Horses, Heartbeats, and Healing 04-13-2026

Rachann talks with Elizabeth Tate from Common Ground at Paradise Stables. They invite listeners into a safe, tactile world where equine assisted learning, breathing, and aromatherapy help shift feelings that have been shaped by fight, flight, and freeze. Facilitators hold space for the moment as people explore trust, physical awareness, and self-regulation, guided by the wisdom of the herd. It's an engaging look at how real healing happens when humans and horses work together.

Center for Life Skills Development | Common Ground Inc. | Maryland, USA

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Today's podcast is brought to you by Mariah Bellmanor Kennel, offering dog boarding, bathing, and daycare in an eco-friendly environment. Our pet care with a personal touch is not just a motto. It's really what we do. Our touch extends to the food without preservatives, quality and natural shampoos, inclusive boarding, and a green living environment. Sounds like I might want to check in. Visit us anytime on our Facebook page, Mariah Bellmanor Kennel, or Mariah Bellmanor Kennel.com. Enjoy your program. Welcome to Raising Connections, connecting your community to others through critters, companions, commerce, and agriculture. I'm Ray Shan Mayer. Let's raise some connections. Here we go. Today we have a fun and interesting guest, and a guest that you probably know. Elizabeth Tate from Common Ground and Paradise Stables. Welcome. Thank you so much. I am excited to have you here. You've been a guest on raising connections previously when Common Ground was coming together. In 2024, you laid some plans out. It's now 2026. What's common ground and where are you going?

SPEAKER_01 1:04

Holy smokes. We have exceeded every expectation I could have possibly had. The amount of people that we've seen last year in 25 alone, we saw 1,031 people. I would never have guessed that when I saw you before.

SPEAKER_00 1:17

Are these just people you're seeing, or is there a reason you're seeing them? What is common ground?

SPEAKER_01 1:21

Common ground is not a substitute for talk therapy. I just want to be pretty clear about that. I think talk therapy certainly has its place, but we're an alternative to talk therapy. So we offer equine assisted learning and equine assisted trauma healing, which are kind of different, but we've attracted a population of people, both veteran first responder and people in addiction recovery, who are really suffering from trauma and were able to help them. And that's not where my focus was in the beginning, but that's where we are now.

SPEAKER_00 1:53

Having known you for a while, so we should probably disclose this. Yeah. When I decided I was gonna go riding again on horseback, I looked up and I'm like, where am I gonna go? And here it was. And I think that was the first trauma therapy that you did was right there. Right. But we had a great relationship with that horse, and Choice made lots of great friends. What is trauma therapy? And how does a horse fall into that?

SPEAKER_01 2:15

We're gonna go backwards a little bit. So horses are prey animals, and their nervous system actually mirrors our nervous system. They're the only other animal that does. So they have the same chakra system as we have. And horses have, just like us, this sense of needing to feel safe. However, because of the world we live in, we tend to get stuck in flight fighter freeze. We tend not to move our nervous system and we need tools to learn to do that. The horses teach us that because the horse's goal, number one, is to stay safe. And in that, they know when we're not safe. So if we're holding our breath or we're holding on to whatever it is that's bubbling up in that moment, they will not budge, they will not move, and they will make us reset, breathe, and let it go.

SPEAKER_00 2:58

Okay, I have to question that. Sure. Because it makes sense, but I have a different experience. I've been in the time where I'm not breathing and the horse is like, oh, you're not safe and I'm leaving with you. Oh, well, there's that.

unknown 3:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:13

Right. Is that because the nervous systems are so aligned that they're really sensing my fight or flight wanting to flight?

