Smith Center for Healing and the Arts (Healing Resources for Cancer)

Smith Center for Healing and the Arts is a Washington, DC-based nonprofit health, education, and creative arts organization. Our mission is to develop and promote healing practices that explore physical, emotional, and mental resources that lead to life-affirming changes for people living with illness and for the community at large.

Our programs focus on cultivating each person's innate ability to heal, helping participants explore meaning and maintain hope—even in the face of life's challenges. Many programs are open to the community, while others focus on serving those affected by cancer.

At the core of our work is the belief that each of us harbors enormous powers of healing within and that there are both new and time-tested techniques to enhance health and well-being even in the midst of crisis. Stress reduction, inner quiet, telling one's story, supportive listening, making art, writing and being part of a community are some of the simple yet profound techniques that often radically change the experience of illness. Our core goal is to help people in the quest for meaning in their lives - to emphasize and enhance the joy of living over the fear of dying.

We hold one-day and week-long retreats, one day programs, cooking and nutrition classes, creativity workshops, therapeutic yoga, and arts & healing classes, and operate a healing arts gallery. We also operate an integrative patient navigation program and have artists in residence programs at local hospitals.