Philanthropy Today
Philanthropy Today
Be Able on the GMCF Community Hour Show Episode - 204
Be Able Community Center provides life-changing support to Manhattan residents facing adversity, offering essential services and a compassionate community. The center is celebrating its fifth year of operation while preparing to launch a crucial supportive housing program to bridge a significant gap in local resources.
• Located at 431 South Fifth Street, Be Able functions as a daytime community resource center open 8 am-4 pm daily
• Services include coffee, computer access, laundry facilities, showers, and connections to community resources
• Structured programming for life improvement includes peer mentoring, finance education, and creative outlets
• Phil Hicks shares his journey from living in his car to finding support, healthcare assistance, and community
• Health challenges, including diabetes complications and osteomyelitis, require medical intervention
• Be Able connected Phil with resources, including Kansa Prairie for affordable medications and The Guardians for car repairs
• Manhattan's network of support organizations creates comprehensive care for vulnerable neighbors
• New supportive housing program launching within weeks addresses critical need in Manhattan
• Community support through fundraisers and Grow Green Match Day has made the housing initiative possible
Visit beablecommunity.org to learn more about their services or to support their mission of creating a community where everyone can be able.
Philanthropy Today is brought to you by the Greater Manhattan Community Foundation. In this episode we feature a recently broadcast segment of the GMCF Community Hour as heard on NewsRadio KMAN. And we are back the GMCF Community Hour here on NewsRadio KMAN. Our next segment is about an organization that's fairly new but my goodness, they have been so effective and so engaged in the community Be Able. And we are going to bring in the dude. That kind of got Be Able started. And we also have another guest who we're going to be visiting with, but first Scott Voos. Hi, hey, hey, dave, it's good to have you here.
Speaker 2:Yes, it's really good to be here. I really look forward to this Thanks for having us.
Speaker 1:Where were you 10 years ago?
Speaker 2:Oh, oh, 10 years ago I was working at Manhattan Technical College. Yeah, I was an allied health advisor. Fun fact, I was also the first ever athletic director.
Speaker 1:Oh, when they had the golf program.
Speaker 2:Yeah, golf and women's cross country.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I just saw. I had a visit with Rob Edelston the other day, who I have a tremendous amount of appreciation for yeah, I worked under him for sure, and he was in for another podcast with Kathy Dawes Scogs that I work with and just had a great visit about some of the stuff that they're doing there.
Speaker 2:But, man, you've had some challenges and those challenges begat Be Able. Are you referencing personal struggles? Whatnot? Yeah, I think the school of life has definitely prepared me for an understanding and an appreciation of working with people going through adversity.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. So this is what about four years now, five years for BeAble, yeah.
Speaker 2:September of this year, we will complete our fifth year in operation. Okay, I think so. Yeah, wow, yeah, it's, it's adding up, isn't it? That's crazy, definitely.
Speaker 1:And and and one of the things that you know you're you're doing terrific work and there's uh, there, there's so many aspects to what you do at BeAble, but considering what you've accomplished in five years time and how many lives you have changed is absolutely a tremendous testament to your vision, your direction, your leadership and all the people that are associated. I know you got a lot of great staff down there and then you get people like Phil that we're going to talk with here just a little bit. That that helps share the message.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think um not only working and finding individuals going through adversity and working with them, but I think another component of what we do is trying to uncover the stories of of who is out there and giving reasons why things are the way they are. So that's a big part of what we do, but I would be remiss to mention that the Lord has provided us with an army of supporters, and it was really important for me from day one to surround myself with people that are better than I am, and and I think that that's the secret sauce is is uh, we have a strong staff volunteer component, and then also the other uh church groups, civic groups that we allow uh and empower them to to be within the family to help out.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, it's a. It's a fantastic story, and there are probably some listeners here joining us today that may not really be aware of what Be Able does. So, before we jump into talking with one of your neighbors, give us the 30-second elevator speech about Be Able.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I like to consider us as a daytime community resource center, and what we do is we open up our doors each day from eight to four o'clock each day, and anybody that walks through the doors can access our facility for anything from coffee to computer access, laundry and shower facility down there, and then also knowledge of what resources are in our community. We also we also have a whole host of other um programming meant for life improvements, and then what I hope to talk about a little bit later is is our supportive housing program that we're about to open up in a few weeks. So, um, 431 South fifth street, right behind the Manhattan emergency shelter, down the road from the breadbasket, we are very well placed on Yuma Street, all right.
