How New Shoe Day Is Building a Shoe Secure Indiana We were at one of our early shoe events, handing out brand-new pairs of athletic shoes to kids in the community. One young person sat down, opened the box, looked inside, and then looked up at us and said, "I've never gotten a pair of shoes in a box before." That sentence reframed everything. We were not just giving away shoes. We were stepping into a space where something as fundamental as a new pair of shoes in a box was a

Early in my career, I served as a Financial Empowerment & Community Development Officer, where much of my time was spent delivering financial education throughout the community. If there was a group willing to learn about money—whether in a classroom, a nonprofit program, a small business workshop, or a civic organization—I was usually there. At the beginning, I thought the work was mostly about teaching financial concepts: Credit scores, budgeting, saving, and understanding

Being the eldest daughter comes with its perks and its pressures. It often feels like riding a rollercoaster where the turns are unpredictable, yet you learn early on that preparation is part of survival. Growing up in a first-generation immigrant family, I was not simply raised by my parents; in many ways, I grew alongside them. They were navigating parenthood for the first time, learning what it meant to nurture, guide, and support while adapting to a new world themselves.

We have all experienced the specific exhaustion of a "productive" day that somehow leaves us feeling hollow. You checked every box on your list. You responded to each message with lightning speed and performed the role of the ideal professional to perfection. You were exactly who everyone expected you to be. So why do you feel like a ghost by 6:00 PM? Why does a successful day leave you feeling like you have been drained from the inside out? Most of us treat our lives like a

Modern humans have roamed the earth for 300,000 years, and since the beginning, there have been communities: people coming together to share resources, compare ideas, and help raise their young. We see this idea in nature as well. Very few animals exist without aid from their herd, pod, flock, etc. Early human civilizations like Mesopotamia, Ancient India, and Ancient Egypt worked together to advance science, literacy, mathematics, astronomy, and law to form civilized and cul

Asian American Adoptees on Identity, Memory, and Belonging Adoption is not what people think it is. I feel like people want it to be simple so badly, like they need it to make sense in a clean, comforting way. A child is “saved,” placed into a better life, and grows up grateful. That’s the version that gets told, repeated, and accepted without much questioning. But that version leaves so much out. It ignores the parts that are harder to explain—the parts that don’t fit into s

Looking back now, I can say with certainty that I would not be here today, in the United States, pursuing an education and a dream, if not for my aunt. Her hands were roughened by work that should never have been hers. Her dreams of education were traded for a life of sacrifice. She shed her blood, sweat, and tears so my father could learn, so he could build a different future. He did just that, but unfortunately, not with her. My aunt was born five years before my father.

Art is often described as a mirror, but for some artists, it functions as something more powerful. For Indianapolis-based photographer Jordan Connor Christie, the force of art lives in the act of embodiment. Through her work as Animal in a Dress, Jordan uses boudoir photography to help people step fully into themselves, reclaim their stories, and see their own beauty reflected in lasting images. Jordan did not set out to be a boudoir photographer. Her journey began with se

As a photographer documenting the intersection of culture and style, I've witnessed firsthand how Black culture has shaped the fashion landscape. The contributions are endless—from the artistic explosion of the Harlem Renaissance to the bold statements of the Black Power movement, Black creativity has been a driving force behind countless innovations in style and design.

My Power Was Never Hard to Pronounce—Just Hard to Contain Growing up in a predominantly white community in Wisconsin, I was one of only three Indian students in my entire high school. For four years, I faced racism, bigotry, adversity, and xenophobia—experiences that made me acutely aware of my differences. My name, Alabhya, meaning "one who is invincible," was constantly mispronounced or reduced to nicknames for convenience. Instead of making the effort to learn my name, tea

In popular media, people’s background context is often told explicitly to help us, the audience, understand characters quickly and get focused on the storytelling. Blockbuster movies tend to quickly attribute the highest influence to those characters who have an Ivy League education or surged to success within their careers in record-breaking time. Iron Man is a great example because he’s a super genius who went to MIT, and that equates to inherent goodness as a superhero. Wh

Sometimes going sober means that “one day at a time” is even too big to manage. Breaking it down to a few breaths, a few hours.

Menopause is a natural transition in every woman’s life, yet it remains a topic that’s often hushed, misunderstood, or stigmatized.

We all deserve to come out of the closet, and not look back. Regardless of institutional sexual education, sexuality, and gender identities.

There’s a reason that the story of Beauty and the Beast got so popular. The shock of something so seemingly lovely, meant to be preserved...

While growing up, I envisioned love by finding that significant other who felt like the other half of you was finally found and...

I am a Pinterest gal, so I usually tend to start all of my writings with a quote, but this time, I couldn’t find one as relatable as I...

Every child says something to their parents that they regret and want to forget. The thing I said, I can’t forget it and I’ve come to...

I was six years old when I got on the school bus I wore my purple and white dress with a woven rose in the middle of my chest. My velcro...