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Healing community through creative expression.
Help Us Help Wash is a 501(c)(3) organization based in Compton, CA.
We believe creativity is a powerful tool for transformation.
Mission
Our mission is to harness the power of art to break cycles of incarceration—opening doors for young people to thrive, and creating supportive pathways for those returning home to rebuild their lives.
What We Do
Drawing on the lived experience of our executive director—the internationally renowned and wrongfully convicted artist Fulton Leroy Washington a.k.a. Mr. Wash—we provide meaningful creative opportunities in order to divest from harmful cycles and offer a safe, supportive place for individuals returning from prison to continue their artistic practice and reintegrate into society.
Through HUHW, Mr. Wash continues to connect with the community through his unique way of teaching, sharing and using art as a way of communicating, rehabilitation, and diversion from entering the criminal justice system.
History
Help Us Help Wash started out as a movement in 1996, spearheaded by Beverly Washington and the late professor and defense attorney, Karen R. Smith of South Western University of Law. The goal was to bring public and judicial attention to the wrongful conviction of Mr. Wash who, due to mandatory minimums, was sentenced to life in prison.
On September 2, 2016, Mr. Wash’s sentence was commuted by President Obama.
A New Era
Since Mr. Wash has been freed from prison, Help Us Help Wash is advancing forward as a public service. Mr. Wash is living proof that art can transform lives, and we strive to support the community by harnessing the truth of his story to power change and action.
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