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Hope Farm 1 - Helping Other People Excel · Welcome Home. Here, Us, Now.

• 0:02
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome home, Hear Us Now, a podcast of the Union Gospel Mission of Tarrant County, a space for all of us seeking what's real and sacred in a world that rushes past the soul.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_01: I'm Eric Englman, a volunteer at UGMTC, and your co-host, President and CEO of UGMTC Charles Wolford.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_01: This is the first of two episodes about Hope Farm, an after-school program for some kids in Fort Worth with no father in the home.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_01: In these episodes, Charles Wolford and I interview Satcher Dawson, currently the executive director of Hope Farm.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_01: Hi, this is Eric Engelman.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_01: I am in the studio, and so is Dr.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_01: Charles Wolford.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_02: Eric, so good to see you, my friend and brother.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_02: We are so excited.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_02: Today we get a chance to meet one of our amazing community leaders, Mr.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_02: Satcher Dawson.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_02: Good to see you, sir.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_02: Good to see you, Mr.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_02: Wolfridge.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks for having me.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_02: It's so good to see you now.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_02: Eric, what you may not know is uh we go back a long way, friendship, partnership, and ministry.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_02: And so we're grateful to have you here uh and just to be able to share, but specifically to talk about Hope Farm and what God is doing to use you in that space to be able to share.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_02: But before we do that, I want to just take a moment uh to acknowledge uh yesterday we celebrated Memorial Day, and we want to have a moment of silence just to be able to commemorate and thank God for the legacy and the lives served and those who lost their lives in battle to give us what we call freedom.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_02: So if we could, let's just have a moment of silence in recognition of that.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_02: Amen.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_02: God bless you.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_02: And again, so let's talk a little bit about uh Hope Farm and the amazing things that have happened.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_02: So give us an introduction to Hope Farm and then we'll back into that.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_02: I want to hear everybody to hear about your journey to get to Hope Farm.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_02: But let's start with the legacy of Hope Farm and what it is to the community of Fort Worth.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, thank you, uh Brother Walfert.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: That's a great lead-in.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_00: Um and thank you for the acknowledgement of Memorial Day.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: One of our co-founders was a um military serviceman.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: Is that right?
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, he spent 20 plus years in the Air Force.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: Wow.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um, Mr.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: Crawford, who is going on um to live with Jesus now.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: But um, yeah, he he was uh um a military uh service, and he's buried out at the uh National Cemetery um as well.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_02: Well we uh we acknowledge and tilt our hat to Brother Crawford and his legacy and leadership.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_02: God bless him.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: And so Hope Farm was founded by two co-founders, both of them were law enforcement officers.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: And so by being in law enforcement, they saw a lot of the young African American males being incarcerated and reincarcerated over and over.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: And so, and then they took it a step further.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: They went out and they visited a prison in Amarillo, Texas, okay, and sat with some of the inmates and talked to them.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_00: And um, and then they found an interesting stat there that 80% of the inmates that was in there were uh people of color.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_00: And all of them came from uh homes with no fathers.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: Wow.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: And so that God put it upon their heart to do something about the fatherlessness.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: He couldn't do anything about the ones that was already in prison.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: So they started Hope Farm.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and Hope Farm is an after-school leadership development program for boys specifically with no fathers in the home.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, okay.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: And the single moms.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: And our sweet spot, we bring the boys in between the ages of five to eight years old.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: Wow.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: Because it's so much easier to prepare a kid than the repair.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_02: So let's let's let's pause there.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_02: So your sweet spot is is ages five to what, eight?
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_02: To eight years old.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_02: And so is that literature that you found that particular that aggregate and that age group is is is a preventative age group that we should start at?
