Before District Attorney Craig Stedman could speak at SWAN’s fall gala, he had to first google our site to find out what we were about. He read about the impact that music can have on a child and how children of incarcerated parents, so prone to becoming incarcerated themselves, can beat the odds and succeed when mentored in a music program. Being passionate about crime prevention, he knew SWAN was “onto something”. However, I am sure he never expected to see children being changed right before his eyes but that was exactly what he and our guests had the privilege to witness! They saw our boy’s drumming class give their first performance ever.
The boys focused on their teacher the moment they started to walk on stage and with discipline and confidence they drummed in unison. They knew by the applause and smiles that their performance was successful! They were thrilled and clamored to know when their next performance would be. They wanted to succeed again!
The evening had many other poignant moments as Nikki Johnson-Huston shared how she went from being homeless to become an award-winning attorney. One of the many factors she pointed to was that people cared, people became involved and people helped in very practical ways. Without that intervention, she knows her gifts would never have been given an opportunity to be enhanced and made useful. Sadly, her brother’s life had a tragic outcome as he did not receive the same kind of help.
SWAN is making a change and able to do so because of the support we receive from many caring folks. We are gladly fulfilling our mission as the community fuels it with funds, with volunteers and pro-bono services. Together we are making life-saving changes for our most vulnerable children.
We will gladly welcome you to meet our children at future events so you can witness life-changing moments first-hand. In the meantime, check out the pictures of our students performing and then learn out how you can get involved and further support SWAN.