This is who we are. This is who Gary is.

Beverly Lewis lives in Gary, near the steel mill where her father once worked. Growing up, this felt like the norm: "if you had a job, you worked in the mill," and those jobs meant opportunity for families like hers, a home, the things they needed, and vacations.

But she knows that this comes with costs: "I worry about health for the residents and myself included, as well as our future generation, because of the impact of not just the steel mills, but BP and all other industries that dump in our area." Her message to the companies is simple, but sharp: "Clean up your act."

She believes Gary is on the rise, and to her, it starts with the people. After the recent disaster tore through the region, neighbors worshipped without power and churches turned their parking lots into cookouts, feeding not just themselves, but anyone in the community who needed it. "This is who we are," she says. "This is who Gary is."

Photo: Tony Pate