How the Stories We Don’t Tell Become the Medicine We Need – CREC podcast

On August 3, Jen sat down with Lindsay Morgan, Nonprofit Resource Specialist at Sandpoint’s Community Resource EnVision Center. CREC connects North Idaho residents and non-profits to foster service, support, and connection.

Jen and Lindsay talked about the power of storytelling, Jen’s commitment to holding spaces for all stories and experiences, and how that informs the work that PVP does.

How the Stories We Don’t Tell Become the Medicine We Need – from the CREC blog

Storytelling is one of the oldest and most powerful tools we have for building community. It is disarming in a way that debate rarely is. A personal story cannot be refuted. As Jen Jackson Quintano with the Pro-Voice Project put it on a recent episode of A Little Birdie Told Me, when someone shares their experience with vulnerability and honesty, it tends to open doors instead of close them.

That is the foundation of the Pro-Voice Project. Jen, its founder and executive director, joined me to talk about the work she has been building right here in Sandpoint. The Pro-Voice Project uses storytelling and community conversation to help people share experiences that have often felt unspeakable, centering reproductive health care, and to build connection and understanding across what can feel like very wide divides.

Jen's journey to founding the Pro-Voice Project is one of those stories that reminds you that the most meaningful work often finds us when we least expect it. Her background is in writing and storytelling, and before all of this she was an arborist in Sandpoint, running a chainsaw and feeding trees into a chipper. She is quick to point out that you do not need a special degree or an impressive resume to do this kind of work. What you need is passion, a willingness to be vulnerable, and the belief that listening to one another matters. Continue reading →