Episode 23: Facilities with Breck Ellison and Danita McCartney

• Conversations on a Bench
• KARM's Conversations on a Bench
• CityGate DC Forum 2026
• Emmy Award Winning Documentary
• Our New Documentary 2026
• Take a Tour of KARM
• Programs Overview at KARM
  • Click “What We Do” then click each program

Sticky Notes:

• Do something kind for someone experiencing homelessness today! Donate financially, collect hygiene products, volunteer, etc.

Interested in learning more about us? Please visit karm.org or reach out to Celia at clively@karm.org today!

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:10

Hey everybody, welcome to the Homeword Podcast. This is the show where we illuminate the human stories behind homelessness, redefine what home truly means through real voices, honest conversations, and education that fosters empathy, awareness, and action. This is a podcast from Knox Area Rescue Ministries. Carm is highly rated by Charity Navigator, recognized as the best Christian workplace, and accredited by the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. We are one of 30 rescue missions in the country, rated as excellent and distinguished from Citigate. And most recently, we are an Emmy Award-winning organization with our documentary. You can click the link in the show notes to watch it today. We're doing today's episode a little differently. So back in October, we were one of 70-something missions across America that participated in City Gate's Conversations on a Bench. This is what it was a 24-hour live stream event where Danita McCartney, the CARM's president and CEO, sat on a bench interviewing people for 24 hours. This episode features Rick Ellison, CARM's vice president of operations. He joined Danita on the bench to talk about his story, what he does for work at CAM, and so much more. There's lots of great content in today's episode, so I know you're gonna love it. I'll catch you on the back end of this episode. Enjoy.

SPEAKER_02 1:28

So welcome back to Conversations on a Bench. Um so my next guest um that we're gonna have a conversation with is Breck. And so um Breck Ellison, you how long have you been at Carl?

SPEAKER_01 1:42

Uh going on three years. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 1:45

Yeah, so um this is gonna be a good conversation because we're gonna talk a lot about um just safety and um our facilities and just like day-to-day operations. I mean, this is a big, it's a big ship that um we set for sale every morning. And so um maybe let's just start out you sharing a little bit about your background. Sure. Um like what what brought you to CARM? Yeah. And I'd love to share that.

SPEAKER_01 2:16

So my background uh is in uh physical and electrical security, electronic security, so fire alarm, access control, that kind of thing, security guards and uh law enforcement for a little bit. Um and I was uh actually just looking for something part-time, just wanted something easy and small on the side, and um came into CARM and just absolutely fell in love during the interview process with its mission and the people here, and God opened the door for me to serve full-time, and so it's been a little over three years, and I absolutely love it.

SPEAKER_02 2:53

Yeah, so what's your role? Like what's your you've had a couple different titles, as we all have, here at CARM, and so um what are you currently doing? What's your role now?

SPEAKER_01 3:06

Right now, I'm the director of operations, so I oversee facilities and um our guest hospitality team, which is really our safety team here at CARM. Uh, we transitioned to that while I was here. I think that's one of the things I'm most proud of is transitioning the mindset away from traditional security guards, uniform, uh, gun belt, um, into a more trauma-informed design with our guest hospitality team. And we really wrestled with that name for a little while to come up with something that we wanted to emphasize the focuses on the guests and caring for the guests. Right. Um, obviously, you know, we still care about safety, staff and and guests and volunteer safety is still a top priority for our team. It's what we focused on, but we want to do it in a way that's welcoming and inviting, and it doesn't make people feel like they're going through a TSA checkpoint every day when they come in.

