I have had such an overwhelming response from so many of you to my piece a few weeks back about my youngest daughter’s experience at our local skate park.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
It was lovely to hear your feedback, sharing your experiences and thoughts.
It reminded me of the power of the narrative to connect and share.
You may have heard me say before our stories are our strength and power, they are how we grow and learn, it is how we connect with our past and look to our future.
You may also have read in some of my previous pieces that the community centre works with and provides services and support to over 2,500 people a year.
While this statistic does demonstrate the magnitude of our reach, it is just a statistic.
It does not really share the real stories.
A statistic does not share with you the real struggle, strength and gratitude that we at the community centre witness every day.
These stories are not ours, they are not our pain, loss, grief and hardship.
Nor is the capacity, strength and will to ensure loved ones are cared for and secure, our stories.
We at the community centre are simply the witnesses to these stories.
We are the ones who have the privileged situation to hear and comfort these stories.
And they inspire us to support, care, connect and empower the teller, so that everyone in our community can have hope and the ability to look to a future that is valued.
In many ways the we at the community centre are like those boys at the skate park: supporting, nurturing and encouraging people to find their brave and take that step together – over the edge and down the ramp - to feel the sense of pride and accomplishment that comes with working towards something and finding a way through despite the fear and self doubt.
It’s just that we do this with a cuppa and a listening ear.
The challenges we face are varied.
How to help a mother with two young children safely leave domestic violence, how to keep a roof over a family’s head when dad has been laid off, how to support someone to keep going when a partner has become so ill that caring for them is a full time job that has no income.
These stories are all our stories.
How can you connect with these stories to be part of the strength?