Latest / Our Community, Our Mission / Ep #222 - Meet John Schardine

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Ep #222 - Meet John Schardine · Our Community, Our Mission

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Heavenly Father, we just are so grateful for your grace and your mercy, god, that you give us every day.
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Lord, thank you for this time, thank you for our special guest today and Lord, just partnership.
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: God, we thank you, god, for this time.
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: Thank you for our listeners and pray your blessing over it in Jesus' name Amen.
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: Hello everybody.
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: You're listening to Our Community, our Mission, a podcast of the Topeka Rescue Mission here on Wednesday May 15th 2024, episode 222.
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: Good morning, lamanda Royals.
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: Miriam Crable.
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: Good morning.
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: How are you today?
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: Oh my goodness, we've been practicing that Exactly.
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: You are synced up today.
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: We are synced up.
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: Yes, you are.
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: I love my Miriam.
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: Yeah, she's so great we have a special guest today but, like we always do on our community, our mission, we want to really draw out the most important things about the day and what this represents.
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: And, miriam, I turn to you.
• 0:53
  Speaker 3: Kick him under the table.
• 0:54
  Speaker 3: You know he makes me filter.
• 0:56
  Speaker 3: I know Beyond, beyond, being racist, somebody's got to do that job, miriam, otherwise we don't know what would happen to society if we didn't help you be filtered.
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: But anyway, maryam, this is your question today, because we have three things, at least according to Josh Turley, who is our expert Google search guy, that gives us special things to know about what's special about May 15th, and so it's national.
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: What day, maryam?
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: It's national what?
• 1:23
  Speaker 3: day, Miriam.
• 1:24
  Speaker 3: Well, actually, before I can answer that, I need you to give me your social security number and your phone number and a credit card.
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: Yes, it's 000-0000-00.
• 1:35
  Speaker 3: Oh, well, now, I know I can trust you.
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: It is.
• 1:38
  Speaker 3: National Senior Fraud Awareness Day.
• 1:40
  Speaker 3: Senior Fraud Awareness Day.
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: Yes, and use Barry's bifocals so that you can read all of those numbers.
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: I'm going to do that.
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: We have the director of the rescue mission.
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: That's still remaining the brat status.
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: So anyway, and we have a former law enforcement officer here today.
• 1:55
  Speaker 4: We do so we have to be careful with this.
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: What we do, it's National Senior Fraud Awareness Day, sure, and so, yeah, there's a lot of trouble with this, with people that are scamming older folks.
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: So sad.
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: What's older, Maryam?
• 2:10
  Speaker 3: Older than you and I.
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: That's right, absolutely, and so there's approximately $36.5 billion lost annually.
• 2:18
  Speaker 3: How horrible that breaks my heart To people who are taking advantage.
• 2:20
  Speaker 3: I know, think about that.
• 2:21
  Speaker 3: That is awful.
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: Awful To pick a rescue mission, and those that are aware of what goes on here is to try to address the needs of the vulnerable.
• 2:29
  Speaker 4: And it's not just homeless folks.
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: No, the vulnerable can be people who maybe have worked all their life, put their savings away whatever the case might be, maybe even their own social security check and people are taking advantage of them to defraud them.
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: And this got to stop.
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: It's not okay.
• 2:45
  Speaker 3: And I actually have a personal story on that with my mom.
• 2:48
  Speaker 3: My mom got a phone call from somebody that was claiming to be one of my nephews that was in Mexico with his wife, supposedly, and my mom bought it.
• 2:58
  Speaker 3: She bought it, she drove to McPherson.
• 3:00
  Speaker 3: So my mom lived in a small town in central Kansas, drove 15 miles to the nearest Walmart and I am so grateful to that Walmart customer service person that just said you don't want to do this and went so far as to call the police to say there is somebody about to be taken advantage of, and it took the police a while to convince my mom that no it was not a while to convince my mom that no, it was not.
• 3:28
  Speaker 3: But he, the police officer, was able then to convince my mom to call my brother, you know, to say you know our, my niece, my nephew and his wife in Mexico, and they're like, no, why.
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: So saved my mom from being scammed in just this way she was going to send money to help out a crisis.
• 3:42
  Speaker 3: She was in her upper eighties, so she was going to send money to help out a crisis.
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: She was in her upper 80s.
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: Oftentimes, what happens Drove at night.
• 3:47
  Speaker 3: I mean, I was furious.
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: So not at my mom.
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: I heard a radio ad here recently about families should get a code word and then ask the person on the other end what's the code?
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: And if they mess up, hang up.
• 4:00
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: So that's really good advice.
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: It really is.
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: So, on a lighter note, on this May 15th of 2024, it's another recognition day.
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: It's national what Lamanda Chocolate chip day.
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: Yeah, okay, all right.
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: So everybody knows that I love chocolate, chocolate chips, chocolate chip cookies Okay.
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: So which came first, the chicken or the egg?
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: Or, in this regard, what came first the chocolate chips for the namesake cookie or the cookie that joined the chocolate chips?
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: My guess is the chips right, you can't have a cookie without the chips name first.
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: Yeah Right, nobody knows Okay, came first.
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: Yeah Right, nobody knows Okay.
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: Actually, google says that it actually chocolate chips.
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: Actually came after the chocolate chip cookie.
• 4:52
  Speaker 3: I don't know how that's possible, but yeah, but anyway you got to ask your great, great grandmother about that one.
• 4:55
  Speaker 3: Well, you can just break up big pieces of chocolate.
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: You don't have to buy the chips.
