The Creative Story Project is a collaboration of people who are dedicated
to the use of story to encourage, enlighten, and educate.
to the use of story to encourage, enlighten, and educate.
The Story Power program has been presented for several years now, primarily in about a 50 mile range of Cleveland, TN. We present ten-week programs in facilities with dementia and Alzheimer’s patients wherein the participants use their imaginations and not their memory. We give out a picture to each person, ask open-ended questions about it, and capture as much of the ensuing conversation as the scribe can handle. The result is a document which provides fellowship, encouragement, and entertainment. Even the staff notices changes as the weeks go by.
Our Intergenerational Story Power program gives us the privilege of working with students in schools or youth organizations, educating them about aging and the elderly, Alzheimer's/dementia, and then our program. These students become enthusiastic about working with the elderly, and we are able to take them into a care facility where they work with primarily dementia residents. It is a great experience for both the students and the residents. Sessions always include lots of laughter, hugs and invitations to return. And the students do return to visit their new friends and bring them love and hugs - and an enthusiasm for life that youth can provide.
Through generous funding from individuals, businesses, foundations and the Alzheimer's Foundation of America, we are able to increase the number of facilities we visit and the types of programs we present.
Our Intergenerational Story Power program gives us the privilege of working with students in schools or youth organizations, educating them about aging and the elderly, Alzheimer's/dementia, and then our program. These students become enthusiastic about working with the elderly, and we are able to take them into a care facility where they work with primarily dementia residents. It is a great experience for both the students and the residents. Sessions always include lots of laughter, hugs and invitations to return. And the students do return to visit their new friends and bring them love and hugs - and an enthusiasm for life that youth can provide.
Through generous funding from individuals, businesses, foundations and the Alzheimer's Foundation of America, we are able to increase the number of facilities we visit and the types of programs we present.
Pete Vanderpool
Pete Vanderpool is a successful entrepreneur, speaker, and author. He has been a storyteller for over twenty years, regaling people with his folksy style and laughter..
Substituting at a mall in Wisconsin began a 21 year career as Santa Claus, and also led him into the storytelling genre. Since that time, he has been teaching, telling, and learning the art of storytelling, and is now focusing on story gathering — teaching how to find relevance in the stories of your life. Pete started The Santa Project as a 501(c)3 non-profit to teach children about personal safety. He has also taught elementary school students to write, illustrate, and publish their own original stories. He now presents talks and workshops on various topics, but not during the last few weeks of the year when his Santa Claus persona reappears! You can contact him at: pete@creativestoryproject.com |
Joyce Vanderpool
Joyce is a successful business person in her own right. She has worked beside her husband Pete in the capacity of what a friend calls "The Vice President of Everything Else".
A member of the Cleveland Storytelling Guild, she is a storyteller and a trained emcee, but she is more likely to use story to illustrate her talks or press releases involving community work and the programs of the Creative Story Project. Joyce enjoys just about anything creative, including photography, sewing, and needle arts, and writing or telling the stories that come through her life. She and Pete have four children, four grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren, all certainly supplying fodder for the stories of their nearly 40 years of marriage. You can contact her at: joyce@creativestoryproject.com |
