The Unusual Suspects Theatre Company is a group of dedicated educators, writers, actors, directors, mentors, and volunteers who transform hearts, minds, lives, and communities by empowering young people to own and share their stories. Our goal is to raise money to cover the cost of these life-changing programs that served almost 1,000 individuals last year during a global pandemic — including neurodivergent students, foster youth, struggling parents, English Language Learners, and incarcerated minors. A major tenet of US’s model is to meet youth where they are – as such, they maintain a presence in areas with high youth crime/incarceration rates, and offer programs on site at under-resourced schools, community centers, and juvenile detention facilities. In conjunction with county and state approved curriculum custom-developed in-house, US teaches youth to write, direct, and perform their stories, uncensored and in their own voices. The outcomes for participants are lasting and life-changing, fostering academic, social, and emotional growth.