Jan Willms

Jan counsels homeless youth during the week, and writes for the Messenger and Monitor after work and on weekends. “Writing can be a lonely career, but when you are writing for a community newspaper, it is anything but,” said Jan, who lives in St. Paul and used to own and operate a newspaper in Montana. “Every story you write brings at least one new person into your life, a new idea, a new mission. Each writing assignment brings with it different challenges, as well as experience and knowledge. Whether it is writing about an organization that is bringing a form of justice to the community, or an individual who is passionate about his or her cause, or an artist or writer or performer who shines a light on a particular topic, as a writer you collect some of that excitement when you hear your subject’s story. And it stays with you.”