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Around the country, parents and care givers continues to struggle to find quality, affordable child care. Infant care can be especially challenging to secure. For parents who are working low-wage jobs, salaries are often eclipsed by daycare costs, making investment in a career seem counter-productive. The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) is committed to engaging Oregon residents in advocating for program and policy solutions to the health challenges that impact them the most. Finding quality, affordable infant child care is one such challenge, in the state.
Recognizing the need to support immigrants and refugees in the midst of the fear and xenophobia that have gained political currency since the 2016 election, StoryCenter and Wellness in Action (a program of the East Bay nonprofit Center for Empowering Refugees and Immigrants) are partnering on Stories of Home. Together with other Bay Area networks and organizations providing services and advocacy for newcomers, we are refining new models for storytelling and participatory media to engage vulnerable immigrants and refugees in exploring their own unique narratives of “home” as place, experience, and feeling. Through storytelling, art-making, and video production workshops, we are creating spaces where relationships are formed, bridges of solidarity are built across diverse cultural contexts, and community engagement for immigrant wellbeing and justice takes shape.
Female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) continues to impact millions of girls and young women globally. The practice is an age-old cultural tradition shrouded in silence and maintained by adherence to social norms claiming it’s necessary for women; the reality is that it exacts a devastating toll on their physical and emotional health. Long stereotyped as an “African problem,” FGM/C is now known to take place in countries across the globe. More and more women are taking the risk of speaking out against this form of gender-based violence, even though doing so puts them at risk of being ostracized by their families and communities.
2019 marked the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the dissolution of East Germany and other former Soviet-Bloc countries. These events, which contributed to the eventual collapse of the U.S.S.R., are viewed as having ushered in a new era in Central-Eastern Europe and Russia. Yet the emergence in recent years of autocratic leaders and governments in Europe and elsewhere around the world has prompted analysts to raise concerns about the increasing fragility of democracy … and has mobilized concerned citizens on behalf of its protection.
Sadly, Ukraine has since its departure from the former Soviet Union been known for its corruption. Experts suggest that the roots of the problem stem from the Soviet nature of many of the country’s political leaders, who used to be part of the ruling elite during the communist era. Ukraine’s weak justice system and its overly-controlling and non-transparent government, together with a relatively inactive civil society, perpetuate the problem. Sadly, the tragic impact on young people’s hope and ambitions, of growing up in an environment riddled by corruption across judicial, education, law enforcement, healthcare, and civil service systems is rarely addressed.
History Colorado’s exhibits are rich in the stories of native peoples, early miners, fur traders, Western pioneers, and cattle barons. In 2007 and again in 2008, StoryCenter was invited to help integrate the voices of Colorado citizens themselves into the stories being told. The two workshops helped turn the tables on history museum interpretation, inviting members of the community to tell their own stories in their own words, and with their own photographs.
In the United States, many people believe female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) is not an issue. Western media have long focused on the notion that FGM/C occurs in “other countries,” with an emphasis on “African communities.” However, as the recent ruling on the case against Dawoodi Bohra doctors in Michigan for performing FGC on two minor girls demonstrates, FGC is both a global AND domestic issue, affecting communities outside AND within the United States. Within the United States, the CDC estimates that half a million women and girls are at risk of undergoing FGC. Sahiyo United Against Female Genital Cutting understands that FGM/C continues because it is viewed as an acceptable social norm, and works to build a cadre of women’s willing to speak out against the practice, as a way of supporting communities in advocating to end the practice.
In India and Bangladesh, the problem of gender-based violence is exacerbated by deeply rooted patriarchal social structures. Women and girls are discriminated against right from birth, and gender disparity is seen in all spheres – political, educational, religious, civil service, private sector, etc. Many longstanding cultural, religious, and traditional practices in both countries reinforce male superiority and define women as weak, subordinate human beings who exist solely to serve men and their needs. Beyond the immediate health impacts of gender-based violence, the long shadows of its enduring legacy can impede the ability of survivors to participate successfully in education and training activities, achieve economic stability, and engage with cultural and civic life. On a more personal level, the trauma of violence can scar women’s relationships with intimate partners, children, and friends.
The Women’s Foundation of California’s Women’s Policy Institute (WPI) is striving to increase the number of women and trans people who are actively engaged in public policy so that they can have a greater impact on the fundamental conditions that affect their lives, families, and communities. The WPI understands that storytelling forms an important part of the process of amplifying the voices of historically marginalized groups during the policymaking process, galvanizing community support for particular policies, and raising the awareness and consciousness of legislators as well as potential allies and supporters.
Public health practitioners are increasingly focused on the critical need to address the relationship between climate change and health. Leading the way on statewide efforts to build community resiliency for mitigating these impacts is the Oregon Health Authority (OHA), which in the fall of 2016 released a Climate and Health Resilience Plan. Among a range of actions outlined in the plan is the use of storytelling methods to engage local community members in learning about and responding to climate change.
