I feature an interesting website, blog, Twitter feed, Facebook page or other online destination related to Waterloo Region on CKWR with Randolph J. Johnston called #WRawesome Online, Mondays at about 12:30.

#WRawesome: Under One Roof video series

The House of Friendship in Kitchener has released a series of videos in support of its Under One Roof campaign to raise funds for integrated centre that will be a permanent home for House of Friendship’s women’s addiction services (Alcontrol, Moving Forward, and Bridges to Health)and Addiction Supportive Housing (ASH) program. The videos tell the stories of women who have been helped by these programs.

Here’s Alena’s Story

There are three other videos in the series. Each tells a powerful story about how the House of Friendship makes an impact on women dealing with addiction. It does not take much imagination how by moving to a single modern, new facilty (the former Anselma House) would improve its services.

Video story telling with a difference

I’ve spoken about the importance of video story telling in the past but you likely noticed that these videos are different than your standard videos.

The difference is these videos are an art form known as digital story telling that allows everyday people to tell their stories without any technical expertise. There is a distinct process and format to digital storytelling that begins with an intensive workshop until the stories are ready to be shared. Local videographer/photographer Dwight Storring is the mastermind behind the House of Friendship’s use of digital storytelling. If you are looking for a different way to tell the stories of the people your organizaitions serves, you should consider digital storytelling.

Youtube tips

I suggest that the House of Friendship create a playlist of the Under One Roof videos. That will help to ensure that they don’t get lost on a channel that has lots of content and is being actively used. They should also consider other playlists that pull together videos from a common campaign or with a common target audience.

I also strongly encourage them to embed the videos into their website similar to what I have done rather than directing people to go to Youtube to watch them.