Despite Sten’s deep passion for the mission of Creatives for Connection, the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with personal struggles, led to the closing of the nonprofit — a loss that had a profound impact on Sten. However, his commitment to building community never wavered. During this challenging time, Sten turned to poetry writing as a way to make sense of his emotions. Realizing he longed for a community of poets and finding none, he founded another nonprofit, the Miami Poetry Club, with a mission to provide inclusive and accessible poetry writing education and events at no cost to those in need of a writing community.