SPEAKER_02 3:55

Yeah, and dignified. Absolutely, yes, dignity always. Right. Good job. And so, um, and so I remember too, I don't think you had been here long and we had a training. And I remember you, I was just like, wow, this guy. So remember you we went through a training and didn't you have like a pen, like a ball point pin that could be used as a like a not a weapon, but self-defense. A tool. Right. A tool, yeah. Um, what else did we do that day? We um was it actually were you my partner? I don't know. I was, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:30

Yeah, and sure it was like learning, like, I don't know what we did, maneuvers or yeah, we we just went over some basic self-defense for our staff, so we've often got trained a couple times. We um I'm sure we had other other people talk about this, but we do a lot of training here at Carl. I love that. Yeah. Uh and so whether it's uh de-escalation and conflict resolution or uh basic self-defense of hey, if something, you know, maybe somebody's having a mental health emergency or uh substance abuse, you know, situation and can be de-escalated or something needs to go hands on, how to protect yourself. So that was a really fun training. I really enjoyed doing that.

SPEAKER_02 5:06

I remember thinking after that training, like, I'm good if you ever attack me. Like, you know, like when you're when you have a partner and you're going through training and you're like, okay, I think I got this. If Breck ever happened to call me, but um so let's talk about so a lot of people do ask the question, and Mark and I talked about it before you and I you're you were here, but um, you know, safety. And so the streets, um, they look different, a lot different than when I started here. Maybe you've even seen a difference in your time. Um, and so, like, how would you describe the current climate um of the street homeless and what's going on?

SPEAKER_01 5:46

Sure. Uh very, very, very challenging right now. Um mental health is really spiked. Yeah uh people are just struggling and struggling to get help, and and uh I know we're gonna uh talk to some of our care center providers later about how we're helping to address some of those challenges, but there's a lot of mentally ill people, a lot of people with substance abuse issues, and uh the streets are a very dangerous place right now. It is it is just a really challenging place to be. Um you know, we we have a really great team here. Um fortunately, we've had you know no major incidents here, and we just consider that a blessing. But um, you know, every day we we have to work really hard to keep the people inside safe, the people on the sidewalk around our building in our courtyard, Mayor's courtyard down there safe. It's uh it's a challenging environment for Street Humboldt right now.

SPEAKER_02 6:41

It really is. And so, what's it look like? What so someone coming in maybe to visit or volunteer or a guest? What's the process? Walk through um how someone enters our building.

SPEAKER_01 6:52

Yeah, how someone enters our building, um you'll be welcomed by a guest hospitality team member. So they'll welcome you, they'll ask if it's your first time here, if you're here for services or to volunteer, just so they can kind of know the process. Uh you know, similar to a lot of the the buildings, you know, good road buildings output or something, there is a metal detector that you'll go through, so you'll empty your pockets with a metal detector. Uh, we do have an extra machine, it's screen bags, so that way we're not digging through people's personal belongings. We can just do a quick screening of that. Um and then if you're a volunteer, our um guest hospitality person will walk you into the front desk, introduce you to the front desk staff person, and get you where you need to go.

SPEAKER_02 7:32

Okay. And so, like on a normal day too, I mean, we do. I mean, just the nature of the um the people that we're serving and the people coming through. Um so you confiscate a lot of things.

SPEAKER_01 7:47

We do.

SPEAKER_02 7:48

And so, what's that look like? So, if someone were to come through and you find out they have a pocket knife on them, you can hold it and do we hold that for them and then we give it back when they leave, or what's that work?

SPEAKER_01 7:59

Great question, absolutely. So there's a lot of legitimate reasons people make pocket knives, right? Or um pepper spray or mace or those those kinds of things. Um and we don't want to take those away from people who need those for protection on the streets. Right. So uh we we do have kind of an uh maybe we'll call it an amnesty program, uh where if people come in and they want to turn those in before they go through the X-ray machine or before they go through the metal detector, uh we'll get blue painters tape, we'll write their name and the date on that item and we'll hold it for them. And then when they go to leave, they can come back through our area, we'll hand it back to them, and they can check it back out and go about their way. Um we've actually seen a reduction in weapons attempted to being brought in after we started that policy. Right. Because before people were trying to hide them, they didn't want to lose them, and now that they know that they can be securely stored, they're more comfortable giving weapons or, like I said, pepper spraying less lethal devices over to us.