Colleges and Universities across the United States and around the world are increasingly embracing models for service learning, as a way of connecting students with local communities and needs. As a way of kicking off a service-learning program led by the UMBC New Media Studio (NMS), StoryCenter led a series of digital storytelling trainings for staff and faculty. What then emerged was a collaboration involving the NMS and Retirement Living Television (RLTV), a closed circuit television programming effort of the Erickson Retirement Communities (now Erickson Living).
In 2005, two members of the Ohio State University (OSU) library system, Karen Diaz and Anne Fields, attended our StoryCenter digital storytelling workshop in Asheville, NC and together created a story about renovations to the OSU library. Upon their return to Ohio, they engaged the newly formed Digital Union in a project to integrate digital storytelling into the library system’s information technology and curriculum support services. A year later, OSU invited us to lead an on-campus workshop, for a group of faculty and staff. This session resulted in the formation of an OSU Digital Storytelling Leadership Team, comprised of members drawn from several parts of the university.
After decades of war and occupation, Afghanistan continues to face tremendous challenges. While the current government claims to support gender equality and women’s rights, daily conditions for women and girls have improved little. Rates of gender-based violence are high; the Taliban persists in its attempts to assert control; and the legacy of the ongoing conflict has left nearly 80% of women unable to read and write. Since 2009, the Afghan Women’s Writing Project (AWWP) has helped hundreds of Afghan women craft essays and poems and share them with the world. These writings enable thousands of readers each month hear directly from Afghan women on issues of personal, cultural, and political significance.
Traditional patriarchal and cultural norms in South Africa, coupled with the legacy of the systemic, state-sanctioned violence of Apartheid over generations, has fueled a society with one of the world’s highest rates of sexual and gender-based violence against adolescent girls and young women. Grassroot Soccer leverages the power of soccer to educate, inspire, and mobilize South African youth to overcome their greatest health challenges, live healthier, more productive lives, and be agents for change in their communities. The organization works with young adult mentors to incorporate sport in dynamic, interactive lessons that provide a safe space for engaging adolescents, deconstructing harmful gender norms, preventing violence, and encouraging participants to seek sexual and reproductive health services.
At StoryCenter, we've heard time and time again from public health professionals of the need to put the "public" back into public health, and while many talk about community engagement, they're still seeking successful and viable ways to put it into practice. This is what the Rocky Mountain Public Health Training Center (RMPH-TC) said to us when they initiated a partnership to bring StoryCenter's storytelling webinars and workshops to public health professionals across the Rocky Mountain region.
Since its founding in 1951, the vision of the Nature Conservancy has been a world where the diversity of life thrives, and people act to conserve nature for its own sake as well as its ability to fulfill their needs and enrich their lives. Through the dedicated efforts of its diverse staff, the Nature Conservancy uses a non-confrontational, collaborative approach to advance conservation efforts around the world.
Project Re•Vision aims to help disabled people share their experiences with healthcare providers and policymakers, in hopes of eliminating stereotypes, increasing understanding, and improving care and policy. “There’s a lot of evidence that people with disabilities are invalidated, and their healthcare is poorer than those without disabilities," states Project Re•Vision Director Dr. Carla Rice. “If we can bring a disability studies lens to care and begin to get providers– from doctors onward– to see disability as another identity category, as opposed to a biomedical or individual problem, that’s going to go a long way to improve healthcare interactions.”
While significant gains have been made in raising awareness about the challenges faced by LGBTQ-identified young people in navigating familial and community stigma and accessing queer-friendly health and mental health services, these youth continue to experience discrimination and misunderstanding in many mental health settings. The “Our Space” program of Sunny Hills Services (Hayward, CA) provides a safe environment for LGBTQ youth to talk about their difficulties and successes. Our Space also advocates with providers for improved service delivery.
Effectiveness and ethical practices often seem to be at odds, in professional environments, whether civic or commercial. The tendency to put organizational needs over the needs of people and their communities can lead to disastrous results. With appropriate training, support, and ongoing dialogue, leaders can find ways to hold the stories of their publics, alongside the story of the stresses and strains of maintaining an institution. Over the years, many organizations have created fellowship programs for emergent leadership, to instill a sense of ethics and integrity of purpose, in young professionals.
A museum that serves a million visitors a year has many stories to tell about the intersection between museum staff and the public. In 2014, the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County opened its massive "Nature Gardens/Nature Lab" indoor/outdoor permanent exhibit. As part of the launch preparations, the museum invited StoryCenter to assist in a series of workshops designed to explore how storytelling could inform the planning and implementation process and build a stronger sense of trust and awareness, among the many layers of staff engaged in the project.