Year Two
Your Story, Their Story, Our Story
Looking Toward Hope
In 2021, with the support of the Alexa Rose Foundation, the Porch Story Project continued into a second year. This time, close 45 families participated, and the photographs shifted into color—symbolizing a collective breath, a glimmer of hope, and the gradual reimagining of what life could look like on the other side of crisis. These portraits and stories traced the arc from isolation to reconnection, capturing both the struggles and the resilience of this transitional moment.
From the Porch to the Alter 2024
“One very good thing happened during 2020. In January I swiped right and matched with a guy. When school officially shut down at the end of March we had to decide-- are we doing this? Are we going to quarantine together? Because this would be a really easy out! We chose to continue to see each other. I don't know how I would have gotten through 2020 without him.”
- Erinn (Della) Norman
“When COVID hit, teachers were suddenly asked to do our jobs in ways most of us had never been trained for. Still, we dove in because that’s what we do. We built websites and Google Classrooms, created digital assignments, researched new ways to engage kids, and found ways to connect even when screens were the only option. We made home visits, delivered food, passed out devices and hotspots—the list goes on. Every effort was to remind our students that they were still on our minds, every single day. We innovated, we adapted, and above all, we didn’t give up.”
- Jaymie Hogg
Tell me something no one knows...”I stopped biting my fingernails this last year. I had 30 +/- years of experience trimming my own nails with my teeth, and I was pretty good at it. I had always wanted to stop. The thought of a life threatening virus did the trick.”
- Grant Blakeslee
