!Helping Theatre Professionals in Need | Washington Theatre Guide | TheatreWashington

Helping Theatre Professionals in Need

Theatre professionals—artists and company members—experience unforeseen personal emergencies like everyone else. But unlike many others, professionals in the arts rarely earn wages that are commensurate with their contributions to the vitality and richness of our community. Often they don't have regular access to health insurance.

To help our colleagues in need, we created Taking Care of Our Own, an initiative that assists area theatre professionals in times of unforeseen financial hardship.

When a theatre professional needs help, he or she can simply submit an application to Taking Care of Our Own. Support is provided in the form of an outright gift that never needs to be repaid.

An advisory panel,comprised of a cross-section of representatives from large and small theatres,
as well as medical and business professionals, makes all funding decisions.

But in order to help theatre professionals in need, Taking Care of Our Own coffers must be filled.

Taking Care of Our Own raises funds in four primary ways:

The Bucket Brigade: Following curtain calls at performances in participating theatres, artists and staff hold iconic yellow buckets to collect audience donations for the fund.
Virtual Buckets: Funds are collected here.
The Summer Hummer: An annual all-star, all-fun, variety show produced and presented by a cavalcade of area theatre artists.
Merchandise Sales: Sales of merchandise available at events and online, whose proceeds benefit Taking Care of Our Own.

theatreWashington welcomes questions on Taking Care of Our Own and its application process. To contact our theatreWashington representative, email TCOOO@theatrewashington.org or call Michael Kyrioglou, Theatre Services Manager, at (202) 337-4572. All applications, situational details, and inquires will be kept in confidence at this stage of the application process to ensure applicant anonymity.

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