For Bill Rossi, the arts are more than a flawless sonnet or notes played on piano keys. Music, art, dance and writing can be the best medicine for some of the troubles facing today's youth, he says.
``The arts are often seen as an adjunct or recreational thing,'' said Rossi, founder and executive director of Youth Advancement Through Music & Art. ``I believe they are an integral part of healing.''
When Rossi started the program in his Seattle studio in 1994, he worked with children and adults of all backgrounds. He soon narrowed the focus to at-risk children and teenagers.
Two years ago, he and his wife, Mary, moved to Albany and contacted Parsons Child and Family Center about replicating the West Coast program.
``We found Parsons very receptive to our approach, and the Albany area generally receptive to the arts,'' Bill Rossi said. ``The arts are taken more seriously as therapeutic intervention and education. This is real fertile ground for us.''
YATMA serves 80 boys and girls who live on the Albany campus or in group homes or take a bus to the school, where artists help lead private, small-group and classroom instruction.
Musicians teach piano, bass, guitar, drums, horns, composition and voice. There are also dance, drawing, painting, sculpture and writing classes. A Web site design course will start soon.
According to a recent independent study of the program by the Troy-based Education 21: ``Students showed a statistically significant decrease in overall negative behaviors ... and highly significant improvements in positive attitudes.''
The participants experience something that for them is unprecedented.
``They find themselves successful for the first times in their lives,'' Bill Rossi said.
Mary Rossi, who is a writer and the program's development director, also bears witness to the program's personal power. ``I am like one of the kids in a way,'' she said. ``I can say it really is a wonderful experience because I am speaking as one who has benefited from it.''
-- James G. Snyder
Bowled over
More than 75 Special Olympics New York athletes and coaches competed for gold, silver and bronze medals in individual and team bowling at the 2001 sectional bowling tournament at Clifton Park Bowl.
Special Olympics New York is the nation's largest chapter, providing 40,000 athletes with the opportunity to compete through a network of 30,000 volunteers.
For information, call Sports Director Erin Griffiths at 388-0791.
North Country health care
Hudson Headwaters Health Network will receive an $866,709 federal grant to expand health insurance coverage and clinical services in rural northeastern New York. The grant will help fund the Adirondack Rural Health Network, an alliance of health care providers, social service agencies and county governments.
FACTS:CARING BY THE NUMBERS The Capital District Garden and Flower Show is the Wildwood Programs' annual fund-raiser March 23-25 at Hudson Valley Community College. Consider these numbers on how Wildwood helps people with autism and other developmental disabilities: Community 650 children, adolescents, adults and their families Ages 3 years old to men and women in their 70s Wildwood School 185 children from 57 school districts School summer extension 200 children Residential program 95 families Family support 250 families Recreation center 200 people Jobs Employment for 200 young adults
VOLUNTEERS WANTED Job: Community resource specialist Who: A good listener For: We Care information and referral line Mission: Give advice or referrals to callers in crisis Where: Clifton Common in Clifton Park Contact: Lisa Vince, 371-1185
CAPTION(S):
JIM GOOLSBY/TIMES UNION WILLIAM J. ROSSI believes arts training can help troubled youths.
