Caring Together Give a child an unwavering foundation of support
“Because of The Wooden Floor, I have experienced so many things. Without it, I would have been stuck in the same place as I was in elementary school - talking through all my classes and getting bad grades. I feel like without The Wooden Floor, I would not have been complete.�
MONET, CLASS OF 2023
“My sister is my role model – I’ve always looked up to her and tried to be like her. She has lots of grit, perseverance, resilience, and she is really good at school. My dad always tells us to stick together.” While just 15 years old, Monet knows the power of community. Now entering her 6th year at The Wooden Floor, she keeps a running countdown of the number of years she has left in her 10-year journey with The Wooden Floor to remind herself to make the most of each moment she has remaining at the organization. Following in the footsteps of her older sister Leilani, both sisters take every opportunity offered by The Wooden Floor and have built great relationships with the staff and their Dance Partners. While school came easy for Leilani, Monet has relied on The Wooden Floor’s tutoring and academic support in elementary school to raise her GPA to a 3.0 average. She as well as her sister are on track to be the first in their family to be able to reach for a college education.
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“The Wooden Floor has helped me through these challenging times because of dance. If I’m feeling down, I express that through dance. I sweat it off. I don’t know where I would be if I didn’t get to dance.” MONET, CLASS OF 2023
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oth Monet and her sister Leilani have big dreams for themselves, but like so many, their road to success was upended by the pandemic. Only 59 percent of parents in low-income communities say distance learning has been successful.* Barriers to distance learning as well as mental health impacts exacerbate the challenges faced by our students. Amid these unprecedented times, we stand together, ever more committed to ensuring that our students have the resources they need to overcome these unique challenges. This past summer, we rallied support to provide free laptop computers to close the technology gap for 225 of our students, including Leilani, who would otherwise have fallen behind academically, and have been disconnected from our staff and our outstanding programs.
The Wooden Floor’s creative youth development approach is even more critical at a time like this to support and make a difference in the lives of the students we serve. We are emboldened to forge ahead by the fact that a loving community of supporters like you will continue to help us work tirelessly to ensure that we move young people like Monet and Leilani forward - today and well into the future. It takes all of us, caring together, to accomplish this. You have the power to make a difference in the life of Monet, Leilani, and their fellow 475 students of The Wooden Floor.
Please make a meaningful gift today using the enclosed form and envelope, or online at TheWoodenFloor.org/Caring. *Orange County Community Indicators Report 2020-2021
“The other children at The Wooden Floor give me hope because we all commit so much time to going to our classes. We have hard times, but because of those hard times, we have learned that you have to get up and keep going until you know you’re okay and the rest of your life is on the right path.” MONET, CLASS OF 2023
For more ways to support our students, please contact TIANNA HARADON at 714.541.8314 ext. 124 or Tianna@TheWoodenFloor.org.
TheWoodenFloor.org The Wooden Floor is a nonprofit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization. Federal Tax ID # 33-0299356
Photography by Timothy Agler Š 2020 The Wooden Floor
Founded in 1983, The Wooden Floor is one of the foremost creative youth development nonprofit organizations in the country. We transform the lives of young people in low-income communities through the power of dance and access to higher education. In Orange County and through national licensed partners, we use a long-term approach grounded in exploratory dance education to foster the confidence and gifts within each child to innovate, communicate, and collaborate – skills necessary for success in school and in life. 100 percent of students who graduate from The Wooden Floor immediately enroll in higher education. Our students become change agents and beacons of hope within their own families, their neighborhoods, our community, and our world.