November Recap [From Natasha]

The Oaks Alumni Letter Site has been live for one month. The site statistics are below for you to indulge all your data curiosity.

I receive about 3 messages per week from someone (I often don't know) expressing how supportive they are that this is happening. Parents are thankful to get a glimpse into the lives of alumni. Alumni are reading too. Some are grateful to know they aren't alone, some are thankful to have a place to just speak from their hearts, some are still working through some therapy, and some are angry we didn't schedule a meeting to sit down with Charlie and Bruce and outline specific requests. We all land somewhere on the spectrum. 

The project goal was to provide a place to share our experiences that was safe, that would be heard, and that would be protected from Facebook comment-fighting. 

The project succeeded. 

Overall, there have been approximately 1800 unique readers. The letters have been shared with many non-Oaks members who had similar experiences but never knew there was a whole community. Additionally, these letters shed some light on how parents have felt -- this perspective was entirely new to me, as I continue to learn parents were struggling and are in some way reading these letters with a sigh of relief too.  

The letters, and this movement, rather unexpectedly created a community of people who are reconnecting, who are healing, who are finding solidarity and who are stepping forward because they aren't alone. With that being said, we believe the next step is to launch a podcast where we can continue this process and more fully examine this collective experience.

For the Podcast

I am opening (virtual) interviews up to anyone (meaning, non-Oaks people) who wants to share their story. Each participant is required to submit their letter (via emailing me directly) and fill out the Podcast sign up form. I will be handling all the interviewing logistics and Jordan Fugitt will run all audio engineering. Participants do not have to be connected to the Oaks. 

If you know someone who is working on their letter, maybe is reading these and wants to write but doesn't know where to start, or perhaps they feel like there is nothing "new" to say-- support them and send them this link! We have editors, we have prompts, we have a supportive community who wants to hear their story. Ideally, their letter/story can focus on sharing their experience without being influenced by the other authors. I am still accepting letters from Pro-Oaks Alumni :) They get to share too!

Site Statistics

• Total site views: 58,611 (this is how many times the site link has been opened)
  
• Unique Viewers: 1,812
  
• Total letter views: 25,787 (this is the total number of letters read - so one person could have read all 37 letters twice, and the stats would count that as 74 reads)
  
• Average letter reads: 697 (each letter is tracked by reads)

If you know someone who might find this pretty fascinating:

1. Share the Alumni Letters Site link through your social media! 
2. Sign-up for the podcast
3. Follow me on Instagram for regular updates: @nncheelz

All my love and holiday cheer, 

Natasha

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Email: nncheeley@gmail.com

Instagram: @nncheelz

cell: 208-659-1471