Find yourself where stories blur the lines. That is our challenge to you here at Story Bleed. Find yourself where the edges of our stories bleed together, where eager hands smear wet ink, where our boundaries become permeable.  Push yourself to see your own story in the narrative of others.

Five years after Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast, Story Bleed Magazine is partnering with our sponsor Tide Loads of Hope and hosting Hope Remains, a blog carnival designed to celebrate the passionate resilience of Gulf Coast residents and simultaneously encourage you to unearth your own passion for your local culture.

To inspire you to write about your home, we asked Gulf Coast writers, “Why do you stay on the Gulf Coast?  Why do you remain?”  We believe their answers will inspire you to share your own story of what your local culture means to you, whether you live in Alabama or Oregon.  Dig deep and reveal part of your personal story that you may not have shared with your own readers before, then come back here and share your link in our reading list below.

We are asking readers to look more closely at the stories they discover.  Draw parallels.  Ask questions.  Do you not share the same sense of place as our writers?  Challenge us in the comments, lay bare possible reasons why our connections to the places we call home diverge so wildly.  Our bet is that our stories merge more than you expect.

Hope Remains will culminate in a glorious celebration of hope and strength in New Orleans on Tuesday, August 24:  Tide Loads of Hope is proud to present Faith Hill in concert, along with the Dirty Dozen Brass Brand, at the Mahalia Jackson Theater.

A gift to the city of New Orleans, tickets are being given to local families that have used the Tide Loads of Hope mobile laundry truck, volunteers that have answered the call during natural disasters along our coast, and other special guests. 

Live in the New Orleans area? Check out Velveteen Mind for details on how you can win tickets through local radio stations in Louisiana and Mississippi.

I am grateful to be one of Tide’s special guests, so follow @VelveteenMind and @StoryBleed on twitter for updates from the event, including time with Faith Hill before the concert.  She’s a fellow Mississippi girl, but we are all the Gulf Coast down here; New Orleans is our pride, too.  Long may she reign.

Want to help? Visit TideLoadsofHope.com to learn more about their program, a mobile laundry truck that answers one of the most basic needs of victims of natural disasters nationwide.  No area of our nation is immune to natural disaster.  This story belongs to all of us.

After tornado winds dissipate, hope remains.  After fire ash settles, hope remains.  After earthquake-ravaged ground stills, hope remains.  After flood waters subside, hope remains.

Tide Loads of Hope remains committed to answering your call when the simplest of human needs are threatened, wherever you are.

Interact with Tide Loads of Hope at www.facebook.com/Tide.
Follow them on twitter @TideLoadsofHope

To date, Tide has washed over 36,000 loads of laundry for more than 27,000 families.
The profits from the sale of the Tide Loads of Hope tees benefit families affected by disaster.

Add your story of hope and love of everything local to our carnival, Hope Remains, and help spread the word.
Add your link below so we can find ourselves in your story.

Photo credits: Mishelle Lane Photography (Mishi accompanied us to New Orleans in December 2009 for our Loads of Hope for the Holidays carnival and a few days of washing laundry.  Thanks, Mishi!)