Latest / OneLegUpAlex Media / OneLegUpAlex News - SNAP and EBT Under Threat Bringing Context To the Shake It Off Soundbite of the Week Ft. Dr. Monica Vermani 10-31-25

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OneLegUpAlex News - SNAP and EBT Under Threat Bringing Context To the Shake It Off Soundbite of the Week Ft. Dr. Monica Vermani 10-31-25 · OneLegUpAlex Media

• 0:15
  Speaker 1: We have an urgent situation here at the One Leg
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: Up Network because SNAP and EBT benefits are about to
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: run out on November first, So much so that New
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: York State Governor Kathy Hokal has announced a state of
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: emergency sixty five million dollars in new state funds for
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: emergency food assistance, providing forty million meals to New Yorkers.
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: There's also going to be Sunni Empire State Service Corps
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: members to support food banks around the area and to
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: take additional actions as needed. As of course, they blame
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: the Trumpet administration from releasing federal contingency funding. This is
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  Speaker 1: all part, I believe of the government shutdown that's been
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  Speaker 1: going on. And did you know that three million New
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: Yorkers are in need of this SNAP EBT assistance? And
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  Speaker 1: whatever your judgments are on how people use this money,
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  Speaker 1: you cannot take away SNAP and ABT from people with
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  Speaker 1: disabilities or low income families. You just cannot. So I
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  Speaker 1: want to let you know that we're in a state
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  Speaker 1: of emergency now with this funding, And she wrote, the
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  Speaker 1: trumble Musician is cutting FODO systems for three million New Yorkers,
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  Speaker 1: leaving our state to face an unprecedent in public health crisis,
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: hurting our grocers, Rodegas farmers along the way. Meanwhile, she's
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: worrid about hurting our grocers. She wants to elect mom Donnie.
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: I don't get that one, but that's another story for
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  Speaker 1: another day. We normally get in New York State approximately
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: six hundred and fifty million dollars per month and februally
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  Speaker 1: funded SNAP benefits nearly three million New Yorkers. That's a
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: chunk and I think money well serve Now you again,
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: you could say, well, they don't use the money. Well,
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  Speaker 1: if they're given the money, I don't want to go there.
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  Speaker 1: We need to make sure this assistance isn't intact, and
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  Speaker 1: we also need to make sure people disabilities mental health
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  Speaker 1: is protected through this. And I want to do the
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  Speaker 1: shake it Off SoundBite of the week mixed in with
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  Speaker 1: this because I feel like it's kind of related.
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  Speaker 2: Right.
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  Speaker 1: There's so much nervousness around the snap EBT, then it
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  Speaker 1: can affect the emotional state. And doctor Vermani, Monica Vermanni
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  Speaker 1: and Lucas Arro, we're talking about mental health and fitting
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  Speaker 1: in and talk about excluding. I feel like this is
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  Speaker 1: a big form of exclusion. For people disabilities right to
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  Speaker 1: cut them out of snap and ebt Well, Doctor Vermoni,
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  Speaker 1: Lucas Farar, live with luger On, shake it off with
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  Speaker 1: and Lucas gave me this opportunity to ask this question,
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  Speaker 1: this question about help people with disabilities can feel included.
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: Go ahead, Alex, all right, so feeling fit in? I'll
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  Speaker 1: tell you my experience real quick is even in the
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  Speaker 1: disabled community, I always felt like I wasn't always fitting in.
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  Speaker 1: But I want to bring the larger scope of that.
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  Speaker 1: How can we interpret with disabilities that they do, that
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  Speaker 1: they are included, that they can fit in to the
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  Speaker 1: world around them. I feel like there is some exclusionary
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  Speaker 1: when it comes to people with disabilities. Would you agree? Doctor?
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: You know what, if you've listened to my Ted talk,
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  Speaker 2: think about it thoughts of powerful things, good or bad.
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  Speaker 2: Everything ever created started with a thought, and it's a
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  Speaker 2: thought that's making you feel separate, isolated, different from the world.
