Support The Sisterhood Project USA Today

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We are a nonprofit scholarship program that provides children affected by domestic violence an opportunity for healing, self-expression, community, a source of empowerment, a place to process complex emotions and develop essential life skills.  We provide scholarships for alternative forms of therapy, such as sports, music and the arts.  We give the gift of childhood and the beauty in the normalcies that go along with it.

More than 15 million children in the United States live in homes in which domestic violence has happened at least once.

• Children exposed to domestic violence often face behavioral and emotional challenges, including anxiety, depression, PTSD, aggression, and lower academic performance. Exposure even increases their risk for antisocial behavior, delinquency, and substance use later in adolescence.
   
• The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) study shows that repeated trauma like domestic violence significantly raises the likelihood of negative health and social outcomes later in life.
   

• Trauma-informed art and play therapy has shown promise in aiding children and mothers in domestic violence shelters, helping to mitigate trauma-related symptoms.
   
• Trauma-Focused Art Therapy (TFAT) has also been effective in reducing PTSD symptoms and supporting emotional processing when traditional therapy may not reach.
   

• Expressive arts therapies (incorporating visual art, music, movement, drama, etc.) provide safe, nonverbal ways for children to process trauma, build self-awareness, manage emotional distress, and enhance self-esteem and cognitive function.
   

• Music therapy helps children find voice through activities like songwriting, improvisation, and listening—especially those who’ve been silenced by trauma. It also creates an important sense of safety and internal resource-building.
   
• Interventions combining movement and music build resilience, fostering key qualities like self-awareness, confidence, autonomy, and belonging.
   

• Studies from arts-enriched preschool programs (e.g. Head Start) reveal that participation in the arts:
   
  • Boosts receptive vocabulary (a key school success predictor)
     
  • Increases positive emotions by 60% over traditional settings
     
  • Lowers stress levels (measured via cortisol)
     
  • Enhances school readiness in economically disadvantaged children
     

• A pilot sports-based intervention showed reductions in both internalizing and externalizing behaviors—like fewer restraints and time-outs—among traumatized youth participants. 

• A recent Swedish study highlighted that an extra hour of physical activity at age 11 lowered psychiatric diagnosis risk by 12% by age 18. Organized sports, in particular, cut depression risk by 35% and anxiety by 21% in boys—and demonstrated meaningful benefits for girls too.
   
• Sports offer more than physical activity: kids learn teamwork, emotional regulation, empathy, and social bonding—making sports a powerful source of resilience.