Greetings from behind the scenes at the Porch, where we're just a few months into fiscal year '27. At the development desk, I've been busy collecting, organizing, and resetting goals, a practice that instills in most fundraising folks (👋🏻) a sense of excitement and accomplishment that supports the unromantic desire to keep things minimal and tidy. (It also keeps me sane and upright.)

It’s during this season that I get to support our team in collecting and analyzing data from the past twelve months. Learning about the impact of our programs is a joyous and gratifying time. Seeing the real-time, real-life product of our hard work opens space for celebration that often gets overlooked during the haste of running a small but mighty non-profit org.  TBH, It’s a really exciting time for the data nerds!

During this year's collection process, I was especially drawn to the outcomes of our Writing for Good program, specifically our partnership with Mending Hearts. 

The Quantifiable:

WFG as a whole produced over 400 hours of expressive writing workshops to more than 2,200 people, and included six organizational partnerships. That’s a 1300% increase in participation since the program’s inception in 2023! Within Mending Hearts alone, The Porch has facilitated 116 expressive writing workshops for nearly 600 women and provided 166 hours of trauma-informed writing programming, delivering consistent opportunities for women in active recovery to process their experiences, strengthen self-awareness, and reconnect with their own voices and one another. Each time they put pen to paper, they are reminded: your story matters. We are listening.

Beyond the Data:

Beyond numeric weights and measures, there is an unquantifiable value resounding within the walls of these classrooms. Stories too deep and complex to capture in a spreadsheet; moments of healing so profound they could never hold space in a graph or blog. And where I lack the words to accurately represent the full extent of this heart-expanding reverence, I hope these quotes, images, and updates give you a glimpse into the power of expressive writing and the strength of these women.  

• “I'm planning on writing my life story, so this is a big step on how to start my book. I had two choices in life, and that is to fight to live or just give up and die. I chose to fight to live instead of just giving up.”
• “Helped me get deeper with myself through writing.” 
• Thank you for sharing your time with us. Allowing us to express ourselves freely
• “Thank you so much for taking the time to be a part of my recovery. Writing is something that I am new to as a coping mechanism.”
• “It was great and so was the instructor. She was patient and into the assignments as she embraced our thoughts, emotions, and feelings.”
• “I will be journaling from now on to release my emotions. Because of this group, I feel a lot better, and now I have forgiven myself and my mom too, so thank you so much.”

Another testament to the power of this program came from a small focus group of women, who shared a common request: they wanted a way to continue writing between workshop sessions. In response, The Porch developed a custom recovery journal featuring more than 100 pages of thoughtfully curated writing prompts, designed to inspire small bubbles of creativity, no matter where they are.

The journals were enthusiastically embraced and are being used independently, extending the benefits of the workshops into participants' daily recovery journeys.

But it’s not just the transformative experiences from residences; it’s also the profound impact that our instructors experience while facilitating these workshops. From Mending Hearts instructor, Sherri Hughes-Gragg: “I love facilitating expressive writing workshops at Mending Hearts. I am always blown away by the writing the participants share with the group. Their work is brave, honest, and fiercely hopeful. These women are courageous, resilient, and strong. I am honored to write alongside them.”

If you’d like to support WFG programs like Mending Hearts or support tuition assistance funds at the Porch, please donate here.

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Writing for Good at Mending Hearts is made possible through generous funding from the Tennessee Arts Commission, the Memorial Foundation, and donors like you. 

Mending Hearts is a non-profit residential treatment center and recovery community in Nashville, Tennessee, that helps women recover from drug and alcohol addiction and was one of our first partnerships, facilitated by board member emerita Trina Frierson. Learn more about Mending Hearts here.

To learn more about Writing for Good, volunteering, and being a patron of this program, please email Marianne@porchtn.org.

Writing for Good (WfG) is The Porch’s cohort of expressive writing workshops facilitated at organizations serving vulnerable populations and/or therapeutic communities. Current WfG partnerships include the following organizations: Mending Hearts, Gilda’s Club, Men of Valor, Cumberland Heights, Belmont Villages, and a Writing for Recovery class at The Porch House, an extension of our partnered classes for those no longer living in facilities, but who still want to receive the benefits of this program. Register for upcoming sessions via the Porch’s website here.