The Elder Tree Project: The Mission
Channel: The Elder Tree Project
Date: 18/01/2022

The Elder Tree Project

Hello, my name is Dillon. I am 24 years old, born in Bremerton, Washington. I grew up in Southern California and later moved on to Alaska to continue my own story. Here is where I created the idea for The Elder Tree Project.

When I was young, I loved the gentle stories my grandparents told.  However, as I grew, I finally started to understand the scope of time our elders have lived through. The experiences, emotions, changes, and progress throughout their time among us.

In the process of learning about my grandparents’ lives through storytelling, it became clear there were questions I was afraid to ask, or that I may not even know what questions to ask. I regret not asking the tough questions while I could, as well as not documenting the times I did have the courage to ask tough questions.

The Elder Tree Project is here to source and capture wisdom, life stories, struggles, and perseverance. My mission is to provide a community where people of all ages and walks of life, are able to hear what our cherished elders have to say. I strongly believe everyone needs to feel heard, and I am here to offer a platform for anybody who considers themselves to be an elder of your community.

My goal is to pass this message along to as many people as possible, so our library can be filled to the brim with stories for current and future generations to behold.

To achieve this, I have created a prompt for the interviewer to read to the Elder. There will be basic questions like “Where and when were you born?” Personal questions about love and loss will also be asked. There are NO borders to your interview, meaning the Elder may decline or circle back to questions, and also may spend as much time as they like on a particular subject or story. If you are an Elder that is alone, you are welcome to document yourself, and couples may also be filmed together if desired.

I am here to provide a directed approach to creating your very own keepsake, treasured memories your family will be able to enjoy forever. All I ask in return is for you to pass along a copy of this personal documentary to me, to help me achieve my goal to preserve as many stories and memories as possible. Every elder’s life story will be treated with the respect and reverence it deserves.

With these home documentaries, I  will create videos that shift the focus away from broad individual stories, into precise topics that incorporate the wisdom of many elders, into a cohesive format. 

Finally, If this resonates with you, answer my call to action to catch the leaves and stories before they wilt and fly away. In the linktree, you will find everything you need to include yourself in this project. Thank you

https://linktr.ee/eldertreeproject
eldertreeproject@gmail.com
Instagram: @eldertreeproject
Facebook: The Elder Tree Project