Latest / Unsilenced with Blanket Fort Hope / Before the Doors Opened: The Preparation Behind the Promise

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Before the Doors Opened: The Preparation Behind the Promise · Unsilenced with Blanket Fort Hope

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: For which of you desiring to build a tower does
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: not first sit down and count the cost? Before a
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: single child ever walked through the doors of Blanket Fort
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: Hope's restoration home, there was a season that nobody talked about.
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: There were no cameras. There was no press release. There
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: was just a small team asking God and each other,
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: are we really, really ready for this?
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: Kim? Kim?
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: Were we?
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: Were we really ready for this?
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: You know, and readiness is not really a feeling. It's
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: not confidence. It is preparation that has been surrendered to
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: God and trusting every step of the way. And when
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: I tell you trust, I mean we had to really
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: step through it each day and trust every step that
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: we made. So today we're going to pull back the
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: curtains a little bit and we're going to talk about
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: what it took to ready the house. what it took,
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: not just to build, and the people, the policies, the prayers,
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: the posture of who we were. Moving forward, welcome to Unsilenced.
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: Somewhere in your city, a child is being sold, and
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: the people doing it are counting on your silence. This
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: is Unsilenced, The Voices Trafficking Tried to Erase, a Blanket
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: Fort Hope podcast. I'm Alexa James.
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: And I'm Kim Meshago.
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: Welcome to The Fort. My name is Alexa James, and
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: I am the CEO of Blanket Fort Hope.
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: And hello, I'm Kim Meshago. I'm the Executive Director of
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: Programs for Blanket Fort Hope.
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: Welcome to Unsilenced. So I've told people many times the
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: story of Blanket Fort Hope, dozens of times, over and over.
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: But there's always a moment in the story I have
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: to slow down for. And it is that moment that
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: in that moment that where we stopped planning and we
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: started preparing.
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: There is a difference. It's not the same thing. That's right.
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: You know, planning is really theoretical. It's on paper.
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: Yes.
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: It's the vision that you're, you know, setting forth. But
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: when you start preparation, that requires you to put your
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: hands on the actual work.
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: It's this touching reality that you're about to step into.
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: And so that transition that we made from preparation to
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: planning was a transition of beginning to step into reality
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: of what it meant to begin, you know, building the
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: actual home that now young ladies.
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: Are living in.
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: Yes.
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: And, you know, it's funny when we talk about that, Kim. Yeah.
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: It used to kind of irritate me.
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: I'm like, what do you mean we're just in dream
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: mode or preparation mode? Because in my mind, which is normal,
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: I'm like 10 years ahead or five steps ahead. I'm like, no,
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: we're not preparing. We're here. And so I had to
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: always stop and slow down and think about, no, Alexa,
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: we're just preparing. The doors are not opening tomorrow. But
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: in my head, they were. So I think that we're
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: asking God. these kids and people around us to trust us.
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: And when you ask people to walk into your dream
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: and vision, you lots of times get the look, you know,
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: like what in the world are you even talk about?
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: And what is true? What's not true? What's going to happen?
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: Do you want me to invest in this? I'm investing
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: in your dream. And how do you practically share that
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: with people? And I think we'll unpack a little bit
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: of that today because really, I think it comes down
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: to it's all about heart.
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: It is all about your heart and your posture before God. Yeah. Yeah.
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: I believe that to be true. And that is the
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: word is refined that we are not unchanged by the
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: act of saying yes. And I don't think we should
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: want to be.
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: I don't think so either. And I love the way
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: that you talk about refined because bringing up that word,
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: because I think for me moving from the preparation or
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: the planning stage to preparation, it did take some refinement,
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: you know, some thinking about, am I actually ready? You know, theoretically, clinically,
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: I'm thinking about the, you know, experience I have and
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: what it will look like on paper to run this home.
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: Yes.
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  Speaker 2: But then when you move from that planning to actually preparing,
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: it gives the opportunity to self-reflect, to look at not
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: just professionally but personally, to look at your heart, to
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: look at your motives, and to make sure that we're
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: doing everything in line with what God would have us
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  Speaker 2: to do and that we're prepared to actually do the work.
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and that's such a good point there, too, is
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  Speaker 1: we don't step into this in perfection. And I think
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: that is a common theme I want to continue as
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: we talk in this podcast. There is no perfection at
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: this table. Not at all. There was a lot of growth.
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: There's still a lot of growth. They're still stumbling sometimes.
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: But even in the refinement, that includes your family.
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: Exactly.
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  Speaker 1: You know, I think sometimes I forget to talk more
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: about that, that when I started this venture, With God,
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: you know, I brought my family into it. Like, y'all
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: are going to be refined too. That's right. This is
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: not just about me.
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: Yes.
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  Speaker 1: And it's going to be about your life as well.
