Flying The Phoenix

#235, October 8, 2008

As President of the Petaluma Phoenix Center, l first want to thank the people of this community, past and present. For over a century, you have helped what is now the Phoenix Theater serve up music, art and culture in downtown Petaluma. You built the Hill Opera House in 1905, giving Enrico Caruso a local stage after the quake destroyed San Francisco. Twice you rebuilt our home, as the California Theater then Showcase Theater, when fire razed the roof. At this recent turn of the century, you saved Tom Gaffey’s Phoenix Theater and teen center from conversion to office space. Many, many thanks.

I also want to correct a few misconceptions people may have about today’s Phoenix. “There’s little need for at-risk teen services in this bucolic, family-friendly town.” In fact, there *is*. The 2005/06 California Healthy Kids Survey (CHKS) reported that our 11th grade 30-day binge drinking rates are in the 90th percentile statewide; that 18% of our 9th grade students and 35% of our 11th grade students participated in binge drinking during the 30 days preceding the survey; and that marijuana use among Petaluma secondary school youth is in the worst percentile in the state.

“The Phoenix is an incubator and refuge for druggies and vandals.”* We won’t claim that people who do drugs or illegal graffiti don’t come to the Phoenix. But we vigorously enforce a zero tolerance drug and underage alcohol policy on our property. The graffiti art on and in the Phoenix is legal and is *supported*, as an *alternative* to vandalism. A big part of our mission is to attract kids to a place that gives them meaningful alternatives to destructive behavior. I can’t count the number of times I’ve heard Phoenix “alumni”, now happy and successful adults, tell me how Tom and Phoenix turned their life around.

But we need to do more. Six months ago, the Phoenix Board adopted a strategic plan that doubled our budget to support a comparable growth of our programs. We hired a new executive Director, Amber Faur, who immediately began building the base for this expansion. We formed and expanded working partnerships, including the Youth Commission, the Downtown Association, the Police Department, the Arts Council, the High Schools, and many others. We organized youth committees to help plan and run our music, arts, and health programs. We held an Open House, where hundreds of people from the community came to enjoy the work of our young artists and musicians, tell us their concerns, and learn more of our plans.

Drawing on her extensive experience and contacts in the non-profit world, Amber helped us rebuild our accounting and membership infrastructure, and moved quickly on charitable foundation relationship building and grant writing. But we faced a Catch 22: while program expansion required us to broaden and deepen our funding base, we needed a more robust program offering to gain the confidence of foundation donors.

So we took a leap of faith, and invested in creating a great fall lineup, with over a dozen hours of new free classes every week, from jazz improvisation and sight reading to yoga and capoeira. And we have bigger plans for early next year. “From Garage to Stage”, developed by our Music Director Gio “Toast Machine” Benedetti, will give young musicians a 3 month hands-on tour into the music industry; “Phoenix Radio” students will use a new Phoenix Media Center to create and podcast/netcast radio journalism; “Phoenix Studios” will put young musicians in a fully equipped recording studio with seasoned professionals. To that mix we’ll add classes and real-world internship opportunities in visual arts, photojournalism, and writing. The goal: give teens appealing alternative pathways to life and career skills, using cultural arts as the vehicle.

The Phoenix has leaped, our wings are spreading… but we need a boost. “The Phoenix is adequately funded by Telecom “angels” and show revenues”, while once mostly true, is no longer. To keep our plans airborne, to get us into 2009 and beyond, we need individual and corporate contributions -- now. If you think you can help, contact me or amber@petalumaphoenix.org, or make a donation online at www.petalumaphoenix.org/donate.html. Thanks for flying the Phoenix!