• 5:01
  Speaker 3: Yeah, oh, bless your heart, I didn't think of that.
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: Well, I think the main thing is if you want to send chocolate chip cookies, you can do that to 600 North Kansas, because all of the staff.
• 5:12
  Speaker 3: Or 601 Northwest Harrison, or 601 Northwest.
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: Harrison or 401 Northwest Norris, like all of our staff pretty much at the Topeka Rescue Mission likes cookies.
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: Just drop them off on the sidewalk and they'll be devoured, that's exactlyoured.
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: They really will.
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: Specifically attention Josh Turley.
• 5:24
  Speaker 3: Oh yeah, that's right.
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: One more thing before we get into some important things here with our guest.
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: Today is it's national bring something to someone day.
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: Bring what.
• 5:36
  Speaker 3: Well, whatever it is Lamanda and I are expecting.
• 5:38
  Speaker 2: Beside chocolate chip cookies.
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: That's right.
• 5:40
  Speaker 3: They can bring them both they could.
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: Yeah, they go well together.
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: So bring your favorite fish day.
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: No, no, bring flowers day, flowers, yeah.
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: So just the other day we had Mother's Day, and so I thought that covered for a whole year, but apparently not.
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: Well, it would have if you would have brought flowers and cookies, but you didn't.
• 5:59
  Speaker 3: You're not my mom, sorry, okay, okay, but you did miss.
• 6:02
  Speaker 3: May Day, that's right, you're supposed to give people baskets of flowers on May Day.
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: And so it was like May Day around here, because you didn't celebrate May Day.
• 6:11
  Speaker 3: You had multiple opportunities.
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: I'm too busy working on podcasts.
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: So anyway, to our guest today.
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: And so partnerships are so important to everything that any community does.
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: Some communities homeless services have really strong partnerships and some don't.
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: Topeka does.
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: We're very, very blessed with Topeka Rescue Mission to have a great relationship with some awesome people at multiple levels in the community, including employees with the city of Topeka, and so we have John Chardine with us today, who is the property maintenance director of the city of Topeka.
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: And so we have John Chardine with us today, who is the property maintenance director of the city of Topeka, former law enforcement.
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: And welcome to our community, our mission, john.
• 6:50
  Speaker 4: Thank you very much.
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so, john, you're not a native Topekan, I am not, and so you.
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: But we love him anyways.
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: We do.
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: Well, you know, it's always good to have good people that come from other places to help us do what we do.
• 7:04
  Speaker 2: So, John, you're a Floridian.
• 7:06
  Speaker 4: I am.
• 7:06
  Speaker 4: Is that what they call it?
• 7:08
  Speaker 4: Floridian Came from Orlando, florida.
• 7:09
  Speaker 4: A Floridian.
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so is that where you were born, in Florida?
• 7:13
  Speaker 4: I was born in Cincinnati but we ended up in Florida because of my dad's work, so we lived there for about 52 years.
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: Okay Lived there for about 52 years.
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: Okay, and so you served for 26 plus years in the Orlando area on the police department there.
• 7:31
  Speaker 4: I did.
• 7:31
  Speaker 4: I was very fortunate to.
• 7:33
  Speaker 4: After college.
• 7:34
  Speaker 4: I found out what I wanted to be and I followed my dream and enrolled in the local police department's academy and I was fortunate enough to be sponsored you have to be sponsored at the time and I found that I had a natural ability to relate to people and problem solve.
• 7:58
  Speaker 4: So this was an opportunity that I took and I was very, very fortunate and happy that I had the support from my family and I was just excited to follow through with that career.
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: Well, john.
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: So I would think that in the area of property maintenance, which I think we would like for people to understand what that means, that your law enforcement background was very, very helpful in that.
• 8:25
  Speaker 4: It was so.
• 8:26
  Speaker 4: When I retired, my wife had asked me do you still want to be a police officer?
• 8:31
  Speaker 4: And I said no, I do not, because I was at the age where I felt like I couldn't contribute.
• 8:35
  Speaker 4: It's more of a younger person's role.
• 8:38
  Speaker 4: But, with that said, I still have the ability to problem solve and relate to folks and their problems.
• 8:46
  Speaker 4: So I just took my career and forwarded it here and a position opened up an inspector for property maintenance with the city and I applied for it and I was successful in getting it and I just continued that program until I became the director.
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: So how many years now in Topeka.
• 9:05
  Speaker 4: Seven years.
• 9:06
  Speaker 2: Okay, so you've been here for a significant amount of time.
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: You understand the community very well.
• 9:10
  Speaker 2: So what does property maintenance do?
• 9:12
  Speaker 2: What's the importance of it?
• 9:14
  Speaker 4: So property maintenance evaluates existing structures and properties vacant lots, buildings, houses, dwellings and we make sure that they comply with the minimum standards and those standards can be anything from lighting, ventilation to cleanliness, sanitation issues, vehicle issues.
• 9:35
  Speaker 4: Weeds are a big problem right now so we've addressed that and taken many steps to fix that.
• 9:40
  Speaker 4: The council just changed the ordinance on the weeds to fix that.
• 9:46
  Speaker 4: The council just changed the ordinance on the weeds.
• 9:47
  Speaker 4: They added three new elements.
• 9:48
  Speaker 4: So currently we're in a two-year educational program.
• 9:50
  Speaker 4: So, with these three new elements, I'm going to spend the next two years reaching out to community members NIA meetings, any type of community meeting and educate them on what the expectation is and give them two years to comply.
