Arts at the
heart of it all

By Jon Campisi
Times Staff Writer

Irina Segal may only be 24 years old, but a look around her office reveals the accomplishments of a seemingly older, more established member of society.
That she is a first-generation American, having moved to the United States from her native Russia at age 6, speaks that much more about the determination and perseverance exhibited by this Northeast Philadelphia native and Warminster resident.
Segal is president and founder of Community Center of the Arts, or CCARTS. Not even a year old, CCARTS has already transformed from your basic arts center, offering classes in music and dance, to a full-fledged non-profit organization that provides outreach services to seniors in need of a friend and children with disabilities.
For Segal, a graduate of Temple University’s Tyler School of Art, it was all part of a master plan.
"I always wanted to have my own thing," she said during a recent interview at the center’s headquarters in Southampton, Bucks County. "I always knew that this was what I wanted to do."
CCARTS originally started out in September 2007 as a fine arts school for children. Three months later, Segal bought out the Renaissance Academy, a nearby music school, and CCARTS was born.
"Piece by piece, it’s been coming together," she said.
Segal always wanted to run a non-profit organization, but what she didn’t plan on was the financial hardships that would come with that dream.
"I’m really between a rock and a hard place right now," she said. "I don’t know what to do."
Segal has been running her fully staffed organization using many out-of-pocket expenses and counts on donations from local businesses and organizations to help fund the array of programming offered by CCARTS.
In December, CCARTS held a fund-raiser at the Sportsplex in Feasterville to benefit a local boy afflicted with an unknown illness. The more than $12,000 raised would help pay for outstanding medical bills and other family necessities.
The center offers classes in fine arts, piano, violin, guitar, cinematography, ballet, modern dance, drama/musical theater and language arts. But a big part of its lure is the outreach services offered.
One such service is called Project Hope-Community Outreach. Here, staffers provide support to children and adults afflicted with a variety of diseases and disabilities such as cerebral palsy and autism. It is also designed to provide emotional support to those who have been affected by situations such as rape.
All of the clients served by Project Hope are from the Northeast except for one — Penni Morton. The Feasterville resident, whose Lyme disease has made life difficult for both herself and her family, was the subject of a recent article in the Times.
Segal admitted that Project Hope was not totally her idea — it existed for around four years prior to her taking it over — but she has sort of made it her own.
"It was around for four years, but nothing was really done with it," she said. "It was kind of at a standstill. What I wanted to do with it is take it to the next level."
At first, Segal started her center as a for-profit business but soon opted to go non-profit, realizing all the good that can be done when working to benefit others. Her inclination to switch business modes stemmed from some of the things that she has been exposed to in her life.
"I’ve seen some horrible stuff," she said, referring to the numerous people she has come in contact with who have been dealt a difficult hand in life.
The recent fund-raiser at the Sportsplex gave way to another CCARTS-sponsored project — the Arts Give Hope Project-Art and Music Education as Therapy for Disabled. The name of the fund-raiser was "Arts Give Hope," hence the name of the project.
There is also a Senior Arts Outreach Program that has workers visiting retirement homes in the area — many in the Northeast — to provide comfort and support to senior citizens. Segal said her staff often simply sits and talks with the seniors, since loneliness is common among older folks. Workers even run errands for seniors and for families whose members have difficulty getting out, such as Morton, the Feasterville woman with an advanced stage of Lyme disease.
"It’s anybody and everybody, really," Segal said of CCARTS’ clientele.
Segal said the outreach portion of her business enjoys good feedback from users, which lets her feel that she made the right decision in life.
"I think it’s necessary," she said. "I think we have to do what we’re doing because it’s good stuff."
CCARTS also works with lawyers and psychologists, who Segal meets through good old-fashioned networking.
Segal, who considers herself a third party, will identify those in her service area who need legal or psychological services and get them in touch with these professionals.
CCARTS also offers both summer camps and after-school activities, such as arts enrichment and creative writing classes, for children. Often, CCARTS instructors visit area schools, but sometimes the students come to the center.
While the center is based in Bucks County and serves youngsters in the suburbs, many of its younger clients, just as with its seniors, are from Philadelphia, particularly the Northeast.
Many children outside the city have access to greater opportunities than those inside the city, Segal said, which is one reason CCARTS caters to this demographic.
"We go there because we’ve done the research and there’s nothing available for kids," she said, speaking specifically of the Northeast.
Segal also shares a particular affinity for the Northeast, having grown up there herself.
"I always will be," tied to the Northeast, she said.
Segal would like to open another center, preferably a locale that lacks the types of services offered by CCARTS. ••
On Saturday beginning at noon, CCARTS will partner with Dance Zone USA in the Northeast for a fund-raiser at Emperor Restaurant on Red Lion Road.
The benefit will include musical performances, dancing and a cocktail hour.
The cost is $15 to attend, and all proceeds will go toward CCARTS programming.
For more information about the upcoming benefit, or CCARTS in general, call the center at 267-988-4203.