S2, E14: Dan Benshoff & AJ Nielsen - Volunteers of America, Utah

Homelessness in Salt Lake City gets treated like a debate, but on the street and inside shelters it’s a web of housing costs, addiction, trauma, mental health, and the gaps between systems. We sit down with AJ and Dan from Volunteers of America Utah, a 40 year nonprofit that works right at those intersections, to talk about what actually helps and what gets in the way.

We unpack how VOA Utah operates far beyond “just volunteering” through paid frontline staff, therapists, social workers, and thousands of community volunteers who power meal service, mentorship, and pro bono support. Dan shares how a single volunteer shift at the Youth Resource Center flipped his perspective and eventually pulled him into nonprofit fundraising, plus why recovery often takes more than one attempt and why that’s normal, not shameful.

Then we get real about the behind the scenes pressure: unstable government grants, changing Medicaid reimbursements, economic uncertainty, and the constant demand to do more while the need keeps rising. AJ explains why curiosity beats judgment, how small acts of service can rebuild community connection after COVID-era isolation, and what “showing up” looks like when you don’t have a perfect answer.

If you’ve ever wanted to help with homelessness, addiction recovery, or mental health services in Utah but didn’t know where to start, this is a clear path forward. Subscribe, share this with a friend in Salt Lake Valley, and leave a review so more people can find the work being done.

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Transcript

Opening And Why Homelessness Matters

SPEAKER_02 1:31

Homelessness and some of like our most rural populations. It really does take mean not only a village but like multiple villages trying to work together.

SPEAKER_03 1:39

We started out what in 1986 is a men's detoxification center for a small group of men uh needing detox services.

SPEAKER_00 1:48

A lot of people who want to volunteer, you get to bring your own group to kind of build that to your family, your friends, whoever, and you come in, you plan a meal, you prepare it.

SPEAKER_03 1:55

I started at VLA Utah at Min's Detox, and it took a couple times, and I'm a success story. We rely on mentors, professionals like you, or anybody else that wants to dedicate up to nine months to meet one-on-one with a youth in the valley that needs it.

What Volunteers Of America Utah Does

SPEAKER_02 2:22

Well, cool. Well, I'm excited because if there's one like topic in general that fascinates me about Salt Lake that's kind of had like a roller coaster effect depending on like what time frame you look at, it's homelessness and some of like our most vulnerable populations. Because if you've been in Salt Lake, you've seen kind of the development of like the Rio Grande area that was good than bad, now back to good, but kind of gets displaced. And I mean, ever since, I mean, let's call it COVID, and kind of like economic turns that have happened since there has been a little bit more public-facing. And like one thing that always frustrates me with people is when they try to like simplify the problem too much, or they'll look at Merriman and he'll be like, oh, this is your fault. And then they don't understand like how much of like this private-public connection that it takes to really build out everything that it takes to serve these people from housing to mental health to policy um and I mean law enforcement. It it really does take, I mean, not only a village, but like multiple villages trying to work together. So when heard about VOA and everything, and Volunteers of America and everything that you guys are doing, I wanted to chat more and especially hear about the work that you're doing and hear kind of what's going on in your respective realms to help, I mean, help the like I don't want to I don't like calling it a problem as much as just helping people because then it like dehumanifies that the word dehumanize, dehumanize that's the one dehumanizes them because at the end of the day, that's someone's brother, sister, uncle, grandgrandpa, grandma, son, daughter. I mean, anything that it could be under the sun. But um yeah, I'm excited to have AJ and Dan here and talk about um Volunteers of America, especially here locally in Utah. But before we do, I mean, I really do kind of want to just like kick off. I mean, what if you give me kind of like the elevator pitch of what uh Volunteers of America is, and then we can do some intros of you guys, how you got to be involved and uh go from there.

SPEAKER_03 4:15

Yeah, sounds good. Um, Volunteers of America, Utah is a nonprofit uh human services nonprofit here in Salt Lake Valley is really the area that we operate in. Even though our name says Utah, we're kind of centralized to this valley. Yeah, all of our services and programs. So um we've been around for 40 years. Um we are part of a national organization. So there's a Volunteers of America based in DC, and in probably 34 to 36 metropolitan areas across the country, um, Volunteer of America affiliates operate in those locations. So you've got one in New York City, in Southern Florida, in Los Angeles, we've got one here in Salt Lake. And each of those uh affiliates kind of they'll tailor their services to the population of that area. So in South Florida, there's a lot of elderly and veterans and things like that. So they have a lot of services that kind of cater to those individuals. Here in Salt Lake, our primary focuses are homelessness. Uh, we operate two shelters. Um, we also deal with addiction. So we have two uh addiction recovery centers and then mental health. We have several mental health facilities that uh we operate. And so we find, and it's not rocket science, but those three things kind of work together. Um, oftentimes the people that we see and that we care for are experiencing, they have an addiction. Uh, it may be causing homelessness, uh, they may have underlying homeless or uh mental health issues that also are kind of mixed in there. So we like to consider ourselves as a a group, an organization, an affiliate, whatever you want to call us, human service, you know, provider that kind of deals with all of those issues that ultimately can get people cared for, get them the treatment that they need to then become better. Um, we do a lot of band-aid type of services. You know, we provide overnight shelter when it's really cold or really hot or anywhere in between, but we also provide all the other services that go around or go with getting somebody better and out of that situation. So that's kind of who we are. We're not just volunteers. That's another thing that people oftentimes get uh confused, or or maybe they just don't they're it's in our name. Yeah, you know, it's like Volunteers in America. We get calls from people saying, Oh, we need a group of volunteers, come out and help us do this thing.

SPEAKER_02 6:57

And we're like, But that's not what we do. And they're like, Really?

SPEAKER_03 7:00

Yeah, but that's your name. Yeah, um, and we get that, but that's part of our legacy with this, with this uh organiz, you know, the national organization that that we're part of. Um, we do so we have about 360 paid employees um across all these services and programs in Utah specifically or in nationwide. Salt Lake Valley. Wow, yeah. Nationwide, you know, I I don't even know what it is when you take in all the affiliates that operate around the country, but we're about 360 paid full-time professional, you know, therapists, social workers, administration side, frontline, you know, uh people that work in our shelters and and so on and so forth. And then we also do bring in, I think it's close to 9,500 volunteers on an annual basis to help us serve meals, do donation drives, um, do lots of different volunteer um activities to help these folks kind of get better. And that can include, you know, we have volunteer lawyers that help the youth at the youth resource center, you know, deal with citations that they might have or trespassing violations that they have to deal with. It includes, you know, dental groups that come in and do pro bono dental work and hair cutters and professionals across the valley help support our mission and our effort and our programs and services. So we are a big volunteer operation and we rely on volunteers, but we're not just a volunteer group where you know we're we're doing like these this troops, these troops of people that are ready to be deployed. Like merry bands of volunteers going around, you know, pulling weeds out of parks.

SPEAKER_02 8:42

And we're not gonna show up to your neighborhood 5k and and hand out one and all of ours.

SPEAKER_03 8:47

No, we're not doing that kind of stuff, but yeah. So that's you know, that that's kind of what we do. We've been like I said, we've been doing it for a long time. We started out, we're celebrating our 40th anniversary. Wow. Um, and so for 40 we we started out what in 1986 is uh men's detoxification center for a small group of men uh needing detox services. Um, and that was our first program. And then from there, we've grown, we've added on other programs, other services. Um, we started out from that very small, humble beginning to, you know, like what we are today. And we're one of the largest um nonprofit uh human service providers here in the valley. And and so, you know, our goal is to kind of get our name out there and our awareness and build that so that people can know who we are, come in and support us. We can't do this work without, you know, the strength of the community um every day, you know, and so that's kind of what we're trying to build.

