Digital storytelling taking root in the community

Back in June 2010 I planted some seeds at the Building Community Narratives Through Multimedia Storytelling one-day digital storytelling workshop I facilitated during the Community Arts Ontario Conference in Kitchener, Ontario.

Five first-time digital storytellers joined me that day to do a storywalk from Victoria to Cedar Street in downtown Kitchener. I’ve put together some of these stories in this short video:

These seeds of a community-based digital storytelling initiative have taken root and are beginning to blossom.

I recently completed a digital storytelling project with House of Friendship (@HOFKW) where four women who found help through the agency’s addictions services told their personal stories about recovery.

The agency’s executive director, John Neufeld (@JohnNeufeld98) is meeting with groups around Waterloo Region to show these stories – Voices from House of Friendship – and raise awareness of House of Friendship’s work

House of Friendship, at least for me, has been a benchmark social service organization in the community. It has great strength in recognizing needs and finding innovative ways to address those needs. Highlighting of these women’s personal, digital stories as part of the agency’s story is just one example.

It was truly a transformational experience to work with these women to find their inner storyteller and help them bring their deeply personal experiences to an audience of engaged listeners.

If you are a member of a group interested in finding out more about House of Friendship’s work in addictions services you can contact them to arrange an information session and a screening of the personal stories of four remarkable and courageous women.