The station has been opening the lines of communication for 40 years.

There are stories that teach, stories that illuminate, stories that get under your skin. And there are the best stories – the ones that remind us of our humanity.

Enrique was five years old when his mother, Lourdes, left Honduras to work in the United States so she could earn money to support her family.

Lourdes promised she would return quickly, but after 11 years of imploring her to come back, Enrique decided to take matters into his own hands.

With little more than a slip of paper bearing her North Carolina phone number, he left Tegucigalpa.

Making the trip through Mexico the only way he could – by clinging to the tops and sides of freight trains, Enrique endured many dangers. There were the gangsters who control the train tops, the bandits who rob and kill migrants and the dangerous jumps necessary to catch and exit trains. No wonder riders call this “El Tren de la Muerte” (The death train).

Sonia Nazario came to KPBS as part of the
One Book campaign to talk about
“Enrique’s Journey."

Sonia Nazario, a Los Angeles Times reporter, retraced Enrique’s journey in a series of newspaper articles that would later become the book “Enrique’s Journey.” By braving the 12,000 miles herself and writing about the harrowing experience, Nazario revealed the humanity behind an often divisive issue and won the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing in the process.

It was the perfect story to launch the KPBS One Book, One San Diego project.

“Enrique’s Journey” is the tale of one person, but it moved more than 500 San Diegans to attend three KPBS events featuring Nazario, and share their thoughts on the story.

The station partnered with the San Diego Public Library, the SDSU Common Experience program and local universities to ensure that plenty of copies and reader guides would be available.

“The goal was to get everybody in the community talking about certain things: immigration, love, family, forgiveness,” said Valerie Breen, marketing and outreach coordinator. “By bringing in organizations that specialize in those areas, we create a community dialogue.”

Galvanizing the public to express their opinions and listen to others – it’s something KPBS has been doing for decades. The station celebrates its 40th anniversary this summer.

‘That’s a lot of money’

Though it’s been around since 1967, KPBS’s outreach efforts have gained considerable steam in the 10 years since Education and Outreach Director Monica Medina joined.

“I’ll never forget the first grant I applied for,” said Medina, laughing. “The most you could request was $10,000. But I felt I shouldn’t be applying for that much money. I thought if I asked for less, I’d be more inclined to get it. I asked for only $6,042.”

She got it.

Today, the KPBS eight-person outreach team is one of the largest among public stations that do not produce programs on site. Generous funding – grants of $100,000 are not unusual – allows the team to throw its weight behind projects that positively impact the community.

KPBS was originally housed in this building on
College Avenue.

The team leverages the station’s sophisticated TV, radio and Web capabilities to bring stories like Enrique’s to the public. Shared through projects like One Book, Domestic Violence Awareness and the campaign for Love & Forgiveness, they serve as the starting point for conversations about challenging issues.

A little goes a long way

The three-year campaign for Love & Forgiveness is designed to get community members thinking about how a little love can accomplish a lot — from transforming the political landscape to improving the lives of individuals like Pierre Alexander.

Alexander was one of hundreds who recorded stories of love through StoryCorps as part of the campaign for Love & Forgiveness.

After a difficult early childhood, he joined a gang at age nine, and was in prison by the time he was 18.

Five years into his sentence, he was not remorseful for his crime. That all changed when his sister, who was dying of leukemia, reached out to him with two handwritten letters. She was not judgmental, only supportive.

“It was the first time I felt love,” Alexander said.

Once he decided to change his ways, there were plenty of prison staff willing to help him along, including a staffer named Denise, who taught him how to tell his story with confidence and grace.

Combining strengths

Stories like Alexander’s have the power to alter the way people think, but without KPBS, few people might ever hear them.

The station uses its established communications vehicles and numerous contacts to partner with specialist organizations and create awareness campaigns around the stories as they relate to larger issues facing the region.

“Sometimes, there are lots of organizations working on a topic, but they don’t interact when they should,” said Trisha Richter, education & outreach media campaign manager. “We’re not the specialists, we’re not the experts, but we have the tool to help get out that message. We combine our strengths for a better outcome.”

The KPBS outreach team. Back row, from left:
Trisha Richter, Cristal Malinofsky, Stephanie Lloyd, Kara
Shoemaker. Front row, from left: Myrian Solis Coronel,
Monica Medina, Heather Despol, Deanna Martin Mackey

For the Domestic Violence Awareness campaign, the outreach team formed a board of advisers with different areas of expertise in addressing domestic abuse treatment and prevention.

By pooling their talents, KPBS was able to create a media campaign, including events, television spots (the station won an Emmy in 2005 for the public service announcement “Have I Got a Guy for You”) and a Web site chock full of resources for victims and at risk individuals, as well as friends and family.

As word spreads about the station’s work in the community, the outreach team continues to build on its success. They are preparing to collect and share more stories that will get community members talking.

Related information

• KPBS
• KPBS 40th Anniversary
• Enrique's Journey
• One Book, One San Diego
• Love & Forgiveness Campaign

Credits

• Story by Lauren Coartney
• Graphics by John Signer
• Photographs by Tom Farrington, Instructional Technology Services
• Banner photograph courtesy of Paul Sutton and John Kelly
• Edited by Coleen L. Geraghty