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: And you think you go into it, and you always
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: do need to have something on paper. That's right. We
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: have to have a dream. We've talked about the dreams
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: and the vision, and it needs to be laid out somewhere,
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  Speaker 1: and we need to see it every day. Because if
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: we're not dreaming, we're not trusting the Lord, right? Because
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: faith is the things that we cannot see, but we
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: hope for. And so when we do that, but just
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: we have to know that those are going to always be,
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: there's going to be movement within those plans. And we've
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: got to be willing to step through those.
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: And I think you're right, Alexa. I know for you,
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: your family stepped into this with you. For me, my
• 6:08
  Speaker 2: family stepped into this with me.
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: Yes, they did.
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: And it is a refining. And the other thing I
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: thought about when you mentioned family is even our communities.
• 6:16
  Speaker 2: You know, we've had to bring our community alongside us
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  Speaker 2: as well. You know, from the very beginning, I know
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: you worked with education and law enforcement and Department of
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: Human Resources and our faith-based communities. And they are alongside
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: us in this work as well. And, you know, one
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  Speaker 2: of the things that struck me very, very early on
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: is when you set out to do this work, you
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: are serving the young ladies and the young boys and
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: the children, but they also have an impact on you
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  Speaker 2: as well.
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  Speaker 1: Amen. Huge.
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: And you're changed during the process as well.
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: Yes, you are.
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  Speaker 2: There's no way that you can come into contact with
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  Speaker 2: them and work with them and then not see, you know,
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: not see yourself and how you can be made better
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: and be made whole as well.
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: I think that's such an interesting point. I met, actually
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: met with somebody yesterday and they asked that question, like,
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: what got you into that? And there's, you know me,
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: I have a hard time in bringing it down because
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: I want everybody to hear all the steps. Yes. Everybody
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: that want to hear all the steps. But I had
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: to bring it back to that little girl, you know,
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  Speaker 1: the little second grader in the program who wanted to
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: go home with me. Yes. And sometimes people catch the
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: heart of that and sometimes that they don't. But it
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: is true when we are listening and we're looking, a
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  Speaker 1: child can impact our lives so greatly. That it produces
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  Speaker 1: a change within us.
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  Speaker 2: That is correct, yes.
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  Speaker 1: That where we want to cause a movement to happen.
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  Speaker 1: And I think that's really what Blanket Fort Hope is
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  Speaker 1: built on, the Lord Jesus Christ.
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  Speaker 2: Yes, right.
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  Speaker 1: And walking in faith, and he puts those things in
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: our paths. I think that's what it boils down to.
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  Speaker 1: There's no perfection, again, like we talked about. But when
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: we choose that path, are we choosing that one that
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  Speaker 1: God dropped into our life? Even if it's scary.
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  Speaker 2: Even if it's scary.
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  Speaker 1: Again, it took Noah 100 years. I'd been saying, hey, Noah,
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  Speaker 1: you need to back away from this boat.
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  Speaker 2: And he's still working.
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  Speaker 1: He's still just working. I'm just going to go about, hey, Noah,
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  Speaker 1: how you doing?
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  Speaker 2: Still working, still believing in God. And that little girl,
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  Speaker 2: we talked about how the service impacts us as well,
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  Speaker 2: was the impetus to you realizing this call that God
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  Speaker 2: had on your life. And now 73 acres later and
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  Speaker 2: children living in the home through that one service to
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  Speaker 2: that one little girl.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. You know, it's kind of scary for me to
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: tell that story sometimes because you're really opening your heart
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  Speaker 1: up and you're opening yourself up to being criticized or loved,
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  Speaker 1: one of the two. Because I've actually had people, because
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  Speaker 1: I told a guy one time, I said, well, I
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: started waking up screaming. And he looked at me like,
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  Speaker 1: she's lost her mind. And then you can tell another person,
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: and they're like, oh, man, I get it. But you
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  Speaker 1: can't help what God is doing in your heart, and
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  Speaker 1: I'm not going to share the truth because I'm scared
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  Speaker 1: of what somebody else is going to think. So tell
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  Speaker 1: us a little bit, Kim, when we walk through the
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  Speaker 1: philosophy and the practice of the trauma-informed staff preparation, let's
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  Speaker 1: reflect on what we look for and what it took
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: for people to join this mission.
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  Speaker 2: You know, when we talk about trauma-informed, I think it's
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  Speaker 2: one of those buzzwords. And, you know, we hear about
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  Speaker 2: that quite a bit. And we hear about fight or flight,
• 9:44
  Speaker 2: you know, fawning and all the trauma-related words. And sometimes
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: we even see checkboxes that we check off to make
• 9:52
  Speaker 2: sure our environment that we're going to be serving children
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  Speaker 2: or families in is trauma-informed. And Blanket Fort Hope, we
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  Speaker 2: make that very clear. very practical. We definitely have training
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: for our staff. We have training for the children that
• 10:06
  Speaker 2: come to Blanket Fort Hope so that they learn about
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  Speaker 2: what trauma is and how it actually changes the composition
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: of their brains and how it produces an action in them.
