Trust and Believe: Storytelling for Successful Homecoming

Income inequality

County of Los Angeles (select only if your project has a countywide benefit) City of Los Angeles (select only if your project has a citywide benefit) Other

Pilot or new project, program, or initiative (testing or implementing a new idea)

Solidarity Media Network understands that storytelling is more than just a pastime, it’s a worldmaking practice, a healing practice, and a learning tool. More than 5,000 people are released each quarter from jails in Los Angeles County. The number of returning citizens in Los Angeles County grows when we include those coming home from State and Federal prisons. Stories can empower and can also disempower. Stories can uplift and can also tear down. Formerly incarcerated community members return home to stories about them, often against them, but rarely for them or by them. We use storytelling rooted in community as a way to create a network of care and empowerment for those experiencing re-entry after long or short periods of incarceration.

The Trust and Believe podcast from Solidarity Media Network and Lessonz Learned builds compassion and capacity through authentic storytelling about re-entry. Each season of 6 episodes weaves together personal experience from our vivacious host and re-entry professional Terrall E. Tillman with questions from the community and the expertise of special guests. Produced and hosted by justice-impacted media makers, the podcast advances access to creative industry employment while also providing invaluable and credible insights and inspiration for those experiencing re-entry or serving the re-entry community. In addition to podcast platforms, our podcast will be distributed via YouTube to ensure no cost access for all. Our holistic approach includes public programs, audience engagement, and the publication of shared resources. Trust and Believe is designed to combat isolation, encourage a depth of understanding, and build community for justice-impacted and non-justice impacted residents of LA County and beyond.

Our project is designed at scale to support and engage formerly incarcerated individuals returning home to Los Angeles County. Audience members who are experiencing re-entry will feel less isolated and more confident about their success. Re-entry professionals will deepen their approaches to serving their clients through the authentic storytelling and first-hand re-entry experience Trust and Believe delivers. General audience members will gain knowledge about the re-entry journey and increase their compassion for those returning home which will lead to a more welcoming environment. As our work grows, we will develop robust and sustainable pipelines for employment and professional development of formerly incarcerated media makers in order to support them as they bring authentic and engaged storytelling to our region.