SPEAKER_02 9:55

Yeah, and I like what you're talking about, how I mean, some people will come out and say, Oh, we're giving haircuts, we're making food, like whatever you can bring to the proverbial table to help volunteer. I mean, however, you can. If you have a service I can give, great. There's people that need it. If not, then there's something that you can be doing. And and like that's one thing I hear a lot from people is there's a lot of people who want to volunteer, who want to help, who want to give back, but like sometimes even just being like, well, I don't know, like, where do I go? Because like, even I remember when I was, I think I was unemployed at the time and I was like looking for things to do to volunteer. And it was um, oh my gosh, best friends, the um animal society.

SPEAKER_01 11:26

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_02 11:26

And I was like, oh, to get involved. And like I'm going through their website, like filling out this form. I'm like, this is really hard. Like, I would think that they'd be like, just tell us you're there and we'll like reach out to you and let you help.

SPEAKER_03 11:36

Make it easy.

SPEAKER_02 11:36

Exactly. And I so I think it's it's hard sometimes for people to that do want to give back to find the right people to talk to and do that. And so, and especially like when there's large organizations that can help you help other people, especially in, I mean, so localizing the community. It's not like this kind of like larger organization. Well, it is a larger organization, but there's a smaller organization within that that's local. That like again, I like that Volunteers of America is focused on the problem that that geography is facing. It's not just like kind of this blanket, all right, here's the problem we're gonna solve, here's the playbook to do it. Yeah, go out and just I mean, start at step one and get ready to go. But instead, it's like, oh yeah, using your example of South Florida, it's like, oh, there's a lot of elderly people, there's a lot of veterans that need help. That's gonna be different than in Utah, where we have, I mean, homelessness that means we help mental health addiction, which if we were trying to help, I mean, elderly and um veterans wouldn't have the same impact, but we know our problems, we know uh the local complexities and nuance to it to help get that solved in the right way.

SPEAKER_03 12:35

Yeah, that's very good way to put it. Yeah.

Paid Staff Plus Thousands Of Volunteers

SPEAKER_02 12:38

Cool. Well, Dan, I want to go, let's get over you. I want to hear how you got involved and what made you want to join. I mean, Volunteers of America and what led out to be one of those 360 paid employees here in Salt Lake.

SPEAKER_00 12:50

Yeah, uh, thank you for asking. I I've been with VOA Utah now for about almost four years. Um, I was just wanting to move back to Salt Lake and I had been working with youth in all kinds of ways, like mentorship, teaching, and outdoor stuff, um, for quite a few years. And so I just was looking up opportunities. And the I so I started out at the youth resource center uh that's on 9th South. So that's our homeless youth shelter. Yes. That's our youth age 15 to 22 years old. Um, started there as a youth advocate, and uh just really quickly, you I a lot of it I was really intimidated by it because like kind of like you were saying earlier, there's so many different narratives around it. There's a lot of pointing fingers, there's a lot of blame. I was excited to learn more about their experiences and also just see what I could do to connect with these youth who seem to be tossed aside. And just just almost immediately, I I fell in love with the organization because of how many pieces work together to truly connect people back to each other and fill gaps that really just need to be filled. There's so many gaps to it. So I uh learned a lot about how resilient and uh fearless and also kind and uh mature these kids are because they have to be, and and learned a lot about the different reasons that they were all there. And and again, not not their fault. Uh that just a lot of them weren't set up for success. And then, you know, jumping ahead a little bit, I also just really fell in love with our volunteers because that that shelter specifically, uh, we get to have a whole group of people come in and serve the meals. So you get to bring your own group, you kind of build that, could be your family, your friends, whoever, and you come in, you plan the meal, you prepare it. It feels very much like a like a home in in that way. They're helping bring this family energy and just bring nourishing food and and and how they just easily, like without question, donate their time and their care and their resources and to see the difference that was making in in that shelter was huge. So I I started leaning into that community engagement side because I was I want to tell everyone about this. I want to help educate other people in this city about what's really going on with these youth. I want to connect with these volunteers because also, like you're saying, it's hard to know how to get involved. So I was like, I got a great opportunity. Let me let me get out there, let me start talking about it. And I just can't shut up about it because of because of all these beautiful layers and and seeing community being healed in such in such a specific way. And it is crazy how how much I didn't know about it before working there. So again, I'm like the more as Dan's saying, we need to get we need to get the word out more and more and more because it's not just helping our clients, it's not just helping those who are really striving to meet get their needs met and help them heal. It's healing the community in a way because uh you know, we we're still talking about COVID. I think after that, a lot of people just shut off. Um and isolation is one one of the uh another reason why people fall really uh fast and hard. And so watching people come in and them come back to life, I forgot how much I needed human connection and just those different kinds. So I just you know, it just filled filled me up with so much purpose and to remember what it's like to help each other and that there's no perfect way to or no wrong way to do it really and just cut ahead even further now. Being the director of communications, it's still that's still my goal. I just want to keep meeting those people. I want to keep learning more and connecting with our clients and hearing their stories, like really what's going on in your life, or how did you get here? And and then being able to advocate for them uh in helping people uh say like say it's okay it's okay that you don't fully understand, but there are ways to get involved. And if you if that doesn't work for you, it's okay to just stay out of the way while we do truly help these people.

Dan’s Path From Volunteer To Fundraising

SPEAKER_02 17:02

Yeah, because I think there's a lot of i I always feel so terrible about the individuals that are experiencing life the way that they are, because a lot of it, it's situations, especially working with the youth, that they had no control over. They either were born into it, they were brought into it by parents, uh, family, society, like whatever that might be. And unfortunately, like this is that population that gets drawn into so many, I mean, political finger pointing and like just scapegoating in so many different ways. But every time I've talked to someone who actually spends one-on-one time with people or actually gets into the weeds and really experiences the trees of and not necessarily the forest aspect, then like, oh my god, like this is life-changing because I mean, A, it gives you the sense of gratitude. You're like, I haven't given so much, and even in this consumeristic world that we live in, that we've want all of these things that can't necessarily always have. But when you realize, oh, I'm actually pretty well off, but then also like uh being able to give back to people in a way and do things for something for people that they can't do for themselves is one of the best things that you can do, um, in my opinion. And every time I've done service in that way, and like again, just like not even just because like there's different tiers to it, right? There's it's like there's always there's the good, the uh better than the best. Like, good, I mean, understand what's going on, help you, like you said, like you might not understand, you might not know, but you should get out of the way. Like, cool. I'm here to just do what's needed to be done. And there's this call, this like better, which is yep, I'll be there, I'll hand out food, I'll come make a meal, like I'll provide a service to some extent. But then there's like the best of being like, I mean, you guys to an extent of being like, we're gonna actually make this our livelihood. We want to make this part of how I use my mental faculties every day. What I think about, what I take home, what weighs on me is now going to be this, and I want to solve this bigger problem. Because if there's one thing I've learned in the last five years in America, it's e it's easier to make money than it is to solve problems. And so the people that can come in and solve actual problems, and especially even if it's on like an individual basis, like massive.

