[ Music plays ] [ Singing ] Everything dies, baby, that's a fact.

But maybe everything that dies someday comes back.

Corvera: I didn't like writing before, but since Mighty Writers, I've grown to like it.

It's sort of calming.

It's like a hobby, I guess you could say, like how people enjoy painting.

If I've had a long day, it's, like, therapeutic 'cause maybe, like, sometimes I'm not open enough to talk to someone, but I know I can always write it out, and it's, like, something I can always look forward to.

The highlight of my day.

Sykes: Awesome school year.

Awesome progress.

You don't even know how much you've improved in writing.

Narrator: At Mighty Writers, the power of creative writing helps kids navigate the often troubled world around them.

Mighty Writers goes where the need is greatest, with locations in Philadelphia, Camden, Newark, and Atlantic City.

A lot of people have hardship with writing because, "A," they're not confident that they're arriving at an idea that's worthy.

Also, they feel that they have to restrict themselves because they don't want to write something that would get them in trouble, something that will embarrass them.

A lot of writing is confronting personal demons.

You see these kids come in here and they -- they start writing these things and getting them down, and they start understanding each other a little more.

And in that, the creative problem-solving kicks in by acknowledging the other -- other humans around you, the other people, the other life, and learning from them, understanding them, being empathetic with them, as well as starting to learn yourself and know yourself.

Narrator: Students learn to write at Mighty Writers, but the program's impact is much greater than that.

For many kids, it's a refuge and a home away from home.

I don't think people could do this job in Atlantic City unless they're from Atlantic City, because it's unique.

We are not your typical 9-to-5 family structure here.

The kids, um...

They're exposed to more, I think, in Atlantic City than they are in other places, and I think they grow up quicker.

Sykes: There are some days where we have first- and second-graders, but most days, third- to eighth-graders, and then some teens for special workshops or fellowships.

[ Indistinct shouting ] Sykes: My beard's gone!

Sykes: Around 3 o' clock, we get a rush of 15, 20, 25, 30.

[ Chatter, laughter ] Rizzo: First, we get attacked with a ball of energy and we get lots of hugs.

[ Indistinct conversations ] And the littles go outside, because the littles are like puppies that have been in a cage all day.

They need to run, right?

So we let them run.

Woman: Come on!

One more time!

Rizzo: The bigs, I wrestle with their phones for a little bit, make sure they put them away, and then we have a catch-up, and then we get right into it, pull out laptops.

We did a project two writing samples ago that was "create your own superhero."

And is there an antihero?

We paired that with AI and we created the actual visual of this superhero.

A lot of the older kids chose to be antiheroes, which was very interesting.

Castro: I've been coming here almost three years now.

It gives a lot of kids a lot of creativity, especially me.

I've written a lot about the music that I create, a lot about my feelings towards everything.

Just, I love to write in general.

I feel like the kids here, when I come here, they make me forget about, like, everything that's going on outside and I just live in the moment, kind of.

There's not a lot of places that can really do that for me, and here with them is really one of them.

Narrator: At Mighty Writers, they understand that creative writing leads to creative thinking.

From after-school homework help to writing workshops, food distribution, and more, the program provides creative solutions for Atlantic City's future.

Rizzo: Number one, this program keeps kids off the street.

Number two, we teach them to respect writing, respect each other, and respect literacy.

Number three, these kids are not going hungry as long as they are under this roof.

Sykes: Atlantic City is a tough town.

We are a resort town, and people come here for work.

The den mother in her own way, Ms. Kiki!

[ All cheering ] Sykes: Mighty Writers is not just, you know, about writing.

It's more of an empowerment center and a place for them to find their voice.

So we're getting to them earlier, before the world does, and we're proud of that.

There's a famous poet, Stephen Dunn, who was a resident at Stockton.

He could have been anywhere and was asked in an interview once, "Why aren't you at Oxford?

Why aren't you in Cambridge?

Why aren't you at Stanford?

Why are you in Stockton in southern New Jersey?"

You know, a small little college tucked away outside of Atlantic City.

And he says, because those places have already arrived at what they are.

Atlantic City is finally becoming.

And it's nice to be a place -- part of a place that's becoming.

[ Singing ] Meet me tonight in Atlantic City.

Oh, meet me tonight in Atlantic City.

Oh, meet me tonight in Atlantic City.

[ Music plays ]