I Rock My Scars

Starting today, Pell Grants can now be used for certain trade and workforce training program! Opening doors for people who want skills, certifications, and careers in high demand fields without the burden of full tuition debt for 8-15 week courses!

This includes programs like HVAC, welding, CDL trucking, plumbing, electrical work, CNA, medical tech, IT, and other approved workforce certifications.

This is a real opportunity for people who want to build a career quickly and step into stable, good-paying jobs through skilled trades. Not every program qualifies, but many approved workforce pathways now fall under federal aid.

Education isn’t only about a 4 year degree anymore. This is about access, skills, and getting to work. If you’re thinking about a trade, now is the time to check your options and see what financial aid can cover. MOST TRADES HIRE SECOND CHANCE!!!!! For more information, apply to FASFA at https://studentaid.gov/h/apply-for-aid/fafsa and contact the financial aid office of the school you would like to attend. 

It's summer time in Crewe, so we've decided to make this Downtown visioning event even sweeter, with ice cream!

From 5:30 to 6 join us at the Jim and Anne Stinson Crewe Community Center for an ice cream social. Learn about the different projects in our historic downtown while enjoying a sweet treat!

Then at 6pm we'll begin the walking/visioning tour of downtown, led by the consulting team. Wear comfortable walking shoes!

🚨 NEW BLOG POST ALERT 🚨

Our incredible board member and 11-year survivor, Kelsey Smith, is climbing into the writer’s seat today to pull back the curtain on the raw, unvarnished reality of long-term breast cancer survivorship.

We often think that once we hit that final milestone mark, we get to walk away. But survivorship isn't a straight line. In Part One of her story 'The White Dress Gamble,' Kelsey opens up about the long-term side effects of treatment and facing the unexpected reality of a recommended hysterectomy.

Here is a sneak peek:

"Having survived all of that, I decided to take a much more mundane risk: I wore a perfectly planned white dress to a breast cancer benefit. I was ready to celebrate life in a room full of strangers, feeling confident, radiant, and alive.

Instead, my body pulled a massive bait-and-switch, and I ended up in an entirely different room full of strangers: The emergency room."

Kelsey reminds us that survival does not require us to suffer the long-term side effects in silence.

Click the link below to read the full, unfiltered entry on our blog now. 👇

The White Dress Gamble: A Rebel Story of Survivorship and Uncertainty, Part One I Rock My Scars because I refuse to let the hard parts of my experience go to waste. I have always believed that our scars aren’t just a reminder of what we’ve survived; They are maps for anyone else who feels lost in the same woods. By sharing the fears, the hurdles, and the trials, my goal is ...

Yesterday, we hosted our Art of Healing: Healing Stones Workshop and are feeling so grateful for everyone who joined us.

This workshop created space for reflection, creativity, encouragement, and community. Participants painted meaningful stones, took some home as personal reminders, and donated others to IROCKMYSCARS to be shared with cancer patients and local survivors as small acts of hope and encouragement.

Thank you to everyone who attended, supported, and helped make this experience meaningful. Your patience, presence, and willingness to create with us meant so much.

We’re excited to continue growing the Art of Healing series and creating more spaces for healing-centered connection in the community.

Last call to register for our Healing Stones Workshop.

Join IROCKMYSCARS for a free, healing-centered community workshop where adults 18+ will have the opportunity to paint meaningful stones, reflect through journaling, and connect in a welcoming space. You will have the opportunity to keep stones and donate stones to Irockmyscars to be distributed to cancer patients in Hampton Roads. No art experience is needed, and all materials will be provided.

If you or someone you know could use a moment to slow down, create, and be in community, we invite you to register today. Spaces are limited.

Register here: https://forms.gle/ZLkFXETbQMMy3nfx6

What if something as small as a stone could carry a message of healing, hope, and strength? 💜

Join IROCKMYSCARS, INC. for April’s Healing Stones Workshop, part of our Art of Healing Workshop Series.

This month’s workshop, Healing Stones, invites participants to paint meaningful messages, symbols, and designs on stones while exploring a guided journaling prompt focused on hope, resilience, and personal strength.

Participants will create rocks to keep as reminders of their own strength and rocks to be shared with survivors in the community as messages of encouragement and support.

Click here to register: https://forms.gle/ZLkFXETbQMMy3nfx6

Event Details:
Location: Norfolk Public Library (Branch shared after registration) - Norfolk, VA
Date: April 25, 2026
Time 2:15 PM – 3:15 PM
Age: 18+
Cost: Free to attend, registration required

No art experience needed. All materials provided.

Interested in sponsoring, donating, volunteering, or partnering with IROCKMYSCARS? We’d love to connect with you at [email protected].

Did you know?

Creative activities like painting and journaling can offer more than just a creative outlet. They can also support stress relief, reflection, and emotional expression.

That is part of why healing-centered spaces matter. Through art of healing workshop series offers events like our Healing Stones Workshop, we aim to create opportunities for people to slow down, reflect, create, and connect in meaningful ways.