SPEAKER_00 19:04

Yeah. Yeah, what a great statement there. It's easier to make money than to to solve problems. That's that's a bummer. But uh yeah, and that's that I I like how you describe those three kind of tiers, and and I think that's also what we do is help help help people understand each avenue is important. It does take all of us. It does take like if all you can do is like give a five bucks a month, like that adds up and that goes far. If it's these organizations who we're really trying to connect with, um, who who can help build just ongoing funding, it's okay if you if you don't have the energy to volunteer or get involved, that makes sense. It's hard to be in this world today, but there are so many different avenues that it does take all of us and all of those threads to to create the community that we're all craving and to make it so everyone it belongs and feels supported. No one, no one has to be tossed aside because you don't want to learn more about them or solve the problem.

SPEAKER_02 20:02

Yeah. I mean, that's like the definition of community is being able to fill in the blanks that people can't meet themselves and be able to have this feeling of like responsibility, safety, accountability, knowing that you have an impact on it. And when when we find ourselves in these roles, especially like because Volunteers of America works in these large metropolitan areas, I mean, community starts to dissolve pretty quick when it's easy to just like not do your part and know that you're no one's gonna come after you individually. There was one time it was when I was traveling in a van. Um, I was up in Washington, and I took my dog to the dog park, and it was wild because I go into this dog park and there's like five different ball throwers hung up perfectly on the fence, a bucket of balls, bundle of sticks. And I was like, Yeah, this is community. This is community saying, I'm gonna do, I'm we're gonna collectively give so everybody has something. We know we can leave it here, and no one's gonna be like, Well, no one's gonna know if I steal it, everything, and just take it for myself.

SPEAKER_01 20:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 20:55

And because like we have this weird, weird like culture that's rising up in America of like this. Oh, if nobody sees it, then it never happened, which is insane to me, but that's a whole nother topic. Um, but yeah, no, I agree. There's and also like the amount of impact that we can have is only the what we have to give. And like I always thought that when I was growing up, like because I always wanted to get back, and I was like, Yeah, like once I have millions of dollars, I can donate and have my name on a building, and that's how people give back. But in reality, like the way I've realized I can get back the most is like my time. Like if people reach out to me, like, hey, I need help with this, and as long as they've like done enough of like the leg work where I can actually help them, like, yeah, I'm happy to sit down and help you or like do what I can. And so that's like these different tiers of we don't expect everybody to listen to this conversation that quit your job, go join Volunteers of America, and that's your new identity. But that there's even five dollars a month or five hours a month or a year, I mean it it it goes a long way.

Community Connection And Real Impact

SPEAKER_03 21:50

Absolutely. Yeah, we do have about 40 open positions, and if you do want to change your entire life, then we have opportunities. Yeah, we're not expecting people to listen to this and be like, I'm gonna go work for a nonprofit. I mean, some people do, yeah. Uh I I did. Uh AJ did, you know, a lot of people find that kind of calling and and that thing speaks to them and it's what they want to do. And we have, you know, I I can think of so many people that work at VOA Utah who, oh my gosh, they could leave and work in tech or finance or many other places and make a lot more money than they do with us. But they want to work, they want to do this work. And so it's not unique to our uh, you know, uh nonprofit. I think that probably happens at, you know, Humane Society and work happens at conservation nonprofits and the road home and odyssey house and those places too. A lot of them are a lot of us are filled with people that are mission-driven, want to do that work, um, can afford it somehow. Maybe they have a spouse that that you know is also working or something like that. But uh a lot of just fantastic people that um that are just kind of driven by helping people, you know, being part of the solution um if they can. And it's these are small ways that you can be part of it. Like AJ said, you know, volunteers, it's a great way. There's there's so many ways that people can get involved with the work that we do. Um and it can mean an hour a month, it can mean five minutes to write a check, it can mean you know, many, many hours a month with your friends volunteering and doing things. So it can also be just building an awareness of like the situations that are around us and building a level of compassion that maybe like I didn't have any compassion for the homeless uh and for people that were in these situations prior to me working here. I mean, it's been a huge 180-degree turn for me because of working here. And so, you know, coming in, volunteering, seeing what these kids go through, what the adults go through, the women are women's shelter. Um, you serve a meal in our men's detox center, and you get hit immediately with like, wow, yeah, that could be my uncle, that could be my brother, that could be um people that I know that could be me. Um It's it's uh you get a very quick uh understanding of who these folks are and many times the situations that got them there are are not because of uh you know their doing. It could be a loss of a job, uh major medical expense that was unexpected. It could be the rising housing costs and being forced out of homes. Um, it could be a youth who um is 18 and is a foster care and kind of gets put in or out of the system without anywhere to go, without any preparation of what the next step is. It could be, you know, uh a kid who's LGBT in an LDS family, not to get too specific or picky, but whose family doesn't accept them as who they are, who is now where do I go, what do I do? They all of a sudden end up on the streets. There's so many situations and places and and people that um you can connect with by seeing um the clients that we work with, and it just changes your perspective like immediately.

SPEAKER_02 25:32

Yeah, I mean, we'd love to hear your story and background of how you got involved in and yeah, similar to AJ, uh it was COVID, you know.

SPEAKER_03 25:40

Um, I found myself just wallowing in the crap that we were all wallowing in at the early part of COVID, and I just thought, I'm gonna go out and volunteer. I don't know why, it was just a bug and a thought. And so I started, I went to St. Vincent de Paul and Catholic Community Services and did some blood drives and stuff like that. And one of them was to serve at the youth resource center. And so I came in with a bunch of people that I was working with at the time, and we served a meal. And almost immediately, same thing, I was like, wow, that perspective changed and completely because I was seeing these kids who were um were there and and the staff that was there, the YAs, um the people that were working within the youth shelter were fantastic and amazing, and and um and I started going back on my own because I I started going back to do breakfasts by myself. I could figure out a way to quickly in within an hour um make a breakfast for 50 kids. And so I would come in seven o'clock in the morning, prepare, serve with a couple of the staff, and then go off to my job or something like that. And that just became kind of a routine for me. And I was just finding all kinds of enjoyment and fulfillment from it. And then the YAs at the time and the community engagement folks that were there that I had become friends with uh were like, oh, you should come work here. And uh, we've got this great fundraising job that's been open for a while. And I'm like, I don't I've never raised money, I've never worked in a nonprofit. Um, I would not be good at that. One thing led to another, and um, I became the chief development officer. I don't know why. I don't know why. You can't do this, I don't know how to do it. Sure, I'll sign here. I was very explicit. I'm like, I've never raised money because what were you doing beforehand? I was working for a design agency. My background is in graphic design, digital design, things like that. Salt Lake agency called Underbelly was working for them. That was the group that was like, hey, let's get out and volunteer. And so through them, I started volunteering and bringing a bunch of people from that agency to the we shouldn't have volunteered. Now everybody's got but I was extremely explicit. I was like, I've never raised money. Um there are other aspects of that role, like uh marketing and communications and community engagement that I had some experience with, but you know, the goal, I I'm on the hook to raise, you know, three and a half million dollars a year to help fill the financial gaps um at VOA Utah that we don't get from government grants and and Medicaid reimbursements and stuff like that. So I was like, I I don't I've never done that before. And they're like, Well, we think you could be good at it, and that was impressive. I was like, Wow, you're gonna take a big swing on me, and yeah, I'll come do this. And it's been fantastic. And that was four years ago.

SPEAKER_00 28:37

Yeah, and now he's winning an award about his fundraising.

