WHAT IS RITA PROJECT?
Mission
Rita (Sanskrit for Truth) is a global movement to stop suicide and to celebrate life. Rita Project is a 501c3 non-profit organization devoted to using the arts to help survivors of suicide connect with the power of creation, and, in doing so, foster transformation.

PROGRAMS
Rita's programs:
- Nurture healing
- Assist with suicide prevention education
- Raise public awareness of the importance of the arts to mental health

Rita Studios Locations: New York * Los Angeles * Baltimore
Rita Studios are based on the concept that the creative process involved in the making of art is healing and life enhancing¹, and that survivors benefit from art-based therapy programs. Studios convene weekly and each session lasts two hours. All studio sessions are staffed by a certified art therapist and a graduate art therapy student assistant.

Rita Workshops: Workshops serve as an effective suicide prevention education and crisis intervention tool. Workshops are facilitated by an art therapist. Rita Creative Arts Curriculum for Mental Health is correlated with the National Standards for Health Education and designed to meet the needs of diverse learners, the curriculum provides creative opportunities integrated with mental health education.

Rita Exhibitions: Exhibitions provide Studio and Workshop participants with a sense of closure and recognition. This step also helps to soften the stigma associated with suicide.

HISTORY
Founded by Kim Strouse in 2002, after she lost her sister, Kristin Rita Strouse, to suicide. Kristin was seventeen and a freshman at Parsons School of Design. Kim was twenty-four and transformed her grief into hope with the creation of Rita Project.

WHY RITA PROJECT?
- Every 16 minutes in the United States someone dies by suicide²
- Every minute in the United States someone attempts suicide²
- Nearly 1 million people commit suicide throughout the world each year- a death toll higher than that of murder and war combined³

¹American Art Therapy Association
²Figures from the National Center for Health Statistics for the year 2004
³World Health Organization, NewScientist.com, 2004