Good Neighbors (Part 2 of 2) w/ Chuck & Camille Olcese

Good Neighbors (Part 2 of 2) w/ Chuck & Camille Olcese

In Part Two of this special series on migration and belonging, I sit down with my neighbors, Chuck and Camille Olcese, to explore the journeys that brought them to Lawrence and the experiences that shaped their commitment to welcoming "our newest neighbors." Together we trace stories of family migration, international education, faith, community, and the surprising ways that "home" is created across generations and across continents. From California, Oregon, China, Chicago, and Southeast Kansas to the neighborhoods they now call home, Chuck and Camille reflect on what they've learned from a lifetime spent alongside international students, immigrants, and refugees. We talk about: • The migration stories that shaped their own families • What international travel teaches us about belonging • Why diversity felt like home to their daughter • The difference between living next to people and truly being neighbors • Faith, hospitality, and the deeper meaning of the Good Samaritan • Refugee resettlement as a community practice, not an individual act • What it means to build a place where everyone can thrive At its heart, this conversation is about remembering that community is not something we inherit. It's something we create together, one relationship at a time.

Good Neighbors (Part 1 of 2) w/ Chuck, Camille & Mariel

Today we've got a special two-part conversation about migration, belonging, and what it means to make a home in a place. Over the past year, conversations about immigration have become increasingly visible in Lawrence and across the country. While our community members have been experiencing the harmful impacts of immigration policy for years, new policies, enforcement actions, and public response trainings have brought community members together around this reality in a new way. Together we're asking difficult questions about who gets to feel safe? Who gets to belong to our community? Today's guests remind us that these questions are much older and much deeper than any single news cycle. This two-part series explores those questions from two different angles. * In Part One, we're joined by Mariel (of Sanctuary Alliance LIF), Chuck, and Camille (of Assistance to Immigrants and Refugees) to talk about what is happening right now in Lawrence. We discuss the realities facing immigrant and refugee families, how local organizations are responding, and our dreams for an ever-longer community table, where belonging is not something people have to earn but something we practice together. * In Part Two, we slow down and go deeper into Chuck and Camille's personal story. We explore their own migration journeys, the lineages and communities that shaped them, and what decades of working alongside international students, immigrants, and refugees have taught them about being a good neighbor. Together, these conversations invite us to send our hearts, hands, and feet past headlines and toward a more fundamental question: * What does it look like to practice creating a place where people can truly belong? So settle in, grab your favorite beverage, and join us in dreaming of a future here in Lawrence where we can all belong. To learn more, follow their work @Sanctuaryalliancelfk on IG and Facebook and go to AIR's website (www.airrefugeeslawrence.com [http://www.airrefugeeslawrence.com/])

Traditions of our Future w/ Mona Cliff (Aaniiih/Nakota)

This week on Calling in the Healers, I sit down with Mona Cliff (Aaniiih/Nakota) — multidisciplinary artist, seed beader, and community member — to explore creativity, responsibility, and what it means to carry culture forward in a world where it can feel like (another) apocalypse might be just around the corner. In her work and life, Mona emphasizes indigenous joy and resilience alongside the, as she puts it, "heavier things." Through the materials she works with, Mona introduces us to a way of making inspired by the continuous processes of reinvention and reclamation. Both ourselves and the world around us. From lessons gathered while scraping buffalo hides with her grandparents to reclaiming discarded computer motherboards and transforming them into future regalia, Mona shares how the teachings she's been given are expressing themselves through her without losing their integrity. Her work asks a powerful question: what will our sacred objects be in the generations to come? What are we leaving behind? Together we talk about: * “Beautiful messes” — play, experimentation, and letting materials guide the work * Craft as ceremony — why beadwork, regalia, and making are living knowledge systems * Reclamation — noticing what’s available and honoring what others discard * Indigenous futurism — creating artifacts for futures where Indigenous peoples still exist * Knowledge as responsibility — why learning takes time, relationship, and worthiness * Parenting and creativity — about the work and joy of raising self-sufficient kids  * Visibility as healing — why public art matters for belonging, memory, and community identity Calling in the Healers uplifts hyper-local stories that help us see healing as a collective project — intergenerational, ecological, and rooted in place. Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, and iHeartRadio.

Seeds of Cooperation w/ Amy June (Eastern Shawnee)

This week on Calling in the Healers, I walk the fields with Amy June — seed keeper, farmer, community member, and co-founder of Goodway Farm — to explore how seeds, soil, and the slow rhythms of land stewardship can change our inner lives and the ecosystems we share. Amy June invites us into the deeper memory held inside every seed: a lineage carried across continents, braided into hair during forced migration, tended by ancestors who refused to let culture, nourishment, or hope disappear. Together we talk about: • Why seeds are past, present, and future • Food access as healing — how Goodway Farm offers free, abundant CSA boxes to neighbors through local partnerships • Slowness as medicine — how seasons, weather, and labor reshape the mind, soften the nervous system, and teach interdependence • The shame many families carry around agricultural work — and what it means to reclaim farming as skill, heritage, and liberation • Networks of practice — why building community across differences strengthens our capacity to solve problems together • The joy of contribution — how showing up, even imperfectly, grows belonging • The vibrant ecosystem of Lawrence — a community full of people nudging in the same direction, each carrying a piece of the work Amy June’s story is a reminder that healing is not abstract. It's in bodies that plant and harvest, in relationships, in neighborhoods fed, and in the seeds we choose to carry forward. Listen if you’re curious about: ✓ Seed keeping and food sovereignty ✓ How land-based practices transform mental, emotional, and physical health ✓ Regenerative agriculture in hyper-local communities ✓ Place-rooted healing, mutual aid, and community networks ✓ What it looks like to build a local food system grounded in care rather than extraction ✨ Calling in the Healers uplifts hyper-local stories that help us see healing as a collective project — intergenerational, ecological, and rooted in place. 🎧 Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, and iHeartRadio.

Showing Up Whole w/ Moniqué Mercurio (Ohlone Costanoan Esselen Nation; Detribalized Mission Indian)

This week on Calling in the Healers, I sit down with Moniqué Mercurio: Ohlone Costanoan Esselen Nation, Detribalized Mission Indian, Indigenous entrepreneur, mom, creative, and community builder, and Director of Operations at Douglas County CORE. Moniqué invites us into the deeper story behind her work: how entrepreneurship, when grounded in ancestral values, becomes more than transactions, it's a path to opportunity that should be accessible to all. Moniqué has spent her life reclaiming her voice, honoring her kin, and today is creating a more inclusive platform for all entrepreneurs of our community. Together we talk about: * What native-led entrepreneurship looks like * How ancestral teachings shape decision-making, pricing, creativity, and relationships * Why community investment, not competition, is an Indigenous business norm * The healing that comes from making with your hands, your land, and your people in mind * How Lawrence can become a place that truly supports creatives and leaders of all different backgrounds Moniqué’s story is a reminder that building a business can also be a form of cultural continuity, individual and collective healing, and sovereignty in everyday life. Listen if you’re curious about: ✓ Indigenous entrepreneurship ✓ The intersection of creativity, culture, and livelihood ✓ Place-rooted healing and community wealth ✓ What it looks like to build a business with spirit and responsibility ✓ How Lawrence can show up for the entrepreneurs of its community Calling in the Healers uplifts hyper-local stories that help us see healing as a collective project—intergenerational, ecological, and rooted in place.