This Is Not Charity but Clarity: Voices from the Streets

This episode of The Blinded Truth Podcast pulls back the curtain on what people often misunderstand about life on the streets. This is not about charity, it is about clarity. Real voices. Real stories. Real truths that challenge perspectives, break stereotypes, and humanize experiences that too many overlook.

We are not here to sugarcoat struggle, we are here to expose it, understand it, and shift the narrative. From survival to resilience, from judgment to empathy, this conversation invites you to listen differently and think deeper.

If you have ever wondered what people really go through beyond the surface, this episode is for you.

💥 It is raw.
 💥 It is honest.
 💥 It is necessary.

And it just might change how you see everything.

🎧 Tune in now and join the conversation that is bigger than awareness, it is about transformation.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_07 0:00

Welcome to our Truth Shot segment where we bring short, unfiltered doses of truth and inspiration to light your path. Today's episode is one that matters deeply, not just to us, but to our community. This is not charity but clarity, voices from the streets. This is brought to you by Destiny as by Choice Support Services because your journey, your voice, and your truth matter. We are your host and co-host, Destiny and Eric. And today we have joined with us Danny Cox, who brings real lived experience and truth from the streets, sharing what survival actually looks like once the resources are limited, but hope is still alive. We also have joined by Pasta Tai, who brings perspective on outreach, faith, and action, and what it truly means to serve, not with handouts, but with a lifted hope.

SPEAKER_02 0:44

Too often conversations about homelessness, addiction, and poverty happen about people instead of what with them. Today we're changing that. This is an episode about dignity, it's about humanity, it's about meaning people where they are without judgment. Let's listen, learn, and know the truth.

SPEAKER_07 0:59

So, Danny and Pastor Todd, we want to ask you all what is your why?

SPEAKER_04 1:04

Danny, this is what your second year or uh so I've been doing outreach in Southeast for five years. I've been living in Southeast for six years, so my whole recovery time.

SPEAKER_14 1:14

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 1:14

Um I was unhoused in Knoxville on the street. And so um just dignity and respect. Um, people aren't numbers, they aren't statistics, they're human beings. Yep, they're mothers, uh, daughters, sons, fathers, uh, with families and souls, and so um, we just try to lift them up and bring back to the community. Uh Jerry helps me, Pastor Todd's always right here at the end of the street. And so, um, yeah, we're just out here trying to do what we can do to help.

SPEAKER_07 1:42

Yeah, I appreciate it. I remember we had shared in our first episode that you were homeless. So when you said you was doing this another year, it was passing out the blankets. I was like, I like this.

SPEAKER_04 1:52

Yeah, we so, so, and this is the first time that we've ever been acknowledged. Same with Pastor Todd. We this is what I do when nobody's watching. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? So uh we just go out and do stuff. We've been doing it, doing it for years, and that's what we do.

SPEAKER_07 2:05

And Pastor Todd, you we have been talking, you've been at this church for 12 years, right? Just about and so you were saying how you had changed over the church and bringing the church to the streets. Tell me your why. What is your reasoning behind doing what you do? Because I've heard a lot about you, but I've never got to meet you. So I'm honored to meet you today.

SPEAKER_08 2:25

Well, you know, it's really kind of a, you know, from my perspective, it's it's kind of a God thing, man. I mean, it's just watching him work in the community for 12 years, meeting people like Danny, you know, by a divine appointment, what I call it, you know what I'm saying? Um, God just bringing people. Um, but really, um, one day I was driving down the road in my truck and I was actually passing the corner here, and I heard this uh, it wasn't an audible voice, but God said, I need a street pastor. I need somebody, I need, I need, I need somebody on the streets, you know. And so what we're trying to do here, we're kind of rebranding to become like uh what I call a street level church. You know, we already have uh hundred uh 150 people suffering from addiction coming in every week. Um we've been able to do some ministry to the unsheltered, but uh in the coming year we're gonna be more intentional, we're gonna open the church up more uh on Tuesdays and Thursdays um and just be a place for the community. Um and we're gonna increase our presence really out on the streets because you know, we want to provide uh not just a a place, but we want to provide people opportunity. Um we're gonna bring in other services, uh other people to help us out and provide real help to people that need need help. Um and of course we also want to lead people into a relationship uh with the Lord, you know. I mean we wanna change lives, and the only way you're gonna change lives is you gotta go to where people are at. That is so true. And not just sit around and wait on to show up. So it's all about loving and helping people and right where they're right where they're at.

