Major funding for Long Story Short is provided by the Haile Foundation.

Additional funding provided by The 5/3 Foundation and contributions to your PBS station by viewers like you.

Thank you.

♪Emotional Piano♪ On this episode of Long Story Short, a recovering addict turns her struggle into a newspaper that brings hope to others at their lowest point.

A local comedian finds equality in a world seemingly not built for her.

Finally, a dancer overcomes homelessness and breaks into an art form traditionally reserved for the elite.

Welcome to Long Story Short, where we bring you the unique and diverse stories that make the Cincinnati and Dayton region home.

At one point or another we've all been in a situation where the odds were stacked up against us In this episode we’ll look at three very different stories that shared one very important aspect.

The determination to overcome those odds.

In our first story, the odds are familiar to far too many in our region.

Overcoming addiction is statistically and sadly one of the most challenging tasks one can face.

After ending up homeless and in and out of prison Tracy Brumfield finally succeeded in her own personal recovery.

But for Tracy, that wasn't enough.

She wanted to help others, but with no money or resources, can her big idea become a reality?

I felt called.

To do something.

As someone who has walked the path.

Walked the path to deciding that I wanted to dedicate my life to helping others.

For me, it was God answering my prayer.

♪Soft Piano♪ Come on.

1027 What time is it?

10:27 My name is Tracy Brumfield.

I'm 50 years old.

I'm a native Cincinnatian.

And I'm a recovering heroin addict.

I currently work third shift at the Center for Addiction treatment.

I am a patient aid.

I work 11:00 PM to 7:00 AM.

I work on a men’s detox unit and the residential side.

They have a 28 day short term residential program.

I went to CAT House and I reached out to them because I had gotten treatment from them earlier and they helped me into recovery and the patient aide position was at the time.

the only thing that my education like my current education qualified for for me to do.

It's essentially a service job but I believe that They were an organization that was doing good.

And I believe wholeheartedly that they were continuing to be on the front lines, helping other individuals.

Specifically, those suffering from opiate and heroin addiction.

So the position of patient aid, which is probably the lowest rung on the ladder.

It's the place that one would start, despite the fact that I was now making a pretty decent income at my current position, I felt called to work in this field.

You know, working at CAT House and helping the individuals that I ran across there and I still see in the recovery community was beyond rewarding.

But then I got the phone call that absolutely changed my life.

Hello.

Hey, is this Tracy?

It is.

Hey, it's Aurore, I called from People's Liberty.

So I wanted to call Tracy to let you know that we want to offer you the fellowship for this year.

Oh, my god!

I can't wait to tell them.

I can't wait to tell them.

I can't wait to quit my two jobs.

Tell them what you've done.

I just found out that I won the Haile Fellowship for 2017!

and what's it for?

It’s, uh, It's to create a newspaper called Rise Up for that’s gonna be distributed to inmates in the Cincinnati jails starting with the Justice Center, it's going to be a Only give me a list of resources to help them get food and shelter.

Where to go to get help for addiction treatment?

Oh my god.

You know the name RISE When I was applying for the Haile Fellowship, my mentor Joy Peirson who was reading it She's like, you know, you can't.

You gotta quit just calling it a newspaper.

You'd need to give it a name and she's like that's much more powerful.

So I was like, well, I'm going to call it Rise Up.

I have great hope for Rise and this is what I hope for.

I hope for those who are in there for their very first time.

They're scared.

They’re ashamed.

They're embarrassed and they've never thought about getting treatment.

Or getting help or asking for help.

I hope we plant that seed.

I knew that I wanted my first issue to come out no later than the end of August because my goal was an I’m funded for six issues.

So we're like, you know what?

Let's just let's do it.

Let's set a launch date.

Let's schedule the date.

Let's reserve the space here at People's Liberty and let's start promoting the hell out of it.

The day of the launch, right?

I'm like kind of like that that 8 year old at a birthday party, I was afraid nobody was going to come to my party, you know, kind of thing I was.

I was really super nervous.

But I did know this.

I knew it was a celebration of our achievement and I was so happy with our first issue, the recovery issue.

