Latest / Our Community, Our Mission / Ep #237 – All Hands on Deck

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Ep #237 – All Hands on Deck · Our Community, Our Mission

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Father, you're good to us, god.
• 0:01
  Speaker 1: We're just so thankful for this time, thankful for the viewers, for the listeners, god, I pray that, as we dive into all that you have in store for us, god, all that you had in store for us, god, that we just keep you at the forefront, god, and we just present the information as transparent as possible that you'd be glorified in the end.
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: It's in Jesus' name we pray, amen.
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: Hello everyone.
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: This is Lamanda Broyles, the executive director here at the Topeka Rescue Mission on Wednesday, august 28th.
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: Miriam, it's almost.
• 0:33
  Speaker 3: September, I know, which means it's almost Christmas.
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: No, you cannot be that person that skips fall.
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: You know, I love fall, I love the pumpkins.
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: We have to count down to fall, then we talk about Christmas?
• 0:46
  Speaker 3: Yeah, that's true.
• 0:47
  Speaker 3: And pumpkin spice stuff is out now too.
• 0:49
  Speaker 3: Hey, I've already had my first one.
• 0:51
  Speaker 3: Oh my goodness, I know.
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: And usually talk about rushing the season.
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: It is.
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: It is, and there was something about it feeling 105 degrees and I'm drinking a hot pumpkin drink, but anyways, um, not only is it Wednesday, august 28th, but it is also episode 237.
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: I know, that's incredible.
• 1:09
  Speaker 3: Every time we say that, you know, I think I'll get tired of hearing.
• 1:12
  Speaker 3: Well, yeah, yeah, it's just one more.
• 1:14
  Speaker 3: No, it's really incredible.
• 1:15
  Speaker 3: It's really incredible that we've been able to continue to do this and continue to keep it really vital.
• 1:21
  Speaker 3: Yes, in terms of the information shared.
• 1:24
  Speaker 3: Yeah, so I think it's great.
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: I think I love to just looking back at the titles and the topics and the people that we've had on.
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: I mean, it's just covered so much about our community, and that really is the heart of the rescue mission too is to be a part of the community to serve the community, and so this is just another way to do that Right.
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: So we've got great guests on it's.
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: It's kind of funny to be able to say that he's a guest.
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: I know We'll get to that in a minute, but he is our guest, Um and um, his sidekick, who is also incredible.
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: We're going to talk to both of them in just a minute, but before that, um, two things that I think we wanted to cover.
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: One is something called Night of Praise.
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: What?
• 2:05
  Speaker 3: is that?
• 2:05
  Speaker 3: Well, this is our second annual Night of Praise right, which is this wonderful time of the community coming together to worship God and learn more about the rescue mission we have.
• 2:16
  Speaker 3: It's happening on September the 22nd at Fellowship Bible Church.
• 2:20
  Speaker 3: We have three different praise bands coming, one from TBC, one from River of Life Family Worship Center, fellowship Bible Center.
• 2:25
  Speaker 3: We have three different praise bands coming, one from TBC, one from River of Life Family Worship Center, fellowship Bible Center.
• 2:28
  Speaker 3: We'll be having their band there as well, as SJ Hazim then doing poetry, and it really is a time just to celebrate the Lord right, but also to help people have a better understanding of the folks that we serve, what some of our needs are, and give them an opportunity to support our work, whether it's financially, whether it's through prayer, but it really is just this wonderful, amazing night of 400 plus people coming together, yes, and really just making, making noise for the Lord.
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: And you know, one thing that I think has been really neat, miriam, is just how God has worked out for this year to really be a way that there are partnerships shown during this fundraiser too.
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: You know, because we have Sergeant Rose coming from the behavioral health unit at Topeka Police Department.
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: He's got a small part in it.
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: We've got John the Ironman control yes, championship fighter, he's going to be a part of it.
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: We've got Danielle Norwood you already talked about SJ, and so I think that's another thing that is just this theme I think of, and has been for decades, but particularly this year is how much camaraderie and how much collaborative partnerships really do exist all throughout our community, but particularly with TRM intertwined in that.
• 3:50
  Speaker 3: Absolutely, and that there are just so many people that care about this issue.
• 3:54
  Speaker 3: Right, they care about the fact that we have people living without housing, we have people living outside, we have people who are struggling in so many different kinds of ways.
• 4:04
  Speaker 3: All of these folks coming together speak so powerfully, in my perspective anyway, to the caring heart of our community and hopefully we'll be encouraging for those that are actually experiencing homelessness.
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: Yes, and you know, the other thing that I think about is we've said this when we were talking about Night of Praise last year, but I think we need to say it again this is a fundraiser for TRM.
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: Yes, it is.
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: So let's just talk about the elephant in the room, right, I know, because that is something that's new.
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: A lot of people aren't used to that, but there was a lot of thought and prayer that went into that.
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: You know, we chose not to go down a lot of different avenues of fundraising because we don't want it to be too far from our mission and our focus and we don't want to do something that contradicts that.
• 4:53
  Speaker 2: And so the thought and the heart behind this is Night of Praise is still a time that is solely centered on praising the Lord, asking for him, his guidance, prayer, all of these things.
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: But it also is an ask.
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: It's an ask of our community to financially support the work that we do, and I also hope that this year highlights that people might be giving, let's just say, the distribution center.
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: They might be donating food or they might be donating clothing, those kinds of things.
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: And yes, it comes to TRM and yes, we serve and we give it out.
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: But we also look at other places who are trying to help, right, and that they might have needs.
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: We have a lot of individuals that do a lot of things on their own to help, and so anytime we can say, hey, we do have water, you're going out to give this, let's go out together and let's use this resource, and so I just I'm so excited to see what all God is going to show, that he's been working behind the scenes to do with Night of Praise, and I think it's going to be a blessing for all of us, and then already excited about what next year will look like.
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: So you know, speaking of just blessings and coming together, last week we were extremely blessed in our Hope Center, and so before I talk about that blessing, I want to explain any time we talk about updates happening to the rescue mission or changes being made, that really is not forgetting the incredible work that was done before us, right, and we kind of talked about this in our safety meeting.
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: It's kind of been brought up One of the things that I think, whether it's leadership, whether it's just our own personal lives, we should always just have this gratitude for the good things that have happened.
• 6:40
  Speaker 2: And so the Hope Center, you know, built in 2001,.
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: It has served as a place of safety and refuge for tons of women, tons of families and children, and at the time it was exactly what God needed for our community.
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: Fast forward, we have so much more understanding of trauma and aesthetics and things that we can change to cause a different feeling, a different comfort.
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: And so our trauma team did tons of research and realized, hey, it's time for us to start changing paint colors, it's time to start changing flooring.
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: Some of the stuff just needs to be upgraded because it's 20 something years old.
• 7:22
  Speaker 2: And so, because of the Lord's provision and the generosity of federal home loan bank and that community committee, we were awarded a two year 30,000, 15 in year one, 15,000 in year two where we could make renovations to the Hope Center.
• 7:39
  Speaker 2: Talk about a little bit of those renovations and what do you think about that being done?
• 7:46
  Speaker 3: Well, the first thing I think about is I think they had no idea what they were getting into.
• 7:50
  Speaker 2: They meaning the Federal Home Loan Bank and the volunteers.
• 7:53
  Speaker 3: Absolutely, because it is a huge project.
• 7:56
  Speaker 3: When you consider all of that space and bringing new paint into every room, as well as the common areas, and laying new flooring in every space within that building, it's a really huge project right, and they do all of it.
