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Community DC Olu Adebayo Rainbow Place Sheleter · Community D.C.

0:04
Speaker 1: Good morning, and welcome to another edition of Community d C.
0:07
Speaker 1: I'm your host Dennis Glasgow. This morning, we welcome to
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Speaker 1: the program for the first time, Olashina Odbio. He is
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Speaker 1: the executive director for the Rainbow Place Shelter, located in Rockville, Maryland,
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Speaker 1: is an emergency shelter for homeless women. Historically operating as
0:20
Speaker 1: a seasonal winter hypothermia program. They're working to secure a
0:23
Speaker 1: new location to expand into a year round, twenty four
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Speaker 1: to seven facility that also accommodates youth and young adults.
0:29
Speaker 1: Here's my conversation with Olu. I hope you enjoy it
0:32
Speaker 1: as much as I did.
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Speaker 2: Good morning, Olu, Good morning, how you doing.
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Speaker 1: I'm well and it's great to have you on Community
0:38
Speaker 1: DC for the first time to talk about Rainbow Place Shelter.
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Speaker 1: A lot to talk about. You and your team have
0:43
Speaker 1: done some amazing work. I know you've been with the
0:45
Speaker 1: organization four plus years, but I'd love for our listeners
0:47
Speaker 1: to find out the history because it goes all the
0:49
Speaker 1: way back to the early eighties, doesn't it.
0:51
Speaker 3: Yeah, correct, Rainbow Place started in nineteen eighty two. That
0:57
Speaker 3: is born out of the mission of Rock Build Presbyterian church.
1:02
Speaker 3: There were some members of the congregation, which we call
1:06
Speaker 3: our founding mothers, that recognize foot traffic going through the
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Speaker 3: Western community in Rockville and determined that the foot traffic
1:15
Speaker 3: were women experiencing homelessness, and they put down pads and
1:20
Speaker 3: mats and brought them food to the church.
1:24
Speaker 2: And that's what we're born out of. And you know
1:26
Speaker 2: we're now follow one C.
1:27
Speaker 3: Three, But it really just started off with, you know,
1:31
Speaker 3: concern members of that congregation.
1:33
Speaker 1: That's usually how it smarts, just a small, little effort
1:36
Speaker 1: and then it grows into something pretty large. What you
1:38
Speaker 1: have right now, there's a lot to cover over the
1:40
Speaker 1: next thirty minutes a little, but I did want to
1:41
Speaker 1: ask you for listeners that are being introduced to Rainbow
1:44
Speaker 1: Play Shelter for the first time. If you were to
1:46
Speaker 1: give a thirty thousand foot view about what exactly you
1:49
Speaker 1: and your team do, what would you tell them?
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Speaker 3: I'd say, we restore dignity to individuals that live on
1:56
Speaker 3: the margins. We provide customer service to those that have
2:02
Speaker 3: been deemed unworthy of that service. So the way we
2:07
Speaker 3: approach it is, you know, if you or I did this,
2:11
Speaker 3: were to find ourselves in a circumstance where we didn't
2:15
Speaker 3: have a place to stay, how we want to be treated,
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Speaker 3: and I think that really informs the work we do
2:21
Speaker 3: at Rainbow Place.
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Speaker 1: Okay, now, there is a women's shelter, and I know
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Speaker 1: it's been seasonal at one time, and I know there's
2:27
Speaker 1: been some talk about maybe extending that, and i'd like
2:31
Speaker 1: you to chat about that and also the youth shelter,
2:34
Speaker 1: both very important. Let's talk about the women's portion of
2:36
Speaker 1: the shelter first, because I know that I've read over
2:39
Speaker 1: the website and some literature that you've housed up to
2:42
Speaker 1: one hundred women at one time. But can you talk
2:44
Speaker 1: a little bit more and expound on that.
2:47
Speaker 3: Yeah, sure, I mean so historically we have operated from
2:51
Speaker 3: November first to April first, hypothermia season, which is the coldest,
2:56
Speaker 3: harshest times of the year, and generally we have around
2:58
Speaker 3: twenty eight women our shelter at any given time. And
3:03
Speaker 3: while they're there with us, you know, they receive three
3:06
Speaker 3: miles a day, a warm, safe place to stay, case
3:09
Speaker 3: management to identify whatever needs they have that can help
3:14
Speaker 3: them transition out of homelessness. And you know, generally, like
3:20
Speaker 3: you said, we do see around one hundred women a
3:22
Speaker 3: year that come through our shelter. But once the ladies
3:26
Speaker 3: or our guests come to this shelter, their bed is
3:29
Speaker 3: theirs until they're either discharged or they find permanent placement.