• 10:04
  Speaker 2: So is this department what might have been formerly called code enforcement, Correct and so kind of a softer name property maintenance and it sounds like what you're doing is you're trying to help people to understand things before you actually come in saying you're violating something that is actually what we're charged with.
• 10:23
  Speaker 4: Yeah, that's correct.
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: So what would that look like?
• 10:24
  Speaker 2: You go to neighborhood improvement associations, neighborhood meetings to educate people on this two-year window.
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: Is that to?
• 10:31
  Speaker 2: Is it a campaign for two years for education or are you going to wait a couple of years before there's some enforcements?
• 10:38
  Speaker 4: Well, both really.
• 10:39
  Speaker 4: So we're going to spend two years reaching the public, notifying the property owners if they have the violation that we're looking for, and then we're going to show them and tell them how to correct those violations, unlike the current existing ordinances that we have.
• 10:55
  Speaker 4: If we see a violation, we'll send them a notice.
• 10:58
  Speaker 4: We give them what we call due process.
• 11:00
  Speaker 4: We'll give them time to fix the issues.
• 11:03
  Speaker 4: We'll reach out to the property owners that don't have resources.
• 11:07
  Speaker 4: We'll try to give them the resources and have them reach out to different communities that are successful.
• 11:13
  Speaker 4: See how they did it and hopefully they can implement that plan.
• 11:18
  Speaker 2: So I think most of us probably recognize the importance of having things in order in any community, law enforcement being one of those, the community health and safety, and also our dwellings, our properties, because if we don't have that, things can get really out of order.
• 11:32
  Speaker 4: Absolutely.
• 11:33
  Speaker 2: And there can be safety issues, health issues for the whole community there and not just weeds.
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: but if somebody doesn't have a sewer system that's working, have a sewer system that's working.
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: I've been aware, working in the area, of people who end up losing their homes, of people who had their sewage just flushing into their basements and where, you know, after a period of time the neighbors begin to say something and next thing you know there's a pretty much destroyed home because that's correct, yeah.
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: So what are some of those, john?
• 12:03
  Speaker 2: What are some of those things that, um, that that people might not be aware of, that you encounter when you're doing property maintenance with you and your team?
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: Uh, that um are are kind of, uh, just kind of an eye opener that you know people are taking care of the property, obviously, if we see weeds, but what are some of the more extreme things that are important?
• 12:24
  Speaker 4: So what I try to educate the neighbors on is to keep an eye out for the neighborhood as a whole, and if you see a property that is stressed, there's typically something behind it.
• 12:34
  Speaker 4: Either it's a vacant property or maybe the occupants are going through some type of issue.
• 12:41
  Speaker 4: Maybe somebody lost a job, maybe somebody is sick, maybe somebody needs mental health care.
• 12:49
  Speaker 4: All that can be related to the property itself.
• 12:51
  Speaker 4: So if you see a chronic issue like tall weeds, vegetation, the house seems to be falling apart, not kept up, there's typically an underlying issue, for that and so we try to identify it, try to get them the resources.
• 13:07
  Speaker 4: It could be a mental health, could be an addiction issue, could be somebody lost a job.
• 13:11
  Speaker 4: So we're actually trying to meet these property owners halfway, give them some resources to get back on track and bring the property back into compliance because that affects the whole neighborhood.
• 13:25
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's good.
• 13:25
  Speaker 2: I don't think most people are aware of that.
• 13:27
  Speaker 2: They probably think of property maintenance coming in, they see a violation, they give people time to fix it up and if they don't, they get a fine or maybe even an eviction at some point because they can't be there.
• 13:37
  Speaker 2: But what you're saying is that these can be flags of property issues about other deeper, underlying challenges that people have.
• 13:46
  Speaker 2: And so if you encounter a situation where it's obviously has to be addressed, with a piece of property but somebody is suffering from chronic mental illness, maybe physical disability, maybe the elderly, so where does it go from there?
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: Where do you then run it to?
• 14:08
  Speaker 4: So, depending upon what type of violation it is, if it's a health concern, we want to address it immediately.
• 14:14
  Speaker 4: We want to bring it to their attention why they need to bring the property into compliance.
• 14:18
  Speaker 4: How can we get them help?
• 14:19
  Speaker 4: Because we also have resources.
• 14:21
  Speaker 4: We'll reach out to the police department, behavioral health I think there are three or four officers involved in that directly and we get them involved.
• 14:30
  Speaker 4: We get them to reach out to the occupants, get them the assistance they need to make progress, to move forward to bring the property into compliance.
• 14:38
  Speaker 4: And, most importantly, we're people first.
• 14:40
  Speaker 4: That's what we think of.
• 14:42
  Speaker 4: So we want to make sure that people are taken care of.
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: So behavioral health might check on them Absolutely, and then what would be some potential for that individual or even a family that might be able to get help?
• 14:55
  Speaker 4: So the city has multiple grants available to property owners.
• 15:00
  Speaker 4: Some of them are even renters.
• 15:02
  Speaker 4: So if the property owner is willing to sign up for a grant, as long as they have that house occupied by an LMI family like low to middle income there's grants available for that.
• 15:15
  Speaker 4: There's probably 15 or 20 different grants available for these folks and they have to reach out to housing services.
• 15:24
  Speaker 4: We give that information in time of the inspection.
• 15:27
  Speaker 4: We also give information about retaliatory actions or evictions because we do not want the property owners to evict the occupant simply because they complained that there's an ordinance against that.
• 15:38
  Speaker 4: We will prosecute for that.
• 15:40
  Speaker 2: Okay, it's not like just the totalitarian.
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: Here comes the government.