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: that they may be aware will happen or it may
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: take them off guard. And we think about trauma in
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  Speaker 2: terms of their past, what were the past traumas they experienced,
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: how that's going to impact their present. And then we
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: look at the present and think about what opportunities do
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: we have in this moment to address this trauma that
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: they experienced and have it positively impact their future. And
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: so that's kind of our philosophy about the way that
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: we see trauma. And every interaction that we have with
• 10:54
  Speaker 2: young ladies at Blanket Fort Hope is out of the
• 10:59
  Speaker 2: knowledge of how their particular trauma has impacted them. From
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: the moment we take an intake, we interview our young ladies.
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: You know, they tell us. We put them as much
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: in control of this process.
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 11:14
  Speaker 2: As they can be because that's a lot of what's
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: been taken away from them. We talk to them about
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: what they see in their future, how we can support that,
• 11:23
  Speaker 2: what's best with them. Our home, even Miss Judy that
• 11:29
  Speaker 2: helped us decorate the home, she was very careful to
• 11:33
  Speaker 2: pick out colors and furnitures and fabrics that would be
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: conducive to children who have impacted trauma. Our meals, our activities,
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  Speaker 2: Everything that we do have a trauma component. And also
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: the doctors, the dentists, the therapists that we take our
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: children out to see, we meet with them. They know
• 11:53
  Speaker 2: Blanket Fort Hope. They know what we do. They know
• 11:57
  Speaker 2: that maybe this child can't sit in the lobby for
• 12:00
  Speaker 2: an hour.
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: That's right.
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: Maybe this child needs a room until the doctor can
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: get to her.
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: That is so key.
• 12:06
  Speaker 2: Yes. And so every step we take, you know, and
• 12:09
  Speaker 2: we make mistakes you talked about before. We have a
• 12:12
  Speaker 2: plan and we think it's going to work like this.
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: But we talk to our children. We bring them to
• 12:17
  Speaker 2: the table. What is working every week? What do you
• 12:21
  Speaker 2: think we need to do differently? So we give them
• 12:23
  Speaker 2: as much control. We prepare ourselves. We prepare our children.
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: And we prepare our communities. And that takes, we realize, staff. Yes.
• 12:34
  Speaker 2: Budget and funding for staff. But sometimes different activities that
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: we have. We might have to have one or two
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: adults for every child. We might have a child who
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: can't go to school and sit in a classroom for
• 12:48
  Speaker 2: 30 or 40 minutes at a time. One child starting
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: out might be able to sit for 15 minutes. And
• 12:54
  Speaker 2: then maybe weeks later, 20 minutes. So practically everything that
• 12:59
  Speaker 2: we do is organized and prepared through the lens of trauma. Yes.
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: And how that child, because of their trauma, can still experience,
• 13:10
  Speaker 2: you know, any activity or, you know, just normal life
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  Speaker 2: event in a way that's going to be healthy and
• 13:17
  Speaker 2: not traumatic for them. That's right.
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: Man, you said so many great things in this, what
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: you just said. I want to pull out, though, again,
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: I think it's so important for people to understand the
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: years of getting to know doctors and dentists, eye care. Yes. counselors, teams,
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: we don't just take our kid, that's what I call
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: my kids, so I call our kids kids, so our
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: kids are just the same as ours, is we do,
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: and I think that's so important for people to hear,
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: if you want to run an agency or if you
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: are We spent years getting to know these people, who
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: we are, what we do, and what our expectation is.
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  Speaker 2: Correct.
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  Speaker 1: You don't just get to work with our kids. That's right.
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: We have an expectation for you to be able to
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: work with our kids because it is an honor.
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: It is an honor.
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  Speaker 1: For you to be able to work with these kids
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  Speaker 1: because they one day are going to be our presidents.
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  Speaker 1: They're going to be our city councilmen. They may work
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: with Video Vision. They may be the greatest social media.
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  Speaker 1: They may be your next hairdresser. They may be the
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: president of the United States. So we want to prepare
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: them through all of those steps. And we even go
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: back as far as our team and preparing our team.
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: Blanket Fort Hope was born in 2015. Blanket Fort Hope
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: opened its doors November 2025. So there's been a lot
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: of fussing and fighting and crying. And, of course, the
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: timeout scenario that you know that you just love when
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: I do timeouts. She's in timeout, everybody. Leave her alone
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: for 15 minutes.
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  Speaker 2: And you know that preparation. And when you said from
• 14:54
  Speaker 2: 2015 to 2026, I think about the questions that we
• 15:00
  Speaker 2: sometimes get about what takes so long. And it's the preparation.
• 15:06
  Speaker 2: It's the planning. It's the process. It's the making sure
• 15:10
  Speaker 2: our staff is prepared and making sure our community is
• 15:13
  Speaker 2: prepared because we don't take lightly. that we get to
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: be the hands and feet of Jesus when we work
• 15:20
  Speaker 2: with these children.
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: Well, and it's also about the hearts of mankind.
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: Yes.
