Stories make us human – we live, breathe, and think in stories. Storytelling creates empathy and understanding – it’s a way of putting the reader into someone else’s shoes and truly knowing the difference that WCK makes to families across B.C. every day. 

We share stories about the impact of our work to connect supporters to what’s happening on the ground and to encourage people to support what we’re doing, however they can.

The stories that people want to tell. 

We might discuss ideas or themes, but ultimately it is the storyteller’s choice as to what they wish to tell. We work to make the process empowering, and to highlight people’s personal resilience and dignity. 

At WCK, we know that our supporters prioritize our families being treated with the highest respect and ethical standards. Therefore, we:

• believe every person’s true story is powerful and does not need to be manipulated
• never sensationalize
• do not use pity or tears as a tool
• give credit and ownership to the storyteller
• make the storytelling process respectful
• put the power into the storyteller’s hands 
• acknowledge our own blind spots and keep working to raise standards across the non-profit community 

When someone wants to tell their story, and feels ready to, they can connect with us and we are so happy to support them with the process and embrace their story. 

Other times, we reach out to people in our community to ask about stories they might want to tell. We want people to know the opportunity is there, but that ‘No’ or ‘Not right now’ are always completely acceptable answers.

We share stories in many ways. These include:

• blogs
• short quotes and testimonials
• photo stories
• videos 
• audio recordings

Stories can be shared:

• on our website
• across our social media
• in reports, brochures, and other hard copy materials

People can choose the process that works best for them. Choices include:

• writing the story up themselves
• creating the story with the help of some question prompts 
• being interviewed by someone from the WCK team (then either person can write it up to be reviewed) 
• being video recorded online or filmed in person
• sending in photos, audio clips, and/or written testimonials

In storytelling, we believe the process is just as important as the end product. The storyteller holds the power at every stage of the process. They:

• choose what story to tell
• choose the process
• decide which details to include
• can say “No” or change their mind at any time
• choose which questions they are comfortable answering
• make edits along the way 
• review and approve the final version before it is published
• can ask for the story to be removed from use at any time