(Rye, October 24, 2013) From November 12-14, the Rye YMCA will encourage its members to share their personal stories, from the back stories that brought them to the Y to the successes and challenges encountered on the road to healthy living.
Modeled loosely on StoryCorps, a national non-profit oral history project, “Voices from the Community: The Rye Y Story Project” will give members the opportunity to speak with a staff interviewer in a “story booth” that will be set up in the lobby for three days.
“The Y is a place where members, staff and volunteers share their hopes, their goals, and their stories with each other every day,” Executive Director Gregg Howells observed. “Our goal is to further that sense of community by digging a little deeper and giving everyone who walks through our doors a chance to share their Y experience with others.”
The Rye Y Story Project was launched last October in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Many local residents who found refuge at the Y took the opportunity to sit with interviewers and tell their story. Nearly thirty people were interviewed; their stories and photos were later exhibited at the Y.
Interviews will take approximately 10-15 minutes. Members, staff and volunteers may also share their stories online at https://www.ryeymca.org/general/tell-us-your-story/. Individual stories will be transcribed and may be used, with permission, in Rye Y newsletters, solicitations, photo exhibits or Annual Report, on the Y’s website or Facebook page, or in the Y’s Storied Lives column in the Rye Record. Every person who sits for an interview, or submits a story online will receive a Y blank spiral notebook.
“Everyone has a story to tell,” Howells concluded. “We hope that our members will once again join us for this exciting effort to share their stories with our broader community.”
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