Business

Migrant children inspire Parkersburg native to say ‘Hello’ with book

PARKERSBURG -- Parkersburg native Michelle Angalet saw a situation where undocumented children were on the outside looking in on life and wanted to be seen, so she wrote a children's book on the subject.

"Hello, you!" is her attempt at showing how important it is for people to reach out to these children and help them get noticed and be a part of society.

Angalet said, "This book was inspired by hearing about undocumented children living in a particular community who described feeling invisible. Because their families lived in fear, the children were kept from engaging in the community in ways that other children might.

"As I began to write what I would want to say to them, I realized that while their situation is unique, there are lots of other children in the world who may feel invisible for other reasons," Angalet said. "So the audience is really any child who needs to hear that they are seen and heard."

She said that she came up with the title of the book because, "I love the greeting, 'Hello, you!' because it feels more personal and intentional than a simple 'Hello.' Since I wrote this book to help children feel seen and to encourage them to love who they are, 'Hello, you!' felt like a title that could begin to carry that message from the beginning."

The moral of the story, Angalet said, is to show that every person has worth just because of who they are.

"Whatever their age, whatever they have or don't have, whether they live with one or two parents or others who care for them, whatever their skin color, or whatever their hair and body look like, in the act of hearing the book read to them, or in reading it for themselves, children hear, 'I see you. I hear you. There is no one else quite like you,'" Angalet said.

She invites the reader to pay it forward by saying "Hello, you!" to someone who needs to hear it.

Angalet said Bree Stallings, the illustrator for the book, came up with illustrations that fit the message Angalet was trying to convey beautifully.

Her ability to capture expression felt to me like a great fit for bringing this project to life," Angalet said."

She also said, "When we were ready to start, I gave Bree the text and only one request for the illustrations -- that the children all look different so that lots of different children could see themselves in its pages. She drew on her own inspiration from the text to present a few ideas for us to review. Once we agreed on the look and feel of a few of the illustrations, she did the rest beautifully."

Angalet said that her experiences growing up in Parkersburg helped inspire her to write "hello, you!"

"My growing up years in Parkersburg were good ones. I was fortunate to have family and friends and teachers and a church -- a whole community -- that helped me grow up feeling confident that I was seen and that I had value as a human being," Angalet said.

In her job as chief operating officer at Inspiritus, a Georgia-based nonprofit organization, she said she does not have to go far to find the people she portrays in her book.

"They are people -- individuals and families -- who are here without documentation. And it can be especially hard on the children," she said.

She supports staff who work with children in foster care, adults with developmental and intellectual disabilities, people living in poverty, natural disaster survivors, and refugees and unaccompanied children, many who are survivors of trafficking.

"Many we support also lack this sense of community and belonging, and often live their lives from a very early age on the margins and feeling unseen. This book is my offering to children who need to hear that they are seen, they are loved, and that they matter," Angalet said.

She said she has written several more books that she hopes to get published.

Angalet graduated from Parkersburg South High School in 1984 and graduated from Marshall University in 1987 with a bachelor's in business administration.

She also has an MBA from The Citadel and a BSN from the Medical University of South Carolina. She lives in Woodstock, Ga.

In addition to her duties at Inspiritus, she also is a deacon with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and is a member of the congregation at the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church at Woodstock.

To learn more about Angalet, visit her website at michelleangalet.com.

Larry Launstein Jr. can be reached at llaunstein@newsandsentinel.com.