Sofa Stories: OUTside builds on the success of the first Sofa Stories Detroit project - a community arts project using live theatre & digital media to amplify the stories of young Detroiters who have experienced homelessness or housing insecurity and may have resorted to couch surfing as a means to survive. 

The next phase of this project is twofold. Funds raised during this campaign will allow the project team to cover the costs of remounting in-person performances at various community events in Detroit during the summer and help promote a short-film series featuring six original monologues created during the first phase of the project in 2020/2021. At the same time, the project team will begin the process of generating new material focusing on the stories of LGBTQIA youth with lived experiences of homelessness or housing insecurity, and will utilize in-person and digital performance opportunities to engage new audiences in, and outside of Detroit.

This phase of the project will create paid opportunities for young people with lived experiences of homelessness or housing insecurity and various opportunities for local artists committed to using their art form for social change. The project team will lead a series of outreach workshops with various community organizations to help identify young people who would like to participate in the project. These young people will then be matched with a Detroit-based writer to help craft an original monologue or performance piece. These pieces will then be incorporated into a future performance/film phase, allowing the project to reach new audiences and continue a larger conversation on how to help end youth homelessness in the city of Detroit.