Help us fight stereotypes w/stories
Donation protected
Hi there.
We’re a small, scrappy community organization called Everyday Boston, and we’ve made it our mission to fight stereotypes with stories.
Here's how it works: With coaching from a former journalist (that’s me), the story ambassadors, who live or grew up in Boston, go out into their neighborhoods and across the city to capture the stories of people they find interesting and important. Then we work together to edit those recorded interviews into first-person stories for the website.
So far, we've listened to, recorded, edited, and published the stories of 30 Bostonians on our website - a teacher, a former bookie, a business owner, a mentor, a recovering addict, a stand-up comic, to name a few.
And we've done it on our own, outside of any newsroom, from the neighborhoods, without any funding.
Who we are: For now, there are eight of us on the team. We come from different neighborhoods and different cultures. The youngest is 24. The oldest is 77. We started out as strangers. Now we're family. Here's an interview with me, Cara, the founder, about how Everyday Boston began.
What we need: The time is right to grow this movement and take it city-wide- and maybe eventually to other cities. But to do that, we need some basic things:
- Business cards for every members of the team;
- Postcards, flyers and posters for our community events;
- Branding (Everyday Boston logo etc.); and
- Web design
We could probably find a fancy firm to do some work, but we want to hire youth in Boston to help us build. That means a partnership with Artists for Humanity, which trains low-income youth in graphic design, and pays them for their work. The cost: $4,000. Plus another $1000 for printing materials.
If we raise enough money, we'll partner with Resilient Coders, which trains young people in website development. For $3,000, they'll make our website more interactive. That means more people in the city can join us in shaping this portrait of the people of Boston.
Why invest: In these divided times, we think stereotypes are doing real damage to our city. They’re creeping into how we talk to strangers on the street and how we treat each other at work. They’re affecting not just how we feel about other neighborhoods, but how we feel about our own.
One of the only ways out of this mess, we believe, is through the stories of real people. That’s why we created Everyday Boston: to introduce you to neighbors you might not otherwise meet. It's our way of building community across a divided city.
We have a lot of momentum now. We've got people asking us to train them in interviewing, so that they can collect stories for their communities and causes.
So if you can, please help us grow this movement. We're grateful for anything you can spare!
Thanks in advance.
Cara, Carmen, Kathy, George, Gabbie, Corina, Theresa and Melissa
Everyday Boston
NOTE: There are other ways to support Everyday Boston if you don't have the funds: share this campaign with your friends! Sign up for free story alerts on our website. Follow us on Facebook or on Instagram. Or just visit everydayboston.org and see the faces, hear the voices, and read the words of your neighbors in your city/state/country/world.
We’re a small, scrappy community organization called Everyday Boston, and we’ve made it our mission to fight stereotypes with stories.
Here's how it works: With coaching from a former journalist (that’s me), the story ambassadors, who live or grew up in Boston, go out into their neighborhoods and across the city to capture the stories of people they find interesting and important. Then we work together to edit those recorded interviews into first-person stories for the website.
So far, we've listened to, recorded, edited, and published the stories of 30 Bostonians on our website - a teacher, a former bookie, a business owner, a mentor, a recovering addict, a stand-up comic, to name a few.
And we've done it on our own, outside of any newsroom, from the neighborhoods, without any funding.
Who we are: For now, there are eight of us on the team. We come from different neighborhoods and different cultures. The youngest is 24. The oldest is 77. We started out as strangers. Now we're family. Here's an interview with me, Cara, the founder, about how Everyday Boston began.
What we need: The time is right to grow this movement and take it city-wide- and maybe eventually to other cities. But to do that, we need some basic things:
- Business cards for every members of the team;
- Postcards, flyers and posters for our community events;
- Branding (Everyday Boston logo etc.); and
- Web design
We could probably find a fancy firm to do some work, but we want to hire youth in Boston to help us build. That means a partnership with Artists for Humanity, which trains low-income youth in graphic design, and pays them for their work. The cost: $4,000. Plus another $1000 for printing materials.
If we raise enough money, we'll partner with Resilient Coders, which trains young people in website development. For $3,000, they'll make our website more interactive. That means more people in the city can join us in shaping this portrait of the people of Boston.
Why invest: In these divided times, we think stereotypes are doing real damage to our city. They’re creeping into how we talk to strangers on the street and how we treat each other at work. They’re affecting not just how we feel about other neighborhoods, but how we feel about our own.
One of the only ways out of this mess, we believe, is through the stories of real people. That’s why we created Everyday Boston: to introduce you to neighbors you might not otherwise meet. It's our way of building community across a divided city.
We have a lot of momentum now. We've got people asking us to train them in interviewing, so that they can collect stories for their communities and causes.
So if you can, please help us grow this movement. We're grateful for anything you can spare!
Thanks in advance.
Cara, Carmen, Kathy, George, Gabbie, Corina, Theresa and Melissa
Everyday Boston
NOTE: There are other ways to support Everyday Boston if you don't have the funds: share this campaign with your friends! Sign up for free story alerts on our website. Follow us on Facebook or on Instagram. Or just visit everydayboston.org and see the faces, hear the voices, and read the words of your neighbors in your city/state/country/world.
Organizer
Cara Solomon
Organizer
