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A special thanks to our new Board Member, Alison Cardoso who
recently donated $15,000 to this campaign.
We've nearly met 40% of our $150,000 fundraising
goal made by individual donors! This month we reached $55,000, an
amount surpassing our 5 month goal.
Giving to
US is an investment
in your future and right now, the Herb Alpert Foundation will match
any donation we receive from first time supporters, thus doubling the impact
of your gift.
Please join US
in inspiring lives through theatre.
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This year The Unusual Suspects (US)
celebrates its birthday by spotlighting 15 voices
from the last 15 years. These voices represent the
community of youth, artists, staff, volunteers,
funders and partners that have been such an
important of our history. Keep your eyes open for
the next 15 Years, 15 Voices and make the next 15
years as transformative as the last by helping us
reach our goal of raising $150,000 the next 15
months! |
Bryant Boyd-Martinez
Discovering his ‘inner superhero’
 In
recent years Los Angeles County has had the largest
population of foster care youth in the country, many
of whom are at a high risk for becoming homeless or
incarcerated once they become emancipated. These
youth are also likely to have the worst physical and
mental conditions in the nation according to a study
called “The Power of Art” prepared by The California
Endowment .
For these youth, the chance to participate in theatre
is a special and often transformative experience.
At The Unusual Suspects, working with foster care
youth has been important to the mission of the
organization since it was founded. In fact, the very
first US program was held with foster care youth in
Van Nuys.
Studies have shown that youth who live in or attend
school at a foster care facility, greatly benefit
from the opportunity to be involved in creative
expression.
Bryant Boyd-Martinez, is a perfect example.
Now a sophomore attending high school at Vista Del
Mar Child & Family Services in Palms, Bryant has been
an actor and a writer for two US shows, “Friends,
Family & SB6” and “The Secret Journey of the
Superhero.”
In both plays, Bryant played villains with a heart of
gold. He said that he could relate to some of the
things they went through. For example, “Soul Stealer
sounds bad. But he was actually good throughout the
whole story. He was just hanging out with the wrong
crowd.”
Programs like US are important for the continued
well-being of youth in foster care because they,
“provide an essential outlet for foster care youth to
express themselves and establish a sense of
stability,” according to the study.
For Bryant, theatre has been an important tool in
helping him to deal with his temper. In fact, after
participating in US workshops Bryant saw a noticeable
difference in how he dealt with his anger.
“I was better able to control it,” he says. “I wasn’t
really able to do that before I started acting. I
have three levels of anger. During level three I am
totally out of it. I’m not even conscious of what I’m
doing or saying. But, I haven’t gone to level three
in a long time. I think it’s because of acting.
Before acting my anger would escalate a lot faster.”
In fact, acting and writing has helped Bryant so much
that he can’t wait to participate in the next US
program. “I’m already thinking up characters for the
next play!” he says.
-All 15 Years, 15 Voices articles written by
volunteer writer Kristen Scott
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