Our impact is driven by 4 key programs.
– At the foundation, our Alumni Laboratory is our Brain Trust. A group of 20 formerly incarcerated individuals meet monthly to shape our curriculum, be in community with other past participants with lived experience, and work as teaching artists.
– Our Art Attacks! Civic Engagement Program supports youth currently incarcerated in LA County Probation camps and halls. Using the arts as our driver, we enrich youth with the real history of our country, inform them of the laws and bills that directly impact them and uplift their voices through creative processes. This program has seen a 100% voter participation in the past election, up from 35% in the 2016 election.
– Our Arts and VR ReEntry Program supports incarcerated individuals in level 4 and 5 prisons with creative tools and experiences that allow them to radically reimagine their life and reentry experience. We work with adults and youth on the main line as well as those in solitary confinement. Merging arts and technology in a 7 day intensive, participants learn ways to process, understand and transmute their trauma creatively. We have a 96% decrease in infractions and are set to pilot a version of this program through mental health support.
– A new Program in partnership with the County’s Justice Care and Opportunity Department allows us to support recently returned citizens with arts programming, skills training, reentry housing support (through our partners) and creative resilience. We offer this program at the DOORS South LA Center and have been able to support over 50 returned citizens in the first year.