3:35
Speaker 3: So you know the security there, right, You can leave
3:39
Speaker 3: your belongings there, you don't have to carry them, which
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Speaker 3: you when you leave, when you come back to bed
3:43
Speaker 3: that you were assigned upon entry, O remain your bed.
3:47
Speaker 2: So you know, it's a very secure space.
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Speaker 3: And I think it does bring our guests a measure
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Speaker 3: of peace, and you know, I think that that speaks
3:57
Speaker 3: to the environment we want to cultivate there.
4:00
Speaker 1: Well, let's talk a little bit more. You talked about
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Speaker 1: the three meals, which is extraordinary, and we'll talk about funding,
4:04
Speaker 1: how people can donate, volunteer and be a part of
4:06
Speaker 1: this when they're when they're unhoused and they get to
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Speaker 1: come to the Rainbow Play Shelter. You talked about the meals,
4:14
Speaker 1: but is there a place to wash up and shower?
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Speaker 1: And are they able if they have family and children,
4:18
Speaker 1: are they able to bring them as well too? How
4:20
Speaker 1: does all that work?
4:22
Speaker 3: No, Well, so we are a single women's shelter, so
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Speaker 3: we don't have any we don't prove we don't make
4:30
Speaker 3: provisions for families, okay right now in terms of how
4:33
Speaker 3: we're currently.
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Speaker 2: Constituted, although we have had.
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Speaker 3: You know, uh, mothers with their daughters that are you
4:42
Speaker 3: of age that come to the space, and yes, while
4:45
Speaker 3: they're there, they we do offer showers.
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Speaker 2: We do have a washer and dryer for.
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Speaker 3: Our guests as well, and we have lockers so they
4:53
Speaker 3: can keep the personal feunderstanding locked up and safe when
4:57
Speaker 3: they when they leave during the day, whether they they
5:00
Speaker 3: go to work or day program or other places. So
5:04
Speaker 3: you know, you know, once again, the security, that comfort
5:09
Speaker 3: that really informs.
5:12
Speaker 2: How we operate.
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Speaker 1: So Alu, you can speak to this and the data
5:16
Speaker 1: and also the women that you deal with. I've talked
5:19
Speaker 1: to a lot of different nonprofits in the DMV. Beside
5:21
Speaker 1: helping people out, they also help them for the next steps. Obviously,
5:26
Speaker 1: you and your team and the people that donate money
5:28
Speaker 1: and we'll talk about funding in just a moment, are
5:30
Speaker 1: doing tremendous work already when they're there. I imagine that
5:34
Speaker 1: there is a multitude of different reasons why the women
5:37
Speaker 1: are there. That's pretty obvious. We don't need to go
5:39
Speaker 1: into that. But with that said, helping them get to
5:43
Speaker 1: the next step, whether they get some housing, whether they
5:46
Speaker 1: like to maybe apply for a job, or just get
5:49
Speaker 1: back into a safe place. Can you talk a little
5:51
Speaker 1: bit about if there's anything from your team of a
5:54
Speaker 1: transitional thing they do to get them to the next
5:56
Speaker 1: level and backup on their feet. How does any of
5:58
Speaker 1: that work.
6:00
Speaker 3: Yeah, but when our guess came to us, they come
6:02
Speaker 3: to us in varying degrees of It's called distress, right,
6:07
Speaker 3: And so we initially we do a.
6:11
Speaker 2: Needs assessment, right.
6:14
Speaker 3: So I think conventional wisdom tells us about those experiencing
6:18
Speaker 3: homelessness that I think in our minds eye, we still
6:22
Speaker 3: see the person you know on the street that maybe
6:25
Speaker 3: and you know, you know, in disarray, right. But I
6:33
Speaker 3: think with inflation and the rising cost of living in
6:37
Speaker 3: the county, we see a lot more people that are
6:40
Speaker 3: what we call the working poor. People that twenty years
6:44
Speaker 3: ago that would have been able to afford one bedroom
6:47
Speaker 3: apartment or an efficiency, but now they've been priced at
6:50
Speaker 3: that market. So those individuals, you know, they're able to
6:56
Speaker 3: stay at Rainbow Planes, save their money until they can rent,
7:00
Speaker 3: have a room or get an apartment. But then we
7:03
Speaker 3: also go all the way to the most extreme, somebody
7:05
Speaker 3: that may have severe mental health issues so our case
7:09
Speaker 3: imagine team needs to find them treatment services. Or somebody
7:13
Speaker 3: that may be chemically dependent and has substance abuse issues,
7:16
Speaker 3: we need to might be meaning to find them treatment
7:21
Speaker 3: for that for those issues as well. So the people
7:26
Speaker 3: come to us in just very different ways and based
7:31
Speaker 3: upon what their needs are, we identify that and we
7:34
Speaker 3: work with other service providers in the Montgomery County a
7:37
Speaker 3: continuing of care and provide referrals to those providers to
7:42
Speaker 3: address those needs.
