Healing Story Alliance is a not-for-profit, educational, arts organization which provides online resources and concert, workshop, and community programming in support of storytelling as a healing art.
Description
‘Kindness is having the ability to speak with love,
listen with patience, and act with compassion.”
-Random Acts of Kindness Foundation
Join the Healing Story Alliance for a special gathering to share and explore stories of kindness in its many faces and forms. Through folk tales and personal stories, we will dive deeply into multiple experiences of kindness. What is it? How does it impact us and our relationships to ourselves, to each other, to the world? Come and listen to “kind stories” shared by both professional tellers and community members and see what memories of kindness emerge for you. Featured tellers are Peninnah Schram, Gwendolyn Napier, Jeeva Raghunath, and emcee Joel Ying.
About the Storytellers
Peninnah Schram is an internationally known storyteller, teacher, author, recording artist, and is Professor Emerita of Speech and Drama at Stern College of Yeshiva University. She presents storytelling programs and workshops for all ages. Peninnah is the author of fourteen books of Jewish folktales and is the recipient of the prestigious Covenant Award for Outstanding Jewish Educator (1995) awarded by The Covenant Foundation. In 1999 she received The Circle of Excellence Award from the National Storytelling Network for "a body of work which is nationally recognized as a shining example of quality in the art form of storytelling performance." Peninnah has also been awarded the National Storytellers Network 2003 Lifetime Achievement Award "For sustained and exemplary contributions to storytelling in America" and the NSN’s 2017 Talking Leaves Award for her folktale books and essays on the Jewish oral tradition. Jane Yolen wrote about her: “When Peninnah Schram tells a story, even the leaves on the trees stop trembling to listen.”
Jeeva Raghunath has been a professional storyteller since 1997, telling stories to both adults and children. She is noted for characterisation, use of voice and improvisational skills. She has travelled to 27 countries performing in festivals and educational institutions and conducting storytelling workshops. Jeeva has been a mentor to many upcoming storytellers and runs a popular online story clinic where she coaches storytellers one on one according to their individual needs and interests. Jeeva’s company Kathaikalatta runs an international storytelling festival “Under the Aalamaram every year in Chennai, India. She is also an author of 15 children’s books and translated over 65 books from English to Tamil. She has won several awards, the most recent being “Mangaiyar Tharagai 2024” (Star Lady) for her services to the community through storytelling.
Gwendolyn J. Napier – aka “Miss LuvDrop”. Native of Atlanta, Georgia. Retired Educator from Fulton County Schools. Founder of LuvDrop Productions - The “Heart of Storytelling” sharing One Story at a Time. Fun Educational Entertainer, Storyteller, Singer, Poet, Drummer, Workshop Facilitator and more... She has been performing as a Storytelling Artist for over 15 years. Performing and Teaching Artist for the Georgia Council of the Arts Registry. Performing Year-Round Storytelling Artist for the Wrens Nest House Museum in Atlanta, and an Atlanta Ambassador for the Georgia Early Education Alliance for Ready Children. She has participated in many Venues celebrating Juneteenth as the Historic Portrayal of Harriet Ross Tubman in “The Annual Atlanta Parade” for the last 8 years, Clarkston Georgia Juneteenth Events including Schools, Churches, Libraries, Performing Arts Theatre, Conferences and Festivals. She enjoys sharing Folktales, Fables, Narratives and more. Miss Napier has portrayed many other historical Women in History as Harriet Tubman, Bessie Coleman, Mahalia Jackson, Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks, Shirley Chisholm and others. Board Member of Kuumba Storytellers of Georgia, National Associations of Black Storytellers, Inc.
including the Adopt-A- Tellers Program, and Brother Blue Circle of Elders, President of the Georgia Storytelling Network and Board Member At-Large for the National Storytelling Network.
Emcee
Dr. Joel Ying, MD, is a Physician-Educator-Storyteller. He practices holistic medicine in Naples, Florida, and teaches “Storytelling as Healing” at Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) in Fort Myers. While exploring the world of public speaking, he discovered the art of storytelling performance in 2015. He believes storytelling is not just a performance art, but a healing art. Awakening the art of stories in others brings healing to each person and to the world. With touching personal stories and world folk tales, his storytelling range, like his practice of medicine, bridges the traditional and the modern. He performs regularly, produces storytelling events, and loves listening to a good story! JoelYing.com
Community Tellers
Arlene Angelmaier’s husband Rudi always joked that she was “Inspiration” and he was “Perspiration.” She explains that he meant that she would come up with ideas and he was the mighty backup to see the project through. Over 57 years they, as a team, chartered three Toastmasters International clubs, one of which is still active for 27 years. They produced three storytelling festivals and created a Christian Clown ministry active for 15 years. Sadly, now Perspiration passed away November 9, 2024, but their legacy lives on.
Elaine Shapiro's career has spanned nutrition, motherhood, and librarianship. She was the library media specialist at an elementary school in CT for 15 years, and retired over a year ago. She is an avid reader, a social justice advocate, an organic gardener, and an aspiring quilt maker.
Date & Time
Sun, Mar 2, 2025 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM