Some people find their voice and use it to express themselves. Other people find their voice and use it to make more room for everyone else.

Andru Defeye does both.

In our latest episode of Portraits of Another Life, we spend time with Andru, a poet, organizer, former Poet Laureate, and one of those rare people whose work is inseparable from the community around him. His poetry matters, of course. But what feels especially powerful about his story is that the poems are not the endpoint. They are the beginning of something larger: a life devoted to making people feel seen, included, and connected.

The fuller story of how he got there makes that feel even more moving.