Overview

I am Rachel Steiner, the Community Powered Project Coordinator for Appleton. Appleton is a city of about 75,000 people and is located north of Lake Winnebago, sitting on the Fox River south of Green Bay. It is part of the larger Fox Cities community, and while demographically, the population is primarily white, there are prominent communities of color such as the Black, Latinx, and Hmong communities. Appleton prides itself on being a center for the arts in the region, and it is home to the music-focused liberal arts school Lawrence University, the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center, and the Mile of Music festival. The city’s focus on celebrating culture works well with my personal experience and expertise as a folklorist studying everyday culture and creative expression.
Throughout my time in Appleton, I partnered with the Appleton Public Library. The library forms a cornerstone of community education and often has a presence at community events held within the city. They are unique in having a team dedicated to community outreach and focusing on ways in which the library can help make the community a better place to live. While working with them, I got to know the people of Appleton through events and activities like interviewing local entrepreneurs, attending local festivals with library representatives, and creating a community asset map.
Through these interviews and conversations with citizens of Appleton, I found a key theme that many people see as a common denominator for making Appleton a better place to live: belonging. Speaking with residents, I found that people who are not part of the demographic majority feel as if they do not belong in Appleton. They don’t see themselves represented in the community–they feel excluded, and they feel as if their voices are not given equal weight in the community. It goes without saying that the people who feel like they don’t belong want that to change. I have also seen that people who do feel like they belong in Appleton want to help others feel welcome.
Over the past year, Appleton Community Powered helped promote and create opportunities for interested individuals from underrepresented groups to tell their stories. Our goal was to spark a catalyst that can eventually lead to a greater sense of belonging among those who feel excluded in the community. One of these opportunities created a storytelling program among Fox Valley Literacy students, many of whom are immigrants and refugees. We hosted story circles that gave the students an opportunity to share their traditions and practice their English. This is just one example of how storytelling can be used as a way to create common ground and spark connection between people.
Our goal was to spark a catalyst that can eventually lead to a greater sense of belonging among those who feel excluded in the community.