SPEAKER_01 3:23

A hundred percent. This is something that I teach to whoever walks through our door. We go through this as a horse, and this is part of this as a horse. Imagine that you've seen like on TikTok and other places where they have these plastic suits, people rolling down hills and things, right? Well, I'm gonna use that image as our energy bubble. Okay. Essentially, that's our energy field. And horses' energy fields, because their heart is seven to ten times larger than our own, are way bigger. So as we sort of bump into each other, our energy fields actually, when we go into a horse's energy field, regulate our heartbeat because they tend to be much slower than our own. It's kind of like a child to a parent. There's that naturally occurring. Now, if you're coming into that with energy of you're not safe or you're scared or afraid, they're looking for what that is. Why are you afraid? Because if you're afraid, I should be afraid. So what I teach in common ground is how to self-regulate.

SPEAKER_00 4:17

That's a huge skill.

SPEAKER_01 4:19

Yes. But the horse is the one that prompts me to it, right? So when we're doing activities, if a horse doesn't want to move forward, first of all, we respect the no. Many people I work with, whenever they say no, they're not heard. So when a horse tells us no, we listen to the no. And I'll come and I'll have a teachable moment with our client and I'll say, All right, let's reset. That's what we first do. We do box breathing, we reset, we hold a little longer, we bring our energy down, and then I say, What's going on in your head? And they'll say, I don't know generally. Sometimes they will, sometimes Lord knows what'll come out. But a lot of times they'll say, I don't know. And I'll say, Okay, well, if you can work on your breathing, so I hold on to the horse, they hold on to the horse, the horse is exhaling. So horses release our stuff for us by yawning and shaking and licking and chewing and all of these things. And so when you get your house right, it's what I call it, and your breath work, you will notice the horse will release. The horse will yawn, they will shake, they're like, okay, it's all right now. So we're able to regulate initially in that way. And then as we progress, I do have this gift and I do listen. I really listen to the horse and I listen to whatever comes to me and I say it. I don't hold back. And so I may say to somebody, because I feel in that moment, I'll say, Are you a leader in your job? And they'll say, Oh yeah. And I'll say, Well, are you a leader right now? Well, no. Okay, so leadership is not forced. Leadership is by example, right? So when we lead by example, if the horse needs to feel safe, you have to lead so the horse knows they can trust you. Otherwise, they won't. And so there's a teachable moment. And I step back and I say, try again. We get our house right, we breathe, try again. And that teachable moment, they'll never forget it. It stays with them.

SPEAKER_00 6:08

Do you think that it's because it's not only mental, but it's emotional? It's tactile.

SPEAKER_01 6:14

Yes, it's tactile. Yes, exactly.

SPEAKER_00 6:17

One of the things we talked about in 2024 was the corporate groups. Why would I take my co-workers to the barn?

SPEAKER_01 6:25

That's a really good question. And it's one that we have so much fun with. So we do probably four or five corporate team buildings a year, and we can accommodate up to 27 people. That's a lot of people. That is a lot of people. And we all have 10 horses in the arena and we'll have activities. We always break bread and have lunch, and then we'll have an afternoon activity. I don't want to give away what that is, but we do. We have a fun thing that we do in the afternoon. But the truth of the matter is, really, since COVID, but some before COVID, there's this attachment to our phones and our computers, and we lack interpersonal relationships. In the corporate world, because there's such age differences, cultural differences, I find that when they bring them to us, a lot of times because we may have never met. Somebody might be doing online at home, and other people actually might come in the office. They come to common ground to find common ground. I lead the activities, and people really are able to communicate in ways that they would never have that opportunity in an office setting. I can't tell you how many times we'll do this particular activity, and there's always a lot of laughing, but they can't problem solve it. It's very difficult to problem solve. And so I'll say to them, is this what happens in the office? They're like, oh my gosh, this is exactly how we are in the office. And I said, So you're not really getting a lot of work done. No, we're really not. Okay, so let's work as a team. Let's figure this out as a team. Everyone has input. Maybe there's five people on a team and two people have a horse. We got to figure this out and manage it. And they do nail it in the end, right? We're all about wins. We all want people to feel like they've accomplished something and learned something at the end of the day, but that sticks with them. Again, it's a tangible, tactile experience that's community related. So when they go back to the office, they can say, Hey, remember what Charlie taught me or what Billy taught us? We've got to communicate better. Happens all the time. I get letters and emails from people saying, wow, that really was helpful for us.

