On October 18, we celebrated the grand opening of the WOW Heritage Center at historic Rosewood Courts.
After years of planning, partnerships, setbacks, and persistence, we finally welcomed the community into a place we'd been imagining for a long time.
I'm proud of what we've accomplished. And I'm especially grateful to everyone who helped make it possible.
Now comes the work of making it sustainable.
A home for the work
When I started E4 Youth, I was thinking about young people, creativity, and opportunity. I saw a disconnect between the extraordinary talent in our communities and the pathways available for that talent to develop into meaningful careers.
Over time, another piece became clear.
Our communities are filled with stories that deserve to be told. And the work of telling those stories offers young people opportunities to develop skills that matter in creative and technology industries.
A young person recording an oral history learns how to listen, conduct research, build trust, operate equipment, collaborate, and translate an idea into something others can experience.
Those skills have value far beyond any single creative discipline.
That's the connection behind our mission.
Community stories. Career pathways.
The WOW Heritage Center gives that work a permanent home.
Building the pathway from learning to earning
One of the most important things we're developing at E4 Youth is Heritage & Innovation Pathways (HIP), our internship and professional development program.
We're building a connected set of experiences that helps young people explore their interests, develop skills, gain professional experience, and build relationships that can lead to careers.
HIP brings together our Creative Leadership Academy, E4 Level Up, Get Creative! College & Careers, mentorship, and applied projects with working professionals.
Our HIP interns currently earn $20 an hour while participating.
That's intentional. We believe young people should be compensated for their time and contributions as they develop professional skills.
They're learning to meet expectations, collaborate with others, manage assignments, and produce work that can become part of their professional portfolios.
The WOW Heritage Center provides a place where many of these experiences can come together. Young people can help document community stories, develop media projects, work alongside creative professionals, and see how their work contributes to something larger.
HIP provides the structure connecting those experiences to professional growth and opportunity.
Building and sustaining that structure takes resources.
Partnership is how we grow
One of the lessons I've learned through E4 Youth is how much becomes possible when people and organizations bring their strengths into a shared effort.
As we enter this next chapter, we're inviting individuals, businesses, foundations, educational institutions, and community organizations to participate in three ways.
Connect. Share your knowledge, relationships, expertise, and community connections.
Create. Help develop meaningful projects, mentorship, internships, and professional learning opportunities.
Invest. Provide financial support for the people, programs, technology, and infrastructure that make this work possible.
Some relationships may begin with a conversation. Others may involve a specific project or financial commitment. We're interested in building partnerships that create lasting value for everyone involved.
We need investment to make this sustainable
The grand opening generated tremendous goodwill, and we are grateful for it.
Now we need to turn that enthusiasm into sustained support.
Operating the WOW Heritage Center, compensating interns, supporting staff and teaching artists, maintaining technology, and expanding professional opportunities all require financial investment.
We want to build a strong, sustainable model that can serve more young people while remaining rooted in the communities whose stories make this work meaningful.
That requires partners who share the vision and supporters willing to help fund it.
Let's build what's next
We have a permanent home, a growing network of relationships, and young people already earning while they learn.
There's still a great deal to build.
If you're interested in collaborating, providing professional opportunities, or supporting this work financially, I'd welcome the conversation.
Explore Connect, Create, Invest
Make a financial contribution to E4 Youth
The doors are open.
Now let's build something that lasts.
Carl Settles Jr.
Founder & CEO, E4 Youth