Jazzing Up the Lives of Troubled Kids

Brenna Whitaker and her six-piece band, "Little Big Band," dazzle the stars with rock and jazz standards at the W Hotel in Hollywood every Sunday night.

Some of Brenna's many fans include Stevie Wonder, Quincy Jones, Cee Lo Green, Justin Bieber and Katy Perry, who pack the house to experience this glamorous platinum bombshell as she performs big band jazz and R&B.

One night, Brenna saw a public service announcement for CreateNow on TV and she immediately signed up as a volunteer. In December, we sent Brenna and her band on a "mini-tour" to several of our partner youth agencies, such as Children's Homes of Southern California in Canoga Park where she, along with guitarist Joel Whitley and tap dancer Sara Reich performed for 18 teenage foster boys.

Brenna and drummer Mike Moore drove out to New Dawn foster group home in Walnut where they performed for 30 more foster teenage boys. Then Brenna performed at Camp Joseph Paige in La Verne with keyboardist Sam Barsh, Ryan Cross on bass and saxophonist Wes Smith. Rogelio Douglas Jr., sang a duet with Brenna -- all to the delight of 50 incarcerated boys. This was the day before Brenna performed at the Playboy Mansion for Hugh Hefner's wedding on New Year's Eve.

Brenna said, "I'm not gonna lie. I was a troublemaker and music is what helped me get out of it and see the light. I'm really enjoying this. The guys in my band absolutely get so much out of it. I would say kids and music are probably the number one reason I do music in general."

The teenage boys who have experienced her performances are delighted. 15-year-old Allen said,"You have a lovely voice and because you came, my entire week was great!" 

His housemate Ricardo said, "Thank you for coming to our house. It was (nice of you) that you came to our house when you could have gone somewhere else."

Brenna will be performing at other foster group homes, shelters, rehab centers and detention facilities, so stay tuned for more news about this fabulous volunteer and her friends.

Sony Pictures Emerging Professionals

We're very grateful that the Sony Pictures Emerging Professionals group has selected CreateNow to receive a grant that is enabling us to partner with them on two unique projects this year. One program will take place later this Spring. The first workshop will be with our partner Vista Del Mar in Culver City, which serves youth who are victims of abuse, neglect, abandonment, domestic violence and family dysfunction. These kids have extreme trust issues, low self-esteem and a variety of emotional and behavioral disorders.

On March 8th, around 25 of these teenagers will be given a special private tour of Sony Pictures Studios. The next day, a number of Sony Pictures Emerging Professionals are volunteering to help the vulnerable teens at Vista Del Mar to paint two different murals.

Artist June Kaewsith is leading one Create A Mural Now workshop that has the theme of "Healthy Living."

June had her first meeting with the kids to get them started drawing their designs of the fruits and vegetables that will be depicted in their mural.

Artist Roger Dolin is heading up our other Create A Mural Now workshop that will take place at the same time in Vista Del Mar's locked-down facility for boys ages 13-19 who suffer from severe emotional and behavioral disorders. These youth must be supervised 24/7 and they spend most of their time living in three different residences with the names Ocean, Sky and Earth. The boys feel pride for their dorms and identify with these names, but currently there are just drawings above two of the units.

We're excited to bring together Sony Pictures Emerging Professionals with the troubled kids at Vista Del Mar, which will, as always, culminate with a party to celebrate their accomplishments. Each youth will receive a special Certificate of Completion and a gift bag filled with goodies to encourage them to CreateNow.