City at Peace, Inc.

Results: Mayor's Art Award, Outstanding Contribution to Arts Education Catalogue for Philanthropy Excellence in Youth Empowerment, DC Commission on National and Community Service Since its founding in 1994, City at Peace has worked directly with 1,000 young people, created 17 original musicals based on the lives of the young people in the program, made positive change in the lives of young people who felt disconnected and were at risk of making destructive choices, worked with schools and community groups to increase positive interactions between groups from diverse backgrounds, and been the inspiration and model for the founding of a national City at Peace organization.

Target demographics: City at Peace serves 13 to 19 year olds from the Washington DC metropolitan area. They are from diverse backgrounds (race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, family structure) and share an interest in positive personal and community change.

Direct beneficiaries per year: 500

Geographic areas served: metropolitan Washington, DC area (50 mile radius)

Programs: City at Peace provides a lifeline to youth who feel disconnected from society, powerless in the face of teachers and parents, and who are at risk of making negative choices. The young people come from diverse backgrounds and learn to express themselves constructively and make positive contributions within their communities. The performing arts provide discipline, rigor and the framework for this work, as the young people in the core out-of-school-time program craft an original performance based on their true-life experiences Built as the result of ten months of intensive dialogue around power disparities and the roots of violence, the performance is gritty, engaging and highly relevant. The group develops the performance over the course of the fall and winter, and presents its work in the spring. The program is intense, has adequate duration and allows youth to test their new skills safely.Our success transcends ticket sales and sold-out performances. The combination of performing arts and social services is what makes our program effective. City at Peace teaches young people how to develop leadership skills, resolve conflicts peacefully and acquire cross-cultural understanding. These same principles are at work when City at Peace holds workshops in schools and at youth-serving organizations, or works with adults who in turn work with teens.We are the only organization doing this work in DC.City at Peace received the Mayor?s Art Award for Outstanding Contribution to Arts Education and has been highlighted in the Catalogue for Philanthropy.