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Homeless in a Car with My Kid – One Vet’s Escape (Full) · Solving America's Problems

0:00
An army vet and ER nurse, Kara Candage, gets divorced overnight — husband
0:04
bails, VA disability barely covers daycare, and boom — she and her
0:08
infant son are living in a hot car in El Paso for eleven brutal months.
0:13
She still showers at Planet Fitness, drops the kid at daycare, cranks
0:17
straight A’s through an accelerated nursing program, and parks every night
0:21
in Walmart lots just to stay alive.
0:24
All while the system tells her she makes TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS too much a
0:29
month to qualify for any real help.
0:32
Jerremy and Dave sit down with Kara to ask the question nobody wants to answer — if
0:36
America’s spending TWENTY BILLION dollars a year on homelessness and the number just
0:41
hit an all-time high of 771,000… where the hell is the money actually going…
0:49
Dave Conley, what are we addressing and solving today?
0:56
In this week's episode of Solving America's Problems, we dig into a
0:59
story that hits hard homelessness.
1:02
It's not just numbers, it's lives turned upside down, testing, grit, and will.
1:08
How does someone climb out?
1:09
Our guest is Kara Candi, an army veteran and ER nurse who lived that struggle.
1:14
She spent nearly a year in her car with her young child pushing through
1:18
nursing school against all odds.
1:20
Today, she channels that resilience into building hope for others.
1:24
And that's this week on solving America's problems from Homelessness to Hope.
1:29
A Mother Story with Kara Kage.
1:32
The numbers do not lie.
1:34
Tonight there will be 771,000 Americans homeless, which is the highest number
1:42
as a nation we've ever recorded.
1:44
We are spending $20 billion a year.
1:48
To fix this, and it apparently is getting worse.
1:52
But here's what's really crazy.
1:54
We actually know what works.
1:55
Houston cut their homeless population by 63% Finland, have
2:00
nearly eliminated it entirely.
2:03
why are most cities still failing?
2:05
My name is Jerremy Alexander Newsom, alongside me is my co-host Dave Conley,
2:09
and this is solving America's Problems.
2:12
Today we are talking with someone who lived through this crisis firsthand.
2:18
Kara Candage is an army veteran and an ER nurse who found herself homeless
2:23
living in her car with a young child in El Paso now beautifully.
2:28
She did not just survive this.
2:30
She completed nursing school while experiencing homelessness, and
2:34
now she is dedicated her life to building real solutions for people
2:38
who others have written off.
2:41
Kara, welcome to the show.
2:43
Thank you for having me.
2:45
It's gonna be an absolute pleasure and we're just gonna dive right in.
2:49
What was the moment that created that homelessness for you?
2:55
Oh man, that was, it was an instant, it wasn't a gradual
3:00
creep down into homelessness.
3:01
Um, I went through a terrible divorce and the instant I left
3:06
that marriage, he abandoned my child and I, and I had no money.
3:12
I had the VA disability.
3:13
I had just gotten into nursing school.
3:16
It was like that I couldn't afford the rent, and all I
3:19
had was my car and my baby.
3:20
And my dog
3:22
Wow.
3:23
So that was, I mean, it was, to your point, it wasn't gradual.
3:27
As soon as that happens, boom, you have nowhere to
3:29
incident.
3:29
you just have to stay in your car.
3:31
Correct.
3:31
How long were you and your child in your car?
3:34
Just under a year.
3:35
It was about 11 months.
3:37
Just that's such a long time.
3:41
Just under a year,
3:42
under,
3:44
11 and a half months.
3:45
It's so long.
3:46
Yeah.
3:48
So what's a, what's a typical day like?
3:49
I mean, like, I, I, I think most people I don't know what's a, I mean, what,
3:53
what happens, like, we wake up and like, what would we not be thinking about?
3:59
well obviously I don't wake up and clean a house in that situation.
4:03
Well, it depends if it was a school day, so I. Everybody's gonna be
4:06
like, wow, you made VA disability.
4:07
I literally took every penny to put my child in daycare and my dog, I
4:12
worked out a very cheap boarding solution, um, where I volunteered time.
4:16
So she went to boarding 'cause I couldn't get rid of my dog either.
4:19
And so, typical day, I'd wake up, take my child to daycare.
4:21
After we went to the gym, I showered at the gym planet Fitness
4:25
membership, $10, shower at the gym, take my child to daycare 'cause
4:28
he was just an infant at the time.
4:30
And then I'd go to school.
4:31
And either do clinicals, classwork, and then I would pick my child up and
4:34
then I would go home, quote unquote.
4:36
We usually would set at a park 'cause it was really hot in
4:38
El Paso until the wintertime.
4:40
So we'd set at the park with other homeless people.
4:43
Surprisingly, you'd make a lot of homeless friends that way.
4:45
Do some homework, uh, scavenge food, however that looked like.
4:49
And then go to sleep somewhere safe.
4:50
Usually a Walmart parking lot.
4:52
Um, planet Fitness, the dog border that I worked with, she said I
4:55
could park my car there some nights.
4:56
Somewhere safe.
4:58
Yeah.
4:59
Saying people probably don't realize, like El Paso's definitely hot in the
5:01
summer, but it's cold in the winter.
5:03
Very cold in the winter it there was two Jurassic.
5:05
You never had a happy medium.
5:06
We went from a hundred degrees to 30 degrees and you can't pack winter
5:10
clothes in a car, so you make it work.
5:13
Yep.
5:15
Well, thank you for making it work.
5:16
You, me, you mentioned making friends.
5:18
Just gimme a little bit of insight of how that transpired.
5:21
What did that look like or feel like?
5:23
A little shameful at first 'cause you're at the park and then you
5:25
notice other people are at the park at times they shouldn't be.
5:28
Um, a lot of 'em didn't have kids, very fortunately for them.
5:31
And you would kind of notice they're wearing the same clothes they wore
5:34
yesterday and the day before and they would notice I was wearing the same stuff.
5:37
And you kind of just mutually have a bond you know, especially as a female.
5:41
I was a very young female.
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I was 20 at the time, turning 21.
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Very dangerous.
5:46
It's not a very safe city.
5:48
It's a great city.
5:48
Love El Paso.
5:49
Not a very safe city as a female.
5:51
So you're kind of shameful, like admitting, Hey, I'm wearing
5:54
the same clothes for the last three days, so sorry about that.
5:56
But you also notice they are, and you kind of form this mutual bond of protection.
6:01
I not like a, you're gonna go have a barbecue at their house,
6:04
obviously, but they'll watch.
6:08
I
6:08
Numerous house jokes.
6:09
This is
6:09
you,
6:10
it.
6:11
oh, you have to, uh, my.
6:13
My car broke the, uh, other month and I was like, oh, good
6:16
thing I'm great at house repairs.
6:18
You have to make jokes.
6:18
Uh, but it's more of a, not a friendship as, a good bond like I have now.
6:23
It's more of a protection.
6:25
I scratch their back, they scratch mine.
