With support from the CAC, COMMUNITY WORKS WEST INC will produce an original production featuring recently incarcerated women and directed by Bay Area performer and theater director Ashley Smiley. The theater program, Rising Voices, will take place over 40 weeks of workshops and rehearsal, and participants will create an original performance piece inspired by their own lived experiences. Grant funding will support the teaching artist/director as well as program and production costs.
Community Works West is the premiere provider of restorative justice programs in the San Francisco Bay Area, launching in 1997 with the first restorative justice program in a county jail and the first pre-charge diversion program for youth in San Francisco and Alameda counties. Our restorative justice, arts, and human service programs include anti-violence, job readiness, batterers’ intervention, and family-strengthening services for individuals, families, and communities affected by incarceration. Our restorative arts programs provide a safe and creative space for individuals to overcome the trauma of incarceration.