SPEAKER_00 8:17

Leadership and teamwork. And in the current environment, here in 2026, a lot of things going on. Community organizations, leadership is changing. And one of the things I'm hearing more and more is I would like someone to take my place and take over in this volunteer organization, but I can't let it go. If they would just do it the way I've done it, then I could let it go. Is there a place for other 501c3 organizations who are volunteer-led and volunteer boards to come to common ground and learn how to let something go and trust that it will be carried forward?

SPEAKER_01 8:56

Absolutely. I primarily work with other nonprofits. I work with their leadership. I work with their clients, I work with caregivers, I work with all different kinds of folks in nonprofit situations. And if they don't learn anything, they learn flexibility. They learn that they have to be flexible. They may not get the horse they want, they may not get the results that they want from the horse initially. They might be terrified. Who knows? As far as me personally in having something that I've built and letting it go, you've got to be able to. You've got to be able to let it have legs in a life beyond you. Easier said than done, I'm sure. I'm not in that place in my life yet.

SPEAKER_00 9:33

There's a lot of community active groups that have the board, and many of the boards right now are struggling on how do we do more with less? Bringing an old phrase back. The sponsorships aren't there. Do we still feel needed? In multiple of the organizations that I'm with, when I sit back and hear what they're saying, what they're really saying is I want this to continue the way it had value for me. But they're afraid the value has changed. You have to be flexible.

SPEAKER_01 9:58

What needs to be the focus is the goal. What is the goal of the nonprofit? What is the service mission that you are providing? And how do we get there? Technology's different, how we communicate is different. We have emails now, we don't have to write letters, like all these things that have changed for an older generation to a younger generation. And it's respecting the change, but the outcome being very similar. Many of the things I do, especially in the trauma work, like EMDR kind of things, that when people are in their head reciting trauma, and then there's a whole way that we get to that so that it's not too much. But when they're doing that work, I'll have them walk it out and I'll put boundaries that you can only think about it in this space, and then you have to move to your safe space in your brain. So we do this back and forth and back and forth and back and forth. With their body in motion as they do it. And the horse, because what'll happen a lot of times is when people are reciting in their brain their trauma, the horse doesn't like it. Clearly it's scary. The heart rate probably in the person is increasing, breath is probably being held, all those kinds of things. And the horse usually will stop. It makes the participant have to come back to the here and now. They can't stay in that space because the horse lives in the here and now. So if the horse stops, you can't think about that stuff. You have to come back. And then you have to try and get back to that space as you continue to walk through. And it becomes this, it's too much of a pain to keep going back to the trauma. So I'm relearning. Yes. So I need to stay in the here and now because that's just too difficult. It really sticks with them. I've also added aroma therapy to that. Ah, yes. And so I crochet these hearts and then I'll put a scented oil on them and put them in a Ziploc baggie. And when the folks are grooming, I'll have them combine that with the horse scent, right? So they can take that back. There's this moment. A therapist told me recently, I was in a Hartley House men's group. I said, there's this moment from when you receive incoming trauma before your body reacts. And we're trying to kind of break that moment, right? We're trying to redirect, rewire the brain in that moment. And he says, Well, that's Buddha. I said, Is it? Tell me more. Because I didn't know, but I know that that exists for my own life, from my own experience. And what has helped me is this connection to my senses. And it's really helping people.

SPEAKER_00 12:19

Wonderful. That moment is really meaningful. When you have that moment or a person has that moment, as adults, it's often very hard to say what the feelings are. And it's often one of the things I wonder do you see this as people get in touch with their feelings? Is there's a phrase for us, right? But oftentimes adults have trouble naming what they're feeling at the moment. Happy, sad, joy, those are feelings that some adults lose. Do you find in that moment between the thought and the physical reaction, if they name it, it changes?

