MMT is pleased to co-present a screening of Stories of Us: Camp Second Chance, complimented by a  moving musical performance and meaningful discussion with the filmmaker, and community guests.

In this powerful film, director Melinda Raebyne embeds herself one winter at one of Seattle’s homeless camps, Camp Second Chance, challenging public ignorance and humanizing a population that locals would rather neglect, sharing with you some of their personal stories and her actual experience of what it’s like to be homeless. By putting faces to the statistics and a voice to their stories, she humanizes a population in ways that allow viewers to see themselves and better relate to a neglected and often “forgotten population.”

What’s possible when society’s “forgotten population” decides to beat the odds and instead of putting hope into a broken system invest their hopes in each other, using the pains of their past to be the fuel that drives them to create a better tomorrow. Camp Second Chance is an encampment founded by the homeless to foster an environment that allows them to become productive people in society. “Stories of Us” is their stories and ours, one of triumph, showing us that the power lies within our own willpower not to just survive but to thrive.

“Stories of Us” was awarded the Turner Legacy Award by Meaningful Movies Project in 2020 and the Audience Choice Award at the Tacoma Film Festival.

You can learn more about Melinda Raebyne’s films on Facebook (www.facebook.com/MelindaRaebyneFilms) or through her YouTube channel (youtube.com/channel/UCMtCunsbHG2vgqMHsg3KXaQ).