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Title of Grant <br />Request <br />Memoir II Class for Orange County Residents <br />Grant Amount <br />Requested <br />2000 <br />Project Start Date <br />(no earlier than July <br />1, 2022) <br />October 2022 <br />Project End Date (no <br />later than June 30, <br />2023) <br />Nov ember 2022 <br />Project/Program <br />Summary <br />Ev eryone, not just those who can afford it, deserv es the chance to <br />dev elop their v oice and tell their story: writing and reading are <br />powerful driv ers of self-analysis, self-actualization, and empathy, and <br />can actually change the way people v iew themselv es and the world. <br />For the past two years, the Orange County Arts Commission has <br />made it possible for me and Emily Cataneo, the two cofounders of <br />the Redbud W riting Project, to offer a free community class to <br />Orange County residents from marginalized backgrounds. Recently, <br />Emily taught an Intro to Memoir class on Zoom to four women <br />affiliated with Orange County’s Jackson Center. <br />This year, Emily and I are applying for separate grants (see Emily’s <br />separate proposal) so that we can offer two classes to Orange <br />County residents. I plan to teach a six-week Memoir II class to folks <br />associated with the Jackson Center, which will allow students who <br />recently took the Memoir I class with Emily to continue and deepen <br />their writing journeys. (Other residents of Orange County who cannot <br />afford creativ e writing classes and who identify as a part of <br />marginalized or underrepresented groups will also be welcome.) I will <br />use the money from the grant to pay for my time finding additional <br />students to fill the class, planning, teaching and executing this <br />program. <br />Community Impact W e will inv ite eight students to participate in the course. W e are <br />committed to identifying students who cannot afford to pursue <br />creativ e writing courses that cost money, as well as students who <br />hail from marginalized gender or racial identities. Engaging in <br />creativ e writing--especially in memoir--allows participants the <br />opportunity to reflect on their life experiences, more deeply <br />understand their past, to share their stories with others and to feel <br />that what they hav e to say is v aluable and important. In short, writing <br />can be an empowering, cathartic, and transformativ e experience. <br />Artist Experience As an indiv idual artist and a representativ e of Redbud, I hav e had <br />numerous experiences ov er the past three years with writing classes <br />geared towards under-represented communities. As a writer of color, <br />an immigrant, and as someone who grew up in pov erty myself, I can <br />empathize with and create a safe space for other marginalized <br />populations to share their life stories. <br />DocuSign Envelope ID: 9309A9E8-2459-45D2-8930-0A2506F7BD3B