• 8:13
  Speaker 3: I mean, obviously our teams help and this year we had volunteers from Stormont Vale as well that came and helped.
• 8:21
  Speaker 3: But what it does is it just refreshes the entire building New flooring, new fresh paint.
• 8:28
  Speaker 3: It gives it a whole different kind of feel, and what I think has been so amazing is watching how the guests that are currently staying with us react to that.
• 8:37
  Speaker 3: You know, yesterday we heard too, everyone has just been so grateful, right, that there haven't been any issues, you know, with people being shuffled around.
• 8:47
  Speaker 3: They've been very gracious in a shuffling them around, displaced for a week and a half.
• 8:51
  Speaker 3: Absolutely, you know.
• 8:53
  Speaker 3: So in lives that are already kind of chaotic, here we are bringing more chaos.
• 8:58
  Speaker 3: Recognized that this was others caring about them in a very special way to make their space more homey, more comfortable, more livable and not that it wasn't livable before, but this just really warmed things up.
• 9:15
  Speaker 3: It does and makes it beautiful.
• 9:17
  Speaker 2: You know, I heard a staff member yesterday saying I said what does this mean to you as a staff member here, someone who's, you know, in the building all of the time?
• 9:25
  Speaker 2: And he said you know, one of the ways that I show my wife and my family that I love them is to take care of our home and to make it a place of comfort, a place of safety.
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: And he said and all I could think about is that's what we're doing as employees, volunteers, the bank we are making this a place that is homey for our loved ones.
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: And then that resonated with me, because when I was there last week, I noticed that there were some guests that were volunteering.
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: Oh wow, and there was just something about that that I was thinking.
• 10:01
  Speaker 2: You know, if we are blessed to be homeowners, there's projects we can do, and then there's projects that I better not touch right, because that would be bad, you just shouldn't.
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: Shouldn't, but yet it's still.
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: When it's your home and it's your space, you want to be a part of it.
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: And when I saw that last week, I just was so touched.
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: But I overheard someone say something to the extent of, well, I'm helping with this because this is my temporary home, and she saw value in that and wanted to give back to that too.
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: But then it was part of her story and I had to remind myself I don't know how long she's going to be here, I don't know how long she's going to enjoy it, I don't know what her future holds, but I know that she will forever have that memory of being a part of.
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: I mean, there were at one time close to a hundred volunteers, all on that second level, coming in and out, cutting flooring, and she was a part of that and so part of me.
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: I also hope that for that split second, not only does she maybe not feel like a guest, but that she felt a part of this team as well, and I think that's such a good reminder for us.
• 11:07
  Speaker 3: Always, you know, when we're so focused on doing for others that sometimes I think we forget that there is incredible dignity and joy in allowing people who are being served in other areas to also serve.
• 11:24
  Speaker 3: We learned that during the warming center.
• 11:25
  Speaker 3: We've learned it now again with this renovation.
• 11:29
  Speaker 3: I think it's something that we need to really carve on our hearts.
• 11:32
  Speaker 3: That the folks we serve want to give back in any manner that they can, and I think that's beautiful.
• 11:39
  Speaker 2: I do too.
• 11:39
  Speaker 2: So, speaking of teamwork, speaking of doing things together, I think that's kind of our theme for this podcast.
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: It's just incredible how God makes that happen.
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: But we're going to be talking about something called All Hands on Deck.
• 11:56
  Speaker 2: I love the title of that.
• 12:00
  Speaker 2: When you even find out just the past that has happened that has kind of led up to this formation where it's going, how it's just an integral part in all of the work that's being done in our community now, and so we hope this podcast is so informative of what All Hands on Deck is, what it isn't, who's helping lead it, the groups that are involved and anything else that we feel viewers need to hear right now.
• 12:30
  Speaker 2: So, in order to bring all of this good information to the mics and out to people, is Barry Feaker, I feel like you have a lot of titles, so we could say Compassion Strategies?
• 12:42
  Speaker 2: Executive director emeritus at the Topeka Rescue Mission.
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: Be kind, yeah, well, I was going to leave all those out.
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: My wonderful mentor.
• 12:50
  Speaker 2: I'll leave all the other stuff out that I call him other than wise owl.
• 12:54
  Speaker 2: You're still wise owl, but Barry is with All Hands on Deck and I want him to kind of explain what that role is.
• 13:02
  Speaker 2: We also have Brett Martin, who I feel like needs no introduction really.
• 13:07
  Speaker 2: I was at two or three different meetings yesterday and just in those two or three different meetings alone, Brett, your name was popping up In good ways.
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: No, it wasn't.
• 13:17
  Speaker 3: No, I'm joking.
• 13:18
  Speaker 2: I'm joking, it was Shawnee County Jail again.
• 13:19
  Speaker 2: That's right, corrections, but no, what's incredible, brett, is one thing that I do, and I think I've known this for a long time, because you and I go back to even me working in Topeka Public Schools.
• 13:33
  Speaker 2: But your name and United Way of Call Valley is always associated with helping.
• 13:41
  Speaker 2: It's always associated with trying to bring stronger communication or teamwork and problems, and what I love about that is it doesn't mean you're causing the problems, but wherever there are concerns in our community, you all are on the front lines or, if you're not, you're trying to be.
• 14:01
  Speaker 2: You're not one that just wants to be a partner.
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: When everything is rainbows and unicorns, you guys want to be in the trenches with all of us because it's all of our community.
• 14:10
  Speaker 2: So, brett, excited to have you on again.
• 14:14
  Speaker 2: Both of you, just I think, are respectable people in this community and I couldn't think of two better people to talk on this complex of an issue because of the trust that you have built.
• 14:28
  Speaker 2: But it is kind of different to have a different perspective, such as Brett really being more public in the area of homelessness, but really decades of experience, decades of seeing trends coming and all of that to say there was going to be a day that rescue missions all over the United States were not going to be able to do this load because of increase, because homelessness, poverty, lack of affordable housing all of those are topics right now that I feel are probably being discussed in almost every home in some capacity, and so thank you both for agreeing to be here today.
• 15:16
  Speaker 2: But let's first start off with, just when we're starting to kind of hear this buzzword or this buzz phrase all hands on deck, barry.
• 15:23
  Speaker 2: What is that, what is it not?
• 15:25
  Speaker 2: What do you think is important for people to know right now?
• 15:28
  Speaker 4: Thank you.
• 15:29
  Speaker 4: It's good to be here today.
• 15:31
  Speaker 4: Yes, kind of on the other side of the table today.
• 15:33
  Speaker 4: Fun fact, before we jump into this, about the Hope Center this next April the Hope Center will be around a quarter of a century.
• 15:40
  Speaker 4: Wow, isn't that crazy to think about that the very first group to come in to decorate it was the Federal Home Loan Bank.
• 15:47
  Speaker 4: Here, nearly a quarter century later, they're coming back to do the renovations.
• 15:51
  Speaker 2: I did not know that, yeah that's awesome.
• 15:55
  Speaker 3: Oh, that is very cool.
• 15:55
  Speaker 4: The original furniture?
• 15:55
  Speaker 4: Yes, they were involved.
• 15:56
  Speaker 4: We were their first grant recipient.
• 16:00
  Speaker 4: Like they've started and it's been going on for nearly 25 years recipient like they've started and it's been going on for nearly 25 years that is incredible yeah.
• 16:07
  Speaker 4: There was a lot fewer people back in those days that were helping out, because there were construction people that built most of the things that we had seen in the Hope Center.
