Latest / Our Community, Our Mission / Ep #187 - FHL Bank & Trauma Informed Renovation

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Ep #187 - FHL Bank & Trauma Informed Renovation · Our Community, Our Mission

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for this day and your blessings and provisions.
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: God, thank you for our partnership and our friends that are joining us today.
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: God, thank you for all of our listeners.
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: Pray your blessing over them, and Lord that this podcast would be an encouragement to them.
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: Father, bless our time In Jesus' name, amen.
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: Hello everybody listening to our community, our mission, a podcast of the Topeka Rescue Mission.
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: It's August 30th 2023, podcast number 187, and a cooler day than it was a week ago when we did this.
• 0:34
  Speaker 3: Yes, much cooler.
• 0:35
  Speaker 3: I like this better.
• 0:40
  Speaker 4: I was gonna say that's one of my announcements, Barry, oh okay, all right.
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: Well, we'll come back to really what's important today Amanda Broil's executive director of the rescue mission and very incredible deputy director of supportive services, oh, you get a start today.
• 0:53
  Speaker 3: I do today.
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: Yeah, get her home Time messed up.
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: She used to have a different job.
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: But anyway, before we get into some really you know detailed stuff here with our guests and the few things you want to say, it's really an important day today.
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: It's national, some kind of day, and you know it's like one of our favorite things to do as kids and adults.
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: And so it would be Maryam, come on.
• 1:18
  Speaker 3: Okay, I don't have a sheet in front of me, oh shit.
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: So, maryam, you have Google right.
• 1:23
  Speaker 3: I do have Google, but the name just seems always like oh, it's Marshmallow Day.
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: National Marshmallow Day.
• 1:29
  Speaker 4: I did that last time Toasted.
• 1:30
  Speaker 4: Marshmallow Day, not even just regular, but I have never heard it called toasted.
• 1:34
  Speaker 3: Well, that's because it's not regular, we always say roasted.
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: Well, you're from all different solos.
• 1:39
  Speaker 3: That's only if you have a fire, you can toast them in the oven.
• 1:42
  Speaker 4: What I never have.
• 1:45
  Speaker 4: Okay, well, I roasted them last night on a fire with my girls, yeah, but I've never toasted them.
• 1:50
  Speaker 4: You didn't burn them, no, oh yeah, I do.
• 1:52
  Speaker 4: I like mine Black and yeah, so it's, it's yummy.
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: Toasted Burnt Marshmallow Day.
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: Okay, all right, so it's one other thing.
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: Now, maryam, you're going to get this.
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: Okay, you probably still have yours, it's national, something day you know.
• 2:06
  Speaker 3: I saw this one and I probably had it until at least a few years ago.
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: No, you still have it.
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: Come on, you play with it every night, right?
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: I love my slinkies I love slinkies.
• 2:18
  Speaker 3: They were very fun toys to watch them go down the stairs.
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: That was yeah.
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: Oh my gosh.
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: You said hours and hours and hours.
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: That was before the internet.
• 2:26
  Speaker 5: That was before cable television.
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: That was before actually.
• 2:31
  Speaker 3: That's when they were told.
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: No, it wasn't that long ago.
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: Oh, that's right.
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: We've got the slinky commercials on Exactly On both stations.
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, that's right.
• 2:39
  Speaker 3: But there were only three stations back then.
• 2:41
  Speaker 3: But, it was wonderful, and it was a way that my parents could make me not be in their way.
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: Because I would just watch it go down.
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: It was in control.
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: Watch that slinky go down, but everyone's smiling.
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: It caught on itself and just fall down.
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that was.
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: The man didn't even know what a slinky is.
• 2:56
  Speaker 4: I was actually going to be really rude and be like oh, that was before I was born, but I was joking.
• 2:59
  Speaker 4: Yes, I know I had a slinky.
• 3:01
  Speaker 4: You did yes, and I also remember when they went from metal to plastic.
• 3:06
  Speaker 4: Yeah, that was kind of ridiculous.
• 3:08
  Speaker 4: Yeah, those were horrible, but I remember having a plastic one because it was beautiful colors, but it did not do at all.
• 3:13
  Speaker 4: What the metal instead?
• 3:14
  Speaker 3: No, and that's kind of what happens In the old days.
• 3:17
  Speaker 3: We built them better.
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: Except you didn't want to leave your metals she's going to hit me she just hit.
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: Okay if I don't show.
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: You didn't want to leave your metal slinky outdoors in the rain, though.
• 3:29
  Speaker 3: Did it rest.
• 3:30
  Speaker 3: I came out one day.
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: Oh yeah, it never worked the same after that.
• 3:33
  Speaker 3: Oh my God, Were you sad.
• 3:34
  Speaker 3: I was really discouraged.
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: Well, yeah, because my parents said you get one slinky your whole life.
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: Now you're going to have to buy your own, and you didn't.
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: Well, I kind of did, you did, yeah, I did chores, Anyway, you know, spending on a slinky and then it wasn't as fun anymore, because I'll buy you one for Christmas.
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: And I will.
• 3:50
  Speaker 4: I love you enough that I'll even make sure that it's a metal one and not plastic.
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: Oh, please do, please do.
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: I will not leave it outdoors this time, I promise.
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: All right, we got to get to some business here, guys.
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: So we have an event coming up, amanda, that you'd like everybody to know about.
• 4:03
  Speaker 4: Rescue mission yeah, we have a couple One.
• 4:06
  Speaker 4: Um, I feel like we need it like some music that goes oh, because everyone loves when we do warehouse sales and when we had to kind of stop that with COVID and things like that, people were devastated.
• 4:22
  Speaker 4: They loved coming and they loved supporting and so the warehouse sale.
• 4:27
  Speaker 4: We are so blessed with donations and all of the donations go to bless those in the community.
• 4:33
  Speaker 4: When we do completions of programs, so when someone, whether they come directly off the streets or from our shelter and programs and they get their own home, we're able to bless them because the generosity of our community members who donate toasters and sheets and beddings and things like that.
• 4:49
  Speaker 4: But sometimes we do get things that are great items but maybe it's not really what people need as far as setting up a new home.
• 4:57
  Speaker 4: But we want to make sure that we're using every single thing that we're given, whether it's an article of clothing or knickknacks, things like that.
• 5:05
  Speaker 4: And so every now and then, these items that other people could use, but maybe not those who are in need, we then try to do a warehouse sale so people can come in and they can look at those.
• 5:18
  Speaker 4: Last year it was extremely successful and all of our proceeds went directly to buying food, because we had started last summer not as much as this summer, but we started seeing an increase in need and accessing food, and so the warehouse sale is going to be at 206, northwest Norris, where it was last year.
