Doors open at 5:30 pm

All gender, single-stall restrooms.

The Power of Playful Healing - Creating Art for Your Inner Child

Join us for a hands-on art demonstration with a member of Safe Shores’ Clinical Services Program and learn how clients process their healing through art therapy. Spots are limited – make sure to sign up at the bottom of the stairs.

Demonstration Times:

• 6:00 - 6:20 PM
• 6:30 - 6:50 PM
• 8:10 - 8:30 PM
• 8:40 - 9:00 PM

Shhhhh! Need a break? Head upstairs! Because quiet activities are play, too!

The Power of Playful Healing - Creating Art for Your Inner Child

Join us for a hands-on art demonstration with a member of Safe Shores’ Clinical Services Program and learn how clients process their healing through art therapy. Spots are limited – make sure to sign up at the bottom of the stairs. Please be in your seat at the demonstration start time.

Demonstration Times:

• 6:00 - 6:20 PM
• 6:30 - 6:50 PM
• 8:10 - 8:30 PM
• 8:40 - 9:00 PM

In 2023, a Forensic Interviewer at Safe Shores - The DC Children’s Advocacy Center began writing memorable quotes from the children who came to Safe Shores to tell their story on sticky notes, and putting them on her wall. Soon, others began adding to the wall. Over the years, the quotes grew to fill the entire wall of the interviewer’s office, becoming a bright and colorful showcase of the voices of children who visited Safe Shores. This is a representation of the quotes up to this point a reminder of the funny, thoughtful, and wise words that we can hear when we truly listen to children.

Speak directly with staff members for each of our programs to learn more about the work we do for child victims of abuse in DC.

Khalid Thompson is an expressive, creative, and improvisational painter and has been creating his whole life. What started as a love of drawing as a child, morphed into improvisational painting starting in 2008, and Khalid has devoted himself to the art form ever since.

“The cathartic act of improvisation plays a central role in my creative process, acting as a release valve for my complex responses to life experience,” Khalid said. “I express the intensity of my feelings primarily through color and secondarily through stroke. By applying contrasting colors with vigorous strokes and various images of reconfigured media, I strive to cultivate a visual scape that electrically charges the space and viewer experience.”

Khalid has been featured throughout DC and across the US, including in the US embassy in Rome. Learn more about Khalid at khalidthompson.com.

Candy has a huge range of tastes and textures but is universally loved by children. Similarly, the programs and departments at Safe Shores all do a range of specialized and unique work, ALL centered in Safe Shores’ mission to provide hope, healing, and intervention to child victims of abuse and to prevent and end child abuse. We asked each team at Safe Shores what candy best represented their work and why – their answers are next to the candies they chose.

Candy has a huge range of tastes and textures but is universally loved by children. Similarly, the programs and departments at Safe Shores all do a range of specialized and unique work, ALL centered in Safe Shores’ mission to provide hope, healing, and intervention to child victims of abuse and to prevent and end child abuse. We asked each team at Safe Shores what candy best represented their work and why – their answers are next to the candies they chose.

Enjoy a selection of wine, beer, and themed grown up juice box: Thyme to Play, Blackberry Margarita.

Enjoy a selection of wine, beer, and themed grown up juice box: Thyme to Play, Blackberry Margarita.

Enjoy a selection of wine, beer, and themed grown up juice box: Thyme to Play, Blackberry Margarita.

Sundae Bar

Strike a pose and snap a photo. When you post your photos, tag us at @SafeShoresDC and #ThePowerofPlay!

Program begins at 7:00 pm

We’re thrilled to feature The String Queens (TSQ) —Kendall Isadore (violin), Élise Sharp (cello), and Dawn Johnson (viola) — as the musical highlight of the evening.

Praised for their authentic, soulful, orchestral sound, The String Queens carry audiences from the Baroque and the Jazz Age to today’s Billboard Hot 100. Their signature arrangements are immersive, uplifting, and flat-out fun —perfect for a Playful Chic night.

Kendall, Élise, and Dawn also teach music to DC youth, sharing artistry, discipline, and joy with young people across our city. Their commitment to children — helping them learn, express themselves, and thrive — beautifully echoes Safe Shores’ work of keeping children safe, seen, and heard.

Last bid is at 8:40 pm.

These items have been graciously donated by a community of talented and dedicated Safe Shores supporters. All proceeds from the auction go directly toward Safe Shores’ trauma-responsive services for child victims of abuse in DC.

How it Works:

1. Note the item(s) you’d like to bid on, then place your bid on the corresponding bid sheet, along with your contact information.
2. Don’t want to bid? Buy the item outright by putting your name on the “Buy Outright” line of the bid sheet.
3. Winners will be texted so they can pick up their pieces at the end of the night.