The reaction, not just from the individuals that came to the launch, but from the community has been overwhelmingly positive.

We have distributed the paper not just in Hamlton County Justice Center, but also in River City in the Kenton County Jail, we’re in all nine Talbert House facilities and I'm talking with Butler and Warren County, Oh, and we’re in Clermont County.

So I mean, I'm just like mind blown.

I'm just beyond grateful.

I couldn't have hoped for a better reception.

There's something that's not.

There's a service that’s not being fulfilled and not being done right now in our County or any other.

Will Rise be that answer?

I don't know.

But what Rise will be is a voice speaking out to say that's a service that needs to be done and that's something that we need to do.

To be in recovery to finally have a life purpose to feel safe, to feel part of your community.

Huge message that I personally want to get out and I think that it's super important that Rise at the very least is the megaphone spreading that message.

You know, every week I go into the Justice Center and work with the women in the recovery unit and we talk about various topics, but predominantly they're related to the barriers they'll face upon release.

I say there are two populations in the jail, those who maybe went in, have a job, home transportation, and those things may or may not still be there when they get out.

Depending how long they were there.

But the other population, are those who are coming in with nothing and have nothing to come back out to.

I was in the former population where I had a job.

I had an apartment and transportation.

When I first got arrested, I was just processed and released, but as my disease of addiction progressed, I had additional probation violation So that meant I was put in jail for longer and longer amounts of time to where I eventually lost my home.

I became unemployed and it was a very scary proposition.

I had over the course of my active addiction alienated the majority of my family and close friends, so it's scary to feel like you don't have anybody to call to help you.

I felt my options were very limited.

The idea for Rise is to provide reentry resources for individuals while they're still incarcerated.

It's a whole other thing for when you're hitting the door, so we actually also had another program for what we call Right at Release.

As they are hitting the door, we are there to offer perhaps appropriate clothing, hat, gloves, scarf for inclement weather, and we also provide what we call care packages that just include some basic hygiene items.

And of course, always a copy of Rise newspaper.

It's amazing to see the response of people when when they realize we just want to help them and giving something they know they're even suspicious at first.

But they are so grateful.

We do ask them to sit with us for a second.

Take a small survey just to see what their immediate needs are.

Do they have a job or do they know where to get one?

Do they have a safe place to go?

So for someone like myself who was in and out of jail and experiencing that anxiety and what that feels like a feeling trapped inside, it's such a different feeling, now when I go in, knowing that for however long I'm in there that day, I get to go back outside.

And that's one of the big things I try to communicate to the women I work with.

I am no different than they are.

I'm not special, they can be right where I am in six months or a year.

Coming back into the jail with a visitors badge instead of a uniform.

They can be wearing that visitors badge in six months or a year and coming back and sharing their story and and hopefully paying it forward and helping the other women who were sitting right where they were.

And you know, sharing their journey, which I hope includes rising up.

So the idea for Rise came out of my own experience and understanding the need for a resource guide, but I knew I could never actually execute the production of a publication by myself and I think I got really lucky when I found the right combination of people to create Rise.

Charmaine Mcguffey, who was actually the Major at the time, had known who I was by my volunteering and so I approached her when I had the idea for eyes and asked if I could get this funded and it wouldn't cost you anything.

Do you think the jail would let us do it?

Tracy approached me.

I wrote certainly a letter of support and next thing I know I get a phone call and she's telling me she got the grant and it was It was just so happy.

I was so happy and Tracy was just jubilant and I tell you, as I saw the product develop, I realized really how special it is.

I really do believe that Tracy was a huge part of the recovery who did in fact recover.

After being in that heroin pot, they absolutely did, and there's still recovered today, and that's a tribute not just to the newspaper of Rise, but to Tracy Brumfield.

When I was in jail, I was searching for answers Rise Up newspaper was one of them and I started reading it and it was extremely powerful.

It was good to know that there was somebody out there who understood encouragement through struggle.

I wrote to Tracy more or less thanking her for the words.

I never in my life thought I'd end up in the places that I ended up.

Some of the resources that she was putting in this newspaper were so difficult for me when I was out there to find on my own.

Then I got to a point where I started giving up.

