Since the pandemic, the West Seattle Meaningful Movies group has co-hosted online events with the Mt Baker Meaningful Movies Group. The Mt Baker Meaningful Movies team is delighted that Westside Unitarian Universalist Church is providing a new home for in-person Meaningful Movies events in West Seattle! Please join SSCAN and Mt Baker Meaningful Movies for this upcoming event!
In this powerful award-winning film, director Melinda Raebyne embeds herself one winter at one of Seattle’s homeless camps, Camp Second Chance, challenging public ignorance and humanizing a population that locals would rather neglect, sharing with you some of their personal stories and her actual experience of what it’s like to be homeless. By putting faces to the statistics and a voice to their stories, she humanizes a population in ways that allow viewers to see themselves and better relate to a neglected and often “forgotten population.”
What’s possible when society’s “forgotten population” decides to beat the odds and instead of putting hope into a broken system invest their hopes in each other, using the pains of their past to be the fuel that drives them to create a better tomorrow. Camp Second Chance is an encampment founded by the homeless to foster an environment that allows them to become productive people in society. “Stories of Us” are their stories and ours, one of triumph, showing us that the power lies within our own willpower not to just survive but to thrive.
“Stories of Us” was awarded the Turner Legacy Award by Meaningful Movies Project in 2020 and the Audience Choice Award at the Tacoma Film Festival.
Cost: This is a free event, however, donations to support the program are greatly appreciated.
Time: Doors open at 6:30, viewing starts at 7:00
Westside supports masking, provides spaces for social distancing, and is wheelchair accessible.
There will be a discussion following the film to answer questions and to gain more insights from our speakers.
Special Guests: Melinda Raebyne, Dain Norman, and Dax Foxx.
BIOS:
Melinda Raebyne is an award-winning Taiwanese-American filmmaker based in Tacoma, WA. As an independent filmmaker, Melinda works intentionally with communities to share local stories that have global resonance and impact. Her award-winning films include Ellos Gritan Libertad (They Scream Freedom), Stories of Us: Camp Second Chance, and Asylum. An advocate for independent filmmaking, she is affiliated with the Meaningful Movies Project and Washington Filmworks and has received a Firelight Media Spark Fund grant.
Dain Norman is a singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and audio producer. His songs can be heard on the radio in Washington, Europe and Australia. In 2013 Dain arrived in the PNW with only $15, he lived in his car and street-performed to get by. Since its founding in 2015, Norman’s Tacoma-based band The Chrysalis Effect has released its full album “Lantern” and toured throughout Washington and Oregon. They are working on their second album, Shades of Blue.
We are delighted to have Dax Foxx join the panel conversation and speak to some of the misconceptions about those experiencing homelessness. Dax was formerly homeless and now has a non-profit focusing on helping homeless youth and young adults in Pierce County secure stable housing. She provides a personal perspective along with showing what’s possible when given an opportunity to thrive. Her non-profit “The Power of Two” provides support to our homeless youth by helping them get access to the right services that will place them on a path to long-term success. Helping the Homeless Population with Our Programs (thepowertwo.org).
Westside Unitarian Universalist Congregation
WSUU is a welcoming home for spiritual seekers to gather and find companions for life’s journey. Rooted in values of community, transformation, pluralism, and justice, they seek to be a hub for connection in the broader West Seattle neighborhood.
City of Seattle Office of Arts and Culture
This event was made possible by a grant from the City of Seattle’s Office of Arts and Culture! Thank you City of Seattle!