• 5:41
  Speaker 4: We don't price items.
• 5:42
  Speaker 4: That's another question that we get asked.
• 5:43
  Speaker 4: You know, are there set prices for things?
• 5:45
  Speaker 4: It's pure donation, and what I loved about that is some people had told us well, that's not the right decision, you need to price things and things like that.
• 5:53
  Speaker 4: But we just see people do the right thing.
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: Sometimes they give more than the value they would pay for it because they want to be generous.
• 5:59
  Speaker 4: Yes, and then sometimes we see people in need and they give or don't based on what they can do, and that's not up to us.
• 6:08
  Speaker 4: It's not up to us to judge that or to do.
• 6:10
  Speaker 4: These things are not our things.
• 6:12
  Speaker 4: When people take the time to donate and they bless us, the Lord uses it to bless other people, and so we're really just the vessels and the stewards that get a front row seat to see that.
• 6:25
  Speaker 4: So the warehouse sales coming at the end of September but we're mentioning it now because we're gonna blink and September is gonna be here so it is Thursday, friday and we are gonna do a Saturday.
• 6:35
  Speaker 4: We kind of got some feedback on that, where some people were wanting a weekend time as well.
• 6:40
  Speaker 4: So it's September 28th, from 12 to four, september 29th, from 10 to four, and then Saturday, september 30th, from nine to 12.
• 6:50
  Speaker 4: And again, 928, from 12 to four, september 29th, 10 to four, september 30th, nine to 12, and that is going to be at 206 Northwest Norris for our next warehouse sale.
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: There probably be some announcements about that on the Facebook of Topeka Rescue Mission that will be coming up.
• 7:07
  Speaker 4: Yes yes, we've got Flyers in the works.
• 7:10
  Speaker 4: We're gonna get that posted to social media.
• 7:11
  Speaker 4: Kim, my incredible assistant I could not do one day of my job without her.
• 7:17
  Speaker 4: She's already working on media releases.
• 7:19
  Speaker 4: The media releases are gonna go out two weeks in advance, because we also heard last year that some people were disappointed because they hadn't heard even though we had put it out there and all of that.
• 7:28
  Speaker 4: So we're just kind of trying to get a quicker start this year.
• 7:31
  Speaker 4: That's great.
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: Other events Marion.
• 7:33
  Speaker 3: Yeah, we do.
• 7:34
  Speaker 3: We have a night of praise coming up where we'll have worship bands that will be performing and all kinds of things.
• 7:41
  Speaker 3: So on September the 24th, at Fellowship Bible Church, all these bands will come together, as well as a very special guest.
• 7:49
  Speaker 3: Sj Hazim will be doing spoken word or poetry, as things.
• 7:54
  Speaker 2: He's really good.
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: He's incredible.
• 7:56
  Speaker 3: And he just has such a wonderful giving heart.
• 7:58
  Speaker 3: He is kind of definitely Mr Topeka.
• 8:01
  Speaker 3: He does more promoting of what goes on here in the community and just being good citizens.
• 8:06
  Speaker 3: That it's wonderful.
• 8:08
  Speaker 3: So Topeka Bible Church, fellowship Bible Church and Grace Point will have their bands there.
• 8:13
  Speaker 3: It'll start at six o'clock and it's free to come.
• 8:18
  Speaker 3: But we are asking that people bring a can of a can or some kind of non-perishable food, as we keep talking about.
• 8:25
  Speaker 3: Food is such a huge need right now and it's just so important to be able to meet the needs of folks that are experiencing hunger.
• 8:33
  Speaker 3: So we're asking that they bring a can of food, but they can also go to our website then and register their attendance.
• 8:39
  Speaker 3: It doesn't cost anything, but that'll give us an idea how many people are coming and what we can do.
• 8:44
  Speaker 3: But we're so thankful to Fellowship Bible for helping us put this all together for TBC and Grace Point Just so many folks that are willing to step up to help, just like our guests today, step up and really help those who are struggling struggling with all kinds of things, whether it be shelter or hunger or all of the numerous things that people are going through right now.
• 9:09
  Speaker 3: We just have an incredible amount of support from the community.
• 9:12
  Speaker 2: So there's kind of a theme here about the need for food as well, which has been talked about here recently.
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: With the increase in people coming, the cost of groceries, everything, so food, it'd be great if they filled up that sanctuary at Fellowship Bible.
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: I don't know what that thing holds over 2000,.
• 9:27
  Speaker 3: I think, I think so that would be wonderful 2000 canned goods wouldn't be a bad idea?
• 9:30
  Speaker 3: No, it would not.
• 9:30
  Speaker 3: That would be incredibly helpful.
• 9:32
  Speaker 3: That's right, incredibly helpful.
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: Before we get to our guests.
• 9:35
  Speaker 2: Amanda, you wanna mention anything about some of the latest things in regards to heat and any kind of city county decisions on homelessness.
• 9:44
  Speaker 2: At this point we don't have time to unpack all of that, but you've been asked questions here recently in the media, and so just give us a brief.
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: What's going on?
• 9:54
  Speaker 4: Sure, first thing I think we tackle is heat.
• 9:57
  Speaker 4: You know, I think any of us cringe when we start to see those triple digit days.
• 10:04
  Speaker 4: So I have been blessed this week to be able to be at KSNT.
• 10:09
  Speaker 4: They asked me to come out to talk about what does that look like when we face that?
• 10:13
  Speaker 4: You know, here we have food distributions happening and we have shelter and we're feeding the community every day, and then, in addition to that, we also have to be monitoring just these inclement weather days that are not just in the cold.
• 10:26
  Speaker 4: We have to be just as concerned about people's well-beings and the heat.
• 10:30
  Speaker 4: And so one of the things that I am I tried to communicate some in the informational meetings and then now doing with media is our team is small.
• 10:37
  Speaker 4: You know, we have three and a half employees designated to our outreach team.
• 10:42
  Speaker 4: We have to have at least two people to form a team.
• 10:45
  Speaker 4: So if you look at that, that's already just maybe one team going out.
• 10:49
  Speaker 4: So then we depend on volunteers, and particularly male volunteers, to help us, because we have more females on that team than males.
• 10:58
  Speaker 4: But when we do that, we're able to create teams and we monitor the weather for about a week in advance, and so our team meets on Fridays and then we plan everything that we're gonna do that following week.
• 11:09
  Speaker 4: It's very systematic.
• 11:11
  Speaker 4: We plan down to who's going where, what volunteers or which which person, down to what resources we're gonna give out.
• 11:21
  Speaker 4: We have been giving out different types of fruit, we've been giving out Gatorade, water, propel packets, trying to keep people's electrolytes up, and then what that team does is they provide me an outreach recap every day.
