My Nonprofit Reviews

It has been my privilege and pleasure to serve as a CANY Board member for nearly four years now. As a veteran Communications professional of both the corporate and not-for-profit worlds, I can say wholeheartedly that CANY's excellent, dedicated, magnificently effective theater artists and drama therapists redefine "communications.” Specifically, these remarkable professionals use “metaphor” as a healing tool in a group context with individuals who have suffered emotional trauma: girls who have been sexually trafficked; women seeking shelter from domestic violence AND their children; refugees whose whole lives have been literally uprooted, teens who have been demonized by the world for being caught in a cycle of violence and anger. The CANY professionals are tireless in the art and science of their craft, fairly breathing life and health – through the gift of creativity -- into individuals who have been labeled and marginalized by nearly everyone else – and who suffer trauma on an ongoing basis, some from the time of their earliest memories. What dumbfounds me is the sustained, unflagging passion and energy with which the CANY staff perform their work – putting their hearts, souls, and brilliance into bringing health – through creativity – to individuals in several groups a day (I was exhausted just from reading the schedule). Each time I attend a group, I am moved to tears by what happens: the light goes on in the eyes of a young teen who has been pegged as a hopeless troublemaker, as he announces the role he has chosen for himself: a father who fiercely protects his kids from a gang. A young girl sitting quietly in the corner plays a role where she comforts another child and tells her “you’re safe now with me. I won’t let those men hurt you anymore.” I am so grateful to work with CANY and support what is nothing short of miracles that happen on a daily basis. And as a Board member, I am also struck by how CANY’s Executive Director Jonathan Hilton runs the organization with the skills of a champion helmsman at the wheel of a multi-masted ship: with skill, grace and clarity, supporting and encouraging, always inspiring staff and Board to work together and sail on to new destinations.

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