Among the many media that NAFI/NFI's arts programs have used to impact personal growth and skill development, there are four pilot programs that have been particularly successful. They are described below. To date, these pilot programs have been limited to operating in the programs where they originated. Now, after years of honing our approach through reviewing their impact and success, we seek to replicate these four pilot programs to serve students in an additional 20 of our Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine programs.

Called the NAFI/NFI Arts Initiative, our goal is to raise $200,000 to hire and train staff, purchase supplies and pay related costs (costumes, instruments, transportation, as examples) to bring these arts programs to our consumers. We are currently well on our way to raising $75,000 of the total through a donor fundraising campaign that will be completed in August of 2004. A full budget is available upon request.

A general description of the four pilot projects follows:

Drumming Program- Started in our Rhode Island Continuum of services, NAFI has worked extensively with a talented musician over the past ten years to develop a program that gives youths the opportunity to build African-style drums and then learn to play increasingly complex rhythms that teach them about music, collaboration, the power of group and, ultimately, the healing power of self-expression. Used with NAFI cutting-edge approach to building successful living and working communities, drumming for these youths has become a powerful tool in which to strengthen social bonds and communicate effectively, measured through reflective writing and journals maintained by participating youths (samples available).

Literary Readings Program- Started at NAFI Touchstone School for girls, each semester approximately 15 teenagers partake in an intensive writing/performing arts program that gives them the opportunity to build a portfolio of writing that they recite in coffee houses, universities and at other public places around the state. Widely praised for their poise and eloquence, the students' involvement in the program has literally transformed their relationship to reading and writing in academically measurable ways. Last year, the group published a compendium of their work entitled, "I am Not a Juvenile Delinquent" (copy enclosed).

Stepping Program - Originating in urban neighborhoods as a cross between African dancing and military march, the "stepping" as a creative form has been honed in NAFI Stepping Stone program for girls as a way for adjudicated teenagers with extensive histories of acting out to embrace this vibrant and moving group synchronization. Requiring great discipline, innovation and harmony, NAFI's groups of steppers celebrate an anti drug theme that they call out as they perform. It takes months to learn the skills, requiring the participants to contribute to the good of the group and then to become proficient enough to perform for public audiences who are moved and enthralled by their grace, force and conviction (video samples of these activities available).

Performing Arts Program - Each year, NAFI/NFI holds an annual conference that concludes with a Talent Show given by its students and consumers to an audience of approximately 500 people. Created as a kind of theater arts program, the voluntary performers develop acts that they practice for much of the year and perform locally under the tutelage of NAFI/NFI staff and volunteers. These include dance, singing (solo and chorus), skits and music performances. The lead-up to the event is structured to give participants ways to strengthen their self-confidence, develop their potential and learn vital lessons of life that come with taking new risks, even those careful monitored and controlled.

As a non-profit social service agency, the bulk of the funding for virtually all of NAFI/NFI 90 treatment programs comes from state agencies. Unfortunately, the cost of operating NAFI/NFI s arts programs and projects are not allowed in these budgets. Funding and operation of these programs has come from the generosity of local civic groups and volunteers. The four pilot programs described above will continue to operate on this basis. However, to offer these vital and tremendously effective opportunities to an additional 500 more youths and adults at-risk, NAFI/NFI is seeking to add to its fundraising initiatives from foundations.

In this regard, we are appealing to the Bessie Pappas Charitable Foundation for $125,000. We welcome the opportunity to meet its directors and to have them visit our programs to observe the dynamic ways that the arts are changing the lives of young people and adults. We would also be pleased to share excerpts from journals of youths and the results of our own findings about the healing power of these arts programs.

In closing, I want to share one anecdote about a young person who participated in our Performing Arts Program last year, as reported in a NAFI newsletter:

"Last year, at the NAFI/NFI's Annual Conference, a 17 year-old boy did something he had never dreamed possible. Entering a grand ballroom, he walked to a piano and began playing a moving and lyrical piece that he had practiced for months and finally mastered. The 500 guests sat in awe and complete silence until he finished the last stanza. When he turned to face them, they sprang to their feet and gave him a long, appreciative, resounding ovation.

Before coming to a program at NAFI/NFI, this same young man had been a ward of the state, deemed by social workers as "damaged and lost." But now he has new dreams; he is working, going to college and excelling in music. Each year we are astounded by the performances and exhibits of our consumers, and each year the real and touching power of their work inspires us to find creative ways to fund and grow these opportunities."

For more information, contact Linda Voyer at 978 774-0774, ext. 179