6:27
If they found $5, they buy a Happy meal, they would split
6:30
it with me and vice versa.
6:32
Wow.
6:34
So when you, when you mentioned protection, like what do you feel
6:37
that you need a protection from?
6:40
No offense, men.
6:42
It's a, you're talking it's a very scary world.
6:45
You're out there 20 years old, 21 years old with a baby and
6:48
you know, can't do anything.
6:50
You can lock your cars, but those windows break, um, you gotta be outside
6:54
of your car 'cause you can't sit it.
6:55
'cause I can't afford the gas to run the AC all the time.
6:57
So men, uh, the.
6:59
Weather.
7:00
El Paso gets really terrible windstorms and very terrible
7:02
thunderstorms, so it's just everything.
7:05
Snakes, spiders, they're everywhere.
7:07
So everything.
7:08
Now how are you still gonna school at this time?
7:10
Like, what did you do with your, with your child?
7:13
He went to daycare.
7:14
So luckily my school was strictly Monday through Friday.
7:16
Like I said, I think I made roughly $1,700 a month in VA disability.
7:21
And the daycare was originally a little bit more than that.
7:24
And I had talked to the owner, I was like, here's my situation.
7:27
I don't know what I can do.
7:28
Can I like volunteer a couple hours a week to reduce my tuition?
7:32
And they did.
7:32
I would go two hours a week to help with the kids and.
7:36
My tuition was $1,500, so I had $200 for food and gas, which does not go far.
7:42
Were there any other programs that were available to you?
7:44
Could any other assistance?
7:46
So funniest story is when you make just a little bit of money, you
7:51
make too much money for all that.
7:53
So all the programs were basically, I was over the
7:56
threshold by a few hundred dollars.
7:58
And so like you can give up your VA disability and we'll
8:01
give you all these benefits.
8:03
You lose that VA disability and then you lose your school and you lose all this.
8:07
So we'll give you a house, you know, section eight housing or whatever,
8:10
or whatever the city was providing, and we'll give you food stamps.
8:13
But right now you make just a little bit too much.
8:17
Yeah.
8:18
Yeah.
8:18
Wow.
8:20
That's kinda wild.
8:21
I mean, there's definitely, I can see the pros and cons of having some type
8:23
of cutoff, but like the, does it seem like there's a lot of discretionary, in
8:27
It's kind of a donut hole, right?
8:29
You, if you make too much, that's a problem, and if you make too
8:32
little, that's a big problem.
8:35
Huge problem.
8:35
I think they went off of, they kept saying, well, here's a room to rent on
8:40
the south side of town for $550 a month, and you and your son could live there.
8:44
If you don't know anything about El Paso, the closer to the border,
8:49
you get a little dangerous.
8:51
So at that point, it wasn't worth.
8:53
Danger of living in a house of men, I don't know, with my child.
8:57
And so stable housing, safe housing was not affordable by any means.
9:02
Now, was your son at the time, was he having a blast?
9:05
Oh, he was a baby.
9:06
He didn't even know, you know, he just was like, I'm with mom, this is great.
9:09
We're going to the park.
9:10
And you know, I did
9:12
a
9:13
I a lot.
9:14
He's like, wow, I never got to go to the park this much.
9:16
Yeah.
9:16
And so I really tried to shelter him, although I don't,
9:19
he doesn't remember even know.
9:20
We talk about it a little bit now, but he doesn't remember anything.
9:22
Uh, and like I said, all my money, I made sure he had formula
9:26
every month, diapers every month.
9:28
I had, uh, I'm not gonna lie, every now and then, I stole some diapers,
9:31
but he had to do what you have to do.
9:33
Don't come after me.
9:34
Yeah, there's a, there's a limitations on that I'm sure.
9:38
State of Texas will be like the limitations.
9:39
20 years we're coming after you.
9:41
That's right.
9:43
That's right.
9:44
Wow.
9:44
Okay.
9:45
And this is, I mean, it's such a cool story of survival and
9:47
just kind of figuring it out.
9:49
At any point in time did you feel excited, liberated?
9:54
Was this fun?
9:54
Was this en energizing in any way?
9:57
No, but it's funny 'cause now my partner, Jerremy, also Jerremy we
10:03
are living a very nomadic lifestyle.
10:05
Come winter, we're gonna live out of our car and travel the country.
10:07
'cause New York's winters are not great.
10:10
So it's funny as I. Nomadic is what I wanna call it, is much different.
10:14
That's fun and liberating.
10:15
Like we don't have a house to care for in the winter.
10:16
We don't have this, but we're making money and it's different.
10:19
I'm not gonna lie.
10:20
Being homeless was not fun.
10:22
There was not one moment that I went to sleep going, wow, this is the best camping
10:26
experience I've ever had in my life.
10:29
Camping experience.
10:30
Yeah.
10:31
I mean that's, it's, I'm, I appreciate you telling me that
10:33
because I noticed, and I see at least depends on where you would go.
10:37
But there are, I. A lot of people that are perpetually homeless.
10:40
And so I would love to know like, what's your are they having fun?
10:44
Are they doing it because they want to, like did you, did you get
10:47
any insight or information on that
10:49
I, I did, I, so I met one guy, he was super nice I forget his name by
10:54
now, but he chose to be homeless.
10:56
And I would go to him like, why do you choose to live this life?
10:58
Like here I am literally eating dog food.
11:01
I'd buy canned dog food 'cause it's cheaper than ravioli.
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And I'm like, I'm eating this and you're choosing this lifestyle.
11:06
He is like.
11:07
Man, I don't pay taxes.
11:08
The government doesn't control me.
11:10
I'm on the fringes of society and I live by those laws.
11:12
And I'm like, you know what?
11:14
Good for you.
11:16
So there were some people, there was definitely people that choose
11:18
that lifestyle 'cause they don't like the, you know, constraints
11:21
of society that we have today.
11:24
I think a lot of people, when we first, when I first started looking at this,
11:28
my per percept, perception is that a lot of homelessness is a lot of bad choices.
11:36
Yep.
11:36
a lot of, addiction.
11:38
It's, uh, a lot of crime.
11:39
It's a lot of you know, it's a lot of, a lot of different things where you
11:42
think people could have made different choices, but turns out that most people
11:47
who are homeless are exactly like you.
11:49
It went from homeless, it went from being home to homeless
11:53
and by no choice of their own.
11:56
was your experience like?
11:58
Did you run into a lot of that?
12:00
Yeah, I mean there's definitely some people who made awful choices, right?
12:04
Um, did some horrific crimes, went to jail, got out, were homeless and then
12:09
people who had really bad addictions, mental health issues that they just
12:13
couldn't get the help for, and they could not maintain a household or a job.
12:17
And so you have that, and then you had, it was a lot of people like me,
12:21
whereas, divorce was a huge thing.
12:23
You people went from a two income household or a one income
12:26
household to a no income household.
12:28
And that's, and you don't have an education, you know,
12:30
I just got the military.
12:31
I didn't have an education, um, outside of high school and.
