Episode 1: Sustaining Hoosier Communities with Dubois County

[INTRO INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC] 

Denny Spinner: 
This is Denny Spinner from the Indiana University Center for Rural Engagement. Welcome to Our Indiana: Stories from Rural Hoosiers, recording today from Vincennes University Jasper. And we are here with Christian Blome and Rossina Sandoval of Dubois County. Christian, Rossina—old friends. Thank you for being here, and welcome to the podcast.  

Christian Blome: 
It's so good to be here. Thanks for having us, Denny. 

Denny Spinner: 
So, Rossina, I’m going to start with you. Neither of you are native Dubois Countians but came to grow into leadership roles here in our community. Rossina, tell us how you came to Dubois County and how you kind of grew into that role. 

Rossina Sandoval: 
Oh, do you want the real story? 

Denny Spinner: 
[LAUGHS] Yeah, well, this is all truth here. 

Rossina Sandoval: 
All right. My name is Rossina Sandoval. I am Mexican. I was born in Mexico. I lived in Mexico until I was 31 years. My husband, who I met in Mexico, he was born in El Paso, Texas.  

So we always had this conversation, like, let's try other places. Let's move. Let's travel. Let's look for a place where we feel like, hey, we belong here. This goes with my core.  

So he started applying. He applied for different jobs in all of the United States. He went to five different interviews in five different states. 

Christian Blome: 
Wow. 

Rossina Sandoval: 
And every time, he would come, and he'd say, oh, I don't think you’ll like it. It's too cold.  

Denny Spinner: 
[LAUGHS] 

Rossina Sandoval: 
I don't think you’ll like it. It's too whatever. And I was like, okay, that's okay. But then he received a call from MasterBrand here in Dubois County. When he came back, he was like, what do you think about moving to Dubois County, Indiana? And I'm like, oh my god. Wait a minute. Let me Google, “Where is Dubois County, Indiana?”  

Christian Blome: 
Where is that? Where is that?  

Denny Spinner and Christian Blome: 
[LAUGHTER] 

Rossina Sandoval: 
I remember the first news I opened about—I believe it was Huntingburg, where I'm currently living—there was a deer in someone's house. And then, I would look at pictures and all the big trees. And I'm from the desert, now. I was immediately called by the beauty.  

He came to the interview. He did really good. They hired him, and I arrived here December 21st alone with two suitcases. And we started living at a hotel on a state road. December 25th, we went to McDonald's. Ate our Christmas lunch there. I unpacked my nice dress that I had. I'm from the desert. You can imagine it's not a dress for December in Indiana.  

Christian Blome: 
Winter, right. 

Denny Spinner: 
[LAUGHS] 

Rossina Sandoval: 
But we were so happy. We were so happy. And he said, okay, let's give it a try. One year and see what happens. It's been seven years. And we decided this is the place where we wanted to have a family. And we stayed. 

Denny Spinner: 

Right. Wonderful. Well, we are so blessed. My roots are in Dubois County. We got to know each other early on when you were here, and you're a great asset to add to the community. 

And we'll talk a little bit more about your roles and how we connected at IU. And Christian, again, what's your connection? How did you get here, and what happened to bring you here? 

Christian Blome: 
So I think I came about the same time as Rossina. Would that have been December of ‘17? 

Rossina Sandoval: 
Yes.  

Christian Blome: 
Was it? So me and my family moved to Dubois County in July of ‘17. So we were just a few months ahead of you.  

Rossina Sandoval: 
Okay. 

Christian Blome: 
So prior to coming to Dubois County, I was working for a college—McKendree University—that had some branch campuses in Kentucky that I was responsible to run and report back to the main campus. Our kids were young, so we lived close to Grandma and Grandpa in Scottsburg, Indiana, and then I commuted to Kentucky to these different sites.  

I had worked previously before that for Vincennes University. And as the kids started to get a little bit older, the opportunity to be the dean here at VUJ came up. And I applied for it, and I, of course, got the job, and that's what brought us here.  

And we loved it so much and immediately got plugged in. Our kids are really involved in sports. And, of course, my role here at VUJ allowed me to meet a lot of different people in the community. And so it's been such a great experience living here. 

Denny Spinner: 
Well, one of the reasons that we—you know, this is our first podcast, and we were thinking about, “Where do we start?” And the success story of the engagement between the Center for Rural Engagement at IU and the work here in Dubois County is just a wonderful story.  

