Laurie Goldstein arrived in Yolo County a few years ago. With a big city resume and small-town heart, Laurie was on a mission to bring the art of Storytelling to Woodland. “I’ve worked in public relations on Madison Avenue and in screenwriting in Los Angeles. I’ve seen creativity enhance so many lives and organizations and I wanted to bring more of it to Woodland.”
Laurie started organizing a “Storyteller’s Café” in Woodland 1.5 years ago from the ground up. “I searched for fellow storytellers, for a venue to house this type of event, and other creatives like musicians and artists to enhance the events.”
The “Storyteller’s Café” is regularly held at Morgan’s Mill and has grown from a small group to a regularly sold-out house. And while creating this event was highly fulfilling for Laurie and those in attendance, she wanted to do more. “Storytelling is about community and shared experience, so I also wanted to find an organization that would benefit from the profits of the event. Yolo County CASA seemed like the perfect fit. After all, Yolo County CASA is all about providing essential relationships for foster children—and that’s what we do at the Storyteller’s Café—we relate by shared experiences—the very basis of relationship formation. It was a way for everything to come full circle.”
Laurie currently works as a life coach in Woodland and specializes in working with creatives, families and teens. “The human story—it’s my passion. I’ve lived it in so many ways—through public relations, screenwriting, storytelling, and learning more about local organizations like Yolo County CASA. I love bringing people together and benefiting people through creativity.”
The next Storyteller’s Café is this Saturday, February 16 from 5:30-8:30 p.m. at Morgan’s Mill featuring renown international storyteller BZ Smith. Please click here to read the Woodland Daily Democrat’s recent feature article about the event.
All proceeds to this event will again go to Yolo County CASA. “We’ve raised enough money to fund a CASA for a year through this event and we hope to do a lot more.”
Thank you, Laurie, for all of your passion and help.
