The Muse Writers Center

Special NoteWe have Great News! A generous donor has given us a challenge. If we receive donations from more than 700 individual donors in one day during Give Local 757, they will donate an additional $15,000 to our organization. Please help us reach our goal!Ou

r NeedTher

e are times in all of our lives when we need to summon just the right words. But unlocking what's in our hearts and minds--and helping us to better connect or persuade or heal--may not come easy. That's why The Muse Writers Center exists. We are there for anyone to seize the chance to live life more fully, more meaningfully, and more successfully through written language. We truly believe that expressing yourself changes everything.In the past three years, we provided artistic enrichment to more than 45,000 people through the literary arts and creative writing in more than 2,300 public events, classes, and outreach programs.This year, we are raising funds for our extensive, free outreach program that transforms lives by integrating the innate benefits of creative writing with wellness practices for self-discovery, connection, and empowerment. We see that the literary arts is one of the best forces for health, wellness, and healing for people who are not normally served or heard.We created programs, which are doubling in size each year, for those living with challenges such as domestic trauma, loneliness, disability, homelessness, severe illness, bereavement, and loss, as well as youth in crisis, wounded veterans, and seniors living in memory care.Whether one is a sailor or soldier looking for an outlet to deal with the lingering trauma of combat or a high school senior who bravely takes the stage at our teen open mic night, we provide avenues to creatively say what might not be expressed otherwise.Youth Progra

mThrough Creati

ve Writing Classes, mentorship, professional development programs and community events, we welcome young writers to explore their unique voices, improve their craft, and pursue professional opportunities in the literary world. Our creative writing classes are free to all, ensuring finances are never a barrier. Our Youth Outreach empowers at-risk youth by partnering with underserved schools, detention centers, military bases, and libraries. The Teen Writers Fellowship, a program in which eight high school students from Hampton Roads work with published mentors and teachers to learn professional aspects of the publishing industry, instills young writers with professional knowledge, creative confidence, and pro-social skills that are often lacking in literary education.Senior Outreac

h ProgramOur Senior Out

reach program was created when a Muse student living in a senior living facility asked us to host a poetry reading where she lived because many of the residents were unable to travel. We now provide Muse teachers and volunteers to many different senior facilities, hosting classes in memoir and other genres, memoir writing clubs, and reading sessions. We work in assisted living facilities, memory care units, and rehab facilities throughout Hampton Roads.Military/Veter

an Outreach ProgramHampton Roads is

unique in the nation as we are the home to both the world's largest military bases and one of the largest populations of veterans. The Muse collaborates with local military installations, the Wounded Warrior Project, and the Armed Services Arts Partnership to create writing programs that actively engage members of the military community and their families. The literary arts allow military members and veterans to release and express their emotions in ways that often feel more natural than words alone. This helps the individual better connect or re-connect with themselves, their family, and their community.Words for Wellne

ssThe mission of W

ords for Wellness Outreach transforms lives through creative expression by integrating the innate benefits of the literary arts with wellness practices for self-discovery, connection, and empowerment. We believe that the expression of authentic writing is a positive force for health, wellness, healing, and peace, in individuals and in our world at large including those living with challenges such as domestic trauma, loneliness, disability, homelessness, illness, bereavement, and loss. We partner with organizations such as Brock Cancer Center, Tidewater Youth Services, Urban Renewal Center, YWCA, and others to ensure we reach the communities that don't have access to us.Senior Outreach

ProgramWe send teachers a

nd volunteers into senior facilities, hosting creative literary activities and classes to all levels of cognitive abilities. Our programs help our students look within to discover their inner visions and playfulness, while taking pause to rest and reflect, contemplate, and in some cases experience the profound effect of new perspectives and healing. We work in assisted living facilities, memory care units, and rehab facilities throughout Hampton Roads.Please visit our w

ebsite at the-muse…