So the issue that seemed to come to the forefront was that the growing immigrant population in Dubois County was challenging a lot of people in a lot of different ways. And we were all looking for a solution or a way to advance that ball.  

And the work that had been done with the ALASI group, with the Latino Collaboration Table—there were a lot of efforts happening but didn't seem to be coordinated very well. And that's where the Center for Rural Engagement connecting with the O'Neill School created this environment where there was a study that went on that helped with that.  

So tell us about your experience with the center and with the O'Neill School and what the result of that work was. I know you guys love to talk about this. I love to hear about it. So I'll just let whoever wants to start take off. 

Christian Blome: 
Well, I think we both started out with the Latino Collaboration Table. I was pretty new, and I think Rossina came on about the same time I did. I think I could say Rossina is a dear friend, and I know what she's passionate about, and that includes cultural competency and equity. And I have those same values and passions.  

So when I came here and learned about the work of the Latino Collaboration Table, I knew right away that I wanted to be a part of it. I knew 50,000-foot view what the collaboration table was doing, but I didn't know the details yet.  

But I got involved in late 2017, and at that time, we were doing a needs assessment. And ALASI was kind of—the two organizations were very separate. ALASI was very focused on celebrating culture. And among other things, they were really known for their Latino Culture Fest in Huntingburg.  

And the work that the collaboration table was doing at that time was really focused on gathering data around the needs of the Latino community and how to connect and meet the needs of the Latino community and help them leverage their strengths in our local economy.  

And so out of that, gosh, so much happened in between that and our partnership. 

 
Denny Spinner: 
Yeah. And I do want to say, Rossina, explain your role. You came to work with the local school corporation with the Southwest Dubois County Schools in a very exciting role that really allowed you to use your passion and connect greatly with the community. A little bit about your role with the school corporation? 
 
Rossina Sandoval: 
Yes, definitely. My background—I am a psychologist. And I've always worked as a psychologist. When I first arrived here to the United States, I got a job at LifeSpring Health Systems, and that brought me to public health and community engagement and working with the communities.  

When I was doing that job, I started understanding the huge needs that we had as a multicultural community, because one of the main characteristics of our county is that we're multicultural. And there was not a system that would catch our people. People are good people, and we do what naturally comes best, which is help people. But there's very little we can do if we help one individual. 

So I was offered this amazing, incredible job thought and planned by the leaders of Southwest Dubois County School. And this was a job that’s called “community engagement,” but my area of focus is our immigrant population because we started seeing the change in the demographics of our students. 

So this job allowed me to work with the people in the community to build that system, to offer equity to our students and their families. So that's how I started getting involved.  

And I believe I came to the Latino Collaboration Table a little after you, probably three or four meetings after. 
 
Christian Blome: 
Yeah, really close. 
 
Rossina Sandoval: 
And we match. We made a really good team because we had, as Christian mentioned, the same values—cultural competency centered in equity. How are we going to level the playing field in Dubois County? How are we going to take advantage of the assets of multiculturalism in our community? And that's how we started working. 
 
Denny Spinner: 
And so where that connectivity started really working, with IU, and with the O'Neill School, and through the Center for Rural Engagement, I think you’ve described it very well, Christian. There were these pieces that were all there.  
 
Rossina Sandoval: 
Yes. 

Christian Blome: 
Right. 

Denny Spinner: 
But there was no coordination or big view of what this could be. And through the work with the O'Neill School, a graduate-level opportunity came up to come to Dubois County through the Sustaining Hoosier Communities program that really changed the game. So give us a little thought about how that happened. 
 
Christian Blome: 
I could talk a whole other hour just about Sustaining Hoosier Communities. 
 
Rossina Sandoval: 
Yes! 

Christian Blome: 
What an incredible program that our region, our county, and the state is so fortunate to have through IU. So when we first became aware of the Sustaining Hoosier Communities program, our two organizations were separate. ALASI and Latino Collaboration Table were kind of parallel or complimentary.  

And this opportunity came to the county to apply to partner with the CRE, and we were so excited to get that. And we just are finishing up our two-year partnership with SHC. You know, SHC did so much in our community. I don't know how many projects, 20 or more, impacting so many different groups and bringing wonderful assets to our community.  

But we were fortunate, as the Latino Collaboration Table and ALASI, that they dedicated a team—as you mentioned, the O'Neill graduate program. We did that needs assessment back in 2017. This was 2022.  

And so back in ‘22, we realized we needed to revisit our data and see where we go from here. I think we had a week-long residency. Those students from all over the country really almost served as consultants. You know, I can't imagine how much that would have cost us.  
 
