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Ep #328- The Jones Project: Meet Damon Parker · Our Community, Our Mission

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_04: Let's pray.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_04: Gracious God, um thank you so much for another day, for a day to walk with you and to work to hear your voice.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_04: Uh Lord, we are so grateful that um you've brought us here for these kind of opportunities.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_04: Uh Lord, we are so grateful for our guest um and look forward to a conversation.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_04: Um be in the hearts and minds of the people who listen to this, Lord.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_04: Um make it so that the people that need to hear this message, hear this message.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_04: Um have their hearts and minds be open to whatever whatever you're needing.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_04: Lord, I would just ask that you bless each of the people here today.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_04: Um sometimes the work we do is hard.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_04: Sometimes the work we do is frustrating, and many times, many times, Lord, we get to see you work.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_04: So, Lord, we would just ask that that happen today as well.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_04: I ask all of this in Jesus' precious name.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_04: Amen.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_04: Amen.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_03: Hello, everybody.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you for joining us for our community, our mission.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_03: It is podcast of the Topeka Rescue Mission.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_03: I'm your host today, Barry Feeker, here on September the 29th of 2026, almost done with this month.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_03: Getting ready for the rest of it.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_03: This is episode number 328, Miriam.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_04: We are almost to a full oh wait, 325.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_04: So how many days are there in the year?
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_04: It's like we could have done a whole year of things.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_03: Nothing but podcasts.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_03: I know.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_03: For sure, once a week almost.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_03: So But it's the end of September.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_03: I know.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_03: Lamanda Cunningham, Mary and Crable here today.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_03: We got a very important subject to talk about.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_03: But before we get to that, Lamanda, there is something you've been talking about for a little bit.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_03: And as a matter of fact, if you were at the Open Skies event last Saturday, you saw it advertised multiple times on the big jumbotron.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_03: Big Jumbotron.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, that thing is huge.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_03: Uh-huh.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, that's bigger than Topeka.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_03: It is.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_03: It sure looks like it.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_03: And uh that event is called what?
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: That event that was on that jumbotron is called Night of Praise.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: And it's the Topeka Rescue Mission's fourth annual uh fundraiser.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: And so it was started several years ago with the heart of um how do we consistently talk to our community about the financial need that we have?
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um how do we do this where we don't create a feel of the T Speaker Rescue Mission is always asking for money?
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: But the other side of it is, um, I've also had people say, well, because you're not a group that's always asking us, we just thought your budget was maintained.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: Um and so we really began to ask the Lord, like, if we know we have anywhere uh between a four and five million dollar budget needed every year to provide the needs and services that this community so desperately needs, how do we communicate that?
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: And how do we do it in a way where we're walking in faith for God to provide and we know we will, but yet we also have to act how He's asking us to act and to have those actions.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: And so um lots of ideas were thrown out, and um, we just didn't want to be doing a fundraiser that was off of so far away from our core.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: And so when the idea was presented to me to do a worship night, I thought, what an incredible way to continue to keep God as the focus, but yet also be able to talk to our community all throughout the year, but it remain a focus.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: Hey, this is a fundraiser, and um our needs are growing in our community.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: So in order for the Topeka Rescue Mission to continue to provide those resources to meet those needs, we have to have the budget and the financial support to do so.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: So uh this year, the team has been working incredibly hard.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: I'm very thankful for um all of our staff who are providing input um this year and and supporting that.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: Very thankful for all the directors and assistant directors they've been assisting, you know, and nothing pauses here at the rescue mission.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_00: We say that all the time.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_00: So everybody's doing their normal duties, quote unquote normal, um, and yet add in so much heart and passion and ideas and wisdom for this event.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_00: So we're thankful.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and so looking forward to this year's event.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_00: It is going to be Sunday, October 11th at Fairlawn Nazarene Church.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: Um, very thankful for their hospitality to host.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_00: Doors open at 530.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_00: This year it's gonna be a little bit different because we hope to provide um just a more unique experience for people arriving early.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: And so we do ask for people to come at 5:30.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um, all the departments of the Topeka Rescue Mission will be represented in a way.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so wanna not tell all of it, but we want you to come.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, we are asking, it's a free event, but if people are able to, please provide um a non-perishable food item.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: Uh we'll have our um box truck there ready to be loaded and to bless um our community with the food that is brought.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: So we're looking forward to that.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_00: Program starts at six, and it really is a time of talking about what all's happening at the Topeka Rescue Mission, uh thanking God for what he does, but also really expressing to the community a substantial need that we have, and that is for people to, if able, consistently support the work of the Topeka Rescue Mission financially, uh, through time, through prayer.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_00: So that will be the focus of that evening, and we're really excited for people to come out.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_00: And then we are um, you know, still doing um an ask for sponsorships.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: And so we had a goal, you know, when I mentioned earlier, it's this wrestle, right, of um wanting our focus to remain on the faithfulness of God and trusting for Him to provide, but then also saying, okay, God, but you've called us here.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_00: Um and so how do we, what actions are you needing us to take to raise these funds?
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_00: And um one of the kind of balances of this is we thought, well, we're really gonna do a hard push for sponsorships.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_00: That's a way that we can still put a tangible dollar amount to say we're gonna work hard to raise this amount, but yet it's not a way where the night of we could potentially be taking away from the worship time.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_00: And so we still hope to raise dollars that night of, um, but we've worked diligently to acquire sponsorships for a dollar amount.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_00: So our goal was 20,000.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and as of yesterday, we were at 15,000 of that 20.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_00: So we're very thankful for the sponsors who have already said yes and have joined us in this.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_00: It's a mixture of individuals, businesses, churches, groups, um, and a couple of anonymous donors, and so we're grateful for that.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_00: So if anybody is interested, um they can go to our website, trmonline.org.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: Uh they can also call us at the 785-354-1744 and ask for Miss Miranda, and they can let them know that uh they're interested in sponsorships.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_00: But we have four levels.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_00: So we have a bronze level sponsorship that's$250, a silver level for$500, a gold level for$1,000, and a platinum level for$2,500.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_00: And depending on those levels, um, depends on what then we do with that sponsorship.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_00: And so uh pretty soon we'll be having a podcast where we're thanking sponsors.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_00: Um sponsors will be listed on the program, up on not quite the Jumbotron Barry, but they do have a big screen at Farallon Church, Nazarene Church.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_03: Well, how cool would it be?
