GREENVILLE, N.C. — Narrative Arts will host a public storytelling event on May 27th, 2026, from 5 to 7 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church, 1400 South Elm Street, Greenville, NC 27858 featuring stories from Pitt County residents about public health, care, and everyday life.

The event follows a Story Circle convened Pitt County on May 7th with local organizers Shantell Cheek and Bridgett Luckey. At the May 27th gathering, community members will be invited to experience a multimedia installation built from stories shared by residents across the county.

The evening will include food, fellowship, and a celebration of local voices. Attendees will be able to listen to recorded stories through wireless headphones as part of the installation.

Too often, rural communities are framed through deficit narratives that emphasize individual behavior while obscuring systemic barriers. Through recorded conversations and creative storytelling, this gathering highlights how public health is experienced not as abstract policy, but as infrastructure, relationships, and institutional accountability in everyday life.

Shantell Cheek shared: “What stood out during the Story Circle was how much people wanted to listen to one another across different backgrounds and experiences. There was honesty, vulnerability, and a real desire to better understand how trust is built within families, neighborhoods, and public institutions.”

Speaking about the event Bridgett Luckey pointed out “In Pitt County, there are deep connections between healthcare systems, community organizations, faith communities, and families. What emerged through the Story Circle was not just a conversation about problems, but a fuller picture of how people navigate care, build resilience, and support one another in everyday life.”

Narrative Arts Program Director Jack Fischer noted, “Public health is not experienced as a policy document. It is experienced through transportation, caregiving, housing, stress, relationships, and whether people feel they can rely on the systems around them. These stories from Pitt County help illuminate that larger picture.”

Over the next two years, this initiative will advance a community-informed narrative strategy, public-facing media, and relationship-building efforts designed to support rural health equity and strengthen trust between residents and public institutions. These events are designed for community members, public health professionals, local leaders, policymakers, and advocates interested in civic dialogue, community arts, and narrative change.

Narrative Arts is holding Story Circles in seven counties across eastern North Carolina as part of a broader effort to better understand how public health systems are experienced in everyday life, and how trust is built, or strained, within communities. Narrative Arts is a nonprofit organization based in Wilmington, North Carolina.

Contact: Jack Fischer | jack@narrativearts.org | 606-454-8864 | narrativearts.org