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Portraits is an independent project that tells the stories of real people and the real issues they face. A lot of what I write about impacts lower-income communities that lack resources and whose values are not represented in most media, so I’d like to keep these stories free and accessible for all. I need your help to make that happen.

I’ve launched a Founding Member drive to reach my first $1,000 in revenue. I just need $155 to reach that goal.

This amount would help pay for basic overhead costs of running a business and keeping the website up for a year.

It also tells me that you want to keep reading these sorts of stories.

Once I hit $1,000, anyone who has contributed or subscribed at any amount will go on my Founding Members page (still to come). Contribute $100 or more, and you’ll also get a shoutout in my newsletter.

Want to make a contribution?

Become a sustaining supporter.

Choose an amount you feel good about and a payment schedule that’s easy for you. Your contribution pays for website expenses, office and art supplies, training and professional member fees, sometimes coffee, time for me to think, and soon travel to interview people in different parts of the country.

$20.00

$50.00

$100.00

$5.00

$10.00

$20.00

Any amount you can give counts.

Thank you.

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Why Portraits, especially with all the “hard” news in the world?

To be honest… I don’t know.

I don’t know why. I don’t know the purpose.

And that’s why.

That’s why I created Portraits. That’s the purpose. To find out.

But let me ask you this:

How much of the “hard” news that’s breaking matter in your life? Or is it really just a distraction from what’s actually important?

I didn’t want to go into this with assumptions or agendas. I wanted to…listen.

Ten years ago, I started to feel a disconnect between what I was seeing and reading and hearing, and what I felt, experienced, and knew to be true.

Did you notice it, too?

Being told one thing, but experiencing something wholly different. Being told we were divided, but feeling deeply connected to our neighbors, family, and community. Being fed stereotypes about who we were, but knowing that each of us is more than where we live, who we vote for, and what we do for a living.

So I used social media less and less, and tried to have real conversations more and more. I even talked to people I wasn’t supposed to like or get along with. I talked with people I thought I knew, and learned all sorts of things I didn’t know about them.

People from the South where I went to college, the Midwest where I grew up, the West where I live now, and the East Coast where a lot of my friends are.

And do you know what happened?

I fell in love.

With all of them. Every single one. And I’m not even the lovey type.

All because I listened….

That didn’t mean I agreed with everything they said. But I started to understand why people said things, and how others could misconstrue it. Why they did things, why they believed things. Where they came from. How they saw the world. What motivated them. What got in their way. I saw gaps in their thinking, but I also saw gaps in their resources.

But I also learned to look deeper at myself and my own thoughts and beliefs.

I started to see connections between it all. I saw the commonalities. The things that held us together.

And I saw the giant abyss between what we were getting from the media and corporate interests, and what people were experiencing in real life.

Now don’t get me wrong, I am NOT a media hater. I still defend my colleagues and the profession to this day. But yes, things have been slipping, and it’s not all the journalists’ fault.

We have become unable to have a conversation, not because we hated each other but because we weren’t even talking about the same things. We couldn’t focus long enough without getting distracted.

We all wanted to be heard, but no one was listening.

And that’s why.

That’s why Portraits.

To start the conversation.

By doing the most important part.

Listening.

Okay, what’s the plan?

Right now I have a goal of making my first $1,000 in revenue. Reaching this goal will give me the opportunity to:

publish my next Portraits:
- finishing out the final installments of my pre-launch that dives into religion, housing, marriage, and motherhood;
- getting a grant to interview a woman affected by incarceration, and
- planning travel and interviews for a single-income-earner and elder-care-giver and how that’s affecting their ability to make much-needed moves in their career
- plus, augment these Portraits with practical, useful, and thorough news stories that bring a unique perspective to the tired headlines we read every day
refine my concept and make the content better
solidify my launch plan
plan a sustainable content calendar (to prevent burnout for you and me)
strategize a work/life plan as a work-from-home mom / solo-publisher
set subscriber goals so that readers get only what they love
explore revenue streams so that anyone who wants to read Portraits has an affordable option
build a sustainable roadmap to transparent profitability to ensure I’m making an impact on others without devaluing my work and my time
learn how to combat polarization and mistrust in the media through deep listening and thoughtful analysis you can’t find anywhere else
pay for basic overhead
prove these stories matter

I’m trying to reach $1,000 by the end of the year so that I can make these goals a reality and be ready to jump into 2026 ready to go. This has been a building year, and the foundation is almost set.

So far, contributions have ranged from $20 a year to $20 a month. If you’re able to, please consider a contribution and become a founding member.

Want to make a contribution?

Become a sustaining supporter.

$20.00

$50.00

$100.00

$5.00

$10.00

$20.00

Any amount you can give counts.

Thank you.

Contribute and support Contribute and support