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EXTRA by No Boundaries has been in redevelopment and it's back as a brand new weekly podcast called LIFTED by Rise Collaborative. LIFTED profiles the people and perspectives of an American community and is released September 6 2018. You will need to subscribe and listen to LIFTED separately from this podcast: all new episodes will be posted there from now on. Just search for 'LIFTED by Rise Collaborative' wherever you get your podcasts. Get ready for some brand new real-life stories!

For Michelle Roman, it started with a post-presidential election family conversation about politics, and before she knew it, her two sons had persuaded her to run for an elected position. This episode follows Michelle in her bid for alderman on Lockport’s common council, including how classes with Women Elect have helped with the process. Women Elect support women through political campaigns to promote an equal representation of women in political office. Michelle is an educator and life-long resident of Lockport, but she’s the new kid on the block when it comes to its political scene. We track her campaign through to the Democratic primary for Lockport’s 5th ward, where she is challenging the incumbent who is also running on the Democratic line. Will Michelle get one step closer to elected office? Or will her political inexperience hamper her chances?

Episode three tells the story of Diane, a member of Yogis in Service (YIS). YIS is a not-for-profit in Buffalo NY that aims to create connection by creating access to yoga. After being persuaded by her grandchildren to try yoga, Diane has been going to the free community yoga classes at the YIS studios for a number of years, and is now training to be an instructor with the group. Listen as we follow Diane on her teacher training journey, and hear why she feels that regular access to yoga is something that could empower more people and communities in Buffalo.

This episode tells the story of Pure Ink Poetry, a collective of spoken word poets based in and around Buffalo NY. Members of Pure Ink perform and compete in poetry slams from around August–March each year, hoping to collect enough points to compete in the final slam of the year: the Slamtastic Slam. A slam is the competitive art of performance poetry, and the Slamtastic Slam is Pure Ink’s equivalent of the Super Bowl. The top 5 winners will form a team that will represent Pure Ink at the National Slam finals in Denver CO. We follow three poets in their preparation for the Slamtastic Slam, and explore how the collective uses poetry to serve and create a community.

Listen to the story of Vietnam Veteran ‘Gunner’, the team captain of the Buffalo Sabres Sled Vets team – a sled hockey team made up of military veterans. Gunner’s namesake comes from his time in Vietnam from 1966-1969, where he spent most of his time operating the gun in Huey helicopters. Since his time in service, Gunner has lived with post-traumatic stress disorder – PTSD. In more recent years, he has joined the Sabres Sled Vets team – a program offered by the Veteran’s Affairs Center of Western New York - as just one way to help him to manage his symptoms. This episode tracks Gunner in preparation for (one of) his sled hockey team’s playoff games, culminating in a trip to Canada for the big game. How will the team fare? And how might sled hockey help Gunner manage symptoms of his PTSD?