7:43
Speaker 1: Okay, well, let's talk a little bit more of that,
7:44
Speaker 1: because I know that you've got a team and whether
7:47
Speaker 1: they're staff or volunteers, and then third parties that you
7:49
Speaker 1: mentioned with Montgomery County. Tell me about some of the people,
7:52
Speaker 1: because I know that you, as executive director, you can't
7:55
Speaker 1: do everything, and it's nice to have a support staff.
7:57
Speaker 1: Can you talk a little bit about all that.
8:00
Speaker 3: Yeah, No, I'm very grateful and I certainly can't do everything.
8:03
Speaker 3: I have overnight staff that are there every evening that
8:08
Speaker 3: are diligent and very sensitive to the concerns and the
8:15
Speaker 3: needs of our guests, and some of my staff have
8:17
Speaker 3: even experience homelessness as well, so they're they're credible messagers
8:21
Speaker 3: and you know, they're they're people that are our guests
8:25
Speaker 3: truly trust and know that they they have the best
8:29
Speaker 3: interests in mind and.
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Speaker 2: They want to see them win.
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Speaker 3: And of course we have case management there as well,
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Speaker 3: and most of them are case managers that are seasoned
8:39
Speaker 3: and have been case managers and other shelters getting around
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Speaker 3: the county. And but I think the lifeblood of what
8:48
Speaker 3: we do are our volunteers and supporters.
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Speaker 2: You know, we spoke about the three meals earlier.
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Speaker 3: Those three meals are generally prepared by our volunteers. And
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Speaker 3: we're not talking about peanut butter and jelly or you know,
9:03
Speaker 3: the tomato soup. I mean, they're coming through and they're
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Speaker 3: bringing three course meals and.
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Speaker 2: You know anything you can imagine stroggling off.
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Speaker 1: But just the things are you and I take for
9:18
Speaker 1: granted where people don't usually have, right.
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Speaker 2: Yeah exactly, yeah.
9:22
Speaker 3: Exactly exactly, So they're not given our guests at least
9:25
Speaker 3: to what they have to offer. On the contrary, it's
9:29
Speaker 3: things that they spend a lot of time and care.
9:32
Speaker 2: Putting together for our guests.
9:34
Speaker 3: And then there's a really beautiful, valuable exchange between the
9:38
Speaker 3: guests and the volunteers, and it's not a one way
9:41
Speaker 3: exchange where you know somebody's coming from a position of
9:44
Speaker 3: some type of authority. But I think they both really
9:47
Speaker 3: learned a lot from one another, particularly now when the
9:51
Speaker 3: margins between those that are housed and unhoused are back
9:55
Speaker 3: then than they've ever been. I think people can find
9:58
Speaker 3: a way to relate to individuals that maybe you know,
10:03
Speaker 3: go on through a tough time, because I think a
10:05
Speaker 3: lot of us preparing to, you know, to avoid those
10:09
Speaker 3: tough times. So it's you know that that's really the
10:13
Speaker 3: part that I you know, I don't know enjoy the
10:18
Speaker 3: right word, but I like to see where I'm in
10:20
Speaker 3: the shelter, the exchange between the guests and the volunteer.
10:23
Speaker 1: No, that makes a lot of sense. Well, listen, I've
10:24
Speaker 1: got three different categories when it speaks to donation and
10:27
Speaker 1: volunteerism and the food that I'd love to talk about.
10:30
Speaker 1: Let's talk about the overarching one. I imagine that there
10:33
Speaker 1: are many ways that you can donate, and we'll have
10:36
Speaker 1: all who give the website here and also at the
10:38
Speaker 1: end of our conversation if you already haven't found it
10:40
Speaker 1: a lot of our smart listeners already do. That's that's cool.
10:42
Speaker 1: But what that said, if you want to donate any
10:45
Speaker 1: type of money, whether it's a one time donation, regularly
10:49
Speaker 1: or maybe even as a small, medium or large business,
10:51
Speaker 1: make a larger donation a lot, how do they do that?
10:55
Speaker 3: Yeah, I direct your listeners to ramaplace dot org. You know,
11:00
Speaker 3: there's opportunities to volunteer. You know, we have a list
11:03
Speaker 3: of items that we may need to help us during
11:07
Speaker 3: the season as well, but everything you need is right
11:09
Speaker 3: there at rainboplace dot org. And there's a tab for volunteers,
11:15
Speaker 3: so it's pretty streamlined and easy to explore.
11:20
Speaker 1: And then also monetary as well too. You're talking all
11:23
Speaker 1: donations that way too, certainly.
