased attention span and problem solving skills |
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Our Partners
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If you are interested in participating or supporting IT’S A W.I.N, please contact Dani Abboud at dabboud@brushwoodcenter.org.