Rossina Sandoval: 
Yeah. 

Christian Blome: 
But they studied our population. They studied the needs of the Latino population and the needs of the community, and how can we raise our organizations to the next level? And one of many things that came out of that report was to join the two organizations together, and we did. And now we're functioning under one organization with the name of ALASI. 
 
Rossina Sandoval: 
Sustaining Hoosier Communities, I can say, is a prime example of public health. It's public health put into work. We are working together. We are utilizing the assets not just of our county but of our state. And together, we are planning to become our vision, our idea of the community we want to be. So working together with O'Neill, the first project we had with the Center for Rural Engagement was the Latinx needs assessment.  
 
Christian Blome: 
That's right, yeah. 

Rossina Sandoval: 
So we had the Latino collaboration needs assessment—I don't know what year, ’17? 

Christian Blome: 
It might have been the year before, but then I think we did one again maybe the year before Sustaining Hoosier Communities. Does that sound right? 

Rossina Sandoval: 
Yeah, I believe it was 2020 or ’21.  

Christian Blome: 
Somewhere in there. 

Rossina Sandoval: 
And the need, again, showed up for something similar to what we now have, which is the ALASI Resource Center. And then we started working with the O'Neill School among a lot of different projects.  

Denny Spinner: 
Right. And again, that was maybe the highlight of the program. But there were a lot of other things that happened through Sustaining Hoosier Communities that had impact across the county—arts and culture, health, health issues. 

Christian Blome: 
Oh, yeah. Yes. 

Rossina Sandoval: 
Yeah. 

Denny Spinner: 
Just a wide, broad scope of projects in Dubois County.  

Christian Blome: 
Yep. 

Denny Spinner: 
And one of the reasons why we at CRE are so excited about Sustaining Hoosier Communities is because it achieves the goal of bringing student experience into rural counties, where some of these students may have never had an experience of working in rural Indiana and open their eyes to what is out there. And certainly, the uniqueness of Dubois County was something that they got a chance to experience.  

Tell me what you think. What was your experience of working with the faculty and students from IU? These students came in from all across the country and were here in Dubois County. What was your experience in working with the students and faculty from IU? 

Rossina Sandoval: 
I'm going to move to a different project that we had, just to give another example.  

Denny Spinner: 
Sure. 

Rossina Sandoval: 
This is going to be the fourth year that we worked with the Center for Rural Engagement on this project that's called Voces Vivas, which, among many other things through this project, we have brought Dia de Muertos. We opened the first Hispanic exhibit in the Dubois County Museum. So we've done huge things with the Center for Rural Engagement.  

One of the things we did is we went to the IU Media School and entered that classroom with all of these bright minds specializing in gathering information. Man, that was a little intimidating!  

Denny Spinner: 
Yeah. [CHUCKLES] 

Rossina Sandoval: 
Because they were not afraid to ask questions. These students come from all over Indiana, and I believe there was someone from Hawaii. I believe it was somewhere very far. Seeing this multiculturality and this diversity, one would think people would be a little afraid to ask about race and demographics and the services the county has to offer. But they were not. 

So that collaboration gave our students the opportunity to face reality, to face what they're going to see when they graduate and they go outside and report on public issues. One very important thing is for them to see and to get in touch with the people who are making changes because they themselves will become this.  

There's a very important part of Voces Vivas, which is changing the narrative. So we want our students to talk about the founts of knowledge and the assets of our immigrant community and steer away from that immigration narrative, which is bad or super sad. No. And they have achieved that with a level of grace and elegance and dignity.  

This project, I really, really feel, is doing what we planned in the course of four years. It's changing the narrative of the immigrants in Dubois County.  

Christian Blome: 
Yeah. And so the level of expertise and professionalism from these students and faculty members, to be able to do things like that and be able to give us assets and feedback and road maps on how to accomplish these things—it was as strong or stronger than any consulting firm or third party I've ever worked with.  

Going back to the ALASI Resource Center, they provided us a 100-page document that really described a two-year phased-in approach to standing up a physical resource center.  

At that time, all of our work was driven by a volunteer board. And our programming, our services that we were providing, were all through a network of volunteers that were kind of piecemealed together. They were data-driven.  

And so we were delivering the right things, but we had kind of a glass ceiling. We could only do so much with that structure. And so that's what the report laid out for us. They identified, hey, to really move Dubois County to the next level, we've got to hire some paid staff. We need a physical resource center. And here's how to do it.  

