“I come back to Creative Life because I like the people, and the food, but I like how it puts my artistic skills in action... It takes my mind off things and gets my brain moving in a different way. [Coming to Creative Life has] boosted my confidence in life. As in, [I’ve learned] not to be so hard on myself...to be confident to actually try something… That was a big thing. I’m happy, I’m proud of my work. I call myself an artist because I like it and I think I’m really good at it.”
- Creative Life Participant
“[Being part of a] community gave me a feeling of accomplishment, that I am going somewhere in life. It gave me confidence, self-esteem, and a sense of hope. It taught me I'm not just a welfare case, that I can do something with my life."
- Participant
"This doesn’t feel like a program, this feels like a family.”
- Participant
"Along with the many tenacious, talented, marginalized (and funny and smart and endearing) young people who have participated in Creative Life, I've been invited into the transformation that can take place when creative expression can flourish and bloom in our lives. By coming alongside others to help facilitate this room for creative expression, I've learned so much -- about brokenness (my own included) and our deep need for relationship and community... I've loved seeing the change in some of these youth over the last year -- confidence and a willingness to try something new now exist where insecurity and fear once did.”
