Latest / Why Not Today? with Leslie Kane / Why Not Today? Season 1 - Episode 13 with Joe Meyer, Executive Director & CEO of Shelter House.

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Why Not Today? Season 1 - Episode 13 with Joe Meyer, Executive Director & CEO of Shelter House. · Why Not Today? with Leslie Kane

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All right. Hi, this is Leslie and I am the host of the Why Not Today podcast. And this
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podcast is to celebrate people who have been courageous and said, Why Not Today? I started
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this podcast in honor of my father, Patrick Cain, who often said, Why Not Today? I am
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based in Reston, Virginia, a plain community outside of Reston or outside of Washington,
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D.C. And in my full-time world, I am actually sales director with Mary Kay, but this has
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been a fun adventure to meet new people and share Why Not Today stories. So thank you
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for joining me. Today I am excited to have my guest, Joe Meyer, and he is from Shelter
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House, which we will talk about in a minute. And I always like to talk about connections
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and, you know, you never know where you are going to meet somebody. And because of Mary
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Kay's involvement in, we have a charitable foundation involved in domestic violence.
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And I went to a chamber event, met somebody named Jolie, and I don't even remember her
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last name. And she said, Oh my gosh, the Mission of Mary Kay is in the line of the Shelter
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House. Now, I never heard of Shelter House. And we'll talk a little bit more about that
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too. But then she connected me to Danny, who worked at Artemis House, who then connected
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me to Joe, and we've done lots of things together. And so I'm super excited to have Joe to kind
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of share his story, but also share the story of Shelter House and the courage that goes
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along with having hard times in your life. So welcome, Joe, and I'm excited to have you.
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And so why don't you introduce yourself and tell us a little bit of fun fact that nobody
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might know about Joe.
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Cool. Well, Leslie, thank you for having me on the show. This is a great opportunity for
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me, but also for Shelter House and the people that we serve and just getting the word out
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around homelessness and domestic violence and, you know, how people can get involved.
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And also if people need help out there can, you know, can reach out to us too. So I really
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really appreciate this opportunity on different levels. But as you said, my name is Joe Meyer.
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I'm the Executive Director and CEO for Shelter House, which is a private nonprofit here locally
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in Fairfax County and now Loudoun County serving both counties there. I grew up in the Western
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Pennsylvania area just outside of Pittsburgh and went to a small school called Super Rock
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University, which kind of could be a fun fact in itself.
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People hear the name of that school, but Super Rock University, I was a social work major
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and always knew I just wanted to help people, which is kind of how I got to do what I'm
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doing today is knowing that I wanted to help people influence people as much as I could
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knowing, knowing now, not knowing then, but knowing now that, you know, I am a person
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of privilege who, you know, I have different platforms. I have a voice that some people
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may not have, especially when we're talking about people that have experienced in domestic
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violence, marginalized populations, people of color who do not have those voices. I need
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to step up and make sure that I use my voice for those people who can't. So I really enjoy
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what I do enjoy the people that I work with, the populations that we're serving. As I mentioned,
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I want to be of influence to people, but I've learned over the last 21 years of doing this
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work, the people that I'm working with are actually influencing me. I have not learned
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more through all my years than when somebody walks through these doors, who needs help.
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And we talked, you know, we're going to be talking about courage. And when I was reading
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about the podcast and some of the questions, you know, kind of some of the courageous things
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that I've done, I just shook my head and thought that the things that I have seen, the stories
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that I have heard, I have done nothing courageous compared to the people and the courage that
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people have had to come just by coming to our doors and asking for help. So I know I'm
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talking about that. Let's start with what does courage mean to you?
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Yeah, courage is something to me that it's going into something that is an unknown. Walking
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into a situation that you just don't know what the outcome is going to be. It's about
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being brave. It's about overcoming something that, again, you just, you don't know the
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outcome. Yeah. Okay, love that. I'm actually making notes of this because I'm going to
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start creating some courage cards with everybody's definition of courage, because everybody's
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different, which is really cool. So yeah, so, you know, I mentioned that I met you because
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of my involvement in domestic violence. And then you can't we did a couple of events together.
