Tag Archives: front page

The support of Bloomington’s growing Latino population has soared with the hard work of Lillian Casillas. Her work for the past sixteen years with El Centro Comunal Latino and the AMIGOS Club has been transformative for Latino families integrating into the Bloomington community. Lillian’s personal experiences allow her to bring both a warm lightheartedness and a grounding understanding to her …

Mona Clay sets the standard for volunteers at Girls Inc. The reliability of volunteers mentoring these girls is incredibly important – for the functionality of the programming and for the strength of the mentoring relationship. Girls know that Mona will be there week after week, and they know that she cares for them. Volunteers who nourish their relationships with the …

Air date: 04/30/2018 Mary DePew’s herculean volunteer efforts at Volunteers In Tutoring Adult Learners (VITAL) have directly impacted nearly 100 English language learners locally. Those new to the U.S. and new to English often have little interaction with the community until they have achieved the ability to communicate. Mary’s many groups allow her students to work toward their personal literacy …

Air date: 04/23/2018 Phyllis Schwitzer was instrumental in guiding the Psi Iota Xi Sorority, Zeta Chapter philanthropic sorority as they transformed the Bloomington Thrift Shop out of a rental location and into their own building, and from a very part-time operation into a nearly full-time one. The shop has helped many community members over the last 80 years by providing …

Air date: 02/26/2018 From the Activate Archives: Local mom and activist Rachel Guglielmo discusses her work with Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, an organization originally founded by fellow Hoosier Shannon Watts. There are chapters of Moms in 50 states, and Rachel is active in the local, Bloomington chapter. Listen to Rachel’s empowering experience committing her time and …

In this episode, we share a phone call and three short essays from Timothy Smith. Smith spoke to us from inside Cook County Jail, the most recent place he has been held over ten years in custody. Timothy has been at a several institutions around Illinois, and describes entering prison and specifically Menard Correctional Center. He describes solitary confinement and …

Sarah Yang fell into her involvement with Global Gifts on the invitation of a friend. She connected instantly to the vision, mission, and values of Global Gifts and the impact they make in the lives of people around the world through their Fair Trade store. At just 16 years of age, Sarah already has several years of community engagement under …

This week, we return to the history of black radicalism within the prison system. You can hear more from Dr. Micol Seigel and Dr. Garrett Felber about this in last week’s episode. Early in this episode, the prisoner reporting on Operation PUSH, the sit-down strike in Florida’s prisons, mentions being transferred to a different area in order to prematurely stifle …

This week, we are changing our format slightly.  After hearing a letter from a prisoner involved in Operation PUSH, we are broadcasting an interview between Dr. Micol Seigel and Dr. Garrett Felber on the role of the Nation of Islam in prison life and prisoners’ struggle. Beginning in the middle of the last century, the Nation of Islam built a …

Air date: 02/12/2018 Dellsie Boddie serves the community on multiple levels through Cry of the Children, which is an organization that gives equal chances to all children to shine and become functional in society by helping them obtain the tools they need to do so. She works with children, helping them read and discover their natural talents, such as singing, …