Contents:
Poetry Alive Grants
2007 Poetry Alive Grant Recipients
Scholarships, Awards, Gifts, and Endowments
The Judith K. Mahrer Scholarship Fund
Seeds of Joy Scholarship Fund
How to Apply for Scholarships
Chris Mazza Award for Poetry Therapy
Poetry Alive Funds Now Available
The NAPT Foundation is pleased to announce the fifth year of its Poetry Alive Project, a project that nourishes poetry therapy around the world. Thanks to the generous support of our NAPT community Poetry Alive funds are available to certified and registered poetry therapists, certified applied poetry facilitators, and to students of poetry therapy.
Applications for Poetry Alive Project grants may be downloaded from the website in pdf or word documents. The deadline for this grant is October 30, 2007. Applications postmarked later than October 30, 2007 will be considered for the next (2007-2008) funding cycle. You may download one of the forms below to apply for the funds. Email your application to joysawyer@comcast.net. Please use "Poetry Alive grant" in the subject line. A return email will acknowledge receipt of your application. Funds will only be granted through our grant application process and awarded to projects that will be initiated during the 2008 year. Members of the NAPT Foundation board as well as outside readers will review the applications. Grant awards will be announced in December; award monies will be made available in January.
Poetry Alive grants will be scored on a 100 point system: 50 points for overall quality for projects that serve a need, build poetry therapy in the world, and help individuals or communities; 15 points for diversity in regions and populations served; 15 points for outcomes expected and likelihood of achieving the goals, 10 points for qualified personnel administering/facilitating, and 10 points for contribution to poetry therapy understanding.
NOTE: All past recipients of Poetry Alive grants should have turned in their grant assessment form before re-applying.
Download Poetry Alive application (Microsoft Word)
Download Poetry Alive application (Adobe PDF)
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2007 Poetry Alive Grant Recipients
Laurie Arnold, Pittsburgh, PA. Mining the Gold: A Creative Writing Workshop held at the Carnegie Main Library was designed for those interested in self-expression who may not have the funds to sign up for a university or community education class. The developmental aims of the group were community building, learning effective communication, and self-esteem building through poetry, memoir and journal.
Patti Russo, Carlisle, MA. Mind the Gap: Using Poetry to Bring Generations Together was held in conjunction with the Carlisle Public Schools and the Carlisle Council on Aging. The groups used poetry and picture books to explore a variety of topics including: the seasons, wishes, family life, transportation and more. Each week the seniors and preschoolers wrote a collaborative poem, completed a related art project, and worked to establish an intergenerational relationship. The collected poems and art work were assembled into a larger poetry keepsake as a reminder of this intergenerational project.
Jurate Sucylaite, Lithuania. As a faculty member of Health of Klaipeda University (Lithuania), Sucylaite's project "From the Darkness to the Light" touched students of poetry therapy process, as well as adolescents with behavior problems, depressed, bereaved and elderly populations. This two year research program aims to help people with mental illness to manage themselves, reduce tension, improve self-esteem, to find spirituality and life meaning. An open presentation and performance of the poetry and writing concluded the program each spring. The research and materials gathered will be compiled for a book on the power of bibliotherapy.
Deane Trefry, Beverly, MA. Students from the surrounding communities in grades K-12, as well as their teachers, met with the poetry facilitator to discuss the emotional impact of stories and its affect on their behaviors. The population addressed was middle and high school students who are diagnosed with learning disabilites and/or emotional-behavioral disorders. The group participants studied hip-hop artists and developed their talents through writing hip-hop poetry.
Karen VanMeenan, Rochester, NY. The "Straight from the Pen" project at Hillside Children's Center, a residential facility for at-risk teens, challenged the participants through their own expressive writing to face problems head on. The group used poetry, journal writing and metaphor to enhance self-esteem and increase self-knowledge. The project culminated in a chapbook of collected work.
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Scholarships, Awards, Gifts and Endowments
The Judith K. Mahrer Scholarship Fund provides financial assistance to develop or enhance skills in poetry therapy, journal therapy or bibliotherapy. The Judith K. Mahrer Scholarship is a donation-based memorial fund designed to support financial assistance to those in demonstrated financial need who seek education and training primarily by attending the annual NAPT conference.
