Create A City Now

Westside Children's Center (WCC) in Culver City provides thousands of at-risk kids and their families with critical early education programs and family strengthening interventions for parents who are at high-risk of losing their children.

Create Now received a grant from the Thelma Pearl Howard Foundation to provide our Create A City Now program at WCC so these needy parents and children could bond while designing their own city out of recyclable materials.

Artist Young Mi Chi started the first workshop on October 18th from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm at WCC's annual Children's Art Festival.

Everyone had a blast as they used trash to make the building blocks of their city.

Young Mi shared, "The kids were engaged with great focus. We had enough ready-made materials for them to be creative in assembling them. I'm looking forward to the next two workshops where we'll have more time to construct unique shapes."

Lilia Santamaria, a parent said, "I like how my kid learned to make a street."

Telma Urbina exclaimed, "I enjoyed making a house and teaching my son."

Guitar Workshop for Special Students

The Linden School is a non-public school in the mid-Wilshire district that serves up to 48 adolescents with a wide variety of emotional, behavioral and educational needs, including depression, severe anxiety and bi-polar disorder.

Megan Hook is a Teaching Artist working in LAUSD and other L.A. County schools through the Music Center of Los Angeles. On Wednesday mornings, she volunteers at the Linden School to give six students group instruction and one-on-one guidance in how to play guitar. Her class was supposed to last for just eight weeks, but it's very popular and Megan is having so much fun that she's going to teach the Guitar Workshop until June 2015!

Megan notes, "I love teaching at the Linden School because the students are so great: open, kind, and willing to learn new things. It's deeply meaningful to be a part of the beginning steps of opening a musical world to a new student through an instrument."

Linden School principal Jason Winburn observed, "This class is the first of its kind at Linden. In such a short time, it has made a huge impact on several of our students with special needs. They have improved their academics and become more social, feeling a part of something special."

Benny, age 16, loves to play guitar for her brother, who has autism. "I'm more eager to come to school now because guitar is one of the things I wanted to learn."

Marlus, 17-years old, remarked, "I didn't know how to play any instruments. I'm learning some songs I like and even writing my own. This class is encouraging us to do more things."

There are other students who are excited to take Megan's class in January. She's also going to teach a Singing Workshop for interested youth at the Linden School.

13-year old Bryan explained, "I had problems because I didn't want to come to school, but I feel great being with Ms. Megan and the guitar. I want to come to school more."

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Please Donate

Create Now needs money in order to operate our programs. Every penny of your contribution goes toward buying art supplies and equipment, organizing workshops and Artistic Journeys field trips, evaluating the impact of our programs, and giving the kids gift bags with special "Certificates of Completion" and other lasting souvenirs.

We need your support! 

$20 buys paint supplies for 5 abused children.

$50 gives 10 homeless youth a concert experience.

$100 provides five drums for our percussion classes.

$250 purchases costumes for theatrical performances.

Please give generously so that we can continue to provide the therapeutic power of the arts to the "forgotten children" who have fallen through the cracks and desperately need our help!