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In Person Events are happening in West Seattle!

by Anne Miller October 21, 2024 1

After a long hiatus, audience members can now attend in person events in West Seattle at their new location at Westside Unitarian Universalist Church!

Because of the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, the West Seattle group decided that they could only cohost online events for several years. But now (drumroll please!) there is a newly revitalized West Seattle Meaningful Movies group that hosted its first in person screening in over four years on October 19, 2024.

This in-person event at Westside Unitarian Church (which was made possible by a grant from the City of Seattle’s Office of Arts and Culture) featured the film Stories of Us: Camp Second Chance. Film director, Melinda Raebyne (who is also the MMP Manager) attended the screening and participated in a panel discussion with  musician, Dain Norman and unhoused service provider Dax Foxx. After the film there was a community conversation during which attendees asked questions and shared experiences with each other. Through the movie, film, panel discussion and community conversation, the goal for this inaugural event was to increase awareness, empathy, outreach and support for the unhoused population in W Seattle.

For people who may not have seen it, the film, Stories of Us: Camp Second Chance introduces director Melinda Raebyne, as she 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.”

The Meaningful Movies Project and the newly revitalized West Seattle Meaningful Movies Group are grateful to the City of Seattle’s Office of Arts and Culture for making this inaugural event a reality!