After three decades of leading effective and healing youth poetry programming in the Seattle area, Pongo is ready to share its tried-and-true techniques with educators, clinicians, and community leaders from across the country. Pongo’s certification program will empower individuals with the tools and support to create new poetry writing projects using its proven, trauma-informed poetry writing methodology. As a result, Pongo will create a national network of Pongo-inspired poetry writing projects, supporting youth who have experienced trauma across the country.

 Contact: info@pongopoetryproject.org

Pongo Poetry Project Background 

Pongo Poetry Project is a Seattle-based nonprofit that uses personal poetry to facilitate healing among youth coping with devastating traumas. Our mission is to engage youth in writing poetry to inspire healing and growth. At the heart of our program is the Pongo Method, an evidence-based, trauma-informed technique for teaching poetry, created in collaboration with child psychiatrists, expressive writing therapists, and academics. Pongo’s approach offers youth a safe, gratifying way to express feelings about some of the worst experiences imaginable, including abuse, neglect, and exposure to violence.