A-WOL friends and family,

To say the past few months have been challenging for humanity would be putting it lightly. After closing our doors in March 2020, we have had to reevaluate our organization and get creative on ways to keep our students and staff moving during this time while keeping our medium sized nonprofit organization alive. With a small staff of six employees we were able to offer donation based Instagram live classes to everyone along with youth and adult Zoom virtual classes. The outpouring of love and support from our community has been so incredible and we couldn't be more thankful. 

 While this time has come with its obvious challenges, we have also viewed it as an opportunity to take a closer look at the needs and desires of our community. A-WOL has been working with RACC and other organizations over the past year to offer circus and dance classes that are accessible to all, regardless of financial or social status. With the recent murder of George Floyd along with many other black men and women, we were compelled to examine our organization and culture to ensure we are providing a positive environment and creating change in regards to systemic racism. A-WOL is committed to doing better. We are listening, educating ourselves and fighting for racial injustice. The people within our organization that hold leadership roles (directors, teachers and board members) are in the process of working with circus education departments to provide scholarship information to artists of color, educate ourselves on anti-racism, supporting teachers of color and creating an environment for open and transparent conversations to further grow our organization. Please feel free to reach out to us directly with any further questions on the plans that are in motion, we would love to hear from you as our ‘door’ is always open. 

Thank you for your continued support as we navigate this organization that we all love through this time. We are committed to doing better, our eyes are open and as our warehouse is slowly reopening,  we are dedicated to a better future for the whole A-WOL family.

Much love,

Jen, Brandy & Alicia