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: You know, so if we are loving these children the
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: way we're supposed to, we've got to love our community,
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: the people around us, the doctors, because they're impacting and
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: we're impacting that community and we want it to be positive. And,
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: you know, I think so many times I'm such a
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: goer and a fast runner and, and my brain, you know,
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: thinks it should be here when it really should be here.
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: And I think those are one of the biggest lessons
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: I always try to share with people is have expectations,
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: but just know that you're going to have to manage
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: those expectations every day. Uh, and you can't have to,
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: you have to stop looking at things as failures. Um,
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: Because there was moments, you know, where I was just
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: beating myself up thinking you have failed again today. You
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: failed again today. But no, I didn't. God was preparing
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: me for another step.
• 16:20
  Speaker 2: That is correct.
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: And it's okay.
• 16:22
  Speaker 2: And we have to be sensitive to when he kind
• 16:26
  Speaker 2: of gently puts us back in his path. You know,
• 16:30
  Speaker 2: we may take off with one idea or thought and
• 16:33
  Speaker 2: he'll just kind of gently. We've seen that. Bring us
• 16:35
  Speaker 2: back into the path that he's outlined. And I think
• 16:37
  Speaker 2: we have to be sensitive to that. It is a
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: beautiful thing. And then you realize it was supposed to
• 16:43
  Speaker 2: be this way all along. I just got off track.
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: Alexa has a hard time getting out of her own
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: way sometimes.
• 16:50
  Speaker 2: It is just, you know.
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: Because I just have these big things and I have
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: this big heart that just wants to do all these things.
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: And it goes back to one of our podcasts where
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: we talked about dreams and purpose. Yes. That if we're
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: not living out our purpose, we are living, we could
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: be living in depression. We could be living just a
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: very mundane life because we have to have purpose. But
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: purpose does not mean that we're walking. Everything is not
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: going to be easy. But it's what makes it fun.
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: I look back, and I can say that now, but
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: there's been some days I'm like, yeah, no, this isn't fun. Okay,
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: I want to be sure I say that. This is
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: not fun every day. No, it's not. But I love it. Yes.
• 17:29
  Speaker 2: Where you just think, thank God. That I get to
• 17:33
  Speaker 2: be a part of this.
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: Yeah. And, you know, one of the things that I've
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: had to train myself, and I've heard this from Kim
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: a million times, and we've had to train our staff,
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: and I keep on having to remind myself, even when
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: I come in, like, are you okay if I hug you?
• 17:49
  Speaker 2: Yes.
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: Were you trafficked? Yes. What's wrong with you right now?
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: And what happened to you? And we have to shift that.
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: that those questions to, we don't ask those questions. Our
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: job is just to come in as a, me as
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: a CEO is I just love you. Thank you. We're
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: glad that you're here and let the professionals dig into
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: that other stuff. Our job is to support what you're doing.
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: And I mean, and Kim knows this, In that house,
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: I called Kim. I said, is it okay if I
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: come up to the house today?
• 18:19
  Speaker 2: It's like, come on up.
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: Because you are the CEO. You can't like, no, no.
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: But you know what? That goes back to respect.
• 18:27
  Speaker 2: That is true.
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: And I think as people, we have to remember, it
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: doesn't matter what your part is. Everybody's part's big. Everybody's
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: seat is heavy. And then when we start, we've got
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: to remember to have that respect with each other and
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: know what the design is here and not cross. That
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: is true. though, so that our job is not anything
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: about who we are or what we've done, but it's
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: about those children. And am I going to affect a
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: child when I walk in the door? And you're in
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: the middle of a session with them.
• 18:54
  Speaker 2: Exactly.
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: Because I wanted to come see them. That's selfish.
• 18:57
  Speaker 2: And we talk about in everything God does, he has
• 19:00
  Speaker 2: order and he has design.
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: Yes.
• 19:03
  Speaker 2: And I think we actually do a good job of
• 19:05
  Speaker 2: working together and ensuring that we do the same thing,
• 19:10
  Speaker 2: you know, in our practice at the restoration home. Yeah.
• 19:13
  Speaker 2: And when we think about staff, and, you know, we
• 19:16
  Speaker 2: talked about all the training that we go through, trauma-informed
• 19:20
  Speaker 2: care and all the other training that we do.
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: Yes.
• 19:23
  Speaker 2: What do you look for outside of the trauma-informed training
• 19:28
  Speaker 2: that you feel like this would be a great person
• 19:31
  Speaker 2: to work with our children here at Blanket Fort Hope?
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: So the first thing I look for is heart. As
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: a leader, that is the first thing I look for
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: because if you have the heart for this mission, Depending
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: on what you're doing, we can pretty much train you.
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: But if your heart condition is.
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: Faced toward the Lord Jesus Christ, then we know that
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: you have purpose here. If you come in and it's
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: all about you and what you want to accomplish, I
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: do listen to those little caveats. I'm looking for somebody
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: that loves Jesus and their faith-based walk because I This
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: is not an easy walk.
• 20:10
  Speaker 2: It is not.
