New Voices: Sycamore and Joseph House, Winter, 2017

www.prairiecincinnati.com

Copyright 2017, Prairie, Inc.
Prairie is a non-profit organization based in Cincinnati, OH. Prairie produces community photography programs including New Voic-
es which seek to decrease barriers between disparate socio-economic and racial communities in Greater Cincinnati and which give
voice to those excluded from public discourse on important community issues.
For more information please contact Prairie at [email protected]
Cover image by Emma Sulfsted

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ……………………………………….………………….…… 3
Allan, Lorena and Marta…………………………….…………………….…… 4
Ally, Lorena, Marta, Stephanie and Terry…….……………………….. 12
Jeremy, Matt, Lexie, Stephanie and Emma S…...…………………... 27
Lexie, Matt and Emma S...……………………………………………………. 30
Liz, Emma B., Sarah, Matilde and Kenn………………………………… 41
Nick, Emma B. and Sarah…………………………………………………….. 54
Natalie, Everett and David ………………………………………………….. 60

Image by Matt
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Acknowledgments

Many thanks to the community which assembled to make this project possible. First, Joseph House has been a trusted New Voices
partner for the past five years through the coordination of Mark Levine. Thanks to Mark for recognizing the role students can play
in supporting residents in their efforts to reconnect with themselves, their families and the wider community in a positive way.
Thanks also to Nate Pelletier for recognizing the role of community engagement in the delicate process of recovery which Joseph
House provides for its constituents.
Thanks to Sycamore High School especially faculty member Peiter Griga for including New Voices in its programming for the past
eight years. Participating Sycamore students showed great dedication in making the long trip back and forth from Sycamore to
Over-the-Rhine each week and opening their hearts to new experiences with their Joseph House partners. Likewise, Joseph House
participants voluntarily participated in this creative work with students, making room in their schedules to share their stories and
for a short time, their lives.
Thanks to those who made this project financially possible including the Mayerson Family Foundation. The trustees and staff of the
Mayerson Family Foundation not only support community projects with funds, but provide support and programming to help as-
sure the success of their sponsored projects. This unique combination is greatly appreciated. The Ladislas and Vilma Segoe Family
Foundation has been a long-time supporter of Prairie programming and the continuity of their support is fundamental to Prairie’s
ongoing community work.

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Allan, Lorena Idris and Marta Santos

Allan: I think crime is the biggest issue in our community. It seems like no matter what street you go down, even streets where
there are expensive new condos, you find crime and it just doesn’t go away. Just this morning, I was with a guy here who was lift-
ing weights who weighs about two hundred and fifty pounds. He wanted me to walk with him to the corner store because he did-
n’t want to walk there on his own. Restoring all of the buildings down here is going partly in the right direction. But if crime does
not improve, we will just wind up needing more security guards.

Marta: The environment at Joseph house seems like a very peaceful one.

Allan: I took my daughter to the a train station where they have the Omnimax at Union Terminal. She had never been there. I
think she was about five. That scared her to death, just taking her out of her normal environment. She was so scared that she did-
n’t even talk to me for a week after that. I told her not to worry because she was with her dad but she just wanted me to take her
home. Even riding the bus scared her to death. When I go out, I can feel unsafe without even going too far. Race and poverty are
not as serious problems as crime.

Marta: I feel like there are a lot of issues with racism in our society. But crime is a constant issue.

Allan: A lot of low income people have been forced out of downtown into the suburbs. Some of the suburbs on the west side of
town are not good. I don’t know if this will help solve the crime problem or not.

Marta: It seems like social and economic differences are a big problem in the US. There’s a big difference between the rich and
poor. You either have everything or nothing. It doesn’t seem like there’s a large middle class.

Allan: This is a problem and in addition, family structures have really disappeared. People don’t feel responsible for what they
do anymore. Parents don’t keep strict lines and rules for their kids.

Marta: I feel like it’s important to do things like have dinner every day as a family. When I got here, I was surprised to learn that
my friends leave school and go home and just see their parents in passing and don’t have dinner together.

Allan: When I was a kid, I had very little family structure but we still ate together every day at 5:00.

Marta: My parents get upset with me if I cannot have dinner with them. I have to let them know if I am doing something else.

Allan: I hate hearing people talk about their baby’s mama or their baby’s daddy.

Marta: It’s good to have a strong connection with parents and be able to talk to them about what’s going on. A lot of people have
lost this kind of connection and respect.

Allan: When I turned 50, I started feeling like I was running out of time. It was weird because at the time I didn’t feel 50. Now
I’m 60 and I don’t feel like I am 60. Every once in a while somebody will treat me with respect that I’m not used to getting. People
don’t show each other respect.

Marta: We were talking about respect last week. Everything is based on respect. It can impact race and gender and economic
divides.. We all have to respect each other. We have to respect each other’s choices and lifestyles and opinions. People have
trouble accepting differences and try to force others to be just like them.

Allan: People of different religions are all still praying to some God. Your God may not be exactly like the one in a different reli-
gion, but it still God.

Marta: I don’t feel like it is right to try and keep Muslim people from coming here. We can’t do that; these are people. People
say we have to protect our country, but things don’t work like that; people are not objects or materials.

Lorena: In my Spanish class, we are reading a book about illegal immigrants. The book talks about why they come to the United
States. They come here because there is a lot of crime and drug problems where they are from. They want to move on and have a
better life.

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Image by Allan
Image by Marta

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Image by Lorena
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Image by Allan

Marta: In those circumstances, it’s not fair to ask people to go through all the hoops like getting a visa to come here. Not every-
one can do that. People just want to have a good life and get some work. I think people should still have to try their best not to do
illegal things, but it should not be impossible for them to come here. It’s not a solution to just say that these people need to go
away. Some of these people have been here for 20 years and have kids and have their lives here. Now we are saying that they
have to leave.

Allan: These people were trusting that that would never happen. It’s not fair for them to be locked up if they are doing the right
thing and contributing to society.

Marta: The United States is a country made of immigrants. I don’t understand the point of trying to deny these people. People
cannot just come and go whenever they want, but you can’t tell them they have to go right now. And families are being split up.
People who are here working and paying bills for their kids will have to leave. There are Muslim people stuck in airports because
they are not allowed to go to their homes. They can’t be with their families.

Lorena: These decisions should not be based on people’s religions.

Marta: I agree with this. A minority of people interpret religion in radical ways.

Lorena: Most Mexicans are Catholic. But you cannot lump them all into one group based on that religion.

Marta: You cannot generalize based on religion. For every five bad people, there are many thousands of good people from any
particular religion.

Allan: There are many Muslims who are not radical or violent.

Marta: Religion is not the problem, it’s the way people have stereotypes about certain religions that is the problem. It’s not a
linear issue, it’s not about Muslims or Catholics. You can either embrace people from all different religions or you can just hate
everyone who is not like you.

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Image by Lorena
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Allan: Do you think Trump will be successful in preventing radicals from coming here?

Lorena: I think he’s going to destroy this country. Most immigrants here are doing very hard work. They are doing jobs that other
people do not want to do.

Marta: My mom was telling me about someone she met who did not believe that immigrants are contributing to America. Peo-
ple like this are just thinking about human beings as machines.

