Orange County Children’s Therapeutic Arts Center (OCCTAC) was founded by Dr. Ana Jimenez-Hami in the year 2000. After the tragic death of her parents, Aidita and Freddy Jimenez, Dr. Jimenez sought to honor their memory by starting the center. Her love for children with special needs and her parents’ humanitarian work gave her the inspiration to launch this unique community organization that focuses on the ARTS as a vehicle to empower at-risk youth and children with special needs in Orange County.

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In the summer of 2000, OCCTAC began to provide after-school music and art classes to children with special needs. One year later, we expanded our mission to provide services to ALL youth, including typical children and at-promise youth due to the high need in the community and lack of artistic programs for underprivileged families. Since then, OCCTAC has grown tremendously and expanded its’ level of services offering additional educational, therapeutic and a variety of support programs for families from a wide range of socio-economic backgrounds in Orange County.

Orange County Children’s Therapeutic Arts Center (OCCTAC) is a community- based organization committed to providing access to services for all families including those impacted by physical, cognitive, language, social, emotional disabilities, or that are at risk. OCCTAC’s mission is to provide innovative, artistic, educational, and therapeutic programs that transform and inspire children, at-promise youth, and families to fulfill their highest potential in life. We have been providing services for the past 22 years to families in Santa Ana and Orange County with special focus on individuals with disabilities, from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds. Many of the families we serve are multicultural, monolingual, and low-income immigrants. OCCTAC has been very successful in reaching out to underserved communities that are not seeking traditional therapeutic services due to cultural and linguistic factors. Our success is based on our knowledge, experience, and expertise in working with families. Our staff is bilingual/bicultural and are committed to meet the needs of the community.

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OCCTAC is a place where emotion is in motion. OCCTAC is the first and only organization in Orange County offering unique programming that combines the arts, academics, and creative therapies to help youth and adults realize their highest potential. We offer a high-quality, comprehensive, and multicultural curriculum that prioritizes empowering children, youth and adults of limited resources, from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds. The foundation of our organization rests with committed and compassionate board members, staff, and teachers, who are talented artists, musicians, educators and therapists. Orange County Children’s Therapeutic Arts Center’s community center is a “safe-haven” for many isolated families.