Hello, my name is Lilly and I started a nonprofit called Lilly Theatre Company, formally Lilly Enrichment.

I’m a military veteran. The main thing I want to share is during my time in the military, I experienced sexual trauma. I was broken to pieces. I literally gave up on life. I know it was a long journey for me to find my way because I needed different kinds of support systems. I had to figure out how to feel safe around people and love myself. 

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Looking back, one key support system was the arts. I found I was more compelled to do better when I was connected to the arts such as theatre, music, painting, and creating. Although I struggled to want to live, once I was around other artists and creatives I was more myself and took inspiration from it. I found new meaning in life and it gave me a sense of hope and purpose.

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I took my inspiration and hope and started to design my own workshops and wrote a few plays. I noticed when I tried to get involved with other theatre organizations the opportunities were not as available to me, and my access to theatre companies felt very limited. It appeared as if I couldn’t get involved in productions, but more like I needed to really either know people or be an incredible actor. I simply wanted to perform and thrive.

Eventually it came to me to start my own company. Thanks to the help of a veterans organization I was able to start this nonprofit in 2021.