Our Work

THE HEATHMERE CENTER FOR CULTURAL ENGAGEMENT

 

The Heathmere Center’s mission is to cultivate and nurture stronger communities on Boston’s North Shore by empowering the voices of youth and the historically marginalized through creative dialogue programming. We work with community partners and local institutions to develop collaborative programs that incorporate dialogue, the arts and anti-oppression education in order to promote inclusion, equity and belonging.

Heathmere seeks out opportunities to initiate programs and support community partners that have a particular emphasis in the areas of education, religion and the arts.

 

For High Schools and Colleges:

We work through extra-curricular programing to provide facilitated dialogues and deliberations on issues of concern to students in a way that helps integrate dialogic practices into their community. We also offer facilitation training for students to help them serve as on-going resources for the school community. While our approach aims to go beyond typical “talking-head” or “expert” approaches to difficult issues, dialogue and deliberation can supplement current programming that takes a more top-down, informational approach.  Whether the issue is gun-violence, substance use, mental health, sexual orientation or gender identities, we help schools build the capacity for students to listen to and talk with one another. Our facilitated approach does not aim at consensus but focuses on learning how to listen and talk with one another so as to avoid polarization and enhance community connections. Where there is interest, we also partner with local artists to bring a creative and fun dimension to vital dialogues that are connected to a community event.

For Community Organizations:

Are the youth and young adults in your organization wanting to go deeper in terms of how they talk together about difficult topics? Are they hungry for transforming their concerns into civic action? Are they looking for a way to share their passions with the wider community? Are you looking for creative ways to strengthen the voices of youth and young adults to help them become more civically engaged and stronger self-advocates? The Heathmere Center provides facilitation services, including training and consultation, for youth and young adults who want to learn how to have better conversations to sustain the change they believe in. We also work with local artists to design events that celebrate and strengthen communities.





Specific programming options:

  • Single dialogue for a pre-existing group (e.g., a student or teen club) that wants to go deeper with one another and/or use dialogue to address leadership issues (1-2 hours)

  • Single dialogue on a hot-button topic (1-2 hours)

  • Series of dialogues around an issue (or issues) of more significant communal concern (weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, bi-monthly, etc. multiple 1-2 hour sessions)

  • Dialogue facilitation training for up to 15 students (2-6 hours of training, 2 hours dialogue)

  • Deliberation using a pre-written Issues Guide (1-2 hours)

  • Training youth/young adults in how to prepare an Issues Guide based on community research and how to facilitate a deliberation (10-12 hours over a semester)

  • Creative “dialogic” event in collaboration with an artist/group of art students (1 hour +)

  • Film/Theatre/Art exhibition followed by a dialogue (2 hours +)

  • Community celebration with dialogue ( 1 hour +)