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An Appeal from Clay Jenkinson
Click on the video above to hear Clay Jenkinson speak about the importance of supporting The Muse Writers Center today, Tuesday, April 25 as part of Give Local 757.
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If you are able, would you please make a donation of $10 or more? It's easy, and it's tax-deductible!
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All you have to do to donate during this 24-hour period is visit our Give Local giving page or our website. Click on the “donate now” button and enter your information on the donation form. You are also welcome to donate over the phone by calling me at 757-793-7857.
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We 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 $20,000 to our organization. Please help us reach our goal.
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Our Need
The Muse Writers Center in Norfolk is Hampton Roads’ only literary center, and in 2022, we provided artistic enrichment to more than 16,000 people through the literary arts in more than 700 public literary events, classes, and outreach programs.
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We are happy to have been able to grow our programs during and after the pandemic. In our education program, more than 45% of our students receive tuition help from us, and all of our regular classes for youth are given for free; and in our events program, we offer hundred of free literary events, readings, and networking opportunities that reach thousands.
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This year, we are asking you to support our Outreach Programs which actively seek out persons and communities without traditional access to literary activities or the means to participate in them. The free programs have exploded over the past two years, and now our community is full of voices not usually heard.
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Youth Program: By offering young minds creative writing classes, mentorship programs, and community events, we welcome young writers to explore and develop their unique voices, improve their craft, and pursue professional opportunities in the literary world. We seek to serve underserved or hard-to-reach youth and give them the chance to pursue creative writing, a space often limited to those with financial means.
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For teens in disadvantaged situations, after-school, and residential settings, or who are unable to attend our facility, we send instructors out into the community to connect with young writers in local libraries, schools, and places where teens currently receive services such as after school programs, community centers, and residential facilities.
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We also offer our Teen Writers Fellowship, where eight high school sophomores and juniors from every corner of Hampton Roads attend creative writing classes, work one-on-one with published mentors, and give readings. The Teen Writers Fellowship has currently started its fifth year and to date has a 100% high school graduation rate, with many former fellows attending top universities.
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Senior Outreach Program: Our Senior Outreach 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.
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Military/Veteran Outreach Program: Our Military & Veteran Outreach Program was created to serve the unique needs of our area’s service members, veterans, and their families and caregivers. We offer creative writing classes, including those focusing on healing trauma through creative writing
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We have seen the power of writing for people dealing with the challenges of military life and retirement.
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The Muse Writers Center’s projects, classes, and events are made possible in part through sponsorship by the City of Norfolk Commission on the Arts and Humanities, the Business Consortium for Arts Support, the Virginia Commission for the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional funding has been provided by Virginia Humanities and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act economic stabilization plan of 2020 as well as The Literary Arts Emergency Fund, the Hampton Roads Community Foundation and the Norfolk Department of Economic Development.
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