Roof Over Your Head

“You want to know you have a place where your kids can come.” This story is from the Invisible Project, a collaboration between the Welcome Project and Porter County Coalition for Affordable Housing, Housing Opportunities, Gabriel’s Horn, Dayspring Women’s Center, and Porter County Museum. Hold a Conversation Can you imagine leading a conversation about this […]

Immutable Fact

“I’m a man. I’m a trans man. I also want to do gender the way, like butch lesbians do.” Welcome Project at Valparaiso University · Immutable Fact Transcript for Immutable Fact So I grew up in Wisconsin in a suburb of Milwaukee. And it was everything that a suburb is, like a deconstructed city. It […]

We All Played Together

“Once I got to be in seventh grade, eighth grade, we crossed 15th Avenue and nothing ever happened.” Edited by Nick Ladeau. Transcript for We All Played Together It’s the Froebel neighborhood, in Gary. It ran from 15th Avenue on the south end to 11th Avenue on the north end, and it went from Broadway […]

Travel Bug

“These interpersonal relations are the ones that are really the most meaningful.” Edited by Nick Ladeau. Transcript for Travel Bug I grew up in St. Paul, Minnesota, although I was born in Wabasha, Minnesota, and the family moved to St. Paul when I was two, and my father died shortly thereafter. So my mother raised […]

The Power of Education

“I think she expected me to come home and you know, be a doctor and open up a clinic somewhere. She didn’t expect me to come back and challenge her religion.” https://youtu.be/4zgIxCLP1zk Edited by Nick Ladeau. Transcript for The Power of Education My mom was very adamant that we had to finish our education. And […]

I Wanted More for My Kid

“As a parent, sometimes you just overthink things.” Edited by Welcome Project Intern Ella Speckhard Transcript for I Wanted More for My Kid The reason why I originally moved to Schererville is because, one reason was that, you know, I wanted the better schools for my son. Just when you start thinking about, you know, […]

I Wanted to Work

“He comes back… and he said, ‘I have a permanent position for you.’” Edited by Nick Ladeau. Transcript for I Wanted to Work I started looking for a job. You know, I worked in Germany. I wanted to work. You know, I liked to bring in money. I never wanted to be like my mom […]

Because I Can Forgive

“I can understand him so much more now as an adult but as a child it was very hurtful.” Edited by Rebecca Werner. Transcript for Because I Can Forgive So my mom and my birth father divorced when I was a baby. My birth father came back from Vietnam with a severe case of PTSD […]

I Know Dirt

“I’m not living in any subdivision, never.” Edited by Nick Ladeau. Transcript for I Know Dirt I grew up in a very rural area of northern Wisconsin. And farming has always been just a stone’s throw away from my reality. I have relatives that farmed, I grew up farming with those relatives, mostly dairy, – […]