• 16:12
  Speaker 4: So it's pretty cool, yeah, and it is a great improvement.
• 16:15
  Speaker 4: All hands on deck, yeah.
• 16:16
  Speaker 4: So it's a significant movement to address an unfolding crisis in our own community, or at least what is building to be a crisis of unsheltered homelessness.
• 16:32
  Speaker 4: The term is a military term Navy.
• 16:36
  Speaker 4: When the enemy airplanes were coming in to try to blow the ships up, they got everybody all hands on deck.
• 16:45
  Speaker 4: You come up, you get ready.
• 16:45
  Speaker 4: We're going to work together to try to blow the ships up.
• 16:46
  Speaker 4: They got everybody all hands on deck.
• 16:47
  Speaker 4: You come up, you get ready.
• 16:47
  Speaker 4: We're going to work together to try to protect and try to do something so that what could be destructive is not destructive.
• 16:56
  Speaker 4: So that's kind of where that comes from.
• 16:57
  Speaker 4: We didn't invent that.
• 16:58
  Speaker 4: People may have heard that.
• 16:59
  Speaker 4: So if we roll the clock back to a number of years ago, if we roll the clock back to a number of years ago to where we were coming out of the pandemic, there were significant economic changes that were going on around the whole country.
• 17:11
  Speaker 4: There were things that were impacting us here.
• 17:14
  Speaker 4: Topeka Rescue Mission during pandemic had to become smaller due to the COVID concerns, cdc guidelines and so forth, so a number of activities were started or ways to address that.
• 17:27
  Speaker 4: Mobile access partnership was one of those.
• 17:29
  Speaker 4: We call it MAP today to be able to take services out in the community.
• 17:33
  Speaker 4: The Topeka Rescue Mission's rehousing used to be called rapid rehousing was started out of that and has been incredible to get people placed into homes.
• 17:42
  Speaker 4: However, all of that said, there was still due to a number of factors, not just a shelter in Topeka having to become smaller, but because of the impacts of a growing number of homeless who were going to become potentially chronic, if they weren't already chronic.
• 18:00
  Speaker 4: So what's chronic?
• 18:01
  Speaker 4: People who experience homelessness for a year or longer, or multiple episodes within a two or three year period that oftentimes have a disability of some kind.
• 18:10
  Speaker 4: That's the federal definition of that.
• 18:11
  Speaker 4: So we were looking at that and just a little over three years ago, leadership from the city said can you come and explain to us what we're seeing with homeless, because now we're beginning to see lots of different camps in different areas of the community.
• 18:27
  Speaker 4: So in early part of three years ago I think we were 21, we did a presentation of the Health and Safety Committee of the Shawnee County excuse me city of Topeka to Bill Persinger and I, the former director of Alejo, did a presentation on here's what we're seeing and here's what we think we can do, which then resulted in a actual full presentation of the entire body of the city council in July of 21.
• 18:55
  Speaker 4: At that time we said we just don't want to talk about the problem, we want to talk about some solutions.
• 19:02
  Speaker 4: Back in the day there were some one-time only funds coming from the federal government that were COVID relief funds.
• 19:09
  Speaker 4: They were called ARPA funds.
• 19:10
  Speaker 4: And so Maren Crable who's here today and I we sat down we started budgeting things out about how some of those ARPA funds could be used to address this issue with a transitional, what we call tiny home village.
• 19:22
  Speaker 4: That the land was available, we had it budgeted out, we'd worked with FLEO, some other organizations, to be able to actually address this issue, and because we were seeing people can't come into the mission we're seeing more people become chronic, and so we actually developed a potential first step towards addressing this issue.
• 19:45
  Speaker 4: Also, we created a kind of a master plan that we call it a tool today, an evaluation tool, to be able to show what the council.
• 19:55
  Speaker 4: There was some significant interest that night when we presented that, but it took a big mindset change.
• 20:01
  Speaker 4: It was going to be using some federal dollars that could be going anywhere that were coming from the federal government.
• 20:07
  Speaker 4: It wouldn't have cost the city anything.
• 20:08
  Speaker 4: There was controversy of what we refer to as NIMBY not in my backyard.
• 20:14
  Speaker 4: People didn't want it in certain areas of the community or they wanted anywhere.
• 20:17
  Speaker 4: So it was kind of a mixed message we want it solved, but we don't want you to do it here.
• 20:22
  Speaker 4: And so it went nowhere.
• 20:25
  Speaker 4: And so at that time the communication was if trends keep going forward, we're going to see an increase in people that are going to be on the streets of our community.
• 20:35
  Speaker 4: They are going to be in desperate need.
• 20:38
  Speaker 4: We're going to see more homeless camps springing up everywhere.
• 20:40
  Speaker 4: There were outreach, effective outreach teams that were working with Topeka Rescue Mission, vallejo and Topeka Police Department at the time, but no action was taken on the city level.
• 20:52
  Speaker 4: Now that didn't make the problem go away.
• 20:54
  Speaker 4: So what we've been doing is we have been building an organization called Compassion Strategies, which is a 501c3.
• 21:01
  Speaker 4: I happen to be a part of that as its CEO at this point, stepping down from the rescue mission director position.
• 21:07
  Speaker 4: Stepping into that, miriam Crable's on the board of that entity.
• 21:10
  Speaker 4: Compassion Strategies has two major platforms.
• 21:14
  Speaker 4: One is overseeing, as a collaborative, the mobile access partnership, and the other was to develop a system to potentially end chronic homelessness in Topeka and Shawnee County, and so we developed and are continuing to develop something called All Hands on Deck.
• 21:32
  Speaker 4: So, rather than one organization taking this, this is a number of organizations and individuals that have studied, alongside the city innovation team, with the consultant that came along that the city employed to discover which, lamanda, you were on the core team of that to discover what some recommendations would be to the city, and that presentation was given last May 27th, I believe it was to the city council.
• 21:57
  Speaker 4: But getting things ready for, okay, we're going to get information.
• 22:00
  Speaker 4: We're seeing something that's increased in regards to a problem.
• 22:03
  Speaker 4: There have been some ordinances have been created that have moved some camps around or dislocated some people without other places to go.
• 22:12
  Speaker 4: So what can we do as a community to come together to be able to get as many of the right people in the right places to be able to address this?
• 22:21
  Speaker 4: So it's not just saying we're going to have more, it's going to be more of a problem and there's going to be more suffering.
• 22:29
  Speaker 2: So I think you know, just in you unfolding, that it reveals that this is not a new concern, correct?
• 22:38
  Speaker 2: Why does it seem new, barry, as someone who's been doing this 40 years?
• 22:43
  Speaker 2: Why do you feel like, all of a sudden, most everyone is talking about homelessness, wanting something done?
• 22:51
  Speaker 2: Why do you think that is?
• 22:54
  Speaker 4: Well, I think it goes back to something Marion Crable said when she first arrived in Topeka as director of United Way is that people were saying where are the homeless?
• 23:01
  Speaker 4: There were homeless in our community, have been forever.
• 23:04
  Speaker 4: Were saying where are the homeless?
• 23:06
  Speaker 4: There were homeless in our community, have been forever.
• 23:08
  Speaker 4: But there was an organization, topeka Rescue Mission, that was primarily taking care of what would be considered the visible homeless.
• 23:15
  Speaker 4: Now there still were people that were waving flags or signs you know, we'll work for food or whatever.
• 23:19
  Speaker 4: That's always been there people standing on street corners.