SPEAKER_03 28:39

We don't need to get into that, but maybe we do. It's it's yeah, yeah, it it's it's not a big deal. And he's humble.

SPEAKER_02 28:46

Um, but it's just like you know so it turns out you could do it even if you've never done it before.

SPEAKER_03 28:52

Yeah, and it's the funny thing is is that I've I've kind of had to raise money for different like um things that I've done before, small things. But if you really feel connected to something like I do about these people and this work, um, it becomes easy. Yeah. Like I have no problem asking for people for money for this, right? Like otherwise, I do. Like, I hate asking people for money, I hate being asked for money. Um, but when you know, when the mission is there and you see the results of the work that's being done, and the results of what money can do in people's lives through us, to be frank, um it's easy. Like I can add and I can craft the story that that that I think resonates with a lot of people to part with their money to support what we do. So um, and then you pull in things from kind of the for-profit world, like where I used to work. Um, there are things like the nonprofit world is is pretty traditional. It's the it hasn't changed for years in terms of how people run nonprofits. And when you bring people in from the outside, um, you bring in new ideas and and different ways of doing things. And and so I'm not gonna say it's easy by any stretch of the imagination, but you can um make an impact um in terms of getting more people to come out and volunteer and getting our message and our story out there and bringing in money and things like that when you have those different ideas from the outside, so to speak. So um it's been wonderfully fulfilling. It's been wildly hard and difficult. Like one of the things that I will say for people that do come work at a place like this from the outside, so to speak, is that you see and you hear and you deal with stuff that's very heavy on a daily basis, like like really heavy stuff. The benefit is that you see, you know, the good that comes out of you. We have wonderful stories that we tell all day long about people that get an apartment through one of our case managers, or who got reunified with a family member and moved in with them when they were homeless, or uh got clean after five times of coming to our detox center, we have stories like that all over the place. But there is a side of it where heavy, heavy, heavy stuff, you know, happens. And so to be able to kind of separate that and um not separate it, but kind of understand it and deal with it and and um and manage it while working is it's a challenge. It's hard. It's hard work.

SPEAKER_02 31:42

Well, I'd love to hear some of those stories because again, it's like it's one of those things that if you only see the bad sides, like it weighs on you quickly, and it's like this burden that kind of almost like can't be unburdened. Yeah. But would love to hear some of like the the the positive stories, positive outcomes that have impacted you guys that really make you want to get up in the morning and keep doing your job.

SPEAKER_00 32:01

Yeah. I I kind of want to add on to please that that's often what these clients share with us when they've reached a really healthy checkpoint, or you know, they they finally got to this place that they've been fighting for, is they they express that we didn't look away. We didn't look away when it got hard, that we were there every single time, like no matter how many times it took, because that's how that's how it works. You know, you're so the these folks are so used to throwing themselves away because they were thrown away, and there's there's just so many complex layers to it, which is why we work really strongly in the in mental health. But it it's so touching to hear like that it's worth sitting with them when it sucks, when it's ugly, and and still they feel like they they can trust us because we give them that space to be a mess and understand how to be put back together and how to receive those tools. So a lot of it like they they wouldn't have that success if they didn't have the safe space and the safe people that say I'm not afraid, like I'm not afraid of of your journey and it's not your fault. It's okay. Like when if you need to go and come back, that's fine. I think that's a that's a huge that's a huge piece.

SPEAKER_02 33:22

Yeah, they usually don't have someone that will sit with them when it's bad.

SPEAKER_00 33:25

Right.

Success Stories And Not Looking Away

SPEAKER_03 33:25

Yeah, there's a a guy. Um I we're gonna do a short piece on him, so I think he's okay with us sharing the story. But the front climbing gym is a wonderful supporter of ours. Um, their members, both through, you know, donations and also through volunteering at our at our locations, are they just support us in a very, very awesome way. And so we go and table at their climbing gym. You know, they have movie nights and they have music nights and different activities where they bring in nonprofits like us to table at their climbing gym, and their staff and their members kind of come by and talk to us and um spin a wheel and get a you know, pair of sunglasses or something like learn more about who we are. And uh this guy came up to us um while we were tabling and he was like, Hey, um, I just want to let you know, I went through your detox program. Um, and then he's like, I went through it like a couple times, and it took a couple of times to stick, but that was X number of years ago, and here I am, and I'm you know, I'm climbing and I've got a job and I've got a you know a life and reconnection with family and you know, this wonderful, stable life. And he came up to us and was like, You guys were great. It was because of you that I overcame this addiction, or that I learned ways to kind of deal with this addiction, and you were that first step. You know, what we provided our detox center is that first very first step when somebody says, Okay, I gotta get clean. And then we give them a 14-day program where they come in, they stay, we hope they stay for 14 days. Um, and then we set them up for the next stages beyond the detox. So when they get into recovery and they have to deal with all the things they have to deal with, um that's what we do during those four days, 14 days aside from getting them clean initially, it's to set them up so that they can make it sustainable. And he's like, I started at VOA Utah at Men's Detox, and it took a couple times, and um, I'm a success story. And we were like, wow, that like hearing that kind of stuff when you don't expect it is uh makes it all worthwhile, makes it all worthwhile, and those kind of things happen, you know, relatively freak frequently because we in a calendar year we deal with or we treat and care for close to 10,000 people a year. So there are people out there in the community that because of VOA Utah and the Road Home and Odyssey House and all these other nonprofits in our our valley, they've gotten better and they've gotten that stability and they've got that sustainability to live full lives because of the work that these nonprofits are doing. So there's a balance. You hear a lot of heavy stuff, but then you get those moments like that where it's just like, wow.

SPEAKER_02 36:30

I like to think it's like a zero or hopefully a little positive, like swing skews more towards a positive than a negative, but like you have to hold and sit with all of these heavy, hard things that like people usually hear about in documentaries and in like I mean, the TikTok corners of TikTok and social media, but you're like, yeah, that's literally a normal day for me of hearing that story, and like, but like also, I mean, there's gonna be like extent of getting desensitized to it because you hear it so much and it's not like it's as fresh as it was, but on the other side of it, you have these positive outcomes. You see that person who it wasn't their first time in detox, second third, fourth, fifth, or then sixth. And the next thing you know, you see them and they're like, oh, by the way, like I apologize, my friends were other reconnect with them, we're with my family. I have a job, like I have a lot, like, and like there's that whole I mean you talk to people in those situations, and there's this like hopelessness in their eyes of like, yeah, like life's over, I just kind of exist, and no one looks at me like I'm a human, everybody ignores me. I've had a real conversation with a human and who knows how long. And then all of a sudden you like there's this like flip, this flip that the switch that flips in their head where it goes from like this like despair to like hope, and then it's all of a sudden like I actually have a life now, and to be able to experience that. I mean, that's why people, I mean, even um one of my friends I am, she's a therapist that helps if I go to trip like almost people with a lot of mental issues. Like, it's like, you know, you could like not have to deal with the things you deal with and go work like anywhere else, yeah, anywhere else. Yeah, she's like, no, I love this. Like, I actually get to help people that otherwise like if I don't do it, no one will.

SPEAKER_01 38:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 38:12

And to be able to see that extreme gratitude and see, like, again, like that individual impact on someone's life, where I mean, like, there's so few things where you get to have that feedback circle so tight. Well, like it's not feedback circle so tight in this extent, but so intimate. Because I mean, it's one thing to work at, let's use restaurant as an example. You can be like, Oh, I want this food. Here's the food. Hey, this food is really good. I will be back. Like, that's great. You get like the immediate feedback, but then you have this strong feedback that you eventually get to see during it all of, oh my gosh, I see where you came from and where you're going. Wish you the best. Let's go find another one.

