CHAP’s IDEA: Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility Statement
Because of our mission to bring the healing power of art to children and families facing medical challenges, CHAP has chosen to include accessibility in our statement, so we intentionally use the acronym IDEA instead of DEI.
The Children’s Healing Art Project (CHAP) believes inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility (IDEA) are fundamental core values in driving our mission to bring the healing power of art to children and families facing medical challenges. We are committed to supporting IDEA as we fulfill our mission whether in hospitals, in our studio, or through our community outreach programs. CHAP embraces people from all walks of life and is committed to broadening the community we serve with greater understanding and self-reflection.
In demonstration of our commitment, we have established tangible policy and governance goals for ongoing IDEA assessment and integration across all aspects of CHAP’s organizational and community engagement. We evaluate all our programs through an equity lens to enhance the joy and freedom of creativity to those we serve.
CHAP believes building on IDEA principles is essential to our community commitment. Our mission is only truly fulfilled once our organizational culture, values, and priorities are seen by and accessible to all.
CHAP applies IDEA in every experience we create. We aim to bring art to any child regardless of medical, behavioral, and/or developmental diagnosis or challenge, age, economic status, ethnicity, race, range of ability, religion, sexual orientation, language preference, or gender identity/expression.
CHAP is committed to ongoing work integrating IDEA across our organization in the following ways:
Policies and Procedures: CHAP’s governance at all levels mirrors the highest standards we set for ourselves as an organization committed to IDEA principles through our strategic plan and delivery of our goals. These are driven by our commitment to equity and access and to serve the greatest number of children and families as possible.
Staff: CHAP will actively engage and recruit new staff members built upon our IDEA principles and reflecting the diversity of the communities we serve. We will create opportunities for our staff to further the principles of IDEA collectively as a team and will support them in their individual efforts.
Programs and Partners: CHAP will continue to build programming that reflects our commitment to IDEA and learn from our experiences by engaging with broader populations and organizations. CHAP will develop partners committed to IDEA principles.
Donors and Support: Our goal is to continue to create space for a broader population of supporters and donors to contribute their unique talents and resources in a way that works for them. In doing so, we will create an even more vibrant organization.
By working towards making this IDEA statement a reality in all we do, we will create a better organization in service to our primary stakeholders: the children and their families.