“Just A Chapter In My Life”: Tacoma Mom Previews StoryCorps for News-Tribune

Jordan Kemper wasn’t aware the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation put $210,000 into the StoryCorps program this spring to let homeless families in three Northwest counties tell their stories.

She was busy rebuilding her life.

As it turned out, Kemper and her sons Hunter, 5, and Owen, 2, were among the perfect candidates for the project.

“The Gates Foundation was looking for stories from families who were homeless and they wanted diversity,” said Alan Brown, director of the Phoenix Housing Network. “That meant families who were being served by our agency or others — those who were homeless and those who had been in the past.

“Their funding will give 30 families in each of three counties — Pierce, King and Snohomish — the opportunity to tell their stories.”

One of those will be Jordan Kemper’s.