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: It is.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_00: And and two things.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_00: We do it for two reasons.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_00: One is for that in their formative years, yeah, it's a lot more easier for them because they are sponges at that particular time.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_00: So that's the foundation.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_02: So by by the time of 910, some of that formation has already happened, and it's hard to course correct that.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_02: It is.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_02: Man, that is amazing.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_02: That that you all start so early because we, you know, as you said, uh, we have a lot of young men and women that are out in community in various neighborhoods, uh, that once they get at a certain age, it's hard to course correct some of those bad habits and traits that they have developed.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: You know, and and sad to say, by the time a kid is ten to twelve years old, you can't turn them.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_00: It's too hard.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, we've had um young men to tell us, you know, they at 14 years old, they were lieutenants running apartment complexes, you know, in the gang system.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, wow.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah by the age 14.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: By the age 14.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_00: And so we've had teachers and and um principals and guidance counselors come and tell us that, hey, at three o'clock in the afternoon, uh-huh, the drug dealers and the gang members are lined up on the perimeter of the campus.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_00: And they're recruiting third and fourth graders as they walk off.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: Wow.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: And so that's how prevalent the problem is.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, wow.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_00: And secondly, the reason why we do it here in the state of Texas, depending on how many students fail the third grade reading literacy test determines how many prison beds they build later because they say if you don't learn how to read by third or fourth grade, you're probably not gonna learn how to read.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_02: That's crazy.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_00: And if you don't learn how to read, you're probably not gonna graduate from high school.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_00: Wow.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_00: If you don't graduate from high school, you're not gonna get a good job.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_00: And nine times out of ten, you're gonna end up on the wrong side of the law trying to make fast money.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_02: So, so think so as we think through this, so the age so third grader, I mean, uh a third grader is about eight years old, is that correct?
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_02: Correct.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_02: That's right.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_02: So then you all are helping correct this, what is called the prison pipeline.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_02: Correct.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_02: Wow, so that's your second fundamental task in the past.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so what we do is we go to the schools, the kids who go to our program within a five-mile radius, we go to the schools and pick them up in the afternoon.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_00: And then we bring them back to our facilities and we start our structured program, which consists of Bible study, reading literacy lab, help with homework slash tutoring, rec, and then at 5 30 each afternoon we provide dinner because 98% of the kids in our program are from low-income families.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_00: They get free breakfast at school, they get free lunch at school, but some of the kids don't get a meal when they get home at night.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_00: So we provide dinner so no one has to go to bed hungry.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_01: And and they learn better if there's something in their blood.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_00: You can't teach a kid math, sign, spelling, or nothing if he doesn't know where his next meal is coming from.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_02: Keep it going.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_02: I'm I'm intrigued already.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_02: So, so so so the name Hope Farm, where did that come from?
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_02: Because that that that has to have some significance as well.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_00: It does.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_00: So, so so it's twofold.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_00: So HOPE is an acronym.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_00: It stands for helping other people excel.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_00: Helping other people excel.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_00: Correct.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: And then the farm is that we sow seeds and we cultivate young minds.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_00: Wow.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_00: And that's how they put it together to be Hope Farm.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_00: I love it.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I love it.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_02: And so has it always been called Hope Farm?
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_02: It has.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_02: From the beginning.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, from the very beginning.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_02: That was.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_02: And so where is this amazing facility?
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_02: We we know that uh you have some presence uh in our neighborhood, and we are here at Fort Worth.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_02: Where exactly uh is your home base?
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so our home base is um the address is 865 East Ramsey Avenue.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_00: 865 East Ramsey Avenue.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_02: Avenue.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_02: From door to door, because we're neighbors, so you're not far.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_02: So about how far is it from here?
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_02: Maybe about five to one mile.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_00: One mile from here.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_00: One mile from here.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_00: And so and and you can see our sign very vividly off of I-35 and Barrie if you go in north.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_00: So from here you would get off on Barrie, uh, cut over.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_00: Is it Morningside?
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_00: Morningside.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_00: It's called the Morningside Community.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_00: We're right next right down the hill from Morningside Elementary School.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, okay, right by Morningside.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_02: So for our listeners, if you want to visit Hope Farm, so you would get off on 35 and Barrie, make that left right there on Morningside, is that correct?
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_02: That is correct.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, and then you would be right at Hope Farm.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, give that address again.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_00: It's 865 East Ramsey Avenue.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, good, good.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_00: It used to be Atlanta Street.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, okay.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_00: And then but Atlanta cuts up and picks back up on the other side of the freeway.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_00: Atlanta Street.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_00: So we're we're Ramsey now.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_00: And so Hope Farm started with, man, two old crack houses.
• 9:10
  unknown: Really?
