Story Bank

The Healthy Community Partnership of the Mahoning Valley

Recent Stories

Mission of the project

To gather and share stories to inspire HOPE, HEART, and HEALING for a healthier Mahoning Valley.

Use stories to connect people to place and each other

Stories show the heart and hope of our community. They connect us to each other and the spaces that we share together and can inspire us to collectively heal from pain and enact real change for each other.

Use stories to Humanize data

Often time data can be disconnected from the soul and experience of an individual. By collecting stories of peoples experience it allows us to put a face, name, and heart behind the numbers.


Use stories to create change

Our stories can change our communities. Telling stories from our childhoods about how difficult it was to access healthy foods nearby can inspire us to ensure there is healthy food in community stores now.

Use stories to inform

We can use our stories to let others in our community know what is happening in our community and what challenges we are facing.


Use stories to show progress and recognize success

Sometimes we want to wait until we finish something to tell the story of it instead of capturing moments throughout the story. By capturing a story as it progresses it allows us to see how our stories build and show that sometimes the end is not what we thought it would be.

Use stories to encourage shared learning and growth

Telling our stories can help others learn what resources we used and how to replicate our work. This allows others to stand on a firm foundation instead of having to repeat what has already been done before even getting started.