• 15:44
  Speaker 2: We're going to try to get you to comply.
• 15:46
  Speaker 2: We're going to try to address the issue of why you're out of compliance.
• 15:50
  Speaker 4: Somebody last night in a local NIA meeting I attended, asked me since there's these ordinances, would it make you happy if you gave out more citations?
• 16:01
  Speaker 4: And I said no, my goal is none.
• 16:04
  Speaker 4: I don't want any complaints, I don't want any phone calls.
• 16:07
  Speaker 4: I would be happier with a smaller staff with less complaints than I would with a larger staff and more complaints, because that tells me that this change of culture is actually taking place.
• 16:18
  Speaker 4: People are taking care of themselves, taking care of their neighbors.
• 16:22
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that goes to what we know about you, john, and that is about.
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: It's not a job, it's really a caring, what we would call a calling.
• 16:32
  Speaker 2: We've had an opportunity to pick a rescue mission, to work directly with you in regards to the unsheltered here in our community and, amanda, speak about John and what's on your heart about the people who are unsheltered and the challenges and the brokenness and what your opportunity and your relationship with John Shardine is.
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: But then my compliments are documented man, I try to keep him in line and don't want anybody to know.
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: I kind of like him.
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: But you know, I think anytime we at the Rescue Mission or even myself with my position get to partner with any group, it's really humbling for me because it's a chance for me to remember that people have their own roles right and their own lives and their own time restraints and all of that, but yet they're willing to do that and mix with what we're doing here too.
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: And so when I think about the load and he won't talk about it like this, because he's just positive and he's a servant and he does and he's a doer.
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: But I think I have a an iceberg tip of the iceberg understanding of what John's load is right and his team and it's massive.
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: I mean the, the responsibility that he has and the differing opinions that he has, the different things that he has to consider every day so that we are making Topeka amazing for everyone, not just this group or this group collectively.
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: That is not easy.
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: And so when I think about how he interacts with people and I've seen it it doesn't matter if it is a house that has an issue that he's showing up to.
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: It doesn't matter if it is homeless encampments that we're going to and it's loud and there's bulldozers and all of this stuff.
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: It doesn't matter if it's he and I in a group and a meeting with all sorts of different types of leaders.
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: Like John is John, and to me that is incredible that not only is he who he says he is, but that with this load he still sees everything as an opportunity to do good.
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: And I have so much respect for him because the amount of different perspectives, responsibilities and all of that that he juggles, he's not two faced.
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: I mean there are, there are times when John and I have to be on different perspectives of the line and we still do it as partners and we still do it as partners.
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: And so to me he means a lot, to me as a partner, but also just as a person and as a leader, because I've seen him do, do stuff where he and I agreed 100% and I've been able to work with him through sticky situations where both of us are like, well, we have jobs to do and they're different jobs, but we're going to still do them together.
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: And to me I just have the utmost respect to him, and so some of the things that we have to encounter can be sticky and you know, one of them being cleanups and ordinances and things like that.
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: But I want to have the people first perspective too, as well as John.
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: But there's also things that our team can do that John can't, because it's not the responsibility of him or the city to do that part, and so I just love being able to, even in the trenches and even in awkward times and all of that, to be able to say that John and I are on the same team, working different angles of trying to do a collective goal.
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: That's just something that I don't take for granted and I'm very, very thankful for his leadership, his perspective, his honesty, but most of all, I think I'm just thankful that he's in the position he's in.
• 20:56
  Speaker 2: And I think that's what we continually hear about you, john, and what you're doing in a very complex time in our community's history, as well as the whole nation right now.
• 21:04
  Speaker 2: Time in our community's history, as well as the whole nation right now, homelessness has risen to one of the top three table tops topics around the kitchen table, as they say, economy being still probably the number one.
• 21:19
  Speaker 2: But homelessness has risen to this area, which makes it a very controversial issue, and it's controversial in Topeka, kansas, as well.
• 21:33
  Speaker 2: The camp cleanups that have been ordered by ordinance with the city council, which you work for, the city of Topeka, is something very controversial, very challenging in the way that it's been communicated, in the way that in some ways it's having to be done.
• 21:51
  Speaker 2: A lot of debate on that.
• 21:53
  Speaker 2: We've seen both sides of the fence here and you're kind of right there in the middle of all of that squeeze, and so you know I heard said the other day that America has become tolerant of homelessness but intolerant of the homeless, and so we've kind of gone to sleep at the wheel on this homeless issue and now there's a frustration that's going on.
• 22:17
  Speaker 2: So, john, I think Amanda said it well about you you are a solution finder.
• 22:24
  Speaker 2: How do you find yourself in the middle of the squeeze of, um, um, you know, extreme opinions on both sides of this, and then in the middle, you've still got a job to do.
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: How do you?
• 22:36
  Speaker 2: How do you do that when you are having to go into a situation where, uh, you're not going to make everybody happy?
• 22:43
  Speaker 2: Um, probably most people are going to be unhappy.
• 22:46
  Speaker 2: How do you address?
• 22:47
  Speaker 4: that Well.
• 22:48
  Speaker 4: It's important to recognize that in front, that you're not going to make everybody happy, and I'm very fortunate that I have the community partners that I have.
• 22:56
  Speaker 4: Before we go out and address the homeless encampments or a task associated with it, I typically lean on LaManda and I tell her the issue that we're facing and I ask her what you know, I've asked her in the past what should the expectations be?
• 23:15
  Speaker 4: Where are these folks going to go?
• 23:17
  Speaker 4: How can I expedite that and help the process out?
