Latino youth media institute leading the way to a healthier Springfield

Over the past years the Springfield, MA public television station has supported an ongoing dialogue with members of diverse communities. In an effort to address community-identified issues, WGBY launched the Latino Youth Media Institute (LYMI) and adopted a community-based digital storytelling project, “Telling Our Legacies Digitally” (TOLD), as part of their community engagement activities. LYMI trains youth in new media skills as part of a collaborative community health promotion effort and has three goals:

1. To teach skills and raise aspirations for Latino youth; 2. To create health promotion programming and content that explores the vibrant social and family networks of the participants; and 3. To build upon the regional sense of community within and outside of the diverse Latino community in Springfield.

TOLD is a community-based digital storytelling project that encourages workshop participants to share and produce their own personal story using inexpensive digital technology. In the workshop process participants learn a variety of skills in a hands-on, teambuilding approach and are guided through a process to ultimately produce their own digital stories. At the end of the workshop, LYMI/TOLD organizes a public screening, with peers and family, and community members invited to attend. Although, the digital stories produced are remarkable for health communication efforts, in this presentation we emphasize the workshop process, which is often healing, health promoting, and transformational for participants. It gives voice to the voiceless, strengthens literacy skills, stimulates dialogue, develops relationships and leadership skills, and builds community.