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News & Announcements


shawnee-isaac-smith-smHeart Touch™ Story

In 1995, Shawnee Isaac Smith's very good friend and fellow body worker, was dying of a terminal illness - AIDS. All of his friends refused to touch or even visit him. Shawnee began to provide him with weekly massage sessions. Just to be touched, he told her, made him feel human again. Most massage therapists were unwilling to touch people with AIDS for fear of contracting the virus. Shawnee, through massage, found a way to comfort her friend during the greatest struggle of his life.


heart-in-handsHeart Touch™ Mission

The Heart Touch Project is a non-profit educational organization dedicated to the training and delivery of compassionate and healing touch to homebound or hospitalized, men, women and children.


childrenHeart Touch™ Children's Program

When children become ill it is often hard for them to understand that painful procedures are a necessary part of making them better or alleviating their suffering.

Providing massage in hospitals is a way for children to have a positive touch experience during their hospital stay.  Currently, Heart Touch™ volunteers are massaging infants and children who are terminally ill and in hospice care.


seniorsHeart Touch™ Seniors Program

In our society we're all so afraid of growing old, and what we're afraid of we don't want to see - so the seniors are another population that's very isolated and alone in the final stages of their life.

Our programs in senior homes throughout Los Angeles touch the lives of elderly people who can no longer get out on their own.  Many of the seniors have no family and our volunteers are their only guests.  Our seniors range in age from 65-102 years old and they cope with a variety of health challenges. Beyond the physical benefits, the elderly who receive massage through The Heart Touch™ Project, experience the benefit of companionship.


red-ribbonHeart Touch™ Chronic Disease Care Program

Heart Touch™ was founded as a means of training massage therapists to serve AIDS patients to help alleviate some of their isolation and suffering.

The Heart Touch™ Project educates therapists about AIDS and the role of massage in caring for the sick and dying.


caring-handsHeart Touch™ Hospice Care Program

Hospice Care is considered to be the model for quality, compassionate care for men, women and children facing a life-limiting illness.

At the center of hospice and palliative care is the belief that each of us has the right to die pain-free and with dignity, and that our families will receive the necessary support to allow us to do so.


domestic_violenceHeart Touch™ Domestic Abuse Program

Domestic and child abuse has reached epidemic proportions in the United States.

Demonstrating safe and compassionate touch can be the turning point in a child's life. Providing children with healthy role models and helping them to understand the difference between good and bad types of touch with the support of their mothers was our inspiration for creating this program.


thai-child-with-HTvolunteerHeart Touch™ International Volunteers arrive back from a successful trip touching hearts in Thailand


internationalHeart Touch™ International

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Events

    Full Calendar calendar-image

April 25 - 27/ 2008
Heart Touch™ 3 Day Training
Sign up Now!

May 31 - June 1 / 2008
Children's Massage Training
Sign up Now!

July 18 - 20 / 2008
Heart Touch™ 3 Day Training
Sign up Now!

August 22 - 24 / 2008
Certified Infant Massage Instructor (CIMI) Training
Sign up Now!

See the Calendar for all the Volunteer, Children's Program, CIMI Infant Massage and Heart Touch Training Events & Dates

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Who We Serve

Childrens Hospital Los AngelesServes children and adolescents by integrating medical care, preventive services, medical education, and research. [California]

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Based in Los Angeles, the largest nonprofit hospital in the western United States.

Pediatric care at the Mattel Children's Hospital at UCLA.  Mattel Children’s Hospital at UCLA is committed to improving the health of children.

[USA] A not-for-profit organization serving members in several states.

As the only pediatric hospice in Los Angeles County, TrinityKids Care understands the impact a seriously ill child can have on the life of a family. A specialized division of TrinityCare, TrinityKids helps children with life-limiting illnesses leave the hospital in order to spend as much time as possible at home with their families.

The Jewish Home for the Aging (JHA) is a 700 bed residential care and skilled nursing facility located in Reseda, California . The JHA functions as a life care community for the frail elderly.

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Awards

Volvo for life Awards: Heart Touch Project Founder Shawnee Isaac Smith Honored.

Heart Touch Project Founder Shawnee Isaac Smith named L'Oréal Paris Women of Worth.  As a Woman of Worth recipient, Isaac Smith received a $5,000 donation to The Heart Touch Project.  L'Oréal Paris also made a matching donation in Shawnee Isaac Smith's  name to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund, L'Oréal Paris' charity of record.

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Supporters

 

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Amgen serves patients around the world in supportive cancer care and the treatment of anemia, rheumatoid arthritis, and other autoimmune diseases such as psoriatic arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis. We continue to sustain a culture rooted in biotechnology entrepreneurialism and innovation. As a science-based and patient-focused organization, Amgen will follow the science wherever it may lead, to best treat serious illness.

BROADWAY CARES/EQUITY FIGHTS AIDS  ...the nations's leading industry based HIV/AIDS fundraising and grant-making organization.

Massage Therapy Foundation. This organization advances the knowledge and practice of massage therapy by supporting scientific research, education and community service.

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Friends

Celebrate Life With HOPE!  The HOPE program an international leader in the comprehensive care of children and teens with cancer, together with their families.

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