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, we just had I don't know how many thousand people came out last Saturday for a very long concert.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_03: Um just to pack that church out.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_03: Yes at 7th and Fairlon.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_03: If you know where Fairlong Road is, you know where Seventh Street is at 7th and Farallon.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_03: Um again, it's the 11th.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_03: Um the doors open at 5 30.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_03: And so come early if you want to kind of get on this mysterious thing that's gonna happen.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_03: And um and then also uh it's gonna be a time of praise, it's gonna be a time of testimony, it's gonna be a time of opportunity for people to invest in uh what's happening at Topeka Rescue Mission.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_03: So, yeah.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_03: So if you were at Open Skies, uh come to this too.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_03: And so it'd be kind of cool if the parking lot was full.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, Barry, I want to also thank um Lamar.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_00: Uh Lamar is a company that has partnered with us, I believe, since the first year we did this, um, in putting the digital billboards.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_00: I think there's three of them around Topeka.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_00: And I will tell you the other day, my family, we were driving and all of a sudden the kids saw the Night of Praise graphic and they're like, it's on, and they said, It's on the Jumbotron.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_00: It was so cute.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, well, it's kind of Triple Tron's son.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_00: But we are just as grateful for Lamar and their in-kind donation that they do for us because um we appreciate them greatly.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_03: Well, Lamanda's uh uh vernacular, y'all come.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_03: So she's smart, and so y'all come.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_00: It's fall, y'all.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_00: Come to the nine of praise.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_03: Switching gears now to a very important subject, um, a challenging subject.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_03: Um those of you who are listening, uh there may be some things that are discussed here today that maybe will touch you in a way that may be really important.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_03: It might be challenging, it will be definitely informative, if nothing else.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_03: And so um Lamanda Merriam, as you are familiar, um many people who come through the doors of the Speaker Rescue Mission suffer from some challenges with their mental health.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_03: And uh who wouldn't?
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_03: Um being homeless and oftentimes hungry and and uh feeling like there's no hope that that um can affect your mental health, or maybe your mental health and resulted or the challenges there resulted in uh losing a bunch in life.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_03: And so we have uh Coach Damon Parker with us today.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_03: He is executive director of the Jones Project.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_03: Damon, welcome to our community, our mission.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_01: It's awesome to be here.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you for having me.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, so Damon, we want to hear a lot about who you are.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_03: Uh we want to hear about the Jones Project.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_03: So let's start with the Jones Project.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_03: Uh some people are very familiar and some people aren't familiar at all.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_03: So, what is the Jones Project?
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_03: And then who are you?
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_01: Aaron Ross Powell My name is Damon Parker.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_01: Like you said, I'm the executive director, and the Jones Project is a nonprofit based here in Topeka that's focused on teen mental health and suicide prevention.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_01: And so essentially what we've been doing for the last four years is I get in the car and drive around to different secondary schools, mainly in Kansas, but we've done quite a few outside of the state.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_01: And basically do a full school assembly type format where we talk to the kids on that topic and have real open, honest conversations with them.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_01: In some schools, I am an adjunct to a really comprehensive mental health program that they have there in their school.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_01: And in some schools I go in, and the first time that those kids have heard the word suicide come out of an adult's mouth was from mine.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_01: And so they're just every school is different.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_01: And that's been one of the really unique and and quite frankly, fun challenges to this thing is having to figure out the specific needs of each school and how I can best help meet those needs.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_03: So kids go to school.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, kids are challenged, maybe more so today than ever in regards to social media pressures, bullying, those kind of things.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_03: Um from your experience in working with these um these students, um, has there been any kind of understanding that challenges are greater in mental health for kids today than they ever were?
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I I really do think that they understand that.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_01: I think you know, one one thing that is at adults we often fall uh a trap that we often fall into is thinking like kids these days fill in the blank.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_01: You know, kids these days aren't kind to each other, or kids these days don't want to work harder.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_01: And I quite honestly, I think that's nonsense.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_01: Like I've worked with thousands of kids in thousands of different capacities.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_01: And kids these days are every bit as hardworking and kind as any kids that have ever come through that system.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_01: The difference is kids these days are more empowered.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_01: And so, because of what they're carrying in their pocket that we never got to carry in our pockets as kids, they have unlimited access to all of the knowledge of the world.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_01: And they understand when they're being treated unfairly in ways that sometimes we didn't in the past.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_01: Like in the past, when my high school football coach would grab me by the face mask and scream obscenities in my face, it was that's just how it was done.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_01: Right, right.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_01: You know, and that's okay because that's what you do, and it'll make you better.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, exactly.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_01: And which of course we know now is completely absurd.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_01: And kids have just become more and more empowered with that kind of information.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_01: And and again, the the algorithms that are giving kids a lot of their information, is it all great?
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely not.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_01: But a lot of it does teach them that you know the struggles that they're enduring right now as kids are are not unique to them.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_01: It's something that is ubiquitous with with all of teenagers.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_03: Trevor Burrus, Jr.: What kind of feedback are you getting from uh the leadership in schools, principals, superintendents, teachers about the importance for you to be present with the students?
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_01: I think the best feedback that we've gotten is we've now been in I counted it up the other day.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_01: I think we'd probably be 281 schools in the last four years and talk to over 120,000 kids.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_01: And I think I've made two or three cold calls.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_01: You know, like hey, can I come to a school?
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_01: And usually it's I go into a school and there's a a good positive impact in the school and it gets the conversation started with their kids, which is kind of what the goal is here.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_01: And then those principals call other principals and say, hey, you should probably bring this guy out and have him talk to your kids.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_01: Like that's the best feedback that we're doing.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_03: So leadership is recognizing the heav issues.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_03: They've heard about this Jones Project, this Damon Parker who could possibly come in to be able to address that, lay cards on the table.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_03: Sometimes, uh still even today, the issue of mental health is something mysterious.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_03: It's something that is embarrassing to some degree.
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_03: Although we've come a long way.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_03: A long way.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_03: In regards to that.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_03: It is uh back when I was a kid, and even when I was working in the mental health arena, I worked in a couple of different institutions before Topeka Rescue Mission.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_03: It's that if you had a family member or something like that, you were afraid to let people know.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_03: And so that'd make anything better.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_03: Um sometimes the idea was let's get it away.
