The Evansville Housing Authority's award-winning Dance Awareness program started because of the determination of one individual who witnessed the impact of dance on children in another city. Brenda Murry-Pittman, now the Housing Authority's director of community service, returned to Evansville from Washington, DC, and formed a partnership with a local dance group to teach children personal discipline and build self-esteem through dance. The resulting school-year program meets 3 days a week, for 45 minutes in the early evening, to teach children ballet, jazz and ethnic dance. A Housing Authority van provides free transportation from three housing sites to a dance space donated by the Tri-State Food Bank. The dancers are provided with leotards, tights and shoes and perform once a year at a spring recital at the University of Evansville. In addition, the Evansville Museum has invited them to perform during Black History Month. "The kids are learning to trust that people outside their world care about what happens to them," says Murry-Pittman. Dance Awareness reports an 80 percent youth retention rate in the program. The program is supported by a variety of public and private sources, including funds from a U.S. Housing and Urban Development Drug Elimination Grant.