Self-expression is vital for navigating life at any stage. Whether just stepping out of the classroom or graduating from college, finding a medium to express and process life is essential for lasting personal growth.
The Bridge Music Project is a nonprofit organization based in Thurston County that aims to mentor children from diverse backgrounds in developing, writing and performing music as a creative outlet for coping with life’s trials. Since its founding in 2014, more than a thousand kids have participated in the program, and it has become an important part of the Olympia community.
Bridge offers its services through various programs, each providing something different to the community. The bread and butter of the organization is its songwriting workshops: Weekly courses where participants practice both solo and group-based music production in a constructive environment. Jiovoni Cervantes, the programs and communications coordinator for Bridge, describes the workshops’ impact as “Maximum expressionism, cultivating community and developing key life skills such as leadership, collaboration and follow-through.”
The efforts put in through the workshop are revealed in the final weeks, when the young artists’ songs are recorded for release on various platforms and sometimes even performed live for the community. “The final show is always special because everyone’s put in so much work, everyone’s excited to be there, and we have a crowd that’s ready to rock with us,” said founder and Executive Director Bobby Williams.
These workshops are organized for many different groups, including middle school students, high school students and even incarcerated youth. As a nonprofit, Bridge works to spread its reach as widely as possible. “It’s a lot of different programs that we manage, and it’s a lot to keep it all moving. But part of what’s special is that it’s challenging, like if it wasn’t challenging, it wouldn’t be as worthwhile,” said Williams.
Beyond workshops, Bridge also runs an Instrument Connection service that helps provide struggling youth with donated instruments. “We get to provide kids with the gift of music for free,” said Cervantes.
All the programs through Bridge follow its founding intention: helping young people express themselves through music in a way they may not have the opportunity to otherwise. While working in foster care, Williams discovered the profound impact that music can have. “I just started bringing my laptop with beats and being like, here’s how you make a beat. Here’s how you start to write songs, and what I found was the young people I was working with were taking it as a chance to write about their experiences,” said Williams.
This impact can be seen in today’s participants: “I write a lot about my trauma and my experiences in life that have been really bad, and I overcome them. I rap because it helps me process my feelings,” said high school Bridge participant Nevaeh Fuller.
The skills learned through Bridge can be useful tools throughout life and inspire participants to pass on what they learned. “As a kid, I used songwriting and music to deal with life’s challenges myself. That’s what the Bridge taught. I took these skills with me later on in life, and now I’m in a position where I want to make that same impact on future generations,” said Cervantes.
To survive, nonprofits need support. To get involved, you can donate or attend the Performance Showcase on December 5th at the Capitol Theatre.