Allan: I was working for a company that put up tents for occasions. There were a lot of other companies that were competitors
which employed Mexican workers. They were not here legally and we could not keep up with them. They were using all hand
tools and we had big power tools. They would work right through a bad storm, hammering in poles in the wind and rain. How can
you compete against that? They were doing it so much better than us.

Lorena: I hated living in Houston. It was very racist there. There were a lot of Mexican and Arabic people there. Most of the hard
workers who worked on apartment buildings were Latin people. I used to live in an apartment and there were some Latino people
who came to my house to fix something. The quality of their work was different than work by other people.

Marta: I have heard people say that Mexicans and Arabic people are not good workers.

Allan: It’s wrong to put a stereotype on any kind of people. Every culture has a different kind of work ethic. I just moved from
California. It was unbelievable how people worked out there in the fields. There are Mexicans out in the field every day in brutal
conditions. Their work ethic must be pretty good to be able to do that. They don’t get paid a lot.

Lorena: I feel like we need to fight ignorance. People need to get over thinking that everyone who comes here is bad. After read-
ing the book in Spanish class, my opinion changed. I don’t see immigrants as good or bad. It described how hard it is to make the
trip across the border into the United States. People had to watch their friends die. People should know about this.

Marta: People think that immigrants come here just because they want to, but this isn’t true. People don’t really understand
how hard life is for people who are trying to come into the United States. They don’t know about how life is for them where they
come from. People who are born in the United States have freedom. It bothers me when I hear people talking about equal rights
or feminism and then they talk negatively about immigrants. Most of the people who are coming here do not have rights or jobs
and are coming here for freedom. Women are often discriminated against and do not have rights in those countries. People need
to think about these things before talking about issues like feminism in this country.

Allen: The biggest thing that I have learned in the last few months is the power of awareness. I have learned how to rewire my
thought process in the last few months. This gives me the ability to avoid negative thinking. I know how to avoid negative feelings
and behaviors. I would like to find a way to do this throughout society. People need to be aware of what’s happening in the world
instead of just keeping within their own behaviors and thought processes.

Marta: It comes back to respect. If we can respect each other, we would all have a better idea of reality. This would help us heal.
If we can respect each other, we can listen and learn and understand. After understanding each other, we can form opinions
about things. I’m interested in understanding why people do things or have opinions that are different than mine, even people
who voted for Trump. I want to understand why people think he’s a good president and voted for him. People need to do this
before trying to tell other people what to do. People talk too much and need to listen more.

Allan: I don’t think it’s possible for one person like Trump to make all these drastic changes. There has to be something else we
can do. People have to come together as a group to change the way things are and to change people’s opinions.

Marta: I was talking to one of my friends who voted for Trump and I was asking him why he voted that way. My friend is wealthy
and said that he liked Trump because he will lower taxes for people who are in his economic class. He is just thinking of his own
best interest. I don’t understand why someone would choose a president for the country who was thinking only about their own
needs.

Allan: I was sitting over in the courtyard the other day thinking about this class. When I was sitting there, the sun was coming
through the clouds and lighting up this row of buildings. All of the rooftops were lining up perfectly and square. The power lines
ran along the same angle all the way down the row of buildings. It was just a perfect angle. I ran upstairs to get my phone to take

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a picture. After I took it, a message came up asking me to give permission to send the photo somewhere. I did that and then it
asked for a title for the picture. Then I got a message asking me if I wanted to be some kind of guide. Anyway, I gave the picture a
title about all of us being connected. I thought of that because of how the wires were connecting everything together in the pic-
ture.
Marta: I think you would really be a great architect. You have a really great sensitivity to things around you. I really love taking
photographs and thinking of titles for them.
Allan: Being creative and photographing has helped me to stay positive. When I first started this program, I didn’t know how I
would get along with you guys just like you said you didn’t know how you would get along with me. You guys are young and I’m
much older, but we get along really great. Since we started doing this, I think differently when I’m out and about. When I’m walk-
ing up and down the streets, I start looking for pictures.
Marta: That happens to me all the time too; I am always thinking about things that would make a good picture. I always have
my phone with me. When I’m coming back from the gym, I often see a really beautiful sunset. I stop and think about what I am
looking at. This really gives me a lot of peace. I really like taking photos and walking and looking.
Allen: It’s a big stress relief to think about nature instead of litter.

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Image by Allan
Image by Marta

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Ally Miller, Lorena Idris, Marta Santos, Stephanie Mather and Terry

Stephanie: I’m from Cincinnati, Ohio. Where I grew up is very suburban.

Marta: I am from Portugal which is very different from America and Cincinnati.

Lorena: I am from Mexico and it is very different from here.

Marta: The routines in America are very different from Portugal.

Ally: I am from Blue Ash and have lived there my whole life. It is very suburban and conservative.

Marta: There are suburbs in Portugal, just a lot smaller than the suburbs in America. I am from Lisbon, a big city. You really don’t
need to drive there. Everything is walkable. It’s a different lifestyle.

Terry: I am from Brownsville, Tennessee, north of Memphis. It’s a farming community. They grow cotton, corn soybeans and
livestock. Tina Turner is from my hometown.

Ally: All of my family lives in Cincinnati. I have some family in Florida and some in Boston.

Lorena: Most of my family lives in Mexico, but I have an aunt who lives in Germany. I also have family in Egypt.

Marta: My immediate family is in Cincinnati, but the rest is in Portugal and Spain.

Stephanie: I have six siblings. My older brother goes to school in the Netherlands. A lot of my family lives in Cincinnati, but I also
have family in New Jersey and Washington.

Terry: I am the youngest of nine. My mother and father are deceased. We are all spread out from Washington, DC, Memphis,
Nashville and Brownsville.

Ally: Through this program, I have learned about diverse communities. It’s interesting that this diverse community is so close
to where I live but so different.

Marta: I learned a lot about life and photography and a lot of things I didn’t even know about. It’s very impressive to see how
strong you guys are and how you’re smiling every Monday when I come down here. I love it and am glad you feel comfortable
with us because I know it may not be easy. It’s been really amazing.

Stephanie: Over-the-Rhine is well known for being dangerous. But I think all cities have some parts like that. I wasn’t really scared
to come down here. Being here confirms my belief that it is not dangerous. Findlay Market is really pretty. There are good and
bad aspects to every place.

Terry: Over-the-Rhine has a bad reputation. There’s a lot of planning to change that. There are a lot of new buildings and a lot
of art in this part of Cincinnati. You have to take the good with the bad. The city is doing their part to clean it up. I am all for it.
I’m excited to see what it looks like in 20 years. It’s already a beautiful place, but just imagine what it will look like with all the new
building and when some of the people who are causing trouble aren’t here anymore.

Marta: It seemed like they have brought good things like artwork into this area to make it better.

Stephanie: In one sense though, it’s becoming gentrified which just makes it more expensive to live here. I wonder where the peo-
ple go who cannot afford to live here anymore.

Terry: The street life is very bad here. A lot of people who don’t even live here come down and do their mischief and then leave.
There are facilities for those who are homeless, but when you come down Lliberty Street and see all the people sitting out front
drinking beer on the front steps of Saint Francis church, you think it’s abandoned. We actually have meetings there. A lot of the
people there are not homeless, they just sit around drinking, which is wrong because it’s a church. I was raised to respect the
church. I think they should put up a fence or hire security to keep it clean. I like how they’re cleaning up the streets here.