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: It is constant battles going on. There's a lot of ifs, ands,
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: and buts daily. There's nobody that we can turn to
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: and say, hey, how did you do this? And so
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: that is one of the first things I look for
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: is your heart. I want to know what your heart
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: condition is. And then I start looking to see if
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: that person will fit well with the team that we
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: already have in place. And then I also, wherever that
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: person's going to work, I bring in the people that
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: they're going to be working with to also interview, which
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: is a little bit different. But I need to know
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: that everybody's going to chill together. We're a small nonprofit.
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: We are not just impacting ourselves. We're impacting children. We
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: have to think through every single step, even down to
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: the person who's bringing the groceries in the door, because
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: they're going to affect those children. And if our office
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: is off it's going to affect the home because our
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: office supports everything.
• 21:08
  Speaker 2: That house does. And that's trauma-informed.
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: Yes, it is. I've been taught by the best, y'all.
• 21:15
  Speaker 2: From the front door all the way to, I mean,
• 21:17
  Speaker 2: everything we think about is trauma-informed. And I also think
• 21:22
  Speaker 2: about individuals. I always say when we're interviewing, can you
• 21:26
  Speaker 2: do life with our children?
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: That's so good.
• 21:29
  Speaker 2: The ups and the downs, the good times, the challenging times,
• 21:33
  Speaker 2: we actually do life with our children.
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: Do you think people understand that when you say that?
• 21:38
  Speaker 2: We do go forward and talk about, you know, there's
• 21:41
  Speaker 2: going to be some good days. There's going to be
• 21:42
  Speaker 2: some challenging days. Give us an instance of a challenging day.
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: I'm sorry to interrupt. I mean, I want the meat
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: of it.
• 21:50
  Speaker 2: Yeah, the meat of it is a challenging day where,
• 21:53
  Speaker 2: you know, a child wakes up and remembers, you know,
• 21:57
  Speaker 2: maybe there were nightmares. And they remembered some of the
• 22:00
  Speaker 2: things they endured. And they just can't get up and
• 22:04
  Speaker 2: get going with the rest of the group. Who is
• 22:07
  Speaker 2: going to not tell that child, we've got to leave
• 22:11
  Speaker 2: for school. We've got to go. There's nobody here to
• 22:13
  Speaker 2: stay with you. You've got to get up and get moving. Yeah.
• 22:16
  Speaker 2: You know, we don't do that. Yeah. We have enough
• 22:20
  Speaker 2: staff to where we can say, you know, let's take
• 22:24
  Speaker 2: a moment this morning. Do you want to lay here
• 22:27
  Speaker 2: and tell me about it? Do you want to get
• 22:29
  Speaker 2: dressed first and tell me about it? That is the
• 22:31
  Speaker 2: difference in Blanket Fort Hope. I'm going to scream it.
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: That is a huge difference.
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: We have enough staff that we pay very well. We
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: don't have one staff. We've got five full-time, right?
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: Yes, that's right.
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: And then how many part-time?
• 22:47
  Speaker 2: At least 10. And we're working on even more because
• 22:50
  Speaker 2: we have more. that we will be doing for our
• 22:52
  Speaker 2: young ladies. And we have more young ladies and young men.
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: That doesn't even count the volunteers either.
• 22:57
  Speaker 2: That does not even count the volunteers who come in
• 23:01
  Speaker 2: and tutor and deliver groceries and, you know, all of
• 23:05
  Speaker 2: the things. But even another situation when we talk about
• 23:08
  Speaker 2: trauma-informed is, you know, just last week we have a
• 23:12
  Speaker 2: situation where a child wants to see her father.
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: Yes.
• 23:17
  Speaker 2: And finances are tough a lot of times. Yes. And
• 23:20
  Speaker 2: so Blanket Fort Hope made arrangements. Even though we don't
• 23:24
  Speaker 2: necessarily serve the father, we see and we know the
• 23:28
  Speaker 2: impact and the importance of that child's healing process to
• 23:33
  Speaker 2: continue that connection with her father. And so we made
• 23:36
  Speaker 2: arrangements to get him from his state to Alabama to
• 23:41
  Speaker 2: spend a few days with his child and then back
• 23:43
  Speaker 2: to his state because it matters to her and to
• 23:47
  Speaker 2: him as well. But it matters to her.
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: I think this is a good point, too, right here
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: to break and say this was a Kim and Alexa
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: moment and staff moment where I called Kim up to
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: the office and said, Kim, are we supposed to pay
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: for the parents? And when you broke it down and said,
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: are we serving these kids, Alexa?
• 24:07
  Speaker 2: Yes.
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: And I said, well, yeah. And you said, well, this
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: is what it takes.
• 24:11
  Speaker 2: This is what it takes.
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: And I love and I really want people to hear
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: that message that I don't care what your piece is
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: in an agency. when you're working with this type of demographic,
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: whether you're the CEO, the executive director, or the social
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: media person, you need to listen to each other. And
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: Kim is uniquely, you're trained in those things. And when
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: you sit down and talk to me and you tell
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: me what the need is, but you break it out
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: like that, like Alexa, no, we don't have to, but
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: it's important to her. So I think that's an important
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: piece to say, we've got to listen to each other.
