What can happen when one person sees possibility in you before you can see it in yourself?

In this episode of The Story of Us, Jeff Ellison sits down with artist, author, educator, mentor, and speaker *Deremiah CPE for a deeply personal conversation about resilience, faith, creativity, mentorship, and the people who help shape who we become.

Deremiah’s story begins in the Chicago housing projects, where life was difficult but curiosity kept pulling him toward something larger. As a child, he raced toward the mobile library, eager to read and imagine what might exist beyond the world immediately around him.

His life would eventually take him through Alaska, Germany, Oklahoma, and back to Chicago. Along the way came racial prejudice, family disruption, homelessness, academic setbacks, faith struggles, and ...