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  • The Newberg Graphic

    Dear Stranger: Starting a conversation amongst Oregon's citizenry

    By Gary Allen,

    2024-05-15

    https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1FKFJ2_0t3w84Fw00

    Promoting connections between diverse populations is the goal of Dear Stranger, formed a decade ago as a project of the nonprofit group Oregon Humanities.

    "Dear Stranger asks us to intentionally reflect and share about our experiences,” Lucy Solares-Steger, program coordinator at Oregon Humanities, said in a release. “While at first this can be daunting or challenging, many letter writers find that they’re able to work through these experiences by writing them out, and through this, make a really impactful connection with another person."

    Introduced in 2014, “the project has invited Oregonians to exchange letters with people they’ve never met,” the release said. Ten years later, more than 1,000 people have sent letters to Dear Stranger and received letters in response.

    “The aim of Dear Stranger is to create shared understanding among Oregonians with different backgrounds, experiences and beliefs,” the release said. “The premise is simple: Write a letter, get a letter and make a new connection.”

    Letters are swapped anonymously and each person receives a letter from the person who received the one they wrote.

    “What happens next is up to the writer,” the release said. “If they’d like to write a reply, they can do so through Oregon Humanities.”

    Each year Oregon Humanities settles on a theme for the letters; this year it prompts writers to tell others about their fears.

    “Share your worries, anxieties and phobias,” the release said. “What are you afraid of? Are there things you used to fear that no longer scare you? Are there things that people commonly fear that they should not?”

    Instructions on participating in the effort are available on the Oregon Humanities website at oregonhumanities.org . Send letters to Oregon Humanities, Attn: Dear Stranger, 610 S.W. Alder St., Suite 111, Portland, OR 97205. For more information, email programs@oregonhumanities.org.

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