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And I really got to her stories and became passionate about the mission and was on the
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board of directors for sheltered house for a couple of years and enjoyed that. And but
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I really liked being in the house houses and doing things. And my big aha was like living
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in Reston and there is shelters right near where I live. And there have been my entire
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life and had no idea and the awareness and not they want to divulge information about
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where about some things. But you know, there are shelters close by and people that you
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run into all day long that are in tough situations if you have no idea. And so, you know, yeah,
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we've we come from privileged world and some of the stories we've heard heard and no domestic
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violence I know was one of the causes you guys work on and also homelessness and is
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interesting with the domestic violence and things you've shared. And I know Danny shared
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with me one time about human trafficking and how prevalent it is in the area. And actually
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Todd Carter who was on here before his daughter did a fundraiser for her birthday in high
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school. And they asked me to come do some pampering for the girls and share a little
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about shelter house. And it was interesting when I talked to the high young high school
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girls about human trafficking. And I remember never forget one of the girls whipped her
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head around and said not in this area. I'm like, Oh, my goodness, yes. So we need to
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have that awareness. So why don't you talk about shelter house, the mission, courage,
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maybe some stories of people that have been courageous because, you know, part of this
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podcast I want to get out the message like how can we help and how can we get involved?
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And where do you need help? And yeah, there's definitely a need so sure. Well, I certainly
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appreciate this opportunity because there is such great need right now, especially right
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now coming off of a global pandemic, where people have been not able to escape their their
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abuser for several years now with the work from home, with people being isolated. We
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are seeing a rise in domestic violence right now. It may not be cases of domestic violence,
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but we're seeing a rise of people now fleeing domestic violence because of just being isolated
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inside the home with the abuser. So shelter house, we were we were created back in 1981.
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So just over 40 years old and we were kind of our foundation was around helping families
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who are experiencing homelessness and we started down in the Falls Church in the seven corners
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area started our first shelter in 1985. We were a very small organization in 19 in 2007
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is when Fairfax County opened up a new shelter called the Catherine Handley family shelter
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and it was a family shelter we were awarded the contract to operate that. So again, I
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just want to kind of fast forward through all of this of how we, you know, kind of the evolution
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of shelter house and what we have seen and some of the best practices that we have used
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in order to make the impact that we have been in the community. And then of course get to
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some of the stories. But it was in, you know, through constant assessment of what is causing
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homelessness in our community. There is a there's a lot of different reasons why people
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become homeless. Their homelessness is not the issue in itself, right? It's all of the
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all of the contributing factors. There's mental health, there's medical, there are people
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going through a divorce, there is alcohol and dependence on substances. There is just the,
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you know, being being a victim of poverty and growing up through the system. And then
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there's domestic violence and we had we saw that nearly 50% of the people who were experiencing
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homelessness had some type of domestic violence history in their background, whether they
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were currently experiencing domestic violence, whether they were a child witness to domestic
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violence, or whether they grew up in a home around, you know, with with domestic violence.