SPEAKER_01 12:56

Absolutely. So in my six-week groups, my second night, I create a situation with her dynamics so that I have already taught them about the nervous system. I've already explained to them about what that feeling of fight, flight, or freeze is. But when you watch horses work it out, not in a violent manner, but when you watch them work it out and there's squealing or dominance or whatever, you go right there. Your body naturally goes to that place, like when somebody slams on the brakes in front of you. Then we go right back into my classroom and we talk about it. Let's talk about that feeling. That is fight, fight or freeze. And does the light bulb go off? A hundred percent of the time.

SPEAKER_00 13:33

Do you think it's because it's outside of their experience, but they can empathize with the experience?

SPEAKER_01 13:38

Well, yes, I would agree with that. They always tick and tie that experience to their own families. We all do, right? When we look at herds of horses. But this gives us an opportunity to have them express their familiar things in their head from their family, you know, their familiar relationships. Oh, my boss did that. Oh, my brother was like that. Oh, my mom, whatever. So it not only takes them out of their head, it puts them in a situation where they physically feel it, and then they can put words to it immediately. There's no break. And once you say it, it's like any therapy talk or whatever, it solidifies it in your head. And then I'll ask them for a word to identify it, and then I'll write it down and we'll come back to it.

SPEAKER_00 14:19

Interesting.

SPEAKER_01 14:19

So I'm really trying to lay groundwork for understanding what they're going through and they're feeling at the time, but then be able to take these tools with them to help them later.

SPEAKER_00 14:30

You have a really unique set of tools in your own toolbox that allows you to fill this special role that you've been gifted. Not only are you an equestrian, but you're also a therapist. And you also have, if I remember correctly, a divinity degree. I do. How did this all come together for you? Did you wake up one morning and go, you know what? I'm going to go to the barn and I'm going to start doing common ground. I bet not.

SPEAKER_01 14:59

No. Like most people that start nonprofits or have mission-based work, it comes from your own experience. I've had my own healing with horses from trauma as a young person. My very first time in realizing that healing relationship, I was sitting in the barn in my horse's Charlie. You probably remember Charlie. I remember Charlie. Yeah, I know he's my hard horse. I was sitting in Charlie's stall and I was in the middle of a lot of things in my life, and I was crying, which is not something I usually do, which I do a lot more of now. Anyway, I was crying and he was just chewing. And you know, there's this synchronicity when they're chewing. I don't know. There's this calmness about it. And whenever I would say my true feeling in the moment, he would nudge me. Like, keep going. That's how I took it was keep going. And I felt so much better just by being able to do that with him. And I thought, okay, well, it's just our relationship. Like I didn't put a lot of value in it in terms of teaching that. But then the big thing for me happened when we had all those rescues. There was an impound through the Humane Society and Day's End, where we ended up with a tremendous amount of Arabian horses in 2011. And they were all feral and they were not in great shape. When we had to do things with them, you'd either have to corral them because they're wild horses, essentially. And what I learned was in that my staff, who tended to be more upregulated than me, when they would walk in there, it would be like walking into a pond and all the minnows scatter, right? The horses would just kind of go away. So that's when I saw the energy bubble. Like I had this vision of that. And I was like, hey, wait. So I had them all stay outside the fence and I had them turn their backs because looking is pressure, right? So too much pressure. So I had them all turn around and I would walk in there, not looking at the horses, just giving my hand and waiting for somebody to show up. And it's usually the second in charge who comes, right? Not the lead mayor, but the second. And when the second comes, then I just hold space for that and breathe and wait for the first to come. But when I want to get the herd, I don't take the first, I take the second because the first and everybody else will follow. But I learned that. I didn't know that. I learned that through that experience. And then I would go test it and I'd say, Oh, was that a fluke? Like, let me try that again. And so I learned that dance because I had to learn it essentially. But that's the basis of common ground is being able to develop this relationship, this energetic relationship with horses that's trust and it's nonverbal communication. Yeah, it's pretty amazing. I also have had cancer twice, and horses have really, really helped me with confidence and breathing and coming back to myself and being honest with myself. I have a mule. My mule, trust me, is not going to move if I'm holding stuff. And he came to me at a time in my life where I really needed that. So as a result of having cancer the second time, and I had already been doing common ground since 2016. So this was 2021, 22. And I thought, okay, I'm either going to do this or I'm gonna just stop. It's gonna be one or the other. You know, God, what do you want me to do? And in prayer, it came to me, you need to share your gift. So I did. I went to Canada because you got to be certified in something, and I resonated with the way they thought about equine assisted learning and came home and I test betted the heck out of it with helping up mission. They were great about it. And I just developed this program and what we're doing. And now it just keeps morphing into the people that come and what their needs are and meeting people where they are and having to adjust either on the fly or with content. It just depends on who shows up.