People who are causing problems make the whole place look bad and make people not want to come down here. People are buy-
ing abandoned buildings and redoing them. There was a similar thing that happened in Nashville. Now Nashville is like a tourist

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Image by Ally

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attraction.
Ally: My favorite places to photograph were Findlay Market and Sawyer Point. Findlay Market is really colorful and it’s a great
place for people to come together. The light there was really beautiful. We all had a lot of fun there too. I have not been to Saw-
yer Point since I was about 12, so it was cool to see again.
Lorena: My favorite place to photograph was at Sawyer Point because there was a lot to see. The weather was also really nice
there.
Marta: I loved the bridge. The light was really amazing. It was nice to see a lot of people walking. The view was really beautiful.
Stephanie: I wasn’t here when we went to the bridge. I had the most fun at Findlay Market. It was a lot of fun walking back. I for-
got my camera that day, but I still get some good shots. The best pictures I got were just from the street and when we went to
Washington Park. I got a really good picture of a little boy in the park. I also liked going to the church the first day.
Terry: I liked going on the streetcar; I like to ride around. I liked stopping at the park.
Allly: I think gentrification is a big issue in Cincinnati. This area is improving, but it’s pushing away people who need to be here.
The streetcar is good, but it’s making it expensive to live here. The streetcar is also expensive for people to ride, so I’m not sure it’s
benefiting people who live here.
Stephanie: In one sense, all of the improvement could lead to more homelessness because of rising prices. It’s actually widening
the gap between the haves and the have nots.
Marta: I think the streetcar and the development is a way to bring people with money down to Over-the-Rhine.
Ally: Some of the new benches that are being put down here have devices on them in the middle that prevent people from
sleeping on the benches. I think that’s so wrong.

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Image by Stephanie
Image by Terry

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Image by Terry

Image by Stephanie
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Terry: I think that those who are homeless are very savvy. They will survive. When the riots happened in 2001, it made people
realize the danger of having a large concentration of people who are poor or homeless. There are resources for people in that situ-
ation, but it is up to them to find help. Some of these resources are in Over-the-Rhine or nearby. A lot of homeless people have
issues other than homelessness, such as addiction or mental illness. You have to solve those issues before you solve homelessness.
I don’t disagree with all of the improvement down here. It can be done successfully like it was in Nashville. At one time, I wouldn’t
even go to downtown Nashville, but since the improvements, you can go downtown and there aren’t people everywhere asking
you for money.

Ally: I was in Nashville last year and went all over and it was fun everywhere.

Terry: This is what Cincinnati is trying to get to. You don’t want to be walking downtown somewhere and all of a sudden smell
urine, so I don’t disagree with what’s happening. Also, a lot of people who say they are homeless and hold up signs, really aren’t
homeless, they’re just con artists and drug addicts.

Marta: Like I said, I think this place is becoming more interesting with all of the artwork being created here. This leads to more
development with rich people coming and doing a lot of building. Only people who have money can make these kinds of things
happen. I think this will lead to more people coming down and that will lead to more affordable housing. I think we have to be
sensitive to people here who are homeless. We can’t just say they’re not allowed to be in certain places, but in order to make this
area nice, sometimes you have to do that.

Terry: That’s a valid point. There’s a fair amount of low income housing already down here. In a lot of places, there are new
buildings right next to buildings with affordable housing. They can coexist if they are all kept up pretty much the same. It remains
to be seen what will happen though.

Stephanie: Hopefully the incoming wealth will help support small businesses that are already running down here.

Terry: I don’t really go out in the neighborhood too much since I’ve been living at Joseph house. I know that you can get robbed
down here or even targeted depending on who you are or where you’re coming from. That bothers me. I have Post Traumatic
Stress Disorder, so I am always on the lookout. This is bad for my PTSD because being down here is stressful. My doctor even got
robbed down here. If somebody comes up on me, they won’t even find anything to take, but I’ll gave them something to go home
with. I just don’t like the violence. Sometimes in the alley next to Joseph House, there are people doing drugs. I have issues of my
own, and it doesn’t help to have these things going on down here. This is why I leave here and go home every Friday. I don’t do a
lot on weekends; I’m just mentally exhausted from everything that goes on here during the week. There’s a lot of noise and sirens
here. In the small town where I grew up, you might have heard one siren per week. Here there are two every hour.

In 2001 when the Twin Towers fell, it seemed like racial profiling and other forms of discrimination were not the biggest issues. But
I watch the news and I watch documentaries and it seems like since the new president has taken office, racial issues have gotten
worse. I watch Ellen Degeneres and I have gay friends. I feel bad when I see the gay and LGBTQ community having to protest for
their rights. I don’t feel they should have to do that.

I’ve seen a lot of presidents and I’m trying to give this one the benefit of the doubt. When I was young, Ronald Reagan was presi-
dent. There were rumors in the African American community that he wanted to send all the black people back to Africa. That was
far from the truth. I think he turned out to be a great president. He helped a lot with relations with Russia and he also fought
against drugs. I’m just trying to give this new president the benefit of the doubt. I don’t like it that he is tweeting all the time
though. I don’t even tweet or Facebook, just e-mail. It’s just immature to tweet all the time.

Stephanie: As a 17 year old girl, I would agree with that.

Ally: I think it’s OK to tweet as long as it is relating to presidential matters, just not personal matters.

Stephanie: It’s not OK for the new president to be tweeting how the former president was bad or sick.

Terry: It’s embarrassing as a veteran to have other countries looking at the United States as an unstable country. The U.S. always
was the go to country. I didn’t even vote this year. I like Hillary, but after I saw the movie 13 Hours about Benghazi, I just couldn’t
do it. She could have made the call to save those people. There was military standing by to rescue them and all she had to do was
say go. It turned out that there were military contractors, probably ex-military, who stood and fought to defend the embassy all

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Image by Allie

night long. I like her political views, and I knew I was not going to vote for Trump. But I also chose not to vote because there were
so many problems with Hillary including the emails. I served in Somalia and was recalled by president Bill Clinton. It really put a
sour taste in my stomach when Hillary Clinton did not protect our people in Benghazi. That’s why I chose not to vote. I wanted her
to win but I just could not vote.
Marta: I feel like our freedom has been put in jeopardy by having so many rules and restrictions on everything. I think people
should be accepted for who they are as individuals.
Allly: I agree that we should not be in a situation where people have to march in protest for their rights. Why should they have
to march for rights and freedoms that they are already have.
Stephanie: They should have these freedoms, but they are being challenged.
Marta: People should learn to respect others. If people want to be in same sex relationships they should be able to do that.
Stephanie: I don’t understand why people are so focused now on sexual identity. I know that people say it is a sin in the bible, but
the bible says so many things are wrong. Why are we so focused on that one thing.
Ally: I am Christian and I know that people are distorting what the bible actually says. The bible also says that everyone should
be loved. Its 2017, not 1000.
Marta: I am Catholic and I like to go to church and reflect on what I have done each week and think about ways I can do things
better.
Ally: But Christianity is supposed to be about love and I don’t understand why people have turned it into something else.
Stephanie: The bible should not be read literally, it should be adapted to the needs of every society.

