In the United States, one in every four deaths is due to cancer, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Cancer Institute. On Today's Stories that Touch your Heart, we focus on a woman who beat a rare, aggressive form of cancer. This is the second part of Maria Voermans story. https://nccd.cdc.gov/…

This year, it’s estimated that cancer will kill more than 600,000 Americans. That translates to about 1,650 people dying per day in 2017, according to the American Cancer Society. Cancer is the second most common cause of death in the U.S. Today’s episode of Stories that Touch your Heart focuses on Maria Voermans. The Greendale, WI woman was diagno…

Today’s episode of Stories that Touch your Heart has the second part of Lee Drewa’s story. The recovering addict shares how he got clean in treatment and has stayed clean for 12 years. Only a small percentage of those who are addicted receive treatment, and the number of Americans who die from drug overdoses continues to rise. According to the Cent…

Over 20 million Americans struggle with substance abuse addictions, according to “Facing Addiction in America: The Surgeon General’s Report on Alcohol, Drugs and Health.” That’s more than 10 times the number of people who are diagnosed with cancer in the United States in one year. So many people have been affected by addiction, and family members o…

It’s estimated that over half a million people (549,928) in the United States are homeless, according to a report by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. A majority (68%) of those individuals were staying in emergency shelters and other transitional housing programs, while the rest were in unsheltered locations. (Further information …

Many people are striving to move up the career ladder at work. They may be jockeying for a better position with their current employer or searching for an opportunity elsewhere that offers more pay and status. Most people couldn’t imagine voluntarily taking a large pay cut, and going from a position of prestige to one without. But that's what Glenn…

Thursday, October 12, was world sight day focusing attention on blindness and visual impairment. Today’s episode of Stories that Touch your Heart focuses on a Milwaukee teenager who doesn’t let blindness stop him from achieving his goals. Before you meet him, here are a few facts on blindness: according to the International Agency for the Preventio…

Have you ever wondered why someone would want to become a professor, or how they became so interested in a particular subject that they decided to make it their life’s work? Today’s episode of Stories that Touch your Heart features Dr. Young Kim who became interested in researching crisis communication after holding a position in the South Korean a…

Many of us have an image of homeless people in our minds. It could be the man with a cardboard sign asking for money by a freeway ramp or someone sleeping in an alley in the middle of the day. You won’t usualy hear people talking about a homeless person by name, or mentioning what a great conversation they had with a homeless man or woman that morn…

Almost three in ten people who live in the city of Milwaukee live in poverty, according to Census Bureau statistics published by the Hunger Task Force. The estimated poverty rate in Milwaukee is 28.7%, the poverty rate in the United States is 15.5%. (See more details here: https://www.hungertaskforce.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/QuickFacts_Feb201…

For many people, it’s hard to imagine not having enough food on the table to feed your family. But for some, that’s their reality. In Milwaukee, there are many different organizations that reach out to help those in need with food, clothing and other assistance. For the next couple of episodes of Stories that Touch your Heart, I’ll be focusing on o…

At times in our lives, many of us have heard our judgmental thoughts telling us we’re not good enough, or won’t make it out of the challenges we face. For some individuals, those negative beliefs can spiral down a black hole, leaving the person feeling isolated, angry and even suicidal. Suzanne Meunier knows the devastation anxiety and depression c…

Most of us have felt anxious or nervous at times in our lives, but imagine being in such a state of panic that you start involuntarily gagging in public. That’s the state Gena Haskett found herself in when she was in her early 30’s. This set her on a journey to find out more about her anxiety and panic attacks, and eventually to share what she disc…

It's the start of a new semester at Marquette University. It begins with so much hope, but sometimes that's not how it ends. I've seen students with great potential not stick it through to the end. Along the journey, they're stretched too much outside their comfort zone, face challenges they hadn't anticipated or get so far behind, they're not cert…

Most of us have calendars to help organize our lives, with tasks to accomplish and meetings to attend. Our work days can be very full, but what happens when someone who is really hurting crosses your path? Do you stick to your plan, or throw it aside to help? I hope to do the latter, but it doesn't come easy to me. On this episode of Stories that T…

In this episode of Stories that Touch your Heart, hear from two people whose lives have been affected by blindness and visual impairment. Kris Drollinger and Harold Mester had different experiences growing up, but how they view those challenges and use them in their lives now can inspire us to do the same. They both volunteer at ABLE, Audio & Brail…

You're never too old to help others or to learn something new. Lenore Tesch and Kathy Herbst demonstrate that by bringing books to life for individuals who are blind and visually impaired. The women volunteer at ABLE, Audio & Braille Literacy Enhancement, a non-profit organization in Milwaukee where they share their love of reading and learning. He…

Mark Zoromski has always been passionate about journalism. He had a career in the field for almost 20 years, and then went on to teach journalism for nearly two decades. In November of 2007, tragedy struck and he was forced to live through one of life’s most painful experiences. In the summer of 2016, Mark started a new position at Marquette Univer…

What do I want to do when I grow up? It’s a question people young and old ask themselves. Like many of us, Kris Holodak wondered that too. She ended up going in several different directions before deciding she wanted to become a filmmaker and to teach others about it. She had to go back to school and get a second master’s degree (a Master’s in Fine…