On August 15, sixteen young men and women from Riverside were recognized for their successful
completion of The Write of Your Life, a 10-week writing and arts program created by Women Wonder Writers. The graduates, 13-22 year old residents from Operation SafeHouse and Plan-It-Life Group Home, gathered at D’Ceasaro Pizza in Riverside for a dinner sponsored by Plan-It-Life.
For the past 10 weeks, the students met once weekly at California Baptist University (CBU) with WWW Instructors Raymond Hernandez, Tyler De Trinidad and Tabitha Leonard, all who are CBU students. The program was overseen by CBU Sociology Professor Marilyn Moore and WWW Co-Founder Nikki Randolph. At the graduation, the students received certificates of completion, a copy of their self-made videos “I Am” and “I Will,” and listened to a motivational speech by Professor Moore, whose story embraces resilience and survivorship from a childhood of harrowing abuse and unimaginable hurdles. Professor Moore’s message to the young people is that, “there is a positive after every negative.”
Through the 10-week program, the students journaled extensively, completed a short story about themselves, wrote poetry, and participated in art projects motivating them to let go of their troubled pasts. “This program impacts youth in many different ways. If they are going through a crisis or just trying to better themselves, this program is perfect for them. We hope the graduates will take what they have learned into real life situations,” said Instructor Raymond Hernandez. Raymond and the other instructors will be continuing their education at CBU this fall and continue to be involved with WWW.
Women Wonder Writers (WWW) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit life skills is a mentorship organization reaching “at-risk” youth and young adults, ages 12-22 years old. For more information on upcoming events, visit WomenWonderWriters. com.