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Image by Stephanie

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Ally: The bible was written a long time ago, it cannot be read literally.

Marta: I could say that I hate gays because that’s what it says in the bible, but I know that is just not right. People ask me some-
times how I can believe in something that does not exist. But I know that if I died right now, I would be OK because having be-
lieved in God has helped me in my life in so many ways.

Terry: I know that there is something out there greater than ourselves. I have seen signs and visions. When my mom died, I was
struggling and drinking and going through a divorce. I was sleeping one night and I had a dream. I was on top of a mountain and I
saw a streak of light going down and then something coming up. All of a sudden there was a man on my right. He would disap-
pear and keep coming back. I asked him where he was going and he said back and forth from heaven. I asked him what the
streaks of light were and he said they were souls going from heaven to earth and from earth back to heaven. I asked him if he
knew my mom and he asked me what my name was. I told him and he said he knew that I had been having problems. He told me
to turn around and my mom was right there. There were people as far as I could see that had on white robes. It looked like they
were walking on water. My mom walked up and her face was glowing. He told me that she could not hear me but I could tell him
something and he would tell her. I told him to tell her that I love her. He told her and she nodded her head and smiled and said to
tell me that she loves me too, then she walked away. When I woke up, I was sitting up in bed. I knew right then that there was a
heaven and a hell. That’s why when I hear people struggling with religion I don’t try to convince them because I know my beliefs. I
know when I take my last breath I will go somewhere, hopefully with my mama.

Stephanie: God can mean different things for different people. There is the Muslim God, the Christian God and a Jewish God.
Everyone has their own interpretation of religion and God.

Terry: Here’s how I look at it; you are all going to college and what are you going to attain? You’re going to different places but
all for the same goal.

Marta: In Portugal, there are mostly Catholic people. You are mostly surrounded by people who believe the same as you do.
When I got here I heard about so many different kinds of beliefs. People would ask me about my religion and why I went to church
every Sunday. I didn’t really like to be challenged like that. It made me realize how many differences there are between people.

Stephanie: This weekend a friend of mine read something she wrote about her struggles. She was born in Turkey and is Muslim.
She doesn’t really identify as a religious Muslim, but identifies with that culture. She was telling me a lot about what she has gone
through recently with people discriminating against her because of that identity. People just assume she is a religious Muslim be-
cause she comes from that culture. She said that people even talk about how the holy wars represented good Christians against
evil Muslims. I’ve never had to experience anything like that, so it just made me think.

Marta: I understand that a little because people ask me about my religion, but Muslims must have to go through that every day.

Stephanie: My friend still has immediate family members in Turkey who cannot travel because of what’s going on right now.

Terry: Our president right now is talking a lot about Islamic fundamentalism. Most Muslims do not have these beliefs. There are
individuals who take things out of context. They are not all bad, the majority of Muslims are good people.

Lorena: My dad is Muslim because he is from Egypt. My mom is Mexican and she is a Christian. In Mexico, all of my friends were
Catholic because everyone is Catholic. When I moved here, I was surprised because most people are Christian. I respect my dad
and his culture. Both of my parents are open minded. They have taught me both of their religions. They have given my brother
and me the option to choose. My dad would like me to be Muslim, but he respects my choice. It would be hard for him and his
family if I did not choose to be Muslim.

Stephanie: This is how it should be, because everyone should know that people have differences of opinion and can make different
choices.

Lorena: It really bothers me when people stereotype Muslims. Sometimes I get stereotyped as a Muslim and sometimes as a
Mexican as well. I was born in Houston, but I still have an accent. Every time I talk, people ask me where I am from. I just don’t
understand why that is so important to know.

Marta: I feel the same way; people ask me where I am from, but I really just want to be seen for who I am myself.

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Image by Marta
Image by Lorena

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Image by Terry
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Stephanie: There is some diversity in Sycamore, but not a lot. There’s a fine line between showing interest in someone’s back-
ground verses making assumptions about them.

Ally: Diversity is important, but if you acknowledge difference and diversity every time you see someone who is different, you
may be noticing things that just don’t even matter.

Marta: At school last week it was diversity week and we were watching different videos. Some of them were really good. But I
was noticing that we were separating ourselves into groups, there were a lot of Asian people on their own. I am friends with many
different kinds of people at school. I have one friend who doesn’t even have hot water at her house. I have other friends who have
incredible houses. Unfortunately, these people get separated by what they have instead of being seen for who they are.

Terry: Stereotypes can be broken. Where I grew up, I went to Haywood High School and all the rich kids went to a school called
Tennessee Academy which eventually closed down. We all had to go to the same school after that. I lived next door to a kid who
went to Tennessee Academy and we both played on the same baseball team. We were not allowed to cross the fence into each
other’s yards so we would throw the ball over the fence to each other. In school, we were allowed to come together. We would
talk and I’m still friends with him today, but my school was very divided. Sunday is the most segregated day, at least where I am
from. There are white churches and black churches.

Marta: My dad works for Proctor and Gamble. One of his good friends is a Native American. He invited his friend to come to our
house for dinner one time. He told my dad he could not come to our neighborhood because he was afraid. I couldn’t believe
things have gotten to that point.

Terry: Hopefully these cycles can be broken sometime in the future. They can’t be broken now because they have been taught to
us for so long. When something exists for centuries, it’s hard to break. I do think we are getting there. There are some mixed
neighborhoods, depending on where you go. It’s not as bad as it used to be, but we still have a ways to go. We’re just products of
our environment; it’s up to us to make change.

Stephanie: Individuals have to come together to make change. It is disheartening when you try to do things. For example, I am
vegetarian and am opposed to factory farming. It doesn’t do much for one person to not eat meat though.

Terry: You are all from different backgrounds, but you are all here. You guys are the change. Just look at how we are all coex-
isting right now. We are from all different places, Mexico, Portugal, Houston, Blue Ash or Tennessee. We are diverse and we are all
here and it’s a beautiful thing. I think we will get there. You all are the future; you are seeing where we have been. I don’t think
where you come from and what you’ve been through defines where you are right now. As long as we all embrace change and em-
brace each other we can make things happen.

Ally: I think it’s really important to listen to other people who are different from you and to empathize. You just have to realize
that people’s beliefs matter to them even if they do not matter to you.

Stephanie: Empathy and education are the most important things in the world. People should not be dismissed for any reason. I
wonder about people who are white supremacists. Should we still listen to people like that?

Ally: I understand that those people truly believe that they are doing the right thing. I just try to explain to them that I do not
agree and tell them how I feel. I try to show them that their beliefs are not good for all people.

Stephanie: I think people with those beliefs should have to just say out loud what they believe and then have to listen to them-
selves. Then they might stop and think and realize that their beliefs are off base.

