The Visibility Project Podcast

Meet Otto Guild and hear his story of going from sighted, to blind

Raheef Alturkmani shares his experience as a Syrian living and thriving in Midland, MI along with the hurdles along the way.  Raheef is an ambassador to the Muslim faith and a pillar in the community. 

Sue and Joy talk about coming the the United States and the struggles of being "different" in the communities in which they lived.  

Hear from employees of 1016 Recovery Network and listen to some personal stories surrounding substance abuse and its effect on families. 

Episode 25 of The Visibility Project discusses Life after Incarceration with Rob Worsley and  Aaron Falkowski. Aaron grew up in Midland Michigan. He has worked for the Ten16 Recovery Network for 4 years, and has been sober for 6 years. Aaron started going to the Midland Community Former Offenders Advocacy & Rehabilitation ( MCFOAR ) foundation immediately after returning home from a residential drug and alcohol treatment program in Petoskey, Michigan.At MCFOAR, Rob and Gerry have helped him spiritually, emotionally and financially to integrate back into the community to become the functioning and contributing member of society that he is today.You can find more information and resources here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1crq4m25Awv8eI5jAhxFdu3P_ItBiDzJY/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=100510852221865441715&rtpof=true&sd=true

Jenna is from Bay City, MI and has been married to her husband Bryon since 2018. She has two daughters. Her step daughter, Harmony, is 13 and their adopted daughter, Zoey, is 6. Jenna notes that however motherhood comes to you, it is a miracle and she continues to share her adoption journey in hopes of igniting a spark in others’ hearts.  DeLois is the founder of Adoption Option Inc. She first became licensed to practice law in the State of Indiana in 1982 and has practiced law in the State of Michigan since 1983.  She has published several articles on topics such as adoption and business law.  With the help of a talented group of employees, contractors, volunteers, collaborators, and donors, she endeavors to help improve the lives of children and families primarily in the Great Lakes Bay Region and the Mid-Michigan area.

Vanessa Maxon and Christie McDonald share their stories of how the historic flood in 2020 impacted their families and communities.  

Desirea and Tabitha share their expertise in child abuse and trauma and how to be an advocate for children.

020 - Grief and how to handle it w/ Camille Gerace-Nitschky and Pattie Veith-Powers by The Visibility Project Podcast

In this month’s episode, we will be joined by Adam Muszynski and Barb Smith as we focus on the topic of suicide and suicide prevention. Our two guests will share their deeply personal experiences along with their expertise in suicide prevention. Adam Muszynski was born and raised in Metro Detroit and is a graduate from Central Michigan University. He currently resides in Saginaw with his wife and two young boys. He describes himself as a Mental Health Warrior, working to End the Stigma around Mental Health and advocate for those who are looking for support by sharing his own experiences. Barb Smith is the founder and Executive Director of the Barb Smith Suicide Resource & Response Network, recognized at the state and national level for its work in training individuals in suicide prevention and the role played in aftercare for those who have been impacted by suicide. As a survivor of both her brother and sister-in-law’s suicides, Barb took her lived experience from the past 33 years to help find purpose for her pain. Barb is the facilitator of the local Survivors of Suicide support group, coordinator for the Local Outreach for Suicide Survivors Team, and a Victims Advocate for the Saginaw County Sheriff Dept.

In this month’s episode, we will meet with Liz Westerman and JodiAnn Stevenson to talk about dominant social norms related to health and body sizes, the myths of diet culture, and body positivity. Both guests open up about their personal history with eating disorders, their interactions with health professionals, and navigating society’s expectations.Liz has her degree from The University of Wisconsin-Madison in Chemical and Biological Engineering and currently works at Dow as an Operations Leader in Michigan Operations.  At work, she is very involved in Employee Resource Groups and has a passion for mentoring and is an advocate for mental health. She and her husband have a 3-year-old daughter, a 10-month-old son, and 2 dogs. She enjoys yoga, cycling, reading, and spending lots of time outdoors.JodiAnn Stevenson is a Body Liberation-oriented Health Coach & Personal Trainer as well as a doctoral student of Transformative Studies researching colonialism’s and capitalism’s effect on our cultural understanding of health with particular emphasis on weight stigma in health care. She lives in Northern Michigan with her husband and one of her two daughters as well as their dog, Princess Leia, and their cat, Luke Skywalker.

017 - Reflecting on 2021 by The Visibility Project Podcast

In this month’s episode, we will be focusing on the voices of the indigenous community and the Anshinaabe community in particular. We will be exploring their history and culture with Sierra Clark who serves as the lone full time Ingenious Affairs Reporter in Michigan. Sierra is Kitchi Wiikwedongsing (Wik wee dong sing) Odawa, from the Grand Traverse Band of Odawa and Ojibwe. She currently resides on her ancestral homelands of the Grand Traverse Bay in Norrthern Michigan with her husband and two children. She graduated from Western Michigan University in 2019 with a degree in Freshwater Science and Sustainability. In 2020, she made a big career change from being a Freshwater Biologist when she started as a journalist fellow with the Mishigamiing Journalism Project. In the partnership between The Traverse City Record Eagle and Indigenizing the News, she collaborated partnerships between news rooms and reported on Anshinaabek stories in Michigan. She’s been featured in The Kitchn, Detroit Metro Times, Michigan Radio, Planet Detroit, Interlochen Public Radio, and many other publications in her first year as a journalist. She currently works for the Traverse City Record-Eagle as the Indigenous Affairs Reporter through Report For America where she covers Indigenous Sovereign Nations in Northern Michigan. She also sits as co-editor for Indigenizing the News.To learn more about The Visibility Project, follow us!Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/thevisibilityprj/Contact us at thevisibilityprj@gmail.comThis podcast was produced by Push Productions | https://pushpromi.com/

If you would like to submit your pandemic story, you can do so at the link below - forms.gle/wXSCg5e7cXCtfKdY7

If you would like to submit your pandemic story, you can do so at the link below - forms.gle/wXSCg5e7cXCtfKdY7

If you would like to submit your pandemic story, you can do so at the link below - https://forms.gle/wXSCg5e7cXCtfKdY7