• 24:45
  Speaker 2: It's a very important piece. And my hat's off to
• 24:48
  Speaker 2: you because you do. Honestly, you know, you ask questions
• 24:52
  Speaker 2: and then you stop and you think about it and
• 24:55
  Speaker 2: you say, you know what? Do it. I've got to
• 24:58
  Speaker 2: figure out other ways. We'll figure it out. But you'll
• 25:02
  Speaker 2: say you're right. This is what that child needs. And
• 25:05
  Speaker 2: I just need to take off the CEO hat for
• 25:08
  Speaker 2: a moment. And when we talk about our staff, that's
• 25:12
  Speaker 2: the heart. You talked about it. No matter what role
• 25:15
  Speaker 2: you're in, your motivation has got to be. The hearts
• 25:19
  Speaker 2: of mankind, which includes the hearts of our children.
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 25:23
  Speaker 2: And also with our staff and trauma-informed care is when
• 25:28
  Speaker 2: you do life with individuals, sometimes you pick up, you know,
• 25:32
  Speaker 2: some of what you talk about.
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 25:35
  Speaker 2: And so we do ensure that our staff take care
• 25:37
  Speaker 2: of themselves through self-care. Yes. Through their own therapy, through
• 25:41
  Speaker 2: their own work that they might have to do. so
• 25:43
  Speaker 2: that they can stay in this game with us for
• 25:46
  Speaker 2: the long term. Yeah.
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: And that's so important. And we've said that from the
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: very beginning. So I think when we go back and
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: we look at some of the early things that you've
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: got to– you always need to have– I call it
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: my circle. You call it whatever you want to call it,
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: but it was my circle. They're the key eight things.
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: How the girls were going to be treated, what the
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: expectation was for the girls. the foster care, the trauma-informed care,
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: how to pay the staff and taking care of the staff.
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: And those things we've never walked away from.
• 26:18
  Speaker 2: That's true.
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: No matter how hard it was, it is so important.
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: If you're running a nonprofit that has anything to do
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: with trauma, and most of the time it does, you
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: have got to make sure that your staff is getting counseling.
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: Matter of fact, I think we pretty much say you've
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: got to go to counseling.
• 26:34
  Speaker 2: You need to go. And sometimes we do group work together.
• 26:37
  Speaker 2: There are times that we sit down as a group.
• 26:39
  Speaker 2: Because to do this work, you have to use your heart.
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 26:43
  Speaker 2: And sometimes when you put your heart out there, it
• 26:45
  Speaker 2: gets broken. It gets broken.
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: It gets broken.
• 26:49
  Speaker 2: But thank God, He protects us, He leads us and
• 26:52
  Speaker 2: guides us, and He specializes in fitting us back together.
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Isn't it wonderful when you go back and you're
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: reading the Bible and even the stuff, and I know
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: I keep going back to the dreams and the visions
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: of the mission and the purpose, but that's what it's
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: all about.
• 27:06
  Speaker 2: That's what it's all about.
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: Isn't it amazing how God really wrote the... the map
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: for us.
• 27:11
  Speaker 2: Yes.
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: It really all goes back down to our plan and
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: purpose that he has for us. And it is prosper.
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: And prosper does not mean you get rich.
• 27:18
  Speaker 2: That is correct.
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: Prosper means that you are walking out your calling. That's
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: what I think it means.
• 27:24
  Speaker 2: I agree.
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: That's what I think it means. I think when we
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: did talk about, you asked me about what we were
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: looking for, and I think humility is, you know, one
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: of the things that we didn't talk about. And I
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: think that goes back to the heart because we can't
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: We can't teach humility. We can't teach heart. Because I
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: can promise you, people will, if you're not humble, you
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: will become humble.
• 27:50
  Speaker 2: Very quick. Every day.
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: Very quick. I know my place. But that's okay. That's
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: what keeps us focused on Jesus. You know, it's what
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: keeps us on our knees. And I think if someone
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: walks in thinking they already know how to do this...
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: they're not ready. I'm just going to go and tell
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: you you're not ready.
• 28:13
  Speaker 2: You've got to be able to bend and be flexible.
• 28:16
  Speaker 2: And you've got to be able to evaluate yourself. And
• 28:20
  Speaker 2: you've got to be okay with saying, you know what?
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: I messed up.
• 28:23
  Speaker 2: I got that wrong. Lord, fix me. Coworkers, family, friends,
• 28:30
  Speaker 2: help me. You have to be willing to do that.
• 28:33
  Speaker 2: And I know You know, being humble is something that,
• 28:35
  Speaker 2: you know, you certainly believe in. And like you said,
• 28:38
  Speaker 2: it keeps you connected to God. It keeps you in prayer.
• 28:42
  Speaker 2: And tell us a little bit about how you've infused
• 28:46
  Speaker 2: prayer into the restoration home, even before the first piece
• 28:53
  Speaker 2: of furniture ever came into the home.