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And it was at that time, where we saw those direct parallels between domestic violence
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and homelessness. And in 2010, we were awarded the contract to run Artemis House, as you
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mentioned before, Artemis House being the only 24 seven domestic violence shelter in
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Fairfax County, which is crazy, which is great. Yeah, we have about 85 beds for for people
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experiencing or people fleeing domestic violence. And that that actually increased when we took
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over the contract in 2010, we had 37 beds and now we're up to 85 beds. But you also look
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at a county that has over a million people in in the county. And you're looking at the,
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you know, a statistic that they say, you know, about one in four women experienced domestic
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violence in their lifetime. And we have 85 beds in the county. So where the need is right
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now, like I said, we have 85 beds that we have slated for victims of domestic violence
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for people fleeing domestic violence. And I will tell you right now, we are over double
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capacity right now today, in our domestic violence shelters, we have people in hotels
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that we are trying to just get out of dangerous situations, life threatening situations, you
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know, preventing homicides, we just had, you know, not we, but you know, the community
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just suffered one in Falls Church, a couple days ago that you probably saw on the news,
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a domestic violence homicide, we are here, this is, you know, this is why I really appreciate
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this opportunity, Leslie, because we need to let people know we're here. And if people
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don't, right, and if people if people know we're here, you know, you can you can see
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us on shelterhouse.org get all the information call 911, you'll not 911, you'll get directly
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routed to us if you're, you know, talking about a domestic violence situation. But there's
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a lot of ways to get to us. And it's just making sure that people are aware that there
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are services out there for people experiencing and people fleeing domestic violence for us.
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Yeah, and you just never know, and it's not a demographic, it's not an age, it's not a
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color, it's not a ethnicity, it's every but you just never know. And I was actually, because
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of my involvement, I'm so grateful that I've been involved with you and listened to you
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and we had a couple events I mentioned, that you came and spoke and just the awareness.
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And I think we had Sheriff, can Kate at one event to and just sharing that you do awareness
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like you would think in Northern Virginia and this elite area that that wouldn't happen
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and like the human traffic and I remember Danny told me they went into two neighborhoods
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in Great Falls, which had a very affluent area, two houses in the same neighborhood and pulled
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out girls. And that's just scary. So I think, you know, that awareness letting people know
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and you just never know who it's going to be in the homelessness too. I know somebody
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a very middle class, successful family, everything was good and the husband became an alcoholic.
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And he was homeless for nine months and living out of his car and most people didn't know,
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but you just never know. So we don't want to judge but we want to be able to give people
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access and know how to help people. And, you know, people do survive and come out and I
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know you guys have a lot of resources to help people. I know the Mary Kay involvement that
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we have a charitable foundation that helps fight domestic violence and cancers that affect
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women, they've given over $50 million to fight domestic violence and they did training with
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us saying, as consultants going into women's homes to be aware, and actually had a campaign
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where they were putting help lines in an empty lipstick tube. So women could, you know, if
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you notice, and I actually had an instance, I think I reached out to you about that I
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was just talking to some friends and I just sensed this woman was having some issues and
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I could tell it may not have been physical, but it was definitely a mental thing. And
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then a couple weeks later, her friend that I had met her with called me and said, I'm
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looking for a place, a friend's looking for a place and I'm like, is it such and such?
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She's like, how did you know? And I'm like, because of my awareness, I was a pick up those
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things. So why don't we talk about some courage, some things you've seen not to scare people,
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but people that have done courageous things and then come out the other side and been
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successful. Yeah, so, so again, Leslie, like you said, it's not to scare people. This is
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real. You know, this is real life with real people that are that are coming through our
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doors and I will say kind of two separate examples of this. And first is, you know, probably
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what most people will think of are the people that are coming to our doors, people that
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are picking up the phone and calling us saying we need to get out of me, me and my children
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need to get out of this, this abusive relationship. And that's happening every single day. There
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are courageous men and women who are coming to us. We don't just serve women experiencing
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domestic violence, we also serve men who are experiencing domestic violence. The majority
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are are either single women or single lead or single lead families by by women. So I
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would say every single one of these women that are coming to us are courageous. We've had
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people come to us through the through the police department, who are trans transported
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by the police department who go into the homes we have very close relationships with the
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domestic violence detectives within Fairfax County Police Department do partnerships
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with them. But I will say, we have, we've also been notified of people who are roaming
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around the streets, who have been sheltered in their own home, who did not speak the language.
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And this person actually was found walking around rest in, having no idea where to go.
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And this individual lived lived in quotes in rest in for more than five years, outside.