SPEAKER_07 4:02

Yeah. I think it's awesome that um both of you all actually have a similar story of being homeless and going through that process of being in the streets on that level. What is your take on this? I know we had talked about doing this, you were like, let's do it. Um, but what is your take?

SPEAKER_02 4:22

Um I know how it feels to be out here in the cold um to not have anything and to just wish that somebody would show it up for me. So that's my why.

SPEAKER_04 4:37

Um I just I want to make clear that uh a lot of times the expectation of the society uh is a coerced expectation. Um I demand that you do this this way, or either you're not trying or you're not willing. That's not true. There are probably over a hundred people in Southeast Homeless, some of them can't go into treatment, can't go in the hospital, can't go in the mission because everything they own is in front of them in a cart or bags or in an alley or in a tent. And so you walk away from everything that you've owned to get help, and help doesn't seem like help then. It seems like a uh being turned upside down in a complete chaos. Um chaos becomes normal if we're in chaos long enough. And so we have to understand the mindset of the people out here because I am one of those people. These are my people.

SPEAKER_07 5:26

And so I just think that, you know, when we were talking as Christians, we gotta, like we've always said, boots to the ground. You have to walk the talk that you say. And if you look at it, Jesus went to the people. He went and served amongst his people. And so I I really do appreciate that every time I was bringing my son and y'all have something set up, and it's like six o'clock in the morning, and y'all have stuff set up. He's like, Look, they're out there, and I'm like, Yeah, they are. You have dedicated people, and you all have also opened your church for a warm shelter a couple times.

SPEAKER_08 6:00

Sometimes, yeah. I mean, you know, really what it boils down to is we we need more people. We need more people with a bold vision to to really hit the streets to people like Danny, you know, people that really want to uh to get to get in a ditch with people and get dirty because that I mean, like you said, that's what Jesus did. Most of his stuff he did was on the streets. You know, so why are we sitting in a building waiting on people to show up? Yeah, you know, we gotta go outside and and um open the door up to people that nobody else wants, to be honest. You know, uh a lot of churches they don't they don't want they don't want addicts in their building, they don't want homeless people in their building, they don't want dirty people in their building, people that hadn't showered and stuff like that. Yeah, but that's not the Jesus mean you know. Nope. Um, so I mean it's really pretty simple, you know. You see it in scripture in black and white and you go do it. You know, and um it's fun. It's you know, when you're doing what you know uh is right, you know that that's who he is, and uh you go out here and do it. You see God show up and you get amazing stories out of it. You know, Danny and I got stories together, uh how we met and everything, it's a different story, but you know, it's all God stuff. Yeah. And when you're in on it, you know, it's a lot of fun. And and where you're gonna get in on it is you're gonna have to go where where God is, uh, you know, working in even in the midst of the darkness. He's out here working in people's lives, and he shows up in the dark because he doesn't know no, he doesn't know no dark. Yeah, everything is light to him. Yeah, so we just gotta get serious about it.

SPEAKER_07 7:29

Yep. Well, I'm excited about what today's gonna bring. I have my children out here, um, boots on the ground. I don't know if they're happy, but they'll be all right. So I just want to go ahead and let's go ahead and take it to the street, y'all. All right, let's do it.

SPEAKER_04 8:12

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 8:22

Good morning, John. How you doing today, sir? I'm pretty good, pretty good. Um, quick question. I know that a lot of times people end up in places that they don't want to be, right? Um just can you give a brief summary of how you got here?