12:36
I would say that was majority of the population.
12:38
And then what happens is it leads to the addiction and the mental
12:40
health issues on top of that.
12:42
So I don't think they started with that necessarily majority.
12:45
It led to that.
12:47
That's an interesting take.
12:48
Just meaning like it, I think a lot of people probably feel it's
12:50
probably the other way around.
12:51
Like the majority of
12:53
Start as homeless start from an addiction or mental health space.
12:56
it's probably my thesis too that it, that's probably the
12:59
gradual effects something crazy insane happening in their life.
13:05
And again, to your point, the educational aspect not having awesome education.
13:08
And then at the second time sec, the same time all the income goes away through a
13:13
loss of a job or divorce or some type of
13:16
Have one or two incomes, now you have zero.
13:18
And if you have zero income and bill bills are due, they're
13:23
Bills are due.
13:24
Yeah.
13:25
That's really, really interesting that, um, that you feel that, that
13:28
you noticed that, that you saw that.
13:29
And I think that that makes a lot of sense.
13:32
at what point as you're going through school, what kept you going to end up
13:37
getting and finalizing that degree?
13:40
As my child without my son, it would've been so easy to just be
13:45
homeless and on those fringes of society and stay where I was at.
13:50
But I saw this baby, right?
13:51
So he is still a baby, and I thought if I could just make it, because if
13:56
I drop outta school, I'm gonna get a minimum wage job, and it hasn't changed.
13:59
$7 and 25 cents minimum wage in Texas.
14:02
Do the math.
14:02
It's like $1,100 a month.
14:04
Can't do anything with that.
14:06
And I just kept thinking I can make it a year.
14:11
I did this accelerated nursing program.
14:13
I can make it the year for this baby.
14:16
And I don't know if I didn't have him, if I would be right here in this gorgeous
14:21
little cabin excuse little fire detector.
14:24
But you know, I. I wouldn't be here I don't think, without my child.
14:28
That was a huge driving force for me.
14:30
Yeah.
14:31
It's good motivation and hey, congrats.
14:33
Like well done.
14:34
Pushing through.
14:36
Yes.
14:37
What was the moment that you became not homeless?
14:38
Like how did that shift
14:40
Oh my gosh.
14:41
It was funny.
14:42
You would think it'd be the day I graduated.
14:43
Oh my gosh, you graduate nurse.
14:45
It wasn't.
14:46
would think that I did.
14:48
It wasn't.
14:49
So when you graduate nursing school, then you have to take the nclex, which is,
14:52
you know, this national test for nursing.
14:54
It's by state though.
14:56
And so it takes like a month and a half to get that testing.
14:59
So now I graduated school, which stinks 'cause I had nothing to do during the day
15:04
Oh
15:04
sit around and be homeless.
15:06
And so I had to study for this test and then I pass it and then
15:09
I had to make that decision.
15:11
Where am I going?
15:13
Because now I have this nursing license and am I staying here in El Paso?
15:16
Am I, I did make the move back home to Florida, which she would
15:20
be like, why didn't you go to Florida in the first place?
15:21
That's a long story.
15:23
Couldn't really afford the gas, nor did I have that family support.
15:26
But it was like a month and a half after graduation that I. Got off
15:32
and uh, then you have to get a job.
15:33
That's the hard part.
15:35
Then it takes like a month to get hired, and then it takes, you know, a
15:38
couple weeks for that first paycheck.
15:40
And that first paycheck isn't enough to get rent.
15:42
So a month and a half to test land a job about a month after
15:46
to actually start the job.
15:48
So it's probably a good three months from graduation to the time that
15:51
I signed for my first apartment.
15:54
Yeah.
15:55
Well, I mean, here's the part that still kind of blows my mind and I
15:57
see, or at least I feel this, I don't know what the disconnect is here,
16:01
and I, I would love to get probably like a longer thought on yours from
16:04
this, but you had military experience,
16:08
Yeah.
16:09
you went to the Army, so you
16:12
Yep.
16:12
trying to get help,
16:14
Yes.
16:14
VA housing programs.
16:16
Is there a process there?
16:18
Is there something like how are so many?
16:20
I feel like a lot of homeless people are veterans.
16:24
Yes.
16:25
Because the VA gives you this disability and they're like, that should be enough.
16:30
Because you should be able, like let's say at the time I was 70% disabled and they
16:34
were like, you should be able to work at 30% capacity, so make an extra income.
16:38
And they don't take in the factor that that's 30% at minimum wages, $300 a month.
16:44
No, there is not much.
16:46
They had they gave me a card for a shelter there in El Paso
16:49
and it was a co-ed shelter.
16:51
And I said, I am not going to be a single female with a baby sleeping in
16:55
a dormitory style on cots with men.
16:58
No offense again, but just not happening.
17:00
I'm not doing it.
17:01
And that was all they did for me.
17:04
Wow.
17:06
It just seems wild.
17:08
It just seems strange,
17:10
Right When you have the, when you look at the VA budget and
17:13
yeah.
17:14
what they allocate to the veterans, and you really wonder like, I would
17:18
love to go in the books and see where they're going because I begged for help.
17:22
And they were just like, yeah, I got your disability and your healthcare.
17:25
What?
17:25
I don't know what else you want us to do.
17:28
It's funny you say that.
17:29
Jerremy and I keep on doing these topics and every single time we're like,
17:32
we, we need to look at these books.
17:34
There's so
17:34
Going into this.
17:35
Like I, this doesn't make any sense.
17:37
yes.
17:38
Yeah.
17:39
okay, so we are spending billions of dollars
17:43
20 billion,
17:44
Yeah.
17:44
2020,
17:45
20.
17:46
Yeah, right?
17:48
What should the system look like?
17:49
What, where is it missing the mark?
17:52
I think what's occurring is the analogy I like to use when people are like,
17:58
I wanna solve homelessness is kind of like saying I wanna cure cancer.
18:02
Noble super awesome.
18:03
It should be done, but I. To cure breast cancer is different than curing
18:08
brain cancer is different than curing colon cancer and so on, so forth.
18:11
People wanna make this blanket statement for homelessness and the
18:14
solution for it, not realizing that you have to solve the reason and
18:20
everybody's got a different reason.
18:21
Um, you could probably break it down to like four or five, you
18:24
know, loss of income, mental health, addiction stuff like that.
18:27
And some people are multiple, they're like.
18:29
Poly issues.
18:31
So I think the big solution everybody has is we have all these empty houses in
18:34
Detroit, just ship homeless people there.
18:37
It sounds great in theory to give people houses, but people don't know how to
18:40
live in a house and therefore they're gonna end up right back on the street.
18:43
Some people dunno how to conform to society and it's easier for
18:46
them to live on those outskirts.
18:48
I don't know if there is a. Broad solution because there's too many
18:55
avenues that lead to homelessness.
18:58
I think when people think I wanna solve homelessness, they're like,
19:00
you know, San Francisco, everybody's sleeping on the streets there.