11:25
Speaker 2: Certainly yes that that that's there as well.
11:28
Speaker 3: So there's a donation tab off so that you'll find
11:31
Speaker 3: on the exact same landing page.
11:33
Speaker 1: Is there any criteria for your volunteers and what's the
11:36
Speaker 1: process of Some of you gets excited about our conversations
11:39
Speaker 1: say they would really like to help out. How does
11:40
Speaker 1: the process work?
11:42
Speaker 3: Yeah, there's a form on there and you get in
11:45
Speaker 3: contact with our volunteer coordinator and she would be in
11:49
Speaker 3: contact with you once you complete the form and identify
11:52
Speaker 3: a day in time for you to come either as
11:54
Speaker 3: a preparre of the food or a server of the food,
11:58
Speaker 3: and you know, please go on there and sign up
12:01
Speaker 3: for our newsletter as well. We we definitely put out
12:04
Speaker 3: requests in the off season and during the season for
12:08
Speaker 3: items we need or other volunteer activities. I know we'll
12:13
Speaker 3: discuss later. We're in the process of transitioning out of
12:16
Speaker 3: our current facilities. Yeah, we had a you know, huge
12:22
Speaker 3: uh you know Basis supporters that came out and help
12:25
Speaker 3: us pack, and I know they're going to be in
12:27
Speaker 3: the process of helping us move as well. So there's
12:30
Speaker 3: always opportunities to you know, to help us serve you know,
12:36
Speaker 3: our guests and to help serve the Rainbow mission.
12:38
Speaker 1: Well, you're right, that's a big deal, and I do
12:39
Speaker 1: want to talk about in just a moment, because you've
12:41
Speaker 1: been in one place for a long time and now
12:43
Speaker 1: you're in transition, so let's chat about that in a second.
12:45
Speaker 1: But also the final category I wanted to talk to
12:48
Speaker 1: if there's a restaurant or somebody that's in touch with
12:51
Speaker 1: a lot of food regularly or one time. I know
12:54
Speaker 1: you're not going to say no to that. What's the
12:56
Speaker 1: best way they can contact you? They say, listen, we
12:58
Speaker 1: like what a luiness team or doing here. We want
13:00
Speaker 1: to donate some food, whether it's one time or regularly.
13:02
Speaker 1: How do they do that?
13:05
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, once again, I direct them to our website.
13:09
Speaker 3: There's a contact us too. I'll give out my email
13:15
Speaker 3: to a director at Rainbowplace dot org. You reach out
13:19
Speaker 3: to me directly, and you know, make sure I'll follow up,
13:23
Speaker 3: you know, relatively quickly there too, So that would be.
13:26
Speaker 2: Appreciate it very good.
13:27
Speaker 1: Well, listen, Alo, you did talk about it. You've been
13:29
Speaker 1: in one place for a very long time. And I
13:32
Speaker 1: know that when you took over four plus years ago,
13:34
Speaker 1: business as usual as you're taking over executive director, but
13:37
Speaker 1: then this curveball was thrown at you. Tell us about
13:39
Speaker 1: getting the news and then what you plan to do
13:43
Speaker 1: with your staff and the transition, and I don't know
13:46
Speaker 1: if you're able to speak about where you might be going. Well,
13:49
Speaker 1: let's talk about being in one place for as long
13:51
Speaker 1: as you have and now the move.
13:54
Speaker 3: Yeah, I know when I came to Rainbow Place, it
13:56
Speaker 3: was you know, established, you know, very firmly in that community,
14:01
Speaker 3: and it's unique to see a shelter in a residential community.
14:06
Speaker 3: So the amount of support that we had from the church,
14:10
Speaker 3: congregation and the neighbors is overwhelming, right, And we have
14:16
Speaker 3: a lot of equity in that community because we've been
14:19
Speaker 3: there for a long time and and people are aware
14:22
Speaker 3: of the work that we do. So, you know, for
14:25
Speaker 3: us to find out about the fact that we'd have
14:27
Speaker 3: to transition out, of course, it is you know, it's
14:32
Speaker 3: it's sad, you know, to some degree, but you know,
14:35
Speaker 3: I choose to look at it, and Rainbow choose to
14:37
Speaker 3: look at an opportunity for expansion and what we do.
