Our Guiding Method

 

At The Root Well, storytelling and research are not separate programs, they are practices woven through everything we do.

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We believe healing also happens through narrative, community wisdom, and the stories our bodies carry.

 

Storytelling is ancestral. It is how communities remember, resist, and recover. Our work honors that tradition by gathering stories responsibly, amplifying unheard voices, and grounding advocacy in lived experience as our data.

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Research helps us ask better questions about structural inequities, public health, water access, and mental health systems.

 

Storytelling helps us understand the truth of what people live through. Our approach holds both.

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Why Storytelling Matters:

• It restores narrative power

• It honors cultural wisdom

• It validates lived experience

• It supports healing justice

• It challenges stigma

• t reframes communities beyond pathology

 

Why Research Matters:

• It documents disparities

• It drives policy advocacy

• It strengthens community-led solutions

• It connects mental and environmental justice

• It informs future programs

 

Together, storytelling and research guide how we learn, how we build, and how we advocate.

 

What This Looks Like:

• Collecting community stories ethically and with consent

• Highlighting voices from under-resourced and marginalized communities

• Integrating narrative findings into advocacy and education

• Community conversations and history-based healing dialogues

• Research that connects mental health equity and environmental justice

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Storytelling and research guide our understanding, shape our advocacy priorities, and ensure that our work remains accountable to the communities we serve.