Suburban Writer Using Short Stories to End Chicago Homelessness

PLAINFIELD, IL — A Plainfield woman is trying to use stories to end Chicago’s homelessness problem.

Lizabeth Luna is the creator of The Story Projects, a membership-based website that specializes in short fiction. Her idea is this: people can buy memberships and help write stories. Half of the membership fees will go toward homeless community outreach organizations in Chicago with the ultimate goal of building tiny houses for the homeless. The other half will go back to the writers.

Four times a year a book with five short stories will be published. The profits from those will also be split between helping the homeless and paying the writers.

“I start off a story. (Members) can submit entries for the next chapter. One is chosen so that becomes the next and then we move on to the next chapter. So it’s kind of like a contest,” Luna said.

There are six different tiers to membership. The “Starter” package is a one-time fee of $25 and is mainly for those who just want to try it out. The fee covers a single entry for one short story and there are no quarterly fees. The next level is “Premier,” which allows you to submit one entry in each short story in each volume. That one costs a one-time payment of $50 with a quarterly fee of $5. The full list of tiers is available at The Story Projects’ website.

“Helping homeless is what we have in the back of our minds and we’re having fun,” Luna said.

If you’re not a writer but like the cause, you can also gift a membership to somebody.

So far the reaction Luna’s received has been somewhat mixed. Her family members think she’s crazy, she said with a laugh, but friends have expressed excitement.

“They can see the vision that I see,” Luna said.

To learn more about Luna’s project, visit her website.

photo via The Story Projects