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, I think that's some degree how some people feel about homeless people.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_03: They like them to go away.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_03: It's kind of an embarrassment for a community to have homeless folks in it.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_03: But we have to have the conversation is that this is real, it's here, it is, it it needs to be addressed and not just pushed away.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_03: So it sounds like um you've been in many schools now with tons of students, that there is a recognized need for mental health for our young people.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_03: And also the leadership is saying you come.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_03: That's pretty awesome.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and we uh in in full transparency, we've had a couple where I've had a principal say, Well, we don't have any mental health issues in our school, but uh we should probably have you come in anyway.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_01: And it's like that would be like saying, you know, I'm gonna go to church.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_01: I don't sin.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, but I'm gonna go to church anyway.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_01: You know, like because it's what you're supposed to do.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_03: I'm coming further with the wine and the bread.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_01: A vast majority of uh not I shouldn't say vast majority, 100% without fail.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_01: There are mental health issues in every single building that we've been into.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_01: Um whether uh an administrator is privy to those or not, like that that's a whole nother conversation.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_01: But but they're everywhere.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that's one thing that's been really powerful with what we've done is we've helped we've helped some of those kids that have slipped through the cracks, whether it was intentionally or not, uh kind of bubble to the surface, and then we can point them in the right direction.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_01: Uh it's there's this weird dichotomy when I go into school of I'm a real human being.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not some dude they watch on a YouTube video in their homeroom or during their advisory period or whatever.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_01: But at the same time, most of them know they're probably never gonna see me again.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_01: And so that gives them the freedom to come up to me and tell me some things afterwards or to send me an email later or message me through social media or whatever, and tell me some things that they might not want to tell that counselor, especially if we're in a small school where that counselor might be best friends with our mom.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_01: Uh or they might have to see that counselor in the cafeteria every single day.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_01: So and it's as far as the stigma goes, man, I've seen a really cool transformation happening.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_01: And it's it's slow, but it's getting there.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um before I started working with the Jones Project, I was a teacher for 21, 22 years, something like that.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_01: And spent 10 of those years as a as a PE teacher over at Washburn Rural.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_01: And my my coach's office had a window that looked into the locker room so we could supervise and uh there's a wall there with a door.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_01: And uh like kids would come up in the past and they'd you know, quietly knock on the door and kind of crack the door and be like, Hey coach, don't forget, I'm not gonna be here tomorrow.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_01: I gotta, I gotta go to my appointment.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_01: I'm talking about going to see a therapist.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_01: And then towards the end of my career at Washburn Eural, 2020, 2021, around there, like a kid would kick the door of the locker room open and be like, Hey Steve, tell Miss Jenkins, I'm not gonna be there today.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_01: I've got to go see my therapist.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_01: Like something that five years earlier was completely unheard of.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that's one of the unintended benefits.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, you hate to say that there was any kind of benefit to the COVID pandemic, but it made people a lot more aware that mental health issues were a real thing.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_01: And and it made it a lot easier for younger people to talk about it.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_01: And it's and I get it, man.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_01: Like I tell kids, especially in smaller towns, I have kids come up to me all the time and they're like, I told my dad about this, and he told me to buck up and he told me to stop being a loss and all that kind of stuff.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_01: And like I I tell those kids all the time, it's like, man, it's for some of your parents, it's it's too late, man, for them to like really buy in on this stuff.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_01: Like you all are the ones that are gonna change this.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_03: So when you come into a school and it's assembly of kids, and you know, kids are an assembly, as you know, some of them are really into what it is, some are just kind of disengaged, you know, whatever's going on in their life.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_03: So, where do you start out?
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_03: How do you engage with these students?
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_01: Um I tell them a story.
• 18:33
  unknown: Okay.
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_01: It's everything that I do, I I start with a story.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_01: And it's and that's one of the things that you know, God gave all of us certain gifts, and I don't have a whole lot of them, but one of them is holding an audience.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_01: Like when I tell an administrator that I'm coming, or when they they book me or whatever, and they say, Well, how long's your talk?
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm I'm it's right at 59 minutes from the time I pick up the microphone.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_01: And they like almost 100% of the time, they're like, Oh my god, you we should probably with our kids, you're never gonna make it an hour.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, trust me, this is gonna work.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_01: And I I tell the kids on the front end, like, I'm not a mental health professional.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_01: Uh what I am is I'm a a professional speaker that has lived experience in this arena, and I'm a storyteller, and that's it.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_01: And if I can tell some stories here that are about my failures that I've had in the past and the successes I've had and the adventures I've been on with kids your age, and all of these, if I can tell you some of those stories and it changes the way that you do one thing in your life, then this time here was worth spin things.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_03: One thing you come in with is you come in that you uh a former coach, uh you work in schools, you understand students, you were one yourself at one time.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_03: And uh you kind of look like you kind of look like a coach, you know?
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_03: I mean you have the coach look and all that.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_03: So so okay, so you engage with them on a uh on a familiarity level of something that they can relate to.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_03: But how do you bridge the gap between, okay, I'm a coach, I'm gonna hear talk to you about a very difficult subject.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_03: So how do you how do you bridge that?
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_03: You tell a story, you tell your own story, tell somebody else's story, or does it just vary?
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_01: Uh yeah, it's it really depends on where we are.
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_01: Uh the the life story that I tell the kids, I always tell admin, it's like, you know, 66% of what we do is gonna be pretty much the same everywhere we go.
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_01: Because if I've got you know three to sometimes I'll do seven or eight different schools in a week and during our really busy times, and uh I just don't have time to write a new keynote for every single school that we go into.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_01: So about 66% of that is gonna be pretty much the same wherever you go, because it's my own story, and your own story doesn't really change a whole lot.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_01: But the other 33%, that third is filled with things that I think are gonna best fit with that school.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_01: And so I have all these different story modules.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_01: Some of them are about myself, some of them are about kids that I've worked with.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_01: And it's just when I when I talk with the counseling team or with the the administrators beforehand, I say, like, okay, what are some issues that you would like to solve in your building right now?
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_01: Because I've got a story that'll help with that.
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_01: And and then we just kind of craft it from there.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_01: So it's like I just go in and I pull out the different things that I think would work best based on their needs, uh, and then fit that together with with a story that we tell pretty much everywhere.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_01: Uh and it's it has worked out really well.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_01: And I think part of the reason is in my talk I can say, okay, how many of you here are athletes?
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_01: And the smaller the school, the more hands go up, the higher percentage of hands anyway.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_01: Uh say how many of you are athletes or how many of you do debate or forensics or some kind of activity.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_01: And most of them have a hand up when we hit their area, right?
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, okay, how many of you like to be really good at that if you could?
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_01: And I put their hands up.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_01: It's like, okay, how many of you would like to be the best in the state of Kansas and what it is that you're doing?
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_01: Or be a division one version of that?
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_01: And all the hands go up.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_01: And it's like, okay, I did all of that.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_01: Like I checked every single one of those boxes, and I still deal with this.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_01: And it's something that I battle with and I'm going to for the rest of my life.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_01: And so it's it's not something that's exclusive to the person that fits the stereotype that we see in the movies of the kid that eats lunch by himself with his hood up and doesn't engage with anybody.
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_01: And yeah, that kid we absolutely have to worry about too.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_01: But it's every bit as much.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: The quarterback that's feeling an insane amount of pressure from his parents and feeling like he needs to lock in a scholarship before he finishes out his senior year.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_01: It's very much that that girl that is so concerned that senior problem is going to come and she's still not going to have a date for it.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it's it's the cheerleaders that come up to me and after afterwards and talk to me.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_01: Like all of these kids that in the past felt like they didn't have an outlet due to where their social or their level on the social hierarchy was, they they weren't free to talk about that kind of stuff.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_01: I can kind of bridge that gap and say, like, look, I I know I'm old, I'm fat, I'm bald, but I used to be in the exact same position a lot of y'all are in right now.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_01: And this thing is really real.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_01: And there are a lot of people that are around you that, whether you know it or not, are going through the exact same thing.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_01: And so we we spend a lot of time talking about having having empathy for your fellow students and and just understanding that just because it's not your truth doesn't mean it's not somebody else's.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_03: So I would assume, because uh you have been a professional um in regards to education and coaching, that some faculty are probably receiving some help by what you're saying as well.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_03: Absolutely.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_03: Just not the kids uh because, hey, I was one of you at one time and here's the struggles I have, but also teachers who maybe feel a little more comfortable, liberate.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_03: What kind of feedback are you getting from faculty?
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_01: I I get that all the time.
• 23:19
  SPEAKER_01: Uh and I I tell the principals when when I talk to them prior to the trip, it's like, whatever happens when you're done, like prep your staff.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_01: Because we're there for the kids.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_01: Uh tell them that like when I go into a building, I'm there for as long as you need me to be.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_01: You know, like if kids want to keep coming up and talking for two hours afterwards, cool.
