San Francisco writing center for kids provides safe, creative space for pint-sized authors
San Francisco is commonly thought of as a hub for young writers, thinkers, tinkerers and creatives.
But not all neighborhoods in the city are quite as modern or shiny as the sparkling campuses of the renowned corporations based in Silicon Valley.
The Tenderloin neighborhood, for example, is one of the city's most dense areas and has a reputation for crime and poverty.
A number of initiatives in recent years however, such as the renovation of Boeddeker Park, aim to revitalize the area. Another project, a writing center spearheaded by nonprofit 826 Valencia and unveiled earlier in 2016, hopes to provide the area's youth with not only a safe way to spend an afternoon, but also with a space that fosters creativity for young, burgeoning authors.
Kids ages 6-18 are welcome to the space, which can be used for any number of creatively inspired projects: Poetry writing, creative storytelling, after-school tutoring and even activities like cartooning or bookmaking. Evening and weekend workshops help young people learn about everything from SAT prep to inventive writing methods. In the summers, the Young Authors' workshop is an intensive, two-week program for Bay Area high-school students, who team up with professional writers, poets and spoken word artists to create and share innovative work.
Every element of the new space — 826 Valencia's second such center — has been carefully designed to be conducive to a creative environment, from the wall decor to the open desk layout. BCCI Construction Company generously aided in construction of the center, providing pro bono services in order to transform the space.
Below, check out a few photos of the center, and learn more about 826 Valencia's program offerings here.
826 Valencia writing center
Stephanie joined the Mashable team from a background in social media marketing. An English Lit major from the University of Miami (where there are no polar vortices), Stephanie is a former content strategist on the Branded Content team, and on the editorial side manages the Job Search Series and part of Mashable Careers.Stephanie was also part of the inaugural class of Remote Year, a program uniting global remote professionals in a yearlong lifestyle experiment to experience the digital nomad lifestyle. During the course of the program, she traveled to more than 12 countries around the world over the course of 12 months while working remotely.She writes about travel, careers, social media and marketing, business and the digital nomad lifestyle.
