“We know that stories are a powerful tool to change hearts and minds and energize people to take action,” says Veronica Marquez, communications manager at All Home who helped lead the campaign. “We started this initiative to increase the capacity to do storytelling work effectively and ethically amongst the Bay Area housing justice movement. We are proud of what we have done together over the past several months, and are inspired by the storytellers who stepped up to share their own real and raw experiences with housing insecurity and highlight the real solutions happening in our communities.”
Earlier this year, All Home and NPH had conversations with community partners in the housing justice field to learn more about their needs around storytelling—a powerful strategy that can be hard to do well. All Home and NPH designed their initiative to help meet those needs, and put out a call to organizations interested in participating in the storytelling initiative.
Seven organizations working across the housing justice field were selected to participate. They include:
- Canal Alliance
- Episcopal Community Services of San Francisco
- MidPen Housing
- Puente de la Costa Sur
- San Francisco Community Land Trust
- SOS Richmond
- St. Mary's Center
Participants received training and coaching earlier this year during a series of virtual and in-person workshops to learn best practices for narrative strategy and ethical storytelling, and develop a concept for a short video. They were then matched with local videographers who shot, edited, and produced the videos of Bay Area residents like Maria, in partnership with each organization. Trust was an essential part of the storytelling process, as advocates and filmmakers worked to produce the stories ethically and authentically, ensuring each community member had agency and input throughout the process.
“These stories and storytellers give me hope,” says Rob Avruch, senior program officer for housing affordability at CZI. “This project showcases what it looks like to build narrative power with, within and on behalf of communities impacted by our state’s housing affordability crisis. Through these stories, we can create a shift in what is possible and make a meaningful and material impact in the lives of those currently or at risk of experiencing housing insecurity.”
The film premiere was held at CZI’s Community Space on Sept. 17, where NPH and All Home celebrated the storytellers, filmmakers C.B. Smith, Kristin Tièche, Caron Creighton, and Estevan Padilla, and organizations who were part of the projects, and inspired others to use storytelling in the movement for housing justice.
Maria has a stable place to live for now, but she shared her story to help advocate for other farmworker families whose housing is still controlled by their employers.
“It gives me hope that people are waking up, they are raising their voices, and we are trying to get them to look at Pescadero,” she said. “It is more than just a beautiful place to visit. Pescadero has hard-working people, people who make an effort every day to get ahead, and who need to have a home and decent place to live. That gives me hope, knowing that maybe someone can hear us.”
