“We were good workers, and we did our job quite well, but we didn’t have a passion. You have to have a passion in life.” ~ a Welcome Project story ~ Former Gary resident the difficult labor in the steel mills and the role of passion in work. Find more stories at welcomeproject.valpo.edu or subscribe to our weekly podcast by searching for Welcome Project on your favorite podcast app.
“The use of the car, I think, has dramatically changed the way people live.” ~ a Welcome Project story ~ Find more at welcomeproject.valpo.edu or subscribe to our weekly podcast by searching for Welcome Project on your favorite podcast app.
“There should be an allegiance to Gary to build it up and make it prosper once again.” ~ a Welcome Project story ~ Find more at welcomeproject.valpo.edu or subscribe to our weekly podcast by searching for Welcome Project on your favorite podcast app.
A storyteller who identifies as bisexual shares how it would be a lie to "just pick one" even though it's what her family wants and what the gay community expects. ~ a Welcome Project story ~
Former Gary resident discusses church life from the '50s and how community dissipated in the face of prejudice. ~ a Welcome Project story ~ Find more at welcomeproject.valpo.edu or subscribe to our weekly podcast by searching for Welcome Project on your favorite podcast app.
“If you can find, as the individual, security in where you are, then you can open up your ability to be vulnerable.” ~ a Welcome Project story ~ Find more at welcomeproject.valpo.edu or subscribe to our weekly podcast by searching for Welcome Project on your favorite podcast app.
“I have learned some amazing, life-changing thoughts and ideologies from inmates.” ~ a Welcome Project story ~ Find more at welcomeproject.valpo.edu or subscribe to our weekly podcast by searching for Welcome Project on your favorite podcast app. To hear more from this storyteller, check out "You're Not White" and "Military Vibe."
"You realize the strength of your mind...just by convincing yourself how strong you are." ~ a Welcome Project story ~ Find more stories at welcomeproject.valpo.edu or subscribe to our weekly podcast by searching for Welcome Project on your favorite podcast app.
"It was like something switched in my head..." ~ a Welcome Project story ~ Find more at welcomeproject.valpo.edu or subscribe to our weekly podcast by searching for "Welcome Project" on your podcast app.
“It’s just a vehicle for your soul; it’s what you’ve been given.” ~ a Welcome Project story ~ Find more stories at welcomeproject.valpo.edu or subscribe to our weekly podcast on your favorite podcast app.
“Now, we talked about the white flight; we didn’t talk about what really made it worse in Gary.” ~ a Welcome Project Flight Paths story ~ Find more at welcomeproject.valpo.edu or subscribe to our podcast by searching for Welcome Project on your favorite podcast app.
"I was thinking black power was a good thing." ~ a Welcome Project story ~ Find more at welcomeproject.valpo.edu or subscribe to our podcast by searching for "Welcome Project Valparaiso University" on your favorite podcast app. Produced by Rebecca Werner with interviews recorded by StoryCorps, a national nonprofit whose mission is to provide Americans of all backgrounds and beliefs with the opportunity to record, share, and preserve the stories of our lives: www.storycorps.org
“Sometimes I feel like I’m in the middle of two worlds, four worlds, and sometimes I feel like I’m not a part of any of them.” ~ a Welcome Project story ~ Find more at welcomeproject.valpo.edu or subscribe to our podcast by searching for "Welcome Project Valparaiso University" on your podcast app.
"I don’t know any other way to operate. I can’t just sit around and say, ‘Oh, well. That’s the way it is.’" ~ a Welcome Project story ~ Find more at welcomeproject.valpo.edu or subscribe to our weekly podcast by searching for "Welcome Project Valparaiso University" on your podcast app.
"Like a priest to a church, I wanna do my part... I want to serve my country." ~ a Welcome Project story ~ Find more at welcomeproject.valpo.edu or subscribe to our weekly podcast by searching for "Welcome Project Valparaiso University" on your podcast app.