14:41
Speaker 3: And you know, you know, like I said, historically only
14:44
Speaker 3: operated from November to April. I think with this transition
14:49
Speaker 3: it allows us to look towards operating year round as well,
14:54
Speaker 3: depending on where we we uh, you know, we transition
14:58
Speaker 3: to where we decide to set up shot. So you know,
15:01
Speaker 3: I think that able to step up do more work
15:04
Speaker 3: because more work absolutely needs to be done, and so
15:07
Speaker 3: that part of it is exciting. And you know, as
15:10
Speaker 3: it stands right now, we're not exactly sure we'll end
15:15
Speaker 3: up being but we're looking for a space that's around
15:19
Speaker 3: you know, five thousand square feet okay, and you know
15:23
Speaker 3: has showers, kitchen and off of space and uh, you know,
15:29
Speaker 3: a space space for my staff as well, like a
15:32
Speaker 3: lounge or something like that. So you know, I'm you know,
15:36
Speaker 3: in the process of looking looking for that and and
15:39
Speaker 3: transitioning at.
15:40
Speaker 2: The same time. Okay.
15:41
Speaker 1: So to be very clear, nothing's locked in. So if
15:43
Speaker 1: there's a listener out there that might have a building
15:45
Speaker 1: that might suit your needs, they can call out you
15:47
Speaker 1: and maybe talk and see if there might be a
15:50
Speaker 1: good fit there.
15:51
Speaker 2: Certainly, certainly, and I'd welcome down.
15:55
Speaker 1: Well, I guess the other thing is too that I
15:57
Speaker 1: know it's ambitious to think about a year round but
15:59
Speaker 1: I think I applaud you and your staff for doing it.
16:02
Speaker 1: But this means you're going to need more finances. When
16:05
Speaker 1: it comes to the donations and being funded. Can you
16:09
Speaker 1: talk to us a little bit more about that, whether
16:10
Speaker 1: it's government grants or it's private donations. How is everything funded,
16:14
Speaker 1: especially if you want to do a year round thing.
16:16
Speaker 1: What are you looking at when it comes to being funded.
16:19
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, as it stands, Rainbow, we have a
16:22
Speaker 3: partnership with the county, so we receive support from the
16:25
Speaker 3: county as well as faith based, private donors grants.
16:33
Speaker 2: That's the line's share of how we receive.
16:35
Speaker 3: We have some mistake funding as well for the young
16:38
Speaker 3: adult Shelter project.
16:39
Speaker 2: I discussed that, you know.
16:40
Speaker 3: I'm sure we'll touch on too, but that's the line's
16:44
Speaker 3: share of the pie and where we receive corporations and
16:49
Speaker 3: foundations too. I'm sorry, great, those those are those are
16:52
Speaker 3: that's where we receive our support, our funding from.
16:56
Speaker 1: If you do me a favor and no specificity whatsoever,
17:00
Speaker 1: because when it comes to anonymity, I'm sure we want
17:02
Speaker 1: to leave that be, so don't have to use any names.
17:05
Speaker 1: But I always love to ask this question about this
17:07
Speaker 1: is why we get up in the morning type of thing.
17:10
Speaker 1: And I know you see a lot of hard stories
17:12
Speaker 1: out there, and I always applaud people to being your
17:15
Speaker 1: business because it's.
17:16
Speaker 2: Just not easy.
17:17
Speaker 1: First of all, it's always a small operation, not too
17:20
Speaker 1: many paid staff members. You're doing hard work. It's three
17:23
Speaker 1: sixty five twenty four seven. With that said, is there
17:26
Speaker 1: something over the last couple of years or the four
17:29
Speaker 1: plus years that you've been there where there was really
17:32
Speaker 1: a remarkable story about somebody either being saved and put
17:35
Speaker 1: into the shelter for a while or something help on
17:37
Speaker 1: the shelter where they moved on to the next level
17:39
Speaker 1: and did something extraordinary, and you know, you said to yourself,
17:42
Speaker 1: this was a great story. This is why we get
17:44
Speaker 1: up every day to make lives different and change them.
17:47
Speaker 1: Can you maybe share a story or two with us?
17:50
Speaker 2: Yeah, two stories come to mind, did us? Immediately?
17:53
Speaker 3: We had a guess I believe it's two seasons ago.
17:57
Speaker 3: Who was a teacher at Montgomery County Public Schools.
18:01
Speaker 2: And uh, but was in an abusive relationship. Uh. She
18:05
Speaker 2: lost her job.
18:08
Speaker 3: And and was still living with her husband, so she
18:12
Speaker 3: was dependent on him financially, and eventually I think the
18:16
Speaker 3: abuse uh became.
18:18
Speaker 2: You know, uh so violent, so violatile. It forced her
18:22
Speaker 2: as at home and into our shelter.
18:25
Speaker 3: And I think that's that's the value proposition of uh.
18:32
Speaker 3: You know, the shelters have is it gives somebody a
18:34
Speaker 3: place to stabilize. And that's what that's what that's how
18:37
Speaker 3: it served her. Was there allowed to stay there long
18:40
Speaker 3: enough to find a transitional home and also find employment.