SPEAKER_06 8:40

I got here because of insurance. Wow. My insurance stopped. It's just medicine completely stopped. And then it then it picked back up. They kicked me out of the um rehabilitation center in the southeast. And um, I wanted up here. They brought me here. No warning, I'm not. Uh-uh.

SPEAKER_07 9:02

They just dropped you off?

SPEAKER_06 9:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 9:06

Wow. So how do you uh what are you doing to survive right here?

SPEAKER_06 9:12

We're the mission feeding and stuff like that, so I'm good with that. You mind me asking, how old are you? I'm 62. Do you have family in the area? No, I got a brother in North Carolina.

SPEAKER_02 9:25

So uh, what are your plans? What you're trying to do?

SPEAKER_06 9:28

Well, I was trying to get a house, but now you gotta have income. I ain't got no income. So the housing situation, if they try to they they say they can help you, but you gotta have income. If I had income, I wouldn't be in this situation.

SPEAKER_02 9:41

Okay, so uh, how does your help look though? Like what you need.

SPEAKER_06 9:45

I can't walk, I can hardly walk without this road.

SPEAKER_02 9:49

I just can't walk without this road. Are you out here every day? Yeah, sitting out here. That's just a lot to take in. Yeah. I just want to tell you that this won't be your last time seeing me, seeing my co my uh uh assistant. Uh you know what I'm talking about. But uh I just want to say that I know how it feels to be where you at? Um I was there, I was homeless, strong out on drugs. Anyway, I'm not saying that you are, I'm just saying that's why I can't. That's a good thing. At least you got debt to you, advantage. But just uh don't give up, you know, hope is right there, man. You just gotta keep faith, keep with you because it does get better. Just gotta put it's a hard good time. I wasn't in, so I don't know.

SPEAKER_06 10:36

I put in for my social security disability, so I'm waiting on that.

SPEAKER_02 10:40

You got people like helping you do all this stuff?

SPEAKER_06 10:42

Nah, I'm just doing it myself. I went to the social security office and you um how you get there? Oh wow. Wow.

SPEAKER_07 10:51

Have you tried to get your Medicaid back or has anybody?

SPEAKER_06 10:54

Because their kid came back.

SPEAKER_07 10:55

Okay, good. Good.

SPEAKER_02 10:58

Okay, so you still you are you trying to get into another place now?

SPEAKER_06 11:01

Yeah, but the doctor gotta the emergency room gotta admit you there. You just can't, you know, they don't admit people unless the hospital signs into it.

SPEAKER_07 11:11

Well, I want to thank you, John, for being vulnerable and sharing your story. Um we want to showcase our podcast is called The Blinded Truth because a lot of times people don't know why they see individuals like yourself out here. Um, they just think it's by choice, but you didn't have a choice. They dropped you off, and when your insurance kicked out, the rehab dropped you off. Um and so I really do pray that something comes through for you and you will not see the end of us. All right, we're gonna be out here for you, John.

SPEAKER_02 11:47

Um we're gonna try to find some resources for you. So, you know, bring it to you so that you know we can do our part, you're doing your part. We're gonna try to help you the best we can.

SPEAKER_06 12:00

I appreciate all the help out of here.

SPEAKER_07 12:02

Thank you so much, John.

SPEAKER_08 12:04

Thank you.

SPEAKER_06 12:04

I hope you have a good day. I will work.

SPEAKER_08 12:08

Hey, man. Bring John over. You mind if I pray with you guys? Okay. We just pray that you'd invade their lives with your love and your care and they would know that you're there, that they would feel your presence. They know you're working even though things in their life are not where they maybe want them to be right now. So we pray you protect them, Lord, on the streets, in the mission, wherever the wherever they find themselves at. We just commit them to you and uh just pray that they be encouraged today. And uh, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Amen.

unknown 12:44

Thank you, sir.

