![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/kalie-8.jpg\")
Kalie (left) created the Kreate Your Kourage foundation to help her peers feel more empowered and better express their emotions. (Photo courtesy of Diane Mapp)<\/p>\n
One of Mapp\u2019s biggest initiatives within the foundation is weekly art classes, focused around healing and processing emotions.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cKids come and they learn how to express their emotions by talking, by drawing, and by writing,\u201d she said. \u201cWe do art therapy classes. We separate them into groups. Some write, some draw, and some do some affirmations.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Supporting the community\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kalie\u2019s weekly art classes are held in North Philly\u2019s Logan neighborhood.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have 28 people,\u201d she said. \u201cThe ages are from 2 to 21.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
From 6 to 8 p.m. on Thursdays, these young people from the community gather to create. Kalie explained there are different ways they can go about expressing their emotions.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have little affirmation cards, and we have cards that tell them what to write about or what to draw about, and they draw about those pictures and write about what the card tells them to write about,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kalie said she enjoys making a difference. And the community can feel it too, said Jazmine Taylor, whose 15-year-old sister and 4-year-old son attend the weekly classes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMy son is nonverbal, but I think he has gotten more comfortable talking, and he has lit up,\u201d she said. \u201cHe was very in his own self, but now he\u2019s interacting with other kids. He loves painting, loves expressing, and I think he found a way to speak in his artwork.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Taylor said the classes serve as a family experience \u2013 including adults and family members in the experience.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s like a family,\u201d she said. \u201cWe sit there and we eat together, we laugh together, and we have a whole conversation.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/kalie-3.jpg\")
The weekly art classes allow for connections between families, children and art. (Photo courtesy of Diane Mapp)<\/p>\n
Taylor commended Kalie for her work and classes, saying they make exploring her nonverbal son\u2019s emotions a lot easier. She said the experience helps her deal with her own emotions through these challenges as well.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s exhausting because sometimes, you don\u2019t know how he feels that day,\u201d she said. \u201cSo sometimes I have a stressful day, and we try to figure it out. But when we go to art therapy, that\u2019s a way that I can put my art and my feelings into it without really snapping out. And we find a way to get to our happy place before we get angry.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The benefits\u00a0<\/p>\n
The program is beneficial to the parents and guardians, as it provides dinner and a snack for participants, said Kalie\u2019s mother, Diane Mapp.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to take that kind of load off the parents, so they don\u2019t have to worry about dinner or anything like that,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Therapeutic art classes can be beneficial for many reasons, said Natalie Carlton, an associate clinical professor at Drexel University\u2019s Creative Arts Therapies Program.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe process of making art can be playful, relaxing and help center people in the present tense,\u201d she said. \u201cIt can also help people connect to each other and can create activities that people work on in the company of each other.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Carlton is a licensed art therapist who has worked in the field since 1996, and she shared that a series of graduate-level attainments and certifications must be completed to facilitate professional art therapy groups.\u00a0<\/p>\n
However, she recognized that therapeutic art programs like Kalie\u2019s are important for amplifying art-making that encourages creative processes within communities.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s probably a lot of families connecting to each other,\u201d she said. \u201cThe ritual of coming together and creating art in a sort of regular way is a very powerful community builder, especially for communication and relationships.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/kalie-1-1.jpg\")
Children in the art therapy classes bond and use different guides to create their art, Diane Mapp said. (Photo courtesy of Diane Mapp)<\/p>\n
Beyond art therapy\u00a0<\/p>\n
The art classes are held at the Kourage House, which is supported by the community nonprofit Bringing Everybody Together (BET).\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Kourage House is just a part of the Kreate Your Kourage community programming, Diane Mapp said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes we have our community partners spread the word,\u201d she said. \u201cWe do mobile visits as well, so we\u2019ll visit community partners who have youth. We also do a museum tour. So we do art therapy for their community.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Diane explained she and Kalie\u2019s father also come from nonprofit backgrounds, which has helped Kalie grow up around the community and find support for her organization.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cShe has really grown up under this community-based world that we\u2019re in,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m really heavy on knowing who\u2019s who in your community. Sometimes it\u2019s easy to turn on the news, and you see these big names. But there\u2019s other people that are actually out here making the impact, too, that don\u2019t really get the recognition. And so it\u2019s important for her to know who are her representatives in the community, which legislators are hers, and who\u2019s dealing with youth and families who can help.\u201d<\/p>\n
Diane said Kalie was getting bullied in school and struggled to express her emotions about this at first. Once she confided in her parents, the family worked together to come up with a solution.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember her saying that she didn\u2019t want any other kid to feel how she felt, and that\u00a0 we should all be happy with ourselves, and shouldn\u2019t have to change because someone else doesn\u2019t like this,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd so I thought, \u2018Wow, that\u2019s really powerful for a first grader to say.\u2019 And we were thinking, \u2018What can we do for her that can help other people, including the bully?\u2019 We all know that bullies go through things, so maybe the bully has been experiencing some things, and this is their outlet. And so we wanted a safe and healthy outlet.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/kalie-2.jpg\")
Kalie has now found her confidence, and her courage, through her foundation. (Photo courtesy of Diane Mapp)<\/p>\n
Beyond art classes, Kalie hosts workshops at several museums per year, and partners with various community organizations. Diane said this can include anything from partnering with Vetri Community Partnership for cooking classes, to music classes at the Kourage House.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Additionally, Kalie sells other products centered around empowerment \u2013 with the proceeds going back into the Kourage House.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cShe sells jewelry, clothes, lipstick, pocketbooks and anything that makes someone feel better about themselves or lifts their spirits,\u201d Diane said. \u201cSo we do that at different events and all of the proceeds that she gets from selling her items go back into the Kourage House so that we can make sure that all of the kids have the things they need for art supplies and all that kind of stuff.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Some of Kalie\u2019s products are branded, while others are unique to events.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/kalie-7.jpg\")
Kalie sells her products at various events. (Photo courtesy of Diane Mapp)<\/p>\n
An author, too<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/kalie-6.jpg\")
Kalie\u2019s book helps other children find their courage, Diane Mapp said. (Photo courtesy of Diane Mapp)<\/p>\n