SPEAKER_00 18:38

And all these things came together. Having the equine experience, having those personal experiences with the cancer, but also having been prepared educationally. What is your degree?

SPEAKER_01 18:49

I have a master's degree in clinical psychology, pastoral counseling from Loyola University.

SPEAKER_00 18:54

So it puts you in a unique position to understand what's going on in the equine, to having experienced it. And it almost sounds like you've reinvented the wheel that many people know it's there, but you put your own decoration on the wheel. You put your own rims on it.

SPEAKER_01 19:09

I totally did.

SPEAKER_00 19:10

And I love it. I love what we're doing. And that's what makes the program so unique. What's the magic in this for you?

SPEAKER_01 19:17

It's a culmination of all the gifts, right? All the farm and the land and the education and the knowledge and even the trauma in my own life that have collectively brought me to this place. But what keeps me energized, what keeps me going is watching the healing in front of my eyes. My volunteers would tell you the same thing. It's watching people change, whether it's in a two-hour session, a four-hour session, or a six-week group, doesn't matter. It's a beautiful thing. The other day we had a Hartley House women's group come, and there was an older lady who was Spanish only speaking, and I'm not biolingual. And her interpreter happened to be their therapist. And she got the biggest horse, Marshall, big Percheron. And she just started singing to him in Spanish and laughing and joy. And all of us were, we'd never had anyone in there like that before, where everyone else seems to be kind of working through building the relationship. But she just came in and I mean she was just this bundle of beauty. And when I was teaching her and everyone, but I was using her horse as a demonstration on how to hug a heart, she leaned into him and started wailing and crying. And he leaned back to her. And I'm holding the horse without holding the lead rope. And all I could do in respect is look down and hold space for the moment. I don't know time. I don't measure time. But it was the most beautiful moment. We do these sessions and then we have a group session after to debrief. And her interpreter told us through her that she had come to Hartley House underweight in tremendous abuse, had tried to take her life several times. And in hearing Marshall's story, because he has his own story, she says, I am Marshall, and Marshall is me. And he is the first to accept me.

SPEAKER_00 21:04

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 21:05

There was a lot more words, but the bottom line is holding space for that healing to happen. Honestly, that's the crux of common ground.

SPEAKER_00 21:13

Is common ground something that you share with others or something that you want to share as a movement, as a way of doing things? That's a good question.

SPEAKER_01 21:23

Until today, I probably would have said, I don't know how to share it. But I feel like now, because we've really fine-tuned most things, I probably could share it, if that makes sense.

SPEAKER_00 21:37

It makes sense. Teaching a feeling is very hard. Recruiting people that have the feelings to share, but don't have a venue to share them is a different challenge.

SPEAKER_01 21:49

I also want to say that in order to do this work, you have to have your own work done. Absolutely. And that includes my volunteers. Absolutely. I can't have volunteers come. To work with people who are broken if they're broken, because you just can't hold space for both.