SPEAKER_00 12:45

It's like what uh Pastor Todd is trying to do with the church. He's not trying to take a van, go around, and get a van load of them and take them 20, 30 miles up the road, but they got no access to a convenience store or a mall or nothing. He's trying to help them here with just their home.

SPEAKER_14 13:00

Right.

SPEAKER_00 13:01

They just have a hard time. Just their home. And sometimes all the people need is a warm cup of coffee and a sandwich. Yeah. Not a whole lot of questions, you know. You know what I'm saying? And that means a lot, you know.

SPEAKER_01 13:13

I was in the uh halfway house, didn't I? So I was working at the Ouija's or Burmington. I got caught up in the street on Northwest with some guys, so I had to be that alone and come out here and just find myself again, get back on top, that's all. Never been in trouble there in my life until I came to uh this part of Virginia.

SPEAKER_07 13:29

Oh wow. Where do you have any family?

SPEAKER_01 13:36

Not here.

SPEAKER_07 13:37

Back in Wilmington? Okay. Well, it was nice meeting you. Thank you for sharing your story with us.

SPEAKER_04 13:50

So they're right now scrambling for their life. Everything they own. They're trying to figure out what they're gonna do. It'd be a real good time to go down there.

SPEAKER_07 14:47

Like a constant rotation.

SPEAKER_04 14:50

So instead of instead of like a case manager with the discharge plan, this is this is where they end up. No, I mean, if they if they don't cooperate or complot, so they can keep rounding up their Medicaid, they put them out and people end up right here.

SPEAKER_11 15:08

Yeah, they put them out.

SPEAKER_04 15:09

No housing, no aftercare plan, no, no. Just right here. Just a real life, what that looks like.

SPEAKER_11 15:13

They put me out for paraphernalia that was I don't even remember where it came from. I had to have a relapse five weeks before that. Okay. And I'd have five birthdays. So could it have been mine possible? Could it have been someone else's most likely? But they took my housing away. And then when I went back the next day, they beat me down like no tomorrow. You knew you were gonna use again. I said, Well, uh, my drug track is clean.

SPEAKER_04 15:42

Do you want to try to get in somewhere again, or we want to do it?

SPEAKER_11 15:45

My husband and I both have work coming up.

SPEAKER_10 15:47

Okay. Um got long here coming up. Okay. I really don't know where I'm at right now, holding up right now. Okay. I need work. I want you back to work.

SPEAKER_07 15:57

So I can't.

SPEAKER_04 16:00

Put my number in there.

SPEAKER_07 16:01

So we have here someone who was in treatment and their treatment facility, we're gonna not disclose, but they basically um put her out here because of her Medicaid. Um, and what they do is they they let them come in and fund the Medicaid until the Medicaid runs out and then they kick them out. Um, but those types of treatment facilities also have drugs coming in and out of the system, and when they don't comply and want them to do whatever they want them to do, then they kick them out. So, this is another great example of how there's a lot of places out here saying they want to help people that, but they don't want to help people because they have no discharge planning, they have no case manager, no aftercare, no nothing like that. So everybody's at the ramhouse now. Everybody's at the ram house now. Yeah, interesting. Okay.

unknown 16:54

Thank you.

SPEAKER_07 16:55

You're welcome. So they come in and clean up. The police come in and braid them and then take them to the ram house, she said. She was telling us that she was. She was saying that the treatment facility she was at had a bunch of drugs in them, and then basically didn't redo her Medicaid and kicked her out and brought her here. Yeah. So it was kind of like one of those situations where she didn't comply with what they want her to do. No aftercare plan, no case management plan. Just like, you know, John up there, they just kicked him out.

SPEAKER_14 17:33

Yeah, yeah, nowhere else to go.

SPEAKER_07 17:34

No services. No services, no nothing. And that's the frustration part about a lot of times, a lot of these organizations that say they are helping, but they ain't helping.

SPEAKER_08 17:45

They just well, a lot of people that say depending on Medicaid or insurance, they don't have it, but they really stuck.

