Hi! My name is Alanna Sherman, I am a senior sociology major and this year I am the Whitman Community Fellow for the STAR Project! The STAR Project is a local reentry organization that is dedicated to providing justice-involved people and their families with a safe environment to learn and grow. The STAR Project is currently the only reentry organization in Southeast Washington, and it aims to meet formerly incarcerated people where they are by creating comprehensive support that centers the individual. Through providing case management services, mental health support, housing assistance, job placement resources, recovery support, and family reunification activities, the STAR Project works to meet all of the needs of our formerly incarcerated community members here in Walla Walla.
One of the main projects I am working on this year is the STAR Storytelling Project, which aims to amplify the stories of STAR participants through the use of oral and artistic storytelling. This project is crucial as it aims to raise up formerly incarcerated individuals and their families in order for their stories to be heard. I have the opportunity to be one of students interviewing STAR participants, as well as being a part of the process to organize the storytelling project. The interviews will be conducted early in the spring semester, and the project itself should be completed by the end of the 2024 academic year.
In the photo, you can also see me sitting with holiday gifts from a recent gift drive I organized. This gift drive was not organized with the STAR Project, but rather through the Whitman Community Engagement Center. However, this year I was able to partner with incarcerated individuals at the Washington State Penitentiary who wanted to make holiday gifts for children who may not have access to gifts this year. Incarcerated communities from the Sustainable Practices Lab and the Black Prisoners Caucus made stuffed animals, quilts, pillows, paintings, and even a hand-painted card that I am holding in the photo. I connected with Blue Mountain Heart to Heart, a community-based organization focused on serving marginalized communities in rural areas to improve community health, as well as Lincoln High School to distribute these gifts to families in Walla Walla living below the poverty line. Due to the number of gifts that incarcerated communities made for this drive, I was also able to connect with the STAR Project to distribute gifts to the children of STAR Participants.
Working as a community fellow for the STAR project has been an incredible experience. I have learned a lot through the different projects I am working on, as well as from the wonderful people I get to work with. I am excited to continue this fellowship in the spring and to continue learning through this work.