The YMCA of Central NY’s Downtown Writers Center (DWC) opened its doors in 2001 to offer writing classes in all genres as the region’s only literary center. DWC changed its name to the Writers Voice in 2024. 

Apple An started taking courses at DWC in 2017 and benefited tremendously from the instructors and fellow writers over the next six years. They were instrumental in publishing her debut work (Las Crosses) in 2023. They also inspired her to find her calling as a storyteller to preserve what history overlooks and to amplify the voices silenced by time and other factors. 

As a way to contribute back to the services and the community, Apple decided to edit and publish collections of the writings by fellow writers from DWC/Writers Voice. In doing so, Apple hoped to 

1. Offer writers a platform to share their own stories, to foster dialogue and understanding across cultures and times, 

2. Benefit the Writers Center with net proceeds from book sales, and 

3. Encourage all writers to pay it forward by being generous with their time and effort to help promote each other's work whenever possible. She believes that in this literary world, a rising tide raises all boats. 

The anthology idea became a reality after an animated brainstorming between Apple and Georgia Popoff, a DWC instructor since its beginning and program director since 2011, and the Onondaga County Poet Laureate. 

The Voices Heard Anthology series has two volumes: 28 Voices and 37 More Voices.