CLEVELAND, Ohio — When Allison Meyer took the microphone at a Story Club Cleveland open mic night, everything changed.  

• Never, Ever Give Up Cleveland is an online platform that encourages people to write letters about the hardest thing they ever had to go through 
• The letters are posted to an Instagram account
• You can submit stories through Never, Ever Give Up Cleveland’s Instagram account and website

 "I was terrified. I didn’t think it was going to go well. I thought I was going to scare people, or they would thing I just bummed people out," said Meyer, the founder of Never, Ever Give Up Cleveland.  
 
She shared a story about losing her mom in a traffic accident.  
 
"I needed some way to get it off my chest, but I didn’t really know that I needed that," said Meyer. "At the end of the night, there was a line of people waiting to talk to me. And some hugged me and shared their stories with me." 
 
So Meyer started collecting stories around Northeast Ohio as part of Never, Ever Give up Cleveland. 
 
Hundreds have opened up about their struggles.

Meyer shared one of those stories in a stack of them —
 
"The hardest thing I ever had to do was let go when my grandfather died. I was young and I didn’t understand at first," said the writer.

And she read another writer's response to that letter.

"To the one who wrote about losing their grandfather. I’m old now but I remember when I had my first big loss. My brother. It seemed like this had left the world, like I was never going to feel joy again. But gradually, you do feel better. Eventually, you accept that it’s all part of being alive. And eventually, you can have joy and sorrow and gratitude on every day."

During this time in quarantine, people aren’t just encouraged to share stories, but to write letters of encouragement to those who’ve shared a difficult experience.  

The letters are posted to an Instagram account where anyone can see them and find some comfort. Meyer believes writing stories like this is the perfect way to connect at a time when many of us feel so distant.  
 
"I think writing a letter of hope right now to someone in Northeast Ohio can make not only the storyteller feel seen and supported, but the people who write the story feel like they’re participating in their community and bringing that connection. And the hope, you know that we sort of need, as there’s so much uncertainty right now," said Meyer.  
 
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