• 11:36
  Speaker 4: So the day that they get done with their outreaches and that list, who did they outreach, what resources were given, concerns that they had, and so then what happens with that is a debrief, and so then the team makes a focus of who are we gonna visit the next day or the following day when we go back out.
• 11:54
  Speaker 4: And usually the people that are on top on that priority list are people that maybe we were worried about physically, maybe they weren't looking too great, or we know that they have other physical ailments and the heat is hard on any of us, much less when you have that.
• 12:08
  Speaker 4: So those people become kind of to the front.
• 12:11
  Speaker 4: The other ones are ones that maybe we didn't engage with and we normally would.
• 12:15
  Speaker 4: So we're concerned like why weren't they at their campsite, are they okay?
• 12:20
  Speaker 4: Are they looking for resources, that kind of thing?
• 12:22
  Speaker 4: And so our team.
• 12:26
  Speaker 4: It's just incredible, and here lately I have been very passionate about communicating what our outreach team does and what they shouldn't be required to do, because there's lots of opinions out here in the city in the county there's a couple and I'm fielding those and sometimes it is hard and I need people to know that we have lots of unsheltered on the streets and I have three and a half people to serve that, and so we're doing what we can.
• 12:58
  Speaker 4: We've got systems in place.
• 12:59
  Speaker 4: It's very organized, it's with a lot of heart.
• 13:03
  Speaker 4: It's not just about giving out resources.
• 13:05
  Speaker 4: When we're also doing that, we're asking them how they are, what they're struggling with.
• 13:10
  Speaker 4: We're checking on where they're at on the EAS list.
• 13:13
  Speaker 4: We're checking with did they get their ID?
• 13:15
  Speaker 4: All of these kinds of things as we're passing out the Gatorades and stuff.
• 13:20
  Speaker 4: And so the team is incredible.
• 13:23
  Speaker 4: We have had a few instances where we were worried about someone being close to dehydration and so the team did finish their outreach, circled back around to that one or two camps.
• 13:33
  Speaker 4: By that the person there were two different people were feeling better, more alert, and so far we have not had to do any AMR calls or anything like that these last two heat waves.
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: It's extremely important to be out there and in this real.
• 13:48
  Speaker 2: Briefly, some different decisions are in the process and the works both on the county and the city.
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: It's a little complicated right now to know what's being decided, but what can you say that your understanding is and what's to pick a rescue mission's role in any of this?
• 14:04
  Speaker 4: Sure, I think my first reaction with what the city and the county are trying to do is one with gratitude.
• 14:12
  Speaker 4: I just appreciate that they're in the game, that they realize that this is a community concern, that is not the sole responsibility of the local homeless shelter, and so I appreciate them looking at what can they do, what should they not do, timing and not just kind of making knee-jerk reactions and decisions.
• 14:31
  Speaker 4: I do have some questions on, like when is this starting?
• 14:37
  Speaker 4: How's it going to be enforced?
• 14:39
  Speaker 4: What is our role in that?
• 14:40
  Speaker 4: Because, typically, for at least the last 12 months or so, we have worked pretty closely with the city, particularly Topeka Police Department's CIT, on helping if there was an ordinance or something that was enforced, because we have the relationship, and so we were able to really bless that.
• 14:59
  Speaker 4: I am excited and looking forward to how the county is going to utilize us with that, and we want to make sure we want to be helpful with that.
• 15:08
  Speaker 4: So we are not an objection to strengthening ordinances and making our community safer, making our community look better.
• 15:16
  Speaker 4: This is a place where we live, and we want it healthy.
• 15:19
  Speaker 4: What we do need, though, is what our role is on that, and the Topeka Rescue Mission is not in the role of being government.
• 15:28
  Speaker 4: We're in the role of caring for people and looking at people with dignity and caring.
• 15:33
  Speaker 4: And what I think is important right now is there's so many supporters and we're blessed by that, but there's some naysayers right now, and the naysayers want to make that there's this line that the Topeka Rescue Mission only operates out of compassion and we have no accountability and we enable and we do all of this and that's just not accurate.
• 15:55
  Speaker 4: And so, regardless if it's the city or the county, and regardless of what they're doing, our role is to try to serve them the best we can to understand what they're doing.
• 16:07
  Speaker 4: But then we also want to have the relationships with the people and we want to, whatever impacts the people that are on the streets, we are ready to then connect them to resources, to try to advocate for what their needs are, to connect them to that, but then also be a part of not the enforcing but the explaining to people why this is being done and try to show them that.
• 16:33
  Speaker 4: And so it's.
• 16:36
  Speaker 2: So we're talking about some government actions in regards to banning camping, and so it's complicated, as we would have guessed it would have already been solved by now if it was really easy.
• 16:47
  Speaker 2: It's not easy.
• 16:48
  Speaker 2: The whole nation is really challenged right now with this increase in homelessness, including everything in Kansas and Topeka Kansas as well.
• 16:55
  Speaker 2: So more to come on that.
• 16:57
  Speaker 2: But that you're working with, and the mission is working with, other entities in the community, including government to try to say okay, what's the best way to do this?
• 17:05
  Speaker 2: Compassionately, for sure, but also to help people to move into a different situation.
• 17:10
  Speaker 2: Sometimes there has to be ordinances to help that along, so it's complicated.
• 17:14
  Speaker 2: It is yeah.
• 17:15
  Speaker 2: Well, we're going to segue into our guess now and want to do that by giving you both just an opportunity to talk about what you've learned about trauma, that understanding that people have, that people generally, anybody who's gone through anything difficult in life.
• 17:33
  Speaker 2: They experienced different kinds of trauma.
• 17:35
  Speaker 2: There is some incredible science and research now in what it does to the brain.
• 17:41
  Speaker 2: There's something called the ACE scores adverse childhood experiences which was conducted nationally a number of years ago, and they had 10 questions of things that happened to you when you were a child, and if you scored I believe it was six or more than four, or more okay, then you had a significant chance of having some adverse effects from that.
• 18:08
  Speaker 2: Our outreach teams or our trauma team, miriam, that you have overseen did some research in regards to people in shelter and outside of shelter, and there was a difference between the national and who people experiencing homeless of nearly 500% increase.
• 18:24
  Speaker 2: And so the trauma team, miriam, cast a vision with you and me here a while back Could we take a look at our facilities and make them more trauma friendly?
• 18:40
  Speaker 2: Not that they aren't functional, but could they be done in a different way to when people come in, that they are feeling less institutionalized and more understanding of what they're experiencing.