SPEAKER_03 38:46

Yeah, it's it's kind of crazy. It's like AJ was saying, you know, just giving people the space to to be seen and to be able to talk about the things that they're going through and why by trained professionals is I mean, it's really powerful. And it's it's clearly the thing that we provide. Um, we get really fantastic young therapists through the U and Westminster and other college programs that intern with us, and then many of them come in to become, you know, it's like their first job as a therapist or a social worker. And so, and they're fantastic, they're awesome. They're like real ready to go, and and they want to do this work. They're getting hit with like, gosh, you could go work for a private price practice anywhere, make twice or three times as much. Come do this work. You're not gonna get screamed at, you're not, you're not gonna have to like do all kind of the the administrative work that you that you have to do in that role. Uh, it's very, you know, when it's hard to pay your student loan back and your your rent and uh the cost of living that we experience here in Salt Lake Valley, that's a hard thing to say no to. Um, but we get a lot of them to stay because those opportunities that they have to work with these people where you see these really powerful transfer transformations are abundant. I mean, it's that that opportunity is uh is really important for for a lot of the people that do the work, and we're grateful for them to be like we don't exist without uh those trained professionals doing that type of work.

SPEAKER_02 40:25

So we'd love to hear a little bit about because I know a lot of the landscape for nonprofits in general, especially like fundle uh fundle, um federal and local funding has just changed a lot in the last few years. I mean, talk to me a little bit about uh kind of the challenges we're facing. I mean, how people can help um in general, whether that's yeah, time, money, et cetera.

SPEAKER_03 40:46

Yeah, what today's Thursday? Yes. It's way different than it probably was yesterday. Just the the peaks and the valleys that we go through in terms of funding and the government is crazy. Especially in this administration, not a big shocker. I we've been hearing a lot of things for the last year and a half about SNAP benefits being pulled about back, Medicaid reimbursements changing, uh grants that were promised being pulled back. We've experienced all those things at VOA Utah, as has most every nonprofit in this valley, probably. And so the last year and a half has been rough, to say the least. And we don't know what we need in nonprofit world is stability. And like we get a grant.

SPEAKER_02 41:30

And you have like, okay, we just got a grant, we got funding. Yeah, we're gonna make plans. Oh, and it's gone. Now we have to like roll it back and try to make decisions, right?

Funding Whiplash And Why Stability Matters

SPEAKER_03 41:37

And so the we need stability, and it's anything but that these days. So a lot of stuff will get pulled back and then come back to us after a lawsuit or you know, cooler heads prevail or something like that. So we have funding issues with the federal government that just go up and down and up and down, and we're trying to deal with those as best we can every day. Um, so our primarily we're supported probably 70% by government uh uh funding, and that could be Medicaid reimbursements or grants that we receive to operate, you know, the programs that we operate. And so um about 25% to 30% of what we need to fundraise for is to fill in all the gaps between that funding from the federal government. So we ask corporations, found the big family foundations, the small family foundations around the valley, you know, the millers and the huntsman's and the Eccles and all those folks. And then private individuals make up a pretty big part of that$3 million to$3.5 million that we need to raise annually to fill in all those gaps. And so it's a mix primarily of government, but um also through private individual donations, and so things affect it all over the place. Like I said, um the you know, um Medicaid changes to Medicaid could affect how we get reimbursed for people that we care for that don't have insurance. Most of the people that we probably 90% of the clients that we care for are have no income, have very little income, and have no insurance to pay for these things. So we rely on Medicaid and those reimbursements are changing. Uh, we've had government grants that have been promised that were all of a sudden pulled back. These are government grants that could have like three or four year commitments got stopped. And so those are the kinds of the things on the government side that we're dealing with that we have to rely on private individual donors to kind of cover. And so, but then when you go to the government side, it's like, how's the stock market doing? Uh, how's economic sentiment doing? Like a lot of people tend to pull back their giving, charitable giving, when economic sentiment goes down. You know what I mean? If there are fears of a tough economy out there, people tend to give less. If corporations and foundations see a dip in the stock market, they'll pull back their giving as well. Yeah, and all of those things are happening. So we're in uh I've been here for four years now. It's never been like you're always dealing with something on the funding side. And um, but the last year and a half has been particularly rough just because of the economy, fears of the economy, the stock market going up and then coming down, and then government pullbacks and changes to government funding. So, did I answer your question? I mean, it's sound like a lot of challenges, yeah. It's challenging, it's chaotic, it's it's up and down and back and forth. Just on the local government side, um, things are always changing. You know, you've got things that kind of pop up. Um, you could have council members or things that happen at the legislature side that changes our our whole pathway, you know what it's like this whole gov or uh uh homeless campus that's going in or that's we're talking about putting in out by the airport could change dramatically what we do and how we do it for good ways or bad ways. We just don't know.

SPEAKER_02 45:26

Yeah, it's like so do you feel like you're involved adequately in those conversations, or is it conversations that you have to wait for them to have and then you get to be brought in after the fact?

SPEAKER_03 45:38

I mean, we have people at the table speaking on our behalf for sure, and not just for us, but for the other uh service providers like us. But many times we're at the mercy of what legislature does or uh lawmakers do, and so in many cases we're not at the table, and we have to react to what's being presented to us, if that makes sense. So we would like more of a voice, we would like more of a say. We stand up and say, Hey, we've been doing this work. It's easy to look at the work that we've done, see homeless people out on the street, and be like, Okay, you guys aren't doing a good job. Like they're Still homeless people out here. You service providers aren't doing what you should be doing. The fact is that homelessness is growing. Um, we can, by our point-in-time counts that we do every winter, we know that homelessness is growing. So there are more people on the streets, there are more people that are needing these services. Um, and we're expanding our services every year. We've got new programs coming online to help with the problem, but we still get a lot of heat saying you guys aren't doing good enough. You're not solving this problem. We need to do these other things or change everything up or whatever it might be. And so those pendulums can swing dramatically, like from month to month, year to year, uh, you know, administration to administration. The pendulum is always like swinging way really far one way or really far the other way. And we're kind of here doing our best to manage it and deal with it and and try to get people to kind of be in the middle. Like we don't need to be at the extremes on other end. Let's meet in the middle and then all start, you know, putting in our efforts to kind of pull for the same thing. Right now, it feels like there's a lot of groups and organizations and people that are kind of pulling in different directions. But if we can all kind of meet in the middle and work together, which is, you know, sounds very naive.

SPEAKER_02 47:52

I know it sounds like a crazy thing to ask for in the world. Right, but like it's just like whatever, like I've never I don't think I've had a conversation with a single person who's like, I really love how just radical and like again, like ups and downs, lefts and rights, and just like these hard turns that make, I mean, running a nonprofit and the predictability of it impossible because you don't even know what you're gonna wake up to during a month, year from now. Yeah. Um, but also to like to provide that consistency because like, I mean, us as I mean to general American citizen, like we just want to be able to not wake up to another breaking news story or hear of funny going away or like taking away from things that impact our communities in a good way.

