Why isn’t my WP Query showing posts from a specified category?

I’m working on a WordPress site. I’m trying to make a category with the id 968 show up on the WordPress site under the stories and successes div. However for some reason the stories and successes div is not having the content from the category inserted into it. Any information on how I can improve my query or PHP is much appreciated. If I need to update this post with more information please let me know. Below you will see the php template file I am using.

<?php
/**
 * Template name: Random Template
 * 
 *
 */

// Custom styles
wp_enqueue_style('stories-styles', get_bloginfo('stylesheet_directory') . '/assets/css/stories.css');

// TEMP -- Get the category from the slug
the_post();

$categorySlugs = array(
    'religious-freedom'           => 'religious-freedom',
    'social-and-economic-justice' => 'social-and-economic-justice',
    'civil-and-human-rights'      => 'civil-and-human-rights'
);

// Get category
$categorySlugs = $categorySlugs[$post->post_name];

$storyQuery = new WP_Query(array(
    'post_type'      => array('stories', 'press-releases'),
    'category_name'  => $categorySlugs,
    'posts_per_page' => 4,
    'paged'          => (get_query_var('paged')) ? get_query_var('paged') : 1
));

$successesQuery = new WP_Query(array(
    'post_type'      => 'stories',
    'cat'  => 968,
    'posts_per_page' => 1,
    'offset'         => 5
));

// Remove yarpp
remove_filter('the_content', array($yarpp, 'the_content'), 1200);

?>
<?php get_header(); ?>

<div class="category-title">
  <div class="container">
    <h2><?php the_title() ?></h2>
  </div>
</div>

<div id="primary" class="content-area">
  <div id="content" class="site-content" role="main">

    <div class="container">
      <div class="row">
        <div class="col-md-12">

          <?php if ( function_exists('yoast_breadcrumb') ) {
                    yoast_breadcrumb('<p id="breadcrumbs">','</p>');
                } ?>

          <article class="featured-issue-article">

            <?php if ( has_post_thumbnail() && ! post_password_required() ) : ?>
              <div class="entry-thumbnail">
                <?php the_post_thumbnail('full', array( 'class' => "img-responsive attachment-post-thumbnail")); ?>
              </div>
            <?php endif; ?>

            <div class="content">
              <?php the_content() ?>
            </div>

          </article>

        </div>
      </div>

      <hr class="large blue" />

      <div class="row">

        <div class="col-md-8">

          <ul class="section-list">

            <?php while ($storyQuery->have_posts()) : $storyQuery->the_post(); ?>

              <li>
                <a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>"><h3><?php the_title() ?></h3></a>

                <?php if ( has_post_thumbnail() ) : ?>
                    <a href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>" title="<?php the_title_attribute(); ?>"><?php the_post_thumbnail('post-thumbnail', array( 'class' => "img-responsive attachment-post-thumbnail")); ?></a>
                <?php endif; ?>

                <?php if( get_field('custom_excerpt', $values_id)): ?>
                    <p><?php echo the_field('custom_excerpt'); ?></p>
                <?php endif; ?>

                <a class="more" href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>" title="<?php the_title_attribute(); ?>">Read More...</a>
              </li>

            <?php endwhile; ?>

          </ul>

          <?php
            set_query_var('category_slug', $categorySlug);
            get_template_part('issues-nav', 'bottom') 
          ?>

          <hr class="small blue" />

          <div class="success-stories">

            <h2>Stories &amp; Successes</h2>

            <ul>

              <?php while ($successesQuery->have_posts()) : $successesQuery->the_post(); ?>

                <li>
                  <h4>
                    <a href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>"><?php the_title() ?></a>
                  </h4>
                  <?= strip_tags($post->post_excerpt) ?>
                  <a class="more" href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>" title="<?php the_title_attribute(); ?>">Read More...</a>
                </li>

              <?php endwhile; ?>

            </ul>

          </div>

        </div>

        <div class="col-md-4">
          <?php get_sidebar(); ?>
        </div>

      </div>

    </div>
  </div>



  </div><!-- #content -->
</div><!-- #primary -->
<?php get_footer(); ?>