At The Fortune Society, the Creative Arts community empowers participants to express themselves boldly and authentically through creative workshops, events, and collaborative programs.  

The Creative Arts community recently collaborated with the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and Samora Pinderhughes, musician and creator of the Healing Project, in a concert at our Long Island City service center during the weekly Music Cafe. This powerful performance inspired healing through music and shared experiences.  

Furthering this partnership, the Creative Arts community will again collaborate with the Healing Project in recording a mixtape, featuring a small cohort of participants from Fortune. Creative Arts hosts a weekly Songwriting and Production Workshop where the cohort can focus on writing and recording demos of their original work. In December, they’ll travel to Figure 8 Recording in Brooklyn to record the mixtape.

Evelyn, a member of the cohort, is thrilled about the opportunity to record a song and tell her story through music. Since connecting with Fortune’s Creative Arts program, she has taken advantage of numerous creative opportunities that have inspired her incredible growth and transformation.   

Evelyn joined Fortune during a period of profound personal transition. It was a time when she was intentionally seeking to live a healthier, more focused life.  

“Everything I was doing, like joining the choir or the studio sessions, was important to keep me from going back to unhealthy habits,” she explained. “I wanted to get back to that version of myself who still believed in people, who thought the world was full of stars and rainbows, just with the knowledge of the woman I am now.”  

The Creative Arts program became a place where Evelyn could focus on healing. In the recording studio, surrounded by peers who understood her and shared similar experiences, she found solace in artistic expression.   

Through songwriting, beat-making and other collaborative workshops, Evelyn has channeled her energy into music that reflects her personal journey. She’s written several songs, including a song called Heart and Soul, to include on the Fortune mixtape.  

Samora has attended some of the Songwriting and Production workshops at Fortune to offer the cohort of artists valuable feedback to improve their songs while remaining true to their unique artistic visions. The artists are encouraged to be creative and create music that tells a story. Working with artists like Samora, Evelyn said, has been transformative.

After recording the mixtape in December, the artists plan to perform their music live in the new year. As Evelyn and the rest of the artists prepare to share their music with the community, their work demonstrates the value of art as a tool for growth and transformation when people are empowered to express themselves creatively.