The following was shared in our October 25th newsletter. We have a local, DMV-based, audience, as well as people who attend our online storytelling shows, workshops, and the Women’s Storytelling Festival from all over the country and around the world. If you’d like to receive our newsletter, you can subscribe for free here.
Notes from the DMV (DC, Maryland, Virginia):
For those of you in the DC Metro area, I am here too and I am feeling all the feels.
For those of you outside this area, you may not see how bad it’s gotten. I know the DMV is not alone in this, but as a region built around supporting the Federal Government, we are a unique kind of hard hit.
We’ve hardly recovered, if at all, from the mass layoffs that happened several months ago. Now, with the government shutdown, the majority of people that I know, who still had jobs, are either furloughed and working (or not working) for no pay, or working until contracts run out and they are out of work, or they are working until their business or place of employment has to shutdown for lack of clients. In this region, a majority of people either work for the federal government or work for an organization supporting the government. The rest of the people work in jobs that depend on people spending money. And since so many of us have no money to spend, even those in the area who don’t work for the government are losing income.
As the Executive Director of a non-profit, I have seen the impact from elimination of funding for grants, and, more directly, loss of ticket sales, donations, sponsorships, and corporate contracts for workshops, webinars, and presentations. It’s a tough year for Better Said Than Done, as well as a tough year for our community.
I truly believe that wherever people are sharing stories and listening to each other there follows a kinder community. Better Said Than Done will continue to host shows and workshops and the Women’s Storytelling Festival for as long as we can. And we will continue to offer discount or free tickets whenever possible for as long as we can. We need community right now. We need kindness. So we will continue to do our part to keep the doors open to bring in and send out people filled with kindness in their hearts. We will do our best to see that we all get through this, together.
Jessica Piscitelli Robinson, Executive Director
Better Said Than Done
Because my Board would encourage me to do so, I am also sharing the following links to support Better Said Than Done. As always, the best way to support us (to encourage us to keep doing what we’re doing) is to buy tickets to our shows – our Events Calendar is Here – or the Women’s Storytelling Festival or to sign up for our workshops. But if you already do that and still have more to give, well then, we thank you kindly for the extra love, and keep reading!
To make a direct donation to Better Said Than Done, Donate Here. Any amount is appreciated. All direct donations go to supporting Better Said Than Done’s mission of providing opportunities for performance, discussion and community building through workshops and classes in the art of storytelling and the production of storytelling performances and festivals.
If you’d like to sponsor the Women’s Storytelling Festival, find Sponsorship Opportunities Here.
Better Said Than Done is a 501(c)(3) public charity – which means that donations, gifts, grants, sponsorships, etc., are tax deductible!