• 23:20
  Speaker 4: Because, like I said, it's not about the property itself, it's about the people, and if there's an underlying issue, typically that's not my expertise I rely on LaManda and other community partners for that, and so if we can get that addressed and get these folks housed and then we can address the property, the property is my least concern, even though it's my biggest responsibility.
• 23:45
  Speaker 4: People always come first.
• 23:47
  Speaker 2: I think that's amazing.
• 23:48
  Speaker 2: Miriam, you worked in the social service arena for a very long time and that's not all that common.
• 23:54
  Speaker 3: No, I would say it's incredibly uncommon.
• 23:57
  Speaker 3: You know that, and and and partly I think too, though, because it's easier just to do do your job when you have to consider the people that are being impacted.
• 24:08
  Speaker 3: It makes your job harder, right, because it tugs at places that touch you in different kind of ways.
• 24:17
  Speaker 3: Right, it touches your heart, it touches your mind, and so jobs are harder.
• 24:22
  Speaker 3: It would be much easier if tasks could just be done, right.
• 24:26
  Speaker 2: And you didn't have to consider other people.
• 24:29
  Speaker 3: And I think that's why people default to that.
• 24:30
  Speaker 3: So then, when we have folks like John that are not defaulting to I, need to get the job done.
• 24:36
  Speaker 3: Only it's why it's so special to all of us.
• 24:40
  Speaker 2: Very, very, very special.
• 24:41
  Speaker 2: Um, you know, as we have conversation in community, as we have conversation in community, it doesn't matter what part of the community there's a fairly shallow in my way of describing it understanding of people who are experiencing homelessness.
• 25:04
  Speaker 2: A lot of people when I say shallow, they look at trash and they then make a decision based upon what they see, what that person's like.
• 25:09
  Speaker 2: Or they see somebody walking down the sidewalk with all their belongings, or maybe sitting on a corner with a dog or dogs, and they quickly go to looking at that situation, making a story in their own mind.
• 25:23
  Speaker 2: John, what have you seen is the opportunity, because it sounds like you're a guy that looks for opportunity to help people to understand.
• 25:32
  Speaker 2: Yeah, you got a job to do, but the people first part of this because I would assume, with your own staff, with the city of Topeka, with the community at large, that you're needing to help shed light on the people part, not just the property part.
• 25:48
  Speaker 2: What do you find yourself having an opportunity to do?
• 25:52
  Speaker 2: What are you doing?
• 25:53
  Speaker 2: What do you hope to do?
• 25:54
  Speaker 4: So you know I apply this to not only the unsheltered, but the folks that are residing in the properties that aren't up to standards.
• 26:02
  Speaker 4: As a matter of fact, when we open up cases regarding rental properties and occupants and it comes to a point where we should condemn a property but if we do that, we put these people on the street.
• 26:14
  Speaker 4: That is something that we do not want to do.
• 26:17
  Speaker 4: So I've taught my inspectors to evaluate the property, find out what these folks need for a safe and secure place to live, and then work the case without condemning it and, if possible, let's reach out to housing services and find alternative housing before we address the property, because we have to make sure that our occupants are safe and secure.
• 26:45
  Speaker 4: That's their basic needs.
• 26:46
  Speaker 4: So if we can meet that, then we'll address the property and we'll meet with the property owner and ask them how did it get this way?
• 26:55
  Speaker 4: What aren't you doing?
• 26:56
  Speaker 4: Because it is responsibility, not his occupants.
• 26:59
  Speaker 4: So the occupants are always first, always, and then we'll lean back on the property.
• 27:07
  Speaker 2: In your opinion, when you talk about finding the resources for people to go to, even if they are housed, to try to prevent homelessness, is the city in a good spot?
• 27:17
  Speaker 2: When I say the city, not the city government necessarily, but the city, the community Are we in a good spot with available other resources, or do we have a long way to go to be able to get those resources?
• 27:29
  Speaker 4: I think that we are a resource rich community.
• 27:31
  Speaker 4: However, we can always be better and until we learn how to be better, uh, we listened to folks like you who are an expertise in this.
• 27:41
  Speaker 4: We listened to the Amanda.
• 27:42
  Speaker 4: Uh, I have received so much information from this group that we're involved in now that I am extremely excited to where we can be.
• 27:51
  Speaker 4: The ceiling is completely unlimited and as long as we keep moving forward, we get support from the city, the council and our community partners, get them to buy in on it.
• 28:02
  Speaker 4: I think we can make this successful.
• 28:04
  Speaker 4: People are going to look at Topeak and say how did they do that?
• 28:07
  Speaker 4: This is what a great opportunity they took and they made something of it.
• 28:13
  Speaker 4: Yes, so I think that's where we're headed.
• 28:16
  Speaker 2: I'm going to talk about this group that John's referring to, and we've got a pretty hopeful picture that we just heard from John yeah.
• 28:25
  Speaker 2: Talk about what it could be in your opinion and talk about the group is.
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: So the group that has been doing this since early last fall.
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: They are incredible.
• 28:39
  Speaker 1: So we have a core team and you know John is so kind to say, you know he's leaned on me and stuff a lot.
• 29:01
  Speaker 2: But I have to say that I have loved the receptiveness of the group, because the core team has really wanted to dive into this and learn.
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: So, first of all, who is this team and what are they supposed to be doing and what are they supposed to be doing?
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: Yes, so there's 10 or 11 of us and we have done everything, from collective interviews that were over an hour long of business owners, nonprofits, social services, people that are living at TRM right now, unsheltered, totally unsheltered, on the streets getting ideas and input, and feedback all around the issue of homelessness and needs and gaps, and what are we doing well and what are we not.
