>> Announcer: Up next on "Friends and Neighbors."

(gently upbeat music) (image swooshes) >> Molly: My goal is to create a place that showcases people's items so it's kind of similar to like a farmer's market, where we have different creators making different items.

There's probably about 15 different local creators and growers in the area that have their stuff in the shop, that's available for purchase.

(image swooshes) >> Sandra: I create memory items from your loved one's clothing, could be pillows, bears, quilts, and to be able to personalize everything with pictures and and favorite sayings and words and whatever they want on them, it's really pretty amazing.

(image swooshes) >> Rockland: I design everything myself.

When people come in here and they know me, they know this comes from my imagination, it comes from my heart.

I don't want a shirt just be a piece of fashion, I want to be part of who you are as a person.

Part of your personal statement and what you hold true and what you believe in.

(image swooshes) >> Jeff: Mr. Hamstra's, a developer, did a lot of real estate building, shopping centers.

In about 1960 to 1962, where we're sitting was a cornfield.

>> Presenter: Centier Bank is proud to serve hometown community banking across Indiana.

For over 128 years, Indiana's largest private family-owned bank has been not for sale and promises to keep it that way for years to come.

(chiming music) >> Presenter: Doing as much as you can, as quickly as you can, is important to me.

Life is short, and the earlier we get started helping our community, the better off our community will be.

(upbeat music) >> I have a very strong connection to other students.

Everyone makes an effort to help each other.

I remember the feeling of being here, the feeling that I was a part of a family.

(upbeat music ends) (gently upbeat music) >> Presenter: Ivy Tech offers more than 70 programs, with locations in Michigan City, LaPorte, and Valparaiso.

New classes start every few weeks.

Ivy Tech, higher education at the speed of life.

To get started, visit ivytech.edu.

(upbeat music) >> Presenter: The Crossroads Chamber is transforming Northwest Indiana's business landscape, one connection at a time.

Experience the power of networking within our diverse community and forge lasting relationships that can drive your business forward.

>> Announcer: Additional support for Lakeshore Public Media and local programming, is made possible by viewers like you.

Thank you.

(gently upbeat music) >> My goal is to create a place that showcases people's items, so it's kind of similar to like a farmer's market, where we have different creators making different items.

There's probably about 15 different local creators and growers in the area that have their stuff in the shop, that's available for purchase.

(gently upbeat music) When you go to a place and you just feel good about buying something, and you have this like, coffee in your hand that's like this local coffee, and you're looking at all these people who are selling items, and you get to see the face of the person, I just think there's like something almost magic about that.

And it's kind of something I think, that gets lost with a lot of these big stores, is you don't get to see the hands behind the product, and I wanted to bring that here.

So when I opened the store, my emphasis was like, letting people know where the products come from.

So somebody's looking at like, a planter or a pot, we can say, "oh my gosh, that's Jim, and he does this and here's some pictures of how he makes this," to kind of connect the story and the purchase together to create experience that like, just brings joy.

I think, people often get really intimidated by plants.

And I hear so often, even from my friend groups, that they're like, "I just kill plants," which is most people actually, you would be so surprised in how many people lack the confidence that they can keep a plant alive.

But the truth is I don't think people are always set up for success when buying a plant.

So it's a matter of finding a plant that fits the lifestyle or fits your space, because you go to a store and you just grab a plant you have no information on and take it to your patio and that thing dies.

You think it's yourself, you're the one who did it.

But in reality is, is it was designed to be in a rainforest and you wouldn't have known that.

So with the plants we sell, the goal is to give as much information as possible.

We put identification cards that tell you exactly what the plant name is, if it needs fertilizer, talks about repotting, the sunlight, to just make it super simple for anyone coming in.

Everyone who is here has information on plants so we can help hear what the person's looking for and match them to a plant so that they're not taking a plant home and feeling like they're always killing it.

We carry things that kind of go along with plants.

So we have plant care items, we have really incredible like, locally made pots, trying to let you kind of, and honestly, it all ties in together.

If you think of it as like a gift, if you walk in, you can, everything is designed to be something that's like, can be used yourself or given, and have items that go along with it.

(upbeat music) This is, it really is a community based store, emphasis on just instead of buying things from all over, it's just buying things that are local and then it just kind of goes back into the community.

So it's, yeah, it's like a cycle.

I believe, when you purchase something from somebody locally, it goes back into supporting the community.

When we decided we were gonna open the store, we wanted a name that was creative, and something that stuck with people, and I tossed names around forever.

And my goal was to do something that just was unique to me, I wanted to just have a little bit of like a, what does that mean?

