Thank you all for tuning in to celebrate this year’s virtual
Voices of the Unheard - A Retrospective: Celebrating 25 Years event!

Missed the live stream? No worries!
Check out the replay of our event in the video below!
To make your online, tax-deductible donation to Spirit Awakening, click here!

announcing spirit home

Spirit Awakening Foundation proudly announces our new initiative,
Spirit Home: A safe place for young women - a new way to foster, grow and empower
To learn more about Spirit Home and become the difference in a young person’s life today, please click on the button below!

About Spirit Awakening

Spirit Awakening Foundation (SAF), member of the Santa Monica Business Hall of Fame and recipient of a number of prestigious recognitions, awards and accolades, including the 2018-2020 Best of Santa Monica Nonprofits awards, the Southern California Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine Leadership Award, is an arts-based nonprofit organization. Since its inception in 1995, SAF has been a pioneer in developing and offering restorative, trauma-informed work, programs and support to underserved, incarcerated and previously incarcerated youth in Los Angeles County.

As an organization founded and run by Akuyoe Graham, a woman of color (who was born in Ghana, West Africa), SAF exists to stand up against racism, inequality and injustice, all the while offering our young people tools and techniques needed to live in a more inclusive, just and safe world. Using the tools of meditation, self-reflection, creative writing, visual arts, mentorship, service, and leadership training, all of which have been guided by field-based research, SAF is able to accomplish our mission to help underserved youth build character and raise self-esteem.

Spirit Awakening's Mentorship Program

Please note that in an effort to promote social distancing practices until it is safer to continue the program in-person, Spirit Awakening has adapted our Mentorship Program to be offered virtually via Zoom Video Conferencing!

The Spirit Awakening Mentorship Program is a free, after-school program that meets on Tuesdays from 3:00pm - 5:00pm.
This program for youth and young adults offers a unique blend of supportive services including, but not limited to: spiritual and professional counseling; peer-to-peer mentorship; tutoring; job preparation; financial aid; creative arts; meditation; service trips, and; cultural enrichment opportunities.

To sign up for the program today, please check our Calendar page and join us at our next meeting!
For questions and more information, please email info@spiritawakening.org or call (866) 456-8002.

The Latest

Check out a recent excerpt of Spirit Awakening Foundation’s Founder & Executive Director, Akuyoe Graham, and program graduates, Makeva Tasby and Pluto Brown on Fox Soul’s show On The 7 With Dr. Sean!
Click here for the full show.

With the generous support and contributions from our 2019 Voices of the Unheard/Freedom event attendees, SAF reached our fundraising goal of $50,000! All proceeds and donations raised from this event support SAF’s free, weekly, after-school Mentorship Program, which provides art-based programming, mentorship, career counseling, and financial aid services for some of the most vulnerable, underserved and neglected youth in LA County.

Take a stand for justice - your contributions lift and support our most vulnerable children.

Upworthy featured SAF in their video Finding Meaning After Incarceration!
Watch here.

SAF greatly thanks our donors for the impact they make on the lives of the youth we serve.

SPirit Awakening’s SOLUTION

 Voices of the Unheard

An annual performance of the written and spoken word of child detainees, as well as a published compilation of their essays, poems, and metaphysical musings. Spirit Awakening advocates for and celebrates the unedited voices of our most vulnerable citizens.

Writes of
Passage

A series of programs, conducted in both juvenile probation facilities and high schools throughout Los Angeles County, that teach incarcerated and underserved youth how to express themselves through creative writing and visual arts — helping them build a foundation for effective communication and success.

 Spirit awakening Leadership Retreats

An annual retreat for advanced Spirit Awakening students at the beautiful Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California. Here, students gain insight into themselves and each other through the peace and stillness of nature.

Service in West Africa

Angels of Redemption is our bi-annual outreach trip to Ghana, West Africa in which students explore culture, history and the impact it has on them. Here, Spirit Awakeners visit historic sites and provide community service to orphaned children through the means of establishing friendships and donating foods, toys, clothing, and supplies. 

SPIRIT AWAKENING’s LEADERS

Spirit Awakening’s youth leaders

Thank you Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors

THANK YOU LOS ANGELES COUNTY ARTS COMMISSION AND LOS ANGELES COUNTY PROBATION DEPARTMENT

Thank you The California Wellness Foundation

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