Skip to main content

Who We Are











Our Mission and Vision

BuildaBridge is a non-profit 501(c)3 arts education and intervention organization. Our mission is to engage creative people and the transformative power of art making to bring hope and healing to children, families, and communities in the contexts of crisis and poverty.

BuildaBridge envisions a world where all children are resilient, experience self-efficacy, and have a vision for their future. BuildaBridge dedicates its resources to building the capacity of creative adults and local communities to fulfill this vision.

Ami Yares, MA
Executive Director

 Ami Yares the executive director of BuildaBridge International. His background is in education, performance and activism. Musically, Ami draws inspiration from English, Hebrew and Arabic traditions and collaborates with audiences from around the world, bringing disparate communities together through his peace building efforts. Ami’s performances and educational programming have been featured components of the US Department of State’s diplomatic missions in Israel and Germany, Seeds of Peace, Harvard University, Columbia University and the University of Pennsylvania. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania’s Social Policy and Planning (SP2) department with a Master’s of Science in Social Policy. During his studies, Ami concentrated on the role of arts and culture as a tool for social change and advocated for its increased representation in social policy and public health. He continues to collaborate with Penn as a research fellow at the Slought Foundation and helping build SP2’s Social Justice and Arts Initiative. Ami became the executive director of BuildaBridge International in November. The position fortuitously captures that which epitomizes one of Ami’s most central values that the transformative power of the arts creates healing, hope and change.


Janelle Junkin, Ph.D., MT-BC
Director of Community Programs

Dr. Junkin is a board-certified music therapist and an independent researcher currently conducting a Program Impact Evaluation for the Armed Services Arts Partnership, Washington DC. She has taught at various universities in the Philadelphia region and is currently an adjunct professor at Harrisburg University, Philadelphia campus. Dr. Junkin works with BuildaBridge International as the Director of Community Programming and Research. She is the co-founder of unlock Ngenuity, LLC. which focuses on consulting, creativity, and community through therapy, coaching and research. She is published in the Journal of Applied Arts & Health and the International Journal of Education & the Arts. Her areas of research include child and youth identity development, the role of the arts in conflict transformation, and understanding the community arts and creative arts therapies as vehicles that provide hope and healing to people and communities in crisis.

Stevie French, MA
Assistant Director of Community Programs

 Stevie is an art therapist and illustrator with a passion for combining art with social justice. Stevie was inspired to become an art therapist partly due to her work as a BuildaBridge teaching artist, where she facilitated several projects starting in 2010. This included co-leading the Bhutanese Elders Mural Project, where she focused on helping refugees use art to transcend language barriers and inspire healing and community. Stevie presented on trauma-informed community art at Jefferson University's THRIVE symposium and served on the Board of Directors for the Pennsylvania Art Therapy Association (formerly Delaware Valley Art Therapy Association). Stevie has conducted clinical art therapy in forensic, residential, inpatient and outpatient settings with youth and adults. As an illustrator she has published two children's books, Lizzie Fox-Top and Cousin Ann's Stories for Children. Stevie earned her MA in Art Therapy & Counseling at Drexel University, and her BFA in Communication & Design at Virginia Commonwealth University. 


BuildaBridge is also honored to be served by an ever-growing team of talented visual artists, musicians, dancers, actors, and creative arts therapists working as teaching artists in our programs.





















Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Birthday Party

Last Thursday evening; on my way to assist with a BuildaBridge group for  Burmese children in South Philadelphia, I pulled up to the street address greeted by yellow caution tape, police and crowds of neighborhood on-lookers. My car window was down and I overheard the words spoken, “somebody was shot.” My heart sank into my stomach. I pulled across the street and parked my car. When I got out and started walking down the sidewalk, I saw Zing and her three children standing on the corner. It was a relief to see them and we waited together outside for a while, waiting for some communication with the teachers inside the classroom, which was directly behind the caution tape that we were not allowed through.  After some time passed and still no word, Zing asked if I wanted to go with them to a Burmese family’s home a few blocks away where apparently there was a birthday party happening.  When we got to the home, as we walked in the front door, a wave of warmth came over me. No...
Post a Comment
Read more

PPR Field Trip to Bartram's Garden

On October 27, 2017, Sofya Mirvis, Chelsea Faulkner, and Julie Kring-Schreifels, teaching artists at BuildaBridge, led a group of six people on a field trip to Bartram’s Garden in Philadelphia. This trip began with a very tranquil and engaging tour through Bartram’s Garden. During the tour, everyone got to try out different types of edible wild fruit, flowers, and plants, including: passion fruit, figs, and locust pods. The clients also picked out their favorite plants, fruit, and/or flowers while on the walk through the garden to later draw, paint, or put on a sun print. When we got back from the tour, the group was given a demonstration on botanical illustration. In the demonstration, they learned about the history, the techniques necessary, and the resources that were available in the classroom for botanical illustration. Two alternative activities were also given: sun prints and printmaking. After the demonstrations, everyone excitedly and diligently got to work. Overall, the trip...
Post a Comment
Read more

Refugee Project Celebrates World Refugee Day at City Hall

On Saturday, July 9 volunteers from BuildaBridge led creative arts activities at Nationalities Service Center's World Refugee Day 2016 celebration. The event took place in the courtyard of Philadelphia Hall. The event was attended by many from the public as well as several familiar faces from our PPR and PRMHC classes. Visual artist Arielle led an arts activity where visitors were encouraged to create " prayer flags ." Prayer flags originate in Eastern cultures, and were originally used to promote compassion, wisdom, peace and strength (Wikipedia). It is believed that each one's message of goodwill will spread to the space around them. Each visitor was asked to use paint, glitter, glue, and sequins to create a flag representing "What does HOME look like to you?" Among the flags were images of hearts, smiles, and the word "love." We at Refugee Project think that the idea of home being "love" is an especially great example of how "home...
Post a Comment
Read more