• 18:55
  Speaker 3: So briefly speak to that and then we want to get to our kids, sure, and it is true, there are all kinds of things that trigger people right, and folks that are coming into our shelter have experienced lots of trauma, both as children and as adults, because obviously, if you're living in homelessness or you're being trafficked or you're being involved in an abusive relationship, you are continuing to experience trauma, and so there are so many things that can trigger negative responses in folks, and some of that is just how a facility looks, and so it was really the goal of Courtney and Cody to say, okay, we can do better.
• 19:37
  Speaker 3: And what if we could make the walls not look so institutional?
• 19:41
  Speaker 3: And what if we could warm up different kinds of things?
• 19:44
  Speaker 3: What if we could have different colors in the rooms that people stay in?
• 19:48
  Speaker 3: And so they just they did a lot of research in terms of what colors might be best, and then we started to think about okay, how are we going to actually do this?
• 19:58
  Speaker 3: How are we going to make it so people aren't triggered by just walking into our facility because of how it looks, not that it was not clean and all of that kind of stuff, but that it just looked very Tile floors, white walls blue trim.
• 20:13
  Speaker 2: Oh yeah, and blue trim.
• 20:14
  Speaker 2: Hey, I want to tell you what, 23 years ago, that was Taj Mahal.
• 20:17
  Speaker 3: Well, and you know, let me tell you those blue stripes.
• 20:22
  Speaker 3: I don't have good feelings about those blue stripes and we can talk more about that when we get into it.
• 20:28
  Speaker 4: But why we're trying to paint them, oh my goodness yeah.
• 20:32
  Speaker 3: Anyway, I'm diverted a little bit here.
• 20:35
  Speaker 3: So anyway so, no, so.
• 20:37
  Speaker 3: It was really wonderful, but then we had this incredible opportunity presented self to us.
• 20:42
  Speaker 2: What was that?
• 20:43
  Speaker 3: Well, we had the opportunity to apply for a grant through Federal Home Loan Bank against other folks it wasn't just us alone, right and really present our case on what we would like to do, because I'll let them talk about why this is important to them.
• 21:00
  Speaker 3: But we were awarded that grant.
• 21:04
  Speaker 2: It was a very close margin like, I think, one or two votes that we succeeded on being awarded this grant and after what they've done here, they probably liked it gone the other way, because I think their bodies have experienced a little trauma themselves.
• 21:20
  Speaker 3: I'm pretty sure they walked into that facility and went.
• 21:23
  Speaker 3: Oh no, we should have a recount.
• 21:27
  Speaker 4: And Barry, I think it's important to know you know you kind of touched on this, but I think to set the foundation before we dive into what we did, we're so blessed for this building and so it has served such an important purpose.
• 21:40
  Speaker 4: Talk about the Hope Center for Women and Families.
• 21:41
  Speaker 4: Yes, and so when we talk about these renovations that we made, you know, we do it also humbly, standing on the shoulders of you and other leadership and the donors and the prayer warriors and everybody that made that building come to fruition.
• 21:58
  Speaker 4: You know, I mean, people kind of mocked you a little bit of like no, this isn't going to happen, and they kind of did that when you needed to rebuild the first building.
• 22:06
  Speaker 4: And so what happens, though, is, over time, you know better, you do better, and so there was a time because, we have to remember, this was in the early 2000s, and so these color schemes or the tile, all of that, that was all functional and it was what we needed, and so you know, I just want to thank everybody, because we still have a lot of people out there that their names are above the doorways, and things that they invested.
• 22:31
  Speaker 4: Yes, and we don't forget that.
• 22:33
  Speaker 4: But now, when we know that the tile triggers and we know that the concrete blocks, that there are women particularly I've spoken to about four myself personally that have said they felt safer with who their perpetrator was whether it was domestic violence, human trafficking then what they did, coming in there because it reminded them of a time where they were hospitalized for trauma and mental illness.
• 23:01
  Speaker 4: And then I've had two women say that it also reminded them of being in jail, and so they end up going back to an unsafe environment because of the triggers.
• 23:11
  Speaker 4: So that's really part of this too, is it served its purpose and it did great.
• 23:17
  Speaker 4: Now we need to do this.
• 23:19
  Speaker 4: And then it makes me laugh too, because you and I joke a lot of times about 30 years from now when It'll change.
• 23:24
  Speaker 4: When you're pushing yeah, when you're in your 90s, remember and I'm gonna be pushing you and I'm in my 60s, and then I'm training the person like you've done me.
• 23:31
  Speaker 4: But there's gonna be a time where what we're doing right now, 25 years from now, there's gonna be people saying, hey, we can know better, we do better, so it's just incredible Understanding technology.
• 23:42
  Speaker 2: materials are sort of different.
• 23:43
  Speaker 4: We didn't have all those things back then In the old days so a whole 23 years ago With the metal slinkies With the metal slinkies.
• 23:49
  Speaker 2: That's right, that, well, those are some things that we're at, unless you leave them in the rain.
• 23:51
  Speaker 2: Federal Home Loan Bank is a great partner in our community, has been in the community for a number of years.
• 23:57
  Speaker 2: We have Troy McMaster and Taylor Kimmel here today who are on the committee to actually break your bodies right.
• 24:04
  Speaker 2: And so, guys, welcome to our community, our mission.
• 24:07
  Speaker 2: You've been very patient while we got caught up on some updates here.
• 24:09
  Speaker 2: Fine, so, troy or Taylor, you guys receive applications every year to not only financially invest in the community, but also to get your team at Federal Home Loan Bank out in the community to put hands and feet to whatever project is needed.
• 24:27
  Speaker 2: We wanna get to what you did with the, what you're doing currently with Topeka Rescue Mission, but what are some of the projects that Federal Home Loan Bank has done historically and why?
• 24:40
  Speaker 6: Well, one of the big things for our bank is to be involved with the community and this is kind of one of our outreach programs that we do.
• 24:47
  Speaker 6: We do two-year partnerships with the organization that we choose, and the way we do it is in basically December of every two years we send out proposals to all the nonprofit housing organizations in the city of Topeka or Shawnee County and then they send their ideas in of what they wanna do and we, as a committee that's made up of about 20 people, we go through all those and we, you know we'd the ones down that we think would work and don't work.
• 25:21
  Speaker 6: And then we bring two, three, four people of these organizations in and they make a presentation to the entire bank.
• 25:31
  Speaker 6: From that then the bank votes to see who it's gonna be and it becomes a two-year project.
• 25:40
  Speaker 2: And last year, half of it this year and half of the next year, kind of thing.
• 25:43
  Speaker 2: Yes, yes.
• 25:44
  Speaker 6: And the reason that we used to do one-year projects and what we found was, oh, probably eight years ago, that there's such a need and there's so many things that need to be done that we couldn't cover it all in one year.
• 25:58
  Speaker 6: So by giving it a two-year project, it really helped.
