Poetry Heals was selected for the chance to win cash in Emerald Fields’ quarterly “Choose Your Charity” contest. Every quarter, a handful of local Manitou-based charities compete for the grand prize, with the winnings going to the organization that collects the most votes. 

We are asking our patrons to please take a moment to send a quick email to [email protected] and write, “I want to vote for Poetry Heals in the Choose Your Charity contest!” Neither Emerald Fields nor the Pikes Peak Bulletin will collect your email address. 

With enough votes, we can win funding that will enable us to facilitate therapeutic writing workshops for people right here in our community! Here are some quick stats about our effectiveness to give you an idea of what your vote can help us to accomplish:

  • 99% of Poetry Heals participants surveyed reported that our workshops were a positive experience for them.
  • A study found that people “who wrote about traumatic experiences 15 minutes/day for 4 days had 43% fewer doctor visits in the months following than those in the control group” (Pennebaker & Beall, 1986).
  • Funding will enable us to continue “Caring for Caregivers,” a project focused on providing free writing workshops for frontline and essential workers during the Covid-19 pandemic. Last year, we ramped up our website to provide a spot of relief for essential workers through Caring for Caregivers, where we had 760 visitors and 439 downloads of worksheets. 
  • This year, we plan on upgrading our website and expanding our outreach efforts to serve even more people with our therapeutic writing workshops!
  • Funding will also go towards “Poetry & Pottery in the Park,” a summer event that builds community and healing through the arts. This summertime classic in Soda Springs Park is known for being engaging and fun, and for facilitating important connections within the community to build trust, empathy, and solidarity. 

Your vote can make a difference! To help us win, please send an email to [email protected] and let them know you’re casting your vote for Poetry Heals in the “Choose Your Charity” contest! Voting closes March 31st for this round.

Thank you for your support! Together we can bring healing through writing to our community.