Focus Area: Youth Development

Grant Amount: $8,000

Based in St. Paul, serves statewide. Incorporated in 1974, COMPAS (Community Programs in the Arts) brings a variety of arts into schools: poetry, theatre, music, drama, visual art, spoken word among others. The program has become a model for teaching artist residencies nationwide. COMPAS’s professional teaching artists come from more than 40 countries and have extensive experience reaching students of all ages and abilities.

Grant supports an arts residency program for 20-30 youth ages 5-12 in the family intensive outpatient program at Avivo, a supportive housing program in south Minneapolis for families dealing with homelessness and addiction. The 30 families served remain in Avivo for a year, and during which the mothers receive treatment services while the youth, most of whom have experience extreme trauma, are supported with various programs. This grant will support four 5-week arts residencies. Youth will work with COMPAS artists and will build creative and social-emotional skills and increase social connections with other children and family members. Both COMPAS and Avivo staff are trained in trauma issues, and the curriculum for the youth group is specifically for families in recovery.