• 26:03
  Speaker 6: Yeah, and we, when we did one year, we felt like we left and there was still a lot of needs to be done.
• 26:10
  Speaker 6: So after two years we feel like when we leave something it's pretty complete yeah.
• 26:17
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, troy or Taylor, what appealed to your committee about this particular project?
• 26:23
  Speaker 2: To come into a building and to make it more what we call trauma friendly?
• 26:29
  Speaker 2: What did you guys understand what that was about before you had the presentation by Topeka Rescue Mission and, if so, what kind of tip the scales on?
• 26:39
  Speaker 2: Let's do this one.
• 26:42
  Speaker 5: Well, what I think is nice about this committee specifically is that we always work with organizations that have a housing component, so, and what's nice about that is that fits our mission as what we do at FHL Bank.
• 26:55
  Speaker 5: So the housing component obviously stood out to us with this one and just the absolute need that's out there.
• 27:00
  Speaker 5: There's just so many people that are looking for shelter or looking for someplace that they can go to help on their road to recovery, and I think that spoke to me.
• 27:10
  Speaker 2: So FHL Bank has been in Topeka?
• 27:13
  Speaker 2: How many years would you say?
• 27:15
  Speaker 5: 1932.
• 27:16
  Speaker 5: 19, in Topeka since 1932.
• 27:18
  Speaker 5: We are working 100.
• 27:19
  Speaker 2: It's not your typical bank, though, is it?
• 27:21
  Speaker 2: It's not like where's the drive-through?
• 27:23
  Speaker 2: Let's go up and make a deposit with a draw.
• 27:25
  Speaker 2: What is the function of this thing called FHL Bank?
• 27:27
  Speaker 2: I learned this a number of years ago, but I was like, really, that's kind of big deal.
• 27:33
  Speaker 5: Sure, the easy definition is we are a bank for other banks and credit unions.
• 27:38
  Speaker 5: The longer version, I guess, would be that we partner with our member financial institutions to be a source of liquidity and then also build communities through affordable housing and economic development.
• 27:51
  Speaker 2: So I was in a room years ago at the older facility and there were some machines going off in there and these were transactions that were going on with other banks and the billions of dollars in one day that come through the Federal Homeland Bank.
• 28:04
  Speaker 2: I guess there's not very many of them in the country, if I understand that correctly.
• 28:07
  Speaker 5: Oh nope, not very many.
• 28:08
  Speaker 5: We're lucky to have one here.
• 28:10
  Speaker 2: Yeah, there's 11 throughout the country, 11 the whole country to peak a Kansas house.
• 28:14
  Speaker 2: How many employees do you have?
• 28:16
  Speaker 5: 266,.
• 28:17
  Speaker 2: I just learned that this week Okay all right, that's incredible and many different functions.
• 28:21
  Speaker 2: And so, with that 266, how do you get the word out for people to not only this is the project we're gonna do this year or two years, but we want you to help.
• 28:31
  Speaker 2: How's that word get out?
• 28:32
  Speaker 2: And is it like, if you want to keep your job, you're gonna help, or we're looking for people who don't have anything better to do, or how's that work to get?
• 28:41
  Speaker 2: And how many volunteers helped out on?
• 28:44
  Speaker 2: And we're gonna talk about the renovations how many volunteers on this project this time?
• 28:48
  Speaker 6: Well, I think the first way is we communicate.
• 28:52
  Speaker 6: It's through.
• 28:52
  Speaker 6: We have kind of an in-house communications.
• 28:54
  Speaker 6: We caught the gateway and we blast people out on that thing, letting them know everything that's going on.
• 29:00
  Speaker 6: The other thing that we do is to raise money for this event.
• 29:05
  Speaker 6: We have three fundraisers a year.
• 29:07
  Speaker 6: We have a in the spring.
• 29:09
  Speaker 6: We have a kind of a barbecue kickoff the work day.
• 29:14
  Speaker 6: We have a week where we have a taco salad lunch and then at the end of the year my favorite is a soup and chili cookoff.
• 29:21
  Speaker 2: So you don't just extract money out of the other banks for this, you actually raise it yourself.
• 29:25
  Speaker 2: So no.
• 29:27
  Speaker 6: So what happens is our organization, the bank.
• 29:29
  Speaker 6: We put in between 15,000, this year we actually upped it, so it's 17,000, five and then we raise from our employees about another 5,000 for it.
• 29:42
  Speaker 2: So yeah, so this is really investment by the employees, both in sweat equity as well as financial.
• 29:48
  Speaker 6: Yeah and then.
• 29:49
  Speaker 6: So the final piece of this is we try to get all the volunteers we can and I think us on the committee we're always begging people come help, come do this, and we have a lot of the same people that come every year, which is cool, but we try to also get the new people that are joining the bank to get involved, and that's the tough part of it, but we get there, yeah, I think it also really helps that we are lucky to have such a great leadership team and you guys I mean they were all out there on Friday helping and so when you see that leadership right there, you really kind of are encouraged to get involved and you want to be a part of it.
• 30:28
  Speaker 5: And I think the free t-shirt helps too.
• 30:30
  Speaker 2: Everybody wants a t-shirt, right?
• 30:32
  Speaker 2: So talk about what this project, what you did.
• 30:35
  Speaker 2: Obviously you raised the funds to be able to buy materials right and coming into the Hope Center.
• 30:41
  Speaker 2: What did you do?
• 30:41
  Speaker 2: And then, how many people did this kind of take?
• 30:43
  Speaker 2: And I'm gonna guess you either recruited some people for next time or next time you're not gonna get them to return your call because of the pain and suffering that you went through.
• 30:52
  Speaker 6: Well, so it all starts, and we planned this for a long time.
• 30:56
  Speaker 6: I mean, it wasn't like we did this in a week.
• 30:58
  Speaker 6: I mean, we started in February after they got awarded the grant, we started planning this.
• 31:04
  Speaker 6: So the big thing was Courtney had she had the colors, she had the you know, the flooring, that she Kind of a detail gal, yeah.
• 31:15
  Speaker 6: Yeah.
• 31:16
  Speaker 6: Well, she's been great to work with and it wouldn't happen without her.
• 31:19
  Speaker 6: It's too bad she couldn't be here today, but after this project she thought she needed a vacation and I think she probably did.
• 31:27
  Speaker 4: And to celebrate her birthday, so she's taken some time off, yeah yeah, yeah, so, yeah.
• 31:33
  Speaker 6: So we, basically, you know, we started planning with the flooring and we got it ordered to make sure it was in here.
• 31:38
  Speaker 6: And then we, you know, and that should we go out as a committee or I do, and we hit.
• 31:45
  Speaker 6: You know, when it came to flooring, I went to every carpet place in this town to see who'd give us the best deal, cause I'm looking for the best deal and I went to a bunch of paint stores to get the best deal.
