American Healing Arts Foundation

American Healing Arts Foundation is a nonprofit organization doing business in the Greater Phoenix area. I posed ten questions to a representative of American Healing Arts Foundation in an effort to familiarize Phoenix area residents with the organization. Here are the responses I received.

What is the name of the organization?

American Healing Arts Foundation (AHAF)

How long has the organization been operating in the Phoenix area?

Since 2009

Does the organization serve a particular geographic area?

Primarily in the state of Arizona

Who is most likely to benefit from services provided by the organization?

Our great American veterans

Are there requirements or prerequisites for people to access your services?

We provide free art classes (supplies included) for our veterans. No experience necessary. These classes are intended for rehabilitation purposes as art is proven to be great therapy for the mind, body and spirit. These classes help veterans that have faced combat stress, life threatening traumas or just devoted years of their lives to serving our country. The men and woman serving our country have a great need to release their painful war memories. Our goal is to move their mind outside the box – the one that holds those ugly war memories and lead them to a more peaceful place.

Three things about American Healing Arts Foundation that people might not know.

1. We need help reaching our veterans to let them know of the opportunities we provide.
2. We have printed dog tags that we offer to anyone donating $5 or more.
3. We desperately need volunteers.

What is the local address?

The classes are held at the Arizona Fine Art EXPO, 26540 N. Scottsdale Rd, Scottsdale, AZ 85255.

What is the local phone number?

480-837-7163

What is the URL of the local web site?

www.AmericanHealingArtsFoundation.com

Any other comments?

Winston Howell was our first success story. His wife called to enter Winston into a paint class stating he had only one working arm so he couldn’t take the sculpting class. I spoke with instructor Hal Stewart about teaching someone to sculpt with one arm. Hal’s comment was “Absolutely.” Winston’s wife brought him; he hit it off with Hal and loved his first class. Hal, himself, also taught with one arm. At the close of the first class Hal said “Winston, take some of this clay home and work your left hand with it.” Two weeks later, Winston started feeling tingling in his finger tips and arm. Until this time Winston had been a recluse from society, going nowhere and watching television for 6 years. His life has changed tremendously. Here is how he feels now. “Since working with clay and learning how to draw, I have had tingling sensations in the end of my fingertips and in my arm that I never had before,” Howell said. “It feels great to participate in these classes. It forces me to use my mind and it gives me hope.” Our goal is to have more success stories and make a difference for our veterans.

With a new generation of American combat veterans returning from Iraq, the nation has an obligation to do everything possible to improve care for post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The suicide rate continues to soar. Many of the Vietnam veterans returned, started working jobs and carried on their lives. With our difficult economic times many of these vets have been laid off and out of work. Many of these Vietnam vets are experiencing PTSD for the first time, depression, reoccurring thoughts of war and suicides.

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