Business Name: Hope at Hand
First Name: Steffani
Last Name: Fletcher
Website: www.HopeAtHand.org
Address: 3886 Atlantic Blvd
City: Jacksonville
State: FL
Zip: 32207
About Us: MISSION
Hope at Hand (H@H) provides poetry sessions for at-risk and vulnerable youth populations. Combining creativity, poetry and elements of art, we facilitate healing and personal growth for children and adolescents.
With poetry as the foundation, H@H provides strategies that support youth overcoming barriers to successful participation in society. H@H teaches independent wellness strategies that can easily be internalized and sustained, all through poetry and creative expression. Lessons are carefully designed to engage hard-to-reach youth, blending honest reflection and visions of choice and change.
H@H poetry sessions are conducted by trained facilitators using a variety of methods to introduce poetry. As trust is established, we introduce different forms of published poetry that allow youth to dig into metaphors and figurative language. We guide youth to the heart of the poem with discussions related to their situations. They write original poems to reinforce their connections to the discussions and the poem. H@H challenges difficult experiences and feelings of disappointment, anger, and frustration through poetry and in 2018 provided 406 hours of poetry programming for over 1500 youth. Once reading and analysis are completed, participants transform their words into art. Sessions end with a final product that combines elements of art and poetry so participants take a tangible product back to their daily lives.