Each year, the Foundation helps support a substantial number of people from across the country to attend the annual conference. Since 1997, the Foundation has provided over two dozen full or half scholarships to the NAPT conference thanks to the Judith K. Mahrer and other scholarship funds.
Judith K. Mahrer died of cancer in 1996. A certified instructor of journal writing, a poet, and a lifelong student of the literary arts, Judith was devoted to her studies, and also to the teaching of writing as a tool for personal growth, emotional health and creative life management. In her final days, Judith was told that a scholarship fund would be created in her honor. She died knowing that her name would stand for continuing education in the field she loved.
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Seeds of Joy Scholarship Fund honors Joy Shieman, who during the 1970s was a pioneer in the new field of poetry therapy. The Seeds of Joy award provides financial support for international practitioners and/or students of poetry therapy to attend the annual NAPT conference. When funding is available, it also awards an international practitioner for his or her contribution to poetry therapy in the world. In 2007 two recipients of the Seeds of Joy award were named. They were Bonghee Lee of Korea and Margot Van Sluytman from Canada. Thanks to Seeds of Joy scholarship funds the Foundation continues to assist international practitioners of poetry in attending the annual NAPT conference.
If you are an international student or practitioner of poetry therapy, and wish to apply for scholarship support to attend the 2008 NAPT conference in Minnesota, please click here to download the application. If you need assistance in preparing your grant application, please contact Marisis Nelson at mandbuddha@aol.com before January 1, 2008 for mentorship help.
If you wish to nominate someone for the 2008 Seeds of Joy Award, honoring an international practitioner of poetry therapy, please send a letter of recommendation to joysawyer@comcast.net no later than February 1, 2008.
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How to Apply for Scholarship
Applications for scholarships to the annual NAPT conference may be made by completing the application form (download the forms below). E-mail submissions are preferred. Scholarships typically only cover some or all of the registration cost for the conference (excluding pre-conference and post-conference workshops), and applicants must find other means to cover their transportation, lodging and other expenses. Payment is made directly to NAPT to cover scholarships awarded.
SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATIONS WILL ONLY BE ACCEPTED IF RECEIVED BETWEEN DEC. 1, 2007 AND MARCH 1, 2008.
Download Scholarship application (Microsoft Word)
Download Scholarship application (Adobe PDF)
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Pursue the Dream: The Chris Mazza Award for Poetry Therapy promotes projects that benefit, uplift and support the development of adolescents and young adults. The award is given in recognition of the continuing work of a poetry therapist working with young people and honors the memory of Christopher J. Mazza (May 13, 1984-November 1, 2005), a kind and loving young man with an unconquerable spirit. Last year's recipients for the award were Richard Brown of Portland, Oregon and Roseanne Singer of Takoma Park, Maryland. Brown has worked with at-risk youth in class and after school programs that create poetry and song. Singer has been a poet in the schools, working with a therapeutic group home and alternative school.
For more details on the Chris Mazza Award, or if you wish to nominate a poetry therapist working with young people, please send a letter of recommendation to Joy Sawyer at joysawyer@comcast.net no later than February 1, 2008. The Foundation also receives endowments and designated gifts to support specific projects or clinical practices in poetry therapy, journal therapy and bibliotherapy.
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Three awards are made through the Weisberger Funds. The Jeanette Weisberger Fund provides annual gifts to a poetry therapist who works with the elderly. The Gene Weisberger Fund makes an annual gift to a poetry therapist working in oncology or with patients with long-term or life-threatening illness. The Lori Karen Fund provides for a poetry therapist working with patients with chronic mental illness. Application is made in writing to the Chair of the Weisberger Funds, Sherry Reiter, at sreiter@erols.com.
Responsible Stewardship: Projects and People Recently Supported
The NAPT Foundation Board is deeply committed to treating your gift with the utmost respect and responsibility. Your gifts are tax-deductible, and all gifts receive an acknowledgment card for your records. We also place your gift in whatever fund for which you designate your contribution or in undesignated funds if that's what you choose. The members of the Foundation board do all we can to be responsible stewards of the funds we receive.
A Commitment to Equality and Diversity
As a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization the NAPT Foundation Board complies with all federal rules and regulations in providing equal access and opportunities to all its constituent parties. We do not discriminate on the basis of gender, age, physical ability, race, religion, or sexual orientation.
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Please visit also:
Main Foundation Page
A Welcome from the Foundation President
How You Can Contribute
Our Foundation Board Members
