West Side Justice Center

When we sought to engage youth in our service area affected by the Justice system, they extended their support and helped us to connect.

Brandon Johnson, Co-Executive Director

In working with young people, they feel motivated to finish their songs because they know a studio session is coming.

Evan Okun, Director of Operations

Free Write provides opportunities for our students to serve youth in the detention center. This allows students to connect to their community and work to meet the needs of an underserved population, while growing and learning from the youth they engage with at the detention center.

Jill Green, Director, Community Partnerships

Free Write leadership is a frequent resource for peer learning.

Rebecca Hunter, Executive Director

The expert educators heading Free Write were our advocates “on the ground” when we were getting our program started.

Kathleen Ellis, Volunteer yoga instructor

The Free Write Anthology shows us other dimensions of our participants’ lives. It is amazing to see their visual art work as well as read their poetry. We see them through the lens of the work we are doing with them, and it is amazing and expansive to see their creative expression in other ways.

Cheryl Coons, Program Manager