Deepening Community Roots
Client: StepUp Durham
About this Project
Elizabeth Butler knew getting a job after being released from prison was going to be challenging. Even her probation officer doubted her. “I knew without family, without friends, without support, I was going to be at risk of recidivism,” Butler said. But after learning of the StepUp program, she completed their initial, “Jobs Week” training and was quickly hired as a full-time housekeeper at the luxury Umstead Hotel and Spa in Cary, N.C. Butler remained passionate about StepUp and joined the staff as an Employment Counselor, helping others through the same challenges she faced.
StepUp Durham provides employment readiness training for people with challenges such as a criminal record, homelessness, time out of the workforce or other issues. They work tirelessly to help people have the means to take care of themselves and their families. Although we were friendly with StepUp before beginning this project, we really got to know the organization, its mission and dedicated staff.
At Root Media, our goal is always to feature real people telling their individual, human stories. StepUp was a great partner and we collaborated to identify individual stories of participants to illustrate the work of the organization.
Social Media Videos, COVID-19 and Impact 2020 Virtual Event
We had wrapped production and were editing this project when the COVID-19 pandemic overtook the world. Like so many of us, this presented an acute challenge for StepUp because they were forced to cancel an annual, fundraising luncheon (the original, intended premier of the video) that typically brings in tens of thousands of dollars.
After canceling their event, StepUp came to us and proposed the idea of filming the luncheon speakers in a safe, socially distant space and putting that content together, with the video featured here, to create a virtual event they called Impact 2020. We were also able to create three short videos highlighting different aspects of their programming to promote Impact 2020 on social media and through email newsletters.
More StepUp Durham Videos