SPEAKER_00 22:05

That makes sense. Put your own house in order before you start giving advice to someone else's house.

SPEAKER_01 22:10

Yes. And the other thing that has been bubbling up a bit is that I am a facilitator. I am not a teacher. I am a facilitator. And my volunteers know that I am the facilitator and they are not teachers. So their job is to keep the horses and the humans safe. That's it. And my job is to facilitate. And it's pretty clear and it really works.

SPEAKER_00 22:33

Processes to keep the application stable. Yes, exactly. When you were sitting back at 17, 18, 19, 21, 25, did you ever see yourself in this moment? No.

SPEAKER_01 22:48

No. And I would tell you that people that knew me then wouldn't have said that I'd have been in this moment either.

SPEAKER_00 22:54

What would you say to the young folks out there? They're like, my life is over. I'm finishing college. My life is beginning. I'm finishing college. I'm finishing high school. I don't know what to do. And I'm at that transition moment. What would your advice be to them? Get a job. And just start?

SPEAKER_01 23:10

Just start. Just go work. If you want to work in horses, go start muck and stalls. Go volunteer at Days End or Gentle Giants. Go find a place where you can learn about this relationship with horses yourself, not be taught somewhere. Because honestly, life experience is what makes you better.

SPEAKER_00 23:27

Just go live. Just go do it. Well, that's a hard thing for a lot of people because will I do the right thing?

SPEAKER_01 23:33

Oh, here's my philosophy on that one. We all make decisions every day. Just make one, and then you can make another one. If that one isn't the right one for you, just make a decision. And keep moving. And then keep moving. And if you don't like that decision, change it.

SPEAKER_00 23:47

And common ground's a reflection of that. It's a reflection of the thoughtfulness, the hobbies, the habits, what was available as resources, and the personal application. And it has grown as you've grown. Oh yeah. We ask where it's going, and the answer is we're going to make choices one day at a time and figure that out because every day is a different day. But in the meantime, you make a lot of very active choices. And you have a lot of very active programs coming up because although Common Ground is a 501c3, it also has a need for funds. Oh, yeah. What kind of programs do you have going up to support the program?

SPEAKER_01 24:27

This last year, we were very blessed to get some grants, one from Delpline and two from the Community Foundation and other private donors that have allowed us to offer and really build out. For example, we've just finished a program called Digging Deeper, and it's for women in AA recovery and trauma work. And that was a six-week group. There was no money exchanged between us. And that's because we have funding for that particular group. But in order to offer it again, we're going to need more funding. So we have Operation Horsepower coming up, which is our veteran and first responder group. It's also a six-week group that starts April 14th. And then we also are doing a pilot with hospice for people who lost someone in a traumatic way. And that also starts the same week on the 16th of April. And there's no funding for that, but we're going to do it because we need to be doing it. And so my philosophy is do good things, good things happen. And is that true for you? That is true for me.

SPEAKER_00 25:21

There's so many things that a 501 does. What is a 501c3? We hear those numbers a lot.

SPEAKER_01 25:27

We're a nonprofit organization, which means that every dollar that comes to us goes to our horses and our programming. We don't have any paid staff, and it means that we have to raise our own funds. And so we do that in a number of ways. We have two fundraisers a year right now. We have a bingo coming up on April 18th. All the net proceeds come to common ground. The Moose has been great to us. They're actually holding a pool tournament for us. There's a golf tournament that Reforge is doing for us in another organization in June. And then we have our big event in November, which is a concert. It'll be our second annual concert. And we need sponsors. We need people who want to come and get their name on our banner. They can be in every parade we're in. It sits all year long on our fence, and people know that people are involved and care about what we're doing and they want to support us. And so we really need sponsors who just want to give and believe in what we're doing.