Speaker 1:Well, I tell you what. Let's shift gears here. Let's talk to Phil Phil Hicks. Welcome to the GMCF Community Hour. Nice to meet you, dave. Absolutely, you're a big dude. Thank you, I appreciate that. And you're in a boot, and I mean like a boot, like you. Just you just like got all kinds of gauze and tape and things on your foot.
Speaker 3:What's that all about? Well, uh, kind of ties into my story about me being out here. I moved out here last October in my car, uh, to get, try to find better health, get my feet back on solid ground, get my seven-year-old back out here Um, just kind of changed my life around. You know, I made a decision to turn my life over to the Lord and kind of asked him to point me in the right direction. And Manhattan is where he brought me out. To why Manhattan? Um, honestly, I really don't even know.
Speaker 3:I came out in my car, started heading East one day from where I was at and, uh, I was praying one night and came here, started door dashing in my car a little bit and I was like, you know, it's not really that bad. Uh, decided to stick around a little bit. And short term, in the short term of me being here in October, that was when I've I had heard of be able and found out about the be able community and I had called Scott and kind of let him know, you know what I was going through. And he's like well, come down and talk to me. And I came down and talked to him and since then things have just kind of been rolling like wildfire. Things have been turning around and a lot of good things have been happening since I moved here.
Speaker 1:We've had a number of fellow neighbors come in and talk and one of the things that I'd like to do is get you know a little bit of the background story filled and Scott had mentioned adversities. Yeah, can you share a little bit about some of the challenges that you had?
Speaker 3:So years ago out in the small communities that I was at probably 2020, I would say 2020 or 2021, I had a problem with my left foot, where it had a sore on it, and that ended up leading to me having two stents in my heart. So the battle with my health has been an ongoing battle for years. I've lost my mother at 2000. May 14, 2011, when I was 21 years old, from renal failure, and her passing was probably because she didn't take care of herself that well, and there's been times in my life Another thing I came out here for was my anxiety and my depression.
Speaker 3:It was through the roof and I was done with everything. I didn't want to be around anymore. I kind of had a lot of different bad thoughts and, uh, the Lord helped pull me out of those, and so my mental health has also been something I'd struggled with over the years and, uh, being able to come out here and find a place with, you know, so much compassion and care and and where people you know there's many more people than me that are struggling, and a lot of them in a lot worse way than I am. You know, I was in my car and my foot really couldn't heal, because I'm six foot eight, you know, and you have to sleep in six eight.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you have to sleep in uncomfortable positions and stuff, but, above and beyond all you know, the Lord is always good, no matter what he's going to, he's not going to put you through something that you're not meant to overcome or to get stronger from. I guess is what I would say. That's what I've learned over my years.
Speaker 1:And you talked about you know your faith. Yeah, was that something that was?
Speaker 3:a part of your life. It's been a part of my life, throughout my life, but it's never been something that I was really super consistent and super focused on. So I would kind of let that go on the back burner and I'd put it behind me, and then things would fall apart, you know, and then when I'd pick my faith back up or I'd start digging back into it, things would start piecing themselves back together.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Well, and and, and. We all have these stories. You know we all get to share these stories here on the on the show, and that's one of the things that I think our listeners really appreciate. And that's one of the things that I like about what Jared and Scott are doing with this program is they're giving us an opportunity to visit with some of the neighbors at Be Able so that we can see, or at least hear, firsthand the impact that the work at Be Able is doing. So you came and talked to Scott at Be Able is doing. So you came and talked to Scott. What has happened through?
Speaker 3:your time at Be Able to help you. First off, getting there, I think when I first linked up with these guys, I'm pretty sure my tag was out of date on my car and stuff too. So I'm sleeping on my car. My tag's out of date, Didn't have any insurance, needed a bunch of insulin, all kinds of different meds and stuff. So, like immediately upon meeting them, I got hooked up with a retain works. Uh, retain works set me up with Kansa Prairie and Kansa Prairie ended up getting six to $700 in my medications for like 10 bucks for me. So that was one of the hugest blessings right off the bat.
Speaker 3:Okay, um, I ended up doing some things and figuring out how to get my car worked out and stuff. I can't remember if you guys helped me tag it or not. I think you might've. Yeah, at the first time. Second time I tagged my car. I know I did the tagging but they had kind of helped me with insurance.
