FOUNDER

KIDS-HEAL is the culmination of my for-profit and non-profit experiences. My work as a design and marketing consultant with clients ranging from MOMA, Disney, Silver Palate Food to YSL, and even a party or two for Microsoft, combined with my nonprofit work in NYC, LA, Berlin, Argentina, Munich and Nepal has given me a broad field of first-hand experiences to draw from. I bring the best of who I am through the lessons I have learned to create a new way of learning that is an engaging combination of analog/face-to-face experiences and springboard/follow-up online opportunities. 

A Note From Frank​

My experience as a volunteer artist-in-residence at Doernbecher Children’s Hospital inspired me to create Children’s Healing Art Project (CHAP), a nonprofit that continues to bring art services into hospitals. The programming I developed for CHAP has been successfully modified 13 ways in nine hospitals on three continents. Now that CHAP has been successfully handed off to my old and loyal friend Roxie McGovern, I am ready to implement phase two of my vision.

During the past year I have taken time to travel the state of Oregon and meet with families, individual donors, foundations, art organizations, business, hospitals and clinics to frame phase two of my vision based on the needs, abilities and funding of both clients and partners.

KIDS-HEAL slowly evolved into a new model of community outreach that will bring the life lessons I learned while making art with children and their families in hospitals around the world back into the classrooms of Oregon.

KIDS-HEAL will help bridge the gap between the hospitalization of children and their return to school, between the needs of schools and the passion and skills of local volunteers waiting to be organized in cities around the state. It's a three-year pilot project partnering families I have worked with in and out of local hospitals with their schools, arts organizations, churches, temples and synagogues with local business and volunteers to create inclusive arts+healthcare learning opportunities in their communities.

KIDS-HEAL promotes social change, builds community, engages youth and volunteers by creating opportunities for everyone to see children beyond their disease, diagnosis or disability and to be inspired by their compassion, creativity and courage.

KIDS-HEAL afterschool programs will be created, developed and organized with my guidance, and will ultimately be managed by the parents and friends of children living with long-term healthcare issues. This structure eliminates nearly all facility and administrative costs and guarantees that all KIDS-HEAL leaders not only believe in our mission, but also understand it through knowing and loving children living with a wide variety of healthcare needs. 

KIDS-HEAL leaders will share in the responsibilities, like den mothers of scout troops, and each school will have an administrative liaison to guarantee that each school understands what is happening on its campus. Each KIDS-HEAL meeting will be evaluated and filmed.

During the three-year pilot program, schools will have no financial or organizational responsibilities. Once we understand how each individual KIDS-HEAL club evolves, fundraising and grant writing opportunities will be developed to fit the programs in each partner school and community.

Thank you for partnering with KIDS-HEAL!

Frank Etxaniz
KIDS-HEAL founder, organizer, believer
frank@kids-heal.org