And we followed that plan point by point, and that brings us to where we are today, where we have a physical location now with two staff located in Huntingburg. 

Denny Spinner: 
So what surprised you as you went through this process, not only the work with the resource center but the other projects? There were some great visual projects—the Piano Alley along the theater in downtown Jasper.  

Christian Blome: 
It's amazing, yeah. 

Denny Spinner: 
There were other issues that were gathered up. So what was maybe a surprising thing that you took away going into it, not knowing what, really, you were getting into? What was the surprising thing about the interaction with the students from the university? 

Rossina Sandoval: 
A lot of surprises. So first, I want to cover something that we don't talk about a lot, which is aesthetic. That level of, yes, we're working. We're doing all of this very important and highly intellectual project. But you know what? That is not enough. We have to attract people.  

And to attract people, we need things to be pretty, and to be beautiful, and to be calling, and inviting, and warm. We have to showcase that feeling not just in the intellectual projects but in the community.  

So I mention it as a very important part of what this partnership brought to us. Because as a rural community in Indiana, we are—I am so focused on basic needs, on priorities. Because one person covers six jobs. So that's my range.  

Christian Blome: 
Yeah.  

Rossina Sandoval: 
But when we have this allyship, which is what makes us stronger, we can focus on this part, which are a very important ingredient of how to make things work.  

Christian Blome: 
Yeah, I think what surprised me was the quantity of projects that were accomplished. Sustaining Hoosier Communities, the structure when they launch, they hold a series of listening sessions throughout the county. And those were really well-attended. And the feedback led to maybe 100 potential projects. I was very impressed by that feedback, but my mind was really focused on the ALASI Resource Center.  

And so that's where Rossina and I—and she worked on some other projects too – we took a deep dive there. So I kind of had my blinders on. And I think there were check-in meetings that we had monthly or every other month with CRE to kind of gauge the success, make sure we're on track and everything.  

What shocked me was just, there were so many other projects happening at the same time that they were helping us stand up the ALASI Resource Center, a project that I felt like really required all hands on deck. And I couldn't even imagine that CRE was doing anything else but the ALASI Resource Center.  

Rossina Sandoval: 
[LAUGHS] Yes. 

Christian Blome: 
And so when we met, and they started going through, well, we're working with—do you know so-and-so? And I'm like, well, of course, I do—these leaders throughout our community. And they'd say, well, we're standing up this project with them, and we're doing this project. And I'm like, how in the world do you have the time to do all these projects?  

And I think where we ended now, you can go out to the CRE website, and you can click on the Dubois County project, and you can see all the projects that were accomplished through the two years and what the outcomes were for those projects. It's just, I don't even know the words to say other than “incredible.” The resources that IU brought to the county through SHC was just incredible. 

Denny Spinner: 
Yeah. So as you look at that, where do you go from here? I mean, one of the things we talk about a lot at the CRE and the work that we do with communities like this is building capacity—increasing the community’s ability to take not only the projects that we work on but sustain them and work forward from this location. 

So what do you see as the opportunity that now exists in Dubois County because of this work? Or maybe even some of the challenges that you see?  

Because when you get this momentum going, you’ve got a lot of people excited about it. How do you sustain this? What is your vision moving forward from here? 

Rossina Sandoval: 
First, I always say this—cultural changes take a long time, take a lot of time. And these are just bits and pieces that are forming our people here in Dubois County. So for our youth—because the Indiana University students also worked with our high school students, and that presented an opportunity for modeling what they can do eventually.  

So from here, where do we go from here? We keep investing these assets with our youth here in the community so they can grow and continue to help us sustain all of what we have achieved so far. 

Christian Blome: 
Yeah, I think another thing that contributes to sustainability is the process. Not to be boring, but it's a really good process that it starts with asset mapping. 

Denny Spinner: 
Right. 

Christian Blome: 
And so they came here, they identified the assets, and then the projects were tied to our current assets. You know, some projects might come into a community—maybe have been a part of something where they come in, and they tell the community what the community needs, and this is where the community needs to go. It was totally reversed.  

It was mapping our assets, and then it was finding out, okay, how can we help move these assets forward? How can we leverage them in a better and bigger way? And so you all came alongside the work we were already doing, and you made us better.  

And so I think that ensures that your work will continue to pay dividends years and decades to come. 

Denny Spinner: 
The Sustaining Hoosier Communities program is growing, and we're continuing to use it. We're working currently with Daviess County on the same process. Amazing number of projects coming forward.  

