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Community Corner

Youth-Organized Poetry Slam Raises Money for Homeless

"Poetry for Protection" raised $164 for the River Street Shelter in Santa Cruz in just a couple hours on Saturday.

It was a cozy afternoon of poetry and prose at Soquel Village’s Ugly Mug coffee shop Saturday, but it wasn’t your average poetry open mic. Saturday’s event “Poetry for Protection” was a youth-created event to benefit the homeless in Santa Cruz County, with all proceeds from a suggested $5 donation donated to the River Street Shelter in Santa Cruz. 

The youth poetry slam was the brainchild of ten-year-old Laura Melton, a fifth grader at Mar Vista Elementary School, who found herself worrying about the homeless as the seasons changed and the days became colder.

“The idea actually came from a dream, I was dreaming about the homeless because i was thinking about them a lot one night... and then I started thinking about what I could do for them. And I’ve always had a love for writing poetry so I thought if I could raise money for them with poetry then it would benefit both of us, so I asked my mom what were some shelters that we could raise money for,” said Melton. 

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The River Street Shelter is a 32-bed shelter run by the Santa Cruz Community Counseling Center. They offer art therapy, relapse prevention programs and 12-Step programs, as well as help connect people with community resources for housing support, psychiatric services, and medical services.

“There really is no end to the services we offer,” said Tracey Heggum, Program manager of the shelter. "I came to show my support, I mean it's the least I can do. This is really so sweet."

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Heggum estimates that there are around 60 men and 30 women on the waiting list. 

Laura’s 5th grade teacher, Sara Thorington said this is the first public poetry reading one of her students has organized, and she was thrilled with the idea.

“I thought it was amazing but not a surprise because she [Laura] is just one of those kids who is always trying to organize different little mini groups and always trying to help people. She’s just a really motivated awesome kid,” said Thorington. 

One such “mini group” Laura thought up was a “Bully Watch” group she formed with her friends, to help kids at recess who need help standing up to bullies.

Laura Melton performed Afraid of the Dark by Shel Silverstein, and her younger brother Travis, age 7, charmed the audience with several Silverstein poems as well. Laura’s parents Sarah and Joseph also read poems, as well as several other students, including a compelling poem entitled October (read the poem below) written by eleven-year-old Mar Vista sixth grader, Sofia Natividad, who said she has been writing poetry for a year now and it is her favorite subject. 

In total, the event raised $164 for the River Street Shelter. 

“I’m really happy now. That is going to buy a lot of blankets,” said Melton. 

Melton’s father, Joseph, closed the poetry slam with a reading of Pink Floyd’s Shine On You Crazy Diamond which he dedicated to his daughter.

David Davis, a volunteer at the shelter, performed a haiku about the shelter:

River Street Shelter
A place of Caring and Warmth
We love all the peeps

Sofia Natividad, a 6th grader at Mar Vista Elementary School, wrote and performed the following poem, October:

Swish 
Swish
goes the wind through trees
I shiver and zip up my jacket as it’s not time
for short-sleeve tees
Crunch
Crunch
goes the early frost under my feet
Oh, the candy I will eat!
Bonfire trees, crimson and yellow
Orange jack-o-lanters, not so mellow
Fall has fallen

Couldn’t make it? You can still support the shelter by making a check donation directly to Santa Cruz Community Counseling Center (SCCCC) with the note “P4P - River Street Shelter” in the memo. 

 

 

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