A new initiative that hopes to engage community, share kindness and connection
In such times of uncertainty that we find ourselves in, it can be hard to find uplifting news stories. Artist and OC staff member Alison Beaumont is launching a new initiative that hopes to engage community, share kindness and connection. Beaumont had the idea in March when the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown began and is now excited to launch this new project.
Beaumont works as the North Okanagan Coordinator in the Student, Grad and Co-op department at Okanagan College, working alongside students and employers. Earlier in the fall semester of 2020, she helped initiate the start of the College’s new work-integrated learning project. The new initiative saw an increase in the number of coordinators available for students and employers to connect with around co-op opportunities.
On Voices of Hope, she said, “I have always been grateful for the community connections around me, whether its neighbours, co-workers or even a stranger you might meet in the street.”
“I think about when the car in front has paid for my coffee or when I didn’t have dollar for my cart, there are kind helpers all around.” With the pandemic, she found that these chance encounters and interactions were lacking.
“I did a short project last year looking at neighbours and community and I wanted see if I could expand the idea of community and belonging to wider than my own neighbourhood.”
Beaumont asked herself, “what if I could bring together voices from community? What would that look like? And, could I create a platform where I could facilitate people to share their messages of hope, empathy and support?”
Launching a new webpage and social media for the project, these social channels will be the hub where photographs and voices will be gathered in an online gallery. Beaumont is asking for interested members of the community to contact her. She will then photograph and record each voice of hope using safe physical distancing. The format will look like prompting with questions about positive memories since the start of the pandemic, acts of kindness they may have been recipients of and also if they have a message of hope, empathy or support they would like to share with the world. As the portraits and voices are collated, they will be posted on the website as well as social media channels.
Original release shared on Beaumont’s artist webpage here.
Listen to Alison speak about the Voices of Hope on CBC Day Break South (Nov. 25, 2020).
Want to get involved? Call or text Alison at 250-212-8553 or visit the Voices of Hope website with regular updates on Facebook and Instagram.