Two Hundred Stories

 

On October 29th, The Immigrant Story published its 200th story. In celebration of this exciting milestone, we want to share some of the highlights of the past four years.

When The Immigrant Story began in 2017, we couldn’t have anticipated the diversity of stories we would document, the variety of formats we would employ, the number of exhibitions we would hold, the various events we would sponsor, and the energy and expertise of our volunteers. In four years, our efforts have grown from documenting stories in short form narratives to long form stories, podcasts, videos, live storytelling, and exhibitions. In the process we have become a premiere storytelling platform in the Pacific Northwest.

We have shared the stories of 200 immigrants from 72 countries, nearly 90% of whom are people of color. About 40 percent of our stories are from refugees, including 41 survivors who faced genocides, atrocities of war and the Holocaust.

We have mentored 24 college students and two high school students, several of whom have gone on to professional jobs in media. We have provided curricular lesson plans and workshops to high school teachers to guide their students in producing human- interest journalism. It is heartening to learn that we are used as a learning tool in classrooms across the country, from Little Rock, Arkansas to New York City to Belton, Texas.

 

Forty-four writers, 8 editors, eighteen photographers, ten podcast producers, 2 podcast hosts, 6 design experts, 3 audio engineers, 3 videographers, and 4 technical experts from 9 different states across the country have helped create the stories, imagery, and audio for our web pages, exhibits, podcasts and videos.

Of the currently active 54 volunteers, 76% are women, 31% are immigrants and first generation, and 26% are immigrants of color.

The support we have received has been universal, our readership global. Several of our stories have attracted more than 50,000 readers.

We earned four awards including the Oregon Stewardship award, and the Best New Non-Profit in the Pacific Northwest.

We are humbled and honored by the trust our readership has placed in us and our work. We do not take that trust for granted. We look forward to continuing to create compelling content in a variety of forms as we continue the conversation about the lives and contributions of the immigrants and refugees who come to these shores, become our neighbors and create our nation.

 

We believe that we are telling stories that can change the world —

one person at a time.