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We finally got outside walking around, had no idea where to go. Didn't know the area,
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didn't speak the language. We finally found out through the the police department's help
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that she was a victim of domestic violence, that she was being held against her will.
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She came to us at Artemis House, and she was in our shelter now this is not a typical case,
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but she was in our shelter for over a year. Because that's how much help she needed.
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He had zero life skills. She came into a place that she had no idea where she was going.
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She had complete strangers trying to help her. She didn't understand the language you
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talk about courage. It would have been very easy to go back to the lifestyle that she
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was used to, which was being held against her will. That's where domestic violence is
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so challenging sometimes. It's because of the power and control that the person who's
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doing harm has over the victim. Where the victim is so manipulated that they feel like
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this and co-co-co-coheres that this feels like the way of life.
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That's their reality.
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And that is their reality. So the courage that people have to stand up for themselves
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and their children to leave that situation, where so many times the person that is doing
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harm has financial control over them. Over 90% of domestic violence cases, it starts with
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financial abuse and mental abuse. And then it comes to physical abuse. So when you have
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lost the control of finances, you never had control of maybe the decisions that you're
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making. Then you start having children. Now you have a family to be able to up and leave
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for the betterment of yourself is extremely difficult and extremely courageous. And that's
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why I defined courage the way that I did because I can see the people that are coming to us,
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coming into a place that they have no idea about. They have no idea what the shelter looks
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like. They have no idea if they're going to have a bed to sleep in, which they do. They
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have no idea what they're going to do for food. They have no idea what they're going
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to do for the kids for school. It's all the unknowns of leaving your house, leaving the
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abuse to go where you're fairly stable. Even though you're being abused, there's stability
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there because of the kids school, because of the food on the table, because of the financial
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stability. But again, it's not healthy. So the courage that people have to leave that
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situation come to us and have a life free of violence is just so courageous.
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You can imagine. I'll say this. And then the second part of that that I really want to
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get to that I want people to understand are the people that work for shelterhouse. So
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many of the individuals that work for shelterhouse have experienced homelessness or domestic
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violence. So many of them are still dealing with the trauma. The PTSD that they have experienced
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in their lifetime. And that's why I say I come from a privileged life. I come from a
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intact family able bodied white male where I need to make sure that I use the privilege
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that I have first understand the privilege that I have and also be a voice for people
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that haven't had the same experiences that I've had. But I also need to learn from the
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people who have had those experience. And the people that come to us that work for us
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that have have real life experience and that lived experience in domestic violence and
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homelessness are so valuable to this organization, because they know what it takes to get out
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of the situations. They are sometimes still dealing with the situations that that they
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were brought through. So when you come to it when you know when we're talking about courage
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and talking about the courageous acts, the people working for shelterhouse, I again,
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it's still it's why I do what I did. I've been doing this for 21 years. It's why I do
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what I do. Because the people that are working for us, literally the heroes that are working
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within our communities to pull people out of these situations out of homelessness and
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out of dangerous situations to get them back on their feet.
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Right. I had no idea that people working there had were affected by. But that makes total
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sense that they're passionate about it. But I can only imagine the triggers and yes. Yeah.
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So scary, just and I know one time you came and spoke at an event and this kind of stuck
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with me and talking about, OK, how can we help as a community? Like, what are some things
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we should look for and be able to connect and help people? Because I know it can be
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a scary situation. And if you're a domestic violence situation, the attack around my wife,
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how do you refer pretty much controls and people have a hard time getting out of the
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house out of situations? They're checking their communication. And how do they find out how?
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I guess, you know, we talked about one time, as I mentioned at an event and you're like,
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OK, if somebody is next door, a neighbor is shooting somebody, you would call the police.
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But if there's a domestic violence situation, we don't always say something. So share how
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people can identify, see what we should look for and then how we can help people.