So I've got to ask. You’re strong advocates. What would you tell other counties as they're considering, should we be in this program? Is this something that we would want to do as a community, whatever that issue might be?  

Coming together as a community, what would you tell other communities who are considering participation with the Center for Rural Engagement and Sustaining Hoosier Communities? 

Rossina Sandoval: 
Allyship has always been a prime component of change. We need to find the allies that can help our group of people who are leading things in our community. Yes, that's amazing. This group of people do a lot. But with these other components, with this allyship, with this intellectual capital the university can provide, we grow stronger. We grow faster. 

Christian Blome: 
Yeah, for sure.  

Denny Spinner: 
Yeah. 

Christian Blome: 
I would tell other communities to jump at the opportunity to fill out the application. I know we had a conversation as a community as we were thinking about it. We didn't know what Sustaining Hoosier Communities was. There were people that have been part of projects that have come to the county before. And it almost sounded too good to be true.  

And so there were some people that were concerned about investing the time in the application process, thinking, well, it's not really going to be this. It's really not going to be this expansive and this deep and this many resources. How could that be, you know? And so I would say, quiet those voices. Trust the process. Complete the application.  

And then to Rossina's point, I think it's really important to have the right people involved. Engage the right allies. You really want all voices to be involved and around the table. The good, the bad, the ugly. You don't want to hide anything.  

And really invest as much time as you can in bringing people to the meetings and to the table. CRE takes care of everything else. 

Rossina Sandoval: 
Yes. 

Christian Blome: 
I felt like, in those early days, the role that we really played was trying to promote it and make sure we got as much of our community there as possible. 

Denny Spinner: 
Well, I know Dubois County well enough—I'm a native—that when you got the people to the table, things happened. 

Christian Blome: 
Yeah. 

Rossina Sandoval: 
Mm-hmm. 

Denny Spinner: 
And that was really key. The role that you all played and the committee that put the application together was very important in making sure the right people were at the table.  

And I guess it was part of the process, as I learned through this as well, is that trust became very important—that it was a trusted partnership.  

Christian Blome: 
Yeah. 

Denny Spinner: 
You know, IU is new at some of this, and [you wonder], are we going to come in and tell you what to do? 

Christian Blome: 
Right. 

Rossina Sandoval: 
Yes. 

Denny Spinner: 
I think that we learned as a center a lot about how to do community relations from your experience as well. So it was a two-way street.  

Christian Blome: 
Yeah.  

Denny Spinner: 
And that partnership became very, very vital for it to be successful. And there was a trust on both sides for that. I think that was very key. 

Rossina Sandoval: 
Trust, professionalism.  

Christian Blome: 
Yeah. 

Rossina Sandoval: 
A lot of time put into the projects that we needed. I felt heard.  

Christian Blome: 
Yeah. 

Rossina Sandoval: 
My voice was present, even when I was not in the room, because the people leading our projects were there to really understand what we were saying. 

Christian Blome: 
Mm-hmm. 

Denny Spinner: 
Great. Well, guys, again, I couldn't imagine, as we started talking about having a podcast—I'm a little biased being from Dubois County—if there's anybody I would love to talk to at my first podcast with the Center for Rural Engagement, it would be Christian and Rossina. 

Christian Blome: 
Oh, it’s an honor to be here. 

Rossina Sandoval: 
What an honor. 

Denny Spinner: 
Because you're two dear friends. And we've shared a lot of great challenges together, a lot of great times. And it's a great story.  

And the thing is, what I see is this. This is a unique Dubois County story because of what the projects were. But this type of energy exists across rural Indiana.  

Christian Blome: 
It does. 

Denny Spinner: 
I think rural communities are just hungry for opportunity to succeed. And if we can come in as the center and partner with the great resources at IU, something can happen here. It's unique to Dubois County by what happened here, but not a unique experience that could happen across the board. 

Christian Blome: 
Yes. Sometimes people overlook rural communities, or they discount us. So I'm so grateful that IU has created this program and invested in rural communities this way. I think it's a model for the nation. I think it's a model for other universities. I hope they duplicate it, and I hope that our interaction here in Dubois County can be a model for the rest of the country too. 

Rossina Sandoval: 
Come live in Dubois County! We have a place for you! 

All: 
[LAUGHTER] 

Christian Blome: 
That’s right! 

Denny Spinner: 
Well, again, thank you so much for this wonderful conversation, Christian and Rossina. And we want to say thank you to our listeners for joining Our Indiana: Stories from Rural Hoosiers. And we'll see you next time. 

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