And I started thinking about what I like, and I love playing my bagpipes.

So I am in a Scottish band, in Chicago, and I play with them and we compete and it's really awesome.

(bagpipe music) I also come from a family of pipers, so my dad is also a piper.

So the Scottish heritage, and me playing the bagpipes is a huge part of who I am.

So I thought, why don't I just kill two birds with one stone and tell people that I love pipes and plants.

And when people ask me, it's also a chance to talk about piping, which is also a dying art so.

(bagpipe music continues) I play on my porch all the time.

I love to entertain people that stop at the stop sign in front of my house.

So right now, I practice my competition set on my porch, daily.

So if anyone ever wants to come get a plant and then listen to some pipes, just drive down the street.

And then sometimes, when I'm in here working, I actually practice my practice chanter so I have like, a chanter that I play and I'll practice while people are kind of in and out of the shop.

Actually, sometimes I come up to the square and just play for fun, just creating this mystery about who is this girl in overalls playing the bagpipes?

It's the girl who has the plant shop.

(bagpipe music continues) (image swooshes) (gentle music) >> I create memory items from your loved one's clothing, could be pillows, bears, quilts.

I tend to sit around and ask a lot of questions, kind of like interview the person because I wanna know who I'm doing something for.

I wanna know what their life meant to them, it's more personal.

And I think, once somebody understands the personal touch, it's more of a gift.

It's more of something that will bring comfort to them.

(gentle music continues) We had a very dear couple at my church that I just loved, I idolized them as almost like my parents.

And he went away hunting and his son came that evening and found him, that he had passed away.

So upon helping my best friend pack up the things from her home, I found a bag in the garage that was a few of his items left over.

And she kept saying she wanted a hug, all she wanted was a hug from Jake.

So that's where the name came from, Hug From Heaven.

And I proceeded to take those items and make it into my very first Hug From Heaven.

She cried, and the first thing she said was, "How could you?"

And I thought, oh my god, I hurt her feelings.

And she said, "No, the quite the opposite," she said, "it was just what I needed."

They generally send me the items.

I'll take the items and then I'll proceed to go ahead and lay out the pattern and kind of feel what needs to go where, and then I'll go ahead and cut things out.

Once I have everything cut out, then I'll start the process of sewing.

And after they all come together, I know that it's time to, they're all good.

And to be able to personalize everything with pictures and favorite sayings and words and whatever they want on them, it's really pretty amazing.

I put ashes in teddy bears, I put a dollar bill in everybody's pocket, that's what somebody wanted because that's what their grandpa did.

You know, just personalizing it for the people I think, it's one of the biggest things for me.

(gentle upbeat music continues) I have a girl out in Las Vegas, that I've done a lot of work for.

She was actually shot during the Las Vegas shooting, and her grandfather had passed away before that.

And she sent me the stuff for her grandfather's clothes, and the shirt that she got shot in.

Well, I took her grandpa's clothes, because some of the holes in her shirt were hearts.

So I put her grandpa's shirt behind those hearts to let her know that he was watching over her.

There is something in us that nobody else can comfort, and when you can hold something from that loved one, and I think that that's just a big part of it for me, you know?

Whatever I can do to bring somebody some kind of comfort in this crazy world, is good.

My husband's been gone about 10 years, and if anything, I can honestly say that that probably boosted it.

Because I looked from the outside, but once my husband passed away, I was able to look from the inside of me, and be able to feel that comfort.

One of the best things I wanted was his coat, his jacket.

He wore like, these plaid shirts around, and putting that on just, it was like just this big, just giant hug.

I could smell him, I could feel his embrace, I could remember.

I made them for all my grandkids and when I saw my grandson, he said, it smells like big pa, I can smell him.

I could smell his garage, you know?

And I think that that's the comfort that the Hugs From Heaven really gives, in an essence.

(gentle music continues) I just feel like this is something I'm supposed to do, it's something that the Lord wants me to do.

It's like a gift, you know?

Not a lot of people can sit around and make stuff out of dead people's clothes, it's a gift.

And I've finally accepted it as that and done my best to work with it.

There is times when it's heavy.

When I've learned about the way somebody passed away, it just, it affects me personally too.

So I think that's what makes a difference in the business, or I don't even call it a business 'cause it's my passion.

And when I'm able to do that, and it's like, I'm not gonna finish your bear in two weeks 'cause this is heavy on me.

And they love that I can take the time to understand what they go through and, you know, just think it's more precious that way.

(gentle music continues) I feel blessed.

I feel not only blessed, but I feel honored that I was chosen to be able to be a part of that person's comfort.

