How it all started:

 

In 2013 I, Danny Mazur (pictured on the right), moved from Ohio to Colorado to work with youth from under-resourced areas. Two months after my move, I received a  call from my sister. She said "Danny, mom's in the hospital. She overdosed on pain killers." Thankfully, our mom survived. However, this incident woke me up to the unaddressed mental health issues in myself and my family. I began spiraling. I needed a space to unpack my story, and thus Soul Stories began. We started meeting in my basement every two weeks and talking about our vulnerabilities, relationships, dreams and so much more. It created a compassionate community of people helping each other find their authenticity. I would host my friends every two weeks to talk about what was going on in our lives.

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As this event evolved, the community started to grow and people wanted to join the Soul Stories team. Teams of individuals started creating and hosting storytelling events that tackled different social issues and collaborating with local non-profits like Denver Public Libraries, U.S.-Brazil Connect, and Stain'd Arts.

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In 2017, Shelsea Ochoa (pictured on the left) came to our team as the Creative Director. She brought her background in education, activism, and the creative arts to help us grow further. Since then, Shelsea and I have been meeting every week to grow our community, build this organization, and improve our society's ability to form meaningful connections and take care of each other.

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It's been an incredible journey with so many folks who have given their time, love and energy to this project and the people we have worked with. Today, we have a team of 6 people who are creating community dialogue circles, storytelling events and youth workshops. We are very excited to see how we grow and continue to make an impact!