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Yeah. Yeah, I always used kind of that story around, you know, if there is a person experiencing
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homelessness who is sleeping in your backyard, what would you do? And typically, you know,
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typical person would say, well, I'm going to pick it up, I'm going to go out and try
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to help the person tell them, but you can't stay here. They don't leave. You're going
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to call the police. If your next door neighbor is experiencing domestic violence, we typically
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don't call it domestic violence right away. They're having marital issues. Right. Even
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though in the back of our head, we know or we are expecting that this person is being
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abused, whether it's mentally, whether it's physically. And what do we do in most cases?
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We don't say anything because it's within their four walls. It's marital issues. Let
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them deal with it. We don't want to get involved. And that's the last thing that the persons
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that that people want. We need to recognize the signs of domestic violence. If we are
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working in our companies, our coworkers, if we're leaders within our companies, we have
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to understand what the signs of domestic violence are. If you have employees or if you have
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coworkers who are high performers and all of a sudden are starting to come in to work
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a little late, or they're just shutting down, they're not talking, or during conversations,
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when you're talking about the fun weekends or the things about your spouses or about
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your boyfriends, and they shut down and they don't talk about any of that. If you know
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that they're married, if they, you know, if you know, if they have a boyfriend, we, there's
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there's signs, you know, within just markings on people. We need to be able to ask questions.
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We need to be able to, you know, for instance, one of my neighbors came to me and said, you
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know, Joe, I was with one of our other neighbors. And we were at the grocery store and, you
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know, together and we were in line together. And she had to pick up the phone and she had
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to call her husband to tell her how much the bill was going to be so he could transfer
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money over to her account. Wow. He said, is this normal? And you don't live, I mean,
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we live in a very affluent nice neighborhood. Yes. Yes. And anytime they were out, she
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had to ask permission or he had to know where she was. So this was so so my other neighbor,
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she was picking up on this. So again, when it, you know, when we're talking about abuse,
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we're not just talking about the physical abuse of people, it starts way before that.
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And this individual was being abused. And it started with financial abuse where she
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was not allowed to have any money in her account beyond what she was sending on on that. So
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it's signs like that. And you know, we were very grateful that she, you know, that my
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neighbor was able to pick up on that. And then she was able to talk to her and just
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ask her questions. We don't want to be invasive, of course, but we want to be able to ask
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questions. We want to be able to open our doors. It's simple things like I'm not sure
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I, I'm not sure exactly what you're going through, but our doors open for you.
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Yeah. And just a simple question like that. I'm not accusing anybody of anything, right?
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Because people can get very defensive of their person who's doing harm to them also. But
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we can just simply say, you know, I don't know exactly what you're going through. We
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are here for you. And we're going to leave our door open for you. Yeah. But again, it's
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just it's, it's the signs. It's the it's, it's the non accusatory way of approaching
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somebody just to say, I'm here if you need me. Yeah. It's also we know, we know so many
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more people that have experienced domestic violence than we even know we know.
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Right. Well, and I say one out of four. Yes. So scary, like you're in a big room and like,
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all right, look beside you and
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Yes. So even for people who have experienced domestic violence or a child witness domestic
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violence, because that's a big one too. So many of the people that come to us have been
26:30
child witnesses of domestic violence. And now they are victims of domestic violence
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also. Again, our staff, our staff that come to us, they were not abused, but in, in their
26:41
childhood, they were a child witness domestic violence. And that sometimes is even worse.
26:46
Yeah. You know, they say, and it's true that you know, the physical harm that people do
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to you, you can heal from the mental harm that people do, you will not. So we have to
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you know, our mental health around, around everything right now, mental, we're talking
27:05
a lot about mental health. But when it comes to the, you know, the, the trauma that people
27:11
are suffering from through abuse is, is just extraordinary. We have to be able to as business
27:19
leaders, as friends, as co workers, as family members, we cannot ignore what is going on.
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You could always call our, our hotline. And again, you can go to our website at shelterhouse.org.