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_01: Like that's what I'm there for.
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, but I tell them, like, tell all of your staff, don't come up and talk to me when I'm done.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_01: Because if I have a principal right next to me or if I have a teacher right next to me, no kids.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_01: Because you're going the other way.
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but for whatever reason, if they're not around, the kids start lining up.
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_01: And the we have a kind of a cool nonverbal thing that we do, a signal.
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_01: Because I'm still as a coach, I'm still a mandated reporter.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_01: So if a kid comes up to me and says something that I would absolutely run up the flagpole if I had any idea who this kid was, well, I'm engaging with this kid, I'll kind of look across the auditorium, make eye contact with the counselor.
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_01: And once we make eye contact, then like we're still continuing this conversation.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_01: I'll just yawn and stretch and scratch the back of my head.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_01: And that's the symbol that this kid just told me something that I would absolutely report.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_01: And that happens all the time.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_03: Well, that's pretty powerful.
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_01: And usually that kid is already on that counselor's radar.
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_01: But every once in a while we get some that aren't, um, that they've been carrying this weight around with them.
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_01: And so that way that we can get that facilitated with with their counselors.
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_01: But then once those kids are all done, very regularly do I have, and it's usually coaches, uh, people that that teach in the building that come up to me afterwards and like, man, I really needed to hear that today.
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_01: And then they ask about some specific guidance on what they would do or what I would do if I were in their situation.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_03: Trevor Burrus, Jr.: So when you come in, you do an assembly, you have these engagements, there's some people's eyes get open, some people feel like they really got some help today.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_03: What then?
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_03: What happens with those students?
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_03: What happens with those educators?
• 25:11
  SPEAKER_03: Um, because do you have a program that then takes them to the next level?
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_03: Do you refer them to some things that can help them?
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_03: In other words, you can't go.
• 25:19
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, go ahead.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_03: Sorry.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_03: Stay you can't go stay in that school the rest of your life.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_01: So that has been the ultimate challenge for us is how what's the continuation in there?
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_01: And and again, it kind of goes back to every school is completely different.
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_01: I I've been in one oh I was in one school, I won't say where, uh, a few years ago, and I was like, what kind of mental health curriculum do you all have here?
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_01: And they're like, Well, we got a bunch of books in a closet somewhere, but they're pretty dusty.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_01: And then we got some places where it's like twice a week they're doing lessons with their counselor and like all that.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_01: So there's really no one program that I could use that would say, like, would be the same for kids at Washburn Roll versus the kids at Highland Park, and we're in the same town.
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_01: You know?
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_01: Um and so what I tell folks is it's like, again, not being a mental health professional, my job is to get that conversation started.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I am the tip of the spear, and I I can promise you that your kids will be open to this discussion once I'm done being in uh a presence in your building.
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_01: Uh and that but it's up to you all to take the torch from there and go.
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_01: Uh and that has been, again, like it's been the biggest challenge.
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_01: And I would I would love to have the opportunity to have a huge team of people that could make individualized things for every school.
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_01: That's just not the world that we live in.
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_03: Aaron Ross Powell, you're still pretty new, four years, I guess, uh what you were saying in regards to the Jones Project starting and starting to go into the schools.
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_03: Um where did this start?
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_03: Um talk about why it's called the Jones Project.
• 26:45
  SPEAKER_03: Um where did it start, and then how did you get brought into the mix?
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_01: Aaron Ross Powell Okay.
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_01: Uh you might have to make this a two-part episode.
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_03: This is a uh we've done that before.
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_01: One thing that uh excuse me, just one thing that as I've gotten older, and especially over the last four, four years or so since the Jones Project's been up and rolling, is I've I've spent a lot of time reflecting on the chain reactions that we have in life.
• 27:11
  SPEAKER_01: Like how did we get to this one place?
• 27:13
  SPEAKER_01: And it's well, this happened because this happened because this person came into our life, or that person left our life, and so on and so forth.
• 27:19
  SPEAKER_01: And uh Topeka had a a gentleman named Josh Jones, uh, who was a pillar of our community.
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_01: Did anybody at the table here know Josh?
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, definitely.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_01: I know Josh.
• 27:30
  SPEAKER_01: Uh and for or that that that's not an uncommon answer.
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_01: Like usually when I ask that question at people, oh yeah, I knew Josh.
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_01: And I didn't.
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_01: The first time that Josh Jones and I were in the same room was at his funeral because my wife works at Advisors Excel where Josh worked.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_01: And the difference between in my experience anyway, when whenever we lose someone too so people say, Oh, she was such a great person, or he was such a great dude, all that.
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_01: When Josh passed, and I would ask people about him, it was all he was one of the few people I found that are just universally loved.
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_01: Never have ever heard a single person say a single bad thing about him.
• 28:14
  SPEAKER_01: And instead of just saying, like, he was a great guy, it was always here's he was a great guy, and here's how he changed my life.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_01: Or let me tell you about this thing that he did for my family.
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it's just one of those man, I I I can't think of a word that's appropriate because I've never run into stories about another person like that.
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_01: Uh but we were running very different yet parallel paths uh just before Josh's death in March of 21.
• 28:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um at the time, I was coaching Washburn Rolls girls and boys wrestling team.
• 28:49
  SPEAKER_01: And so we had, I believe, 126 kids, if memory serves, between the two programs.
• 28:53
  SPEAKER_01: And I was I was running myself ragged.
• 28:57
  SPEAKER_01: And this is after spending a couple of decades kind of working in silence with my own mental health issues.
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_01: And between those two programs, we had so many kids that we had to we had to run two practices a night.
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_01: So our girls would go from our boys would go from 3.15 to 515, our girls would go from 530 to 7:30.
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_01: And then by the time I did all the administrative type work and and got home, it was nine o'clock, and I had two babies at the time.
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_01: And so I was missing a quarter of their childhood so I could coach other people's kids in wrestling.
• 29:30
  SPEAKER_01: And I was just burning the candles at candle at both ends.
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_01: And but it was working.
• 29:35
  SPEAKER_01: We were like, as far as results go, we were good.
• 29:38
  SPEAKER_01: And in 2021, Washburn Rural became the first school in the history of the United States to win a state championship in both boys and girls wrestling in the same season.
• 29:47
  SPEAKER_01: And then two weeks later, uh, at our at the boys' wrestling banquet, I resigned from coaching.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_01: And at the time, I like I knew that I couldn't continue to do both.
• 30:01
  SPEAKER_01: And our boys' team had the foundation.
• 30:03
  SPEAKER_01: Our girls' team was still very novel, it was new.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_01: And so, like, I was afraid if they made the wrong hire there, then that program could implode.
• 30:10
  SPEAKER_01: So I knew I had to choose one, and that was a big part of the reason why I stuck with our girls' team.
• 30:15
  SPEAKER_01: But when you win a state championship and you've got a fully loaded roster coming back to win another state championship the next year, which is what happened, uh, it raises some eyebrows when you all of a sudden just walk away from it.
