STORY
The Health Brigade Storytelling Project will explore what care looks like in everyday life, including its beauty, its labor, and the weight it can carry when held alone.
Ten local photographers, partnering with RVA and Health Brigade community members, will reflect on what they care about, how care shows up in their daily lives, and what caring asks of us, especially in our current world. It is our hope that through our shared humanity, we discover we are not alone and that our care is the strongest and most powerful as resistance when it is held by all of us. Follow these stories here and on our social media accounts.
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Belinda
PHOTOS: PHUONG TRAN
“This place here (Matchbox Mutual Aid) brings me joy. We help people that are hungry have food to eat and be able to feed their families. I am giving back to the community what the community gave me when I was down on my luck. Everybody needs a little helping hand when they are down on their luck.…” -
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Dziko
PHOTOS: PATIENCE SALGADO
"So I wish that people knew that there are people who care about them, who love them, and care about their wellbeing. We really do care if they have wound care, menstrual products and socks, because we do. I know it sounds so corny but this is really what we do every day." -
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The easiest thing
PHOTOS: SYDNEE SCHORR
“We are all brainwashed into this idea that we have to go at things alone. ‘Pull yourself up, because nobody is going to help you’. I don’t believe that’s how life should be.Community is the most important thing in my life. Like I always tell my clients, ‘I’ll never stop being your doula’.”
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Abby
PHOTOS: JOSEPH RHOADES
“Um... I don't know, I don't know. I feel like sometimes all of this happens to see if people can like still function while having all these horrible things happening around them. And did, like, test our limits. It makes me want to throw my hands in the air and just not function, but I'm like so tethered to like my responsibility, especially with my mom. She worked so hard.”
Joseph Rhoades: @nabeh.327 Phuong Tran: @ruabietbay
Kristin Seward: @lensofhoperva Carlos Bernate: @carlosbernate94
Em White: @_slowmedown Terrell Artis: @_eyeofagiant
Amy Robison: @amyrobison804 Sydnee Schorr: @sydneeschorr
Nick Davis: @nickdavisphoto Sydney Jacobs:
Artists
Share YOur CAre STORY
What do YOU care about? What feels heavy for you? What do you wish more people cared about? Who taught you how to care in your life? Who has cared for you in a way you’ll never forget?
Share your care story with us. We hope to collectively listen to each other and honor our lived experiences. Stories will be shared on our website and social media. Please note in the message if you would like to remain anonymous.
The CIR Storytelling Booth
Care is calling! All you have to do is pick up and share your story.
The Care is Resistance Storytelling Booth is a playful, welcoming space popping up at festivals and community events across Richmond, inviting people to pause, reflect, and share stories about care.
We believe care is bigger than a feeling, it’s how we protect each other, build healthier communities, and stay connected in hard times. Through community storytelling we’re exploring how care connects us, strengthens public health, and helps grow a culture where care is visible, shared, and celebrated.
Because in a world that often asks us to look away, choosing to care for one another is an act of resistance. Come tell us what you care about and care with us!