“In class, I was still learning how to dissect my own life because I haven’t really talked to people about my life. As the class unfolded, as we were writing it up the board, it all started to make sense. It was healing for me because it helped me understand myself and what happened to me. The visual representation of all things that happened to me all made sense. In my mind it was a scattered mess, but on the board all the events branch off each other. It was important, and my story is important. It helped me a lot.”
"I feel like this class is my Turning Point. I'm going to change everything from here on out.”
“Hearing everyone’s stories made me feel more human.”
“It’s a place where you can get real with yourself.”
“This is a brave space.”
“People being able to tell their stories can help them heal and grow.”
“I was seeing strengths in myself that I’d never seen before.”
"Thank you so much for being an ear and allowing me to express myself."
“The teacher made me feel safe to share mystory and made me feel like I was enough.”
“Reading comics before writing our own made it easier to address the tough topics.”
"I realized I'm the one keeping the cycle going. If I want things to change for my kid, I need to be the one who changes things.”
“Every failure is a lesson, it keeps me from going back to the same decisions. Having people who are likeminded and on my team, a constant reminder of what I can’t ever go back to. New ways, new people, new goals. I didn’t really have any goals before (other than making money.) They were the wronggoals, now my goals are core driven to keep me on track.”
“I never really liked talking about my life until I took this class. I grew up like boys don’t express their feelings, but now I see it’s okay.”
“I don’t share myself often. But here, I wanted to. It validated how far I’ve come.”
Brink Literacy Project is a Denver-based nonprofit devoted to utilizing the power of storytelling to improve the lives of people living on the brink. Brink’s programs engage directly with the populations most at-risk—with a particular emphasis on the school-to-prison pipeline—collaborating with students and community members to develop our classroom curricula and teaching materials. Through this work we generate transformative impact by helping every student find their passion, purpose, and power.
Centered on the belief that the negative stories we tell about ourselves—as well as those told to us by society—are just as detrimental as limited education and career opportunities, all our programs seek to holistically address the personal, educational, and social barriers our students face. Our courses work to simultaneously increase vital literacy and critical thinking skills while also focusing on social-emotional development—shifting negative personal narratives, increasing behavioral health tools, and empowering students to become active voices in their communities.
Further, we believe in amplifying youth voices to contribute to systemic and societal change by shifting perceptions around incarceration. Thus, we elevate our students’ voices, publishing their work through our in-house imprint, F(r)iction (distributed globally and read by thousands), and our press partnerships. By co-creating original content with our communities and students, we pour these unique and diverse perspectives back into the classroom, using F(r)iction as our primary teaching tool. In doing so, the next generation of students are validated and healed as their stories are read and engaged with by their own community leaders and participants.
This mission was born in 2007 when our founder, Dani Hedlund, learned first-hand how negative personal narratives can destroy lives. Growing up in a low-opportunity, low-income rural town in Colorado, Dani watched as few peers went to college, family members ended up in jail, and her father struggled with, and eventually died from, substance misuse.
It became clear that it wasn’t just low opportunity or poor education that was holding back members of the community. These outcomes were hugely impacted by the stories people told about themselves: that they were stupid and worthless, that their passions and purpose were dictated not by their own agency but by the situations of their birth.
Brink was founded to help students rewrite these personal narratives while equipping them with the hard education skills and future pathway creation needed to become leaders in their own lives.
Organization name
Brink Literacy Project
other names
Brink, Tethered by Letters
2012
Tax id (EIN)
45-2793438
Category
Arts, Culture & Humanities
Organization Size
Small Organization
Address
13999 County Road 102Headquarters
150 S. Harrison St. #1El Paso County, CO, US
Denver County, CO, US