18:46
Speaker 3: And you know she was able to you know, uh,
18:50
Speaker 3: transition out of Rainbow into this new space and now
18:54
Speaker 3: she's back in the education field. Again, right, yeah, yeah,
18:59
Speaker 3: So those those are the stories that you know, you know,
19:03
Speaker 3: tend to really filling with joy and uh, you know, really.
19:09
Speaker 2: Make me proud of the work that we do.
19:11
Speaker 3: And we recently had a board member that used to
19:15
Speaker 3: be uh they had, you know, momentarians of experience in
19:20
Speaker 3: homeless and somebody that was very educated, very accomplished, but
19:24
Speaker 3: they fell on hard times and you know, ended up
19:28
Speaker 3: staying with us, saving some money, got an apartment.
19:32
Speaker 2: Now she's in the tech world, and uh, she served.
19:37
Speaker 3: On the board for about a year, you know, after
19:39
Speaker 3: kind of getting back on her feet, and and I
19:41
Speaker 3: thought that was.
19:42
Speaker 2: Just really you know, a great testimony to the work we.
19:44
Speaker 1: Do is yeah, it's extraordinary. And I think you're spotlighting something,
19:49
Speaker 1: Alude that is very simple. But people don't realize that
19:52
Speaker 1: this what's happening when when you get people to come
19:55
Speaker 1: into the women are normal what we call normal people.
19:59
Speaker 1: You know, you talked about a tea and I mean
20:01
Speaker 1: normal people that have a horrible thing at home happening,
20:04
Speaker 1: or maybe they lose their gig and then they're unhoused
20:08
Speaker 1: and all of a sudden, all hell's breaking loose, and
20:10
Speaker 1: we don't realize that we think of somebody that either
20:13
Speaker 1: has a drinking or drug problem or has just been
20:16
Speaker 1: in house for a long time, because it choos that's
20:18
Speaker 1: just not the case. Normal regular people that we take
20:20
Speaker 1: for granted that we've seen the street all time. Those
20:22
Speaker 1: are the kind of women that you see as well too.
20:24
Speaker 3: Certainly, certainly, Yeah, and I was I allude to earlier.
20:27
Speaker 3: I think that in terms of just you know, American media,
20:30
Speaker 3: we think that the person this goes back all the
20:33
Speaker 3: way to like Vietnam, somebody came home. We see the
20:36
Speaker 3: person on the street of fatigues. Yeah, you know, maybe
20:38
Speaker 3: they have a subst abuse issue. And then a lot
20:42
Speaker 3: of times the individuals we see panhandling too, right, and
20:45
Speaker 3: you see them they look disheveled, you know, you know,
20:49
Speaker 3: maybe there their clothes aren't clean, and then you know,
20:52
Speaker 3: I think that that becomes.
20:53
Speaker 2: The idea of homelessness.
20:56
Speaker 3: But I mean, we had a young lady in our
20:59
Speaker 3: shelter this past season who was telling me that, you know,
21:03
Speaker 3: she was a recruiter for a company and basically AI
21:10
Speaker 3: replaced the job that she currently that.
21:13
Speaker 2: She was doing, and that's she lost a job.
21:16
Speaker 3: And then that's how she found herself in our shelter,
21:18
Speaker 3: very educated young lady at least she had a master's
21:22
Speaker 3: And so, yeah, I think this the idea of who
21:26
Speaker 3: we think is experiencing homelessness is skewed. Yeah, based upon
21:32
Speaker 3: you know, who we may see in the street or
21:35
Speaker 3: what we may see in in media.
21:37
Speaker 1: Well, it's just it's triggering, heartbreaking to hear stories like
21:40
Speaker 1: that of you know, somebody who's educated and loses a
21:42
Speaker 1: job to technology and then there, thank god, you guys
21:45
Speaker 1: are there for them. But that's the point I wanted
21:47
Speaker 1: to get across that it happens to normal, regular people
21:50
Speaker 1: that are paying their rent or their mortgage and all
21:55
Speaker 1: their bills and then all of a sudden all excludes
21:57
Speaker 1: with losing a gig and before you know what, you're
21:59
Speaker 1: on house. So it's pretty extraordinary time that we're living in.
22:02
Speaker 1: Let's pivot over to the young adult shelter. How long
22:06
Speaker 1: has it been around and tell us a little bit
22:08
Speaker 1: about it.
22:09
Speaker 3: Well, it's currently in development, and it's what attracted me
22:13
Speaker 3: to Rainbow Place.
22:15
Speaker 2: Outside of Rare Place's history.