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_00: Two abandoned crack houses.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_00: And and the people laughed at them.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: They said the grass was taller than the house when they bought it, man.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_00: But, you know, God had a plan.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_00: And he provided them with volunteers, and people went out there and they cut the limbs and the trees and mowed the yard and painted the yard.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_00: And and believe it or not, man, um, with nothing but the Lord, they were able to get a$100,000 grant with two pieces of paper, basically, that was submitted.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_00: Wow.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_02: And so so so these crack houses that they purchased was were were they at the same location where you're that's what that's the two yeah, that was the main location where we are now.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: Of course, we've evolved into a whole campus now.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_00: It's got a family life center, gym, uh, uh administration building.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_00: Then we just finished a vocational center and um and a uh mother's resource uh um reserve.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_00: We got the whole block there now.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_02: Uh look at it.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_02: So from two crack houses, and you have all of that.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_00: All of that.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_00: And then our second location is in what we call the Como community.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_00: And and that address is 5532 Shiloh Drive.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_00: 5532 Shiloh.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's at the corner of Horns and Vickery.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_00: And so, as you know, so let me just tell you a little bit about the zip codes those was in.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_00: So the Morningside um location is in the 76104 zip code.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_00: Star Telegram has already done the research on it.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_00: 76104 has the lowest life expectancy in the whole state of Texas.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_00: Come on now.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_00: By 12 years.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_00: The average life expectancy in Texas is 78, and that zip code is 66.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_02: Oh my goodness.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_00: Because health desert, food desert, educational desert, gang activity, you know, so yeah, a lot of young people dying in that particular uh zip code.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_00: The one in uh Como, 76107, right?
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_00: It has a crime rate 20% higher than the national crime rate.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_02: In Como?
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_00: In Como.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_02: Wow.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_02: So then you have stationed Hope Farm to provide hope in these communities.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_02: The two highest incidents of mortality as well as drug rate in these two neighborhoods.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_00: That is correct.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, your f so your footprint and your impact is very strategic, uh, but very it seemed to be very God-centered as far as what you all have done.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_00: Hope Farm is faith-based.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_02: And talk to us a little bit about that.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_00: So, yeah, so it's it's it's founded on the Luke 252 verse.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_00: You know, like God grew in wisdom, grew in stature, in favor of man, in favor of God.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_00: Wow.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_00: And so that's what we want our young men to do as they come through our program.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_00: They start out, they're very young, right?
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_00: They grow in wisdom.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_00: And so we have a four-pillar approach.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_00: We call it read, feed, parent, and empower.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_00: Read, feed, parent, and empower.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_00: That is correct.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_00: So, and and let me and and as I as I said before, you know, reading is so important, right?
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_00: Because of the third grade reading literacy task for one.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_00: And and and secondly, you know, if you can read, you can lead.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, sir.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_00: And so it opens up all the other doors.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_00: You can go all over the world and never leave your bedroom if you can read.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, sir.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_00: And so that's a vital part of what we do.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_00: So our our rotations consist of Bible study.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_00: And so, how can you have Bible study if you can't read?
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, sir.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_00: So all of that kind of ties in.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_00: And then we have um help with homework and tutoring.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_00: And then we have rec.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_00: And then at 5:30 each afternoon, we provide dinner because 98% of our kids are from low-income families.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, sir.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_00: They get free breakfast at school, they get free lunch at school, but some kids don't get a meal when they get home.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_02: Wow.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_00: So we provide dinner so no one has to go to bed hungry.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_00: And and and so our whole goal is with these, with the single mom, and we'll talk about the parent later on, is that by the time she picks them up at 6 p.m.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_00: or 7 p.m.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_00: at night, she can just give them a hug and a bath and put them in the bed.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_00: We've helped them with homework, we've prayed with them, we've fed them, and they've got some activity in.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_00: And those mothers probably love you all.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_00: Hey, man.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_02: Probably wear them out too.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_02: They're tired by the time they get home.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_00: So our second uh is feed.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, sir.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_00: It really is feed.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_00: So again, as we say, you know, nobody goes to bed hungry, but we don't just feed them nutritionally.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_00: We feed them spiritually, mind, body, and soul.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_00: Every day they got Bible study.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_00: We use the Iwana curriculum.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, do you?
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_00: Everything I learned from Liz Canning, we bring it home.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_02: So Eric just perked up a little bit.
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_02: He probably knows a little bit about the Iwana uh curriculum a little bit, huh?
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_01: I I've heard the name.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_01: I'm trying to remember it.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_01: Uh but uh but I've I've known a lot of uh faithful young kids who have been in Iwana and uh there there's a there's a character about it.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_00: It's a character about it, it's very age-appropriate biblical aspects and philosophy as you go along, right?
