COME JOIN US
SPONSORED BY:
Arts and Science Council
Meeting :
ROP Drumline
Practices and Curriculum
@ Saturdays 12-32127 Eastway Dr, Charlotte, NC 2820
WhAT Is Allturnatives?
Music · Sports · Arts · Entrepreneurship
“[...] NEGATIVITY [is] a MISUSE of your imagination”
—Kathleen C Olivieri, PhD, Communication Expert and Entrepreneur“Yesterday I was clever, I wanted to change the world. TODAY I AM WISE, SO I AM CHANGING MYSELF.”
—Jalal al-Din Rumi, Sufi Philosopher and Poet
Our Mission:
“ALLturnatives is center stage where intersectionality meets opportunity for many of our disenfranchised children who may not otherwise recognize their rightful place as future leaders.”
ALLturnatives, Inc. (ALLturnatives) is an arts and culture based non-profit organization with a targeted strategy to reach low income families with at-risk youth and young adults located in and serving Charlotte, North Carolina.
ALLturnatives provides an inclusive cultural and performing arts space to develop positive social and life skills.
With a focus on developing problem-solving skills while enhancing creativity, through art therapy, aggression replacement therapy, and cognitive behavioral therapy each participant is exposed to the beauty of self-expression and positivity through performing arts, community service, and personal/professional development workshops.
The majority Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) and LGBTQIA+ participants are afforded the opportunity to engage in meaningful and relevant multicultural programs, such as the performing arts, creative, socially-relevant projects, engagement in skill-based workshops, and community service within a holistic multi-system curriculum that includes family, school and community.
Our ultimate goal at ALLturnatives is to promote healthy social and emotional behavioral skills, preparing participants to become trailblazers in the 21st century and beyond.
Our Vision:
ALLturnatives continues to employ a multi-tiered, multi-cultural arts-based curriculum based on the "aggression replacement therapy model" that empowers underserved youths and young adults to build interpersonal relationship skills that will positively impact their futures.
The foundation of our diverse curriculum is grounded in literary, visual and performing arts with a strong emphasis on community initiatives that reflect global and cultural awareness.
Through culturally relevant arts-based programs and initiatives, ALLturnatives seeks to provide consistent social and emotional support that dismantles generational trauma and creates positive outcomes in the lives of its participants.
Looking to positively impact the youth and young adults in the area? Partner with us!
What We Do
By educating youth and young adults in every capacity,
we give them the opportunity to succeed in life.
Encouraging Healthy Expression
Cognitive Behavioral Theory
Cognitive behavioral therapy, often referred to as CBT, is a type of psychotherapy that focuses on making connections between thoughts, behaviors, and feelings. CBT helps people identify and change dysfunctional patterns.
We help our youths and young adults identify the unhealthy behaviors and distorted beliefs that impede their success. CBT helps them confront and modify those distorted beliefs, transforming them into functional coping mechanisms that allow them to soar.
Building Social Skills, One Day At A Time
Empathy Building Social Skills Training Curriculum
We teach empathy. Many of our youths and young adults have never experienced how to process empathy. Our in-house therapists and instructors use sports, music, arts and entrepreneurship to integrate and reinforce positive and healthy social skills.
Our goal is to help youths and young adults recognize their triggers and utilize the resources available to them. We have built a curriculum that caters to the specific needs and background of the youth and partner organizations engaged with us.
Replacing Anger With Healthy Behavior
Aggression Replacement Training® (ART®)
Aggression Replacement Training® (ART®) is a cognitive behavioral intervention program that, as the name suggests, helps children and adolescents to better manage their anger and reduce aggressive behavior.
ART helps identify stressors, which encourages participants to deescalate tense situations in a calm, positive way. Through examining the triggers of aggression and anger, ART improves moral reasoning and social skill competence.
A Holistic Approach to Healing
Multi-Systemic Family Model
Our approach to overcoming anger, aggression and trauma is thoroughly holistic. We incorporate family, school and community into the healing process.
Any one person cannot fully heal unless their overall environment is also healthy. Addressing symptoms and reactions to trauma is only one facet of developing healthy skills, we also address the sources of trauma, breaking generational cycles and setting the stage for success.
THe A-TEAM
Michelle Wyms
CEO & Founder
LaShawn Brewster
Executive Assistant
Brian Gantt
Board President
Leslie Oliver
Education Assessment Director
Melissa Funderburke
Program Director
Isis Redding-Umoja
Licensed Therapist