• 31:56
  Speaker 6: So we, you know, we, we try to do it on a thin budget, as we can do, to get the biggest bang for the buck.
• 32:04
  Speaker 6: And then, you know, then it was such a big flooring job this year cause we're talking over seven, you know, 7,000 square foot of violin plank flooring we put down in this facility.
• 32:16
  Speaker 2: So so this is like over laying over a trauma friendly floor.
• 32:22
  Speaker 6: Yes.
• 32:23
  Speaker 2: If that makes sense, you'd really have to see it to understand it over tile, yeah, okay.
• 32:27
  Speaker 6: You know, I equated it to it's the tile you see in a hospital.
• 32:30
  Speaker 6: That's the tile you see in grade schools.
• 32:32
  Speaker 6: It's the tile.
• 32:34
  Speaker 2: You know those types of things, and one of the reasons they do that is for hygienic.
• 32:36
  Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, because a homeless, shelter or a hospital, whatever you got to keep the thing clean, cause diseases can go really fast.
• 32:41
  Speaker 2: So is this particular flooring that you put down, is the technology made it so it can look good and be safe?
• 32:48
  Speaker 6: It's got a 20 year warranty, so I hope so, but you know, if you?
• 32:53
  Speaker 6: I hate to say this, but it's the flooring they're using in bars and restaurants and Dennis's office and the hospital.
• 33:01
  Speaker 6: It's durable.
• 33:02
  Speaker 4: And the other part of it is Courtney.
• 33:04
  Speaker 4: I love how she describes it, because she talks about the power of nature and that she has talked to us about how, even just going outside, if you can be barefoot, sometimes in the grass or the dirt, and that there is truly ways that that then rebalances the neurotransmitters in your brain, and so we can't put dirt and grass inside, right.
• 33:28
  Speaker 4: So the next best thing it comes in.
• 33:30
  Speaker 2: Anyway, it does come in.
• 33:31
  Speaker 4: But the next best thing is to go for that very nature, natural look, and so she was so intentional with everything.
• 33:40
  Speaker 4: It is not just the detail, she was trying to also replicate what it does in regards to being a response to trauma.
• 33:49
  Speaker 4: And when they started showing pictures before I could get out there I'm not joking, miriam and I had just finished talking, miriam said, oh my goodness, amanda, we're getting pictures, you've got to see this.
• 34:00
  Speaker 4: We walked out in the hallway and then I just sat there and started to cry and Miriam waited on me for about 30 seconds for me to get my stuff together and I just said you know just the intentionality, not just from Courtney and Cody.
• 34:13
  Speaker 4: But then you've got Marcus, our director of facilities, who is taking care of six facilities and a normal load and all of these things that are on his load and then taking on a project like this so that he can be doing everything Troy needs him to do and Courtney needs him to do.
• 34:29
  Speaker 4: There's so many people.
• 34:30
  Speaker 4: And so when Miriam showed me the photos, just seeing the flooring and that's all I had seen you can see the heart of what we're trying to do and just this natural look and it is so homey and when we call people guests, that's really what we mean.
• 34:48
  Speaker 4: We're inviting them into this space.
• 34:50
  Speaker 4: That does not belong to us.
• 34:51
  Speaker 4: It belongs to the Lord and we can only imagine how he wants his people to feel.
• 34:57
  Speaker 4: And we've done that and we've executed that now through paint and flooring and trim.
• 35:02
  Speaker 2: And Courtney began to learn about environmental triggers and trauma.
• 35:06
  Speaker 2: She had this great idea let's tear down the center and build it new.
• 35:10
  Speaker 4: And I said that's not going to happen.
• 35:15
  Speaker 2: It's got a good building, it's got good bones in it.
• 35:17
  Speaker 2: So you guys laid this incredible amount of flooring down, you came in with different colors in the rooms and repainted and so you've got all of one floor down.
• 35:27
  Speaker 2: There's two stories here, so is next year round two?
• 35:30
  Speaker 2: Yep, you say that was such a good idea.
• 35:35
  Speaker 6: Well, we're not quite done with this year yet.
• 35:37
  Speaker 6: But yes, next year is it is going to be done next year.
• 35:43
  Speaker 6: This was hard work.
• 35:44
  Speaker 6: It was.
• 35:44
  Speaker 6: It was one of the biggest projects.
• 35:47
  Speaker 6: There's only, I think, one other project that I equate to that we've done this size.
• 35:52
  Speaker 6: That was we painted 12 houses in one Saturday.
• 35:56
  Speaker 3: Oh goodness.
• 35:57
  Speaker 6: They were all branches but still.
• 35:58
  Speaker 6: But this was probably the biggest one we've ever done.
• 36:01
  Speaker 6: There was a lot of good that happened.
• 36:05
  Speaker 6: There were some things that kind of didn't go as planned, but in a project of this scale, we know that's going to happen and I think there's a lot of lessons learned that we can do it better next year, make it more efficient.
• 36:16
  Speaker 6: But what we did in two days is phenomenal.
• 36:22
  Speaker 6: Yeah, crazy.
• 36:22
  Speaker 6: An army, right?
• 36:23
  Speaker 6: Oh well, I think on Friday we had 60, some people there volunteering.
• 36:28
  Speaker 6: That's an army on a structure project as I like to say it was, there was a bunch of ants there, because they were just all over.
• 36:34
  Speaker 6: Yes, now those ants got in the paint.
• 36:37
  Speaker 6: But it happens, yeah, paint on the ants, right, yeah, and then in Saturday we were, I think we were about 45.
• 36:44
  Speaker 4: So we were down, that's incredible and you know, the other thing that I thought was neat Maryam and I were I think maybe were the naughty kids because they put us over in one of the rooms in the corner and locked the door and locked the door so we could get out.
• 36:58
  Speaker 3: No, but we did that.
• 37:00
  Speaker 4: But I was.
• 37:00
  Speaker 4: I was also trying to like every hour in between news, interviews and stuff, I was also just trying to make my rounds to everybody that were either working in the dorm rooms or the hallways to just like express my appreciation.
• 37:12
  Speaker 4: But one thing that I thought was incredible is you would walk next to one room and you would hear country music, and you'd walk through the next room and you'd hear jazz music.
• 37:21
  Speaker 4: You'd walk into the next room and you would hear Christian music.
• 37:25
  Speaker 4: And there was this moment that and y'all know I'm a shiso, just give me 30 seconds here but I just stood at the corner and I thought no one is talking about division, no one is being ugly, no one is talking about hateful things, no one.
• 37:46
  Speaker 4: And there is no way that we were all believers of religion.