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And, and, you know, get the number and resources.
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And we'll share all your how to connect with you and the organizations.
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Yes, please.
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Yeah, it's awareness. It's, you know, and I know the events we did together were so
27:49
good and people were just amazed at what they heard. And I think getting the word out and
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letting people know that there are resources and, and then how can we help, you know, by
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identifying, but then also resources to help the houses. I know Christmas time, I do a
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program called adopt mom and I've donated things, but really sometimes if I have extra,
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I hold on to them because I've literally been into Artemis house, walking over piles of
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stuff. People are so generous, but then in February, you know, people kind of forget.
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So being able to help, I know one event that we did was, and this was just eyeopening that
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food stamps are, I know I called snapped out does not color any cover any feminine hygiene.
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Right.
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I like, and we're, I was talking to a friend like they don't cover diapers, baby formula.
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So I know we did like a tampon drive one time, you know, simple things that you don't think
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about that people could use. One of the things when I've been into the shelters doing makeovers,
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one thing the ladies have always asked and now I've prepared is they want the mirror
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that I give them and like a simple thing like a mirror. That's so simple and easy. But if
29:00
you think about it, when you leave with nothing, but yourselves and the clothes on your back,
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like simple things that we take for granted.
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And it's, it's about and what we really try to do is around dignity and getting people's
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dignity back to them. And as you mentioned that that mirror, it gave me that image of
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dignity where somebody can look at themselves again with what you all have done, you know,
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on Mother's Day, you all come through, you know, on Mother's Day and do the gifts and
29:33
the makeovers and everything on Mother's Day for us. And I know that the people who are
29:37
coming to our programs really enjoy that. But being able to be made over and just have
29:42
some of that makeup on and be able to look at themselves in that mirror is the dignity
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that they need.
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We just had an amazing event yesterday with Fairfax County Sheriff's Department and Sheriff
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Stacy Kincaid, who is just amazing. She did shop with the sheriff yesterday with the kids
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and our mentors. And they went to Target. They have a pizza party and they go to Target
30:07
and Burke for a couple of hours and they have 35 to 40 deputies work with 35 to 40 of our
30:15
children who are in their shelters. And they each have $250 and they shop with the sheriff's
30:21
deputies to go around to get school clothes, to get shoes, to get supplies, to get all
30:25
the things that they need for their first days of school. When we're talking about dignity
30:30
and being able to walk into school with a new pair of shoes on, to walk into school on
30:36
that first day with new clothes on, it just, you know, it takes the burden off of the parent
30:43
to say, what are we going to do for our kids? But it also takes the burden off of the child
30:47
who's walking in the school who may feel different already, but they don't have to. They have
30:51
that dignity of walking in on that first day with new stuff.
30:56
I love seeing that event. And I was actually, I was listening to the radio this morning
31:01
and they were talking about going back to school and advice for kids and parents. And
31:08
one person wrote in and it was, I want to find it, but she had a poem basically, but
31:14
it was like, you know, when, as kids going into school, you know, go there to learn not
31:19
to judge, not to compare, you know, if the kid comes in and wears the exact same pair
31:24
of shoes every day, who cares? And, you know, if their lunch is different, then don't judge
31:29
and be friendly. And, you know, it starts there and it starts educating kids. Well, we
31:33
could talk forever and ever and ever and ever. And speaking of Sheriff Kincaid, I just love
31:39
her and how connected she is. And like, I've met her once or twice, but she would not know
31:44
me walking down the street, but we're connected on Facebook. And every year on my birthday,
31:48
she sent me a private message, wish me happy birthday. Like, I need to, I need, maybe you
31:54
can connect us and get her interview her on here, because I think she would be a great
31:58
person. So what encouragement would you have for someone to be courageous or say, why not
32:04
today?
