Last November, Javi came to our Barracks Row Drop-In Center with a camera, a genuine curiosity, and a conviction he’d carried for years “Everyone is going through something. Everyone.”
Javi, the creator behind The Good Search, an interdependent storytelling project built on the belief that stories worth telling bring us together, not divide us. He’d reached out to Sasha Bruce Youthwork (SBY), asking to document a day at SBY. We invited him to spend Thanksgiving with the staff and young people at our Drop-In Center on 8th Street.
Javi didn’t come to observe from a distance. He came to share and listen.
Though Javi has spent the better part of 15 years working as a storyteller for Stand Together in Arlington, VA, The Good Search is personal. It started from his realization, more than a decade ago while serving a church mission in Reno, Nevada: Conversation and empathy have real power “It’s important to share stories about the things that bring us together. The stories that stick out to me are stories of “bottom up empowerment” meaning – the people closest to the problem are the ones most well equipped to provide solutions to that problem”
He found plenty of stories with power at SBY alongside staff and youth sharing a meal, asking questions, and listening. Javi found the story of Troy, SBY CURB member who has journeyed through homelessness, extraordinary.
“We’re close in age,” Javi said “We both have daughters, and yet our lives have been completely different. Hearing how far he’s come, and how he’s dedicated so much of his time to helping others, is inspirational. I want to put stories like that on a pedestal so others can be inspired too.”
He also learned from Flo, who taught him what servant leadership actually looks like in practice, and Pria, who left him thinking differently about self-awareness. These weren’t brief encounters but the kind of conversations that stuck with him.
Javi’s camera captured what it’s like to walk through those doors and feel welcomed, not as a number, but as a person. That’s what our Drop-In Centers do, something that isn’t reflected in numbers. This past fiscal year, we served 7,839 young people across 26 programs in DC and Prince George’s County. Our Drop-In Centers offer young people a meal, a shower, a case manager, or simply a safe space where someone will see them without judgment.
Javi not only left the Drop-In Center with more than footage but also a sharper sense of why stories like these need to reach more people. “I want people to get excited about helping others,” he told us “I want people to bring their time, treasure, and talents to give back to their community and have their giving be two fold: how do we help NOW, and how can we prevent similar issues in the future”
He also asks himself, before sharing anything on his channel, whether it’s a unifying story, “My parents were from opposite sides of the political spectrum. So I see a need for taking the best of people and using it for good. With my videos I ask myself: Could I see both republicans and democrats in it? Frederick Douglass’ words run through my mind: “I would unite with anyone to do right and no one to do wrong.” If we want to make a change, that must be valued.”
We are grateful that Javi spent his time with our staff and youth and listened. His video shows what matters to us: love and community. And if you watch the video he made, you’ll understand why it matters.
Javi’s advice is “Don’t wait to know how to do it – just start.” If you want to start now, if something moves you, whether volunteering, donating, or simply passing this video along to someone who needs to see it, you can find all the ways to get involved at sashabruce.org/ways-to-give