• 23:22
  Speaker 4: But by and large, most people didn't see the homeless in our community because it was manageable because of the volume and the services of a 70-now one-year-old organization in the community.
• 23:34
  Speaker 4: So why now?
• 23:36
  Speaker 4: Well, pandemic had a lot to do with this.
• 23:41
  Speaker 4: Even prior to the pandemic, there were some economic concerns and challenges for people.
• 23:45
  Speaker 4: We can look at the reduction in certain kinds of services to a number of people facing addictions, with the proliferation of street drugs has been a major factor of this.
• 23:56
  Speaker 4: If we would talk to law enforcement, they say maybe one of the biggest problems we have in our community is street drugs.
• 24:00
  Speaker 4: In regards to crime and safety, mental health services, growing number of people experiencing those compound trauma which we've learned a lot about, which talked about on our community.
• 24:10
  Speaker 4: Our mission with the TED group team here Trauma, education and Development, to pick a rescue mission really took that on.
• 24:18
  Speaker 4: And what you've done is, with Courtney and team, have taken that to the next level of understanding that there's people who are suffering.
• 24:25
  Speaker 4: There are significant contributing factors, just to mention two or three of them there.
• 24:30
  Speaker 4: That then you combine that with a post-pandemic economy property taxes going up, rents going up, food going up, gas going up, healthcare going up, cost of a hamburger at McDonald's going up, everything going up and people not having the capacity or the resources to be able to take care of business, and so it doesn't take long for somebody to be without resources to psychologically and or physically become one of those chronic homeless that we just can't get in anywhere.
• 25:01
  Speaker 4: Mission's full almost all the time.
• 25:02
  Speaker 4: Now we get into the addiction area, unaddressed physical and mental health needs and so forth, and so people suffering on a much larger scale than we ever saw before.
• 25:11
  Speaker 4: So now people are seeing it, it's being talked about, it's an irritation to some people.
• 25:16
  Speaker 4: They don't want to see it.
• 25:17
  Speaker 4: They don't want it here.
• 25:18
  Speaker 4: Then the stories began to be created about how this happened, and this is not uncommon, but people believe that people are shipping people to Topeka because of the Topeka Rescue Mission.
• 25:29
  Speaker 4: Lawrence is saying the same thing over there.
• 25:31
  Speaker 4: They're saying the same thing in Kansas City.
• 25:32
  Speaker 4: They're saying the same thing all around the country.
• 25:35
  Speaker 4: You have discovered as executive director of the rescue mission with the surveys that you put, that's not the case.
• 25:40
  Speaker 4: That's a very, very minimal number of people that are moving in here from other places and definitely not to a homeless shelter.
• 25:46
  Speaker 4: They can't get in because of priority sheltering.
• 25:48
  Speaker 4: So people become irritated, concerned, and so there's a dichotomy between can't we really help people and just get rid of the problem?
• 25:56
  Speaker 4: So some people are looking at this as these people are problems and some people are looking at these people have problems, and so we're still in that, in that place right now.
• 26:06
  Speaker 4: How are we going to deal with this as a community?
• 26:09
  Speaker 2: You know one thing as we talk about just why we feel like it's more prevalent or why it's more known and being talked about, the other side of it, we've unpacked.
• 26:20
  Speaker 2: You know, people are kind of being fearful because of either lack of education or not sure what to do.
• 26:25
  Speaker 2: You know, I just also have been really reflecting here lately and I've had several conversations with community leaders.
• 26:32
  Speaker 2: I've had several conversations with donors, volunteers, the people who do feel differently and they do see people as people, and they are in multiple different organizations all around the community volunteering and giving back.
• 26:58
  Speaker 2: They don't really have a platform.
• 27:00
  Speaker 2: And so I want to talk just briefly on this, because I feel like there's this undercurrent of and I don't mean to be controversial, but you know it's kind of like the old phrase, the squeaky wheel gets the oil right.
• 27:15
  Speaker 2: Right now, I think we also have a lot of people in our community who do want to help, who are helping, who don't see it as a nuisance, who don't see homelessness or the trash as the problem, because there are a lot of people who are truly seeking what are the root causes?
• 27:35
  Speaker 2: Why do we have the trash, or why do we have more tents and those kinds of things, and so I just wanted to kind of mention that, that if you're listening right now and you may be saddened, or you're worried because you feel like you see the inhumanity piece of the ordinance that's happening right now because we didn't have other things put in place ahead of time, or you feel like, oh my goodness, everything we're going to is punishment based, or you see people's I just had somebody tell me yesterday I've noticed some of the people that are cycling.
• 28:08
  Speaker 2: Hmm, people are noticing that, and so I just want to thank the viewers right now who are listening to that, who say I don't go and voice my opinion at the city council, I don't go voice my opinion to the county commissioner, because that's not what they feel like is the appropriate thing right now, who are in the trenches of this, who are supporting, who are caring, who are asking questions, who are asking questions in the right way.
• 28:39
  Speaker 2: Right, we don't all have to agree to move forward.
• 28:42
  Speaker 2: Some of the best momentum is caused by trustworthy friction, but sometimes I think those people have been muted for different reasons that we won't even get into.
• 28:54
  Speaker 2: It can be understood, but there's a lot of people too who want to speak out against some of the way that things have been handled, but they're not because of their own personal convictions, or that's just not the avenue they want to do, and I just want to say thank you.
• 29:06
  Speaker 2: I want to say thank you to the people who do that, and I also don't want people to feel helpless because they feel like everything is spiraling in a way that is not people first, and I just want to assure you, faith or not, we believe in the Lord and we believe in what he's doing and we're thankful for that.
• 29:24
  Speaker 4: I think that's a good way to put it, Amanda.
• 29:26
  Speaker 4: There are a lot of people that do want to help.
• 29:28
  Speaker 4: They want to figure a way to help their neighbor, love their neighbor, but don't always have the vehicle to do it.
• 29:35
  Speaker 4: What All Hands on Deck is a campaign to end chronic homelessness in Shawnee County, Topeka and Shawnee County by 2030.
• 29:42
  Speaker 4: So it is a system that has been building for a number of years but really is at that place now to take it to the next level.
• 29:51
  Speaker 4: Systems of any kind of significant change to do well take time, and so it's taken time.
• 29:58
  Speaker 4: We are at that place where I believe a lot of those people that want to help are going to find a way that they can plug in to help.
• 30:05
  Speaker 4: It's through a multi-sector coalition approach, which is kind of like what is that?
• 30:11
  Speaker 4: It's like giving a lot of different people who have different interests.
• 30:15
  Speaker 4: Right now we have 16 identified sectors business as a sector, faith, community, neighborhoods, health, behavioral health, judicial law enforcement.
• 30:25
  Speaker 4: All those sectors are leaders are being established within those sectors that then will be able to communicate same message out to their sector, for example, to be able to say here's some things that we can do together and here's some things that we don't know.
• 30:42
  Speaker 4: So we want your feedback on.
• 30:44
  Speaker 4: There is a strategic development team on this which has got some awesome people on it.
• 30:49
  Speaker 4: You're on it, miriam's on it, other people are on it to be able to say okay, what do we do first, second, third, we know that the recommendation to the city by the consultant was a one-stop shop, a low barrier shelter, as well as a tiny home, a permanent tiny home village.
• 31:05
  Speaker 4: Those are three of many things that we need to look at, but we're taking a look at that with the strategic leadership team as well as the sector development.
• 31:14
  Speaker 4: Any campaign has to have a good leader, a chairman, and so we process through that.