22:19
Speaker 3: Which when I came on board was just over four decades,
22:24
Speaker 3: you know, they were looking for somebody to help them
22:29
Speaker 3: develop and situate this new shelter, and that was particularly
22:36
Speaker 3: attractive to me because I had done a lot of
22:38
Speaker 3: work with at risk youth throughout my professional career and
22:44
Speaker 3: just the ability to put my fingerprint on something that
22:46
Speaker 3: can make such an indelible mark.
22:49
Speaker 2: But you know, young adults are.
22:54
Speaker 3: Those in the eighteen to twenty four racket that you know,
22:59
Speaker 3: our experience at home homelessness and the way they experience
23:01
Speaker 3: homelessness is much different than the individually currently serve. These
23:06
Speaker 3: young people, uh, you know, are may not be the
23:10
Speaker 3: ones you see on the street panhandling, and they experience
23:13
Speaker 3: them that we call headed homelessness. So they're not necessarily
23:17
Speaker 3: those that are chronically homelessness or uh face empisodic homelessness,
23:22
Speaker 3: or those that are transient. But these are young people
23:26
Speaker 3: that may be CouchSurfing right. They may have been ostracized
23:29
Speaker 3: from their homes because of mental health issues or substance
23:33
Speaker 3: abuse issues or or either sexual agender identities. And you know,
23:39
Speaker 3: they're the ones bouncing from friend's house to friend's house
23:42
Speaker 3: to you know, you know, various relatives' homes and so
23:47
Speaker 3: they face they very different type and they are young
23:52
Speaker 3: enough where their.
23:54
Speaker 2: Path hasn't been set yet and they're still very valuable.
23:57
Speaker 3: Uh So we want to develop a space that it
24:00
Speaker 3: speaks to experience and can deliver targeted services to help
24:06
Speaker 3: the transition out of circumstance and quite possibly be the
24:10
Speaker 3: future leaders of our county.
24:12
Speaker 2: So it's really like an incubator.
24:15
Speaker 3: And so we are in the final stages of, you know,
24:21
Speaker 3: finalizing a deal to establish the space, all.
24:25
Speaker 1: Right, and that means that you'll need more donations and
24:27
Speaker 1: volunteers and all sorts of things that you do for
24:30
Speaker 1: the women's shelter. Is it Are you planning on having
24:33
Speaker 1: it in the same new space or will it be
24:35
Speaker 1: separate or is that yet to be determined.
24:37
Speaker 3: This will be separate, This will be separate. We plan
24:39
Speaker 3: to make an announcement on the space in the coming weeks.
24:43
Speaker 3: We're looking forward to be upcounty in the Gatsburg area
24:48
Speaker 3: and it'll be the first twenty four to seven three
24:50
Speaker 3: sixty five.
24:51
Speaker 2: That's huge young adult shelter among every county.
24:54
Speaker 1: That's absolutely huge. Listen, I won't hold you to in it,
24:57
Speaker 1: but I know you worked with at risk youth before
25:00
Speaker 1: and this is one of your passions just in your footprint.
25:03
Speaker 1: Is there any kind of data that you can share
25:05
Speaker 1: with us about how many young people between the eighteen
25:07
Speaker 1: and twenty four that are on the streets right now,
25:09
Speaker 1: just in your footprint right now.
25:11
Speaker 3: Yeah, no, I mean that that has been really difficult
25:15
Speaker 3: to identify because they're not street homeless, right and it
25:20
Speaker 3: is those individuals that are count serving. A lot of
25:22
Speaker 3: these young people don't necessarily even identify as homelessness as
25:27
Speaker 3: homeless because they are sleeping on somebody.
25:30
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I got it to stay. But what what the.
25:34
Speaker 3: What this initiative seeks to address is these young people
25:39
Speaker 3: that you know, we may not see on the street
25:41
Speaker 3: now are the same ones that we'll see in the
25:44
Speaker 3: future panhandling or being in front of public transportation.
25:48
Speaker 2: And so.
25:51
Speaker 3: This intervention now prevents chronic homelessness later. So you know,
25:58
Speaker 3: it's a it's as much as it is you know
26:02
Speaker 3: about developing them, it is preventive as well.
26:05
Speaker 1: Okay, very good. You've got some upcoming events I want
26:07
Speaker 1: to talk about. We've got about four minutes left on
26:09
Speaker 1: want to squeeze those in. I was on the calendar
26:12
Speaker 1: and I saw them. I didn't want to know what
26:14
Speaker 1: was active, what it was like, But it seems like
26:16
Speaker 1: there are some upcoming events. You want to talk about
26:17
Speaker 1: a few things that are coming up.
26:20
Speaker 3: Yeah, So in September, we have a a gala that
26:25
Speaker 3: we call not a Gala ironic.
26:26
Speaker 2: I love that name, by the way, it's great. Yeah.
26:29
Speaker 2: So it's essentially a gala.
