Dr Clown
Profile of Dr Clown
Dr Clown is a non-profit charitable organization that was founded in 2002.Our mission: To improve the quality of life of hospitalized patients by reducing stress through our programs of therapeutic clowns.
We have long-term agreements with health care centers and our funding is provided by foundations, corporations and the general public. We have active programs in Montreal, Quebec City and Toronto.
Our therapeutic clowns work in duo and visit in pediatric facilities twice a week and adult or geriatric facilities once a week. We work in collaboration with the health-care team to target priorities and to establish relationships with the patients, residents and their families.
We hire artists who have professional training in the art of clowning and provide them with an initial psychosocial training to acclimatize them to the realities of working as a clown in the hospital. We also provide psychosocial and artistic training on an on-going basis.
Places we operate:
Toronto- Belmont House
Our team
Dr Clown was founded by Olivier-Hugues Terreault, Florence Vinit, and Melissa Holland. With the generous support and help of Germaine Gibara the President of the board of directors, they were able to build an organization that involves the participation of the business, health-care and artistic sectors. It is modeled after similar organizations such as Hearts and Minds in Scotland, le Rire Medecin in Paris, the Big Apple Circus in New York, and Doutores da Alegria in Brazil.
Our Executive Team:
- Sylvie Laplante, General Manager
- Francine Hébert, Fundraising coordinator
- Nathalie Côté, Administrative Director
- Florence Vinit, Psychosocial Director
- Melissa Holland, Artistic Director
- Anik Farley, Program Director, (Quebec City)
- Kathleen Leroux, General Manager (Toronto)
Our Artistic Team:
- Trainers
- Francine Côté
- Alexis Roy
Toronto :
For additional information please visit our website : www.drclown.ca