(gentle music continues) (image swooshes) (gentle music) >> Mr. Hamstra's a developer, did a lot of real estate, building, shopping centers, and every other thing.

And about 1960 to 1962, where we're sitting was a cornfield.

And from that passion he started building, and now, we're to where we're at now.

In 1992 is when I came on board, 30 years ago.

And it's evolved from there.

He was a builder by trade, and this was just a sideline passion and hobby.

Some people got show cars, he had a garden, and he just kept maintaining and building it.

(gentle music continues) As it started evolving and people started seeing the beauty and stuff, there's photo shoots are all the time anymore.

A lot of people do photo shoots out here, prom, weekends, you know, there's you know, proms from Valpo, Crown Point, all of them seem to make their way down here anymore, all the local ones within an hour.

(gentle music continues) There's a lot more than meets the eye.

It's very, very highly maintained, we're real particular on detail, right down to little weeds in cracks to bricks being perfectly set.

As you can tell, when you walk around here, everybody, it's always very neat and tidy.

With landscaping, you're always evolving, but it's a maintenance job but a lot, just keeping up what we got now.

But structures, you're always doing remodeling, construction stuff, you're always redoing pavers.

You're redoing beds, transplanting plants, replanting plants, you know, it's never ending.

A lot of people say, "so what do you guys do, just mow?"

And that's basically hardly a drop in the bucket of what we do.

(gentle music continues) >> I rarely, rarely come out here without a clippers and a saw in my hands.

Because if I see something that needs attention, I can do it right there.

And it gives me a form of exercise and also I keep my body busy, and I just enjoy doing that.

And it's something I love, it's a love for it.

I like to do it, I'm out here not working, I'm out here playing.

It's just seeing people enjoy it and travel far to get here, and it just gives me a great pleasure and joy to share it with other people and let them enjoy it.

And it would be not fair if we're not, that they hoard it to themself and not share it with a community in the surrounding area.

It's something, this is my hobby, my life, and it is my way of getting away from with the work and everything and so on.

And I you know, come out here and just relax and enjoy playing with the plants what I like to do.

It's not a job for me, it's pleasure.

And yeah, I do it for the joy I get out of keeping it up and making it look nice and so I can share it with other people.

(gentle music continues) >> Jeff: You know, as anything you know, you be, you know, after 30 years, sometimes you can get to where when visitors are here, you start seeing it through their eyes, and it gets new again.

You work and you actually forget to stop and see the beauty at times, 'cause you're so busy and you from one thing to the next.

So sometimes it's nice when you do show somebody, especially somebody that's never been here, I guess, it makes you feel good to show it off a little bit at times, you know?

To have people, and especially the people that really actually know what goes into having something like this.

(image swooshes) (upbeat music) >> I started RockaBlock in 2017, out of the basement of my house, mainly as a way to compensate for being extremely bored at my job.

Started buying equipment, started making shirts outta my basement, and I was just getting everything ready for the 2020 festival season.

But then we all know what happened, the pandemic hit.

And I was like, what am I gonna do?

I just spent, you know, a few thousand dollars on this equipment and all of a sudden everything dried up.

But then outta nowhere, I started getting orders from all over the country.

I still had a full-time job, and so a few months later we opened up the RockaBlock shop in Merrillville.

When the pandemic started, they cut me down from 40 hours a week to 14.

It was scary, nobody knew what was gonna go on or what was gonna happen.

When my job sent us all home, that helped make the transition a little bit easier.

I had no choice but to, you know, sink or swim and make this thing work.

(upbeat music) So one of the things I really try to do is just make myself stand out as much as possible.

I don't wanna rehash, redo, rework.

I find that is part of the appeal of what I do, finding a new way to create something that's already been done, and really use it to enhance my brand.

So I'm just really hoping to grow the brand to even grow beyond T-shirts.

I learned to ask questions to really enhance my designs, not to just slap something on there just to you know, make a buck.

I really want to connect with my audience because what I put on my shirts is part of me.

My slogan is Inspiring Shirts for Inspired People.

So whatever it is I make, I wanna inspire someone.

So whether it is something funny or something serious, I want to connect with my audience on some sort of emotional level.

I learned to ask questions on how will this be viewed?

Me, as a Black man, can view this certain scenario in a different way versus someone who's you know, white or Hispanic or Asian.

There's certain nuances that, you know, my community gets, that to someone outside that community might, you know, question it or be puzzled like, what is that?

Or I don't get it, or am I allowed to wear this shirt?

And so I feel that I have to, you know, answer certain questions like, it's okay to wear this shirt, it's okay to represent this brand, but this is what this represents, highlighting the Black experience.