Terry: I used to teach in a Mt. Auburn school and there were a lot of Arabic speaking students there. There was one girl in my
class, who was in fourth grade and could only speak a little bit of English. She asked me one time why I always took time to speak
to her. I told her that she was my student; that she was my child from seven in the morning until three in the afternoon. She
thought that was so special. Her dad used to come and pick her up from school. I would walk her outside. Her dad would always
make a sign of respect to me. That really meant a lot to me. I really learned a lot from my students. One day she brought me some
bread that her mom made. She taught me some words in Arabic. I learned that her brother was sick. He was going through chem-
otherapy. I think I was her outlet during the day. Every now and then there would be a student who would make a racist com-
ment. I would always just nip it in the bud. I grew up in a racist world. I just want to make things better for my own children and

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for the children that I have taught. It’s all about communication.
Stephanie: It’s all about asking people questions instead of making assumptions and being afraid of something.
Marta: We can only make a difference in the world if we have respect for others. It’s very important to be respectful even if you
have differences of opinion with others. You will never change your mind unless you approach situations with respect. It’s im-
portant for people of difference to come together and talk about important issues.
Ally: If people only associate with others who are exactly like them, it just reinforces ignorance.
Marta: I was just thinking last night that I have learned more this past year than I have in the rest of my life because I am sur-
rounded by people who are different than me. I have heard many things that I don’t necessarily agree with, but I have learned to
accept many things. I have been in the United States since August and I’m going back to Portugal in June. I am going to college
there and my parents are staying here. My parents eventually want to get to Switzerland, but my dad has to work here first.
Terry: I want all of you to be successful.

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Image by Ally

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Image by Jeremy
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Jeremy, Matt, Stephanie Mather, Lexie Vanjohnson and Emma Sulfsted

Jeremy: I am from Kentucky. It was a mostly white community and everybody got along with each other pretty well. All of my
family lives in Kentucky. Some are in Covington and I also have family in Florence.

In this program, I have learned by seeing people from different cultures working together. There is still a lot of violence down here
though. There is a lot of division between people. I photographed at Findlay Market. It was nice to meet different people and
develop some camaraderie.

The most difficult issue in Cincinnati is religion. I’m not a believer in God myself. There’s nothing to prove anything about religion,
but so many people go along with it.

I think there are many challenges to personal freedom today. People are very judgmental now. I am very judgmental myself. I
don’t like Muslims and I know I need to work on that. It’s hard for me to trust someone who is Muslim. I don’t want to hate them,
but that’s how I feel. This has to do with my experience in the military overseas. I think it’s important for everyone to recognize
their own problems. You have to work on these things first before you can fix anything else.

Stephanie: I can see how it would be hard to separate your personal feelings about Muslims when you are fighting and getting shot
at by people who are all Muslim.

Jeremy: Before I went to war and joined the military, I had faith and went to church. When I went to war, everything changed.
Now I feel like if I can’t see something or hear something myself about religion, that it cannot be real.

Lexie: I think you can only understand someone else’s religion to a certain extent. People are born into a religion and they don’t
necessarily get to choose that religion on their own.

Jeremy: In America, we get to decide what religion to practice. In other countries, you might get killed if you don’t take a certain
religion.

Stephanie: It can be hard to make the choice on your own if you have been raised in a family who only taught you one religion
your whole life. You may not want to even think about making a different choice.

Jeremy: I still feel like in our country we all have freedom to choose whenever religion we want.

Emma: Sometimes you are just so blocked off from different things that you have no idea how to choose anything different than
what you already know.

Lexie: You can find out about other religions, but it’s hard to find good sources of information about things.

Jeremy: You could end up joining a cult. When I was in school, people were serious about religion. A lot of my friends went to
Sunday school.

Emma: We mostly avoid talking about religion in school. We talk about it in Eurocentric history classes. We talk about religion,
but they don’t teach us about religious practice.

Jeremy: Religion just irks me. Not all Muslims are terrorists, but most terrorists are Muslims. I don’t necessarily want to feel ha-
tred toward a whole group of people. That would be similar to somebody like Hitler having hatred for the Jews, he just hated an
entire group of people.

Lexie: I think it’s good that you can say these things out loud. I think a lot of people feel these things, but would never say them
out loud.

Stephanie: I think people recognize these ideas, but don’t necessarily recognize that there is a problem.

Jeremy: I know my beliefs are a problem because whenever I see someone who looks Muslim when I am out, I automatically put
up my guard. I am trying to get away from this, but I don’t see that happening anytime soon. There are a lot more issues besides
that to deal with. I am dealing with personal health issues which are more important. I just try to take one thing at a time.

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Stephanie: My grandfather was in the Vietnam War, but he will not say one word about it.
Jeremy: I was injured a couple of times, and they just patched me up and put me back out there. They give you morphine on the
spot to make you feel good for a few minutes. The military does provide for mental health; it’s kind of a joke. You are really just a
number when you’re in the military. If you have to go to the VA hospital, they just get you in and back out. I thought I was a
strong person until I got back home. Everything just went to shit.
Lexie: The fact that you are here at Joseph house and coming to these meetings is good.
Jeremy: Another problem I have is gambling. I’ve been to the casino a few times since I’ve been here. The last time I went there, I
wound up getting jumped and robbed on my way out.
Lexie: My sister carries something to protect herself when she is at school on UC’s main campus. I wonder if you blow a whistle
if anybody would really pay attention to it.
Emma: You’re supposed to do everything in groups of three. If you blow a whistle three times that means you need help.
Jeremy: My hearing is totally shot. I was supposed to have hearing aids, but my dog ate them.

Image by Jeremy

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Image by Lexie

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Lexie Vanjohnson, Matt and Emma Sulfsted

Matt: I’m from Hamilton, Ohio;. it was a nice community. I played football at Lakota East High School. I was active and involved
in my school and community when I was growing up. Everybody got along and there was no negativity. I miss it because it was a
high point in my life. Everybody got along and we spent time at each other’s houses. I was always outside hanging out with my
friends. I have a brother who lives in Hamilton. He just had twins. My sister also lives in Hamilton. She has two kids also. My
mom lives in Ross, Ohio and has been a major part of my life. My dad lives in Monroe, Ohio.

From doing this program, I have learned that there are beautiful things between all of the messes down here. You have to look
beyond that and you can see things that most people don’t realize are there. My favorite thing we’ve done has been just walking
around the streets. I liked that more than going to the specific places we visited. Walking around and seeing things that I didn’t
plan on photographing has been the best. I feel like pictures that are more natural and not planned are always better. Nobody is
expecting anything, it’s just naturally happening.

Lexie: I am from Loveland and the neighborhood I grew up in was perfect and ideal. My best friend lived across the street and I
grew up with her. We hung out every day. My mom was at home with me a lot and also worked. My dad owned a restaurant
called Margaritas. He was always working, but it was almost like having another home in Beechmont. That was my other house. I
would go there and my grandma would be there also. I have an older sister and her best friend lived down the street. She was
always with her friends. They had a tree house and I got to go there as a kid.

Matt: Have you ever been to the Loveland Castle? Some guy built it from creek rocks that he carried up from the river. It’s right
next to the river.

Lexie: No I haven’t, I don’t know about it. I live with my mom. My dad and my sister and her boyfriend live really close, about 5
minutes away. I started at Sycamore when I was in about second grade. In this program, I learned that Over-the-Rhine is a lot
more friendly than I thought it would be. I don’t come downtown very often. I have always thought of Cincinnati as a big city
where people just come to go to bars and restaurants. I have seen a lot of culture and art, beauty and history in this program. It’s
been very eye opening and I realize I have been in a bubble for a long time. I feel like I’m awkward and do not know how to talk to
people very well. This program has given me a chance to do that and branch out and it’s very exciting. This has given me a chance
to learn things and it’s very exciting. Every Sunday I get excited because Monday is New Voices.