• 31:21
  Speaker 4: That's who the other guy is here today Brett Martin with United Way, to be able to then help pull us together, to be able to move forward as a multi-sector coalition involving a lot of community leaders, a lot of different agencies that's the all hands on deck part to be able to say no, we're not going to look at this in a simplistic form, because it can't be.
• 31:41
  Speaker 4: We're going to look at it with its complexities and we're going to see what it's going to take.
• 31:46
  Speaker 4: Last thing I'll say about it is we have to ask ourselves three questions as a community, do we really want to see an end to chronic homelessness?
• 31:53
  Speaker 4: Mm-hmm, three questions as a community.
• 31:54
  Speaker 4: Do we really want to see an end to chronic homelessness?
• 31:55
  Speaker 4: If we don't, then okay, we're not too interested.
• 31:58
  Speaker 4: We just would like some people say lock them up, put them away, throw the key away.
• 32:05
  Speaker 4: Some people say move the homeless outside of Topeka and call homeless jail.
• 32:07
  Speaker 4: These are people still.
• 32:08
  Speaker 4: The other is if we want to do, we believe we can.
• 32:11
  Speaker 4: If we don't believe we can do a thing, we'll probably never do the thing that we want to do.
• 32:15
  Speaker 4: And so do we believe we can?
• 32:16
  Speaker 4: A lot of people are saying, yeah, we really believe we can.
• 32:18
  Speaker 4: And then the third question is what's it going to take to do it?
• 32:22
  Speaker 4: And so we're examining what's it costing now, financially, ethically, spiritually, just a community conscience.
• 32:29
  Speaker 4: We're looking at all those things and what would be the way we could rework some of that to make it more effective in the way that we're addressing the issues of chronic homelessness and community safety and health and those kind of things.
• 32:41
  Speaker 2: The buzzwords that's being talked about from everyone right now.
• 32:44
  Speaker 2: That's right, brett, you know, I think the first question I want to ask is why, brett, why have you said yes?
• 32:53
  Speaker 2: Why has United Way of Kaw Valley said yes?
• 32:56
  Speaker 2: And then, just to be a spoiler, I'm also going to ask you why wouldn't you?
• 33:04
  Speaker 2: Because right now, this is a hot topic, it's a controversial topic, it's a topic that is complex, has lots of layers and is going to be worked on for years and years, and so the first question is just why is there a yes in that?
• 33:20
  Speaker 2: And then have you thought through why you or United Way of Kaw Valley wouldn't do something like this?
• 33:39
  Speaker 5: that why I could probably spend far too long answering that question, but why really gets back to some of those conversations that we had, thank you.
• 33:43
  Speaker 5: Some of those conversations that we had at the beginning related to the problems in the community.
• 33:49
  Speaker 5: I'm teaching a nonprofit leadership and management class right now at Washburn and one of the things that we start off with when we talk about nonprofits is nonprofits are around because the world isn't right, there's something wrong.
• 34:04
  Speaker 5: There's something wrong with our communities, there's something wrong with the ways we relate to one another.
• 34:14
  Speaker 5: There are injustices, there are inequities, there are gaps that people are in and people are experiencing uh fill and so for.
• 34:27
  Speaker 5: For me personally, uh, this is this is personal on a number of levels.
• 34:46
  Speaker 5: You know, when I moved to Topeka in August of 2003, I purposefully moved when we bought a house to central Topeka, I wanted to live in central.
• 35:00
  Speaker 5: I've lived in central almost 20 years and I have been interested that entire time in my neighborhoods and in my community and the individuals who would come up to me and ask for rides at the quick shop or ask for food or ask for gas money.
• 35:18
  Speaker 5: And I would make my way through these neighborhoods and it would be block by block, some blocks looking different than others, and I started asking myself early on why is this?
• 35:29
  Speaker 5: Why is this this way?
• 35:30
  Speaker 5: And at the time I was a teacher and it really only started coming into focus when I started at United Way eight and a half years ago.
• 35:38
  Speaker 5: But it's very much been since then about being a part of something that is going to bring about some significant change in the community, about some significant change in the community.
• 36:00
  Speaker 5: So why?
• 36:00
  Speaker 5: For me, it's certainly personal, it's part of why, sort of part of a larger conversation that I've had personally since I've been in Topeka, but certainly for United Way of Kaw Valley, bringing partners around big issues like this is what we do.
• 36:15
  Speaker 5: When we convened that first partner call on March 17th of 2020, when we got together with Topeka Rescue Mission and the YW was on that call and Topeka Community Foundation in that first pre-meeting and we were heading into the pandemic and we weren't really sure what was happening and we started that meeting at three o'clock on a Tuesday because that's when we were meeting and that's when we had time.
• 36:48
  Speaker 5: Since then, housing has just come up over and over and over again.
• 36:52
  Speaker 5: We can't get away from it.
• 36:55
  Speaker 5: It shows up in every single conversation.
• 37:00
  Speaker 5: At United Way we have grants that are related to homeless prevention, but it's a space that we haven't stepped into significantly, into significantly, and it's an opportunity, I think, for us to do so, to be able to pull our partners in in a different type of way.
• 37:22
  Speaker 5: Um, and so it's certainly, it's certainly a challenge.
• 37:40
  Speaker 5: I will say that the gravity of this is not lost on me in any way, and it's really twofold.
• 37:45
  Speaker 5: One is the gravity of this for those who are experiencing homelessness and those who are at risk of experiencing homelessness, because we can talk about the point in time count numbers.
• 37:54
  Speaker 5: But we also have people who were on the EAS, the equity access shelter list for the city, who were in need of housing supports, rent, utility assistance, otherwise mortgage supports, who, if they don't get that, will find themselves experiencing homelessness.
• 38:12
  Speaker 5: So certainly a larger number than our point-in-time count.
• 38:17
  Speaker 5: Of course we've had the larger conversation about the point-in-time count.
• 38:20
  Speaker 5: That it's one definition and when we broaden that definition to those who are in corrections and those who are in other facilities, probably sort of much larger.
• 38:47
  Speaker 5: And so that's not lost on me.
• 38:49
  Speaker 5: Who cast this vision after decades of experience working in a community dedicating himself to the most vulnerable in the community and stepping into that vision and saying I'll come alongside and help take it to wherever it goes.
• 39:19
  Speaker 5: That's not lost on me in a sort of a personal and professional sense in any way, and so I don't know if that answers why.
• 39:30
  Speaker 5: I don't know if that answers why not, but certainly those are some of the things that come to mind when I think about this opportunity.
• 39:41
  Speaker 2: And I think there's a lot of listeners, brett, who can relate to your why.
• 39:46
  Speaker 2: I think people are seeing people all around our community hurt.
• 39:50
  Speaker 2: And what do I do?
• 39:53
  Speaker 2: What's my role?
• 39:54
  Speaker 2: What's my bigger role?
• 39:55
  Speaker 2: I can't do this part.
• 39:58
  Speaker 2: Maybe I can do this part, and so that's why I asked you.
• 40:00
  Speaker 2: That is is not just for you to be able to share your heart, but people are listening right now and they're saying that's why I choose to live in Central Topeka or that's why I choose to volunteer my time here.
• 40:12
  Speaker 2: But I'm going to press a little bit.
• 40:15
  Speaker 2: There are a lot of reasons why you they're saying no and they don't realize it.
• 40:36
  Speaker 2: And they're saying no by sharing information that's not accurate or saying nothing's being done.
• 40:43
  Speaker 2: I'm tired of nothing being done in our community or saying things like everyone's working in silos, no one's working together.