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: We've also done a deep dive into literature reviews and research on what's happening in the United States, so that we can look at examples that are good and maybe not so good.
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: We've unpacked all of this information to do what I feel like is a balancing act of what is the national trend right now and what is the need of our community, and making it our own.
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: And the bottom line is nothing can be cookie cutter.
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: We can't just bring something from another part of the world and bring it to Tepic and it's going to fit.
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: And so this group, the dialogue, the debates, the discussion, it has been so rich and kind and professional and it's just been incredible.
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: And so then, from that, though, I will tell you I've also been exhausted and worn out, and sometimes the consultant or the coach she'll say I think we need a break, and you can tell we're all just like, yes, we need a snack.
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: We need all of this because it's intense, the research and the planning that we've done.
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: It has required emotional stamina, mental stamina, physical stamina, the amount of thinking, processing, figuring out, problem solving, knowing what we leave to not be solved, because we need to do it as a community, and it's going to be done through also mistakes and learning.
• 31:13
  Speaker 1: It's just been incredibly intense.
• 31:17
  Speaker 1: The group means a lot to me.
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: I've said this a couple of times.
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: You know, the first year of being the executive director here was beautiful and awful at the same time.
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: I mean, you've joked with me a couple of times saying, well, if I would have told you this part, you wouldn't have agreed.
• 31:37
  Speaker 2: Same thing with me many years ago.
• 31:39
  Speaker 2: Correct and so they didn't tell me about that.
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: Yeah, but I will tell you, there were times in that group that I thought it's too much, they don't need me.
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: Maybe I should just focus on that, all these things, and I think we probably all have felt that right, and some people did leave and then some of us have stayed in it.
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: But what I have taken away personally, it was just like God gave me a little snapshot of hope when we're on those Zooms, because sometimes this work can feel lonely and it feels like that when people are saying inaccurate things.
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: You know, like what's been said about me as well, I'm just compassionate.
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: I don't care about business owners, I just want there to be trash and violence.
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: And that's not at all what I was saying as a new executive.
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: But what I was trying to communicate is we can be compassionate and loving, regardless if it's faith based or not, and we can also be logistical and we can be responsible.
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: Responsible and we can be planners and strategic, so you don't have to be on one side of the other.
• 32:47
  Speaker 1: But sometimes when I was on these Zooms, I would just stop in that moment and think I'm not alone.
• 32:54
  Speaker 1: Look at the John Shardines, trying to learn this part, but not trying to toot my own horn, but I also was trying to learn their viewpoints, because it's not all about what LaManda thinks, and so I'm trying to learn the challenges that they're facing and the expectations.
• 33:09
  Speaker 1: And we want a city that flourishes and we want a city to be safe and clean, and so I just love how there has been this perspective of how do we truly bring together government people first and all of that to do.
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: Do I know how it's going to end?
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: I don't.
• 33:28
  Speaker 1: I have said, and I've been very vocal through the whole process Take me out of the equation.
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: But when I look at the people that are on that core team and the dedication that they have given to this, it's probably cumulatively over a thousand hours.
• 33:47
  Speaker 4: Easily, easily, yeah, sometimes this would take 20 hours out of your week work week Wow.
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: And that's not even including the hours that then you go home and you're laying there going gosh.
• 34:03
  Speaker 1: I hope I said the right thing to that group, or I hope I did that and so I have been very vocal, probably too much at times, but I have said take me out of the equation.
• 34:16
  Speaker 1: But I hope the work of all of these members of the core team and a lot of the auxiliary team I hope it's not just overshadowed, I hope it's not just oh, everybody did this.
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: We made great decisions.
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: Now we have further decisions that need to be made.
• 34:32
  Speaker 1: The baton has to be passed on and we have to continue this work.
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: I hope it doesn't just fizzle, because if so, I'm telling you that it's not a wise steward of the funds that were used for it.
• 34:44
  Speaker 1: But the other thing from a faith side is the Lord is going to make things right and he's coming for his people.
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: And this process I think a lot of people, myself included, this process I think a lot of people, myself included, gained insight and understanding and we were able to lay silly things down.
• 35:06
  Speaker 1: And we're ready to do this thing.
• 35:08
  Speaker 1: We're ready to work together, we're ready to be partners, we're ready to work through the messes, even if that happens before there's successes.
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: And so my concern right now is this is going to be presented in a couple of weeks to council.
• 35:20
  Speaker 1: And then there's the unknowns.
• 35:22
  Speaker 1: Who's going to continue to run with the ideas?
• 35:25
  Speaker 1: How is it going to work?
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: Is it going to be listened to If it's not popular people in control are they really going to be able to stop it?
• 35:33
  Speaker 1: And I'll tell you, I'm on my own faith journey with that.
• 35:36
  Speaker 1: Because part of me realistically understands politics, because part of me realistically understands politics, the other side of me, the Lord, is really challenging me as a faith leader to say you better not be putting more faith in man than you do me.
• 35:49
  Speaker 2: Well, all of this research discussion, the team, has not been done in a vacuum.
• 35:54
  Speaker 2: In other words, you haven't taken time out because at the same time, there has been homelessness, there has been a need for enforcing ordinances, there has been a need to actually be boots on the ground While you're studying what we could do.
• 36:10
  Speaker 2: You've got to do what you've got to do right now, and so that's kind of a challenge.
