A Look Into the Past, Present, and Future of AMP (with a vintage documentary!)

Deep in the archives, buried beneath the digital dust of the early internet, we uncovered a relic of our past. A documentary filmed 20 years ago, when AMP was young, scrappy, completely volunteer-led, and operating without our own space. It got us thinking about how far we've come, and how far we're going.

Give it a watch, then keep reading.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrmPZonzfVQ

A lot has changed at AMP since that documentary.

In 2006, Will was buying pizza out of his own pocket to feed the youth who showed up. Today, AMP operates out of our own space with a fully equipped kitchen where volunteers prepare nutritious meals every single night we're open. That's how far we've come.

Here's some more of what's happened in between:

• We went from a volunteer-run passion project to an organization with 5 paid staff members dedicated full-time to serving Portland's youth experiencing homelessness.

  
  

• We launched AMP Music Festival, an annual celebration of music and community that raises critical funds for our programs and gives our youth a stage to perform alongside professional artists.

  
  

• We distribute instruments to youth year-round, because we believe access to music shouldn't depend on what you can afford.

  
  

• We've built deep, lasting partnerships with organizations like Outside the Frame, Outside In, New Avenues for Youth, and SMYRC (our home at the time of this video) that have helped us grow into the full-fledged organization we are today.

We've never stopped showing up for over 30 years, and we don't plan to! In fact, we've got some big, exciting things on the horizon.

WHAT'S NEXT FOR AMP

We'll let you in on a little secret. We're in the process of securing a permanent home for AMP.

We're not ready to share all the details just yet, but what we can tell you is what we're looking forward to: more space to grow our programs, more capacity to serve more youth, and the ability to plant ourselves even more firmly as a reliable, consistent source of support for Portland's youth experiencing homelessness, not just for today, but for generations to come.

Thirty years ago, Will was buying pizza out of his own pocket in a borrowed space. The future we're building looks a little different.

And you can be part of it. AMPLIFIER Month runs through May 31, and every monthly donor helps make this future possible. For as little as $5 a month you can help us keep

showing up for Portland's youth, and right now every active AMPLIFIER is entered to win some seriously rad prizes while you're at it.

Become an AMPLIFIER

Here's to a bright future!