"If you don’t have access to the information, you don’t know what your potential is." ~ a Welcome Project story ~ Find more at welcomeproject.valpo.edu or subscribe to our podcast by searching for "Welcome Project Valparaiso University" on your podcast app.
"To see somebody else struggling and to be able to lend a hand or lend an ear—that’s living a diaconal life." ~ a Welcome Project story ~ Find more at welcomeproject.valpo.edu or subscribe to our weekly podcast by searching for "Welcome Project Valparaiso University" on your podcast app.
"'Dad’s going to play Army.' That’s what they would say." ~ a Welcome Project story ~ Find more stories at welcomeproject.valpo.edu or subscribe to our weekly podcast by searching for "Welcome Project Valparaiso University" on your podcast app.
"I remember watching this church being built." ~ a Welcome Project story ~ Find the video with photographs of St. Augustine's Episcopal Church in Gary, Indiana, at welcomeproject.valpo.edu
“I had a mother tell me, 'Bring my boy home safe.'" ~ a Welcome Project story ~ Find more at welcomeproject.valpo.edu or subscribe for a weekly dose by searching for "Welcome Project Valparaiso University" on your podcast app.
"Like I really enjoy this life thing, so I want to give it a shot, and part of that is accepting who I am." ~ a Welcome Project story ~ Find more at welcomeproject.valpo.edu or subscribe to our weekly podcast by searching for "Welcome Project Valparaiso University" on your podcast app.
Warning: story contains an ethnic slur. “You see the movies, and they’re going in there gung-ho, but it’s a lot different...you shoot them, but they’re going to shoot back.” ~ a Welcome Project story ~ Find more at welcomeproject.valpo.edu or subscribe to our podcast by searching for "Welcome Project Valparaiso University" on your podcast app.
“It’s hard to argue with the values of a diverse population.” ~ a Welcome Project story ~ Find more at welcomeproject.valpo.edu or subscribe to our podcast for a weekly dose of Welcome Project stories. Search for "Welcome Project Valparaiso University" in your podcast app.
“The Marine Corps was like, ‘We’re gonna fix you… but it’s not gonna be fun.’ I was like, ‘I’m down for that.’” A grandfather and grandson talk about their time in the Marines. ~ a Welcome Project story ~ Find more at welcomeproject.valpo.edu or subscribe to our weekly podcast by searching for "Welcome Project Valparaiso University" on your podcast app.
Black alumni, born and raised in Gary, talks about positive and negative experiences with white faculty / authority figures in Valparaiso while attending college there. Produced by Dan Funderburg. Thanks to the Office of Multicultural Programs for organizing a story collection day during the Black Alumni Reunion. To find more stories, go to welcomeproject.valpo.edu or subscribe to our weekly podcast by searching for "Welcome Project Valparaiso University" on your podcast app.
"Never, ever look the other way." ~ a Welcome Project story ~ Find more at welcomeproject.valpo.edu or subscribe to our weekly podcast by searching for "Welcome Project Valparaiso University" on your podcast app.
"We often don’t think about how the little things build up to create that relationship that you want with people you live around." ~ a Welcome Project story ~ Find more at welcomeproject.valpo.edu or subscribe to our podcast. This story was produced by Marc Boas from an interview conducted by Emily Neuharth.
"You know, there’s no normal with us. I couldn’t even tell you what normal is." ~ a Welcome Project story ~ Find more at welcomeproject.valpo.edu or subscribe to our weekly podcast.
"I feel safe on campus, but the fact that there were people willing to oppress minorities and make them feel like they shouldn't be here, were moments where I was like, 'Ummm, maybe I shouldn't be here?'" Produced by Megan Martinez from an interview she conducted for the Welcome Project.
“If you’re not voting, that’s as if you don’t want any voice in your own government.” ~ a Welcome Project story ~ Hear more from our collection at welcomeproject.valpo.edu or subscribe to our podcast.
