7 DRESSES 4 HEALTH: Day 336 - Day 342 ~ December 2nd - December 8th ~
As 2016 approaches, and we begin to wind down 7 Dresses 4 Health with the end of 2015, we wanted to take a moment to step back and reflect on the amazing individuals who have selflessly contributed to this arts and health campaign through myriad forms.
To everyone who wore the color of the day (even if it was just one day!) we appreciate your participation, thank you. For those who took the time to share and support the blogs, thank you. To our rockstar guest bloggers - this campaign simply couldn't have happened without you. Your courage, humor, and love are deeply appreciated by your over 500,000 readers! Your words resonate on a deep, community-driven level that speaks to barriers to access, prevention, treatment and care we face globally surrounding our seven health issues: HIV/AIDS, Mental Health, Nutrition, Heart Disease, Maternal Child Health, Disability, and Cancer.
Above all, throughout the year, we heard many messages of hope, gratitude, and community. Together, we will continue to move the dial forward on these crucial health issues.
So where did all these guest bloggers come from?!
All over the globe, really...
United States of America, France, Nigeria, Botswana, Malawi, India, Guatemala, Canada and China.
7 Dresses 4 Health guest bloggers represent 14 unique states within the US:
Pennsylvania, Georgia, Louisiana, New York, Massachusetts, Colorado, California, Washington, Michigan, Florida, Illinois, Wisconsin, New Jersey, and Maryland.
We received guest blogs from 39 unique people, totaling 48 first-person narratives! We had several one-time bloggers, and a few rockstar habitual bloggers, all who tirelessly advocate for the cause(s) that matter most to them and their respective communities. We've also had a few communities that really came together to supply a plethora of important advocacy.
Correspondingly we'd like to recognize and thank our Friedrich's ataxia Research Alliance and Global Health Corps Fellows Families.
THANK YOU!
FARA Guest bloggers: Liam Dougherty (Disability Advocate), Robbi Van Schoick (Disability Advocate), Christina Logan (Disability Advocate), Jack DeWitt (Disability Advocate), Paul Dufrene (Disability Advocate), Kyle Bryant (Disability Advocate), Sarah Gelbard (Disability and Maternal Child Health Advocate) and Margaret Ferrarone (Disability Advocate).
GHC Guest bloggers: Ayokunle Abogan (Maternal Child Health Advocate), Isabel Kumwembe (Heart Disease Advocate), Sam White (HIV Advocate), Katherine Williams (Nutrition Advocate), Majo Aldana (Maternal Child Health Advocate), Hayley MacMillen (Nutrition and Mental Health Advocate), Lindsey Kinsinger (HIV Advocate).
We'd also like to recognize our habitual, repeated bloggers:
Ayokunle Abogan - Maternal Child Health Advocate - Nigeria & Botswana
Rodney Likaku - Heart Disease and HIV Advocate - Malawi
Liam Dougherty - Disability Advocate - United States of America
Sarah Gelbard - Disability and Maternal Child Health Advocate - US & France
Kimberly Curhan - Nutrition Advocate - United States of America
Brian King - Mental Health Advocate - United States of America
Chaedria LaBouvier - Mental Health Advocate - United States of America
Last but not least, we'd also like to thank our one-time guest bloggers who bravely shared his/her narratives with our community: Bud & Jan Brown (Cancer Advocates), Katy Tessman Stanoch (Cancer Advocate), Laura Bender (Cancer Advocate), Cait Brogan (Mental Health Advocate), Kim Cook (MCH Advocate), Peggy Chenoweth (Disability Advocate), Anonymous (Mental Health Advocate), Anne Drow (Cancer Advocate), Sam Newland (Cancer Advocate), Cameron Barney (Mental Health Advocate), Devon O’Connor (Mental Health Advocate), Jenna Stock (Nutrition Advocate), Rose Warfield (Mental Health Advocate), Anonymous (Mental Health Advocate), David Marchino (Mental Health Advocate), Kiran Gandhi (MCH Advocate), Jennifer Lynne (Mental Health Advocate), Susan Taylor-Brown (HIV Advocate), Cherry Hong (MCH Advocate), and Charlotte Hager (HIV Advocate).
Through the final few blogs of the campaign we will take a retrospective look back at the year -- celebrating successes and narratives that surfaced throughout the campaign, as well as looking forward to the next phase of the campaign... stay tuned!
Call to action: Do you have important information around one of our seven causes: HIV/AIDS, Mental Health, Nutrition, Heart Disease, Maternal Child Health, Cancer, Disability, that you want to share with a wider audience? Do you or a loved one currently live and/or struggle with one of these causes? Do you work in research, advocacy, prevention, treatment or care? We want to hear from YOU! Write to us today: 7dresses@artsconnectinternational.org to become a featured blog writer. Another way to get involved is to wear the color of the day in solidarity. Take a picture of yourself in the color of the day and Tweet it @ArtsConnectInt, tag us on Instagram @ArtsConnectInt, or send it to us on Facebook.
About 7 Dresses 4 Health (7D4H): 7D4H is a year-long arts and health education campaign lead by visual artist, Marian Brown, in conjunction with Arts Connect International. The objective of the campaign is to promote inclusive community practices through adDRESSing health artistically and collaboratively. To learn more about the genesis of the project, read Marian’s New Year Blog.
About this week's look & location: All of the dresses for 7 Dresses 4 Health were designed and sewn by Kim's Fashion Design. Love the look? Visit Kim at 100 Huntington Ave, Boston MA 02116, call her at (617) 267-9299 or email her: info@kimsfashion.com. Mention 7 Dresses 4 Health for a special discount!
Campaign Update (2017): All 7 Dresses 4 Health blogs were migrated from a former site, so the sharing analytics are inconsistent from when they were first published. We apologize to our guest bloggers, and readers, for this inconvenience. That said, the campaign garnered an average of 5K hits per blog, over 500,000 readers throughout 2015! Additionally, the average number of shares per guest blog was over 150x on social media (through Facebook and Twitter). Thank you for making this incredible campaign possible - and for all that it was for so many. With gratitude, Marian & the ACI Team
