page_title: SongwritingWith:Soldiers
section_title: Future projects and funding
hierarchical_section_title: SongwritingWith:Soldiers / Future projects and funding
caption_attribution_description: English: Photographer: Stacy L. Pearsall
context_page_description: SongwritingWith:Soldiers is a non-profit organization co-founded in 2012 by singer-songwriter Darden Smith and Mary Judd. Smith serves as creative director. Mary Judd is the program's executive director. SongwritingWith:Soldiers pairs veterans and active-duty service members with professional songwriters in retreat settings to craft songs about combat and the return home. Through the collaborative process, participants build trust, forge bonds, and transform pain into art. Retreats are free and open to all branches of the military. Songs are shared through downloads, concerts, and social media.
context_section_description: Smith and Judd continue to bring SongwritingWith:Soldiers retreats and workshops to more locations across the United States. In addition to helping veterans, military families, and active-duty service members, the organization seeks to raise awareness and bridge the divide between military and civilian communities. Executive Director Mary Judd commented, we hear "how SongwritingWith:Soldiers saved a marriage, saved a relationship or even saved a life. The program allows us to gather together these stories and build a library of songs that otherwise wouldn't exist. The program is supported by grants and donations. Key funding partners include: ASCAP Foundation; Boulder Crest Retreat Bob Woodruff Foundation; Mayerson Foundation; Mid-America Arts Alliance; National Endowment for the Arts; Veteran's United Foundation, and the USO. Photographer Michael O'Brien has taken portraits of veterans and songwriters at a series of retreats. Videographer and veteran James Monk, Mercy Lamp Productions, has filmed all the retreats.
caption: Saying Goodbye After a Retreat. Photograph by Stacy L. Pearsall
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