Matt: I really want to thank you guys, because I was dealing with a lot of depression and anxiety and PTSD. It really helps to just
talk to people. It doesn’t have to be about a particular thing; just opening up and talking and not worrying about anything really
helps.

Lexie: It’s been really nice to be down here and form a connection and be able to help. It’s been a great opportunity to meet
somebody who I would generally not cross paths with. My favorite place to photograph was at the purple people bridge last
week. I like the color purple and it started out being a rainy and cloudy day but then wound up being nice. I took my best photo-
graphs there and had the most fun doing it. The structure was interesting and I got good photos of the city.

Emma: I am from around Loveland, but I’m in the Sycamore school district. I live in a house on a cul de sac with my parents. I
have an older sister and a younger brother and we were always playing out on the cul de sac. Most of the other houses were old-
er people and they would just come out and watch us play. There were not a lot of friends there to play with which is why I am
really close to my siblings. I have one friend who lived up the street. He had a crush on me when we were about five. At the time
I thought had kooties. I remember going down to the river. My dad is a police sergeant, but he was a bike cop for a long time. He
would take us down to the bike trails and we would bike a lot. I learned how to ride my bike when I was really young and got off
my training wheels early. We would ride and stop for ice cream. My extended family does not live in the area, so it was always
just me and my immediate family. It was a happy childhood. My sister is in college. When she’s away I miss her a lot. It’s really
great to be with her when she’s home.

Matt: I was really close with my brother growing up. When I went into the military, I learned that you cannot expect everything
to always be perfect. It made me grow up really fast. I learned that you have to rely on yourself to be able to do the things you

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Image by Matt

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Image by Emma
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Image by Lexie

need to do.

Emma: My sister has always been really supportive and has helped me grow. In one sense, I gained a sense of independence
when she left. A couple of years ago, my dad was on a special task force. When I was young, I thought my dad was like a superhe-
ro. That task force was responsible for cleaning up a lot of gang related crime in Over-the-Rhine. Because of that, I always thought
of Over-the-Rhine as a scary place. When I was little, my dad used to tell me stories from his work, including things about people
getting killed. He always told me about the history of this place, so it has been really cool to get to see it myself. It’s also been real-
ly cool to get to know people here and see all of the art that has been done. I always thought of this place as crime infested before
now. My favorite thing to photograph has just been the people down here. It has been really great getting to know you guys. It’s
been really great just walking around. I enjoyed that more than visiting the different places we went.

I don’t know everything that’s going on down here, but one thing I have seen is people out on the streets freezing and going
through a hard time. Then just a little further down the same street, you might see really drunk people rolling out of a very expen-
sive new bar. I can see a big divide by just driving through. You can see so much about the human condition down here; the differ-
ence troubles that any person is going through. This is the most notable issue to me. I know there are racial problems still going
on every day and people who are being discriminated against. That includes all kinds of people; people of different gender and rac-
es. That really sucks, I wish we could all get along and love each other. I know Cincinnati is a lot better than other cities, but it’s
not perfect and we have a long way to go. Hopefully over time, those issues will get fixed.

I think the biggest challenge to personal freedom is how the media is portraying things and how people perceive things. There are
a lot of big problems with people being able to express their own religion and people having freedom to express their gender iden-
tity. I don’t think there should be issues with gender inequality and freedom of religion. This feels like such an old issue. I guess
freedom of choosing gender identity is a newer issue in terms of what’s being discussed. Religion and freedom of speech are old
issues and it’s shocking that we are still having trouble with those. I don’t understand why we are still struggling with this. Every-
body should be able to do their own thing and be happy with who they are and what they choose. Everyone should be able to
choose how they want to be.

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Image by Emma S
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Matt: The biggest problem in Over-the-Rhine today is drugs. Drugs are at the root of many problems. They drive crime and
homelessness and addiction. It drives violence around here. It all revolves around drugs. People are getting shot over drugs or
overdosing. It’s really sad that it got this way. My grandfather grew up around here and tells me stories about all these places and
the history and how it was so different. Now you can’t even walk a hundred yards to go to the store without somebody offering
you drugs. It has to get under control otherwise it will get worse. Something has to happen if Over-the-Rhine wants to offer a
better quality of life. Drugs need to be under control.

I have been in third world countries and have seen how bad it is for personal freedom. Sometimes people lose the concept of what
freedom is. People here do have a lot of freedom. There are still problems and there is room for advancement, but if you compare
us to Iraq or North Korea or China, we really do have a better quality of life than most people in the world. We get caught up in
thinking that things should always be better than they were yesterday. People want more and more and more and don’t want to
give up anything. There has to be a balance. Personal freedom comes and goes. At times we have a lot of personal freedom and
other times it is taken away because of what’s happening. There is cause and effect. Something will happen that causes freedom
to be taken away and other things happen that leads to more freedom. If you look at history, it’s always a battle. There are prob-
lems and there will continue to be problems. No person on earth will ever be comfortable with what they have. Everybody wants
more; that’s human nature. I’ve seen people with no freedom at all living in a military state under complete control. Some of
them were the happiest people I have ever met. They weren’t worried about problems in the world. It was good to see those
things, because I think a lot of people take advantage of the situation and don’t appreciate what they have. That’s just my opinion.

Emma: It puts everything into perspective to see how our freedom compares to the lifestyles of people in other places. There are
always things that can be done and things that can be better, but you can’t go through life expecting that to happen.

Matt: You have to live life in the now and appreciate what you have, because there’s always somebody who has less than you.
It’s better to think about things being like a glass half full than half empty. If you go around thinking that people owe you some-
thing then you can’t get anywhere. You should earn what you have and respect things much more, in my opinion.

Lexie: After listening to you guys answer these questions, I realize we are very different people, but at the same time, we are all
people. I like how Matt pointed out that we have to realize we need to appreciate what we have. I like how Emma pointed out
how we need to improve on what we already have.

I feel like the biggest challenge in our community right now is the political divide. I also think a lot of problems stem from the way
our government works. One of the things that opened my eyes the most about my experience down here was seeing somebody
digging in the garbage for food. I have never seen anything like that in real life, only on TV. That really showed how wide the spec-
trum of wealth can be in one area. Some people are looking for food and are desperate and others are complaining about not
having the latest Prada bag. We have a huge spectrum of wealth and it’s mind boggling to me. The main problem is that people
are not able to understand other people’s situations. Some people with lots of money start charities that help people in need, but
there are other wealthy people who see the poor has pieces of dirt or disgusting. Some people who are down on their luck look up
at others who are more fortunate with hatred. They think no one understands them.

In reality, we all have struggles. No matter where you are you have some kind of struggle. This is why a society has to face these
battles together to become one. We cannot solve everything in the world, and I think that’s how it is supposed to be. I see all of
these problems in the world and realize that things happen for a reason. One of my greatest influences is my great grandmother.
Her mother lit her house on fire when she was in it. Her brother would get beat up after school every day. She got tied to train
tracks one time. Her life was really crazy and she never had any white picket fence moments like you think of in the American
dream. She taught me how to appreciate things and how to accept things and move on. She taught me to remember who I am
and how to grow into what I want to be. The problems we have in our community make me realize there is room for improve-
ment, and also that we need to learn.