• 37:51
  Speaker 4: There's no way we all vote the same, there's no way that we all eat the same, there's no way that we all listen to the same music.
• 37:59
  Speaker 4: Yet we had 60 to 75 people in close quarters, everybody trying to do their own job, people getting in their way of their own job, these people needing this, and it was genuine.
• 38:12
  Speaker 4: There were smiles, there were laughter, there was teasing, there were people that were making messes and didn't realize it and someone would come behind and try to clean it up and gracefully, I mean, it was just beautiful and I'm not joking Right behind one of the family dorms.
• 38:26
  Speaker 4: I just sat there and I just got choked up and I went into the room by myself and looked out the window and I just thought, not only am I grateful for the work that's being done, but God, please just bring this type of unity and this type of partnership and just kindness and everybody caring about what really matters and not caring about stuff that doesn't.
• 38:47
  Speaker 4: Can you just bring that to the streets?
• 38:49
  Speaker 4: And as I looked out that side window, I just thought this is beautiful and I hope that, in addition to the sore muscles and all the tiredness that we were all going to be experiencing, that we do remember like we were really a part of something that's beautiful and then, when we all go our separate ways, to remember, to extend that respect, that kindness and the joy and the fun, regardless of our differences.
• 39:13
  Speaker 2: Well said, taylor.
• 39:14
  Speaker 2: Troy, have you been able to get a glimpse of the impact that you think this is going to make on people who have been in so many ways forgotten, people that don't feel like anybody cares about them anymore, to be able to come into this revised, remodeled, trauma friendly area?
• 39:35
  Speaker 2: What does that mean?
• 39:37
  Speaker 2: You know the rescue mission works in this field every single day.
• 39:40
  Speaker 2: You guys have stepped into this world.
• 39:42
  Speaker 2: You're going to step back out here pretty soon.
• 39:45
  Speaker 2: What's your anticipation of what you're going to feel?
• 39:49
  Speaker 2: And it's hard to know about the impact that you may have by doing this Go ahead Taylor.
• 39:55
  Speaker 5: I'm not sure it's something that I can even fully grasp, maybe yet, or maybe at all.
• 40:00
  Speaker 5: I think it means a lot to me and I know it means a lot to the bank, just to be able to support something here locally, be a part of this.
• 40:09
  Speaker 5: Well, I think I said earlier, this road to recovery for people, that trauma informed design, specifically spoke to me.
• 40:15
  Speaker 5: You know, just because you don't want people to feel like they're in jail or in any kind of institution, hospital, you want it to feel like home, and so these colors that we added and the natural elements, that's how you decorate your house.
• 40:27
  Speaker 5: So I think that's really nice to have that here for them.
• 40:31
  Speaker 6: Yeah, yeah.
• 40:33
  Speaker 6: I would piggyback that with saying I hope this feels like home for people that need a home and doesn't feel institutionalized as the word we've used a lot today.
• 40:44
  Speaker 6: But welcome you want, place you want to be.
• 40:49
  Speaker 6: You know, not place you're stuck.
• 40:51
  Speaker 6: Yeah, yeah.
• 40:54
  Speaker 3: And you know, I wish, and you all were moving so fast both of those days.
• 40:57
  Speaker 3: I wish you could have seen the faces of people as they look through the window watching the transformation that was happening.
• 41:04
  Speaker 3: Because it was, it was precious, you know, because they knew that you all were doing it for them, right, and I think they truly felt that that this wasn't just an imposition, that they couldn't walk into that room, right, they were watching it because they knew something wonderful was happening and that they were the reason for that.
• 41:23
  Speaker 3: So to be able to, for me to be able to have looked out and seen people's faces as they watched all the work that was going on, was was precious.
• 41:33
  Speaker 2: There's an understood frustration in the country right now, and even in our own community, with a growing, unsheltered homeless population, and those frustrations are, you know, sometimes they personally affect where you live or what you see, or trash, or whatever the case might be.
• 41:49
  Speaker 2: So there's a tendency to want it just to go away, and so to go away means just some people just put them somewhere.
• 41:57
  Speaker 2: I've heard this so many times over the years.
• 42:00
  Speaker 2: The creation of Hope Center was a Need out of increased women and kids who were birthing up in our own community to come here, have a place to come, and, and and we haven't said this yet the very first project that was done at Hope Center was federal home loan bank to create all the furniture, the couches, the chairs, the tables, the Even the woodwork had the rescue missions logo personally put in.
• 42:31
  Speaker 2: It was a partnership between one of the bank, other banks here in Topeka and you guys, and and and building all those things.
• 42:37
  Speaker 2: That was 23 years ago, and here you are again today Going to the next level, and I think what you've done Not only is very practically helpful, but you've also brought an awareness to the community About the value of all of our citizens by saying we're not just creating more housing here, we're creating quality housing here.
• 42:58
  Speaker 2: What we're doing is we are trying to understand the suffering of people and how we can do better.
• 43:05
  Speaker 2: And it's not just about heads-on beds, it's not just about getting them off the streets.
• 43:10
  Speaker 2: It's about how do we help that person that we maybe don't understand very well while they're on the streets in the first place and Trying to get an understanding what happened to you, that you are seen, you are heard, you are valued and we're going to do something very impactful here together, best that we can to understand.
• 43:27
  Speaker 2: This is where you are right now, to be able to help you to maybe haven't done their opportunity in life.
• 43:34
  Speaker 2: I hope you guys understand this is big, it really is it's not only big for what's what you've done and as soon as the sore muscles aren't sore anymore, which may be a long time, but Don't forget the impact that you've made here it's.
• 43:49
  Speaker 2: It's more than just some new floors and some new paint.
• 43:53
  Speaker 6: Oh yeah, it's big.
• 43:54
  Speaker 6: It'll impact this.
• 43:56
  Speaker 6: You know 23 years that hopefully will go for 23 more yeah absolutely.
• 44:00
  Speaker 2: Well, you got a 20 year warning on the floor, yeah we're good, you're gonna keep.
• 44:02
  Speaker 2: Anything happens to anything else you guys would like to add to this.
• 44:08
  Speaker 6: It's.
• 44:08
  Speaker 6: You know it's been a big project, but it's been a fun project and I think it's a project that and I said this earlier it opens the eyes to our employees Of things they don't see on a daily basis, and I think that's one of the reasons we get our employees involved.
• 44:25
  Speaker 6: This and this is why our management wants our employees so they see, yeah, all sides of everything.
• 44:31
  Speaker 6: And I think the other thing that we haven't said is we're really trying to dress this, but it could, with today's society and with way inflation is going, it's probably gonna get worse.
• 44:44
  Speaker 2: Unfortunately it is.
