Creative Solutions Celebrates 20 Years of Second Chances
By Pholesha Johnson, Communications Specialist
Sometimes life hands you a raw deal and you just don’t know how to make the best out of an unfair situation. Sometimes, you really don’t know what direction to take and find yourself backed into a corner with nowhere to go as a result of making wrong choices.
Life is often full of sometimes, what ifs and how to’s, and if you don’t have the proper guidance the roads you take can easily lead to a dead end. Too often, this has been the soliloquy for far too many of Dallas’ youth and those dead ends have led them directly to the Dallas County Juvenile Department (DCJD). For some that visit is for a night or two, for others, long term. But Lisa Schmidt, project director for Big Thought’s Creative Solutions program doesn’t buy into dead end thinking. She believes that, “it’s not where you’ve been that determines who you can become, it’s where you will go and what you will do!” That philosophy continues to empower the 20-year old program that has helped more than 10,000 youth since Schmidt helped to launch it with the DCJD in 1995.
Creative Solutions bolsters socio-emotional learning, stimulating intrinsic motivation, — and it works. By providing the teens with alternatives to the streets, Creative Solutions channels their energy into performing or visual arts. “I love the program, I love seeing the changes in the kids from being so shy to being open and expressing themselves in a creative way,” states Tracie Flowers, probation officer for DCJD.
“The future of Creative Solutions is not only bright, but very, very busy,” says Allison Caldwell, associate director of Creative Solutions, “we’ve done a lot over the past two decades, but there’s so much more to do.” This summer the Creative Solutions model will be replicated in a job training summer camp at Lang Middle School. The 7-week camp will incorporate dance, music, art and theater, but ultimately teaches participants how to be responsible, accountable, while incorporating life skills dubbed as being S.L.I.C.K., (S) showing up on time, (L) looking good, (I) staying informed, (C) communicating and (K) being kind.
The program also extends its offerings with the Saturday Club, meeting twice a month where attendees participate in performances, get together to see plays and for some, put their newfound skills to work job shadowing at local corporations like Fossil.
Travon Rose (pictured above), affectionately known in the program as T.Rose, a second year participant in the performing arts program, was recently accepted as an AmeriCorps member for the summer and will be placed at Southern Methodist University. Rose emphatically states, “I want to give back to the community and help youth just as Creative Solutions helped me. With all the knowledge and power Creative Solutions offered me, I can’t think of doing anything besides paying it forward to my community. My community could really use a creative solution, and that solution could come from me!”
With new inroads, dead ends are redirected and lives are changed. But the work of Creative Solutions is far from over. In 2004, Gigi Antoni, President and CEO of Big Thought, received the prestigious “Coming Up Taller Award” from First Lady Laura Bush recognizing exemplary programs that provide young people with the opportunity to develop creatively and intellectually, and contribute to their communities through learning experiences. As Big Thought celebrates the 20th anniversary of Creative Solutions, former First Lady Laura Bush will once again honor the program and co-founder of Life After Justice, Jarrett Adams, will give an inspiring keynote about second chances.