• 30:28
  SPEAKER_01: And we we heard rumors, you know, people if you don't give them the correct story, then they start making up.
• 30:36
  SPEAKER_01: And at the time I had just cited health issues.
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_01: And it it was my mental health, it was just it was you know in in a rapid decline.
• 30:47
  SPEAKER_01: And shortly thereafter, my wife come home came home from work, and I could tell something terrible had happened, and she told me that Josh Jones had just died by suicide.
• 30:57
  SPEAKER_01: And so all of this is kind of happening at the same time.
• 31:00
  SPEAKER_01: And when we go to his funeral, and man, now the name the name of the church escapes me.
• 31:09
  SPEAKER_03: Mission.
• 31:12
  SPEAKER_01: Topeka Bible Church.
• 31:14
  SPEAKER_01: It it was huge.
• 31:14
  SPEAKER_01: I can't remember which one it was.
• 31:16
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but it it had like horseshoe seating, right?
• 31:19
  SPEAKER_01: And like I'm in the top left part of the fellowship.
• 31:22
  SPEAKER_01: Was it fellowship Bible church?
• 31:24
  SPEAKER_03: Where were you talking about where the service was?
• 31:25
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, sir.
• 31:25
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_01: And so yeah, I'm sitting in the top balcony up there, and I had uh just this moment of clarity in this standing room only church where it was like, man, if I don't do something about the condition of my mental health, it is only a matter of time until that's my family sitting in the front row.
• 31:43
  SPEAKER_01: And if you were there, you remember it was appropriately pouring rain that day, and went out to the car after the funeral and had what I could only describe as a total mental breakdown.
• 31:56
  SPEAKER_01: And told my wife about everything that I had been dealing with.
• 32:00
  SPEAKER_01: And my wife, Lindsay, is amazing.
• 32:02
  SPEAKER_01: And like she she had no idea.
• 32:05
  SPEAKER_01: Like I I tell kids, like, you once you get good at keeping secrets, especially this kind of secret, like you can keep it from anybody.
• 32:11
  SPEAKER_01: And like she thought I had bad days, like anybody else, but like she didn't realize the depths of what was going on with me.
• 32:16
  SPEAKER_01: And I don't think I really did until that moment either.
• 32:19
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, and just kind of spilled all of that.
• 32:23
  SPEAKER_01: And then, like in her infinite wisdom, Lindsay just kind of took a breath and gave me a hug and was like, all right, time to come up with a plan.
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_01: And so that's what we did.
• 32:31
  SPEAKER_01: And we started coming up with a plan, and then and I started going to work on that.
• 32:35
  SPEAKER_01: And somehow, I I honestly don't remember how.
• 32:39
  SPEAKER_01: But Cody Foster, who is best friends with Josh Jones, Cody is the, for the people that don't know, is the founder of Advisors Excel.
• 32:47
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, pretty much all of the great stuff that's been happening in Topeka over the last couple of decades, Cody has had a hand in it somehow.
• 32:54
  SPEAKER_01: And the Jones Project is no different.
• 32:57
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, Cody and I started meeting for lunch every once in a while.
• 33:01
  SPEAKER_01: I I can't remember how that even got started, but I kind of told him all that story.
• 33:06
  SPEAKER_01: And at this point, like I'd I'd been seeing a therapist, I'd made some changes in my life, and things were starting to slowly trend in the right direction.
• 33:13
  SPEAKER_01: And he's like, man, that's that's a good story that I think could really help some people if you'd be willing to tell it.
• 33:19
  SPEAKER_01: And so we reached out to some media contacts that we knew, and uh they wrote a five-page newspaper article about it that ran in the Capitol Journal.
• 33:29
  SPEAKER_01: And it was it was a wonderful piece, and it just caught fire and started running into other newspapers across the country, and it it got shared like crazy all over social media.
• 33:41
  SPEAKER_01: And now my phone's ringing with you know, I had coaches from South Carolina, Oregon, just like people all over the place calling me about this thing and or sending me Facebook messages, like, man, it's so cool that you shared this.
• 33:53
  SPEAKER_01: I'm going through the same type of thing.
• 33:56
  SPEAKER_01: And then with the traction that that story got, we got to eat one time and and Cody was like, you know, I I kind of had this vision of starting a nonprofit in Josh's name, and I want you to be the executive director of it.
• 34:12
  SPEAKER_01: What would you think about that?
• 34:14
  SPEAKER_01: And at the time, I was like, I loved teaching.
• 34:16
  SPEAKER_01: I loved what I was doing.
• 34:17
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, you know what, hold that thought for a minute.
• 34:20
  SPEAKER_01: I got to run to the restroom, we are Johnny's.
• 34:21
  SPEAKER_01: And I go into the bathroom and I pull out my phone.
• 34:24
  SPEAKER_01: I I Google what is the executive director of a nonprofit.
• 34:28
  SPEAKER_01: Because I knew that like I had been in this educational bubble for 20 years, and my parents are both teachers.
• 34:33
  SPEAKER_01: So like I knew that nonprofits existed, but I had no idea what they did, what an executive director did, any of that.
• 34:39
  SPEAKER_01: And I read like 30, 30 seconds worth of a Wikipedia entry, and I was like, Yeah, I could do that.
• 34:44
  SPEAKER_01: So I went out and I was like, all right, let's do this.
• 34:45
  SPEAKER_01: And like that's how the Jones Project was born.
• 34:48
  SPEAKER_01: And then we I I was like, so what is your vision for this?
• 34:51
  SPEAKER_01: And he's like, Well, I don't know, Mr.
• 34:53
  SPEAKER_01: Executive Director, you tell me.
• 34:55
  SPEAKER_01: And so that that's been the coolest thing about it, man, is it's it's like I like I said earlier, I have a certain skill set of a few things that I'm really good at.
• 35:05
  SPEAKER_01: And we've been able to utilize those things for good.
• 35:10
  SPEAKER_01: And there are no rules to this thing.
• 35:12
  SPEAKER_01: So we were able to build it however we wanted to build it.
• 35:14
  SPEAKER_01: And one of the things that that was important to both Cody and I, what like when I go into to go speak professionally somewhere, like they pay you for decades of experience.
• 35:26
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm not cheap.
• 35:28
  SPEAKER_01: And schools, quite frankly, couldn't afford to bring someone like myself in.
• 35:34
  SPEAKER_01: Like if you're gonna bring in a a halfway decent speaker to if you're out in Dodge City or Liberal Kansas, like that is a minimum$5,000 investment.
• 35:42
  SPEAKER_01: And if you found a great speaker for five grand, like have that person come back every year.
• 35:47
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 35:47
  SPEAKER_01: Um so we do it for free.
• 35:51
  SPEAKER_01: And free is not a great business model.
• 35:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um free free doesn't keep the lights up.
• 35:57
  SPEAKER_01: We understand that.
• 35:58
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I was gonna say, I bet there's some empathy at the payment.
• 36:02
  SPEAKER_01: Um and so we have had some just unbelievable people within our Jones Project community.
• 36:08
  SPEAKER_01: And there's a lot of those people are right here in Topeka.
