Holding Story at Home

Being in community at Woodlawn United’s annual Woodlawn Saturday Supper revealed how narrative functions as infrastructure, why authorship matters, and what it means to tell the story of a place with care. Listening to how residents, leaders, and partners carry both the history and the future of their neighborhood, this piece explores how community voice, trust, and place-based storytelling shape belonging, perception, and how a place is understood and valued.

What happens when an organization’s mission, message, and presence finally move in sync? This story traces the process of shaping a cohesive narrative for Templo Calvario, strengthening its visibility, and creating a communications strategy that supports both growth and community connection.

What does it take for a citywide initiative to move with clarity, care, and a shared sense of purpose, especially when multiple organizations, leaders, and communities are all carrying pieces of the same story? This work is about more than programs and participation. It is about creating the internal alignment that allows a mission to be communicated with consistency, integrity, and trust, so that everyone involved understands not only what is being done, but why it matters a

Hunger is often discussed in numbers and systems, but behind every data point is a family navigating uncertainty and a community doing what it can to hold one another together. This piece reflects on how strategic storytelling at Feeding America helped shape understanding, preserve dignity, and invite people into a shared responsibility, showing how the way a story is told can influence not just awareness, but action.

In a close-knit town, caregivers are not an abstract audience. They are neighbors, family members, and familiar faces, and the communications needed to reflect that reality with care and intention. The “Nominate a Caregiver” initiative invited the community to speak for themselves, allowing real stories and gratitude to shape the campaign and turning recognition into something shared rather than scripted.

I remember one of the first moments it really clicked for me what Love INC was carrying. It wasn’t in a meeting room or on a slide deck, but in the way people spoke about the families they walked alongside, the volunteers who kept showing up, and the responsibility of holding hope with care and dignity. What became clear was that this work wasn’t only about programs or services, it was about stewarding a story that needed to be shared with clarity, consistency, and deep respe