• 40:50
  Speaker 2: There's different ways that all of us, as community members, can be either explicitly saying no or giving a no message.
• 40:57
  Speaker 2: So I want people to be able to resonate of hearing somebody of your respect, somebody of your wisdom, to be able to go.
• 41:06
  Speaker 2: You know what he's evaluated, why maybe he should say no, or why United Way of Kaw Valley should say no, but then there's a reason why your yes trumps that.
• 41:15
  Speaker 2: So what are cautions that you have, or what are things that you've seen that you're like man, I really could just stay out of this arena.
• 41:22
  Speaker 2: What would be some of those reasons?
• 41:25
  Speaker 5: Yeah, this is a bold goal to eliminate chronic homelessness by 2030.
• 41:32
  Speaker 5: What are you?
• 41:32
  Speaker 4: looking at me for Eliminate chronic homelessness by 2030.
• 41:34
  Speaker 5: What are you looking at me for?
• 41:35
  Speaker 5: So that vision in itself is a reason to say no.
• 41:40
  Speaker 5: Yes, because you know for, honestly, for too long, whether we're talking about the unsheltered, and I'm talking about this at a community level.
• 41:56
  Speaker 5: So I'm not talking about this in terms of any one organization, but as a community, we haven't really been on the hook for this stuff, right?
• 42:06
  Speaker 5: So whether we're talking about the fact that we have the zip code in the state of Kansas with the highest infant mortality rate, or whether we're talking about the fact that we have increasing numbers of individuals who are experiencing homelessness, or whether we talk about the food insecurity rate or child poverty rate or anything like that, we don't often have organizations or haven't who have stepped up and said we're going to be on the hook for that.
• 42:32
  Speaker 5: We are going to embrace that.
• 42:36
  Speaker 5: There are groups that share the data.
• 42:37
  Speaker 5: There are groups that come around and put together interventions, but to actually own it and say we're going to do it, that's also a reason to say no.
• 42:51
  Speaker 5: Yes, because that's not typically what people do, and so that was certainly part of the evaluation too.
• 43:03
  Speaker 5: The other piece is what if we don't?
• 43:08
  Speaker 5: What if?
• 43:09
  Speaker 5: we fail.
• 43:10
  Speaker 5: What if we get all of these people together and we get all of these resources and we build this thing and then we don't?
• 43:21
  Speaker 5: That's why I'm up at 3.34, am tossing and turning, because if it's really worth going after and if it is a real goal, you have to be honest about that risk.
• 43:42
  Speaker 5: Sure, we could come up short.
• 43:45
  Speaker 5: And we could not just come up short of the goal, we could come up miserably short.
• 43:52
  Speaker 3: You mean, you would only help what?
• 43:53
  Speaker 3: 50 people?
• 43:54
  Speaker 3: Not be homeless anymore.
• 43:55
  Speaker 5: Yeah, 50.
• 43:56
  Speaker 5: Yeah, 50.
• 43:57
  Speaker 5: Right.
• 43:58
  Speaker 3: So that's a terrible thing 10% Right, and so that's.
• 44:01
  Speaker 5: That's part of the conversation that we that's part of the conversation that we talk about.
• 44:05
  Speaker 5: But when we put ourselves out there for a hundred percent and we get 10, or we get 15 or we get 20, there will be those who will say you said 100.
• 44:20
  Speaker 3: And if they would have only helped you could have gotten there, right, right.
• 44:25
  Speaker 5: And so those are the people that you just mentioned who are saying no Correct Right, those who are on the sidelines, those who are the armchair quarterbacks in this piece who are saying no, who aren't really a part of the work that's happening.
• 44:46
  Speaker 5: The other piece that is a reason to say no is the trust factor Right.
• 44:55
  Speaker 5: So I, I hold my trust and my integrity at a pretty high level, and if I bring people in on something and I say we're going to do this, we're going to do it.
• 45:12
  Speaker 5: It's a bold goal and the boldest, certainly the boldest I've ever been a part of.
• 45:23
  Speaker 5: And so there's that trust factor as well.
• 45:28
  Speaker 5: And so as I weighed this, as.
• 45:31
  Speaker 5: I considered this as my boss looked at me when we were having the conversation about whether to step into this space.
• 45:42
  Speaker 5: All of those things came to bear and I didn't settle those conversations before I said, yes, I couldn't, because some of them you just can't.
• 45:59
  Speaker 2: And I'm not sure they ever will be settled.
• 46:01
  Speaker 5: No, no, no.
• 46:02
  Speaker 5: But you still move forward.
• 46:04
  Speaker 5: Yeah, because you so.
• 46:05
  Speaker 5: I once had a boss at United Way, when I first got there, who was sitting in a meeting with me and we we were working on something, and she looked at me and she said how much information do you need before you can make a decision?
• 46:23
  Speaker 5: And my response was more than this.
• 46:28
  Speaker 2: She still asks those questions, Brett.
• 46:30
  Speaker 2: She still asks them.
• 46:31
  Speaker 2: That's why we love Miriam Grable Right.
• 46:34
  Speaker 5: And so I.
• 46:34
  Speaker 5: So I do need a lot of information to be able to move forward and and make decisions.
• 46:41
  Speaker 5: But as I've grown personally and professionally, I've recognized that, that that I'm not going to get that level of certainty that maybe I thought I needed when I was in my late 30s, early 40s.
• 46:54
  Speaker 5: But also there's a certain urgency to this.
• 47:00
  Speaker 5: There's an urgency to this that requires us to move and to act, to do so wisely, to do so carefully, but to do so swiftly.
• 47:19
  Speaker 5: And our unsheltered neighbors deserve our very best in this, our very best efforts, and this, I believe wholeheartedlyedly, is our best effort.
• 47:39
  Speaker 2: And I think that best effort for unsheltered neighbors and this is what I don't think people make the connection to when we do the best effort of the unsheltered neighbors, it's going to be a benefit for all.
• 47:50
  Speaker 2: When you do it for the least of these, it is a domino effect from the ground up and I'm just so curious to see reactions we get from this because, brett, I think that people are listening to this, whether they are agreeing and understanding Brett's yes of why you're chairing this, why United Way of Cod Valley is saying yes, we want to be a part, and I think you're going to get people that says, OK, I'm ready to take that next step because I'm ready to say yes, I agree with what he's saying, I agree with why Barry's doing this.
• 48:27
  Speaker 2: I need to be a part of it.
• 48:28
  Speaker 2: I also think that there's listeners right now that are saying, hmm, brett just described every reason why I say no to more things or I say no to I'm not even going to talk about you know we joke and say just don't talk politics at Thanksgiving, right, um, I think homelessness has kind of essentially gotten to that.
• 48:47
  Speaker 2: But I also think that there's going to be people that are listening to why you could have said no.
• 48:52
  Speaker 2: And let's be real, there's probably some days you're like I should have said I get it, I get even just leading the rescue mission.
• 48:59
  Speaker 2: I'm like, what am I doing?
• 49:02
  Speaker 2: But what I hope is that listeners, regardless of what their stances on this at this point, that they continue to seek that so that, moving forward, they either become more of a yes, so that, moving forward, they either become more of a yes or, if their no is a true no, that they know that it's built on knowledge, facts, not stigma, not opinion, not misinformation.
• 49:30
  Speaker 2: That it's true no of nope.
• 49:31
  Speaker 2: I'm not's just important to continue to hear from you, brett, as the chair of this.
• 49:35
  Speaker 2: What are you hopeful for?
