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https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/538097e9e4b0fe1778d1864f/1758560527885-ZW9XHQC8H53YUH1OFRQJ/2025_OS_Laurel_Black.png Work https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/538097e9e4b0fe1778d1864f/1758560560070-7P8HQGYODLB8AUXPFOTM/EPFFLaurel_WhiteBG_2025.png Work https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/538097e9e4b0fe1778d1864f/1770827765108-FORVHG99DEEPJPH3XHJJ/Buyback_Stills_3.jpg Work https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/538097e9e4b0fe1778d1864f/1770827759958-3O3LHBFLOUD2QCNPPMNS/Screenshot+2026-02-11+at+10.35.12%E2%80%AFAM.png Work https://www.lauren-santucci.com/detroitdreams daily 0.75 2024-08-19 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/538097e9e4b0fe1778d1864f/1601071198901-P4W25LFCTQQ19BLRCCVT/Santucci_Fulbright_Portfolio_1.jpg Detroit Dreams Kenza, 5, one of Mamba Hamissi and Nadia Nijimbere’s twin daughters, plays with a doll in their apartment in Grosse Pointe Park, Mich. Nadia fled Burundi in 2013 when she was violently targeted for her work with a human rights organization. Nadia chose to go to Detroit, a city she heard about because of a shelter called Freedom House which provided pro-bono housing, social, and legal services to asylum-seekers. By the time Mamba's visa was finally accepted in 2015, he had missed Nadia's pregnancy, the twins' birth, and the first two years of their lives. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/538097e9e4b0fe1778d1864f/1601071166395-UX62LVSNFX0X9QN3OE8M/Santucci_Fulbright_Portfolio_1_1.jpg Detroit Dreams Mamba looks out his car window at the Marathon Oil Refinery in southwest Detroit. After working factory jobs when he first arrived in the US, Mamba felt that his education and successes in Burundi did not translate in America. "I hate to say it," he says "but because I did not speak English and I came from Africa, they did not trust that I was capable of the job. I learned English in 6 months. I have proven I am smart, and I can learn the job in just two or three months." https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/538097e9e4b0fe1778d1864f/1601071172796-B8YAHQQFR1NRZ7NA0XV7/Santucci_Fulbright_Portfolio_1_3.jpg Detroit Dreams The French to English dictionary in Kate* and Pamela’s* bedroom in Detroit, Michigan. Kate and Pamela are cousins from the Republic of Congo, who fled to Detroit after being targeted by the government. Back home in the Congolese capital of Brazzaville, the cousins feared a regime that imprisons and tortures anyone they view as threatening their power. Unlike resettled refugees from Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan, asylum-seekers are not given financial support from the government when they arrive, and their legal status remains undecided for years. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/538097e9e4b0fe1778d1864f/1601071171694-BKO6I523MIR1JJ9QVC0U/Santucci_Fulbright_Portfolio_1_2.jpg Detroit Dreams Kate* and Pamela* laugh together outside of a shawarma restaurant on John R Street in Detroit. While they wait years for their asylum case to be processed, they rent an apartment together, work in the city, and have formed strong relationships. In September 2017, Kate and Pamela moved out of Freedom House, which helped them transition out of the shelter and into their own apartment. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/538097e9e4b0fe1778d1864f/1601071178467-Z3N3ISX8D0K6VE25TLWQ/Santucci_Fulbright_Portfolio_1_4.jpg Detroit Dreams Mamba and Nadia’s twin daughters, Kenza and Dieze, play games on Mamba’s phone while he sells his Burundian-grown and Detroit-roasted coffee beans to a local coffee shop owner in Hamtramck, Mich. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/538097e9e4b0fe1778d1864f/1601071181911-SGYKGPR14XTLOGGDVPGY/Santucci_Fulbright_Portfolio_1_5.jpg Detroit Dreams Pamela’s friend from the Congo who is now studying in the US hugs Pamela as she prepares to walk down the aisle at her wedding in New Baltimore, Mich. In early 2018, Pamela met her now husband, Jordan, on a blind date to the movies. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/538097e9e4b0fe1778d1864f/1601071183506-DQ37NTS5R9NXQ11L2VS3/Santucci_Fulbright_Portfolio_1_6.jpg Detroit Dreams Kate passes a hair salon on her way to the Senegalese-owned Family African Market on Seven Mile. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/538097e9e4b0fe1778d1864f/1601071187554-PA0N4H066831Z9XZ6H25/Santucci_Fulbright_Portfolio_1_7.jpg Detroit Dreams Kate and Pamela stock up on ripe plantains during their weekly shop at the Family African Market. "I'm here to buy stuff that I can't find in the big stores, like Walmart or Meijer. I'm used to buying my food [at Family African Market] because it reminds me of where I come from," Kate says before shopping. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/538097e9e4b0fe1778d1864f/1601071188369-92VMC1BPYGLY2EIVKIBE/Santucci_Fulbright_Portfolio_1_8.jpg Detroit Dreams Mamba and Nadia stand on Grand River Avenue after Mamba gave a presentation about small business ownership to community members on March 2, 2018. Mamba and Nadia were eventually granted asylum in April 2017, four years after Nadia applied. Less than six months later, they won a $50,000 grant to open Detroit’s first East African restaurant, Baobob Fare. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/538097e9e4b0fe1778d1864f/1601071192719-8JNDWDV5QU5DTD5ZC0HG/Santucci_Fulbright_Portfolio_1_9.jpg Detroit Dreams Mamba and Nadia pray with their East African friends from Freedom House in their bedroom in Grosse Pointe Park, Mich before breaking their fast during Ramadan. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/538097e9e4b0fe1778d1864f/1601071195414-98LTKHKUUE7K14YM7S9V/Santucci_Fulbright_Portfolio_1_10.jpg Detroit Dreams Kate blends up vegetables and spices at home to make Jollof rice for dinner. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/538097e9e4b0fe1778d1864f/1601071201801-NP0OHGG52SH3LPNKYIQD/Santucci_Fulbright_Portfolio_1_11.jpg Detroit Dreams Pamela marries her partner, Jordan, at their wedding in the backyard of his family home in New Baltimore, Mich. Pamela’s Congolese friends from Freedom House attended the ceremony, which was live-streamed for friends and family watching from Brazzaville. https://www.lauren-santucci.com/aboutme daily 0.75 2025-12-08 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/538097e9e4b0fe1778d1864f/2d60ef88-b1aa-40fa-b650-24b38ad4e14f/271646749_10227721818496656_5397517569626258132_n.jpg About Portrait by Madeleine Hordinski https://www.lauren-santucci.com/chesterhillohio daily 0.75 2024-07-23 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/538097e9e4b0fe1778d1864f/1588259501419-2Z1LKN5HZREK6QV9NL5F/Santucci_Chesterhill_001.jpg Chesterhill, Ohio A horse grazes on a small farm on the outskirts of the village. Chesterhill’s founders saw the potential to build a self-sufficient farming community, but few residents today generate enough income from farming to sustain themselves. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/538097e9e4b0fe1778d1864f/1620763103361-NHRHKT7TB3GIYK6Z6I3U/image-asset.jpeg Chesterhill, Ohio Rhonda Cook-Tabler stands in Kincaid Cave on Henman Lane, where freedom seekers on the Underground Railroad are known to have found temporary shelter. Rhonda is the president of the Multicultural Genealogical Center in Chesterhill, which opened in 2005 to celebrate the multiracial ancestry of the community. She traces her mixed race identity to her Black, white, and Native American ancestors in Virginia migrated to the area in the 1830s. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/538097e9e4b0fe1778d1864f/1588186564243-RL2EYAPU4GOCAALJ57BG/Santucci_Chesterhill_0017.jpg Chesterhill, Ohio The center of Chesterhill is quiet, with family homes that appear close together compared to the farmhouses on hilly backroads. The village’s small population of 270 has slowly diminished over generations as jobs, schools, and other community resources disappeared. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/538097e9e4b0fe1778d1864f/1588259495735-QXND7ESKGYOD9I0GWTFG/Santucci_Chesterhill_003.jpg Chesterhill, Ohio Wilma Dean Mayle raised her six kids in Chesterhill and has lived in Morgan County for the entire 90 years of life. When she was working as a housekeeper, she cleaned the house that she now lives in. When the owner passed away, the family wanted Wilma Dean to have the home and sold it to her for a reasonable price. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/538097e9e4b0fe1778d1864f/1588186553319-DR33UGLDII88K3X9HMQ6/Santucci_Chesterhill_0021.jpg Chesterhill, Ohio Chesterhill is surrounded by thick forests that are home to wild animals like coyotes, foxes, and deer. These forests have been extracted for their natural resources over the years – oil fields dotted this area during the oil boom in the 1890s and trees were cut down to produce charcoal. Now, the Amish use the wood from these trees on their sawmills to build furniture and tools. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/538097e9e4b0fe1778d1864f/1588259505727-7YFNGUAZQRWQ3E8IK272/Santucci_Chesterhill_005.jpg Chesterhill, Ohio Matt Dille and Charlie Seyerle take a break from four-wheeling on Chesterhill’s backroads on a Saturday night. Without a local bar and reliable cell phone and internet service, people decompress in the great outdoors. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/538097e9e4b0fe1778d1864f/1588188907711-EFKQFADD77D5Q20V5QE4/SANTUCCI_Chesterhill_0048.jpg Chesterhill, Ohio Away from the village’s center, farmhouses are interspersed with plots of land used to grow produce or raise livestock. While a sense of togetherness can be felt at church and other social gatherings in town, these pockets of Chesterhill can appear intensely isolated from the rest of the village. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/538097e9e4b0fe1778d1864f/1588186400969-BNVW4A3CRLDOY7JL22LF/SANTUCCI_Chesterhill_0062.jpg Chesterhill, Ohio Kaye Hatzer, Denise Tate, Sue Hill, and Lori Norman chat over coffee and pancakes at the Chesterhill Lions Club Breakfast. Once a month, a steady crowd of current and former residents come together to reconnect and exchange stories with their family and neighbors. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/538097e9e4b0fe1778d1864f/1588186374152-ZHG57AVKF27WR1W9ZTGE/SANTUCCI_Chesterhill_0055.jpg Chesterhill, Ohio Larry and Gary Rush laugh with Erica Mayle outside of a friend’s house on the village’s main street. When the weather warms up, locals meet on Chesterhill’s main street to enjoy each other’s company. Friends and family wave as they drive by or stop for a quick conversation on their way home from work. Those who grew up in Chesterhill can recognize almost everyone in town. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/538097e9e4b0fe1778d1864f/1588186332174-26KSDGTO6DVJDZCP4OC4/SANTUCCI_Chesterhill_0050.jpg Chesterhill, Ohio Born and raised in Chesterhill, Jeff Mayle has worked for the village as a handyman for the past 23 years. From landscaping to picking up leaves and garbage, he is often found going the extra mile to keep the streets and public buildings in good shape. “Everything is right here, I have all I need,” Jeff says. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/538097e9e4b0fe1778d1864f/1588186539396-00EGZB4R1F4ZBD4JUIP1/Santucci_Chesterhill_0034.jpg Chesterhill, Ohio Amish buggies travel down Goshen Run, a backroad where Amish farms are scattered among “English”, or not Amish, homes and farms. The Amish in Chesterhill belong to the “Old Order” as they follow a stricter set of religious guidelines that influence their way of life. These boundaries can be blurred, as many Amish families accept car rides or borrow cell phones to make calls to family and employers. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/538097e9e4b0fe1778d1864f/1620227654337-1CASUIAS8KXKBT2RL2PX/Santucci_Chesterhill_0019.jpg Chesterhill, Ohio The Amish community started in the 1980s when Amish families were drawn to Chesterhill’s cheap and available farmland. Amish men are known for being skilled farmers, carpenters, grave-diggers and ferriers. The women stay home to take care of the kids and household, but also sell quilts, baked goods and jams to “English” families and businesses. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/538097e9e4b0fe1778d1864f/1588186794484-H4S0736RSSDESCWHS7KE/Santucci_Chesterhill_0030.jpg Chesterhill, Ohio Joe Lowers loads blocks of wood into his truck from his Amish neighbor’s sawmill. Amish and “English” communities often exchange goods and services in Chesterhill. For example, Joe frequently drives Amish families into the nearest city, Athens, where they attend doctor’s appointments or shop at Walmart. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/538097e9e4b0fe1778d1864f/1588186546374-8NY7GFM0U2OZHSKPREWP/Santucci_Chesterhill_0026.jpg Chesterhill, Ohio Vickie Ball-Seiter kisses one of her horses, Popcorn, after feeding him. Vickie moved to Chesterhill in 2015 to fulfill her dream of starting a life-coach business where she uses horses to support her clients. “This is my church,” Vickie says about her small horse farm. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/538097e9e4b0fe1778d1864f/1588186392524-70WNY177DH7SE4QU4DB7/SANTUCCI_Chesterhill_0060.jpg Chesterhill, Ohio John Singree hauls water in a 400-gallon tank he fills once a week to have water for plumbing, washing dishes, and doing laundry at home. There is a filling station in the center of town where residents who are not connected to the village water system can fill their bottles or tanks. “It doesn’t bother me, I’m used to it,” John says. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/538097e9e4b0fe1778d1864f/1588186346307-6ARYGNZT073V676733NP/SANTUCCI_Chesterhill_0052.jpg Chesterhill, Ohio Lytayshia Thompson helps her mother, Althea Thompson, fill up her parents’ water tank with freshly hauled water. As Althea’s parents age, it has become more difficult for them to haul from the filling station. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/538097e9e4b0fe1778d1864f/1588186409494-MMM7OUMF0ULJIQGML9N6/SANTUCCI_Chesterhill_46.jpg Chesterhill, Ohio Charles Bobo works at a gas station in the village while wearing a Glock, three magazines and a knife on a tactical belt. With no municipal law enforcement in Chesterhill, some residents feel a responsibility to protect their property, family and the rest of the community. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/538097e9e4b0fe1778d1864f/1588186400731-SSUBZW4LKM38GZH97VUA/SANTUCCI_Chesterhill_0061.jpg Chesterhill, Ohio Joe Lowers washes carrots he grew in a small plot in his front yard. Joe grew up in the holler and inherited hundreds of acres of land when his father passed. “I won’t go nowhere else,” he says about his home. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/538097e9e4b0fe1778d1864f/1588186382794-JOM5ZVLIY2UUVI1JSVQX/SANTUCCI_Chesterhill_0057.jpg Chesterhill, Ohio Nancy Starling bakes dozens of homemade pies and cookies a week to sell to the only restaurant in town, the Triple Nickel Diner. Nancy opened a bakery inside her home after teaching herself how to bake from Betty Crocker recipes. She estimates that she has sold the Triple Nickel Diner over 3,000 pies since it opened in 2016. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/538097e9e4b0fe1778d1864f/1588259484976-3XTM069XTH4CXGGL7AMK/Santucci_Chesterhill_019.jpg Chesterhill, Ohio Johnny Singree is a recovering heroin and methamphetamine addict from Chesterhill who lives in a transitional home in Malta, Ohio. Every weekend, he comes back to the village to visit his parents on the horse farm he grew up on. Like other communities in southeastern Ohio, Chesterhill is burdened by the region’s drug epidemic. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/538097e9e4b0fe1778d1864f/1588186392233-GA5LZ7DBQLPD0XTB41NI/SANTUCCI_Chesterhill_0059.jpg Chesterhill, Ohio Despite economic challenges, residents have an entrepreneurial spirit that is evident in the swathe of small businesses located along the stretch of State Route 377 that runs through town. The highway is lined with family homes, as well as small businesses like a combined convenience store and auto shop, a funeral home and a restaurant. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/538097e9e4b0fe1778d1864f/1588186383003-96RCXIEC8JLZCX49YUQV/SANTUCCI_Chesterhill_0058.jpg Chesterhill, Ohio Kaila Peters helps her daughter, Autumn, get ready for the school bus to pick her up outside their home. School-aged kids are bussed out to Morgan County Local Schools since the village no longer has a school. As a mother raising three young children, Kaila worries about drug use and the lack of community spaces for families in Chesterhill. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/538097e9e4b0fe1778d1864f/1588186636834-O8ZN1NSH04MHG3GRTZS6/Santucci_Chesterhill_0010.jpg Chesterhill, Ohio Most of the parishioners at the United Methodist Church are older and are finding it difficult to engage the younger generation in the church. Traditionally, church was a place where older generations could exchange teachings and value systems to youth in the village. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/538097e9e4b0fe1778d1864f/1588186346687-1OG19JC1YZDC5ZRNJ7I6/SANTUCCI_Chesterhill_0051.jpg Chesterhill, Ohio The 100-year-old Union Hall Theater used to be a community space where people gathered to watch live music performances, plays, and movies. While there is interest to revitalize the community space, the theater is only used about once a year for a concert in the summer. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/538097e9e4b0fe1778d1864f/1588189913438-TXYHQJUSCSBJRW1JC3M2/SANTUCCI_Chesterhill_0053.jpg Chesterhill, Ohio Ryan Mayle burns brush to make way for a new driveway on a parcel of land he recently bought from an Amish family. Ryan has lived in Chesterhill his entire life and plans to stay. https://www.lauren-santucci.com/growinguppoor daily 0.75 2024-12-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/538097e9e4b0fe1778d1864f/1651602964453-6X4FVE3AMSB63R7GWTS9/Santucci_SHAWN_0279.jpeg Frontline PBS: Growing Up Poor in America https://www.lauren-santucci.com/birthplace daily 0.75 2024-12-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/538097e9e4b0fe1778d1864f/1588266879281-NS2FJEV6VTJEIGK9E8EX/Santucci_Midwife_02.jpg West Virginia PBS: Birth Place https://www.lauren-santucci.com/cinematography-cv daily 0.75 2026-02-11 https://www.lauren-santucci.com/zurawski-v-texas daily 0.75 2024-12-02 https://www.lauren-santucci.com/al-jazeera-mothers-fighting-against-gun-violence daily 0.75 2024-12-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/538097e9e4b0fe1778d1864f/1733160902890-IYPS3S68FJNN5XJD9HSH/Screenshot+2024-11-26+at+9.50.24+AM.png Al Jazeera: Mothers Fighting Against Gun Violence https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/538097e9e4b0fe1778d1864f/1733160907994-WCELSW0JR3OFB2MPYSY0/Screenshot+2024-11-26+at+9.58.35+AM.png Al Jazeera: Mothers Fighting Against Gun Violence https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/538097e9e4b0fe1778d1864f/1733160913042-2ZSE9V99OVQ01OW9TM2C/Screenshot+2024-11-26+at+10.01.10+AM.png Al Jazeera: Mothers Fighting Against Gun Violence https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/538097e9e4b0fe1778d1864f/1733160907199-6CJ1Z7TRNOEC710EW3N7/Screenshot+2024-11-26+at+9.55.21+AM.png Al Jazeera: Mothers Fighting Against Gun Violence https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/538097e9e4b0fe1778d1864f/1733160902890-IYPS3S68FJNN5XJD9HSH/Screenshot+2024-11-26+at+9.50.24+AM.png Al Jazeera: Mothers Fighting Against Gun Violence https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/538097e9e4b0fe1778d1864f/1733160902583-CTZXA0QNVNFODC09HGBZ/Screenshot+2024-11-26+at+9.49.23+AM.png Al Jazeera: Mothers Fighting Against Gun Violence https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/538097e9e4b0fe1778d1864f/1733160912138-RKU7YVNCNH87NA5S8JCY/Screenshot+2024-11-26+at+10.00.21+AM.png Al Jazeera: Mothers Fighting Against Gun Violence