I couldn't keep track of it, couldn't organize it, couldn't stay focused long enough and she had them there sitting in one one newspaper, resources that people going through the struggle could utilize.

I would advise any agency, any agency, a jail, the Sheriff's Office health agency, to incorporate Rise in all of their curriculums and activities.

Rise should be a publication that is available to everyone in the jail, not just heroin addicts.

Rise is important to continue on because I think unfortunately we have an epidemic on our hands.

The vision for Rise is limitless.

It goes above and beyond the newspaper and I think that the more we can create awareness within the community of who we are and what we're about, I think that we're going to begin to see more people connecting with us, and the need is there and the opportunities are there.

And I believe the people they will come.

It's super important it should go out to everybody in society.

I mean everybody should be able to pick up one on the street.

It should be distributed in high schools.

It certainly is the beginning and I'm hoping that it will proliferate, I'm hoping that people will take a look at it because when you do you'll realize how significant it really is.

When Wendi Furguson looks at the world, much of it wasn't built for her.

As a little person she's found challenges in life both physically and socially.

But even with the world seemingly stacked against her, Wendi found hope, community and equality in her art.

♪Jazz music♪ You know, they’re gonna make you pay that $1,200 back, so I knew I had to flip mine into $2,400 [Wendi laughing] She said, “girl, Did you see that white boy with a Jerry Curl?” Make some noise for Wendi Furguson.

My name is Wendi Furguson.

I'm 2 foot 10.

I weigh 65 pounds.

I'm kind of used to living...

I mean, I don't know anything different.

I deal with it.

I have good days and bad days just like everybody else where it really gets on my nerves.

But yeah, I wanna use that thing so bad but I can't.

I can't reach it.

I can barely reach to turn my water on.

Average height people take a lot of things for granted.

Simple stuff turning on your lights, getting stuff out of the freezer.

Hopping in a car going somewhere when you want to go somewhere.

Little trivial things that most people don't think about are a pain in the butt to me.

Oh well... *knock at the door* Who is it?

Me.

Me who?

(jokingly) Amazon!

I want your TV people to see me.

Look at this... Hi, can you see us both?

Did you come over to get me some ice?

Yes, I did.

'cause you never text me and tell me when to come over.

Like I have people that are that are nice and that helped me like my neighbor.

She'll come over and get ice out of my freezer if she's home.

I'm thankful that I have somebody that's willing to help me.

OK, so do you want to... We’ll go to Aldi’s 'cause I do I do need to get some honey.

I can kind of get a sense of how alien must feel if they're like just dropped down out of a spaceship on the earth.

Because everything is foreign and weird to them.

Well, I don't think the world was built for someone like me because everything is made for average height people.

My condition is considered.

They call it Dwarfism but they don't know what type of dwarfism it is.

They're still trying to figure that out, 'cause there is over, I think, 600 different types.

They've never seen anybody like me before.

I told them to name it after me.

I don't know if they were not.

I got into comedy on a dare.

the more I drank and the more they dared me I was like, alright cool I'll do it.

I found that doing comedy for me is I don't do it for attention.

I do it because I genuinely like making people laugh.

I have fun up there I have anxiety and depression.

It helps me with all that like It's my therapy too.

This is where you put your hands together for Ms. Wendi Furguson, everybody!

In everyday life, people don't forget that I’m little.

But on stage, they do.

I like it.

I don't do it for attention.

I've had people Some people say that to me and I get attention all the time.

When you're 2 foot 10 and you walk in places, it's you’re the pink elephant in the room.

This guy threw a new one at me He said, “I’m big and your little.” Well, you’re quite the genius there, aren’t you, buddy?

[Sounds of Street] [Crowd Noise] I’ve had a bad week, man.

I've had really terrible week.

I went to tie my shoe laces smacked my head on the curb.

We go back to her room we’re having a good time.

We're kicking it.

We’re eating candy.

We're having a blast.

Then he locked me in her Playschool playhouse.

And I kicked that little bitches ass!

My name’s Wendi Furguson You guys were great!

Thank you!

Can I get a hug?

Of course!

Let me put my mask on and I’ll give you one.

