Celebrating the Power of Story
Welcome to the Home for Good Coalition newsletter. H4G is building a coalition of parents, service providers, funders, lawyers, advocates, activists, community members, and political leaders, joined in the purpose of system-wide transformation. As a group, we practice being the community that we’re building our nation to be.
The past few years have been tumultuous, to say the least. Given the violence and division currently afoot, many have made statements about who we are not as a country. Yet the truth needs to be acknowledged and stated before we can heal — we have to admit that, Yes, this is who we are. We are a nation long steeped in racial and social injustice supported by white supremacist entitlement and arrogance. The result is a high level of poverty supported by multiple systems — the legal system, housing, food, education, child welfare, welfare, and criminal justice system. Typically thought of as separate, in reality these systems are intertwined. Real change must be led by the people most affected by these systems. Our mission at Collective Power is to give a voice to those who are most impacted.
We believe in the power of the story. To foster change, Collective Power provides a forum for personal accounts, for strategic thought, and the creative solutions that arise from grappling with systemic injustice.
Storytelling is a powerful way to exorcise our personal demons, and to heal our personal and collective trauma; there is a strength in vulnerability that we must respect. Telling an individual story allows the listener into our world, a mirror into the listener’s life. When we see our similarities, we can empathize with another, and we are changed.