Speaker 3:There's another program, also called uh, what is it? The guardians? I had an alternator go out in my car so the guardians had helped me with that. Uh, they have. There's any meetings and stuff that they do there that I would that I go to. I don't go to all of them now cause I'm working at McDonald's at night and it's during the time that the meetings are going. But they have a lotto class which is like uh, it's a talk where you know we talk about everyday life and just share, people share. It's like a peer-to-peer mentoring group that you try to focus on positive things and positive happenings and creating a positive mindset or positive outlook for your peers, some of them that are unable to find that light, that's in the dark, and they also have a finance program there. I haven't done a whole lot with that, but they have a guy that comes in, he'll talk to you on finance.
Speaker 3:One thing Scott didn't touch on is they have an art room and a music room and that is very therapeutic for people too. That is kind of starting to take off a little bit. More and more people are coming in there and doing paintings and stuff. And uh, I think even a couple of the organizations out here over the winter time had like fundraisers and stuff and some of us neighbors that would do artwork, they were able to like auction some of our artwork and stuff off too. So that's, it's neat. It helps the community as a whole.
Speaker 3:And then another thing I like to do would be I'd worked a lot of the K state games with Vern Vern, so we'd do cleanups and stuff afterwards. Well, a lot of these people out here you know that are my neighbors are homeless and they haven't been to games before and they haven't got to experience things like that. So a lot of people would give away free tickets to the games. So we would carpool neighbors and peers up there and we'd go clean and we'd come back. You know, a lot of them would get dropped back off and be able to go to the warming station or to the shelter where they were staying. Some people would stay under the bridge.
Speaker 3:You know we're being real about everything, but, uh, just having that, I don't know. I, I. There's a group of of kindness and compassion and generosity in Manhattan that is unfound anywhere Like I've. I've been to different cities and stuff and I'm this isn't the only time in my life that I've been homeless, so it has been harder in other areas, but there's a the lord's here and you can feel it. You can feel every bit of kindness and generosity at all these different places you go and be able definitely is a I. I honestly think they should build like a lighthouse there or something, because that place so with the big beacon that goes around.
Speaker 3:Here we are it's definitely a place where people can. I've I've had several people since I've been here that have come in here that didn't even want to exist anymore and by the end of the day, just meeting with some of us or whatever, their whole, whole aura was flipped around and, uh, moments like that and times like that are things that I take to heart the most, because I've been in that position. I've tried to eliminate myself more than once and the Lord has directly told me that.
Speaker 3:I have a purpose. You can't do that Like, I'm not going to let you, you know. So, um, I it's, it's fun being out here. I'm, I'm liking it and I'm going to keep working. I know I'm not in an apartment or anything yet, but I'm close to it. I'm still in the cracks, you know, but I'm slowly getting myself out of it and the people that I build myself around. Like Scott said, when you surround yourself around better, you become better yourself. So I just got to keep that mindset and that outlook on things and just realize that the Lord is always going to be better. So if I surround myself around him, he's going to help me find everybody else. That's better too.
Speaker 1:You know you had mentioned earlier on that. Uh, you had a at that time seven year old. Yeah.
Speaker 3:Well, he's seven now. He was four before. Yes, he was four when I got my stents in my heart and, uh, his. So him and his uh six-year-old brother at the time were with me. I was a single dad, uh, taking care of both the boys and I ended up getting in the hospital and their mom had come by when I was in the hospital. She wanted to visit them for a little bit, but she ended up leaving with the kids. So I video chat them for now until, uh, things are better for me, and then, once things are better, I'll have my son back and I can't wait for it. He's going to love it out here and when you talk about um being in the hospital.
Speaker 1:you know, yeah, so you've had surgery. What's this all about?
Speaker 3:Two weeks ago. My uh, so my toe has had an ulcer in it this whole time. I've been dealing with it since March of last year. That's why I moved out here in October. Um, just it, it heals up a little bit and then it backtracks. I mean, I heal up and then backtrack and ended up I guess a couple weeks ago. Found out it was broken, found out it had osteomyelitis in it.
Speaker 3:I was borderline sepsis, so that could have been really bad. I could have just, you know, died. But uh, the lord, like I said, he has other plans. There's always a reason for everything. They told me I wouldn't have any balance after this thing got taken off. They didn't have to discharge me with any pt. I don't have no assisted device. I started working the next day. Um was shooting hoops. The same day I got out of the hospital I made seven shots in a row.
Speaker 1:I've never do you have any?
Speaker 3:eligibility left. Eligibility for what? For basketball? I For basketball, I mean, I wish.
Speaker 1:I'm 35, so probably not Well, I mean, age is not a, I'm almost as old as LeBron.