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_00: For the younger kids, there's a lot of pictures and Bible story, and as they get older, you know, they get into the word.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_00: They're really big in Bible verses.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_00: That's the key thing, right?
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_00: Because in this world, when Satan attacks you, you have to be equipped with the right verses and the scriptures to be able to fight.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_00: And so our third pillar is parent.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_00: So it took us about 15 years to figure out that you can pour into these boys and you can pour into these boys.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_00: Man, but unless you pour into the moms, your message is just getting lost at home.
• 15:27
  unknown: Wow.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_00: And so now when the boys join, the single moms have to join as well.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_00: So you bring the mother along with the perennial.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's a holistic family approach now.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_00: So they have to meet once a month, second Tuesday of every month.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_00: Um, they have to do 10 hours of volunteer work every uh semester.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_00: So they're on campus.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_00: They know what's happening, they're going on.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_00: They have to go through a program, we call it Parent University.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_00: So Parent University gives them parenting tips, gives them spiritual tips, it gives them mental health, mental wellness tips, and they have to have action plans as well.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_00: And then on those meetings night, the second Tuesday of every month, we bring in speakers, um, professional development seminars based on conversations that we had with them.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_00: Here are the things that we need.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_00: Some of it is financial literacy, some of it is resume writing, uh, some of it is computer literacy, believe it or not.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_00: And so those are the type of professional seminars that they're getting every month to help them grow.
• 16:32
  unknown: Wow.
• 16:32
  unknown: Wow.
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_00: And so um So read, feed, parenting, and that last the last one is empowerment.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_00: Empowerment, okay.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_00: And so we kind of break our program down into three parts, right?
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_00: Kindergarten through fifth is elementary, okay, and we focus on childhood, reading literacy, laying the foundation, and discipline.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_00: Middle school five, uh six through eight, we shift to more of a core competency development, such as public speaking, critical thinking.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_00: We introduce them to vocational opportunities because we already know all these kids are not going to go to college.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_00: Sure.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_00: And they need a viable alternative for college.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_00: And man, I tell you, I've learned that there are some great opportunities from a vocational standpoint, such as welding, um, IT, uh, plumbing, um, just the name a few, automotive mechanic.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_00: And so that allows those kids to be able to shine and start work and make money immediately, and they don't have to get out of school with$100,000 worth of student loan debt and may find a job.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_00: Wow, that's amazing.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_00: And so, yeah, so the empowerment piece of it, we want to make well, let me finish with the boys.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_00: Nine through twelfth grade is a we focus on career assessment.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_00: We determine what track they're on.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_00: Are they on a vocational track or they're on an academic track?
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_00: If they're on an academic track, we make sure that they've had their PSAT, their SAT, they ACT.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_00: We make sure they take the FAFSA and have all of that ready.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_00: So when they graduate from college, it's all in one bundle.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_00: We have a small um endowment that we can help them go to school to ensure.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_00: So anybody who wants to go to college, they can go.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_00: You can endow them.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_00: Wow.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_00: What amazing.
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_00: And so empowerment for us is all about by the time the moms and the boys leave our program, we want to make sure that they've been equipped with the tools so that they have a chance.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_00: And the good thing about a program like this, the kids learn from each other.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_00: They don't always learn from the adults, right?
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_00: They're learning from each other.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_00: If Elijah asks a good question, ding, ding, ding, ding, it rings a bell for little Johnny and Joseph down here, who never even thought about the question.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_00: But, you know, because Elijah asked it, I gained some knowledge today as well.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_00: You know, our our our faith statement is Luke 252.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_00: And so what we want our kids to do, kind of like Jesus did.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_00: You know, he grew in wisdom, he grew in stature, he grew in favor of man, and he grew in favor of God.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_01: I agree in Jesus' name.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_00: And so that's what that four pillar kind of matches.
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_00: The wisdom is the read and the academic piece of it.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_00: The feed is the stature.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_00: You know, if you feed them properly, they're gonna grow up strong and muscular, right?
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_00: And the the the parenting piece of it is growing in favor of man, honor their mother and father.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_01: That's the end of our first episode with Satra Dawson of Hope Farm.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_01: Their website is hopefarm.org.
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_01: In the next episode of Welcome Home Hear Us Now, Mr.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_01: Dawson tells the story of his first encounter with Hope Farm some years ago.