You Have the Power to Inspire HOPE and Change Lives In Unpredictable Times

19,000 youth served in 22 years, countless seeds of hope planted that continue to sprout and grow in our community

We’ve had quite a year at Art from Ashes, one full of successes and transformation as we navigate some new challenges facing youth and the nonprofit sector, particularly in the arts. It’s a joy and a blessing to watch young people in our workshops recognize their power to create a life of hope and purpose, right before our eyes. Your donations directly support our transformational poetry and art programs while helping build and nurture community.

So much has changed locally and nationally in the last year, yet the fundamental needs of youth, especially youth who are struggling, have remained the same.

Youth need to be heard and valued.

Youth need connection to themselves, their peers, and caring adults they can trust.

Youth need HOPE.

At Art from Ashes, hope is not just in our mission statement, it’s woven into everything we do. Our community is cultivated through creativity because Creativity is essential to life. It allows us to make sense of things amidst the confusion and uncertainty, providing a healthy and accessible way to express, connect, and transform our stories and perceptions through art and poetry. These are tools and skills that no one can take from us, once we learn we possess them and how to wield them. This is particularly important for young people who contend with so much each and every day. They can discover their power within to change their stories and their lives.

In a time when undervalued youth are disproportionately facing challenges, government funding cuts and loss of foundation funding in 2025 has put our ability to provide AfA’s transformative programs at risk.

  • Youth who are disproportionately sidelined often are BIPOC, LGBTQ+, immigrants, involved in the juvenile justice system, and/or have disabilities
  • With current grant funding and projected revenues decreasing, AfA expects challenges providing programming and maintaining staff in 2026

And yet, we have HOPE.

Just as we are there for youth in our community, we trust that our community will continue to keep us going and ensure that ALL youth have access to the arts as a means of personal transformation.

We need your support to keep our vital programs going for youth who need us most, so we hope you’ll give today. Thanks to our board of directors, all donations are matched up to $10,000, doubling your impact.

Thanks to support from community donors like you, in 2025 we  have reached 580 youth in 153 workshops in partnership with
16 organizations with more than 1000 youth contacts projected by end of year.

We maintained existing partnerships with New Legacy Charter School, Rainbow Alley at The Center on Colfax, Aurora Public Housing, and Montbello Career and Technical High School, to name a few. We created new partnerships with Fully Liberated Youth and Village Exchange, providing our first series 100% in Spanish!

We did all of this while continuing our weekly and monthly onsite workshops AND creating a new Poet-Tree series with an installation in the Denver Public Library teen space. The youth-designed tree made from found materials shifts with the seasons, including interactive prompts for youth to write their poems and add their leaves representing their seasons of life.

Our calendar is already filling up for 2026. The need is growing and we will rise to meet it. We are committed to ensuring that our participants recognize their power and have the tools to navigate environments of hardship and excel in any and all spaces in our society.

Years of data have shown that youth with access to the arts

  • are four times more likely to win school-wide attention for academic achievement
  • see a reduction in self-harm, anxiety, depression, and substance use
  • connect with each other, caring adults, and a larger community through empathy, understanding, and    a sense of belonging
  • realize they have the power to make positive change within their communities

The data is clear. And also, we know this to be true because we see it each and every day. We read it in every poem written and see it on the faces of youth who step up to the mic to share their story.

That’s why we need your support to keep hope alive. Will you give today? All donations are matched, dollar for dollar, up to $10,000 until the end of the year. Whether you donate $5 or $500, your gift is doubled.

Now more than ever, we must show up for young people who feel silenced so they can see their value and that their lives MATTER.  We can and will show up, thanks to support from our community, made up of wonderful people like YOU who have the power to give young  people hope in 2026.

In Gratitude,

Art from Ashes staff, facilitators, board members & volunteers