BY MAURA DOWGIN
Staff Writer
In a move that will save the Amanda’s Easel art therapy program, Hazlet, the state restored funding for the program in its 2004 budget.
180, Turning Lives Around, formerly the Women’s Center of Monmouth County, was notified last month that the state reversed its initial decision to cut the $125,000 in funding for the program, said Anna Diaz-White, executive director of 180.
The Amanda’s Easel program received $100,000 in funding from the state in the 2003 fiscal year, Kozel said, but that funding was expected to be completely cut in 2004.
All of the money has been restored in next year’s budget, Diaz-White said.
180, Turning Lives Around, along with the Friends of Amanda Foundation, runs Amanda’s Easel.
"Sessions help children strengthen their self-esteem, develop coping skills, increase communications with others, and gain a sense of control over doubts and fears resulting from trauma experienced at home," according to the 2002 annual report of 180, Turning Lives Around.
In 2002, 116 children and 73 nonoffending parents or guardians, participated in the Amanda’s Easel program, according to the organization’s 2002 annual report.
Since 2001, the program has provided counseling services to family members, eight mothers and 14 children, who lost a spouse or parent on 9/11, Kozel said.
Amanda’s Easel has helped about 500 at-risk children since the program was started in 1997, said Sue Kozel, 180 public relations consultant.
"The overwhelming community support for the program really helped to get the attention of the powers that be and save the program," said Diaz-White.
"Hundreds of residents signed petitions and wrote letters asking Gov. McGreevey and the New Jersey Legislature to include funding for this domestic violence and bereavement art therapy program in the New Jersey budget," Kozel said. "Thanks to the community’s widespread support, the governor signed the New Jersey budget bill, which included a $125,000 appropriation for Amanda’s Easel."
The Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders passed a resolution at its May 15 meeting requesting state funding for the program.
County officials also proclaimed May as Amanda’s Easel Art Therapy Month at the meeting.
While the Amanda’s Easel funding has been restored, 180, Turning Lives Around is having trouble raising funds for other areas of the organization, Diaz-White said.
"Agency-wide, we’re experiencing a shortfall in funding," she said.
Support from private sources, such as foundations or individual donors, is down, Diaz-White said.