26:32
Speaker 3: That is, it's not stuffy and buttoned up in black tie,
26:38
Speaker 3: but it'll be based around activities. So we'll have a
26:42
Speaker 3: number of you know, vendors and other companies coming out
26:48
Speaker 3: to set up things that make you move, things that
26:52
Speaker 3: keep you active, and so, like I said, it won't
26:55
Speaker 3: be stuffy or pretentious, but you're gonna come have a
26:58
Speaker 3: good time in the name of our condition.
27:00
Speaker 2: So well, really we're definitely looking forward to.
27:02
Speaker 3: That, and if you're interested, once again, please go to
27:05
Speaker 3: a replace dot org and there's more information on it there.
27:09
Speaker 1: Good and all the upcoming events around the website as well.
27:12
Speaker 3: Well.
27:12
Speaker 1: Listen, we have about three minutes left and I want
27:14
Speaker 1: to get some final thoughts from you about the future,
27:17
Speaker 1: because I know the future looks bright even though you're
27:19
Speaker 1: very busy of looking for new locations and expanding twenty
27:22
Speaker 1: four seven, three sixty five, So if you'd like about
27:25
Speaker 1: what we talked about and add anything we haven't allude.
27:28
Speaker 1: The floor is yours.
27:30
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think first I want to thank you for
27:34
Speaker 3: you know, letting your platform so that I can discuss
27:37
Speaker 3: Railo place and in this time of transition and growth.
27:41
Speaker 3: And I also want to thank those that have been
27:43
Speaker 3: supported as far as time. Once again, the lifeblood of
27:46
Speaker 3: what we do as a nonprofit. We have limited resources
27:50
Speaker 3: and limited hands. But when the community really you know,
27:55
Speaker 3: wraps his arms around a nonprofit like ours, it's what
27:59
Speaker 3: stands us up, which allows us to operate for almost
28:02
Speaker 3: half a century. Right, That's that's really amazing that it's
28:07
Speaker 3: people that are sympathetic and empathetic that you allow us
28:13
Speaker 3: to do the work that we do. And I think
28:14
Speaker 3: it just speaks to what we are when we are
28:18
Speaker 3: the best versions of ourselves, right. And so I have
28:22
Speaker 3: a lot of particular lot of pride in the work
28:23
Speaker 3: that we do and I recognize that it's supported by
28:27
Speaker 3: concerned concerned citizens individuals.
28:30
Speaker 1: Well, that's well said. Let's give the website one more time.
28:33
Speaker 2: Yeah, a rainbowplace dot org.
28:35
Speaker 1: All right, and the person that designed your website, they
28:37
Speaker 1: do a good job. It's up to date, it's easy
28:39
Speaker 1: to navigate, and I should mention there's an orange get
28:42
Speaker 1: Involve button on the top right end corner and then
28:44
Speaker 1: a blue donate Now you cannot miss them, so check
28:47
Speaker 1: that out. And then the other thing that I want
28:49
Speaker 1: to do, Lou is that I want to check with
28:51
Speaker 1: you in about six months, if not sooner, because hopefully
28:54
Speaker 1: you'll have something locked in for the women's shelter that'll
28:56
Speaker 1: be permanent and maybe it's three sixty five twenty four
28:59
Speaker 1: seven that we would love and I'm hoping some of
29:01
Speaker 1: our listeners are generous listeners reach out to you and
29:04
Speaker 1: help you in any way, shape or form, and also
29:06
Speaker 1: probably some new news about you shelter too that I
29:09
Speaker 1: think you're very exciting. I know you're very busy with
29:12
Speaker 1: all that. It's going to be overwhelming with your regular
29:14
Speaker 1: gig that you do every day.
29:16
Speaker 3: Sure, yeah, it's a lot of a juggling right now,
29:19
Speaker 3: but like you said, it's it's still an exciting time
29:22
Speaker 3: and the work is worthwhile and you know, uh, you know,
29:26
Speaker 3: we have something that you know, I'm very excited about
29:30
Speaker 3: that you know, we'll be announcing really soon. So I
29:32
Speaker 3: look forward to coming back in a couple of months
29:34
Speaker 3: and then provide us.
29:35
Speaker 1: Some updates outstanding well, Lou, thank you so much. I'm
29:37
Speaker 1: glad that we could spotlight and feature you in the
29:39
Speaker 1: Rainbow play Shelter. Thank you so much for a viable
29:42
Speaker 1: time in joining us on community DC.
29:43
Speaker 2: Thank you, I appreciate it.
29:48
Speaker 1: Thanks and make the world and better thing.
29:56
Speaker 3: Learn more at she can Stamps, A message brought to
29:58
Speaker 3: you by the AD Council