Welcome to Sidewalk Poets! We are a nonprofit providing underserved communities and individuals with creative writing and arts workshops—so they can share their voices, process pain and trauma, feel more empowered and enrich their neighborhoods and the city.
At Sidewalk Poets, we believe that every voice has value, that every story deserves to be told—and heard.
Stories create empathy and foster community. When we hear another person’s story, we live with them—we cross the divide, no matter how different, to truly witness our shared humanity.
And when we tell our stories, sometimes for the first time, we process past pain and the burden of aloneness—freeing us to experience greater resilience, healing, acceptance and confidence.
“At first I came into it with not the best attitude. Not gonna lie, I wasn’t a big fan of poetry. But this workshop has helped me to not only reflect on the beautiful memories from my life but it has also helped me understand myself better. Poetry has been an outlet for me to express my personal thoughts and feelings in an abstract form of art that only I can understand, but one I hope others can relate to as well. My coworkers have used writing as a way to not let their past and struggles hold them back. Abby taught us that when we share our story, when we really let it all out, it brings more power to us and not our story. Writing has made me a lot more comfortable to share my story, it’s like a form of release. I’m very happy I got to meet Abby and take part in this workshop.”
—David Mejia
