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There are some areas of life where practical experience makes all the difference, such as nursing. Thanks to a $1 million federal award students at the Valparaiso University College of Nursing & Health Professions will see significant updates to the Simulation and Experiential Learning Centers they use for hands-on learning.

“What called you to service?” moderator Professor Robert Wichlinski asked a trio of public servants at the start of Valpo’s 2023 MLK Day Celebration. During the “Human Rights, The Ideal vs. Reality” focus session, featured panelists Valparaiso City Councilman Robert Cotton, Congressman Frank Mrvan and Portage Township Trustee Brendan Clancy spoke about their experiences. 

Valparaiso University is receiving $1 million from the federal government to upgrade the simulation and experiential learning centers at its College of Nursing and Health Professions.

That money is part of the Fiscal Year 2023 Omnibus Appropriations Bill that Congress passed in December. Valparaiso University credits Rep. Frank Mrvan, D-Highland, with securing the funding.

Hammond-area faith leaders and elected officials noted the work still left to be done to achieve Martin Luther King's dream.

"Who would've thought that in 2023, brothers and sisters, we'd still be talking about an attempted overthrow of the United States government that happened two years ago?" Pastor Regan Robinson of St. John Baptist Church in Gary asked during Hammond's annual Martin Luther King Day celebration Monday. "How did we get here? Nobody is supposed to be here. Who would've thought that in 2023, we'd have to remind white and Black folk that Black lives do matter?"

On the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the federal holiday for the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., it’s time to reignite the village values that King endorsed, the Rev. Regan Robinson said.

Borrowing from the song “Nobody’s Supposed to Be Here,” he asked, “What caused village values to be extinguished?”

The pastor at St. John Baptist Church in Gary, Robinson keynoted the annual King march and celebration Monday at the Hammond Civic Center.

The Valparaiso University College of Nursing and Health Professions will receive $1 million to update its Simulation and Experiential Learning Centers. The funding was made possible from federal appropriations secured by U.S. Representative Frank J. Mrvan, and is part of more than $20.5 million designated specifically for Northwest Indiana projects. This award will ensure that the next generation of health care professionals have the opportunities they need to provide their respective communities with exceptional care. 

Mayor Steve Spebar said the city has secured a $215,000 federal grant.

"That's going to provide an additional license plate reader," Spebar said. "We're planning on putting that at 119th (Street) and the (Indianapolis) Boulevard."

Tthe grant will also be used to install security cameras up and down 119th Street and near Whiting High School.

Spebar said Whiting Redevelopment Director Brian Lowry worked with the office of U.S. Rep. Frank J. Mrvan, D-Highland, to obtain the grant.