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: Man, it started on the property. It started from day
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: one when we walked on that property, when we decided
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: to purchase this beautiful 73 acres. I had found, I
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: was at an office that had a lot of flat rocks,
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: and it was a construction company, and they loaded my
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: car up and loaded my little port escape up in
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: the back of it, my little miracle. She's loaded down
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: in the back, and here I am, one little girl,
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: and loading this tons of rocks and putting them around
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: a tree. And one day, we had brought just a table,
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: bottled waters, and a whole lot of markers and spray.
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: And I had people starting on Saturdays, they would come
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: out and write Bible verses on those rocks because God
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: says if we're not praying, the rocks will be. And
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: I believe that they will call out to him. And
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: we have hundreds of rocks that have got verses and
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: prayers through two or three years while we were preparing.
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: And those rocks right now are still around a tree,
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: but they will eventually be you know, throughout the property.
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: But not only did we do that, we had days
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: where people just came and walked the property and prayed.
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: And that was before there was ever the first construction
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: site or before we even had our mobile unit up there.
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: It's while we were cleaning. So that was a year's
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: worth of just prayer days. I mean, you'd go up
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: on that property at any given time, there'd be a
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: couple walking around praying. And I believe, and I'll say
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: it all the time, I believe there's an angel that's
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: as big as the state of Alabama with its wings spread.
• 30:27
  Speaker 1: across that property. And it is not a pretty angel.
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: It is one that is a warrior angel ready to
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: fight in that battle that we cannot see. It's fighting
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: against the demons and that battle and that spiritual world
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: that is going on because Satan would love to destroy
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: what God is trying to do with these children. So
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: we know that prayer, he said, come to me and
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: pray to me and I will hear you. He said,
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: be strong and be courageous. Do not be dismayed. Do
• 30:56
  Speaker 1: not be discouraged for I will walk with you everywhere
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: you go. And I believe that. Seek ye first the
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: kingdom of God and all these things will come. Doesn't
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: mean they're easy or perfect, but just keep seeking him.
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: And then when we started building the house, Kim, it
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: was really interesting. We started little by little getting our
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: little markers and writing Bible verses all over the wall.
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: And so we would get Bible verses, and people would
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: start coming in, and then we started having Saturdays where
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: we'd have churches, individuals, police officers, detectives, Homeland Security, Sheriff's Department.
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: They would come in, and you'd just walk in one day,
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: and all of a sudden the walls, the ceilings were
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: covered in Bible verses. And then one of our board
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: chair— brought a 100-year-old Bible, and the board prayed over
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: that Bible, and we sealed it, and we put it
• 31:54
  Speaker 1: in the cornerstone of the home. And so that house,
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: it is built on the Word of God. Praise God.
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: Not figuratively speaking. Literally speaking, it is. And I know,
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: he says, my word is alive.
• 32:11
  Speaker 2: Living.
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: And living, two-edged sword. And I'm telling you, I know
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: it to be true. I've seen too many things. I've
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: seen salvation before the house was even built, just when
• 32:23
  Speaker 1: people walked in and read those Bible verses. I have
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: seen grown men that are police officers and detectives that
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: have muscles as big as my leg on their knees going,
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: I don't know what it is, but there's just this
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: powerful presence of the Lord here. Everybody that walks in
• 32:40
  Speaker 1: that house feels it, Kim. And I think that that
• 32:44
  Speaker 1: is an important lesson for all of us. And I'm
• 32:47
  Speaker 1: currently going through building a house. And, buddy, every time
• 32:51
  Speaker 1: I'm down there, I've got Bible verses going all over
• 32:54
  Speaker 1: that house because I've seen the proof of the living
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: word of the Lord. And that's where I stay every day.
• 33:02
  Speaker 2: Amen.
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: Amen.
• 33:04
  Speaker 2: Yeah. So Blanket Fort Hope, we're standing on holy ground. Yes,
• 33:08
  Speaker 2: we are.
• 33:09
  Speaker 1: Good ground. Yes.
• 33:10
  Speaker 2: Yes.
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: So I think... as a part of readying the house
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: and making sure people were ready for the house that,
• 33:18
  Speaker 1: you know, could support what we were doing. That, like
• 33:21
  Speaker 1: you said before, we didn't want them pouring out too
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: much before we could pour into them. And I think
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: that prayer was all part of, because I think you've
• 33:31
  Speaker 1: even told some of the girls that have come in, we.
• 33:33
  Speaker 2: Prayed for you. We've had the most powerful stories, you know,
• 33:40
  Speaker 2: of children feeling like, you know, God saved me. I
• 33:46
  Speaker 2: know it was God.
• 33:47
  Speaker 1: And these are children that don't like God.
• 33:49
  Speaker 2: I knew when I was rescued that God saved me.
