Haven Kids Rock is a music program that empowers underserved youth who have been victims of trauma, abuse, or neglect to heal through the arts; the program was created specifically for Mott Haven Academy's students. Not only are two-thirds of Haven Academy's students foster care and the child welfare system, the final third live in the poorest Congressional district in the U.S. and face similar challenges.
The program resides at Mott Haven Academy Charter School in the South Bronx, a first-of-its-kind charter school. The Haven Kids Rock curriculum is designed to first connect to the scholars with the popular music that already excites them, and then broaden their view by exposing them to other genres of music such as; Standards, Classical Arias and Broadway show tunes. The students receive guitar lessons, learn and hone performance techniques, and each semester culminates in live performances that instill the young artists with confidence and pride.