SPEAKER_07 17:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_08 17:52

A lot of times.

SPEAKER_07 17:54

You want one or two? I have two. I'll take two. Okay. Do you need a hat or glove?

SPEAKER_14 18:06

Oh, I got one.

SPEAKER_07 18:07

Do you need a hat? You're welcome.

SPEAKER_12 18:16

I gotta wave. Can I get a banner?

SPEAKER_04 18:24

Joe, don't we say that? He said when you when you're down there, it's a certain way you gotta lay. For them not to take it. But you gotta clean it up. But you gotta keep keep the stuff clean by the way.

SPEAKER_12 18:36

The headman that got this. He said, I'm the reason that you can lay here right now. He said, everything got to come down to me for me to have y'all removed by the police. He said, I don't care. I'll just keep stuff off my boy. Keep the police back. And I told everybody.

SPEAKER_05 18:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_12 19:00

Instead of getting up earlier, an hour earlier, clean up so we can stay here.

SPEAKER_04 19:05

And so now all that stuff just piled up abandoned down there and they took seven people to jail.

SPEAKER_12 19:09

All the stuff down there, expect me to clean it up with a I got a heart bar, I got a heart failure.

SPEAKER_04 19:14

And where would you even put the stuff at? Were they gonna take that? Will the city take that stuff away?

SPEAKER_12 19:18

I was thinking about going to open up a uh what you call it? Storage unit.

SPEAKER_14 19:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_12 19:25

Because I got money on my jack. But then again, who's gonna get my money back?

unknown 19:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 19:29

Yeah, man.

SPEAKER_12 19:30

Nobody. But then again, ain't nobody gonna get us back either. You know what I'm saying? I gotta look at what God asked me to do.

SPEAKER_13 19:37

That's the first thing came in my car. What's your name? I saw you.

SPEAKER_04 19:40

I'm Danny, man. It's nice to meet you, brother, okay? So when you go back down there and stay tonight, I'm not going down there. So what where would you go instead? Like in you ain't going in the mission. When you go in the mission, no, it's always my car. You gotta so when you go in the mission, you can't take that like if you got stuff out there, you gotta put your stuff somewhere. You can't take all that stuff in there.

SPEAKER_13 20:05

I don't have a lot of stuff. I gotta do it.

SPEAKER_04 20:07

Okay.

SPEAKER_05 20:16

How old are you? Yeah, yeah. Okay. How'd you end up here from Portsmouth?

SPEAKER_07 20:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 20:28

Okay. Man, it's good to talk to you, my friend, okay. I hope everything works out.

SPEAKER_07 20:34

I'm saying how he was from Portsmouth. He he did 32 years in prison because he was a Marine and discharged his firearm. Somebody was trying to rob him and he discharged the firearm. So he did 32 years and then he came up here. So that's why he's up here because he just got released from prison. So his plan is now to get his brother out of jail because the police hauled them off to jail. I don't know why they do that. Um, but and try to make it back home. Another story of how some people don't end up in this situation by choice. Some people just can't help but to be in the situation that they are in. And then like I said, there's other organizations out here that say they want to help, but they don't want to help. They just want to push him underneath the rug. He said that one of the organizations laughed at him because of the situation that he's in. How are you helping people when you're laughing at them? Hello, how are you? My name is Destiny. I have Eric is somewhere. Right here. Um, so if you're willing to talk, we're more than happy to help. We have turkey and cheese sandwiches, ham sandwiches, water, peanut butter jelly, hats, gloves. So come on up. You sure can would you like a turkey cheese? Yeah. Or ham and cheese or turkey.

SPEAKER_13 22:16

Okay, brother.

SPEAKER_07 22:17

I appreciate it. Yeah, we're getting ham turkey or a peanut butter. No, it's good.

SPEAKER_01 22:26

Peanut butter.

SPEAKER_07 22:27

Peanut butter?