• 36:15
  Speaker 2: But also it's been probably pretty good for John, for you and LaManda and others, to get to work together not just theoretically around this, but actually experientially to understand here's some impact and here's what we can do.
• 36:29
  Speaker 2: So I think you're, lamanda, you're cautiously optimistic here, and John you are.
• 36:37
  Speaker 2: You're optimistic, probably with caution because you're a former cop, and John, you're optimistic, probably with caution because you're a former cop.
• 36:42
  Speaker 2: But I think that's what it's going to take and we have a different kind of communication on this than maybe we have.
• 36:49
  Speaker 2: Miriam, I know that you and I worked together for a number of years and generally these type of topics are left to providers, social service providers, and so they get in a room, they work on things, and then we then go do it, because we're already doing it, and then we try to get the community involved, and it's minimal at best.
• 37:09
  Speaker 2: This particular issue is different than I've seen anything before in regards to the impact on the whole community.
• 37:16
  Speaker 3: Absolutely, and I think it's the only way that we can ever make progress.
• 37:19
  Speaker 3: I do too.
• 37:20
  Speaker 3: Social services can do whatever they can do Right, but without policymakers and without the understanding of the entire community, things, if they can, will change incredibly at an incredibly slow pace.
• 37:36
  Speaker 3: I think that having the diversity that's on this team and working toward this is not only going to bring about better results, but I think it's educating the community better on what the real situation is.
• 37:48
  Speaker 3: I mean, I think we saw that evidenced the other night when the Jump Nehemiah action rally happened, and I heard things there from people that I didn't expect to hear it from in terms of utilizing language and talking about things in ways that I don't think would have happened a year or two ago.
• 38:11
  Speaker 2: And I think that's a key.
• 38:12
  Speaker 2: It's not just a Topeka rescue mission anymore.
• 38:15
  Speaker 2: That's trying to say come on, let's do this together.
• 38:18
  Speaker 2: This is the first time the Nehemiah action with Topeka Jump has taken on the homeless issue, and so that's one large body of multiple different congregations in our community that are not going to let the hard work that LaManda, you and John have done and others have done on this get put on a shelf Right.
• 38:38
  Speaker 2: There is going to be an insistence that there is response to this, and they've already, to their credit, studied this well themselves.
• 38:46
  Speaker 2: It's not just like a heartburn.
• 38:47
  Speaker 2: I mean, they've poured into this issue, taken a lot of expert testimony on this.
• 38:53
  Speaker 2: I've got some thoughts that they presented earlier this week in regards to what they are hoping the city will do, and they're kind of a group that doesn't go away.
• 39:04
  Speaker 3: Right, they're persistent.
• 39:06
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 39:07
  Speaker 2: So that's a difference here.
• 39:08
  Speaker 2: On this particular issue, and I think you know, the big key difference that I'm hearing is, john, we got guys like you.
• 39:15
  Speaker 2: Lamanda I know well and I've gotten to know you more through LaManda is let's look for solutions, not just the problem In the midst of the problem.
• 39:25
  Speaker 2: And so, lamanda, you mentioned that there's going to be a presentation by your team, through the consultant coach, on the 21st of May at city council with the findings, and so, while it doesn't solve everything, it gives the city leaders an opportunity to examine some thoroughly thought out, well-researched opportunities to say now we can go do this, and so you're right, we don't know what's going to happen at that point, regardless of what our governing body decides to do or not, do I think the community is going to say, hey, we've got some more information now and we will have an opportunity to go forward and do something here.
• 40:11
  Speaker 2: John, as we wrap up here, what do you hope?
• 40:16
  Speaker 2: You talked about people first.
• 40:19
  Speaker 2: You talk about a resource-rich community, but we don't have everything in place yet.
• 40:24
  Speaker 2: What would you say in your because you're on the ground here, I mean, you're on the front lines you have to tell people things that they don't want to hear.
• 40:32
  Speaker 2: You have to make hard decisions.
• 40:34
  Speaker 2: You want to see a community where you don't get, you don't have to give out citations Probably a perfect world, which we're not in but reducing those significantly.
• 40:45
  Speaker 2: What do you really hope is going to happen in the next year or two here in Topeka, kansas?
• 40:50
  Speaker 4: You know, with our study that we did and, like she mentioned, it took eight, nine months to complete this and, mind you, this could continue because communities change, their needs change, so I hope this is an eye opener for our community members.
• 41:10
  Speaker 4: This is a very important educational piece.
• 41:14
  Speaker 4: I hope folks will be curious instead of judgmental.
• 41:18
  Speaker 4: Folks will be curious instead of judgmental.
• 41:25
  Speaker 4: I hope they start asking questions.
• 41:26
  Speaker 4: I started with my family when we started this program.
• 41:27
  Speaker 4: I went right to them and I asked them what did they know about this subject?
• 41:30
  Speaker 4: And their responses were very shallow.
• 41:34
  Speaker 4: And so the more and more I participated and the more and more I asked Lamanda and other team members what the certain things mean, and she would explain it to me, what happens to these folks through different stages of homelessness.
• 41:51
  Speaker 4: That was an eye opener for me, police officer for 26 years.
• 41:57
  Speaker 4: When you're in that position, there's a level of participation that you can jump into, but you're limited because you have other duties.
• 42:09
  Speaker 4: Now I have this privilege to deep dive into this and find out the true cause of these issues, and so now we have the ability and the opportunity to address them, and so this is what I'm hoping happens.
• 42:26
  Speaker 4: I hope that people are educated now, they truly know what is going on and they're willing to support our efforts to address it.
