Abstract

This research projects combines a systematic literature review and qualitative interviews with the goal of discovering how community-based arts organizations that serve youth living homeless foster and facilitate creative capacity, resilience and well-being for participants. Literature was analyzed based on its relevance to issues related to the experience of youth homelessness and marginalization, creative capacity, community arts organizations, or some combination of the three. Next, data from qualitative interviews suggest specific factors necessary for fostering and facilitating creative capacity. These include the importance of environment when working with youth living homeless, nuances in demographics and culture within street existence, sustainability of the organization, personal factors of identity and resilience building, and community connections and pathways out of homelessness. Factors of the organizational model were examined based on product and skill development versus process oriented frameworks. It was found that both models offer important resources for participants, but no model can meet the needs of everyone. Another critical factor drawn from the data is the importance of anti-oppressive practices that are rooted in the strengths of participants and participatory models of service delivery.