Bestselling author who inspired Netflix series, UW-Oshkosh students bring stories of food, housing struggles to life

A former resident of Tiny House Village, "Gigi," left, who now works as the resident liaison, shows UW-Oshkosh students Anna Koestler and Kendall Levy around the tiny house campus.

When University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh students set out this fall to document the challenges of food and housing insecurity in the Oshkosh community, they quickly discovered that behind every statistic is a story-and behind every story, a person striving for dignity, stability and hope.

Their work will be showcased in When the Ends Don't Meet, a public exhibition and talk exploring the realities of poverty in the Fox Valley.

The event takes place Thursday, Nov. 13, at the Culver Family Welcome Center on the UW-Oshkosh campus. The exhibit opens at 5 p.m., followed by a 6 p.m. keynote from bestselling author Stephanie Land, whose acclaimed memoir Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother's Will to Survivewas later adapted into the award-winning Netflix series Maid. The book chronicles her experience as a single mother persevering through poverty.

Sharing unseen stories

In Grace Lim's Telling Stories for Fun, Profit, and World Peace class at UW-Oshkosh, students use storytelling and community engagement to connect classroom learning with real-world issues. This semester, they partnered with Day by Day Shelter, the Oshkosh Area Community Pantry and the Tiny House Village to better understand how food and housing insecurity touch people's lives across the community.

Through interviews and photography, Lim's students captured stories that celebrate both the resilience of those facing food and housing insecurity and the commitment of the people who serve them.

"My students learned that meaningful storytelling starts with showing up and listening," said Lim, an instructor in the University Studies Program and founder of the Humans of Oshkosh Storytelling Project. "They saw that the people they interviewed aren't defined by hardship but by strength and humanity. Those lessons will stay with them long after the semester ends."

The When the Ends Don't Meet project, originally launched a decade ago as part of Lim's Humans of Oshkosh initiative, continues to bridge classroom learning and community storytelling. The project aims to amplify the voices of people often unseen or unheard in the Fox Valley.

When Logan Andrews, a sophomore majoring in data analytics and finance, visited Tiny House Village, he met Ashley Schneider, who shared her journey from experiencing homelessness at 13 to becoming a college graduate, and now helping others find stability. Schneider is now a community advocate at Tiny House Village.

"Visiting the Tiny House Village and meeting Ashley showed me how powerful a community can be in helping people rebuild their lives," Andrews said. "Hearing her story deepened my understanding of the challenges of homelessness and how stable housing can transform someone's future. It was inspiring to see the village offer not just shelter, but also hope, dignity and belonging."

Students in Amber Lusvardi's class, Sex, Power, and Policy, took a different approach. They explored how legislation and local government shape access to food and housing. Lusvardi, an associate professor of political science, guided her students as they interviewed elected officials and advocates to better understand how policy connects to the lived realities their peers were documenting.

Policy meets people

While Lim's students focused on personal narratives, Lusvardi's students examined how public policy can help-or sometimes hinder-efforts to reduce poverty. Lusvardi's students interviewed elected officials and community leaders, including Rep. Lori Palmeri, Sen. Kristin Dassler-Alfheim and County Executive Gordon Hintz.

"Being able to spend time with legislators and advocates talking about these very real local issues has given students in my class a sense of how politics and policy can shape people's lives in our community," Lusvardi said.

Sophomore political science major Lizzy Scharpf said the project gave her valuable insight into how government and community organizations work together to address local needs.

"Working with people in government and making an impact locally was a great experience," she said. ""As a resident of Oshkosh, working on this project was eye-opening toward a lot of issues our community faces."

A national voice on poverty and perseverance

Land, the evening keynote speaker, will offer a national perspective to deepen the local dialogue around poverty and resilience. Her most recent book, Class: A Memoir of Motherhood, Hunger, and Higher Education, continues her story as she fights her way through college while raising her daughter, offering a raw and hopeful look at persistence, inequality and the pursuit of opportunity.

A hands-on look at poverty

Adding an interactive learning element to the evening, Heidi Hansen, UWO nursing instructor along with eight nursing students, will lead a mini poverty simulation from 5 to 6 p.m.
The condensed version of the long-running simulation program conducted each year for senior nursing students, allows participants to experience the difficult decisions families in poverty must make-balancing limited income, transportation, childcare and housing while trying to meet daily needs. The exercise, a staple of UWO's nursing curriculum for more than 20 years, helps build empathy and understanding among students, professionals and community members.

Community impact

The event is coordinated in collaboration with the UWO Center for Civic and Community Engagement. Mike Lueder, the center's director, described When the Ends Don't Meet project/showcase as an "exceptional example" of how students can learn, engage and make a tangible difference when their coursework connects directly with community partners and local challenges.

"These students have done an excellent job outlining the issues and potential solutions to housing and food insecurity," Lueder said. "They brought together community partners, guests and clients of these agencies and local policy makers to explore the complexity of these two community problems."

The event is supported by the Speaker Series, the Center for Civic and Community Engagement, and the Whitburn Center, with additional partnership from the University Studies Program, the College of Nursing and Health Professions and STEM, and the School of Public Affairs and Global Engagement.

Event details

When the Ends Don't Meet
Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025
5 p.m. - Exhibition opening and poverty simulation
6 p.m. - Keynote by Stephanie Land, author of Maidand Class: A Memoir of Motherhood, Hunger, and Higher Education
Where: Culver Family Welcome Center, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh
Admission: Free and open to the public