• 49:38
  Speaker 2: And let's not even talk the lofty goal, right, that's important.
• 49:41
  Speaker 2: It's great to have data we have all of those nuts and bolts in it but when you're just thinking about all hands on deck, what is your hope for it?
• 49:50
  Speaker 2: But then also, what do you see is going to be the challenges, whether challenges for individual sectors, challenges as a whole, like this is all coming up under you as the chair, and so we're all going to be kind of pivoting, right?
• 50:08
  Speaker 2: You're the one that's holding the platters and we're all trying to be on there.
• 50:11
  Speaker 2: What do you see as going to be challenges for all?
• 50:14
  Speaker 2: Hands on deck yeah.
• 50:15
  Speaker 5: Yeah, I, uh, I like the question about hope, uh, because I'm a big picture person, so I'm, I'm imagining what the effects, the ripple effects of this initiative, initiative and effort are beyond the goal by 2030 and the goals that get us there.
• 50:49
  Speaker 5: This community becomes more compassionate through these efforts as people reluctantly maybe sometimes say yes to being a part of the work, as people begin to hear stories, as people begin to recognize their neighbors not as a problem, not as an issue, not as a statistic, but as a human being.
• 51:26
  Speaker 5: That people would see the power in coming together and laying down their own um, uh, their own wants for a greater good, uh, in order to come across the sectors to be able to do this.
• 51:49
  Speaker 5: And so I would, I, I, I would hope that there are effects like that for our community and I would hope that our unsheltered neighbors would feel valued and would feel the uh, the love and compassion from the community.
• 52:13
  Speaker 5: Uh, in that way, I think sometimes there's just as much value in the journey as there is the destination.
• 52:23
  Speaker 5: There is just as much power in the how as the what.
• 52:27
  Speaker 5: So how we do this can have a significant effect on the way our community works together, the way our community understands issues like this, the way our community understands our neighbors that they don't understand.
• 52:45
  Speaker 5: So I think that's certainly part of that.
• 52:49
  Speaker 5: Larger hope Challenges oh my, there are so many.
• 52:55
  Speaker 2: Do we need to keep that for part two?
• 52:57
  Speaker 5: I'll just say this, I'll just say this 16 sectors.
• 53:06
  Speaker 5: A strategic development team, a series of leaders of those 16 sectors, and that's just 16.
• 53:15
  Speaker 5: We were in a meeting yesterday and one of the coaches mentioned just one more.
• 53:18
  Speaker 5: I don't see that number staying under 20.
• 53:22
  Speaker 5: So I see us having at least 20 sectors, if not more, filling out all of those sectors.
• 53:30
  Speaker 5: We're talking about a couple of hundred people who are diverse, diverse in their experiences and their understandings and their skills and their sectors.
• 53:41
  Speaker 5: Bringing them together around a common cause will be significant, will be significant.
• 53:47
  Speaker 5: Getting their organizations to come and share resources will be a significant challenge.
• 53:52
  Speaker 5: Getting people to come together and share data and protect that data and protect the people behind that data will be a significant challenge.
• 54:06
  Speaker 5: I'm not as worried about the resources and I don't want to start with the resources, because I think when you start with money, I just find that that stymies conversations, and so I really think, as we get our collective act together, that resources will come.
• 54:30
  Speaker 5: But there are some significant challenges, just as a collaborative, that we face there.
• 54:38
  Speaker 5: We're also in an inflationary economy.
• 54:47
  Speaker 5: That are outliers that we have to have come in line with this.
• 54:52
  Speaker 5: Beyond the systems that we're engaging directly here, we have some policy systems and environment, pieces that we don't have control over and levers that we need people to pull in order to be able to have the housing to house five, six, seven, 800 more people, and that that's a that's a community effort that's getting everybody to row in the same direction.
• 55:21
  Speaker 5: That's, that's a significant challenge.
• 55:24
  Speaker 5: Um and and uh.
• 55:27
  Speaker 5: That's that's part of why, again, I think people say no to this.
• 55:39
  Speaker 5: It's also part of what makes this really exciting.
• 55:42
  Speaker 5: Yes, it just does Um for me.
• 55:47
  Speaker 5: Um, there there will be some very real, tangible, actionable things that people will point to along the way, with all hands on deck, to say see that, see that, see that, see that, um, as this effort moves forward.
• 56:05
  Speaker 5: And, uh, I'm excited and humbled very much by that opportunity.
• 56:21
  Speaker 2: You know we're going to have lots of other times to, I hope, have multitudes of people from all hands on deck on right To dive into.
• 56:24
  Speaker 2: What are the functions of the strategic development team, what are the functions of the coaches, the assistant coaches, the quarterbacks?
• 56:32
  Speaker 2: But right now, just because it's this overview of what it is and how we got here and how it's not just because it's new and some of government taking action or not taking action, it's been building.
• 56:45
  Speaker 2: I think that that's important.
• 56:47
  Speaker 2: I think it's important to hear you know, brett, as the chair, the hopes, the challenges, those kinds of things.
• 56:53
  Speaker 2: But so there's going to be more time to hear from different people.
• 56:57
  Speaker 2: But, barry, I just feel like we're supposed to end with why, why Brett?
• 57:03
  Speaker 2: Why, you know, it's so funny to kind of see someone else come up under you, because it's been my life.
• 57:12
  Speaker 2: It's been my life for three years, but no, you know my gratitude for you and my respect for you and I've learned so much.
• 57:21
  Speaker 2: But it's also challenging of.
• 57:25
  Speaker 2: We are now kind of entrusted with this vision that if you believe in faith, we believe that God laid it on.
• 57:35
  Speaker 2: If you don't believe in faith, you just believe you're a dedicated person to this arena.
• 57:39
  Speaker 2: But it's not always easy, regardless if it's something following you as a chair, a vice chair, even people that are three or four different things away from you, it's a lot, and so this is going to be a big thing.
• 57:53
  Speaker 2: That is not all Barry led and that is a big weight, I know, for myself, for Brett, for the teams, but it also is just a huge blessing because you're still so much of it and a support, but in a different way.
• 58:13
  Speaker 2: And so I think it's important for people to hear why Brett, when we've got Barry here and Barry's now left the rescue mission right, so Barry's doing community stuff why is Barry not doing this?
• 58:26
  Speaker 2: And why is it Brett?
• 58:27
  Speaker 2: And what do you think is going to come under his leadership?
• 58:33
  Speaker 4: I think if you heard Brett answer your questions, that's why Brett um, this is um an individual I met a number of years ago through Miriam, uh, when she was director of United Way.
• 58:46
  Speaker 4: Um, I've watched him over the years.
• 58:48
  Speaker 4: I've seen how he processes things, which is very authentic, transparent and smart To do.
• 59:01
  Speaker 4: What we are going to try is going to take all of that and more, and I think Brett Martin is the kind of leader that I have watched over the years that is ideal for this.
• 59:15
  Speaker 4: He is logical and also he's got some idealism in him.
• 59:24
  Speaker 4: With logic, he's not putting his head in the sand and say let's just go try it.
• 59:30
  Speaker 4: It's going to be systematically built upon what we've already seen develop thus far.
• 59:35
  Speaker 4: It's going to be better to be able to um assist in that, not have to be the guy that's leading Um.
• 59:44
  Speaker 4: It's time in the community.
• 59:45
  Speaker 4: It was time at the rescue mission for a new leader.
• 59:48
  Speaker 4: Um.
• 59:49
  Speaker 4: It's time, um, for me to step in more to the background.