32:05
You know, I would, why not today? One, you may not see tomorrow in so many ways. You may
32:17
not get tomorrow if you don't do it today. And so many people who have come to us, who
32:25
have made the life changing decision to get help, whether it be help because of an abusive
32:33
relationship that you're in help because you're on the verge of homelessness, help because
32:39
you have suicidal ideation help because you need, you know, the mental health help. Or
32:49
just decisions that you've been holding off on, you may not get tomorrow if you don't
32:56
today.
32:57
That is so true. And that's why I'm living by this motto. So I always try to say, what
33:02
is your connection, my dad, and people read that question like, I never met meet your
33:06
dad and not necessarily ever met him. But I always like to wait till the end to see,
33:10
okay, all the places you connected. Well, obviously, giving back to community, which
33:15
was a big part that he was invested in, especially the resting community, which you're doing
33:21
such a big thing with. But so I know before you're at shelter, you're at Embry Rucker
33:26
shelter. And my dad was very involved with that. And actually, I think somewhat instrumental
33:31
in getting that going. And of course, Embry Rucker was a good friend of his member as
33:35
a kid, seeing him and he was he had a church that he ran at Lake Ann. It was almost like
33:40
God. And then the Kate Hanley shelter, you're part of that. Of course, Kate Hanley was a
33:46
friend of my father's also and he was connected with her and the community. And then kind
33:51
of a fun connection for us is I remember one of the first times you spoke. And my friend
33:57
Teresa, who was actually a guest on the podcast, a month or so ago, she I was talking to her,
34:03
she's like, what are you doing with Joe? I'm like, what do you mean? What am I doing with
34:06
Joe? She's like, I'm like, how do you know Joe? She's like, he was my next door neighbor.
34:11
You hung out with them. I'm like, Oh, my goodness, I never put all that together. So small little
34:17
world connection. You just never know. And so I'm grateful for all that we've been able
34:22
to do. And I may share as part of this post, I think I mentioned to you before I started
34:27
that my help with the community and with Shelter House and Adopt-a-Mom, I was actually
34:34
honored with Best of Rest and Award several years ago. And you spoke on the video or a
34:39
big part of the video talking about Shelter House and everything we've done together. So
34:42
make sure that with that. So yeah, so it's been great to have you on. As I said, we could
34:47
talk forever and ever. And you know what I'd love if you have somebody that's gone through
34:51
the system on the other side, that it wouldn't be a confidentiality thing or somebody that
34:57
I'd love to be able to share their story. There's actually a story of somebody Mary Kaye. Mary
35:01
Kaye actually did a PBS special about domestic violence. And they did it in English and Spanish,
35:08
but there was a woman that thinks she was out of Virginia Beach and was in a domestic
35:11
violence shelter. And through her, Mary Kaye director was able to flee and go to California.
35:21
And she was in a shelter there and had no money, but she had a Mary Kaye business. And
35:26
so she would literally go to do an appointment, have that she had no car, the taxi would take
35:30
her, she'd stop at the bank to cash her checks from whatever she sold to pay the taxi to
35:34
get home before her kids got home and was able to through Mary Kaye and the help of
35:39
a shelter earn a car, buy a house and it's a huge success now. So you just never know.
35:45
That's right. Yeah. So thanks again for being on and we will share your information. And
35:52
I'll have you send me info so people can connect with you. So it's great to have you on and
35:57
of course see you. It's been a long time since I've seen you. I guess I saw you for a minute
36:01
at the cornerstones event, but thanks again for sharing your story. Thanks everybody for
36:06
listening. You can find us on Spotify and iTunes and everywhere else. We release a new
36:12
podcast every other Saturday and have not missed one yet. I'm excited about that. And
36:18
we're working on a website and we're going to have merchandise cups and t-shirts because
36:22
we're going to start a movement that says why not today? So thanks again, Joe. It's been
36:25
a pleasure to chat with you and let's get some help for Shelter House and awareness out
36:30
there. Thank you, Leslie. You're welcome. Thank you.