SPEAKER_03 48:30

Yeah, yeah. And it's it just doesn't feel like it sh it needs to be this hard. Um, but you know, we are gonna be here. Like VOA, Utah isn't going anywhere. We're we're here, we're expanding, we're growing to meet the need. We don't want to have these jobs, like in an ideal world, Volunteers America, Utah. We are a merry band of volunteers that go out and help the elderly move and you know, cleaning up parks and stuff like that. That's what we should be.

SPEAKER_02 49:01

Um, I mean, what a great thing to have one day be like, hey guys, you're fired because there's everybody is doing great.

SPEAKER_03 49:07

Right. We don't have this issue anymore. The road home, they work themselves out of a out of a job. Uh, you know, that's our goal is to get to a point of where we're not needed anymore. But as long as we are, we will be here. Yeah, and we'll keep doing this work, we'll keep asking for community support, um, and we'll work with whoever's in charge to to do what we can to help folks get better, yeah, ultimately.

SPEAKER_02 49:35

Well, I want to kick it over and hear a little more about what the community can help and what's I mean, from the director of communications point of view, I mean, what would you want the community you know, understand of how they can support the mission, the cause, and and get involved?

Policy Swings And Public Misunderstandings

SPEAKER_00 49:50

Yeah, it's thank you for asking that as well. I it's interesting. I always love listening to Dan's world and Dan's perspective and like from where he's come from and his journey and understanding it, and now like the people he speaks to and what he's responsible for on the on this big scale. And me having, you know, come from a very different place in life, also come from like an adverse childhood and and more of a a struggle and to work through and with the community to kind of get to this point where I've I really have this amazing uh perspective. Like I get to see everyone that's involved. And so yeah, like it's crazy how the most extreme perspectives are also the loudest, right? They're the they're the they're the biggest voices need to be the most heard, and you know, and they are, and that makes sense. The political this, you know, corporations that. But what I like, what's such a privilege to me, and a very important reminder because it's so easy to get wrapped up in the that extreme. Like, oh man, everything is so uncertain. Like, we are like what are we gonna do about this when things are getting worse? How are we supposed to house all these clients when like there's still just not even affordable housing and no one's talking about that either? Like the it's it's always gonna be a tight and tense conversation because uh in in in certain areas. So when we're talking about community and what keep really keeps me in this work is way more good and way more positive things are still happening, regardless of what you're seeing or experiencing, or or the narrative that you're choosing to attach to, if that makes sense. So I always like I I like to go into any circumstance or who I'm talking to about our work and and really just say thank you for making time to have a conversation and be curious. Like be curious to prove yourself right or wrong to whatever perspective you have to these topics, why you may or may not want to get involved, why you think we may or may not be doing a good or a bad job. Like be curious enough to show up and uh prove yourself right or be willing to be wrong as well. And there's just I think that curiosity and really kind of getting rid of your ego for a minute. Like it's really hard to do that. I think that though like it's and it's hard for me to describe because the you know, again, I love hearing the the really intense, important conversations that Dan has to have, as well as Kathy Bray, our president and CEO. She's one of the most incredible people I've ever met. She's been doing this for a long time, and she shows up time and time and time again to really fight for these things and to really go to you know the hill and and really advocate. And she trusts all of us to kind of go into the community and have equal conversations. Some of the most powerful turnarounds I've ever seen is in the kitchen at the youth resource center, working with volunteers. I'd have people come in there wanting to fight. You know, they'd come in and say, Oh, I'm just here with my church group, but like, you know, and they would say things that are like, I just don't understand what like why don't they just get a job? Why, why, why this? You know, this doesn't make sense, so what are you doing? And I think the other thing is in these moments, if there's any intense reaction or way someone's speaking about it, to me that's evidence that they care. You care enough to be mad about this, you care enough to be frustrated by it. Let's talk about where else you can put that um to to make a real impact, whether it's with us or not. Let's talk about, you know, why you're feeling that intensely. And a lot of it is it's hard to see other people struggle and to not have that answer. So you're gonna, you know, I I still get that way. Oh, how can I hurry and solve this problem because I'm uncomfortable? It's it's it's about letting other people who are doing the work uh and can have the capacity to do it slowly and understand and trust that they can do it. So you don't again, don't fight it. Anyway, the turnarounds in that kitchen were just incredible, where you you start to tell the story a little bit. You tell them a few uh ways as to why that person found themselves on drugs because they had stomach cancer and they had nowhere to live and no connections to doctor or healthcare resources. So they have to figure out some way to not freeze to death or stay alive or you know, mute the pain of stomach cancer. And you it's you see, like, and I've been this way myself where I go, holy shit, like that's like of course, like it makes sense that there's just so much more that I can't even speak to, so I'm gonna stop speaking to that. I'm rather gonna be curious and learn about it. And I'm not the only one having these conversations. Our volunteers are so great at this as well, because they'll keep showing up, they'll go out back into the community and say, Hey, you'll never believe like what incredible time I had serving at Men's Detalk Center. Like, those guys are so polite, they're so much fun, like they really made me laugh, and I'm really excited to go back. Come, you should come with me.

SPEAKER_02 55:13

So next thing you know, you're going and serving breakfast every morning before work.

SPEAKER_00 55:17

Yeah, yeah. He'll see, yeah, we still serve breakfast because like it's just that the best way to ground yourself and just be humans together again. Um, one of my favorite things we we do every year is we throw a prom at the youth resource center as well. And that's very that's all volunteer built and funded and organized, and we just get to work with them to like they bring in suits and dresses. It's the whole spiel. We'll be having a video come out about it shortly, but it's it's one of those same examples of like uh just showing up goes so far in a person's healing journey to to rem to remind them that they are included, that they are seen and that they are capable to just help them feel like a normal person again is huge. So, you know, there's there's any way to give, any way to get involved. I just I want I want people to get excited about their curiosity and their discomfort. When you're noticing someone in the street and like you don't know what to do about it, follow that curiosity. Learn something new about it, go anywhere. Look, it doesn't have to be with VOA Utah, go to Road Home, go online, figure it out. But we absolutely have we'll we'll talk about it all day. Come volunteer with us, we'll we'll tell you more about the stories, we'll tell you more about how you can contribute in a way that aligns with you as well. Yeah, you don't have to save the world either. We're doing it all together.

SPEAKER_02 56:47

Totally. It's a collaborative effort. No one's gonna do it alone. It's kind of like when I started at the beginning, like it's that mentality of like I always like whenever I hear the saying, like I call the just, like if you if they would just, or if someone could just, it's usually when I like there's a trigger in my brain that goes off like, oh, someone doesn't know enough about something. Because like if if someone, if one individual person is like, well, if they would just, it's like, well, it's probably not that complicated, or they would have just done it already, or we would have just figured it out. Like a lot of these things aren't as simple as they can be. And it does take a village, it does take a community, it does take a you mean a large effort, and a lot of the time it takes people volunteering their time and volunteering their I mean careers and and taking a pay cut of what they could be getting in order to really do make an impact. And so I'm curious of I mean, it's been 40 years of VOA in Utah. I mean, talk to me like you guys have already done amazing things and have things on uh that we talked about, but talk to me about what the next um little bit looks like and what we're working on and and the impact that those will have.

