Art from Ashes, Inc.

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Impact Statement

"I’ve learned how to voice my soul through poetry, and it’s just invigorating to think back to when I always had these feelings inside me, but I never let the world see my shine."
— written by a 15 year old young man in residential treatment

1. Our best accomplishment? We've been saving lives through the power of creativity and the spoken word. In 2007, Art from Ashes tripled the number of youth served from 320 to over 1,000. Our goal in 2008 is to work with 30 additional partner organizations, serving more than 2,000 youth.

2. In 2007, Art from Ashes doubled our revenue from $50,000 to $108,000, while increasing our expenses by only 16%. In 2008, Art from Ashes intends to triple our revenue to $300,000 and hire three employees: two full-time and one part-time.

3. Independent evaluations conducted by the National Research Center showed a consistent and significantly higher score in all areas of youth development when compared with national norms for youth arts-focused programs. Our goal for 2008 is to have 300 pre- and post-evaluations analyzed by NRC to ensure Evidence Based compliance.

4. Art from Ashes was awarded 7 of 10 of the first grants applied for after receiving our 501(c)(3) status. Our goal for 2008 is to write 18 grants to secure funding for our programs and for agency operations.

GOALS:
1. To increase revenue in 2008 to accommodate two full-time and one part-time staff positions

2. To increase the number of youth served to more than 2,000 by providing at least 40 8-week therapeutic workshops to other youth service organizations

3. To double our volunteer staff from 40 to 80, particularly in the areas of fundraising and financial management

4. To increase the number of youth facilitators from 24 to 36

5. To create organizational systems that provide adequate structure and appropriate development guidelines

Needs Statement

1. Develop Capacity: Fund three staff positions: Executive Director, Executive Assistant and Director of Programs

2. Contract Development: create additional partnerships with youth organizations

3. Financial Management: Accounting systems, budget development, financial reporting, and auditing

4. Funding Development: Donor cultivation, grant research and development, campaign planning, and special event planning

5. Organizational Structure: Operational systems and procedures

Background Statement

Catherine O’Neill Thorn developed the Phoenix Rising writing process after extensive research and 15 years of working with high-risk youth. Since 1992, this structured process has provided therapeutic poetry workshops for thousands of young participants in collaboration with many organizations, including post-trauma workshops to students at Columbine High School.

The organization was formed in late 2003 in direct response to the statewide cuts in funding to youth programs: in 2002 the entire $7.6 million Youth Services Fund was cut; funding for community services to reduce youth crime and violence was cut in half in fiscal year 2003; funding for the Youth Mentoring Services program was terminated in 2003; funding for the Colorado Build a Generation program providing grants to communities to develop a continuum of services for children and youth with an emphasis on preventing juvenile delinquency, substance abuse, and teen pregnancy was terminated in 2003. Because the therapeutic needs of disenfranchised young people are so great, and because poetry and spoken word therapies have proven so successful, Art from Ashes set out to change the lives of the thousands of Colorado youth struggling to survive abuse, neglect, abandonment and deprivation. We continue to meet the growing need in our state to care more effectively for our vulnerable youth population by listening to them, by providing a way for them to feel connected, and by reminding them of their power and promise. In this way Art from Ashes is ensuring a better future for our youth and for our community.

Executive Director Statement

Sometimes the best way to save a life is to convince someone that they are worth saving. Over the past 16 years I have worked with the broken-winged, the broken-hearted, the bitter and the beaten — the cast-offs, left behinds, throwaways. Most of them were under the age of 18. Kids from shattered homes who have seen violence since birth, kids who were raped at the age of four and rapists by the age of 12, drug abusers, gang members, across the spectrum to the deceptively "minor" problem of kids with ADD who have been told all their lives, “You’re capable of so much more; why can’t you just be [different]…”

AfA’s Phoenix Rising poetry program provides structured opportunities for disadvantaged adolescents and young adults to communicate in powerful words and connect with others in safe, communal settings. Our organization addresses the plight of high-risk youth from low income neighborhoods in the Denver Metropolitan area by providing the therapeutic guidance they need to develop personal resilience. Capitalizing on their considerable expressive assets, AfA's program enables these young people to feel more confident about themselves and more hopeful about their futures.

We would love your support in this amazing work with these young people, and can assure you not only that your funds will be used wisely but that you will be blessed for giving to a population many consider unredeemable. Because it works. Because these young lives are worth it, and through the power of expression, connection and healing, they are now beginning to thrive.

Board Chair/President Statement

Art from Ashes has brought a new and distinct approach to providing services to groups who might otherwise be ignored or neglected. While the concept of being heard as healing is not new to the field of
psychotherapy, being heard in such a profound way that it encourages expression is an ear-opening experience for everyone who attends a workshop. By providing a safe and non-judgmental environment and specific writing prompts, facilitators are able to
bring forth some of the most remarkable works of poetry and some of the most revealing truths about the participants. The experience can be life-changing and uplifting.

As our organization matures and begins to achieve the hopes and dreams with which we started in 2003, we need to solidify the core in order to support the innovative work of changing the lives of discarded youth through poetry and creativity.

Our founding members have committed themselves to the selfless and tireless work that has allowed this organization to develop from its grassroots beginnings into a fully-functioning and far-reaching nonprofit. Increased funding will support the development of a dedicated staff, a stable environment in which to work, and the tools necessary to accomplish this important work.