I think freedom is a word similar to love. People think about them differently, but I think about them as similar. I think freedom is
different for each person. Matt was talking about seeing people who had total lack of freedom. This country has a lot more than
we realize. He has seen people who literally have nothing and who are controlled by something else, but who are happy. Freedom
to them is something different than it is to us. We have totally different lives. One big issue we have in our country is failing to
acknowledge the freedom that we do have. We always think we are lacking something. Just being able to struggle with and think

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about gender identity shows that we have an immense amount of freedom in our country. I guess that people in other countries
can’t believe we have this kind of freedom. As a country we have made so much progress. It’s hard to make progress in a small
amount of time. We need to help other countries to progress like we have. I get tired of hearing how we are the best country in
the world. I don’t think we can be the best unless we are unselfish and giving. We have to be able to share freedom and equality.
Emma: We have so much freedom. It continues to evolve. We have to continue to be open. I think it’s a danger when people are
not open to seeing other perspectives. I think people have become closed minded about how things are. People need to accept
how other people see things. Things are changing. The most important thing about freedom is the ability to accept and under-
stand others.
Matt: The individual can play a large role in making a difference. You just need to do the right thing. I like leading by example. If
you can inspire people to do the right thing, there might be hope for change. By doing what you think is right, as long as you are
fair and do the right thing, I feel like that will help by spreading kindness. Everyone should go out of their way to help others. You
might cause somebody else to change their mind and help others. It takes a whole community coming together to change the big
picture. To make major change, everybody has to do the right thing. But in general, one person doing the right thing can inspire
others to do the right thing and make change.
A place like the Joseph House gives people a place to work on themselves. It allows people to become active members of society
and become a positive force in the community. Good things will come out of this. People can change their lives for the better. We
come in with all these problems and one by one we get over them. We face each problem in our lives and deal with them. A lot of
people in here are dealing with many inner demons. They deal with them face to face. It’s nice to have helped doing this. A lot of
people cannot get clean on their own. It takes having somebody in your corner to be able to fix some of these things.
Lexie: The individual plays a big role in making change in the world. I like metaphors. If you think about a puzzle, it cannot be
complete without every piece. Each person is built in their own way and contributes to society in their own way. Institutions play
just as big of a role as individuals. Just last week in school we had diversity week. Each day we recognized a different type of per-
son. We learned how to not categorized people. This allowed high school students to recognize and appreciate every kind of per-

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Image by Lexie

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son and to learn about other types of people outside of their own bubble. We watched videos every day about different religions.
I think Sycamore has done a good job bringing students and people together at a young age. Right now, it’s hard for people to see
that we are all human and going through our own issues. We are all people and that’s the biggest thing we all need to recognize. I
don’t like some parts of school, but they do a good job with diversity week.
Emma: The individual plays a huge role in making change. Each person needs to appreciate their own personal freedom and priv-
ileges and strengths. Once you realize that, you can help other people. It’s a domino effect. When you help one person, that can
change everything for them. Even the smallest of things can help. If each person helps two more people, you can cause so much
change. Each individual can affect many people each day. I like thinking about that in terms of making change. Sometimes I think
we are just these little specks on the earth and that the earth itself is a tiny speck. All these little specks can make waves and
change the direction of bigger issues. Each little speck or person is an individual with their own characteristics. We all have a past
and history that cannot be fully explained to someone else. If you consider that, you can make a lot of change.
If you have a group of people who realize they are not so different in certain ways and can come together as a community, this can
make a huge change. I think we all want somebody to relate to and somebody to understand us. When you have community insti-
tutions that bring people together, it helps people grow together.

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Image by Matt
Image by Matt

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Image by Liz
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Liz Izworski, Emma Bovard, Sarah Gilmore, Matilde Mujanay and Kenn

Sarah: I am originally from Indiana and have also lived in Kentucky.

Kenn: I was born and raised in Cincinnati, but lived in Pennsylvania for 20 years. It’s very different from here, it’s a lot more
friendly. I lived in an area called Westchester, just outside of Philadelphia. I would go downtown now and then. My older brother
lived there. I don’t like very big crowds.

Matilde: In this program, I have learned about photography and I have also learned to be modest from working with my partner
Kenn. I have learned to be my own person. Kenn told me stories about times in his past when he wasn’t trying to do things. He
told me it’s important to keep trying. I’ve learned to not just let myself fail.

Liz: I have learned a lot in this program. I have learned that even though my life is not hard, my issues have a certain validity.
I have learned from Kenn that even though he has gone through many struggles, his life has the same validity as mine. Things
could be better or worse for him. When he heard Matilde’s story, he wanted to cry for her. When I heard his story, I was heartbro-
ken. I told him things about my life which is not nearly as hard as his or Matilde’s and they showed me a lot of empathy. I felt like
that was a common bond. Everybody has hard things in their life. Everybody thinks their life is the worst at some point and that
may actually be true, but we can come together through that. It’s good to confide in people who are different from you. It’s very
therapeutic. In one sense, it’s easy to look at somebody who is different and say they are a different race or generation or religion
than me. In one way, Kenn is completely different than me, but on the first day we met, we told each other what we are going
through. It was really nice to be heard and hear everyone else. It’s just really good to be able to confide in people. I feel like you
can affect people you don’t even know by doing this in a very short period of time.

Emma: When we were driving down, we were talking about our lives. I have a single mom who does not have a lot of money.
She talks about being in a lot of debt and paying the bills. I was listening to other people talk about their problems which didn’t
sound all that serious; things like dealing with their siblings sharing the car. I don’t have a car, but I realized that these differences
are not things that really should separate us, we can all move past these things.

Matilde: You might have a really hard problem in your life and when people are talking about things that don’t seem as hard, they
don’t feel all that relevant.

Emma: Right, some people might say that their mom made a really bad dinner, but I have made my own dinner since I was 10
years old.

Liz: I recently had knee surgery two days after my dad had hip replacement surgery. We were in a lot of debt and my parents
were open with us about these problems. They were just being honest with us and explained the situation. And they explained
that even with insurance, there were issues.

Emma: I feel like sharing money problems is one of the worst things you can do as a parent.

Liz: I was OK with my parents sharing this with me. I know I will be OK. I had been spending money on my credit card, but
realized I needed to stop. A lot of my friends have gotten in trouble with money, using their credit cards too much or even using
drugs.