• 33:56
  Speaker 2: And it gives me chills because long before the doors
• 34:01
  Speaker 2: were ever open, we were praying and we said, We
• 34:05
  Speaker 2: know we're praying for specific children. We have never seen
• 34:09
  Speaker 2: their faces.
• 34:09
  Speaker 1: That's right. Or know their names.
• 34:11
  Speaker 2: Or know their names.
• 34:12
  Speaker 1: But you do.
• 34:12
  Speaker 2: But Lord, you know.
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: Yes.
• 34:14
  Speaker 2: And please send them a sign that you are preparing
• 34:19
  Speaker 2: a way for them. Yeah. That you are preparing a
• 34:21
  Speaker 2: safe place for them.
• 34:22
  Speaker 1: Isn't that amazing?
• 34:24
  Speaker 2: And I have heard children come back through and say,
• 34:28
  Speaker 2: when the police officer... put me in the back of
• 34:31
  Speaker 2: the car or when the police officer told me that
• 34:33
  Speaker 2: I'm going to be okay. I know that God was
• 34:36
  Speaker 2: helping me. And he's able to bring it back full circle.
• 34:42
  Speaker 2: And that is how I know he's real.
• 34:46
  Speaker 1: When we talk about stuff like that and we think
• 34:49
  Speaker 1: about the beginning and going back, there's something so powerful
• 34:57
  Speaker 1: that it cannot– You cannot help but pivot to it
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: because we've seen the miracle of that. It's not pretend.
• 35:08
  Speaker 1: It's not, oh, come on, if I could just help
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: people to see and to feel and to hear what
• 35:16
  Speaker 1: I know.
• 35:16
  Speaker 2: To be true.
• 35:17
  Speaker 1: To be true. It's not easy. Nothing you do in
• 35:23
  Speaker 1: life is easy, but it is easy. Because honestly, on
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: the days that I felt like I failed the most,
• 35:30
  Speaker 1: you know what I do? Now, besides time out, sometimes
• 35:37
  Speaker 1: I do. This is my personality, though. It's not everybody's.
• 35:39
  Speaker 1: I will stomp my foot. I said, Lord, you made me.
• 35:44
  Speaker 1: You said you were in charge. So here it is.
• 35:47
  Speaker 1: This is yours again. I don't want it anymore. So
• 35:49
  Speaker 1: it's yours today. Fix it. Yeah. That's a powerful statement
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: that we, because we did from day one, I've said
• 35:56
  Speaker 1: that we, we are praying for those kids right now
• 35:58
  Speaker 1: that do not know that we're here, that God will
• 36:01
  Speaker 1: give them some kind of hope.
• 36:03
  Speaker 2: And we've heard a testimony of children, Alexa, that he
• 36:06
  Speaker 2: did exactly that.
• 36:07
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Exactly.
• 36:09
  Speaker 2: As we preparing, while we were preparing, he was also
• 36:13
  Speaker 2: preparing them. Yeah. Yeah.
• 36:15
  Speaker 1: You know, it's all sacred. It is. There's spreadsheets, there's
• 36:19
  Speaker 1: board meetings, there's grant applications, there's, budget meetings, there's prep rooms,
• 36:25
  Speaker 1: and all a part of just saying, that's all a
• 36:28
  Speaker 1: part of saying yes to God is organization, right? So
• 36:31
  Speaker 1: all the stuff that we're talking about goes back to
• 36:33
  Speaker 1: being organized. And I know that we've gone a little
• 36:37
  Speaker 1: bit longer than we should have, but if you know
• 36:39
  Speaker 1: someone listening to this who is in the season of preparation,
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: maybe you feel like nothing is happening, And the vision
• 36:47
  Speaker 1: just seems bigger than you, and it is. That's why
• 36:50
  Speaker 1: it's bigger than you, so you can be interdependent with Jesus.
• 36:53
  Speaker 2: That's right.
• 36:54
  Speaker 1: I want to say right now that preparation is not waiting.
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: It is working. God is doing something in you right
• 37:02
  Speaker 1: now that is essential to what he needs to be done.
• 37:06
  Speaker 2: Amen. You know, and I'm just reminded that we shouldn't
• 37:12
  Speaker 2: despise small beginnings. Every step of readiness is a step
• 37:17
  Speaker 2: of faith.
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: Yes. We're going to keep pulling back the curtains here
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: on Unsilenced. Next time we go deeper into the gap,
• 37:28
  Speaker 1: who gets missed, who gets overlooked, why do they get overlooked,
• 37:31
  Speaker 1: what it looks like to expand, who we serve. And
• 37:35
  Speaker 1: I think it's going to surprise you. Until then, remember
• 37:39
  Speaker 1: what we say at Blanket Fort Hope. Restoration. Healing. Healing.
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: and hope. If you or someone you know needs help,
• 37:49
  Speaker 1: call or text the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888.
• 37:55
  Speaker 1: Available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. To
• 37:59
  Speaker 1: learn more about Blanket Fort Hope, visit BlanketForthHope.org. Together, we
• 38:03
  Speaker 1: can make sure no voice goes unheard.