19:03
It's huge because when it's a cool climate, you know,
19:06
it's mild and they allow it.
19:10
And people wanna cure that homelessness because it disrupts
19:13
the visual aesthetics of the city.
19:15
They don't really care so much of the fact that the people are homeless,
19:18
they just wanna make the city pretty.
19:19
Whereas me living in a car aisles, idle site, I mind, they probably
19:22
didn't care as much to solve that.
19:23
No, like in the reality, I don't know, $20 billion I think is just asinine
19:32
and there's no good solution for it.
19:35
I think if we really wanna get down and dirty, the mental health crisis
19:38
in America is probably a big one.
19:41
As a nurse emergency room, I see it all the time, right?
19:43
We have no access here in New York to good, uh, mental health
19:46
services and they're just flooding.
19:47
And these people are going right back to the streets.
19:50
I. Employment.
19:52
Right now we're just in this weird market where there's all these
19:55
jobs, but none of them are paying.
19:57
So what do you do there?
19:58
I don't know, and I wish I had an answer.
20:00
'cause if I did, I'd probably be $20 billion richer.
20:03
Yeah, well, there's, there's always solutions to every problem.
20:05
And, uh, and to your point, what I love is if we had to use the
20:10
analogy of cancer, different cancers, and if we go, okay, well, which
20:15
one is the largest and the most astronomically offensive and effective?
20:22
And, you know, innovative or, uh, or innovative is not the right word.
20:25
One that's affecting the most people, the most negatively impacting.
20:28
And to your point with homelessness, if there is, let's say four or five
20:32
major categories, if there was like, okay, let's make sure that the veterans
20:39
just fun fact who served our country who don't wanna be homeless, let's
20:45
make sure they're not homeless first.
20:47
And potentially by using some type of.
20:50
Government programming that says, Hey, this is where you can live.
20:53
This is, we have women's shelters, we have men's shelters, we have,
20:57
barracks, we have places that are near a military base or where you used to
21:02
be, uh, in the military close to there.
21:05
There's something some way.
21:07
the people who don't wanna be homeless, I'm sure there's a much
21:10
faster way to create that solution.
21:13
And then you start breaking it down into the different barriers, right?
21:17
Into the different columns or sections, if you will, of the
21:19
individuals who don't wanna be at all.
21:23
And the people who are and who wanna be.
21:25
Then the people who don't know they're homeless potentially.
21:28
Right?
21:29
Because again, mental health or massive drug addictions.
21:32
And then you start categorizing on, okay, let's fix a certain portion
21:36
of a certain type of a certain kind.
21:38
Uh, you're mentioning that San Francisco make it super made it legal.
21:42
And then to your point, they just wanna have their streets clean just for
21:45
aesthetic looks and not, they didn't wanna actually solve the problem.
21:49
So they're kind of like putting 'em in camps and like shoving 'em into
21:51
like a very small little area, which.
21:54
gonna help the problem.
21:56
I'll ask you this question.
21:57
Do you think homelessness should be illegal?
22:02
That's a good one.
22:03
I we're talking legitimate, not like a nomadic living in our rv.
22:08
We're talking legitimate on the streets.
22:10
Yeah.
22:10
They're choosing not to have a home.
22:12
I. Like your buddy that you mentioned earlier, like, ah,
22:15
dog, I wanna live on the fringes.
22:16
I don't
22:17
Right.
22:17
taxes.
22:18
I just wanna eat birds and eat pigeons.
22:22
I think, and this is a very personal opinion, I think as an American,
22:27
we have a duty to our country to be productive to society within our
22:31
capabilities, and that's kind of what our country is about, is this.
22:37
You know, melting pot of people.
22:39
I do think there should be some laws constraining that
22:44
ability to just say, oh, deuces.
22:46
Because what's gonna happen is that you're gonna get hurt, you're gonna
22:51
get sick, and then you're gonna use those public services like
22:53
hospitals or you know, you're using the public services like roads, but
22:56
you're not contributing to them.
22:58
And you're creating more of a problem.
23:01
I don't think like the nomadic lifestyle, like living in a RV or a van and traveling
23:04
and, you know, still contributing.
23:06
Those are different.
23:06
That's a nomadic.
23:08
But this choosing, like that gentleman who had no problems, right?
23:12
He just quit.
23:12
His job might be homeless, but like if he got sick, he
23:15
would still go to the hospital.
23:16
And that's paid for by taxpayers.
23:18
That's paid for by the people that are contributing to society in some form.
23:22
And I do it, and I've always had this standpoint on any sort of
23:24
welfare, you know, contribute to society within your capabilities.
23:28
Doesn't mean that everybody needs to be a doctor.
23:29
Everybody needs to be a lawyer.
23:30
Everybody needs to be, you know, a roofer.
23:32
But if you could sit at a desk and be hr, if you could do anything,
23:35
work at a gas station, do.
23:36
Something you should, because it is our duty as Americans to do that.
23:41
Kara, I'm also hearing that.
23:44
To be fair, your needs were very basic.
23:48
You needed a safe roof over your head and your child and care for
23:54
your child while you did education and food, and that we should be
24:00
able to provide that for everyone.
24:01
That seems like a basic human right.
24:03
Wouldn't you say that?
24:05
I would, I'm not saying everybody needs a mansion, right?
24:08
Yeah.
24:09
these little tiny homes, right?
24:10
They're so cheap to construct.
24:12
And when you break down what it costs to actually be homeless,
24:15
what that cost is on society.
24:17
It probably would be cheaper to build these little tiny housing communities.
24:21
You know, a little one bedroom, just, it doesn't have to be
24:23
anything big, but that was my thing.
24:25
It was a safe place and I didn't have that.
24:27
And you know, with food stamps I made just a little bit too much for that.
24:31
And so I had to live off that $200.
24:33
I had to cover, gas and diapers and formula and whatever left I had was food.
24:39
What do you think, Dave?
24:40
Legal or legal?
24:41
I think it's tremendously cruel to let anybody sleep
24:45
on the street for any reason.
24:47
I think we don't treat people like that.
24:48
I think it's inhumane.
24:50
So illegal, or not illegal, I don't know.
24:52
Uh, that, you know, sort of classifying it like that doesn't make sense to me.
24:55
I think it's just like, no, like people aren't going in my
24:58
America, one sleeps on the street.
25:02
that's, yeah.
25:03
That's a hard no for me.
25:04
Even if they want to though, like I wanna see on the street, they like the street.
25:08
The street's nice.
25:09
I don't know.
25:09
That affects other people though.
25:10
You know, like once you start like, like doing that to communities, it's
25:14
you can go camping, but, you know, sleeping on the street, by choice.
25:16
I don't get it.
25:17
You know, so it's, it's just not, that's not the place, right?
25:21
You know, like people, I mean, people want to be naked in the
25:24
street too, but that doesn't happen.
25:26
You.
25:27
Yeah, that's a very valid point.
25:30
Very, very valid point.
25:31
To your, uh, to your thought process on, you mentioned mental health a
25:35
couple times, Kara, what's for that?
