Asheville, north carolina, usa
100CAMERAS X ELIADA ACADEMY
100cameras X Eliada Academy is a part of a 8 class course that is custom designed by 100cameras to equip passionate creatives with the tools to empower youth in a community they care about with the opportunity to learn how to process their stories and create change. Pictured here is a 100cameras student during the course.
ABOUT THE PROGRAM
100cameras X Eliada Academy is based in North Carolina USA in partnership with Eliada Academy. Their mission is Helping Children Succeed and serves children and youth with a mental health diagnosis. Working together with families, they work to meet basic needs and provide positive child and youth development programming to all ages. Their high-level intervention and prevention services for children and adolescents focus on social and emotional well being, life skills development, career readiness, and trauma-informed treatment.
Nestled in the mountains, Eliada maintains an extensive farm where they use regenerative and sustainable farming practices to improve the health of their campus. The farm works directly with the youth in agriculture and environmental science classes and additionally serves as a space to interact and connect with nature.
These students have experienced many difficulties in their lives. At Eliada, students are able to have access to a place that is safe to work through and begin healing from their past trauma and mental illness. As expressed by Erica Blumenfeld, Eliada Staff and Program Leader, this program allowed students an opportunity to use creative and artistic expression, paired with their treatment, in a way that could benefit their experience and give them a chance to try something they may not have had a chance to otherwise.
Through the 100cameras program, the youth in treatment at Eliada were able to explore their environment in a new way and use self-expression as a form of processing and healing.
“Art and creativity is such an amazing opportunity for kids in mental health treatment to gain access to during their time at Eliada. It allows them to switch over to using a different side of their brain and to explore what might become a hobby or potential career for them. It allows them a chance to express themselves in a way other than words or writing.”
This program was made possible through a scholarship provided by the Whole Kids Foundation to support the important work that Eliada Academy is already doing in their community and to come alongside them to uplift and educate students. Specifically, this program scholarship sought to complement the impact of Whole Kids’ pre-existing relationship with Eliada’s Educational Garden by not only providing students with the opportunities to process and tell their stories, but to also document, elevate, and celebrate their hard work in furthering growth on their campus and within their community — both inside the garden and beyond.
“All of the children here have a story to tell, and nearly all have suffered from trauma. Having a program like the Snapshot Project can be part of their process of healing in a fun and creative way.”
MEET THE STUDENTS
ABOUT THE PROGRAM LEADER
Erica Blumenfeld has been working at Eliada home for nearly 2 years. She has a Masters in Agricultural Education and has been working in the teaching and agriculture field for the past 11 years. In her position as Farm Manager, Erica not only grows food for the students on campus and manages the greenhouses and fields, but also teaches weekly classes to different student groups in both Residential Treatment and Day Treatment. Erica felt passionate about partnering with 100cameras on this project because of its ability to provide the students getting treatment an artistic and creative outlet that they wouldn’t otherwise have access to. Erica feels the 100cameras program gives her students a sense of ownership over their own work, and a chance to tell their stories outside of therapy or a group session they might have with a clinician.
“These students have really opened up and showed outward positive support for each other during this curriculum, something that is often not exhibited by this group in other settings. They have also taken on director roles with each other and agreed to ask permission of peers and staff before taking their photos, which really encourages the use of consent.”
STUDENT IMAGE GALLERY
Follow us on social media to see images from the field as captured by the 100cameras x Eliada Academy team and the student photographers.