Speaker 2:The players befriended Phil. Oh, did they really?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I made a couple good friends from some of the athletes just cleaning up after the games and stuff.
Speaker 2:They would bring him steak dinners down.
Speaker 3:I got a filet, mignon find them. Yeah, down to the shelter. It was fun, it's been amazing for our listeners benefit you.
Speaker 1:You've got a k-state shirt on. You got a k-state ball cap on. I see that it's got some autographs on it as well. Were you a k-state guy before you came here?
Speaker 3:I've always been a k-state guy. I uh, I remember back when, I think, bill snyder left the first time that football season yeah, they played missouri up here I believe it was, and brad Brad Smith was playing for them, if I remember right, and we beat them. I remember we beat them. It wasn't that bad, it was just a little. I think we beat them. Maybe they beat us.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm pretty sure we did. Yeah, I think we beat them Because that was my first year as the announcer.
Speaker 3:I've never been to that many games that we've lost at, which is fun. I've been to a few, but uh, yeah, just I remember being at that football game and you know smacking everybody's hands at the end of it and stuff. I was a huge football guy. So, 2006, I was only a sophomore in high school. I was six, eight, uh, three, 85, playing football myself. Yeah, I was a. I was a monster in high school.
Speaker 1:So so I take your diabetic? Yeah, type two, uh huh, okay, and uh, you, you definitely have lost some weight. Oh yeah, I'm 270 now, okay, yeah, and was it? Is that recent loss? Um?
Speaker 3:over the last probably three years or so, I've probably lost all the weight. It's not like all at once, and a lot of it was from when I was sick. The first time when I went into the hospital I had my osteomyelitis. For whatever reason, I don't know why. I have it. I can, I can eat meat. You can ask these guys, all you, to be able all day, but I don't. I ain't gaining any weight. I don't know why.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Phil, I'm going to run a little bit short on time and I know that Scott has some things he wants to talk about.
Speaker 3:So we got to talk about that housing. It's amazing.
Speaker 1:That's important for you, phil, and it's important for a lot of the neighbors to be able so. So, Scott, you know we had this fundraiser last year and one of the key things that we wanted to stress was housing. For some of your neighbors, Housing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, housing first mentality, getting the individuals off the streets and into more of a stable environment, it it would drastically increase the probability of success. And so we are weeks away. Over this past year we've gone under significant renovation, a very elaborate, appropriate game plan to get the houses ready, and if it weren't for the supportive community and Grow Green Day and then also our fundraiser, there was significant monies needed to be raised for this and we couldn't do it on our own. So that's where the community is huge for us as a whole. The Manhattan community is so giving and I think that they recognize effort, they recognize the stories that we're uncovering and it's all somewhat lining up for an opportunity.
Speaker 2:In Manhattan, there just is not that supportive housing structure. There's such a gap related to people. Just there's a void where individuals don't have the opportunity and people just there's a void where individuals don't have the opportunity. Comparatively, in Topeka and Salina there's ample amounts of these supportive housing programs, but in Manhattan there's just not. So this is our take and we're going to launch it in five weeks and we're going to do it really well. All right, that's a big step.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's going to be huge for us. It's a big day for a lot of your neighbors, isn't it Correct?
Speaker 2:Yes, yeah, it's going to be huge for us. It's a big day for a lot of your neighbors, isn't it Correct? Yes, and our housing director, chad Wormstad Some of you may recognize his name from years past. He's ready to go. We brought him back from Colorado Good, and he's all rested and fresh and he's on fire to make this happen.
Speaker 3:And he'll beat anybody one-on-one in basketball.
Speaker 1:Oh, will he now Will? Don't beat anybody one-on-one in basketball. Oh, will he now yeah, will he now yeah, okay.
Speaker 3:On you at 6'8" If we lower the goal down. Oh, okay. Well, there's that.
Speaker 1:Hey, phil. Thank you for sharing your story. Best wishes to you.
Speaker 3:Thank you, dave. I appreciate you guys for letting me be a part of all this, yeah.
Speaker 1:Well, that's these guys that do Yep. Keep doing the doing the Lord's work.
Speaker 3:Here we go, appreciate you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and Jared is off. Mike, yeah, he's, he's all just documenting things. So, good luck tomorrow with Grow Green Match Day.
Speaker 3:He's our diamond that forms under pressure. Oh, look at that. It's the.
Speaker 1:GMCF Community Hour and Vern's going to be stepping in next with some closing thoughts as we get ready for Grow Green Match Day, which is tomorrow. Here on the GMCF Community Hour.