Success Stories CIS and The Art of Healing
Coping and Connecting
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School communities are by no means immune to the news and stresses of the world. Case in point: the catastrophic 2010 Haiti Earthquake hit the Brooklyn’s Canarsie community hard (many students’ immediate family members lived in Haiti).
CIS employs a community-based approach in order to meet the varied academic, emotional, and family-related needs of New York City’s students. So when Carnarsie school buildings became overwhelmed with students in deep distress, we responded accordingly.
Teams of CIS counselors were deployed to more than 18 schools, to help students cope with the turmoil. These counselors worked with groups of students, providing them a safe space to process the tragedy, help them cope with stress, understand their grief, and express their pain.
As CIS Counselors laid the foundation for a supportive, trusting, and restorative environment, the students themselves began to initiate group sessions, where they could share their feelings and be supported by their peers. As stories of life, loss and survival filtered through the schools, a sense of solidarity and deep connection arose—and out of this crisis emerged a stronger community of students whose resilience was being tested and proven.
Hope, purpose and determination can flourish.
Together, let’s work toward a bright, resilient future for New York City’s children, families and schools.
