Partners in Arts Participation

Due to a lack of transportation and finances, many of the residents at Jordan Towers are unable to participate in the theater events that are located in relatively close proximity to the housing facility. Due to the grant award, many residents were able to participate because the tickets were provided at a reduced rate in conjunction with provided transportation and staff coordination. Residents were also less likely to attend events in the past due to fear of going to an event in an unknown place by themselves. Residents were able to sign up for this event with a friend and seats were provided adjacent to familiar residents. This encouraged them to utilize the opportunity because going with a friend made them feel more comfortable. We obtained confirmation on meeting this objective through participant interviews. 2: Although the Sheldon Theater is located in relatively close proximity to the housing facility, due to the previously described barriers the majority of residents had not attended past performances. Since this partnership, the theater has developed an understanding of the barriers faced by the residents regarding access to performances and they have agreed to work with us outside of the grant program to help make performances more accessible for our residents. The Outreach performances served to give artists a better understanding of our residents’ lives and abilities. This grant opportunity also gave us the chance to partner with other health serving organizations to collaborate on transportation. We are able to measure these new partnerships based on the communication that is now taking place between the organizations.