Share and Care
Christopher Bland, a student at West Athens Elementary School in South L.A., participates in an art-based counseling program called Share and Care. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
Across Los Angeles, trauma that students experience affects their learning, but often goes untreated. One program, Share & Care, is trying to help students through art-based therapy.
Christopher Bland’s drawing. He drew a picture of himself and his sister atop a colorful castle, surrounded by trees. The drawing is pinned on the “In Loving Memory” wall next to the Share and Care therapist’s desk. Bland’s younger sister passed away. Share and Care is a program that is designed to help young students deal with trauma at an early age.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
Jonathan Vickburg, the therapist at West Athens Elementary School, talks to Christopher Bland about his drawing that hangs on the “In Loving Memory” wall.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
Christopher Bland stands outside of his classroom at West Athens Elementary in South L.A. Bland is one of the students who participate in the Share and Care program.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
Christopher Bland and his mother, Kathryn Fosha, listen to teacher Tonia Rowe-Russell. Rowe-Russell asked Christopher’s mother if she could refer Christopher to Share and Care. She said yes.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
Christopher Bland, left, Daniel Hernandez, Erik Salceda, counselor Jonathan Vickburg and Angel Jayat laugh together during Share and Care. The goal of this program is to teach students to deal with trauma so they can still learn in the classroom, and so they will be able to cope in the future.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
Angel Jayat, 10, enjoys using the singing bowl in a Cedars-Sinai art-based therapy program called Share and Care at his West Athens Elementary School in South L.A. Share and Care begins with the singing bowl. “If you focus intently on that sound, all this background noise goes away,” counselor Jonathan Vicksburg said. “The body can relax.”
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
Jonathan Vickburg with Share and Care keeps a watchful eye on Daniel Hernandez, left, and Erik Salceda at West Athens Elementary. They are part of a group of four boys in an art-based therapy group. “Very often for kids, they don’t have the words to express what they’re feeling,” Vickburg said. “But they can draw it.”
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
Jonathan Vickburg with Share and Care listens to Daniel Hernandez, left, and Erik Salceda. A small group of boys spends 45 minutes each week with Vickburg. Each of the students is dealing with a variety of emotional issues.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
Daniel Hernandez laughs after he caught the feelings ball. Christopher Bland, left, and Erik Salceda look on as they participate in activities in the Share and Care program. The students toss around the feelings ball and whatever word their thumb falls on is the emotion they have to share an experience about.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
An activity in the Share and Care program is the feelings ball. The students take turns tossing a sphere covered with such words as “generous,” “surprised,” brave” and “defeated.” When each student catches the ball, he must describe an experience related to the emotion his thumb has landed on.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
Daniel Hernandez looks out the window of the Audrey & Sydney Irmas Youth Activity Center in South L.A. He and three other students enjoy a year-end party. The four boys participated in the program Share and Care.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
Christopher Bland gives Suzanne Silverstein a big thank you hug after the Share and Care year-end party. Silverstein is Cedars-Sinai founding director of the Psychological Trauma Center.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
Excited, Daniel Hernandez, leaps out of the Audrey & Sydney Irmas Youth Activity Center in South L.A. For 12 weeks the group met weekly and the boys became close friends. The group celebrated the year-end program with a party.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
Angel Jayat, 10, looks up at his pregnant mother, Lorena Jayat, at their home.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
Angel Jayat, 10, leans against a car outside his home while his mother ties his sneaker. Angel participates in a Cedars-Sinai art-based therapy program called Share and Care.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
Christopher Bland, left, and his brother Jayden Bland walk to school from their home in L.A.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
Christopher Bland, left, listens to his little brother Sean Fosha at their home.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
Christopher Bland plays in his bedroom.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
Francine Orr was a staff photojournalist for the Los Angeles Times from 2000-24. Previously, she was a staff photographer at the Kansas City Star. Orr served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Yap, Federated States of Micronesia. While there, she learned how to be a quiet observer and gained a love for stories. She was raised in Colorado and earned bachelor’s degrees in both history and art from the University of Saint Mary. In 2022, Orr received the coveted Dart Award for Excellence in Coverage of Trauma and the National Headliner Award. She also won the 2020 Meyer “Mike” Berger and was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in feature photography in 2012.
