Chrysalis is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping young people blossom and thrive.
We use nurturing performing arts experiences to help with healthy personal development, or as we call it “Creating for LIFE!”
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Our unique approach takes inspiration from play therapy and a variety of other sources, to create an almost therapeutic experience for young people, boosting their mental and emotional health, helping them to better connect with and regulating their emotions, building social skills and teamwork, improving problem solving and overall cognitive functioning, and so many other important facets of healthy personal development that will help them in every area of their lives.
Most importantly, our activities are fun and approachable, full of laughter and joy and as free as possible from judgment and destructive competition and other negative impacts.
We utilize small group learning with a good teacher to student ratio so that we can provide an experience that is customized for every individual student. This also allows us to provide a wonderful type of family bond between students, as they work together to overcome challenges and build special performances that they can all be proud of and applauded for.
The idea for Chrysalis came in 2011, after God started using theatre acting experiences to help our founder, Steven Brown, to heal and rebuild after some traumatic and destructive experiences in his childhood. He gave Steven the idea to create a whole new kind of program, specifically designed to provide safe, nurturing theatre experiences for other young people. Chrysalis was launched a year later, and we ran a pilot program for five years at a local church. We have now taken what we learned from that experience, and we are preparing to relaunch our in-person activities.
If you’d like to get involved as a student or volunteer, please contact us.
We use nurturing performing arts experiences to help with healthy personal development, or as we call it “Creating for LIFE!”
-
Our unique approach takes inspiration from play therapy and a variety of other sources, to create an almost therapeutic experience for young people, boosting their mental and emotional health, helping them to better connect with and regulating their emotions, building social skills and teamwork, improving problem solving and overall cognitive functioning, and so many other important facets of healthy personal development that will help them in every area of their lives.
Most importantly, our activities are fun and approachable, full of laughter and joy and as free as possible from judgment and destructive competition and other negative impacts.
We utilize small group learning with a good teacher to student ratio so that we can provide an experience that is customized for every individual student. This also allows us to provide a wonderful type of family bond between students, as they work together to overcome challenges and build special performances that they can all be proud of and applauded for.
The idea for Chrysalis came in 2011, after God started using theatre acting experiences to help our founder, Steven Brown, to heal and rebuild after some traumatic and destructive experiences in his childhood. He gave Steven the idea to create a whole new kind of program, specifically designed to provide safe, nurturing theatre experiences for other young people. Chrysalis was launched a year later, and we ran a pilot program for five years at a local church. We have now taken what we learned from that experience, and we are preparing to relaunch our in-person activities.
If you’d like to get involved as a student or volunteer, please contact us.
"In my 15+ years in the youth development field, I've never come across a program that brings out the level of laughter and joy that Chrysalis does. The impact of this program is truly remarkable. Working at Chrysalis is such an amazing experience. I get to see first-hand how therapeutic contagious joy can be. Every day working with our students makes me smile and laugh and brings out the best in me, and I see the same effects in them. Fear and anxiety and self-consciousness melt away and are replaced with pure exuberant freedom and joy." - Steven Brown, Founder of Chrysalis
"A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones." -Proverbs 17:22
OUR FAITH
As a Christian ministry, our programs are modeled after the greatest artist and creator of all, the one who created the stars and the flowers and every living thing. We believe that God designed each and every person Himself, creating each of them special in their own unique ways.
However, our programming is not centered around traditional religious practices like studying religious texts or singing religious songs.
Our staff members lead our program through the guidance of God and through the use of their God-given gifts and callings, and we may offer optional prayer/worship times before some activities for those who wish to participate. Our leadership training may also include Christian topics.
However, our main ministry goal is for our participants to experience a touch of God's Kingdom through...
- The way we treat people and help them on their own life journeys
- The kind of community we build
- The kind of stories/messages we produce
- The way we conduct our business and run our programs
- Our fundamental values
- Our policies and procedures
- Biblical principles brought to life (i.e. creation, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, etc).