PORTLAND, Ore. -- Thirty years ago, Sue Darrow left Kansas City and moved to Portland.
As a single mother, she struggled to provide for her family often relying on the kindness of neighbors. As life went on, her marriage and job brought her back to Kansas City. But as every grandmother knows, the draw of spending time with grandchildren is powerful and she found herself back in Portland.
This time, however, she spent the year before she moved planning how she was going to give back to the community that supported her so long ago.
Sue started The Aspire Project, a nonprofit that aims to provide quality dance instruction to anyone who walks through their doors.
The program, which started by providing instruction through the Multnomah County SUN schools, has grown to a space with three beautiful dance studios. They provide jazz, tap and ballet lessons with tuition on a sliding scale based on family income.
Their goal is to make sure that no one is turned away because of their ability to pay. While the instruction at the Aspire Project is top of the line and has produced a few professional dancers, Sue is quick to point out that churning out dancers is not the goal.
Sue has a singular focus; passing on the kindness and generosity that was shown to her so many years ago.