My STORY, My Song

Sharing Triumphs Of Resilient Youth

An Origin Story Still Being Written

by Chris Duhrkoop

Some ideas don’t just inspire, they carry the power to change lives. My STORY My Song is one of those ideas. This idea is still in it's infancy, but the power and potential are enough that I need to write down how it has begun.

Back in August, I was on a flight from Nashville to Las Vegas. By chance, I ended up talking to Ronnie Bowman and his wife, Garnett. Ronnie is a Nashville-based songwriter and had just won a Grammy for Song of the Year with Chris Stapleton. I may have been a little star-struck, but this meeting was much more than chance.

During the flight we talked about life, music, and where stories come from. When Garnett learned I was heading to the Songwriter Showcase at Mandalay Bay, she insisted I come see Ronnie perform. I wasn't going to miss it.

Halfway through Ronnie's set with two other songwriters, Garnett introduced me to Aaron Benward, the organizer of the Songwriter's Showcase and whose vision made the entire event possible. When she told him I ran a nonprofit that serves foster youth, Aaron shared the story of the Orphan Train of the 1800s, a chapter of American history that helped shape today’s foster care system and how it inspired him to write a script for a movie to tell some of the stories born from it. As the next song began he walked away and I was left thinking about what those stories might sound like.

As I listened to the next songwriter on stage tell the story behind one of his songs and how writing it had helped him through one of the darkest times in his life, everything came together in my mind.

What if foster youth could do the same?

What if kids in care, carrying so much trauma and pain, could sit with professional songwriters and learn how to take the bad feelings they’ve buried inside and turn them into something good? What if they could discover that writing down their stories and then turning words into lyrics and then putting music to them to make songs could be a way to channel the hurt into healing? From trauma to triumph.

I went over to where Aaron was sitting and I shared the idea with him. He immediately saw the potential, but warned that the challenge would be getting access to the kids. That’s when I explained that Share in the JOY was recently named official fiscal partner of Clark County Family Services (CCFS) and served children in foster care through events and programs. We already had the trust and the connections to make it happen. Aaron loved the idea, and later that night he emailed me to say he wanted to move forward.

I couldn’t sleep and ended up writing an outline of what the program could be. The potential in my mind grew as I wrote it out. I called it My STORY: “Sharing Triumphs of Resilient Youth.” Aaron loved it, and added a simple but powerful twist: My STORY, My Song. Because it would be their story. Their song. Their way to release the hurt that would turn their trauma into triumph.

From there, things have moved and come together in a way that makes the whole idea seem not like something that could happen, but something that should it happen. God willing, It's going to happen.

• I reached out to Ryan Patrick, a friend, professional songwriter, member of the band Otherwise, and founder of Life by Music who runs a similar program with veterans. He immediately wanted in.
• I connected with Patrick Mahoney, a folk musician, professional songwriter and founder of Music Therapy Workshop, who has already partnered with Share in the JOY at past events and uses music to help kids in foster care process their trauma.
• I than called my longtime friend Ghalee Wadood, whom I’d coached with years ago in the Snoop Youth Football League. He not only wanted to help but shared that he and his friend, a well-known music producer, had just been discussing a project for inner-city youth in LA. Ghalee called my timing “divine intervention.”

Momentum was building fast and Aaron and I agreed to start with a pilot session in December. This will consist of just four youth paired with four songwriters. This will serve as our Phase 1 Pilot, a chance to test the process, refine how we match kids and songwriters, and lay the foundation for something much bigger.

Update: November 23, 2025

It's happening. On December 6th, we begin with our Pilot. Four foster youth, four songwriters, one powerful day of connection and creation.

But it’s just the beginning.

We are having a intervention specialist with each of the four groups of songwriter and youth. We are working with Clark County Family Services' Step Up Program, iFoster and Foster Kinship and have four youth excited and ready to participate.

Every other month going forward we will bring another 4 youth and 4 songwriters together for My Story, My Song.

Together, they’ll write, record, and share songs that tell their truth. And by documenting this journey, we can amplify those voices far beyond the retreat itself, giving countless other young people direction, permission and inspiration to tell their own stories through lyrics.

My Story, My Song is Their Story. Their Song. Because their voices matter. Their stories matter. And sometimes, when words aren’t enough, a song can carry the truth in a way nothing else can.

This is the first chapter of our story as we find a way for youth in foster care to tell theirs. Keep reading... it has all the potential to be an instant classic.

Chris Duhrkoop is the founder and Executive Director for Share in the JOY. The inspiration for My STORY My Song is about turning silence into lyrics, trauma into art, and pain into hope. It’s about showing foster youth that their story doesn’t end in hardship, it can rise in triumph and with the help of some professional songwriters, for these youth, it will.