SPEAKER_00 26:21

Do they ever get to see the result on the other side? Usually there's a reason sponsors give. They've either been through something themselves or they want to see that change. How do you see that change?

SPEAKER_01 26:33

People come out and see us, or I go to them and I talk to them about what we're doing. I have slides and testimonials of what people have been through. But generally speaking, I try and get people out and get their hands on a horse because the horses speak for themselves. I love that. It's true. Because I could sit here all day long and tell you about all the magic, but until you feel it, it's not personal.

SPEAKER_00 26:54

It's not seeing it, it's feeling it. Exactly. If people could see your interview, they would see how many times you've used your hands because it is a feeling thing. It is a feeling. It's very much a kinesthetic thing. If we're sitting back and saying, you know, I want to be Elizabeth when I grow up. I want to be able to have that masters, and I want to be able to have that horse piece, and I want to be able to do all of these things. What would you tell them to start with? Don't be Elizabeth. No.

SPEAKER_01 27:22

I think it's cool. I love where I am in my life. The first place everybody needs to start is understanding a horse and then understanding yourself or in concert of both. And once you can become self-grounded, I feel like an education in communications, an education in being a therapist, doing actual therapy work with people one-on-one, sitting on the couch on both sides so that you understand what it feels like to be on both sides, learning compassion for yourself, for your horse, and for whoever it is you're working with, and looking at the gifts that you have and figuring out how to utilize that. Because maybe you don't have a farm, maybe you don't have horses, maybe you just want to be involved somehow. There are people like myself who are looking for volunteers, people that want to be involved, that want to feel something. And I tell them to come and see if this is a place that they want to be. We have 52 volunteers. We always need more. We're very open about that. And here's the other thing: I want this to have legs beyond me. I mean, we're building a nonprofit organization because I believe in what we're doing, and everyone around me believes in what we're doing. So I need someone to come in or two or three people that I can train as best I can to understand so that I'm not the one doing all the services.

SPEAKER_00 28:37

That's hard.

SPEAKER_01 28:38

It is very hard, but it has to be a reality. I mean, I have to let go of the reins at some point. Yes, I've developed this, but it's a powerful tool and it is replicatable, I think. I've been asked by Operation Second Chance to come and be their equine therapist, which would be interesting with their horses. So we're going to entertain that and see how that goes. And it'll give me a good understanding of is it just at paradise or can I take this on the road? And uh, I don't know the answer to that yet, but we'll find out.

SPEAKER_00 29:05

So always growing. Yeah. Someone would say, if you went to be Elizabeth, take a chance, make a decision, start somewhere and keep growing. Yeah. Don't ever stop growing.

SPEAKER_01 29:15

No.

SPEAKER_00 29:15

Not such a bad place to be.

SPEAKER_01 29:17

No, it's a great place to be. And get your house in order. Get your box breathing in. Yeah, you got to get your house right because this work, it's sacred ground, and we have to respect that. Ooh, that gives you chills. I think all of our listeners just got chills.

SPEAKER_00 29:29

It's true. Making those connections, coming and talking with us, if we want to find out where to see common ground, where to participate in some of the fundraisers, where do we find you?

SPEAKER_01 29:39

Our website's common groundps, P is in Paul, S is and Sam.org. All of our events are there, and I can be reached through that through either email or cell phone. Reach out. We have a volunteer coordinator and we can get you in the fold. And if you want to donate, you can donate online. You can mail us a check, which is even better. And we greatly appreciate you. We'll put your logo on our website. We'll put you in socials if you want to be. And we appreciate every dollar.

SPEAKER_00 30:07

I love that. Thank you for taking time to visit with us and thank you, our listeners. Find some common ground and some good connections out there today. I hope the connections we've raised today stay with you as you engage your community through critters, companions, commerce, and agriculture. Join me again next week. We'll make some more connections. This program is a production of Raising Connections Media Company, hosted and produced by Rashan Mayer and edited and mixed by Robin Temple.