Our community grows stronger when people have the opportunity to tell their own stories. When Friends with Disabilities partnered with Public Media Network, they learned the power of telling their stories.
Paul Mayfield, previous program director at Friends with Disabilities, experienced the power of community media firsthand. Through PMN’s Narrative Lab, he and his team produced stories that highlight both the struggles and triumphs of living with a physical disability.
“All the participants from Friends with Disabilities were overwhelmed by the experience,” Paul said. “PMN made a big difference in helping us tell our story, for which we are forever grateful.”
Public Media Network provides media training and resources so that everyone – regardless of background or ability – can share their voice.
The founder and CEO of Friends with Disabilities, Sharmese Anderson, was 35 years old when diagnosed with a disease that would cause her to slowly lose her eyesight.
But instead of viewing her blindness as a hindrance, Sharmese views it as a gift that led her to find her purpose in life. Because of support from our donors, Sharmese was able to share this wonderful message of joy and passion with our community.
Friends with Disabilities also participated in PMN’s PSA Day, where they worked with our team to create a short PSA video about what their nonprofit organization does. Check it out here.
If you’ve ever felt alone in the world or in what you’re going through, you know how important it is to share stories like Paul and Sharmese’s, so they can find their way to the people who may need to hear it. Stories have the power to uplift, to spread joy and resilience, and make sure people know that they aren’t alone.
This is the power of community-driven media. Your support will ensure that more people can share their perspectives. Every donation fuels workshops, production resources, and local programming.
But Public Media Network has a problem. Most of our traditional funding comes from cable fees, designed to give back to the community. As more and more people cancel their cable subscription, we are losing more and more funding, which makes it harder for us to share local stories like these. If you’ve gotten value from watching the content on our website, channels, or streaming, please become a monthly donor today to keep supporting local storytellers.
