Spit and Spaghetti # 3

[The Stage is on Fire] is a page-turner in which, much like life, there are no easy answers and yet each step of the journey yields insight and hope. This work of heart must not be missed!

Melanie Faith

Creative Writing Teacher, Essayist & Poet.

Katie Steedly’s first-person piece [The Unspeakable Gift] is a riveting retelling of her participation in a National Institutes of Health study that aided her quest to come to grips with her life of living with a rare genetic disorder. Her writing is superb.

The Society of Professional Journalists

In recognition of receiving the Dateline Award for the Washingtonian Magazine essay, The Unspeakable Gift.

I thank you … It is the authenticity of your “class notes”; and it is the delicacy and skill with which you present the nuances of classroom life and the actuality of your students’ and fellow teachers’ lives.

Maxine Greene

Philosopher and Education Scholar

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Art As Resistance — Public Art and the Atlanta Beltline

I live on the Atlanta Beltline — a 22-mile urban trail hosting one of the largest temporary public art exhibits and galleries in the United State. I have lived in Bellingham, Austin, Washington, DC, Miami, and now Atlanta. I grew up in Louisville, Kentucky. (This is important to this pitch because it frames how pay attention and make sense of what I experience.) I have been an arts advocate as a high school drama teacher, a doctoral student completing a Ph.D. focused on arts education, and an applied researcher at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The Atlanta Beltline has framed my Atlanta experience. As an Atlantan living on the Beltline, I take full advantage.

Atlanta is the perfect frame for a feature about art as resistance. Whether a mural communicating an important message, a sculpture raising awareness about an endangered species, or a work commemorating civil rights, Beltline art tells a story of collective strength. Art as resistance is ideas, information, and messages that reach people and change hearts. Art as resistance is a language that speaks to issues, injustices, and challenges as only art can. Art as resistance is social proof that most people want to live in a world of creativity, justice, and peace.

This feature will ask readers to look around, wherever they live, and pay attention. Pay attention to where creativity is resisting fear, hate, and injustice. Pay attention to the creators and builders who are resistance champions. Their resistance is vital. Be a creator or builder and/or support those who create and build in whatever way you can. Resistance always builds and creates. If, as Maxine Greene suggests, imagination makes empathy possible, lets imagine a better world into existence. We have a role.

Creative Circle Health Writer Position

I understand successful grant and proposal writing. I have prospected for potential funds in local, state, and federal contexts. I have shepherded the proposal development process as an internal team member and consultant guiding large and small organizations. My specific healthcare-related experience focuses on behavioral health prevention and promotion and the education of children with disabilities (a healthcare-adjacent subject in the sense that wrap-around services tie healthcare to education, public health, and medicine.)

I have provided a Grant and Proposal Writing Summary to give you a specific breakdown of my proposal experience. I have also attached my Resume to this message as support for my application.

Nicholas House: The Many Faces of Homelessness and Why It Matters

I have lived in Atlanta for 4 years. I arrived in Atlanta after living in cities across the United States. This is important because it equips me with a unique perspective. I bring both fresh and familiar eyes to the city and the situation. I have gotten to know Nicholas House Atlanta — an organization whose mission is to support families experiencing homelessness. I have been fortunate enough to buy a home near Nicholas House Atlanta. I purchased my first home at 51 years old. I value home ownership and understand the current housing crisis and the delicate situation in which too many families find themselves as they navigate precarious economics and broken policies. Established in 1982, Nicholas House serves more than 200 homeless family members every night and almost 400 parents and children every year with wrap-around services.

The complexity of homelessness and the speed of budget slashing make my head spin. I want to develop a narrative that connects public policy and funding with families’ lives. I want to tell a story that drives home the facts surrounding homelessness and its connection to healthy communities. I want to make the decisions being made real and personal. Homelessness cuts across the housing, healthcare, and education/job training fields. Our entire social fabric demands attention to housing. Nicholas House is not new to this struggle. Their work saves families’ lives and communities by extension. As an applied researcher, I will explore the political and historical context of Nicholas House Atlanta’s work. I will talk to organizational leaders and families involved in Nicholas House’s work. I will focus on past successes, current stresses, and plans to continue to meet Atlantans needs in this current moment. This article will imagine a future — built on the past success and the expertise of Nicholas House — beyond homelessness, where the health, safety, and security of families are realized.