#REALTALKBRIDGES - Real Successes

#REALTALKBRIDGES has grown from a single youth open mic into a regional movement uniting art, mental health, and leadership.

Since 2014 we’ve reached over 1,500 youth and families.

In 2025 alone we served 512 youth and young adults, providing free, healing-centered experiences through Smash Rooms, EmpowerFest, P.R.A.I.S.E., and A.S.E.D. workshops.

Quantitative Impact

  • 91 % of youth reported increased confidence and emotional awareness.

  • 78 % remained engaged beyond one session or event.

  • Educators trained through A.S.E.D. report improved classroom climate and student engagement.

Video testimonials:

Qualitative Stories of Change

  • The Mental Health Smash Rooms, co-created with Janisha Whitlock (a former teen participant turned part-time staff), offer youth ages 12–24 a safe place to release emotion and rebuild through art and reflection.

  • EmpowerFest, born in September 2022 after the Tops mass shooting, now serves as a city-wide festival for joy and restoration—512 attendees as of August 2025.

  • Youth street teams produce merch and fashion campaigns that promote non-violence and the Nine Principles as daily practice.

Research & Validation
Ash Watson’s doctoral dissertation, A Poetic Autoethnographic Call to Action for Educators’ Capacity-Building Using Arts-Based Methods, documents how creative self-expression builds measurable emotional growth and civic engagement.

Despite limited funding, #REALTALKBRIDGES continues to deliver measurable impact at scale. The requested support will sustain staff capacity, transportation, and materials for youth-led innovation—ensuring Buffalo’s next generation can keep building systems of healing and hope.