• 42:38
  Speaker 2: And I think that's a blessing in so many ways to have someone like you in your strategic position to be able to say I want to know more and I want to address this in a unique and different way.
• 42:51
  Speaker 2: It means a lot, doesn't it?
• 42:52
  Speaker 2: Amanda?
• 42:53
  Speaker 1: It does Very much, so yeah.
• 42:55
  Speaker 2: I want to close off with an example of property maintenance.
• 42:59
  Speaker 2: It happened many years ago when we went to a neighborhood called Highcrest and we started having meals at lunchtime for kids and there was a 15-year-old girl who kept coming by herself, lived somewhere in the neighborhood and she had a disability developmental disability.
• 43:17
  Speaker 2: We could tell she had a disability developmental disability, we could tell.
• 43:20
  Speaker 2: But she kept coming, but she would always take and go where the cookies were or whatever, and start stuffing her pockets, and so we knew probably there was a need there and there was some hoarding going on there, and so we were finally able to kind of follow to see what home she lived in.
• 43:39
  Speaker 2: And it became spring into summer and we learned from the neighbors it was called the Stinky House and so we at that time had called this is many years ago had called for some checkup on that, and it didn't occur for whatever reason.
• 43:56
  Speaker 2: We saw her bring two little boys with her to the meals, which we understood were her brothers.
• 44:05
  Speaker 2: That one, I believe, was about two and a half and the other one was maybe five, and neither one of them talked, they just grunted, and so it got more concerning and we finally got some folks that went to the door and a lady met us at the door and she was a grandma age and she had an oxygen mask on and the house was horrendously horrible in odor and grandma would not let anybody in up to a winter night with an ice storm.
• 44:38
  Speaker 2: When a then-lieutenant from the police department called me and said we've got a family that needs you to take them right now.
• 44:49
  Speaker 2: And so they explained to me the family.
• 44:51
  Speaker 2: When they finally got into the house, they found that there were 19 cats in the home who had not been out to the bathroom for who knows how long.
• 45:02
  Speaker 2: There was no running water, there was no electricity, it had just gotten so cold.
• 45:07
  Speaker 2: The grandma was very, very sick and slept on a couch in the front room.
• 45:12
  Speaker 2: The two little brothers slept on mattresses on the floor of ammonia-ridden urine from the cats.
• 45:19
  Speaker 2: Mother was in the back room, had not been out of the house for two years, who was schizophrenic.
• 45:24
  Speaker 2: The 15-year-old who was holding the whole family together had not been in school for five years.
• 45:30
  Speaker 2: And so what happened?
• 45:32
  Speaker 2: Because people rallied around and I thank Jennifer Cross with the police department for going into that house, calling me on a Friday night said you've got to take them, that they had a place to go.
• 45:45
  Speaker 2: They didn't have to be in that situation anymore.
• 45:47
  Speaker 2: The house was condemned.
• 45:48
  Speaker 2: The cats got a place to go, the family got a place to go.
• 45:52
  Speaker 2: Topeka Public Schools wrapped around.
• 45:54
  Speaker 2: The kids got them in therapy, mom got on medication, grandma got health taken care of.
• 46:01
  Speaker 2: They were at the Topeka Rescue Mission for nine months and got rehoused Complicated situation that you run into all the time, and I can only imagine how heartbreaking it is to you, can only imagine how stretching it is for you and how much we appreciate you still care and you're looking for solutions for people like that.
• 46:19
  Speaker 2: Absolutely so, john, thanks for being here today.
• 46:22
  Speaker 2: Any last things you'd like to say for people to hear?
• 46:25
  Speaker 4: Thank you for having me, and if anybody has any questions that's listening you can either call the rescue mission or you can call my office.
• 46:33
  Speaker 4: I'll be happy to talk with you If you care to report something like this.
• 46:36
  Speaker 4: Remember, we're trying to change the culture, so if you see something, say something.
• 46:40
  Speaker 4: You can reach my office at 785-368-3170.
• 46:47
  Speaker 4: I appreciate the phone calls.
• 46:48
  Speaker 4: We will follow up on all the complaints.
• 46:51
  Speaker 4: It's important that you tell us, though, because my staff is limited.
• 46:56
  Speaker 4: I have 11 field inspectors, one field supervisor and an abatement team.
• 47:00
  Speaker 4: We can't be everywhere at once, so if you see something, please call us and say something.
• 47:06
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and John will post that on our Facebook how they can get a hold of you as well.
• 47:10
  Speaker 2: So thank you, john Chardine, who is Director of Property Management at the City of Topeka, a team member of this greater team to try to help people in our community.
• 47:21
  Speaker 2: Thank you for listening to our community, our mission.
• 47:23
  Speaker 2: You heard some difficult things here today, but I think maybe your eyes have been opened just a little bit more about necessary functions in our community, but with definitely hope and a direction to help find solutions.
• 47:35
  Speaker 2: Again, we thank John for being with us.
• 47:38
  Speaker 2: We thank the city of Topeka.
• 47:40
  Speaker 2: We thank the many people who are involved in this very, very important issue.
• 47:44
  Speaker 2: We thank Topeka Jump here for what they did the other day and we are anticipating some good things coming out of the city council meeting on May 21st.
• 47:53
  Speaker 2: Thank you for listening to our community, our mission.
• 47:55
  Speaker 2: If you'd like more information about the Topeka Rescue Mission, you can go to trmonlineorg One of these days.
• 48:04
  Speaker 2: I'm going to get that right, miriam, so I'll know it by now.
• 48:07
  Speaker 2: Again, thank you for listening to Our Community, our Mission.