• 44:45
  Speaker 2: Yeah, troy Taylor, representatives of the federal home loan bank here in Topeka, thank you for what you've done for our community, for the Topeka rescue mission and, most importantly, for those who are suffering at this time in their life.
• 44:59
  Speaker 2: I want you to take this back with you to your leadership.
• 45:03
  Speaker 2: Is you're gonna hear going forward?
• 45:05
  Speaker 2: There's gonna be a mom or a dad or some kids that said I was helped by the Topeka rescue mission and you will know that they stayed in that building and you will know that you are a part of that, and so this is not a one-and-done.
• 45:17
  Speaker 2: Obviously, come back next year to the second floor.
• 45:21
  Speaker 2: But this is not a one-and-done.
• 45:22
  Speaker 2: This is impactful for life change and transformation, and this may sound like an insignificant part to you who are listening, but those of you who are listening, if you really understand the value of this, it's not insignificant at all.
• 45:32
  Speaker 2: So thank you for that, amanda.
• 45:34
  Speaker 4: Last word Mm-hmm, I'm gonna put you on the spot.
• 45:37
  Speaker 4: Mm-hmm yeah so you know we've started kind of communicating more and more that you're no longer at the Topeka rescue mission.
• 45:45
  Speaker 4: You're doing your nostalgic right, but you are.
• 45:54
  Speaker 4: You're still my advisor, you're still my mentor, those kinds of things.
• 45:57
  Speaker 4: What does this mean to you, for someone who served as the executive director for 36 years and someone who was here when you did the groundbreaking and Someone who fought through all the many opinions on should we do this?
• 46:15
  Speaker 4: Should we serve people well, should we not?
• 46:17
  Speaker 4: When you see you, you've passed the baton, but all of this the community partners are still working, the leadership, all of that Still happening what do you think about it when you walk in or you drive by?
• 46:30
  Speaker 2: Okay, thank you for listening to our.
• 46:34
  Speaker 4: I've already cried, so we're just gonna put him on the spot.
• 46:37
  Speaker 2: No, you know, that's it's, it's.
• 46:39
  Speaker 2: There's so many different emotions when you even ask the question, but I want to say this that I heard a guy say a long time ago the hardest thing to do is keep a good thing good, and this is 70 years now the Topeka rescue mission has been in this community, and so keeping the main thing, the main thing and good is is is is hard, but if you've done that well, then you can go to that next thing, and I think that what what is happening here with our friends, with federal home loan bank and others in the community, is they're saying let's learn, let's adapt, let's make it even better, let's understand what we need to understand so that we can not just Be here for people, for a place to sleep and something to eat, but let's be here in a way of value and and I've seen that With so many incredible people, whether they be a donor, whether they be a volunteer, whether they be a staff member, and even the folks who have experienced the devastating effects of homelessness themselves to Just to get to be a little part of that.
• 47:37
  Speaker 2: And so, as you guys get to be a little part of this, I've been able to be a little part of it.
• 47:41
  Speaker 2: You're being a little part of it now as director and others, because at the end of end of the day, it's really about how we treat each other, and there is a lot of noise going on right now.
• 47:51
  Speaker 2: There always has been lamanda.
• 47:54
  Speaker 2: It's just that we have a lot more capabilities with the social media stuff right now which, thankfully, I'm not on Facebook, so I probably would be a wreck if I was but but in those kind of things.
• 48:04
  Speaker 2: But I think that what we have is we still have people like are in our room with us today and the people that represent them or they represent that really did the deal, and so, yeah, I'm just, I'm very grateful to see it's still moving and it's getting better.
• 48:22
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 48:24
  Speaker 4: Good job, thanks, all right I love how you kept that short and sweet, because I know that it is.
• 48:30
  Speaker 4: No.
• 48:30
  Speaker 4: I just think that it's incredible, barry, that you know you have just let me soar as the executive director and and, and you have departed from the rescue mission and you've separated and you've done that well and that's not heard of.
• 48:46
  Speaker 4: But then I also love how you Are still so invested in our mission and the people and what we're doing, and I just don't take one day for granted For the fact that I always have you in my back pocket, and so I learned a lesson.
• 49:01
  Speaker 2: I'll pass this lesson to you, which I've said before.
• 49:04
  Speaker 2: Is is many, many years ago I think it was about 1980, 77, I think.
• 49:08
  Speaker 2: My say really good year you were born.
• 49:11
  Speaker 2: I was still a young pup and I am in the old rescue mission.
• 49:17
  Speaker 2: Nothing that we have here today it's the one eventually would fall down.
• 49:21
  Speaker 2: But I am moving stuff around and I am ripping out stuff with a hammer and a sledge hammer, remodeling it to make it better.
• 49:27
  Speaker 2: And One of the guys helping me was the former director, the first director the rescue mission, a guy named Charlie Fox.
• 49:33
  Speaker 2: And as I'm ripping this off and he's got his overalls on, he's about 70 some years old and, and all of a sudden I looked at my, said, charlie, you probably built this, didn't you, when this first started back in 1954.
• 49:44
  Speaker 2: And he goes yep, and I said I never thought about I'm tearing up what you're doing.
• 49:49
  Speaker 2: He goes it's fine, I said, are you sure?
• 49:52
  Speaker 2: He said no, barry, it's time.
• 49:54
  Speaker 2: And so I say it's time now for the next thing as well.
• 49:57
  Speaker 2: So when they're ripping your buildings up, someday.
• 50:01
  Speaker 4: I'm gonna say you got a new court, court.
• 50:02
  Speaker 2: Anything comes along.
• 50:03
  Speaker 2: You need to tear these things and start over and you're gonna go.
• 50:05
  Speaker 2: Ain't gonna happen, but here's what we can do.
• 50:07
  Speaker 2: Now we know who we can call for help.
• 50:09
  Speaker 2: So federal home loan bank.
• 50:11
  Speaker 2: That's again.
• 50:11
  Speaker 2: Thanks, guys, for being here, thanks for enjoying this journey with us and thanks for the impact that you made.
• 50:17
  Speaker 2: So thank you for listening to our community, our mission.
• 50:19
  Speaker 2: We've heard from Troy McMaster and Taylor Kimmel, representing these of the federal home loan bank, on a two-year project that they have going on at the Topeka rescue mission To make our trauma informed awareness, trauma-formed, friendly so we can help people in a much greater way at the Hope Center of the Topeka rescue mission.
• 50:36
  Speaker 2: If you would like more information about the Topeka rescue mission, you can go to TRM online or G.
• 50:41
  Speaker 2: That's TRM online or G, if you like our community, our mission.
• 50:45
  Speaker 2: You can help us get the word out by subscribing, rating or sharing it.
• 50:48
  Speaker 2: Thank you again for listening to our community, our mission.