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  Speaker 2: When it comes down to it, if you even listen
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  Speaker 2: to that Ted talk alone, it shows you three patient
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  Speaker 2: examples of people with extreme disabilities, extreme foodicidal tendencies, anger,
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  Speaker 2: you know, places of disadvantage, and they found a way
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  Speaker 2: to fit in sometimes it's about us rejigging and recon
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  Speaker 2: sextualizing the thoughts that make us feel like we don't belong,
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  Speaker 2: we're not good enough, we're not smart enough, No, we're
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  Speaker 2: not capable, and we are different from others. It's your
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  Speaker 2: inner world creating your outer world. When you're in a
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  Speaker 2: world feels great about yourself and who you are and
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  Speaker 2: you fit in, guess what, when you're out there, you
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  Speaker 2: see you find the validation out there to match that vibration.
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  Speaker 2: And when you're inside feeling not good enough, not smart enough,
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  Speaker 2: not capable, when you go out there, you find people
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  Speaker 2: to validate that. You're inner world is creating your focus
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  Speaker 2: on your outer world. So sometimes it's about us doing
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  Speaker 2: the heat deeper work to just fix it up and
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  Speaker 2: look at the thoughts we reinforce about ourselves than others.
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  Speaker 3: So, Doc, I just want to ask this for lucas
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  Speaker 3: gets to you. Are you saying it's up to is
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  Speaker 3: it up to the individual to reshape how they think
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  Speaker 3: and not the world to be more inclusionary with how
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  Speaker 3: we treat people with disabilities. Are you saying it's up
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  Speaker 3: to the individual with the disability to reshape how they think?
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  Speaker 2: Is that what you're saying, it's and both. When it
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  Speaker 2: comes down to it, yes, there's a bit of both.
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  Speaker 2: It's like nature and nurture. We're never going to have
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  Speaker 2: one factor we can pinpoint our finger on and say
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  Speaker 2: that's secure. We need to realize that it is a fluidity,
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  Speaker 2: a jig working with one another. But yes, the work
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  Speaker 2: has to start within you. You need to start working
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  Speaker 2: through your own inadequacies, your own insecurities, and the voice
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  Speaker 2: that makes you put others ahead of you. Other people's
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  Speaker 2: opinion of me is truly none of my business. My
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  Speaker 2: opinion of myself needs to be solid. But yeah, if
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  Speaker 2: everybody around me is pointing fingers at me to a
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  Speaker 2: certain degree, I do need to look at is there
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  Speaker 2: some truth behind us? Do I need to look that
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  Speaker 2: I might be doing something that is contributing to so
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  Speaker 2: many people pointing at me in a certain way? Do
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  Speaker 2: I need to shift? But I also sometimes have to
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  Speaker 2: realize that some of those fingers pointing at me or
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  Speaker 2: just trying to realign me. To make my solid opinion
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  Speaker 2: of myself solid, I wouldn't be a psychologist today if
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  Speaker 2: I listened to everybody who told me not to continue
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  Speaker 2: to school. Forever. That is a waste of time and energy.
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  Speaker 2: I am doing what I do today because I listened
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  Speaker 2: through my opinion of myself and became the outlier instead
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  Speaker 2: of following what everybody around me was telling me to do.
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  Speaker 2: A lot of us have those stories. Sometimes it's not
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  Speaker 2: about other people's opinion of you, it's about your opinion
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  Speaker 2: about yourself being solid. And other times it's about you
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  Speaker 2: looking at what people are saying and notice if there's
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  Speaker 2: a grain of truth in it which might help you
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  Speaker 2: shift your behaviors to align with people, bridge the gap,
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  Speaker 2: bring them closer. Sometimes we're the ones who are pushing
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  Speaker 2: people away, and when somebody brings you awareness, you can
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  Speaker 2: treat it. The first step to treatment is awareness. Be aware.
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  Speaker 2: Is it my inner voice that needs to shift more
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  Speaker 2: or my outter focus, or is it I'm ignoring something
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  Speaker 2: that I need to really deal with and change for
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  Speaker 2: me to feel a sense of belonging in my world?
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  Speaker 2: You are worthy of love just the way you are,
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  Speaker 2: regardless of who you are, with or without disabilities, depending
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  Speaker 2: on your intellect, whatever the key is what's making you
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  Speaker 2: reinforced over and over, I'm not enough.
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  Speaker 1: I love to do some self reflection on that because
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  Speaker 1: it's very interesting. Sometimes I feel like that off the air,
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  Speaker 1: I have to say.
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  Speaker 2: So it's all self reflection. You're born alone, you dialone.
