(Updated: Adds video and comments from founders and board of directors)
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — A local nonprofit located on Franklin Avenue in Bend. Hueor Hearts Unknown Education, supports the mental health of at-risk youth.
Use activities such as painting, doodling, and dancing. HÚE partners with Deschutes County Health Services in efforts to prevent youth homelessness and promote a sense of community.
“This is a really beautiful community,” HÚE founder Nico Carpinelli said Tuesday. “There are zero incidents. While the kids are having fun on the karaoke machine, we also have paintings and easels. And when you see their beautiful work, it’s incredible.”
Hearts Unknown Education uses creativity and the arts to support youth mental health. Mr. Carpinelli has seen firsthand how art transforms children.
“We started drawing and he drew everything. I think he was a kid who was struggling with the violence, too much black, too much jaggedness,” he said. “I am pleased to report that he is now painting the Sisters Mountains with pink skies and blue hues.”
The studio is filled with graffiti walls, easels, and musical instruments. Partners like Deschutes County Behavioral Health are providing resources to support creative environments as the state struggles to support young children.
“In 2023, the Oregon Health Authority surveyed children nationwide and found that in Oregon, nearly 25% of youth ages 12 to 17 It turned out that he had actually suffered from major depression the previous year.”
Board Chairman Bruce Abernethy said: “Our purpose is not necessarily to teach a lesson, but to try to find what really sparks the spark.To help young people find the spark in their lives.” A lot of them come here. They don’t feel it.” Right now. ”
The organization has been around for two years, but it recently moved to a space on Franklin Avenue after outgrowing its old studio and, at times, 40 children in need.
“We’re all in a struggle. You know, there’s a lot going on in the world, social media, political protests, it’s getting very serious,” Carpinelli said. I think it’s a big deal for them.”
And they aren’t finished yet. The space will soon include a coffee and tea house that will serve as a hangout for the community’s teens and a stepping stone into the workforce for those already in the program.
“It’s really literally the same thing that healed me as a child,” said the founder. “It was through music, art, and my hope. And I didn’t really know, but it worked out. My hope was that the kids would respond the same way I did.”
