There Had to Have Been Someone: Pongo Teen Writing from King County Juvenile Detention

There Had to Have Been Someone contains poetry by youth in King County juvenile detention in Seattle. The poetry was facilitated by Pongo Poetry Project, a trauma-informed poetry program that enables youth to write therapeutic personal poetry about difficult childhood experiences, including experiences of abuse, neglect, and exposure to violence.

Pongo Poetry Project is a Seattle-based nonprofit that uses personal poetry to facilitate healing among youth coping with devastating traumas, such as abuse, neglect, racism and exposure to violence. Pongo has mentored poetry with over 7,100 individuals. Research and evaluation demonstrate the significant therapeutic benefits of our programming and high levels of satisfaction among the youth we serve. And through our publishing program, we have released 16 poetry collections featuring work authored by the youth we serve.

Our trainings on the Pongo Method equip professionals with the knowledge and skills to create trauma-informed writing programs based on our approach. As a result, 101 therapeutic poetry programs based on our model and supporting people who have experienced trauma, have been established in locations including: Seattle, San Diego, New Orleans, San Salvador (El Salvador), Krakow (Poland), Cape Town (South Africa), and Shimane (Japan).