Stories of Home: Working in Solidarity with refugees and immigrants in the U.S.
Many refugees and immigrant communities in the United States face rampant xenophobia and racist discrimination as right-wing rhetoric dominates the media landscape and support for the reality of what some migrants endure continues to dwindle. While numerous dedicated advocates and service providers continue to extend a warm welcome and much-needed support, demonizing newcomers has gained increased political currency over the past decade—research shows that immigrants' physical and mental health suffers as a result. Despite these challenges, immigrants and refugees across the country are coming together to create new definitions of family and community, build networks of care, and contribute to local social change efforts.
Stories of Home, a partnership of Silence Speaks and local nonprofits (see below) has been working in solidarity with refugee and immigrant communities to envision new models for decolonizing storytelling and media-making. By facilitating an exploration of unique narratives of “home” located in places, experiences, material objects, and feelings, our workshops offer safe spaces for participants to claim agency in sharing what is true for them, rather than speaking about what they’ve come to believe they’re expected to say. We have held seven unique workshops and collaborated with immigrant and refugee storytellers on more than 20 short videos.
In 2017, we led a collaboration of storytellers with Bay Area visual artists, and in 2018, we guided others through hands-on arts activities that bring their narratives to life in digital media. In 2020, additional storytellers created their stories in two fully-virtual workshops held during the pandemic. That same year, we worked on a virtual reality (VR) project to produce immersive media stories by immigrant and refugee women. In 2021, we supported Nepali women immigrants in sharing stories and also partnered with the California College for the Arts to have students illustrate “material memory” stories developed online. In 2022, 2023, and 2025, we supported community mental health advocates from immigrant and refugee communities through the story creation process. In 2026, we partnered with four Bay Area organizations to guide a group through performative digital storytelling activities and also worked with Pacific Islander elders. View selected stories below and find more on our YouTube Channel.
Special thanks to our partners: Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation, ARTogether, Center for Empowering Refugees and Immigrants, East Bay Sanctuary Covenant, Monument Impact, Richmond Area Multi-Services, Inc., and University of San Francisco.
Gratitude to our funders: an anonymous family foundation located in the San Francisco Bay Area; the East Bay Community Foundation; the California Arts Council, and the Zellerbach Family Foundation.