SPEAKER_01 22:28

I'll take a ham.

SPEAKER_07 22:29

Penny fruit. I forget. No, just water.

SPEAKER_00 22:37

I appreciate it. You're welcome.

SPEAKER_10 22:40

I got you.

SPEAKER_07 22:44

You're welcome. Did you and you got a bag? Okay. Good.

unknown 22:50

Oh, I think.

SPEAKER_07 22:53

My name is Destiny. And what are you born and raised here or are you from here?

SPEAKER_09 22:59

No, I live there. I'm born in Agron, Ohio, but I'm I'm my grandma brought me down when I was a little kid, so I've been there since.

SPEAKER_07 23:07

Okay. So tell me. Tell me a little bit about your story.

SPEAKER_09 23:11

Well, my story, my grandma wrote me down when I was little. Okay. So you know what I'm saying? I've been down here pretty much all my life. And then my grandma and granddad passed away. My family sold the house, so I'm out here in the streets.

SPEAKER_07 23:24

Okay, is that the only family that you have?

SPEAKER_09 23:27

Well, Julian was in Ohio, but got something that I had, but I don't mess with them.

SPEAKER_07 23:31

Okay.

SPEAKER_09 23:31

I'm out here on my own.

SPEAKER_07 23:33

So I do you have something telling your story about your legs?

SPEAKER_09 23:39

I have uh I was in a car accident when I was a little kid.

SPEAKER_07 23:43

Okay.

SPEAKER_09 23:43

So they like uh messed up um the lower part of my body up.

unknown 23:48

Okay.

SPEAKER_07 23:51

What is one thing that you would want someone to know about your story?

SPEAKER_09 23:56

I ain't, you know what I'm saying? Even though it happens to me, you know what I'm saying? I ain't let it stop me.

SPEAKER_07 24:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_09 24:01

I'm still out here doing on my own with no help.

SPEAKER_07 24:05

What's your goal?

SPEAKER_09 24:07

My goal is right now I'm just trying to find a I'm trying to buy the house.

SPEAKER_07 24:12

Okay.

SPEAKER_09 24:12

So I can get back out on my own.

SPEAKER_07 24:14

Do you have the income coming in for that or has that been a struggle?

SPEAKER_09 24:19

Yeah, I got the m I got I can come up with the money, the money ain't no problem. It's just I'm a felon. So it's you know it's like only I can get one, I gotta find like a private owner, something like that.

SPEAKER_07 24:32

That's been a struggle lately.

SPEAKER_09 24:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 24:34

Yeah, a lot of places I know that they don't want to help you when they see that my co-host is a is actually a felon as well. And he has a problem with finding a job.

SPEAKER_09 24:44

And only had one charge, and I go with that one charge, you know what I'm saying, made me a felon. And I can't go to no no house authority, you know what I'm saying? So I gotta have a private owner.

SPEAKER_07 24:56

Do you want to speak more about what happened with the charge or do you feel comfortable? No, no, you're good, you're good. I thank you, Carlos, for telling me your story, and I pray that everything works out for you. You let me know if you need anything else. Thank you.

SPEAKER_09 25:11

You're welcome.

SPEAKER_07 25:12

Well, Ram House is one of one of the areas that, well, one of the places, I wish Melissa was here. Shout out to Melissa Wilson. She is the executive director for Ram House. She has been working countlessly to raise money to help um become a problem, have a bigger place to service the individuals that are here, um, like a place to take a shower, clean, you know, wash their clothes, which is essential because um, like places like the rescue mission, they have to be out by a certain time. And then there's no place to go. So a lot of times they come here, but if you're walking and not being busted or don't have the capability or to have a bus ticket to come down here, you can't get down here. So a lot of times they're at the rescue mission or they're downstairs down underneath the bridge. Um, so Melissa has been working, and her team has been working to get the funding to revise all of this so they can provide more services. Um, they also partner with Danny and Pastor Todd to help with this as well.

