Common Ground Healing Arts Launches Integrative Wellness Program
Common Ground has started recruiting participants for its Integrative Wellness Program, which will provide three months of coordinated care for 20 individuals. The program will support individuals struggling with anxiety/depression through integrative wellness services using mindfulness-based counseling, acupuncture, massage therapy, yoga, and meditation. The goal of the program is to help individuals make lasting changes to their health through the combined effects of multiple wellness practices, peer support, and the expertise of senior practitioners.
“The Integrative Wellness Program gets to the heart of what Common Ground is all about. It will interconnect diverse community members through the shared goal of wellness,” explains Executive Director Maggie Guggenheimer. “And it will do so in a very innovative way. This is the first program in Charlottesville to combine mindfulness counseling, yoga, meditation, acupuncture, and massage therapy to address specific health concerns such as depression and hypertension.”
Individuals can sign up for either the hypertension or depression/anxiety group. Each group will be limited to 10 participants and last 12 weeks. The hypertension group will run January 20–April 12, 2014 and the depression/anxiety group will run February 3–April 26, 2014. All sessions will take place at Common Ground. While required group counseling sessions for both groups will be scheduled regularly, participants will be able to schedule acupuncture, yoga, and massage according to their schedules.
Through grant funding from Charlottesville’s Community Development Block Grant and Common Ground’s sliding scale services, the Integrative Wellness Program will be offered at sliding scale rates, ranging from $25.00 to $275.00. Individuals interested in the program are encouraged to call 434-218-7677 or email Common Ground no later than January 10, 2014 to learn more about the program and to register.
Those interested in supporting the Integrative Wellness Program, or other Common Ground offerings, can do so through its giving campaign.
Carver Rec Hosts Winter Break Camp, First Night Virginia Events
Carver Recreation Center will be offering Winter Break Camp for children ages pre-K-6th grade over the holidays. Camp will feature arts and crafts, games, field trips, gift-making, swimming, and other activities. Parents can sign their children up for Week One (December 23-27, excluding December 25) and/or Week Two (December 30-January 3, excluding January 1), running from 7:30am to 5:30pm each day. The fee per week is $75.00 for residents and $113.00 for non-residents. Parents must provide a lunch and snack for their children each day. For more information or to register, call 434-970-3260.
On December 31, Carver Rec will be holding two events as part of the First Night Virginia celebration. At 4:15, 6:15, and 7:30pm in the multipurpose room, the Amazing Marco (a.k.a. Zephyr the Magician) will perform a magic show. The performance will feature vignettes with magic, music, comedy and audience participation and is appropriate for all ages. At 3:00, 4:15, and 6:15pm in the gym, Virginia Acrobatics will dazzle with acts of strength, skill, and spectacle. This review will feature “Cirque du Soleil”-style acrobatics with suspended mid-air with aerial silks, sling, lyra, and more. This performance is also appropriate for all ages.
The Y at the Jefferson School Throws Holiday Pajama Party
If you visit the Jefferson School City Center today, you might just run into a small child singing carols while wearing pajamas–if you’re lucky. Early Child Care Director Michelle Ryan and her staff have planned quite the pajama party for the children in their care today. “We’ll be decorating cookies, reading The Polar Express, and dressing up Mr. Devyn, one of our teachers, as a Christmas tree,” Ryan explained. Additionally, the children will be visiting organizations around the building and singing carols.
These activities are aligned with the YILC’s Child Care curriculum, which uses principles from The Creative Curriculum, such as an emphasis on social skills, diversity, exploration, and intergenerational activities to ensure children have a fun, safe, and educational experience at the YILC. The YILC welcomes new families to register their children for care and offers care for infants, toddlers, and preschool-aged children. In addition to daycare, the YILC also offers Child Watch, an evening childcare program that allows parents to take evening classes at PVCC or enjoy a night downtown while their children engage in educational and fun activities at the YILC.
Jefferson School City Center is a voice of the nine nonprofits located at Charlottesville’s intergenerational community center, the restored Jefferson School. We are a legacy preserved . . . a soul reborn . . . in the heart of Cville!