• 59:53
  Speaker 4: Um, I'm good with that.
• 59:55
  Speaker 4: Um.
• 59:56
  Speaker 4: Is it easy when you've done it for so long?
• 59:59
  Speaker 4: No, I'm learning to.
• 1:00:00
  Speaker 4: You know, uh, step back, but you run the podcast today.
• 1:00:04
  Speaker 2: right, I know you even switched seats Like oh my goodness.
• 1:00:08
  Speaker 4: And you were so comfortable.
• 1:00:09
  Speaker 1: I saw you kick your shoes off while you were doing this and you're barefooted over here.
• 1:00:12
  Speaker 4: So no, I, I, you know when it's.
• 1:00:16
  Speaker 4: It's never been.
• 1:00:17
  Speaker 4: Yes, there always has to be the point person that the community is going to see.
• 1:00:21
  Speaker 4: That's going to be Brett Martin on this initiative.
• 1:00:24
  Speaker 4: There's going to be a lot of other people.
• 1:00:25
  Speaker 4: It's never been about the Barry show.
• 1:00:27
  Speaker 4: Could never have done what Topeka Rescue Mission accomplished by myself.
• 1:00:31
  Speaker 4: No way, no way, if you know that.
• 1:00:34
  Speaker 4: You know Patrick Mahomes, good quarterback, but if he throws the ball and Travis is over there up there with Taylor he ain't gonna get it, you know.
• 1:00:42
  Speaker 4: So gotta be a team effort, right?
• 1:00:44
  Speaker 4: Sorry, Little man is recovering.
• 1:00:48
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm done.
• 1:00:50
  Speaker 2: I'm done, I'm done.
• 1:00:50
  Speaker 2: We're just going to end on that note.
• 1:00:51
  Speaker 4: So the point is that Brett knows that he will be able to with the team.
• 1:00:58
  Speaker 4: He talked about quarterbacks.
• 1:00:59
  Speaker 4: He talked about coaches.
• 1:01:00
  Speaker 4: There's a system here.
• 1:01:01
  Speaker 4: It's a pretty awesome system.
• 1:01:02
  Speaker 4: You need a good quarterback and a good leader of this, a good person, to bring this together.
• 1:01:06
  Speaker 4: So, yeah, brett, I'm thrilled that he said yes.
• 1:01:09
  Speaker 4: I appreciate him seeing it for how it is.
• 1:01:11
  Speaker 4: Um, will we miss it by 2030?
• 1:01:14
  Speaker 4: We don't know.
• 1:01:15
  Speaker 4: But what if we don't try?
• 1:01:17
  Speaker 4: And, uh, we have an opportunity to say let's do it logically, let's bring the people together, let's find those compassionate people and plug them in.
• 1:01:25
  Speaker 4: Let's hopefully bring some other people along that maybe need to learn a little bit more about how to do this.
• 1:01:29
  Speaker 4: Maybe, maybe, touch their hearts a little bit and then one day one day whether it's 2030- before or after we have people like you've seen so many times that will come and say thank you for being there for me.
• 1:01:45
  Speaker 4: Um, that's doesn't get better than that, so we're going to give it a try.
• 1:01:49
  Speaker 2: You know.
• 1:01:50
  Speaker 2: I just also want to say, brett, thank you.
• 1:01:53
  Speaker 2: You know, this is not an initiative of the Topeka Rescue Mission.
• 1:02:00
  Speaker 2: We're a part of it, but we're a part of it, like the 15 other sectors and the groups and the groups, and what I think I am most excited from the rescue mission side is the diversity that's coming with this.
• 1:02:15
  Speaker 2: One of the biggest misconceptions that's out there right now is that we have to only do this out of compassion, or we only have to do this out of logic, or we only have to do this out of punishment, and really none of that's accurate.
• 1:02:30
  Speaker 2: And so we can bring in logic, we can bring in steps that need to be taken, we can bring in accountability with compassion.
• 1:02:40
  Speaker 2: We can do all of that.
• 1:02:41
  Speaker 2: And when I see this vision, in this view and this view, it is with your heart, your mastermind, your correction, your whether it's comfortable or not your ability to bring up heat in the room.
• 1:02:59
  Speaker 2: But that heat is brought up through discussion of trust and the discussion of hey, we want to problem solve.
• 1:03:06
  Speaker 2: And, brett, there's probably five things that I could, off the top of my head, come up with that we might not even agree on, but that doesn't change our friendship, doesn't change partnership doesn't change support, and to me, that that's beautiful and that's a beauty of all hands on deck is there is reason why so many people are being brought into this, so that the perspective is truly seen with a common goal of doing right by people which is going to better our whole community.
• 1:03:37
  Speaker 2: So, barry, thank you, thank you for so many things, but thank you also for just how you're humble and I think I can speak for me and Brett, both um and multiple other organizations, multiple other leaders that you've mentored.
• 1:03:53
  Speaker 2: Um, it is incredible to have the autonomy to do what we need to do as this generation of leaders, but know that we're not doing it alone.
• 1:04:04
  Speaker 2: And, um, you say background and yes, but what you don't realize is whether it's Brett, whether it's the organizations, whether it's homelessness in general.
• 1:04:14
  Speaker 2: Barry is in the background, but he's praying, he's cheerleading, he is answering questions.
• 1:04:21
  Speaker 2: There is this level of support from the background that I think we can both just say thank you.
• 1:04:27
  Speaker 2: Thank you from United Way of Call Valley, thank you from the rescue mission, all hands on deck.
• 1:04:31
  Speaker 2: We appreciate that.
• 1:04:32
  Speaker 2: And, brett, just thank you for saying yes, thank you for it's not like you're substituting and you're no longer doing something to take this on.
• 1:04:39
  Speaker 2: You're still carrying that load, jess is still carrying that load, your teammates are for this and you know I want listeners to hear the rescue mission stands firm in supporting the efforts of All Hands on Deck.
• 1:05:04
  Speaker 2: We don't know what all of that looks like yet.
• 1:05:06
  Speaker 2: We're not sure when things can be done, we're not sure what all has to be done, but the rescue mission believes in this mission.
• 1:05:12
  Speaker 2: We know that it is something that, in order to truly make the right approaches with the information that we've had for decades, with the information from the city innovation team, the information of data that's out there, the information from the lack of data All hands on deck is the coalition that is needed to continue this work that not one entity can only focus on, and the rescue mission is humbled and thankful to be a part of that and see what is our part and what we need to do differently, what we need to do additionally, what we need to do additionally and also anything that we need to back away and not do, because another part of the coalition can step up to do that, and so the rescue mission is a partner.
• 1:05:59
  Speaker 2: We're ready to um, see what the next part of the journey holds, and just thank you both for all of that, um, as we wrap up our time, just if you're listening and you are, maybe someone that we're serving, maybe someone who is involved in serving, maybe someone who has been hesitant and has said I don't want to serve, just know that all of you matter and all of you are a part of something.
• 1:06:23
  Speaker 2: All of you have the power to be a part of something, and the rescue mission believes in transformation from Christ, whether that's a transformation of attitude, a transformation of heart or a transformation of your physical environment.
• 1:06:36
  Speaker 2: Change can come through Christ and we believe in that.
• 1:06:38
  Speaker 2: Thank you for joining our community, our mission.
• 1:06:41
  Speaker 2: Please don't forget to like, share and subscribe if you like what you hear, and we hope that you come back for more.
• 1:06:48
  Speaker 2: Have a blessed day.