http://www.allstars.org/
I just started volunteering once or twice a week at the All Stars Project. It seeks to allow children from poor and minority communities to express themselves and just plain have fun doing what they want to do through performance.
The Talent Show Network gives youth a chance to perform. Anyone can audition and perform. Everyone passes the audition. No censorship. They express themselves here if they can't anywhere else. It appears to be the main event to reach out to the community and increase awareness and potentially recruit youth that will later on join these workshops.
Youth Onstage is a free six-hour program on the weekends that combines several aspects of the arts, including movement, vocal, and improv (yay!). They are responsible for arriving on-time and working together as a class. The YO hopes to foster good habits through these fun sessions. When I sat in on one movement session, they all seemed to get along and just let loose with their movement games. I wanted to get involved with the improv portion and pitch in but I'm still doing initial grunt work right now.
For the older participants (teenagers, high-schoolers), they can join the Development School for Youth which is a roughly three-month workshop that preps them for college applications, job interviews, and--I can't think of a less presumptuous term--"life skills." Professionals volunteer their time to give advice on how to build a great resume and how to network, etc.
The Production of Youth by Youth is a similar program that guides the kids on the path of a career in the arts.
All programs are free for the kids. The organization is fully powered by volunteers, only having a handful of full-time employees. No government funding at all. No religious affiliation, no ideologies being pushed except to perform and pursue what they want. Completely donation driven.
You're really great for doing this. Thanks.