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  Speaker 2: You literally are here to get to know yourself better
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  Speaker 2: and fine tune that outer world to align with your
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  Speaker 2: inner world. And so deep down inside, people are showing
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  Speaker 2: you mirrors of yourself, mirrors of what you like, mirrors
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  Speaker 2: of what you don't like, mirrors of what you have
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  Speaker 2: to work on, and mirrors of what you have to
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  Speaker 2: stop giving a crap about and be more in alignment
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  Speaker 2: to what following your truth. There's a lot of amazing
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  Speaker 2: people out there that follow their truth without anybody backing
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  Speaker 2: them up, and they did remarkable things. Nelson Mandela, you know, Dondhi,
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  Speaker 2: you know so many amazing people or the change they
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: wanted to see in the world without the validation, the backup.
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  Speaker 2: It's not our job to just conform. It's our job
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  Speaker 2: to listen for our authentic truth and stand strong about it,
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  Speaker 2: having a clear sense of right and wrong within you,
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  Speaker 2: and getting into a place where you get to know yourself.
• 8:20
  Speaker 2: Why am I conforming with people? Is it because it's
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: aligns with my values and perspective, or is it because
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: I'm trying to fit in and what's my need to
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: fit in? Am I seeking approval? Is it external validating internal?
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  Speaker 2: Or is it me really aligning with who I believe
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  Speaker 2: I need to be. Think critically about yourself, your value perspectives.
• 8:42
  Speaker 2: Speak up when you're uncomfortable. Don't just share a group
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  Speaker 2: opinion because you feel that you're going to be you know,
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: targeted if you're not, learn to defend yourself and be
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: the change you want to see in the world, including
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: stand up for disabilities and stand up for yourself and
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: stand up for bullying. Many of us sometimes are suffering
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: makes us remarkable people. But the first step is realizing
• 9:06
  Speaker 2: all humans suffering has a purpose, and some of us
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  Speaker 2: are talking about right now how people suffer when they
• 9:12
  Speaker 2: don't feel included or they feel that they're different from others.
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  Speaker 2: But that's suffering sometimes is also your superpower the future
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  Speaker 2: that makes you successful, remarkable. Stand up for your right
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  Speaker 2: and make bigger changes for the world to benefit from.
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  Speaker 3: I love that Alex as a superhero.
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  Speaker 2: Come on, Alex, you are Alex. You're a superhero. You
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  Speaker 2: just got to look at what's dulling your sign and
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  Speaker 2: what's taking away your power. Are you giving your power
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  Speaker 2: to others instead of owning it?
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: Energy conservation. I need to do the more of that.
• 9:45
  Speaker 3: I will say, Yes, he is, he is doc he is,
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  Speaker 3: but he has to find strength within I.
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  Speaker 2: I tell you this, that energy conversation conservation. You know what,
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  Speaker 2: we spend a lot of time defending ourselves, explaining ourselves,
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  Speaker 2: and sometimes the best thing we need to do is
• 10:01
  Speaker 2: just own our opinion and own ourselves and have a
• 10:04
  Speaker 2: solid vibration by model behavior instead of explaining and defending
• 10:08
  Speaker 2: ourselves all the time. You know, we talk a lot
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: in today's society, and sometimes the answers are in the silence.
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  Speaker 2: Go into your silence, seek connection with yourself and you'll
• 10:18
  Speaker 2: get that higher voice, that mystic voice inside you that
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  Speaker 2: tells you who you are, what you need to be,
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: and how you're worthy of love just the way you are,
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  Speaker 2: regardless of who's validating it or not.
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  Speaker 1: And I thought, talking about this assistance emergency is a
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  Speaker 1: perfect way to say people with disabilities deserve to be helped,
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  Speaker 1: deserve to be seen, and deserve to be included, and
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: eliminating them from the snap EBT is just the wrong
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  Speaker 1: way to go about It is non inclusive and I
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: appreciate that Governor Uncle has done this, and I hope
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: on day thirty the government shutdown can be resolves. At
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: some point, we're almost a day thirty one, hard to believe,
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  Speaker 1: and this is what's happening November first, you could be
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  Speaker 1: losing your benefits. This is massive and major and needs
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: to be called out and fixed before too long. We're
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: always advocating and we're always adapting. At One Leg Up
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: with Alex Garrett