• 36:11
  SPEAKER_01: And some of them, the vast, I shouldn't say vast majority, but a lot of them are connections through Advisors Excel, through people that knew Josh, that that see the value in what we're doing here and want to keep the lights on for us so that we can continue to impact as many kids as we can.
• 36:27
  SPEAKER_01: And when we first started this thing, I remember telling Cody, it's like, man, if we if we travel the earth and and do this a thousand times and talk to a million kids, and just one kid decides that they're gonna stick around for a while and they wouldn't have had they not heard us, like then this whole thing was worth doing.
• 36:46
  SPEAKER_01: And man, we have empirical proof over and over and over again from messages I've gotten from kids that our visit to their school is the reason that they're still here.
• 36:58
  SPEAKER_01: And that makes it really easy to wake up at four in the morning and get in the car and drive the liberal or wherever we're going that day.
• 37:05
  SPEAKER_03: That's powerful.
• 37:06
  SPEAKER_03: You know, um, I don't want Merriman Laman to be able to jump in here too, but you know, just just the feedback that you got after the newspaper article, um, which I was aware of that, um, and read those articles, uh you you laid your life out on the line there.
• 37:23
  SPEAKER_03: And that is a very big risk, especially when you're battling your own mental health challenges and imagine through that process you were going, hmm, wonder if this was a good decision to make.
• 37:35
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 37:36
  SPEAKER_03: But the feedback you got from coaches around the country says a whole lot about what everybody's facing to some degree, doesn't it?
• 37:44
  SPEAKER_01: It does.
• 37:45
  SPEAKER_01: And I one thing that I've kind of struggled with my whole life, and I still I was just talking with my wrestling team last weekend about this, is like the the need for validation uh to make sure that it not like that, you know, I don't need awards or even like our team winning trophies, but I need to see tangible evidence that the decisions that I'm making are the right decisions.
• 38:08
  SPEAKER_01: And yeah, just like you said, when when we first did that thing, I remember going into it and I was like, we can either do this halfway or we can be an open book and maybe be fully transparent.
• 38:17
  SPEAKER_01: And it's like I don't really do anything halfway.
• 38:20
  SPEAKER_01: And so it's like, let's do this.
• 38:22
  SPEAKER_01: But then once we did it, it was like, oh my gosh, that was that was a lot.
• 38:26
  SPEAKER_01: You know, like I I gotta call my mom beforehand and let her know that this article is coming out because this is news to pretty much everybody.
• 38:33
  SPEAKER_01: And yeah, the the the amount of shares and stuff, like I I've never been one that's like big about getting social media following or whatever, but uh I'm starting to see some of the power there with with some of the stuff we've done through social media for kids.
• 38:50
  SPEAKER_01: But at the same time, it wasn't about it social media presence.
• 38:56
  SPEAKER_01: It was just every single person that shared that story or every other town that ran it in their newspaper was just validation that, like, yeah, people need to hear this.
• 39:02
  SPEAKER_01: And you made the right call, uh, and and sharing as much of yourself with as you did.
• 39:08
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I want to stop.
• 39:09
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, uh this is two or three apart or uh but um Lamanda, Miriam.
• 39:14
  SPEAKER_03: Um there's so much here.
• 39:17
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so much relatable, maybe personally, definitely with the ministry, with the people that Topeka Rescue Mission serves.
• 39:24
  SPEAKER_03: What's coming to your mind right now?
• 39:26
  SPEAKER_03: You've all been very quiet.
• 39:28
  SPEAKER_01: That's sorry, because I told you I blacked.
• 39:30
  SPEAKER_01: No, it's not a good idea.
• 39:31
  SPEAKER_01: If you look at my Twitter handle underneath, it says Coach Parker, and then it just says I talk a lot.
• 39:35
  SPEAKER_03: Damon, I think I think what you're doing is that you are probably like those kids, like those faculty members, that you're opening up something here in a very unique way that everybody's saying, uh, I see that.
• 39:47
  SPEAKER_03: I see that, I see that.
• 39:48
  SPEAKER_03: Maybe not sure what to do with it, but I see that.
• 39:51
  SPEAKER_00: You want me to go first?
• 39:53
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 39:53
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, I think just as I'm sitting here listening, the first thing that that pops into my mind is just to thank you, Damon.
• 40:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um not that you, you know, need my validation or anything, but just as a sister in Christ, there's a lot of similarities in our story.
• 40:12
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I too left education, something that I knew and uh thought I was pretty good at, and really thought I was coming to the rescue mission to use uh my heart for people and my heart for to bring awareness to look at people differently than sometimes the stigma that society puts on them.
• 40:35
  SPEAKER_00: And then really what I've realized was I was gonna go through so much personally that I would have never experienced the Lord in my own personal trials in the education system that I would have here.
• 40:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um and so I won't say that I know what you've gone through, but I will say that there's just connections there.
• 40:59
  SPEAKER_00: And so I just want to thank you for uh being vulnerable.
• 41:03
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for um stepping out of your own understanding and taking that leap of faith to do something so different, um, but so authentic.
• 41:14
  SPEAKER_00: And so I think that's the first thing that I thought of is just as a sister in Christ.
• 41:18
  SPEAKER_00: Like, thank you for the example that you were willing to set when maybe it wasn't the popular one.
• 41:25
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and then the second thing I thought of when, you know, he's speaking about his true belief of if one kiddo does something differently with their thinking or their actions, it's worth it.
• 41:39
  SPEAKER_00: And that is something that I struggle with trying to communicate from the Topeka Ash Topeka Rescue Missions aspect because I hear all the time about the need.
• 41:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I hear all the time the concerns um and even complaints sometimes.
• 41:56
  SPEAKER_00: And I care about those and I want to be a bridge for our community.
• 41:59
  SPEAKER_00: And so I'm hearing about this camp that makes this business look bad, or I'm hearing about this area that's full of trash, and I'm hearing about all these things.
• 42:08
  SPEAKER_00: And that is a part of my role, and I care about it.
• 42:12
  SPEAKER_00: But I'm trying to also have the same message that Damon has that while I might not be able to fix those encampments or that trash in that moment, can I please tell you about the person that was just housed?
• 42:25
  SPEAKER_00: Or can I please tell you about the person that my team just sat with on the Kansas Avenue bridge until emergency personnel got there to prevent them from jumping?
• 42:41
  SPEAKER_00: And how do we at the Topeka Rescue Mission get people to buy into that too, that I might not be able to fix all of the concerns of homelessness that everybody's seeing, but that that one matters because we have someone eating in our food service area that hasn't eaten in a week, or about the people that are getting the showers at the CIC, or someone who has been a guest for us for months and finally trust Mike Schottle to have a spiritual wellness session, you know, and and I could go on and on.
• 43:19
  SPEAKER_00: And so sometimes try in my role as CEO is so difficult because I have the responsibility of caring about the masses, yet I'm trying to also not fluff it, but to say, I can't fix the 10 problems, but let me tell you about this one incredible story.
• 43:40
  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes it just doesn't feel like it's enough because there's a pressure at the Topeka Rescue Mission to have all these outputs that are all these high measures and multiple successes.