And you don't necessarily have to be Black to appreciate Black culture.

There are other shirts that I have in here that, you know, highlight being a father, highlight having a beard, or even having gray hair.

So there are certain things that are common ground no matter what race you are.

(upbeat music) I make everything in here, I design everything myself.

When people come in here, they see the stuff around here and they know me, they know this comes from my imagination, it comes from my heart.

It's a duality to it, to stay true to myself and stay true to my community.

The Freedom Fighter shirt, I wanted to create a shirt that made people ask those questions, like, who are they?

So I purposefully picked well-known people and I've picked some people that weren't quite as well known outside the black community.

This shirt has been a conversation starter for a lot of people.

And they say, "oh, I love that design, I love that shirt, where'd you get that shirt from?"

Or "Who are these people, can you tell me about it?"

I don't want a shirt just be a piece of fashion, I want it to be part of who you are as a person, part of your personal statement and what you hold true and what you believe in.

It took me years to find out what I'm meant to do.

And contrary to popular belief, T-shirts is not my passion, telling stories and making art my passion, and T-shirts just happen to be the canvas that I work on.

My work can potentially go all over the world.

So wherever someone's wearing a Freedom Fighter shirt or a nappy beard shirt, or whether they're in China, Gary, Indianapolis, you know, Jamaica, wherever, RockaBlock is going with them.

In a few years I'd love to see RockaBlock as national brand.

We've already shipped to over 30 states, had our first international order to Canada, a few weeks ago, which I thought was pretty cool.

I would just love to just see RockaBlock shirts everywhere.

And we'll see what Northwest Indiana has in store for me, I mean, the region's been really good to me.

I am a Indiana native, and this is my home, I wanna represent it.

So eventually maybe there would be a Chicago store or a you know, New York location or a California location, who knows?

At this point, two years ago, I didn't think I'd be here right now in my own store.

I thought I'd still make shirts outta my basement as a hobby.

So the vision for RockaBlock is forever changing, I am just trying to keep things as open as possible and you know, be willing to adapt to whatever changes have happened.

'Cause as the pandemic has taught us, you know, anything can change overnight.

And then I still have a family to take care of, so I do it for my daughter, do it for my wife.

You know, one day, you know, they could look at me and say, wow, Rockland really did something with his life.

Just the timing of everything just really worked out for me to really dig deep, find out who I really am and what I can really do.

My job offered me my full hours back, and my benefits, so basically, be the end of RockaBlock.

And at that moment I said, you know what?

I've accomplished more in the last 18 months than I have in the last six years at that job, I'm gonna bet on me.

(upbeat music) >> Presenter: Centier Bank is proud to serve hometown community banking across Indiana.

For over 128 years, Indiana's largest private family-owned bank has been not for sale and promises to keep it that way for years to come.

>> Presenter: Doing as much as you can, as quickly as you can is important to me.

Life is short and the earlier we get started helping our community, the better off our community will be.

>> Almost every single professor I've had, I'm on a first name basis.

By building that relationship with faculty, I was able to get involved with research.

It's one thing to read about an idea in a book, versus physically doing it and seeing the results.

>> Presenter: Ivy Tech offers more than 70 programs with locations in Michigan City, LaPorte, and Valparaiso.

New classes start every few weeks.

Ivy Tech, higher education at the speed of life.

To get started, visit ivytech.edu.

>> Presenter: The Crossroads Chamber is transforming Northwest Indiana's business landscape, one connection at a time.

Experience the power of networking within our diverse community and forge lasting relationships that can drive your business forward.

>> Announcer: Additional support for Lakeshore Public Media and local programming, is made possible by viewers like you.

Thank you.

(gently upbeat music) >> Announcer: Did you know that you can find all of your favorite Lakeshore PBS shows online?

By visiting video.lakeshorePBS.org, you can stream a large selection of shows, including "Eye On The Arts," "In Studio," and "Friends and Neighbors."

Lakeshore PBS has taken great care to bring you the best in local content.

Not sure how to find local content?

Click on Shows and sort by Only Lakeshore PBS Shows.

Not only will you find local content on Lakeshore PBS, but you can also stream live TV right to your computer.

Click on Live TV, and get instant access to Lakeshore PBS Live, wherever you are.

Lakeshore PBS is full of wonderful content created just for you.

Missed the last night's episode?

No problem, Lakeshore PBS has got you covered.

Search for your show and find your episode, ready to watch anytime.

Visit video.LakeshorePBS.org to stream your favorite local shows.

(gently upbeat chiming music) (gentle music)