Our Vision

OUR MISSION

We tell stories to provide more opportunities for connection, compassion, and new unexpected perspectives. These stories just so happen to be in Rockford, Illinois. It is important to tell these stories because to many, both here and elsewhere, Rockford is often portrayed through a single narrative of violence or economic tragedy, but to ignore our complexity robs people of dignity.

 

OUR VISION

We typically speak about how our Midwestern city of 150,000 lives in a a post-industrial world, with a strong aerospace presence, but what we neglect to tell is the story of the people.  How we are a people of resolve, city of immigrants, who adapt to the ever changing world.  Our stories fill in the gap between the overall municipal picture and personal stories of the citizens who reside here.

Recent Episodes

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Bo Chaney – The Adventures of Rob & Rocky

Robert Bo Chaney is dedicated to the cause of helping kids find a path to attainable well-paying jobs, but also bringing diversity to public service for the betterment of the community. After sitting with Bo, and hearing him talk about his vision, we couldn’t help but be inspired to work our hardest to craft his story. Greg Cormier has been helping us out over these past couple months, and this was brought to life by him.

Please take a look at the piece, congratulate Greg on a job well done, and help us share the passion of someone aiming to change our community and other communities across the country.

Produced by Pablo Korona
Shot and edited by Greg Cormier
Music by the inimitable SFC: Zach Staas, Daniel Pingrey and Jason Kaye

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Resident Officer Community Keeper

Resident Officer Community Keeper is his official title, and this accurately describes what Eric does. The R.O.C.K. program is an initiative where a police officer is designated to a high crime area and is the point person for them. Not only are they a familiar face in dealing with that segment of the city, they also live in the area they are serving. As Eric puts it “Their problems are my problems because I live here.”

See Rockford Police Resident Officer Thurmond as he interacts with the community, and as he tells what he does.

Produced by Pablo Korona
Drone & Second Shooting: Jordan Hardy of FlyGuy Films
Additional Shooting: Greg Cormier

Music by the inimitable SFC: Zach Staas, Daniel Pingrey, and Jason Kaye.