Dear President Obama,
I’m traveling the country collecting stories from people affected by the recession. It’s called The Man in a Van Project, and I’m letting Americans from all walks of life write down and document their recession stories. The final project will be on display and competing for Artprize, at the Grand Rapids Community Foundation in Grand Rapids, Michigan from September 23 through October 10, 2009.
I’ve heard from thousands of Americans that have experienced differences in their daily lives due to the recession. Some stories are good, while others are tragic. Some offer political anecdotes, while others stick to sharing a personal experience or life perspective. Some stories are even humorous, and others remind us about the value of family and our communities.
Mr. President, I am extending an invitation for you to participate in this American collaboration by writing your personal story of the recession on my van. How has the recession affected you? This is a chance for you to connect with Americans from all political persuasions in a creative and empathetic fashion. Your story will share the canvas with stories from teachers, nurses, real estate agents, the homeless, students, and many others. My hope is that these stories will act as a form of therapy for America so that we can move forward, in our own lives and as a country.
Please consider meeting with me to write your story. I also encourage you to invite your friends, family, associates, and political adversaries to join in this American expression. I want to hear from everyone, including you.
Sincerely,
Aaron Heideman
The Man in a Van Project
Did this actually go out to him, or is it just blogging?
I voted for him, and now find myself out of work. I don’t blame him for this, it took a good 8 years to create this mess. So point being, I’m interested to know what kind of a response you get, if any.
saw you at a rest stop in NJ today. wanted to write my story, but you weren’t in the van. loveee the idea behind the project!
Hi Aaron — Man in a Van. We should link up if you’re still in town (or just let me know how to find you). I’m in the midst of something similar …just in a smaller, less comfortable VW Golf ..parking in/around the DC area.
Please look me up. I did a Project: WE3K THRE3 and am about to embark on Project: WEEK N9NE if my situation doesn’t improve soon.
Please check my blog documentation out at http://www.ProjectWE3kTHRE.blogSpot.com …and let me know wht you think.
Thanks, and the best of luck to you,
Jonathan
…correction.
http://www.ProjectWE3KTHRE3.blogSpot.com
..& the best of luck to you. Hopefully you’ll win the competition!
Hey A-ron. This has been very interesting watching your project unfold. You’ve got two things for sure, grand ideas and guts( I admire both). This letter diffently shows that. I hope Obama will at least respond to you. Let me know what happens…
Hiya:
Pande here. It was great chatting with you @ the Vince Lombardi service area last night. I will be blogging about your project within the next few days, so I hope I can find a nice pic that I can use for the post. My collaborative personal finance blog can be found here:
http://www.debthelp.tv/personaldebt/blog.htm
I’ll send you a quick note when the post is up.
Hope you’re enjoying NYC. I’m sure you are meeting lots of very interesting people right now, and listening to many fascinating stories.
Stay cool. If I see you again, I have some more Red Bulls for you.
It takes courage and faith to step out into this world with a vision like your own and congratulations to you for making the commitment to see it through! I truly hope your own story is going to spread across the nation like wildfire-reminding we each have the power to help each other out! Even if it’s just being an “ear” to know we are not alone, there is much power in that.
Aaron, I believe in you on this journey because you are presenting a very important thing in a very important time…that we HAVE A VOICE…WE ARE VOTERS…OUR OPINIONS MATTER… WE ARE ALL SO DIFFERENT and have so many stories…WE HAVE UNMET NEEDS…Sometimes DECISIONS ARE MADE without always having APPROVAL of the PEOPLE. WE WANT TO BE HEARD…We may have different backgrounds and different political parties, but all in all I think we all mostly want the same things, we’re just not seeing what we want right now and it affects us all. I see the passion that so many people have about all of this and I hope that we can all support you in conveying this message by voting for this amazing piece of artwork, a display of the current times, someday to be a mark in history, it should be in a published book!
Thank you everyone. I really appreciate your support. I didn’t send the letter directly to President Obama, but I’m confident he might read it. I’m not trying to be political one way or another; it’s just that a lot of people around the country have begged me to show these stories to the president and also to Congress. Take care, y’all.
I heard that you were in Providence today and read your story in the local news paper. since I probably missed your van and get to write my story, I’m hoping you could write it for me:
“As my fathers first American born child, I wanted to graduate high school, go to college and get a degree in a field I love; something he couldn’t do in Dominican Republic. I’m happy to say that not only can’t I get a job to pay for school, but I can’t even get a loan. people with no jobs and fresh out of high school don’t get loans. I feel like I let him down”
I just missed you yesterday in Providence, RI. I work a few blocks away and wish I could have told you my story. I think what you are doing is amazing.
Hi Aaron,I was reading about your Project online tonight.I too lost my job over 2 years ago.I took what I knew and started my own business called EnviroCellular.I help Groups recycle cellphones as a way to raise funds.If youre able to collect unwanted cellphones from people and business along the way I would be glad to help you recycle them to raise money.My website is {DELETED BY ADMINISTRATOR. SORRY} Have a good evening.
Hey, my friend just forwarded me your article from the AP. My brother and I just drove through 50 states and filmed a documentary on the recession, after we got laid off from our jobs this past December. Our premiere is in SF, on 9/30. If you want to come out to that and promote your van, you’re totally welcome to join it, and get more stories. I think it’s important to capture these stories and share them. At this point, we have to rely on each other. It’s the only way.
Here’s our trailer: http://therecessends.com
Let me know if you need anything. We’re on our last straw financially here as well. Don’t worry, it will come. It always does!
Hi Aaron! I just now read about your Project. Good luck with it and I truly hope you win. God bless and Godspeed. I live in New Jersey, I’m sorry to have missed the opportunity to add something onto your Tyvek. God bless and God’s speed.
Go, VanMan!!
Caught your story here in New Zealand – best wishes! And even if you don’t win, I’m SURE there could be a publisher interested in a book. Imagine an inspirational book (maybe simply called “The Man In A Van”?) of ALL the written pieces on the van: a picture of a section on one page, the text on the facing page…maybe they could even get a researcher to track down some of these people for follow-ups. Just a thought…
Phil Braithwaite, Auckland, New Zealand
[ yardyyardyyardy.blogspot.com ]
hey this is gracie thank you. just keep traveling and be safe.
i think the recession has effected alot of people in different ways. the rich people have not really been affected i think. they still have theri money their nice cars and their big houses and most of them still have their jobs. then there is people like me who considered their self as middle class. we lose our jobs which caused us to be poor people. we had to move to a lower class neighbor hood. be on welfare which pays nothing i barely get by. i have to kids and a spouse and i struggle to get my bills paid. i barely have money to do laundry. then there are the poor people who were poor now they are homeless because what they did have is now gone.
Aaron,
We would like to talk to you on the nationally syndicated Mancow morning radio show.
Please contact us.
Thanks,
Diane