• 43:56
  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes it's almost like if I'm telling only a story about.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_00: One, I get pushback that it's not enough.
• 44:04
  SPEAKER_00: And so it's just a reminder today for me on my own journey.
• 44:09
  SPEAKER_00: Um, that when one person is fed at TRM, when one person is sheltered, when that woman who has been scared to leave a violent situation leaves and has a bed, when my team might get griped at because our shelter's overflowing, but they leave that to go sit with somebody on the bridge.
• 44:28
  SPEAKER_00: And that happens all the time here that we never share.
• 44:32
  SPEAKER_00: We never share.
• 44:34
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it's just a reminder that the work we do is so beautiful and it is worth it.
• 44:39
  SPEAKER_00: And it's also a reminder to me that God's perspective is often very different than what we would say is successful.
• 44:47
  SPEAKER_00: And so I'm just proud of the Jones Project.
• 44:50
  SPEAKER_00: I'm thankful for Cody Foster pouring into this.
• 44:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I'm thankful for you, Damon, that would say, Yep, don't know how this is gonna look like, but I'm gonna take my own mess, turn it into a message, and let God do the rest.
• 45:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and then it's just a reminder that I, as the CEO, I do have a responsibility to be a bridge and the best bridge I can be to help everyone's understanding.
• 45:15
  SPEAKER_00: But that I better not ever forget that one transformation story in the Lord's eyes is just as important, even if the community does not view it that way.
• 45:28
  SPEAKER_01: Well, it's what you're saying there, first of all, like the thank you that you gave to me is is super not necessary, but very much appreciated.
• 45:38
  SPEAKER_01: Uh but what you're talking about, it's like that old allegory of you know, the child throwing the starfish back into the sea.
• 45:45
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it's like it matters to that one, even though there are thousands on the beach and you can't save all of them, you know.
• 45:51
  SPEAKER_01: And we we I kind of struggle with the same thing.
• 45:56
  SPEAKER_01: It's like there's no real tangible way to measure what it is that we're doing out there.
• 46:01
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, right.
• 46:01
  SPEAKER_01: Uh and there's we can make some guesses based on certain data and all that kind of stuff, but that all they are is informed guesses.
• 46:09
  SPEAKER_01: Uh the the one thing that we we did have going uh was we were undefeated for almost four years.
• 46:18
  SPEAKER_01: Meaning like there wasn't a kid that was in our audience that then decided to end their life during the first three and a half years that we were doing this.
• 46:28
  SPEAKER_01: And then we lost one last year.
• 46:32
  SPEAKER_01: And that was an absolute kick in the stomach.
• 46:35
  SPEAKER_01: You know, and it it wasn't thinking about the the 280 schools that we went to that that we hadn't had any of those issues.
• 46:44
  SPEAKER_01: It was like uh what kept me up at night was the one.
• 46:47
  SPEAKER_01: You know, and uh that's something that I think I think there's a reason that people like yourself find yourself in the position that you're working in right now.
• 46:56
  SPEAKER_01: Like God puts those kind of people there because they are going to battle for that one and that person on the bridge, that person that hasn't eaten for a while.
• 47:04
  SPEAKER_01: And I I think there's a reason that you're sitting here at this table right now.
• 47:09
  SPEAKER_01: And it's it's because you're gonna wrestle with that thing.
• 47:12
  SPEAKER_01: And and not everybody would.
• 47:14
  SPEAKER_01: And the the the marginalized people in our community, uh Jesus told us to love all of our neighbors, you know, not just the ones that live on our street and or in our cul-de-sac, like the ones that are sitting on the bridge too, you know.
• 47:29
  SPEAKER_01: And and yeah, those marginalized folks, they need the people that are sitting at this table right now.
• 47:34
  SPEAKER_01: So thank you for everything that you all do.
• 47:37
  SPEAKER_04: So, Damon, I'm curious.
• 47:38
  SPEAKER_04: So you get to hear you have this incredible opportunity to have people share the icky parts of their lives with you.
• 47:46
  SPEAKER_04: How do you balance all that then, right?
• 47:49
  SPEAKER_04: So you've shared about your own mental health struggles and now you're taking on more.
• 47:54
  SPEAKER_04: It happens to us here.
• 47:56
  SPEAKER_04: We hear people's worst parts, you know, they give those to us as a gift in my mind.
• 48:02
  SPEAKER_04: Um, how do you balance that out then?
• 48:05
  SPEAKER_04: Um and be able to just continue to go on recognizing that there may always be that one that doesn't, that doesn't find the strength to move forward.
• 48:18
  SPEAKER_04: How do how do you how do you deal with that?
• 48:21
  SPEAKER_01: I don't I don't know that balance is the correct word.
• 48:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um therapists need therapists, right?
• 48:35
  SPEAKER_01: And and every one of my therapists that I've had, I've I've asked them about that, and they're like, oh absolutely, man.
• 48:42
  SPEAKER_01: Like our job is to sit here and let people you know express the worst parts of their life.
• 48:46
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, like the most terrible things that have happened to them.
• 48:49
  SPEAKER_01: Like we need to offload that somewhere.
• 48:51
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 48:51
  SPEAKER_01: And that took some getting used to.
• 48:54
  SPEAKER_01: Because even with all of my experience with teaching and coaching, sometimes I hear things that you just like you all do, I hear things that you can't unhear.
• 49:05
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 49:05
  SPEAKER_01: You know, and it's and for whatever reason, like if if there's a movie that's on where harm comes to children, like I just can't, I can't watch that.
• 49:15
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it's it's not something that is even in my sight, guys, because it's like I d I just feel different about that.
• 49:21
  SPEAKER_01: I'll you know, watch a World War II movie with action scenes all day, but if for some reason, like and so then to go out into the real world and hear those kinds of stories from kids was freaking tough when I first started this.
• 49:36
  SPEAKER_01: And I I spend a lot of time writing in journals and I spend a lot of time like unpacking that with again, my wife is the most wonderful person in the world.
• 49:45
  SPEAKER_01: And uh she hears a lot of that from me.
• 49:47
  SPEAKER_01: And it's like, hey, let me tell you about this story about this kid that neither one of us is ever gonna see again.
• 49:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, just because I need to talk about it.
• 49:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um and then yeah, again, the really bad stuff we offload with therapists.
• 49:58
  SPEAKER_01: And that's yeah, uh it it'll always be a struggle, I think.
• 50:01
  SPEAKER_01: I think it is for anybody that works in a position like that where other people are being vulnerable.
• 50:06
  SPEAKER_01: But um but also the I guess if balance would be appropriate when you talk about like some of the connections that I've made with kids that have lasted well beyond the time that I was in their school.
• 50:17
  SPEAKER_01: You know, we can uh as old people, people like me can look at social media and say, gr or social media, or we can look at this as this amazing teaching and communication tool that if used properly can keep people close and keep people at hand when you need them to be.
• 50:32
  SPEAKER_01: And like I've got kids that that were the in the audience as seniors the first year that I went that are sending me college graduation announcements.
• 50:42
  SPEAKER_01: And it's like it's the coolest thing ever, man.
• 50:46
  SPEAKER_01: And it's because we've been able to make this because I told this one story that really resonated with them.