SPEAKER_02 8:55

Oh, I like that. Um and so another um question that people ask a lot, um, and I get asked this a lot when I'm out maybe speaking to a group, or they're like, you know, hey, I was at Morga Square and a homeless um man walked up to me and asked me for some money, and um, when I responded by saying, you know, I don't have anything I can give you, but make your way down to CARM. And a lot of times people say, I'm barred. I can't go to CARM because I'm barred. And so it's a constant education, you know, opportunity to um share with people. Well, not you know, now there are times, right? Someone could be barred for either a short term or long term, maybe permanently. Um, and that's just based on just egregious behavior or threatening behavior. But talk a little bit about why someone could potentially find themselves barred for a short period of time longer, um, and then what that looks like to get unbarred.

SPEAKER_01 9:58

Yeah, so uh people can get placed on loss of service for a variety of reasons. Um, you know, small just being asked to leave for the night if someone's being, you know, disturbing the others around them, um any kind of threatening language, uh, you know, threatening other guests, threatening staff, those kinds of things will get you asked to leave. Um physical violence will get you, you know, placed on loss of service longer. That that might be even up to a criminal trespass depending on uh circumstances. But uh we actually have a team, uh, Tony Harris, our director of guest hospitality, uh, and and a team of people, we actually have a committee that reviews applications daily for people who want back in the car, yeah. Who've done that? So we look at circumstances, we look at how we can help people move forward. Uh we want we want to have really a restorative practice here where we help people take the next step. So we all have bad days, we all lose our temper with others at times, and you know, a lot of the guests we serve are experiencing one of the lowest points in their life. Absolutely. So, you know, to have an outburst or something isn't completely out of the question, and we want to be able to support them in that. So we like having guided conversations where we talk about you know what happened and then how do we prevent it from happening again, and what steps can we take to bring them back in while still ensuring you know we've got to safeguard everyone over the needs of the one. But what steps can we take to bring that person back in and help make them whole and move forward? Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 11:23

Um, and so a lot of times too, another um maybe it is a criticism, or it's maybe it's just people just aren't, they don't know. Um it's an education, another opportunity to educate people. Um we get a lot of comments about, hey, you know, you, you know, you're a you're a faith-based minute ministry and you're a homeless shelter, but yet you're okay in allowing, you're allowing people to sleep on your sidewalks. I get that, I get that this comes up a lot. And um we have a lot of internal discussions about um a standard we have, right? And so we do. We, you know, that's not our desire for guests, right, to be have you know, to feel like they have to lay there or that's all the only option they have. Um but there are circumstances where people that's just what they do, and it's it's it's hard to understand. But um, so talk a little bit about that because that isn't our standard, and it's important to all of us that our facilities um they look clean, they smell clean, we want them to be welcoming. I mean, we're opening our front door to 400 guests, you know, and a lot of times at our homes we're just opening our door to a few guests, and we we make sure our homes look clean and take a lot of pride in that, and we do here. Um, so what would you say to the people who you know are a little critical or um don't understand the fact that people linger and may lay on the sidewalk and how we approach that?

SPEAKER_01 12:55

Yeah, I I would um I would encourage those people to to come down here and have a conversation with us. I mean it's it's um there's so many things that can go go into that. And uh again, that's not what we want for anyone. That's not what we believe you know God desires for anyone to sleep on a sidewalk. And there can be a variety of reasons uh why they choose that. Um sometimes they like to say close to a building for safety. They they know that if they stay closer to us, they're safer than if they go out somewhere else. Sometimes they're inebriated and can't go anywhere else. And excuse me, um don't want to go to a hospital or or you know, are um scared for those uh law enforcement interactions. So um they just they just stay there. And we try to greet people. Obviously, our desire is to get everyone we can inside. Um or if not to have a conversation at least with that person. Hey, are you are you okay? And not not in a you know, kick them with our our foot and tell them to move along that way, but are you okay? Do you need something? Can I get you a cup of coffee? Do you need a bottle of water, you know, just to see how we can serve those guests who choose to stay outside as well.

