CHICAGO, IL. (July 22, 2009) – The Poetry Program of Columbia's English Department has been reaching out to Chicago educational and social service entities whose clients could benefit from some creative engagement. With the help of Program Director Dr. Tony Trigilio and former Assistant Programs Director of Poetry and Literature, Becca Klaver, three unique community outreach programs were created in a collaborative effort to bring the arts to diverse populations.
In the fall of 2008, Columbia’s Poetry Program created a partnership with the Coonley School at the behest of Catherine Marchese, an active member of the Coonley School Parent Teacher Organization (PTO). Coonley is a North Center community PreK - 8 school that specializes in low-incidence special needs and gifted students. Coonley allocated a portion of a grant to serve an after-school arts program in the winter of 2009 and hired two Columbia College Poetry MFA students to staff the Writing Center. The school hopes to continue the collaboration into the upcoming school year.
Columbia poets also work with the Night Ministry Open Door Shelter in West Town. The Open Door Shelter offers respite for homeless youth and is one of the only shelters in the city that accepts pregnant teenage mothers. Candace Nordahl, the Residential Services Coordinator for the Night Ministry, approached Klaver in fall 2008 about creating evening poetry workshops. In spring 2009 Klaver and three MFA students organized and spear-headed a twice-monthly workshop for Open Door Shelter. The success of this collaborative effort is continuing into the 2009-2010 school year, with MFA student Chris Williams taking the lead.
The programs at Coonley School and the Night Ministry are flourishing, and another project is in the works. Representatives for the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, Wayne Richard and Mimi Chubb, have been working with Klaver and Trigilio to create writing workshops focusing on poetry and creative nonfiction as part of their ongoing writing program, Horizons. The year-old program seeks to help homeless men and women find their own artistic voices through poetry, prose and storytelling. The workshops, according to Richard, expose participants to a range of literary genres and techniques in a safe, inviting atmosphere. “We believe that participants’ writing has the power to change both their lives and the world,” says Richard.
As the fall semester at Columbia approaches, the faculty and students in the English Department prepare once more to lend their talent to communities across the city that have creative voices waiting to be heard.
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