• 50:52
  unknown: Yeah.
• 50:52
  SPEAKER_01: And they came up and chatted with me afterwards, and we had a little connection, and then we're we'd every once in a while I'll just try to I try to take a couple days a semester and go back through my hundreds of Instagram DMs and just copy and paste a reply.
• 51:06
  SPEAKER_01: Just like, hey, just check it in and say, How you doing?
• 51:08
  SPEAKER_01: You know, like just letting them know that I still know that you exist, you know.
• 51:11
  SPEAKER_01: And sometimes it's like, oh good, cool, guy that came to my school, whatever.
• 51:15
  SPEAKER_01: Why are you talking about it?
• 51:16
  SPEAKER_01: You know, but like sometimes it's like kids like, oh, well, let me tell you what's been going on here.
• 51:20
  SPEAKER_01: And and so like just knowing that we've got that kind of positive impact, uh it it it kind of helps me balance a little bit of the uh the stuff that's harder to hear.
• 51:29
  SPEAKER_01: Sure, sure, sure.
• 51:33
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 51:36
  SPEAKER_03: Damon, thank you.
• 51:38
  SPEAKER_03: So you've heard us say uh already here, thank you for taking that 30-second break with Wikipedia in the bathroom.
• 51:44
  SPEAKER_03: That one's amazing.
• 51:45
  SPEAKER_03: Tell Cody yes, and uh, you know, thanks to Cody, he's such a visionary about investing in things, trying to take things that are negative, tragic, and find somebody can turn them into something positive.
• 51:58
  SPEAKER_03: And that's uh obviously what the Jones Project is is about.
• 52:01
  SPEAKER_03: You don't really know what the roadmap is, you're just being obedient to go where you're asked to come.
• 52:07
  SPEAKER_03: And that is of great value.
• 52:10
  SPEAKER_03: Um only eternity will tell how many lives have been saved by what you're doing.
• 52:15
  SPEAKER_03: Um but God knows.
• 52:17
  SPEAKER_03: And God knows the uh the impact on that kid and impact on his teachers, his parents, and maybe that kid's kids.
• 52:25
  SPEAKER_03: Um that um we're doing something here that has been sorely needed for a long time.
• 52:30
  SPEAKER_03: I think it goes back to what you said, what Jesus told us to love our neighbors.
• 52:34
  SPEAKER_03: Um you talked about your own need for validation.
• 52:36
  SPEAKER_03: We all need validation.
• 52:38
  SPEAKER_03: The biggest question in the whole wide world is do I matter?
• 52:41
  SPEAKER_03: Uh babies ask it when they're first born, when they start crying.
• 52:44
  SPEAKER_03: You gonna change my diaper, you gonna feed me, you gonna burn me?
• 52:46
  SPEAKER_03: Do I matter?
• 52:48
  SPEAKER_03: And so many of the folks uh today kind of wonder that, um, even in profession.
• 52:53
  SPEAKER_03: Um you make it have the great record, you get the awards, but something on side of me says, Do I really matter?
• 53:00
  SPEAKER_03: Do people just love me because of my performance?
• 53:02
  SPEAKER_03: Or am I really loved because I am love loved?
• 53:05
  SPEAKER_03: And God says, Yeah, I I love you in spite of you.
• 53:08
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I created you, I love you.
• 53:10
  SPEAKER_03: And we're to model that um and get in people's lives and get in the mess.
• 53:15
  SPEAKER_03: Um Jesus didn't say, I'm gonna take you out of the mess, I'm gonna take you through the mess.
• 53:18
  SPEAKER_03: And you're one ambassador of going into the mess for people whose lives are questioning, do I matter?
• 53:26
  SPEAKER_03: And uh maybe this is the spark uh for that kid, for that school, for who knows what.
• 53:32
  SPEAKER_03: And um, and so everybody who's listening to this, um, you got the same question, do I matter?
• 53:38
  SPEAKER_03: And I think uh a little bit today, what you've done, Damon, is say, yep, you all matter and um and get help um wherever you can, seek it out wherever it's possible.
• 53:47
  SPEAKER_03: You mentioned a therapist has a therapist.
• 53:50
  SPEAKER_03: Pastors need pastors, uh, you know, the whole thing.
• 53:53
  SPEAKER_03: And uh so we're in this together and uh just grateful that someone like you has been able to say, I'm gonna take a risk here with my life.
• 54:04
  SPEAKER_03: And I'm not gonna be um I'm not gonna go to a funeral and I'm not gonna end it the same way.
• 54:10
  SPEAKER_03: Um I am going to um build upon the great things about Josh Jones and um uh to what I've always heard about him.
• 54:18
  SPEAKER_03: I knew him, but I knew him like a lot of people did, and that he was uh the guy that everybody went to.
• 54:23
  SPEAKER_03: Such a positive.
• 54:24
  SPEAKER_03: He was a unity builder um in so many ways, and what a devastating thing that was to lose him.
• 54:31
  SPEAKER_03: But don't stop there.
• 54:32
  SPEAKER_03: Take it on, move it forward, do what you've done, take it, call it out, and let's see who we can save going forward.
• 54:41
  SPEAKER_03: David, anything else you'd like to share with our listeners today?
• 54:44
  SPEAKER_01: I just remember when when we were first kicking around the idea of what this thing was gonna look like, uh Cody said something to me that really stuck with me.
• 54:54
  SPEAKER_01: And if if I don't know if this is a Cody Foster original or not, but if you've got people that are wondering like if if they're headed down the right path or if they're doing the right thing, uh kind of like we were when we first agreed to do this.
• 55:08
  SPEAKER_01: Um Cody said, when I start walking, God starts working.
• 55:12
  SPEAKER_01: And it's like so we we don't know what the path is going to be, but we just uh trust that compass that we have under our sternum and just start walking and and God will start going to work for you and and put you in the positions to be helpful for other people.
• 55:28
  SPEAKER_03: What a good word for all of us.
• 55:30
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, absolutely.
• 55:32
  SPEAKER_03: Damon Parker, Coach Damon Parker, um, who is the executive director of the Jones Project.
• 55:36
  SPEAKER_03: Um I think you can Google Jonesproject.org and find out more.
• 55:41
  SPEAKER_03: If you're an educator or maybe you know somebody who goes to school, you might uh want to see if uh get a hold of Damon to be able to come into your school.
• 55:48
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you for being a part of this.
• 55:49
  SPEAKER_03: It's called Our Community, Our Mission, because it's about Topeka Rescue Mission.
• 55:53
  SPEAKER_03: It's about everything Topeka Rescue Mission does, and that's more than just sheltering and feeding.
• 55:58
  SPEAKER_03: It's bigger than that.
• 55:59
  SPEAKER_03: Remember, Night of Praise is coming up on the 11th of uh October, which is right around the corner now.
• 56:05
  SPEAKER_03: Uh 5 30 p.m., 7th of Fairlon, Fairlong Church of the Nazarene.
• 56:08
  SPEAKER_03: Um it's a great night to uh be able to see what TRM is doing and what God's doing through TRM and what God might do with you right then and there.
• 56:16
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you for listening to our community, our mission.