SPEAKER_02 14:08

Yeah, because I mean I think it's important for people to know that I mean it burdens us. Oh, it does tremendously. And that's not what we want for anybody, but um because I think the level of just the complexity that people are facing, you know, I think I can remember 16 years ago starting here, people would walk through our doors, really experiencing like a true homeless situation. You know, maybe a fight with my girlfriend kicked me out or whatever that looked like. But today, Brent, I mean, I know you see it more than I do on a day-to-day basis, but people are coming to us with such a high higher acuity of need. And so you're coming to our doors experiencing homelessness, but you're also experiencing maybe a mental health um issue as well as an addiction. And so, and people I've never seen in my in my 16 years here the amount of wheelchairs. Oh, yes, wheelchairs, walkers. People are coming to us um just so sick and broken. Um yeah, and I think I think your team does a great job. I know they do. It's a hard job. It is. I mean, you're welcoming about 400 people a day, and those 400 people are probably having a really bad day, right? And so CARM's like I think CARM's really people's last stop. I don't think you wake up in the morning like, hey, I'm going to CARM today, like, you know, and and it's hard. And um, boy, it just takes takes a special um person to do that job. And that's true. I I just my hat hat's off to you guys and your team. Um it's hard. And so I've asked a few of our guests this question. Um, on those hard days, how do you decompress? Like, how do you how do you practice good self-care in such a highly chart emotionally charged job? Great question.

SPEAKER_01 16:03

Um so for me, the first thing I'll do is uh turn on worship music in my car on the way home. It helps me uh remember why I'm doing this. Yeah, uh as important as it is to serve people and guests, it's more important to serve God. And and uh the why behind the what kind of matters. Yeah. Uh and then for me, it's time with my kids. I've got three kids and they're in the ages where they are into everything, so it's you know, running in places, spending quality time with them, and investing in them while I can.

SPEAKER_02 16:33

That's awesome. Yeah, and what does one of them was soccer?

SPEAKER_01 16:35

I remember we've got a soccer player, we've got a football player, and we've got an equestrian.

SPEAKER_02 16:40

Oh my goodness. Yeah, you're bitching into everything. That's a lot. Um as we finish up, what would you um what would you like to share with the people who maybe just don't understand the current you know climate of our street homeless population or um is there anything that maybe we haven't talked about that you'd like to still share or share from your heart about about this ministry and um yeah? Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 17:11

If if it's a foreign concept to you, please come down and take a tour. Please come down and talk with us, let us show you around, let us have conversations, let us introduce you to some people and kind of take away some of the scary stigma around homeless. Because like you said earlier, you know, you can get approached at at Market Square or even Turkey Creek or I mean it's it's everywhere across Docks for now. So um come on out, visit with us, uh, learn how you can get involved. There are so many ways to get involved at Carl, whether you want to volunteer, whether you want to give, or whether you just want to pray for us. We have a tremendous prayer ministry with everybody every day. Um and we would love to get you involved and just educate you and talk to you a little bit about the homeless situation here in our community and what you can do about it.

SPEAKER_02 17:55

Yeah, thank you so much. It was fun to visit with you. I'm glad you stopped by to see me this morning.

SPEAKER_00 18:01

So, as you guys know, every episode I want our listeners to have a sticky note of something they can take with them. This can be a challenge, a prayer, a word of encouragement, anything. So, our sticky note for today is to do something kind for a neighbor experiencing homelessness. I don't know where you're listening from today, but here in Knoxville we went through a massive heat wave last week. Extreme heat is incredibly dangerous and life-threatening for our neighbors. You can donate financially, collect items like hair ties, hygiene products, bottled water, or you can volunteer by serving a meal or handing out popsicles. All are great ways to get involved and make a difference right where you are. Thanks so much for joining us today and revisiting that conversation with Brett and Danita. Remember to check the show notes for any relevant links. You can find us on socials at Knox Area Rescue Ministries. Be sure to follow along so you never miss an episode. I'll see y'all at home.