25:39
Like, when do you think that starts becoming an obvious challenge and
25:43
situational awareness piece for either the American public or for
25:47
the local counties to step in?
25:49
What do you think we should do from the homelessness aspect
25:52
to the mental health aspect and figure out a way to bridge this?
25:55
that look like?
25:56
I.
25:56
Ooh.
25:58
I have seen some really awesome programs in different cities I've lived in.
26:02
So now I've been traveling and living in different cities and I've seen a
26:06
whole bunch of different mental health facilities, not as a personal, but
26:10
as a nurse and everything like that.
26:12
And one thing that's really good are these pseudo inpatient, outpatient.
26:17
They're neither inpatient nor outpatient.
26:20
Um, I think people, when they.
26:23
Do an inpatient therapy session.
26:25
It can be very institutionalized.
26:26
And then they leave and they lose that structure.
26:29
I think if we have a setup where it's like a couple hours a day,
26:32
you go to a facility, it's safe.
26:34
You can, get your basic needs met a meal, a shower, get the mental health treatment,
26:39
go back to where you were from, and keep doing that, and then they can you know,
26:44
incorporate themselves into a living situation of like an indoor facility
26:48
where they have that structure of food.
26:51
I don't think doing these like group therapies on the street,
26:54
which also happens, or you know, once a month meetings.
26:58
I definitely think that structured inpatient outpatient situation would
27:03
be very ideal for people like that.
27:06
I,
27:07
No, go ahead.
27:08
Go ahead Dave.
27:09
I'm just kind of curious did people know you were homeless?
27:11
Like your friends, your family, your teachers, your like, I'm,
27:15
I'm wondering about sort of like the community around this.
27:18
So I did inform my instructor, instructors that I was homeless.
27:23
I let them know because I was like, Hey, I may need to come in a little
27:29
late 'cause of whatever situation and.
27:34
At one point they noticed that like things just weren't adding up.
27:38
And, you know, and I was like, Hey, yeah, I am homeless.
27:41
I really tried to hide it from my classmates.
27:43
I was excelling in school.
27:45
I made straight A's.
27:46
And that's not a humble brag.
27:47
That's, you know, I will brag about that.
27:49
That was very hard and my situation to do.
27:51
But I didn't want them to pity me.
27:54
I didn't also want them to think she is not, you know, worthy of
27:58
my company because she's homeless.
28:01
'cause that does have a dirty con, like a stigma around it, of being homeless.
28:06
I did ask a classmate one time, I was like, Hey, could you buy me some food?
28:10
I left my wallet and she went to go buy me frozen chicken breasts and veggies.
28:14
And I was like.
28:15
Oh, could we get like canned food instead?
28:20
And she asked why, and I was like, my stove's broken.
28:22
So I really did hide it from my peers and let just only a
28:26
certain amount of people know.
28:29
Fair.
28:29
I mean, it's probably.
28:31
think we can all kind of understand why humanistically.
28:34
And you mentioned the word cycling an ER nurse a couple times or
28:37
just, you know, being in the er.
28:39
What's one breakdown that you see continually I. Fuels homelessness because
28:46
my my story recognition that I am aware of, I've had a few clients that were or
28:53
are er doctors and they mentioned that they start to see us, a certain clientele
28:59
kind of frequent over and over and over.
29:02
What's, what do you see?
29:03
What do you witness?
29:04
What's one breakdown that you see often?
29:07
There are two frequent flyers on the homeless side.
29:11
Those that have severe mental disorders.
29:14
I'm talking true psychosis, very severe schizophrenia, not the,
29:18
I'm depressed every now and then, which is also very significant.
29:22
Disorder that needs treatment.
29:23
But these are true psychosis.
29:24
They cannot depict reality from what they're seeing.
29:28
And you have those, and then addicts.
29:33
And I know, like right now in Central New York, the big thing is this fentanyl meth.
29:38
So they're getting into these, you're just these two big building blocks that
29:42
severe psychosis and severe addiction, and we are just cycling through the
29:47
same, you know, community of people every single day in the emergency room.
29:53
Yeah, that's.
29:55
What do you do with 'em?
29:56
I, I mean, you treat them like are
29:59
Yeah.
30:00
to do something specific?
30:01
Are you allowed to tell them or do you call, uh, is there a center
30:04
that you can call that would take those individuals on and kind of
30:07
pour into them that you're aware of?
30:09
So a lot of the shelters, you cannot be actively using drugs
30:14
or drinking, so that eliminates half the population right there.
30:17
Half the homeless population cannot go there because they're
30:19
addicts or they're drunks.
30:21
Which is a shame, right?
30:23
Because I feel like they could get over their addiction.
30:24
They had a roofer over their head.
30:26
We could basically just set 'em up with a addiction line and
30:29
it's a one 800 number and they.
30:31
Never call it in terms of the psych, like the psychosis.
30:35
We set 'em up with an inpatient therapist.
30:37
They maybe stay 24 hours unless they deny suicidal ideation or homicide ideation.
30:42
Then we just kick 'em to the street.
30:43
That's, it's, there's a huge pitfall into what we do after we've
30:49
initially treated these patients.
30:52
And it, it really is expenses, right?
30:54
Because it's,
30:55
Yeah.
30:55
know, like, like an addiction.
30:57
You know, like, I don't know if you're gonna get anywhere without a 30,
30:59
60, 90 day, like in-house, in, you know, like you're not going anywhere.
31:04
Treatment program and for severe mental illness, you know, like it
31:07
takes a while to figure out what cocktail of drugs might make somebody.
31:11
Here, and maybe even then, right?
31:13
Like, they may not be in a situation they might need, a
31:16
lifetime of some sort of care.
31:18
It's just
31:19
Right.
31:19
Hey, uh, we're, we're just saying we're not willing to spend the money on this.
31:23
I think until they hit a certain threshold, right?
31:24
So when these people come to the emergency room, it's several thousand dollars.
31:28
'cause we have to treat 'em as if they have a real emergency.
31:31
We can't just be like, we know your addict, Joe, and you know this is just
31:36
you trying to get somewhere dry to sleep.
31:38
If we have to run the whole test, if they say their chest hurts, you're
31:41
getting a whole chest pain protocol and.
31:45
It's not them paying for it, unfortunately.
31:47
And so I think it's once they, once they hit a certain threshold, then society,
31:51
like the community, the hospital's like, you know what, maybe we will pay for
31:54
inpatient because they've already racked up $150,000, $200,000 worth of bills.
31:58
And that's not an exaggeration.
32:00
That's what some of these people we're seeing 'em two times a
32:02
day every single day for months.
32:06
And it's not until they hit that threshold, it's like you
32:08
could have saved yourself.
32:10
Yeah.
32:10
So much money.
32:11
If you would've just saw the problem in the beginning, knew the solution
32:14
and just went directly to the solution instead of beating around the bushes
32:17
because you're hoping maybe something happens, whether that's they die on
32:21
the street and that's very unfortunate, or they spontaneously cure themselves
32:25
of addiction or mental health illness.