For me when I'm on stage, even I forget that I’m 2’10” even though I'm up there talking about stuff that I go through being my height I forget about it.

I'm not insecure up there.

I have my confidence is at a 10.

It's two different worlds definitely.

when I am on stage I have total independence.

Nothing has to be made for me on that stage.

It's perfect up there so it's an amazing feeling.

I've literally been up there telling my jokes and thinking in my head, Oh my gosh is this, are you really like you want to pinch yourself?

Like am I really doing this?

♪Jazz Music♪ Bye, Wendi!

When I'm on that stage I’m not 2 foot 10, I’m just a person making people laugh, telling jokes, talking about my life in a way that people understand but they don't feel sorry for me.

I think on stage is sometimes the only time I have my feelings or what I'm saying is validated 'cause people are listening.

Ballet is perceived as one of the most beautiful and graceful art forms in the world, but unfortunately it also has perceived barriers such as race and economics.

When Antonio White fell in love with ballet at 10 years old, seemingly all of the doors to ballet were closed, but none of that mattered.

His love for ballet drove him to make his dream a reality.

♪Piano♪ When I'm dancing, I feel super happy.

I just feel like I'm there.

I’m myself.

I love dance and it's a way that I can express my feelings and a way that I can cope with anger or any any feelings that I'm really feeling honestly.

Any conflicts or problems I got in my life.

They seem to disappear whenever I dance on stage.

[Street Sounds] My name is Antonio and I live right up in Avondale on the corner of Fred Shuttlesworth and Reading.

I don't have the ballet background, just 'cause me being African American male and coming from where I come from, my my history and everything else.

When I first asked my mom it was about like when I was like maybe about eight or nine years old, I wanted to dance.

I told her and she told me that like it was too expensive and at the time we didn't have a stable home to call ours.

I remember like when we first got kicked out of our like.

I think it's like our second or third apartment, but I love my mom.

No matter.

No matter how many mistakes or no matter what happened back then, I'm always I’ll always love her and take care of her, but eventually I moved in with a family who gave me an opportunity to get back in school.

I was around 14 or 15 years old.

They asked me what I want to do and I wanted to be a ballet dancer and I think I honestly think my life was meant to go this way and I feel like it's only going to get better from here.

♪Piano♪ The reason I chose ballet because I saw it on TV like when I was young and like I said I've always wanted to dance.

It was real, pretty like it was just really pretty and I just kind of fell in love it, love with it from there.

When I saw it on TV like I just knew like I wanted to do it and I knew I could do it.

So from then they took me down to Cincinnati Ballet and they love me there and I worked so hard that a I got a 50% merit scholarship that shows to you or anybody who want to make who want to make it happen.

It's only your mind and it's only you that stopping you.

[Street Sounds] Practice comes early.

But I take, I take, I take a numerous amount of classes.

I take classical ballet, I take modern, and I take choreography.

I take partnering class.

I spend my whole day practicing and rehearsing and just working on things that I really don't know how to do.

Or that I'm not good at and I just keep on working out.

Love working hard.

A lot of people don't like working hard and a lot of people.

Don't like, don't know how to work hard, but I think it's most def.

I know it's most definitely one of the keys to get to wherever you want to get to in life.

You work as you work to your extreme.

It's pretty hard.

It's pretty hard, but I am very passionate about it and I love it so much that it's not like stressful or it's not like it's not that much of a work really.

Just push yourself.

Your potential is higher than what you think it is and you never know where it can take you.

I fought and I'm fighting as we speak and I will continue to fight until I get to where I want to get to in life.

It kind of gave me like that drive everything that I went through and stuff like that kind of gave me my creativity and I'm gonna continue to just push and push and push no matter what life takes me through just I'm always continue to smile, be joyful and happy 'cause that's just who I am.

This is my dream and I will do anything it takes to make it real.

Thank you for joining us for more stories and episodes.

Check us out at cetconnect.org/longstoryshort And tune in next time for more stories from your neighbors.

♪Emotional Piano♪ Major funding for Long Story Short is provided by the Haile Foundation.

Additional funding provided by the 5/3 Foundation and contributions to your PBS station by viewers like you.

Thank you.