Stories of our Graduates: Danielle Mancuso – Certificate in Community Storytelling Training

Written by Grace Yaconelli

One Sunday night a month, Danielle Mancuso has stood up at the aptly named Black Sheep pub to invite people to share stories. This is part of a community building event called The Lantern. The Lantern began its journey at The Brickroom with facilitator Megan Jansen, before passing it on for Danielle to host in 2016. Each event has a different theme, from "Close Calls," to "Water," to "GUTS!"  The atmosphere is warm and inviting. People order drinks and food as Danielle welcomes the audience, introduces the theme, and offers one of their own stories. People place their name in a bowl and wait to see if they are chosen to share. Paper and pens are spread across tables where people can write their story and place it in the bowl as part of the Introvert's Special. It's a night full of laughter, vulnerability, compassion, tears, and honesty.  "I like the spontaneity, the unpredictable element in the room. I never know what's gonna happen," Danielle reflects. "I really work on creating a space where people know that they're gonna hear stories that are about trauma. They're gonna hear stories that are hilarious. They're gonna hear stories that they might think are problematic, you know, but that's what life is. And so I welcome everyone to that space." It's rare to have a place where genuine human experience is allowed and celebrated. Where the wholeness of people is invited in, allowing for growth, opportunity, and a deeper sense of connection.   

"What The Lantern has become is really a safe haven for a lot of the community," Danielle shares, "A safe haven for them to share their stories…an intergenerational, community building event for everyone." Danielle explains that they let people know that there are three ways to participate: going up and sharing a story, writing down a story for Danielle to read (AKA "The Introvert Special"), or listening and attentively receiving the experience being shared. The energy that arises from people connecting in such a raw, open, and face-to-face environment is especially rare in our modern age of disconnection.  

Danielle has a knack for facilitating and recognizes the value and responsibility in such personal work. There is a joy, a warmth and a focused attention in Danielle that makes me understand why people feel safe to share their stories with them. Not only is this a superpower in their role as a facilitator, but it also serves as an invaluable quality as a mental health counselor. Danielle has often found themself utilizing story to help empower their clients, note the myriad of narratives and perspectives within story, and cultivate deeper compassion. 

"I think we tell stories to say who we are, who we were, and who we wanna be," they tell me. They reveal that they often suggest to their clients, "let's go and talk about what parts of that story we might wanna rewrite that would make us the hero, or would make us see ourselves in a different way." Danielle understands story as a kaleidoscope, each story an array of colors that can be rearranged to reveal new understandings. Sometimes an experience just needs to be looked at or taken seriously in a way that allows for entirely new patterns to arise.  

Danielle had heard of Mark Yaconelli, but ended up meeting him at one of The Lantern events where he invited them to take The Hearth's Community Storytelling Training. Danielle tells me, "at that point in time, I really hadn't acknowledged the meaning of what I was doing and creating. I just was doing it, which is often how I roll. So, upon reflection, that was really an invitation to say, 'Hey, you're doing something pretty powerful. Are you making meaning of this?'…That workshop really made what I was doing into important community building work. It really made me feel a lot of deep interest in the power of storytelling and what it does for communities." 

Danielle shares that while many moments at The Hearth training were filled with joy and ease, conversations also arose that were hard for people. While difficult in the moment, those experiences ultimately led to a greater sense of community and newfound connection. Sharing more on their experience at the training, they tell me "I spent so much time listening on such a deep level to people crafting their biography and their stories, that it gave me tools to be better at working with my own coping skills and working to see people, especially people who I really don't wanna see sometimes." The vulnerability of story makes it hard to dismiss people, even when we might have initially put them in boxes. Story is what can break those boxes and expose the same shared humanity.  

In safe spaces with clients, in cozy pubs, in retreat rooms, and even over a spotty Zoom call filled with laughter and sincerity, Danielle's presence invites story and connection. Through their work as a facilitator and mental health counselor, a world made up of real listening, sharing, and authenticity is made more possible.   

Note: The Black Sheep officially closed on August 18, 2024, with the sendoff of everyone dancing to I've Had the Time of my Life. The Lantern will continue at Paschal Winery!