32:27
It's if somebody spontaneously cures themselves, come
32:31
find me 'cause I need them.
32:32
I, I don't think we've heard these stories where, you know,
32:34
Deep in addiction and somebody who has severe mental illness, like
32:38
magically makes their way out of it.
32:39
It's rare, right?
32:40
Very rare.
32:41
I mean, very rare.
32:43
Uh, I have yet to see it, to where they didn't require some sort of
32:48
outside therapeutic assistance.
32:52
Yeah, looking at the numbers, so 717,000 may sound like a
32:58
lot, but that's also 0.002%.
33:02
Of our nation is homeless.
33:04
And again, I don't know what percentage of that, probably say
33:08
30% or less are those who are like, I really don't wanna be homeless.
33:12
And those who really don't wanna be homeless like you were
33:15
eventually become not homeless.
33:17
I would say again, probably a lot.
33:20
earlier in the show, I mentioned at the very beginning that Finland
33:23
kind of solved homelessness.
33:26
And the way they did it is to make sure that every single person had a home.
33:30
So they essentially built homes for every single person said, listen, you have a
33:36
house, doesn't matter how old you are.
33:38
No sobriety requirements, no employment prerequisites.
33:42
So you got safe, permanent housing.
33:44
And you mentioned the word tiny houses earlier.
33:49
Kara, do you think that would work in the us?
33:51
And if not, why?
33:53
It would work if our social construct of.
33:57
Society changed a bit because right now it's expected you have a house,
34:02
you gotta work, you gotta pay your bills, you gotta pay your taxes.
34:04
Nobody wants a handout for free.
34:06
I mean, some people probably would want that, but um, society
34:09
doesn't wanna pay for handouts.
34:11
I would like to see Finland's numbers on what their minimum wage is,
34:14
what it's required to live there.
34:16
Because I can say right now, if you just gave somebody a house with
34:19
no education and said, here are the three jobs you can pick, a gas
34:22
station clerk, you know, retail, whatever, they're all minimum wage.
34:27
Good luck.
34:28
You would have to raise that threshold of assistance.
34:31
'cause right now the assistance thresholds below that minimum wage.
34:35
I think just giving houses wouldn't work just because of how our society
34:38
is based on employment taxes, what it's costing, inflation, all that.
34:45
I also know in San Francisco, they wouldn't put homeless shelters in
34:48
where the, where the jobs were.
34:50
It's like, so there was a big, there was a big distance.
34:52
And if
34:52
Right.
34:53
any public transportation, like how are you gonna get someplace?
34:56
Yeah.
34:57
I think I. You would have to move 'em out of these big cities.
35:01
I know everybody wants, that's San Francisco.
35:02
It's a, it's a beautiful city.
35:03
I've been there a couple times.
35:05
Um, the climate's mild.
35:07
It's easy to be homeless there and you build this thing, but look at the Midwest
35:11
and they have a population crisis, right?
35:12
Nobody wants to move there.
35:13
Nobody wants to work there.
35:14
Nobody wants to stay there.
35:16
I think if we're gonna look at moving the homeless population into housing,
35:20
we need to push 'em to where there's these population crisis where nobody's
35:23
living, but there's jobs that are needed.
35:24
You have like these industries, these warehouses and you know,
35:27
you can't be like, okay, it's not a glorious job, right?
35:29
It's a night shift in a warehouse, but it's a job.
35:32
It's a job you're capable of.
35:34
I think if you, it'd be naive to be like, you could live in New York
35:37
City, LA San Fran, Miami, these.
35:40
Cities that cost money.
35:41
Right.
35:42
And they should it.
35:43
There should be a privilege, and I hate to say that, but there should be a privilege
35:47
to live in nicer areas, to work hard for that income to be able to afford it.
35:50
But take these homeless people like Kansas, no offense, I was stationed there.
35:55
I. I
35:56
Put him
35:56
know.
35:56
May
35:56
That's what
35:57
don't,
35:57
saying.
35:58
I'm ready for it.
35:58
I don't know how many people are like, I'm leaving Miami, Florida
36:02
to go live in Wichita, Kansas.
36:04
Nobody, nobody
36:06
that.
36:06
I've never heard one human.
36:07
not.
36:07
If that's you out, they're good for you.
36:09
But I can tell you right now, Kansas was desolate.
36:13
But that may be where we need to start looking at these little communities
36:17
and building up those areas.
36:18
'cause California.
36:21
They got enough population Florida, they got enough population New
36:23
York, we got enough population.
36:25
It's these areas that really need people.
36:27
I think that's where the solution would lie.
36:30
I kind of like that idea.
36:33
I like that idea.
36:34
Jerremy Newsome, tiny Homes in Wichita, Kansas.
36:37
yeah.
36:38
don't you think we.
36:39
Yeah.
36:40
there's a lot of places, not just Wichita, but
36:42
but yeah,
36:43
Arkansas,
36:44
Nebraska.
36:46
Nebraska, South Dakota, Oklahoma.
36:50
There's a lot of places
36:52
it is.
36:52
the flyover states and there's tons of room.
36:55
And
36:56
There are.
36:56
man, 1700 thou, you know, 1700, 20,000 individuals are homeless, and you go out
37:02
and build a apartment complexes or tiny homes or places that again need jobs.
37:09
And your point earlier, okay, you live here.
37:12
And while you live here in the, in a 30 mile square radius, also need to get a
37:17
job and to work at the grocery store or to work at the facilities that are there,
37:23
like the loca, the post office, like whatever, like you have, you get a job.
37:26
Um, you don't have to pay for the home, it's yours, but the
37:28
requirement is you need a job.
37:30
And if we did that.
37:33
a smart way, and you had a feasibility understanding that there's also easy ways
37:38
that real estate, companies, developers, contractors, investors could also
37:45
contribute to that as well so that they, because we don't want the government
37:49
to build those houses, I don't think.
37:51
Want some really fun, useful, creative, thoughtful individuals
37:56
to put these together to so that it's also beautiful and stunning.
37:58
'cause right now we know what government housing is.
38:00
We know what Section eight housing is like.
38:02
We know those.
38:03
Yeah.
38:03
Cara is a veteran.
38:04
She knows exactly
38:05
You know.
38:05
Exactly.
38:06
Yeah.
38:06
Which is crazy.
38:07
We also know they don't work.
38:09
They're ugly and they, they probably create more because you also have this.
38:14
Essentially you have this, uh, fear, right?
38:16
You have, you have a lot of contention in these localized areas
38:20
because you are your environment.
38:21
So if you are around 48 other individuals that want to be or are
38:26
currently homeless and you're currently homeless and you don't really wanna
38:28
be homeless, it's gonna be very hard to kind of break free from that cycle.
38:31
But if we found 700,000 small cities in the US put.
38:38
50 homes up sprinkled around the city and then made it illegal
38:43
to be homeless voluntarily.