SPEAKER_03 57:47

Yeah, so it's again, we're we're trying to to grow our services uh and our programs in a smart way to serve as many people as we can in those three areas that we have expertise in. So homelessness, mental health, and uh detoxification for people that have very little to no money. And so we've recently opened up Recovery on Redwood, which is a new building on Redwood Road, and that it was an expansion of our detox services. So we went from like 85 beds to over a hundred and like 130, 140 beds. So we've added more detox beds for folks that need detoxification. This is men and also women who can bring their children up to age 10, which is unique. A big barrier for women for detoxification is what do I do with my kids? I don't want to give them to an abusive spouse or or who knows where. I can't give up my kids. So they can bring them with them as they go through detoxification, which is wonderful. Um, we've expanded our both of our bed counts at our women's shelter. So the Gerald Dean E. Keene Women's Resource Center here downtown was built for 200 beds. We see 250 now because of you know accommodations that we've had through the city and fire codes and all that kind of stuff that I won't get into, but we serve 250 women a night there now. And then at the youth shelter, that was built for in 2016 for 30 beds, and we've got conditional use permits and plans to increase that to 50. And so we're expanding those services. We also opened up one of the big needs in the valley is really acute mental health uh needs. These are folks that don't operate well in a shelter, but they have really deep and serious mental health issues. And so they need more specialized care, they need probably more medication involved with their care, they need 24-7 supervision type of stuff. And so we've opened up Bellington House, which is a 16-bed residential um mental health uh home, essentially, for women. And this actually Bellington House is for men, but for people that have really deep mental health needs. And so, and then in the summer, we're gonna be opening up another subacute location up in Murray that's also uh folks that just have those, you know, these are psychosis and and things that really need a very, very high level of care. That's gonna be a house for 20 people that can get you know care for up to 60 days. And so it's a way to to not immediately take people to a jail cell or to a hospital and say, hey, you guys deal with it. That's very expensive, number one. Yeah, and number two, they're not getting the specialized care and the treatment that they need to get better or to stabilize.

AJ On Curiosity Discomfort And Compassion

SPEAKER_02 1:00:55

Yeah, something that uh like the Huntsman families didn't um open up that um facility as well. And like that was one thing because I had Lady Huntsman on, she's running for local office, and just like realizing that like people instantly just want to be like, No, no, no, go take care of this. But it's like, hey, we're not trained to like take care of this situation because we're not just gonna throw them in a jail because like again, that's not what like this acute mental health need needs. Temporary, but then you can't go take them to a hospital because again, like super expensive, not what they're necessarily there for or trained to do. And so there's like this void that we've needed, but now it's it's interesting and honestly amazing to see that that need is being filled because that's usually what needs being is needed the most. Like, there's a podcast I listened to. This is a couple years ago now, Malcolm Gladwell, where he talks about homelessness and mental health, and like it's so much of like a 90-10 issue where like 90% of people are like, hey, I want help, I want to get out of this, I want like if I can just help like get a job, help me get a place to live, like give me some like help, yeah, and I can usually try to get the next step there. Like, get me in the right motion, I can do it. And then there's the 10%, which is these acute mental health people where it's like, hey, they do need 24-7 care, they do need very intent, uh, very intense support to get there, and they can, but it just takes a little bit more of this specific type of help that hasn't existed even in the near term.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:20

Absolutely right, absolutely right. And the I'm glad you brought up the Huntsman mental health uh facility that was recently opened. They fill a very, very needed, you know, role within our community to help people that need that type of help. Um their stays there are shorter than what we're providing at each of our two places. And so, so not to say that one isn't needed in these cases. Yeah, yeah. Different, like you just said, there are different people at different levels that need care. And so, you know, we have shelters, we have shelter beds, we have uh resources. I wouldn't say enough, but for folks who do fall off and need a help, a step back up. Yeah, you know, they need um they may not have mental health issues or addictions, but they need, you know, they had that medical bill or they had that loss of a job or something like that. And they need a place to stay. We provide them with shelter, they get back on their feet and they're up and they're going. But for those groups of folks that need deeper care, those are the kind of facilities that we're opening up more of and we're expanding our beds for because those are the folks, honestly, that are the most costly. They're the ones that are creating probably that 80% of the of the arrests in the community and things like that. And those are the folks that are winding up in a jail temporarily or in a hospital bed temporarily. Instead of doing that, we're creating these beds and providing these programs for those folks to go to. And so that's the area I think in the next 40 years to answer your question of where our expansion is. It's also detoxification and mental health. Um, you can treat, you can apply the band-aid, um, or you can get into the weeds and help folks get better. And that takes more time. That takes mental health, you know, the therapists, the social work, the programs, and the services to help reduce the homelessness that's caused by that. And so those are the areas that we're expanding into and we're growing. Unfortunately, we have to. We really like to not have to, but as long as the need is there, we'll be there to step up. And that's where we're asking folks from the outside to donate. Like, I'll be frank, you ask for ways that people can help. Donate money. Um, donate money monthly. A lot of if you listen to KUER and KEXP, they always talk about monthly donors and how valuable they are. They provide a level of uh support that we can count on. We love one-time donors at the end of the year when somebody needs has a tax write-off or something like that. Fantastic. But we also love that sustainable kind of donation pattern that we can count on. And so donating money, whether it's once or monthly, is fantastic. Corporate giving within our community, we feel could increase. Um, corporate gate, we have a lot of great, fantastic corporate partners, but corporate giving can give at a level that's frankly higher than an individual. You know, my$100 donation is fantastic, but a corporation who has pretty good profits because they're in, you know, personal injury or they're in uh energy or tech or something like that, that bulk of money that can be offered to a nonprofit like us is huge. And we feel like within our community here that seems to be doing quite well, like you know, Salt Lake is bustling, it's you know, we've got all these apartments that are popping up, and and um we feel like corporations in the in the valley that are profitable could help you know be part of that communal effort to to help these folks that need it. Um and so giving money, donating time, um, volunteering, come to our website voaut.org. You can see many, many ways to give um time. And so the biggest, most popular way is meal service, which we we produce, I think 450,000 meals a year through our four uh industrial-sized kitchens that serve you know our homeless people, our detox clients, and our um mental health clients. We produce a lot of meals, and most of those are supported by volunteers. You don't always have to make a meal. Um, sometimes the meals are prepared depending on what kitchen you come to, and you plate and you serve, but you get an interaction with the clients, whether you're at the shelter or the detox center, you see them, you can talk to them, they ask you a question, they'll ask you, is there, you know, how is this thing made? Is it spicy? Is it not? You can interact with them as they come down the line and you fill up a plate and you hand it to them, and you get immediate feel-good vibes, you know. You're like, I'm doing something good today with my friends or my family right next to me. Um, and it's a wonderful kind of you're providing benefit, you're getting a bit big benefit back. So, meal service and professional services, we have a big mentorship program through our youth resource center. Um, we do prevention work. So, before, you know, we work with um community groups and and uh school districts throughout the valley to help find youth before they get to the homeless shelter. So these these are kids that are at risk of becoming homeless. And we can get in touch with them and provide mentorship, one on one mentorship. We can provide other prevention um classes and groups and things like that so that kids don't ever get to our shelter. And that's another big program and service that we provide that comes out of the Youth Resource Center. But we rely on mentors, professionals like you, or anybody else that wants to dedicate up to nine months to meet one-on-one with a youth in the valley that needs it. And we've got talk about good stories. Like we've got incredible stories of youth who have benefited from that, who have gone on to go to college and have gone on to the trade schools and things like that because of these mentorship partnerships that we've helped to set up. So yeah, I mean, it it's really endless how people can get involved. Um calling your legislature uh or legislator to vote in certain ways is powerful. Um, signing petitions, going to rallies, doing all these kinds of things seem small, um, but they are actually powerful. And it shows others that I feel important or I feel like this is important to me and to all of us.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:23

So yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:24

Yeah. No, it there's a lot to be done, and there's a lot of help that's needed to get there because it is a communal effort, it's not on the backs of one person, one organization, one anything. And I mean, ideally, one day VOA doesn't exist because it's taken care of, and we don't have to rely on these services because people are are doing well and the support, like the community is already there. And I like we were talking about like the preventative side of things of being able to identify um kids that are about to become homeless or families at will, because we live in a reactive world in a lot of these things, and the more that we can preventatively get there, then we don't have to have as much of like that impact and and focus on other things instead of more. Because again, like you talked about, it's a problem that's rising, and that's why people see it so much more. It's not like the things that we're doing are failing, it's just it's rising and they're because there's bandwidth of what we could do to fight it already.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:16

Yeah, there's a bigger need. The income gap is just, I mean, you can point to that. You know, there's a lot, there are more people getting wealthy, and a lot more people that are falling off the the other end of it. And so um, it's not that that any of the resource groups out there aren't doing their jobs, it's that there's a bigger need, you know. And so more of a community effort, I think, is is needed to to help these folks.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:48

Well, before we wrap up, want to ask uh the two questions I always ask everybody at the end of each episode. Uh, number one, if you guys could have someone on the Small Lake City podcast and hear more about their story or what they're up to, who would you want to hear from?

Growth Plans For Detox And Mental Health

SPEAKER_03 1:11:03

That's a great question. I mean, I can think of two people. There both are several people, and there are clients that have like Megan Martinez uh came through our youth shelter, uh, foster care kid, 18. Um foster care ended and she wasn't set up to succeed, came to our shelter, um, and ultimately now runs a nonprofit for foster care kids to connect them with services uh so that they don't experience what she experienced. Fantastic story, amazing, awesome person, went on to college and got a degree and does all these wonderful things, um, but ultimately benefited from the youth resource center. Um, Jacob, who was that gentleman that I talked to about, um, climber who went through our detox program, great story, awesome person. Um, Todd Irving, guy that works for us who went through detox, um, now works for us, is another wonderful story of a guy who just got hit, hit, hit in succession when he was young, turned to alcohol, um, got addicted, came through our program, Detox Center, and now works for us and provides um um peer support for other men that are going through detoxification. Those are three that I can think of.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:36

No, are you specifically asking from our our space and communities? Or beyond it. Yeah, that's great. Yeah, Megan Martinez is very inspiring. She's she's taught us all a lot, is on that youth action board. She's giving that that's such a beautiful theme as well. That we're they're they're always giving back. Those who are healing and have come from those hard places, they know what it's like, and they it always comes back around. And it's just we're always nourishing each other. But um, I don't know. I would be really curious to hear from anyone that like might feel that trigger of this conversation. Or I want to hear from those lead anyone in leadership or in like political power that does kind of point the finger in a in a in a misdirected way. Yeah, where like that saying that nothing's being done about homelessness, or they're the ones who feel like they have a lot to say, but I haven't really seen a lot of their their community action. Yeah, haven't really heard a lot about how what they've done to learn more about these populations and those who are underserved. So I'd love to hear like why they think that way, or maybe if they'd be willing to have a new idea or be have a different conversation.

How To Help With Time Money Mentorship

SPEAKER_03 1:13:40

And and yeah, I just would I would love to hear more about that because I don't I think Representative Clancy, he's uh the guy that took over for Wayne Niederhaushauser. Um homeless, I don't know the title. Um government appointed by Mayor Mindenhall or the governor, possibly, but he's the new uh Wayne Niederhauser. And honestly, when we all saw his profile, we were like, oh no. Uh Utah Valley, former police officer, legislator, 28 years old, white guy, we were like, this guy isn't gonna understand. In a very short time, and you know, through the very short amount of time that he's been here, we're all like, oh, we're we may be wrong there. He really feels like somebody who understands, yeah, like from our perspective, um, you know, some of the issues and some of the pendulum swings that are happening, and maybe we can kind of be more centrist and be more in the middle, yeah, and not be so wildly swinging back and forth. And so, you know, I'm embarrassed to say that I profiled the guy and I was like, oh geez. This is not been there before. Wayne Wayne was great. Um, Wayne was really an advocate of ours, and he he he knew all of the issues and the complexities and the things that have happened on a good side and a bad side in the past, and is connected with the governor and the mayors and all that kind of stuff, politically connected. Um and when he retired and we heard of this new guy, uh, like again, we profiled, or I profiled, and I was like, not gonna be good. And I've been proven wrong. Like so far, he seems like a really good, really thoughtful, really well-meaning person. Yes, and I'm like, yes, grateful for it. Uh, hopefully it continues. But it's a guy that I think would be really interesting to hear from. I just sat through a uh who was it? It was the mayor Mindenhall, and her council did a online um state of homelessness just this week and watched them by Zoom. And he spoke really eloquently, really well, really passionately about resource centers and and groups like us and Road Home and other places that are doing the work, but also speaking intelligently about the possibility of what a campus could be if done right. Um, and so was just a really thoughtful person. And I was like, gosh, I would like to hear more about him or from him about what he thinks of this because he's in a position of where he can make stuff happen or not happen or change things and do all that kind of stuff. So he's got the ears of all of the mighty powerful people around here. So that would be good. Other people are people on foundations, the Millers. Yeah, always love to hear from them. Uh Julie Ramos, who kind of sits, really good supporter of ours, but is uh at the Miller Foundation and does a lot of philanthropy work. Don Sterling, also there. The Huntsman's uh David and Christine Huntsman, very passionate supporters and philanthropists that sit at the top of like a really wealthy kind of organization. Those are folks that I really like to hear from in terms of what they feel like, um, how things are going well, how things are not going well, how the community can jump in, what they're doing, stuff like that. Yeah, people who've involved some other people.

SPEAKER_02 1:17:20

Yeah, and then secondly, uh, if people want to get involved, want to volunteer, want to donate, what's the best place to find information?

SPEAKER_00 1:17:28

VOAUT.org. Absolutely. There we've got any link, any click there, you can find out how to volunteer, the different opportunities we have. There's so many different kinds of ways to give financially as well. We make it pretty easy. Um info at voaut.org. Happy to answer any questions or help guide guide those online situations.

SPEAKER_03 1:17:52

Yeah, we're also our Instagram channel um is V O A U T, isn't it? Yeah, at V O A U T. Um and we put up stories of like uh volunteers that are interesting and cool and fun and um really try to support or shout out our volunteers and the people that come in and and do work for us. Um that's really what we use that channel for, but also to communicate to the community about things that we're doing and and how people can help and events that we might have coming up and stuff like that. So, Instagram website, um you can get on our newsletter, which you can also find through the website. Those are good ways to connect with us.

SPEAKER_02 1:18:34

Go find some information, great, go volunteer, great, go donate, great. If you need a job, great, we'll hire you, all sorts of things. AJ, this has been great. Thank you so much for coming on. Thanks. Thanks for all the work that you guys do. It's making an impact on the community and in like such an intimate way. So thanks for thanks for all that you do for it's all I can do, great.

Who Should Speak Next And Where To Find VOA

SPEAKER_00 1:18:54

Yeah, thanks for it. Yeah, these conversations are part of that work, so you're you're helping with that as well and connecting the information counting people. So thanks for having us.

SPEAKER_03 1:19:02

Least I can do.