Creative Arts and Community Programs
At Center for All Abilities (CAA), we envision a community that embraces diversity and celebrates our differences. Our Creative Arts and Community Programs offer a unique blend of therapeutic and expressive arts, with a strong focus on building community. Through art, music, dance, cooking, sewing, mentorship, physical recreation and more, participants build self-confidence, enhance emotional well-being, and strengthen social connections in a supportive and inclusive environment. Join us on a journey of nurturing creativity and fostering community bonds, while celebrating every person's potential.
Creative Arts Programs: Music, Art, Dance/Movement
Our Creative Arts program provides individualized creative arts instruction through art, music, and movement, supporting participants in learning and practicing creative skills aligned with their interests, developmental levels, learning styles, and energy. Sessions are structured yet flexible, allowing participants to build confidence, focus, and independent engagement through hands-on creative activities. Through ongoing participation, individuals strengthen practical skills such as communication, self-expression, motor coordination, creative problem-solving, critical thinking, and independence, while developing meaningful hobbies that support participation in everyday and community settings.
Creative Arts Therapy Residencies
CAA offers Creative Arts Therapy Residencies in which our creative arts therapists work with children, youth, and young adults at your site for a minimum of 8 - 12 weeks.
The residency allows for tailored therapeutic interventions that utilize various modalities such as art, music therapy, dance/movement. Past and current participants in our residency programs have included students with diverse challenges in social-emotional learning, behavioral issues, trauma histories, and autism spectrum disorders.
Community Programs: Community Arts, Youth Mentorship, Lifeskills Training
SMiles
SMiles is an inclusive physical recreation program open to individuals of all abilities, designed to promote active participation in community settings through running, yoga, and other movement-based activities. Participants engage in structured movement activities that support fitness, coordination, balance, flexibility, endurance, and routine, while building confidence, comfort in shared public spaces, neighborhood exploration, and meaningful social connections. The program emphasizes community connection and belonging by creating opportunities for participants to move alongside peers, volunteers, and community members.
Outshine Community Arts Group
Outshine is an inclusive, community-based program that brings together individuals of all abilities to build meaningful connections through collaborative creative projects and shared experiences. Participants engage in activities such as art-making, music and movement, group performances, field trips, sports, and hands-on projects that encourage learning through doing. Programming emphasizes teamwork, flexibility, communication, and performance skills, while supporting confidence, independence, and participation in real-world community settings.
Walk With U Mentoring Program
Walk With U provides guidance and care for children and youth of all abilities through Bible-led and virtue-based teachings by hosting topical discussions, social activities, group outings, volunteer opportunities, cultural immersion, and one-on-one mentorship.
Blue Hat Cooking Community Classes
Cooking and barista training classes for youth and young adults of all abilities. Participants gain knowledge of cooking and baking techniques, food and nutrition, and other life skills weekly Saturday. Interested participants may also participate in the barista training track. Working with industry experts and volunteers in a small group setting, participants develop skills, confidence, and socio-emotional awareness while having fun and building friendships through the collaborative process.
Programs in Partnership
Project A: Sewing Vocational Training With ALIVIA
Created in partnership with social impact womenswear brand ALIVIA, CAA offers a fashion-focused vocational training program. Project A’s mission is to provide specialized education and employment opportunities for individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities, teaching valuable skills that will prepare them to work within the fashion industry. From cutting and sewing, to sales and customer service, Project A develops different pathways in a journey towards creating fashion’s first fully-inclusive supply chain.
Photography, Cooking, and Glow Girls Programs with Extreme Kids and Crew
As of July 2024, CAA and Extreme Kids & Crew (EKC) have begun a three-year partnership to broaden our reach and promise new experiences and opportunities for neurodivergent children, youth and families!
This ongoing collaboration, made possible by the New York Community Trust, brings more enriching programs, including photography, cooking, as well as programs that empower neurodiverse girls, to our communities in Manhattan and Brooklyn!
