Editor’s note: Visual journalist Hailey Hoffman was a founding staff member of Cascadia Daily News in 2022. Her last day with the newspaper is in February and we asked her to write a reflection of her reporting experience before she heads to the Midwest.
In my three years at Cascadia Daily News, I’ve soared above Mount Baker and floated to buoys at sea. I’ve been welcomed into countless homes, classrooms, artists’ studios and kitchens, and witnessed some of the best days and hardest days in Whatcom County.
It’s been a privilege and an honor that so many people have answered my cold calls and trusted me with their stories.
I’ve experienced small moments of sheer joy, like a morning spent in a second-grade classroom where students learned about empathy from a tiny teacher (a baby), and large moments of grief and pain, like speaking to the families who’d lost their children to overdoses. I hold onto the moments of magic — like sailing on the schooner Zodiac on a rainy afternoon until the sun broke through the clouds to paint the ship with golden light and reveal a rainbow falling into Fairhaven. I’ve been inspired by the dedication of many locals, like the hard work of the Community Paramedics. I won’t ever forget the hard things, like walking through homeless camps or afternoons spent in courtrooms as the scales of justice are weighed.
I say that being a photojournalist is like experiencing life on steroids, because each week, each day, is filled with highs and lows.
So in looking back, here are a few of my favorite images and moments captured these last three years.
I remember the day before we launched our website, how daunting it was, in January 2022. I cried from stress while eating breakfast with my then-boyfriend, now-husband at the Harris Avenue Cafe. Two years later I would cover its destruction when the Terminal Building burned down.
Looking back, I had no idea what I was getting into — the amount of chaos I was introducing into my life, the level of responsibility I was shouldering, and just how rewarding it would be.
Mistakes have been made, more tears shed and many, many lessons learned, but it’s an experience that I wouldn’t trade for anything.
Through it all, though, I’ve been inspired by the humanity that exists all around us. It reinforces my belief that humans are fundamentally good and at the core, desire to do better for one another. I feel very lucky to have met so many people and shared so many stories in this vibrant community.
Now that I got all my big passionate feelings out, it’s time to get to my main points: Goodbye and thank you. My husband just graduated from Western Washington University, and it feels like all the issues in Bellingham that CDN has reported on are catching up to us — the median house price sitting at $765,000, the lack of high-paying jobs, the struggle to improve child care access and schools struggling with insufficient state funding. With no extended family around, the reality is that we don’t have a stable foundation to start our own. We won’t take our future children to explore tide pools at Larrabee State Park during the summers and to Mt. Baker Ski Area to ski in the winter, like so many families I’ve photographed in the last few years.
I’ll admit, I’m bitter about having to leave. I love this place and have since I first visited it 10 years ago. I remember my mom driving us up Interstate 5 to tour WWU, and I had my camera out, snapping photos of the Chuckanut Mountains as we drove through. The misty clouds mixing with the mountain tops seemed to quench my soul, long dried by the desert air of my youth. I was sad to leave after I graduated and was thrilled when editor Ron Judd called me a few years later to ask me if I wanted to help start a newspaper.
Since then, I’ve found great purpose in documenting Whatcom County, sacrificing so much time and energy on the mission of strengthening democracy in this corner of Washington. I’ve found beauty and characters ripe for storytelling lurking around every corner. Big issues, big topics and big decisions are constantly on the table. It’s been thrilling, though often stressful, to be involved, even if it’s just a photo of a meeting. But, all my investment doesn’t mean Bellingham can support my other dreams for the future, so it’s time to say goodbye.
My biggest regret is all the stories I’ve heard that haven’t yet published. And, I’ll admit, it feels like a really weird time to leave, with everything in flux nationally. A part of me feels like I’m abandoning this place because I won’t be here to help shine a light on the impacts that reach our corner of the country. But, I do know, the work will continue. Many more stories will be told by all my talented coworkers who carry the same ethos and passion I have had for the last three years. Through the years spent in the newsroom and hours out on assignments, trust me, you’re in good hands.
Lastly, I want to thank the readers who continue to read our work, look at our photos and watch our videos. As I’ve half jokingly said to many people who’ve told me they subscribe, thanks for helping pay our salaries! We wouldn’t be doing this and Cascadia Daily News wouldn’t be as successful as it is if this community’s incredible support wasn’t there.
Journalism is an industry where thank-yous are rare, and excitement for a journalist’s presence almost unheard of. I’ve experienced both those things week after week since we first launched. It’s been the biggest motivator for me to keep me going, knowing that people see what we’re trying to do and appreciate it.
So, I’ll leave it all here. I’m excited to watch what CDN continues to do and how Whatcom County progresses, even though it’s from afar.
I’m off to spend some time traveling and seeing family before settling in Chicago, where my husband’s large family lives. There, homes are more affordable and work opportunities are more abundant for us both.
This place and this paper will always have a grip on my heart.
Hailey Hoffman is a CDN visual journalist; reach her at haileyhoffman@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 103.
