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FEEL THE LOVE!
Dancing Well “Feel the Love” Fundraiser
$0 raised of $15,000 Goal
Through our Feel the Love fundraiser, we we seek to match a recent grant from the Creative Forces® Community Engagement Program, an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts to improve health, well-being, and quality of life for military and veteran populations exposed to trauma, as well as their families and caregivers.
The grant requires a one-to-one cash match, so we are raising funds to match it dollar for dollar.
This grant will allow Dancing Well to resume weekly dancing, which we know has a huge impact on our participants. It will also provide partial support for our summer dance series at the Robley Rex VA Medical Center, which has been very well attended.
Please consider a donation at this critical time and help us fund a full slate of dancing over the next 10 months!
And read on for more information about the unique value of our program and our proven outcomes for veterans and families coping with PTSD and brain injury.
With your support, we can continue to take advantage of this generous funding and bring all the benefits of live music, dance, and community to veterans and loved ones in need.
An Evening with Dancing Well
We are Dancing Well: The Soldier Project. Our mission is to restore the well-being of veterans and families affected by PTSD and brain injury through community dance.
Our work has been featured in a number of video stories. Please see below for a window into what Dancing Well does and what it means to our participants .
Sandra's Story
What can I say about the program Dancing Well? I found it when I was going through a very low point and on the verge of ending all. I was shutting down and desperate. I love to dance, but I had severed all ties with the outside world and I was very negative.
I decided to give it a try and that was it!
The way Ms. Deb teaches, the dances are very simple and easy and meant to be fun. I can laugh at myself and with others. The fact that many of us are military also re-establishes the bond and camaraderie of the ranks.
The dances and socialization kept me smiling and engaged, so I didn't think of anything negative, and the shadows and shame were kept out, at least for that night, or two.
Little by little, I have started to venture out. The program has been a lifesaver for me. I hope it can be expanded!
—Veteran with PTSD
A Proven Program
Dancing Well: The Soldier Project brings the uplifting power of music, dance, and community to veterans and families coping with PTSD and brain injury. We offer a powerful alternative to the depression, hopelessness, and isolation that can be so persistent in the lives of those with PTSD.
Dancing Well has been scientifically proven to increase wellness in veterans with PTSD, reducing tendency to isolate, improving mood and outlook on the future, and increasing feelings of connectedness and willingness to engage with others (Journal of Veterans Studies (4.2)).
A Groundbreaking Approach
Dancing Well is unique in creating a safe, welcoming environment for afflicted veterans and their loved ones. With a 12-year track record, our dance program is carefully tailored to the needs of veterans coping with mental, emotional, and physical challenges:
We modify dancing in the moment, catering to the unique needs of each veteran, accommodating any issues they may have with anxiety, mobility, comfort, or pain
We provide a dance space designed to minimize symptoms of PTSD and brain injury, including low, non-fluorescent lights and a designated "Comfort Zone" for participants to go to if they begin to feel overwhelmed
We offer a welcoming social experience and fun, healthy exercise that includes Cross-Body Movements to build new neural pathways, a foundational component of healing from PTSD and brain injury
We train volunteer dancers on the impacts and challenges of PTSD and brain injury to help them better support our veterans and loved ones and facilitate a positive, uplifting experience for all.
We stay in contact with each veteran between dances through texts, phone calls, and visits.
We are currently developing a leadership training to replicate our program in communities across the country.
Impact
In our most recent dance series, 100% of veterans with PTSD reported that they:
felt welcome
felt engaged with other participants and open to socializing with them
felt a sense of community from being with other veterans and loved ones
felt they belonged to the Dancing Well group
felt freedom to express themselves
found the program fun
would recommend Dancing Well to others
are "very likely" to attend again
Participants have also reported improvements in PTSD and BI symptom areas such as mood, memory, sleep, flashbacks, outlook on the future, anxiety, depression, and tendency to isolate, as well as in relationships with family and others.
“I’m a veteran, and when I came back from Iraq it was really hard. Dancing Well changed my life. The dancing, the people, everything. It’s the best thing in my life.”
Partnership with VA Whole Health
Dancing Well is now an official community partner of the VA Whole Health Initiative. Whole Health is a personalized, patient-driven health and well-being approach centered on veterans' values, needs, and goals rather than just their illness. Dancing Well serves as both a mental health support and a self-care resource, very much in line with the goals of Whole Health.
Through our summer dance series at the VA Medical Center, veterans, loved ones, and VA counseling and healthcare professionals join volunteers from the community for a relaxed evening of dance, socializing, and fun. Dancing Well is able to reach more veterans in need and VA staff often participate with great enthusiasm and promote Dancing Well to their clients.
More Than a Dance Program
Dancing Well is so much more than a dance for the veterans, family members, and other loved ones who attend. We are a community, a family.
Dancing Well feels like being in the military again. The sense of camaraderie and caring for each other, you don't get that anywhere else.
I’m a veteran, and when I came back from Iraq it was really hard. Dancing Well changed my life. The dancing, the people, everything. It’s the best thing in my life.
Even if I came in a wheelchair—the atmosphere, the compassion of the people, the dancing itself would be beneficial. I would be a part of it. Even if they had to push me in a wheelchair, I would want to be there. This is needed.
This program is awesome! I felt so welcomed. I enjoyed the smiling faces and warm hugs. I truly believe it will help me through the anxiety, fear, and discomfort that came home with me from combat.
—Veterans with PTSD