Kenn: I remember when I first started working with you all. There’s a big difference between how I was feeling then and how I
am feeling now. When I was encouraged to do this program, I wasn’t sure. I questioned it. This was how I lived my life. Things
could be right in front of me and I would question everything, I needed to know everything and have all the information. But if you
peel back all the layers, I was just really afraid. I was afraid of who you guys were. I was afraid of being set up for more pain. I had
become afraid of interacting with people. That didn’t have anything to do with people I was interacting with, it was because of me.
I was afraid of being judged harshly. But when I met you guys, you didn’t fit into my expectation. You spoke and talked very ma-
turely. It made me realize over these few weeks that if I sit still and open my mind, I can learn from just about anybody, including
you guys. This has helped me learn some humility. You guys have helped me, not just in taking pictures. That part was easy. You
guys have helped me open myself back up to part of the world that I had closed myself off from. I always thought that as long as I

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Image by Matilde

Image by Kenn
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am only open to a certain number of people, then I am safe. It was really scary to open myself up and be vulnerable.
I couldn’t ask for two better mentors, you have been great. Liz taught me that I have some leadership and that I don’t have to
suppress it. I can be brave and face things I don’t want to. This has given me the ability to face things that are hard. Matilde has
taught me that it’s OK for me to be strong. I used to think that if I showed strength people would judge me. I was always worried
about what people thought. As I watched you guys, you taught me strengths that you may not even thought you have. I have
learned this from you. This has given me the opportunity to try again; to know it’s OK to go out there and try hard. I am very pa-
ternal and protective. I’ve learned it’s OK to feel this way. I have made mistakes with my own children. I realize it’s OK to admit I
made these mistakes. I am working on it and I want to try again. This is just where I’m at today and it’s because of you guys.
Liz: We were a really small group when we started out in this program.
Emma: When we were with Nick, he was really bare bones; he didn’t want to talk at first. It was hard to get things out of him.
Kenn: Nick struggles with that; he doesn’t talk a lot. My time at Joseph house has been a break from life for me to understand
what is going on inside of me. I have had to really dig to find out what is down inside of me. I need to expose those things be-
cause I don’t want to suffer from those things anymore. Once you’re aware of what you’re suffering from, then the real work be-
gins. This is a treatment center. We are all suffering from drug or alcohol problems. If you are still exhibiting questionable behav-
ior even when the booze and drugs are gone, you realize you still have work to do.
Liz: My favorite day in this program was the first day of photographing. I really liked when we went on the streetcar. I didn’t
take that many pictures that day, but I had fun. It was the best experience. One of the pictures I took that day wound up on my
AP Board. It was a picture of a little boy.
Matilde: I don’t pay attention as much to places as I do to people. That’s what most of my photographs are.
Emma: People are always hard for me to photograph. It’s hard for me to position people in a frame. I’m a little bit antisocial and
have trouble talking to people. Once I know somebody, I won’t stop talking. It’s hard for me to engage people. Sometimes I see

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people and want to take a picture of them, but I’ve never had the ability to go up to them and ask if I can photograph them. It’s
hard to get the courage to do that.

Sarah: I’m a very quiet person. But I love taking pictures of people because it’s interesting to me. I like capturing emotion in
pictures. Sometimes when people know you’re photographing them, there is not a lot of emotion, but if you keep taking pictures
when somebody thinks they are not being photographed, it’s interesting to see how their expressions change. I really love that.

Liz: I usually do not show people’s faces in my work. I feel like this takes away any embarrassment that person might show
about being photographed.

Kenn: I’m just wondering what you guys thought about coming down to do this program in Over-the-Rhine. Did you have any
fears or hesitation?

Emma: This is my third year doing this program, so I was not afraid of coming down here.

Sarah: My parents were a little bit worried about me coming down here. They told me to make sure I stay with the group, but I
was not afraid of being down here at all.

Liz: I am in charge of other kids in a different circumstance and am good at making sure that everybody is safe. I am similar to
Kenn that way; I take care of people. I am hyper aware when I am in a dangerous situation. I am aware of what goes on down
here. The first day we were down here, we saw a drug deal happen. I carry a thing on my keychain to protect myself and other
people. This is not the worst part of downtown. People talk about how it is being rebuilt. I was not worried at all about working
with people at Joseph House, but I was concerned that we would run into somebody that would try to get in the way of our experi-
ence. I was determined not to let that happen.

Kenn: You know we are all veterans and would never let anything bad happen.

Liz: My grandpa taught me how to shoot a gun and a bow and arrow. He wanted me to learn how to do it right. He is a Vi-
etnam vet.

Kenn: Does everyone feel like they have to be hyper vigilant when they are down here?

Liz: I feel very protected when I am out in Over-the-Rhine with you guys from Joseph House. I feel like we are from many
different groups who never would have crossed paths.

Kenn: Before I came to Joseph House I did not know any of the guys who are here in this program. Before I got here I would
never have spoken to any one like you guys.

Matilde: My brother could use some advice from someone like you.

Kenn: I could share my experience with him.

Liz: It’s the same at school, when I got into AP photo, I didn’t even know the students in my class because we all came from
different photo classes. Sycamore is a pretty big school, but not necessarily big in comparison to others. I think our graduating
class is about 400.

Emma: Sarah and I are from different classes; I am a senior and she’s a junior. We would never have met each other unless we
had been in the same photo class. That class is mostly freshmen and I was a sophomore. The school is mostly divided between
classes. Now it’s not so much. I went up to Sarah and told her I liked her shirt and we just started talking.

Liz: We all have each other’s backs at school. I have not been able to participate in New Voices for the last two years because
of softball. This year I let myself do it and I’m so glad I did. I have always been a jock. Griga opened me up to be more creative
and to challenge myself.

Matilde: If you come from another country to the United States, there are people who make fun of your race or your culture and
everything. When I walk through the hallway a school, I hear people say all these random words that don’t mean anything to me.
Then they ask me if they said a word in an African language and I tell them I don’t even know what they’re saying. I don’t think
they mean any harm. People think that those who live in Africa only speak one language, but there are many languages spoken
there. There’s a guy named Jordan who starts speaking fake Spanish to Lorenaa and he doesn’t even know what he’s saying. Then

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Image by Liz

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he asks her if he said the words correctly. It comes back to race and culture. It makes me mad because they are making fun of me,
my culture and my language.
Kenn: I wonder how you feel when you come down to Over-the-Rhine and see people who are different from you. Does that
make you more sensitive to what they are going through?
Liz: I don’t necessarily feel different from people down here. When I’m crossing the street I see people who look different
from me and have their own style. I’m not afraid of being in the same place as them if we’re crossing the street at the same time.
Some people down here might intimidate me, but it’s not based on race. It’s only because I am an 18 year old girl. It’s an age thing
more than anything else. I have seeing things that our school where a guy will say something very demeaning to a girl. Usually
nothing happens if the girl tells anybody about it. On the other hand, if someone is even suspected of doing drugs at school, they
are automatically suspended for 10 days. I know that the real world is not like this. I am taking AP government in school and we
talk about these things. In the end, I don’t know how a lot of things work in real life, I don’t know how to do my taxes. I don’t
know how a lot of things work in life. Last Saturday I was down here and some guy called me out. I was with two other kids and I
was scared, but I knew nothing would happen. But it was still a bad experience for me. I had to stay calm because I was with two
sophomores. The man who called me out was older. It was lunchtime on a business day and he just pointed at me. That’s what
set me off. I was fairly close to him, almost within arm’s reach.
Kenn: I’m just wondering if you guys think that what happened to Liz is a racial issue?
Liz: I felt guilty when that happened because I remember thinking being somehow protected by being white. It was right in
front of the library. I felt guilty and ashamed when I walked away. I know that the man who did that is an individual, not this race
or that race, but I knew I would be fine because I’m white. I knew people would come out to protect me. If he would have done
that to Matilde, I’m not sure. But I thought of Matilde and wondered if anybody would have come to help her.
Matilde: One time I was crossing the street and this car came out of nowhere. A black man was driving and yelled at me to “Get
out of the way you fat B”. I was scared and I didn’t know what was going to happen because he stopped the car. I started running

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Image by Matilde
Image by Kenn

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Image by Liz
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