38:45
Again, maybe to Dave's point, we don't frame it as legal or illegal,
38:48
but we said, listen, not allowed to sleep on the streets 'cause we don't
38:51
want you to sleep on the streets.
38:53
It just shouldn't be done like you need a house.
38:55
So poof we go and put that person in that home and kinda redistribute the homeless
39:00
population either in the US or maybe somewhere else that needs more population.
39:06
Have like a. SA program, be like, we have able-bodied people and you need people.
39:11
And, um, I think your point about the environment, um, that's a big thing.
39:17
If you've ever toured section eight housing it's in shambles.
39:22
Right.
39:22
And I think people would care for their homes better if it looked stunning.
39:26
It's just like me for this podcast, right?
39:28
You're not gonna see me.
39:29
But I still took a shower, did my hair, makeup, put on a nice
39:32
outfit because it made me feel good if people went to their house.
39:35
And Dave, I take it, you did not shower.
39:38
No,
39:39
I
39:39
did.
39:40
You know, and I think if people had, and it doesn't have to be an extravagant, they
39:43
don't need marble countertops or these Italian tile stone, but if it looked.
39:48
Decent like a modern house, which isn't very expensive to do nowadays.
39:52
Yeah, it doesn't
39:53
would care.
39:54
for something to look good.
39:55
They would care for it.
39:56
They would care for it and they would be proud of it.
39:58
Whereas right now they're not proud of that home.
40:00
It's leaking, it's the paint's falling off.
40:02
It's probably got lead in asbestos.
40:04
I don't, you know, it's, but, and it would also be cool to see like what
40:09
countries would be willing to take, like if we vetted these people and be like,
40:12
listen, this person was educated, right?
40:14
So this person has military background.
40:16
They have a high school education, which is worth something.
40:19
They have a clean criminal background.
40:21
Could you use this person in your country?
40:23
Let's give them a five-year trial visa.
40:26
And if they pass it, then you'd give them the option to become a citizen there.
40:29
Or they can come back and maybe if they had that structure coming
40:33
back, they'd be much more, you know, apt to being not homeless.
40:37
yeah.
40:37
And then also for medical students who are working, tirelessly in jobs for 60 hours.
40:45
Every three week, every three days,
40:47
Yeah.
40:48
know, and during residency, it's like potentially for those who are affected
40:52
negatively by, addictions or mental health those can be the individuals that
40:58
the doctors who are training can also be overseeing, You build facilities or
41:03
centers and say, Hey, instead of just.
41:05
Making rounds to make rounds to just try to kill yourself, because
41:09
we're trying to create an endurance athlete that's also a doctor.
41:14
Give them time and energy and effort to increase their skills and to also care
41:17
for other people who need it and place them over those individuals, right?
41:22
Have them
41:23
Right.
41:24
give guidance and attention to the individuals that do need
41:27
medical treatment through.
41:29
Through people that actually care for her who need it, who want that experience,
41:33
And that could even be balanced by residents make almost no money.
41:36
Right?
41:37
So, fun fact, I got to med school recently dropped out because the whole
41:43
structure of med school and residency and at my advanced age just didn't align
41:48
with my purpose in life anymore, but.
41:51
The residents make no money.
41:52
They're, you know, they, they make like $50,000, but after you break
41:56
down the hours they're working, it's less than minimum wage.
41:59
If you could be like, listen, we'll give you an extra $20 an hour on top
42:05
of your thing to go give four hours, they would be happier than pie.
42:10
They, or be like, we would knock off some of your student loans.
42:12
Like if this is a state funded program,
42:14
Off some of those student loans and it would be beneficial to all parties.
42:17
Yep.
42:18
And I really like the idea of the, uh, hey, this is a, this is someone
42:22
that doesn't have a criminal record.
42:23
Or, or maybe a light criminal record, misdemeanors or something.
42:27
But uh, and has the, the drive, has the excitement.
42:30
Would like to travel.
42:31
I mean, there's a, probably, off the top of my head, at least 30 countries, New
42:38
Zealand, Madagascar, there's probably some places like, man, we'd love some.
42:44
people to come in to some Americans that would love to be here, to just
42:48
to help, to learn new culture, to be here, to work here, to energize
42:52
us, to excite us to whatever, right?
42:54
And we put it on and make the onus of those countries to
42:58
to help with this situation.
43:00
A possibility.
43:01
Dave has a really weird looking face, but,
43:03
I gotta think about that one.
43:04
We're talking about exporting our homeless people.
43:07
I, I don't know, man.
43:07
It's a big country.
43:08
We got a lot of.
43:09
Opportunities
43:10
Tons.
43:10
places that,
43:11
We have tons.
43:12
I don't know.
43:12
And I think you also get a bit of a nimbyism, right?
43:15
Like, it's like, are people in Wichita gonna wanna accept
43:18
homeless people like this?
43:19
Are people gonna wanna live in, like there's a reason why people wanna
43:22
live in these beautiful cities.
43:23
And so I, I don't know.
43:25
I, those are tricky.
43:26
I mean, I, I like the idea of, of, placing people where, where they're needed,
43:31
if you go around and go, Hey, who, what countries or what?
43:33
Cities need jobs
43:35
Yeah,
43:35
need able bodies give them jobs, give them people.
43:39
it should be easy to, for somebody to get from one place to another, be like,
43:42
okay, hey, look this isn't working here.
43:44
It's too expensive here.
43:45
There isn't the job it's gonna pay.
43:47
Let's go back to this, uh, the, the math seems absolutely wicked, right?
43:52
If
43:53
Still trying to figure out where it's going.
43:54
As usual.
43:55
there's that and there's that donut hole.
43:58
you get rid of like these minimums and maximums and can
44:02
you get rid of that piece?
44:04
Here's also this wild man.
44:05
I mean, again, to break down the numbers I'm sure there's massive
44:08
inefficiencies here, but 20 billion at 1700, 17,000 individuals, that's each
44:16
person's getting about $28,000 a year of whatever it is, assistance or help.
44:21
So in employee costs factor in.
44:25
Government costs factor in some other things.
44:28
That's also not that much for the individual either.
44:33
And again, I don't know where it's going.
44:34
No one does.
44:35
And it's definitely not going to the people, right?
44:37
It's not going to those who are affected by homelessness.
44:39
But if you figure out a way to carve out that budget and go, okay,
44:42
listen, out of this 20 billion, 10 billion does go to those who really,
44:46
really do not wanna be homeless.
44:47
Like Kara, she signs a thing like, listen, here it is.
44:49
I don't want this situation.
44:51
me get on some type of.
44:53
Government program where I do, I will, I'll pay it back.
44:57
me a house, give me a place to live.
44:59
Gimme a 10 year 0% interest or 5% interest loan term.
45:03
I'll take care of it.
45:05
It's like that would, I am sure solve 85,000 of that 717,000 uh, individuals.
45:14
I mean that two grand, what?
45:16
That's like about a little, about two grand a month, right?
45:19
grand a month would've made all the difference in the world for you.
45:23
Oh, I would've been living in an apartment.
45:25
I mean, I would've had a very nice apartment, but I would've had an
45:27
apartment and would've eaten human food,
45:31
Yeah.
45:31
dog food.
45:32
And it, it would've been life changing.
45:35
I do think, and a little sidebar here, if I. People in Wichita, don't.
45:41
People in Wichita gonna listen to this and be like, Kara, stop saying the city.
45:44
We don't want 'em.
45:44
Stop saying what To
45:45
Stop saying Wichita.
45:46
But Wichita, you're on my radar and I know some real estate people, so we're gonna
45:51
Figuring this out.
45:51
But, I think you have to almost sell it as like this grand social project.
45:57
Not we're bringing homeless people.
45:59
'cause they're not gonna be homeless when they get to you.
46:00
Correct.
46:01
and you'd have to, you'd have to present the math, be like, as a nation, these
46:05
people in San Francisco, you think you're not affecting, you listen to
46:09
what it costs on a federal budget.
46:10
What homelessness costs and then on a state budget and what it's
46:13
costing, what would it save us if these people had a job and a home
46:17
and could contribute to the economy?
46:20
So it's not, and people get so mad, and I used to be like this.
46:22
I grew up in Naples, Florida.
46:24
If you have no idea where that's at, look it up, it's affluent.
46:28
I had a very negative view on homelessness.
46:30
I thought nobody should get free handouts.
46:33
Nobody should.
46:34
The government should just let 'em be.
46:36
Until I was in that situation, I was like, no, government help me.
46:39
But if you present it as
46:41
They can now contribute.
46:43
'cause they're gonna spend their money, right?
46:44
They're that that $10 they get on their first paycheck is gonna burn a hole
46:47
in their pocket and they're gonna go to the store and spend it and they're
46:50
gonna keep doing that and they're just gonna keep contributing back to society.
46:53
So I think we would have to spin it as this social project, present the
46:56
numbers of here's what's costing you now versus here's the net.
47:01
Oh, she might have froze.
47:03
You cut out for 20 seconds.
47:04
Kara, you
47:05
Oh no,
47:06
it's okay.
47:07
Uh, you said here's the net, like looking at the numbers, presenting the best case,
47:10
making it a, a really powerful experiment.
47:13
that's where I left off.
47:14
Oh no.
47:15
See, my brain goes.
47:16
Oh, that's okay.
47:17
know, but I'm just.
47:18
downloading.
47:19
I was, what I was hearing, Kara, is that we're paying for
47:22
it one way or another, right?
47:23
A hundred percent and I think we're paying for it more.
47:27
Yeah.
47:27
being homeless then, and 'cause you're paying for them, but they are not
47:31
contributing to us, not at their fault or whatever, but if we could pay a little
47:37
bit for them and they can contribute a little bit more to society, then
47:41
that balance flips to the positive and it's actually a positive turn for the
47:46
economy and for that neighborhood that they're in or their community or Wichita.
47:51
Yep.
47:52
That's a really cool way to spin it.
47:54
And I think that there's definitely something there.
47:56
And in our last five minutes remaining care, I'll ask you two other questions.
48:00
So, question one, do you think a individual individuals, call them
48:05
real estate investors, would have the ability to pull their resources,
48:10
time, talent, and treasure?
48:12
And create a solution for anyone who wanted not be homeless.
48:18
1000%. I know a few.
48:22
I know you.
48:22
I know a few others that are out there doing great things in real estate
48:26
and others that repurpose people.
48:29
And that's just the same thing.
48:31
These people need repurposing,
48:33
And if you give 'em a place to go and have it set up.
48:37
For that.
48:37
I'm not saying it's gonna cure everything, right?
48:39
There's definitely some extremes, but it would take a huge chunk.
48:41
It would take a huge chunk, I think.
48:44
And like you said, if you did a 5% interest rate and then you get to,
48:48
you know, have a chunk of ownership of this, it gives them a sense of pride.
48:52
But then you also get a little bit of change back, right?
48:55
Because you know, as an individual real estate person, you need a little bit.
49:00
Kicked back too in whatever way.
49:02
So if you could do a 5% interest rate and you're contributing to
49:05
society and you're getting a little bit, you know, on the backend, I
49:09
think it's a win-win win community person and the real estate investor.
49:14
Agree.
49:15
Glad that we're aligned on that last question.
49:17
Yes.
49:17
So what would you, what do you want your son to hear you say about
49:23
that moment and that time while you were homeless in your car?
49:27
What do you want him to know?
49:29
Oh, that's, that's thought provoking.
49:32
I one would want him to know it was not his fault.
49:36
And we have talked about, he's now a teenager and he asked me about it.
49:39
'cause I have brought it up.
49:41
I. Let him know that in life you're going to have struggles and
49:47
you're going to have downfalls.
49:48
It's inevitable.
49:50
But as long as you have that mindset and that grit and that determination you are
49:54
going to get out of it, whatever, however deep that hole is, you can get out of it.
49:58
'cause God's not gonna put you in a hole too deep, even though it may
50:01
seem like that, but to also then have compassion for other people.
50:06
It's very easy for you to look through those rose colored glasses
50:11
and be like, I will never be in that situation, or shame on those
50:14
people, or how do they get in there?
50:15
And just, just know you have determination, but also have a
50:18
lot of compassion for people.
50:20
And don't say anything unless you have a solution.
50:22
If you cannot offer a solution, just keep your opinion then to
50:26
yourself because it does no good.
50:29
I feel like we got a lot of good solutions and feedback and takeaway from
50:32
today's call and podcast and discussion.
50:35
So, Kara, thank you
50:36
You're welcome.
50:37
Yeah.
50:38
Poor Wichita
50:40
don't.
50:41
Hey,
50:42
they're,
50:42
certain people are like, Hey, thanks man.
50:44
Bring us some people.
50:45
We need people
50:45
yes,
50:46
on farms.
50:46
We need people to work on our roads.
50:48
We need people to work on our roofs.
50:50
absolutely.
50:50
Every single place gets bigger through the, uh, impact of Americans.
50:55
'cause, like you said, I think also as our virtue, as Americans living the greatest
51:00
country in the world to a, a net positive.
51:05
To really por into this country and say, Hey, wherever I'm at,
51:08
I'm gonna be a net positive.
51:09
I'm gonna add real value to the world.
51:11
I'm gonna add a real impact.
51:13
I'm gonna really create something that's inspiring and useful for the future.
51:18
So for those of you who are listening, I want that to continue to be you.
51:21
Make sure I. That you reach out to us solving America's Problems
51:25
podcast on Instagram, or perhaps solve USA Pod on X. Let us know
51:31
your thoughts about homelessness.
51:32
What would you do?
51:33
What stood out to you in this conversation today?
51:35
What would you like to see really be created in the future?
51:40
And most importantly, feel free to share this podcast episode with someone that you
51:45
know who was affected by homelessness or.
51:49
Is in the midst of creating true change and true solutions
51:53
for this global problem.
51:56
Thank you.