SPEAKER_02 26:15

So uh being homeless and not knowing what tomorrow brings.

SPEAKER_07 26:25

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 26:26

And everybody has family, but we lose contact, we lose connection, and it can be hard.

SPEAKER_07 26:35

Yeah, I know he was mentioning that he don't fool with them, and sometimes a lot of times people think that you have to continue to talk with your family and stuff like that. A lot of times people make the choice for certain reasons. It's not healthy reasons, you never know. You know, he said his grandparents brought him up here for when he was young and he's been here. They died, they sold the house, so now he has no place to go.

SPEAKER_02 27:00

So like being able to identify. Um I know how it feels to wake up on a bus stop in December and it's cold, you're hungry, you're lonely, and you're hopeless. Yeah, and that's where I speak on the desperation.

unknown 27:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 27:17

Um you mind mentioning a little bit about your story of why we're homeless? Because a lot of times people think that it's by choice.

SPEAKER_02 27:24

And some people think that they wake up and they choose it, you know, but um, I think mine was by drug addiction, um, choosing to um allow something to control my life. And once it got me, it helped. You know, it wasn't like I woke up and say, today I'm not gonna be homeless, or today I'm gonna get clean. I might have a thought of it, but the drug was so powerful that I couldn't imagine stopping because I knew the pain that was to come with that.

SPEAKER_14 28:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 28:00

So I chose, I guess I did choose, I chose drugs over dislike, which made me come here. And when I was at um the auction house, I came here for funding between jobs to help me pay for my rent when I was at the uh Sunnyside auction house. So I get it. You know, and I'm just trying to do my part. I guess we're trying to do our part.

SPEAKER_07 28:31

I think homelessness can look different too because I've shared with you before, like my mom and I, we were homeless due to eviction, but we got to stay at the rescue mission, which was not, you know, you got three kids at the rescue mission, you're a single mom. You you know, when the one gentleman was saying they steal your stuff, they still stole our stuff, you know, and she had to we had to be out by a certain time, come in at a certain time. And then I was homeless at the age of 18 with my ex-husband because we didn't have any lights in the house with my mom. So I decided to move out, you know. And so that was at 18, being homeless on your own, staying in motels, you know, to look a little different. So a lot of times people don't think it's not just on the streets. There's we have a high, high, you know, homeless rate for youth as well that a lot of people don't know. Um, so it's good to look different for everybody in the community.

SPEAKER_11 29:29

He'll be right in here helping you out.

SPEAKER_07 29:32

Yeah, we need people that's gonna help. That's not afraid to help where to keep it. And so her goal is to um take whatever you need. Um they want to have a facility where they can shower, they can laundry, they can house their. It was it was great because not only my kids got to be a car, and I asked them in the car, so which I think it was like I don't know. I think we're trying to process it.

SPEAKER_08 30:00

What would be really cool to do is find places that nobody else is really going to do. Yeah, like this place is popular.

SPEAKER_04 30:09

What about the places where they're so they're can't so there's a camp. Those people aren't because they're never gonna come out unless you know they're homeless. So the information we got from Cat Bradley and Hope Initiative combined with people in Southeast is that there's over a hundred and fifty-eight homeless people. That's documented. But we know can't you go over here? You got a run at River, in Washington on Run at River. And so you can access those people who just come up for certain things. You really have to go down into that area.

SPEAKER_08 30:45

You know, people were off the far quite. I mean, there's people out in the mountains. I mean, people had now I mean well, I met one guy, he was he was a year uh he lived a year in the woods, so he never stayed at the same place twice. So it's crazy.

SPEAKER_04 31:05

And it's a beautiful day out here. It's about to be it's about to be you know, January, February. It's cold. It's too cold to even stand in our country.

SPEAKER_07 31:16

And I think that what other people don't realize too is that we also have a young adult homeless population that is starting to grow.

SPEAKER_04 31:25

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_07 31:26

And they don't think about that because they think, nah, Rono, you know, that's bigger cities, and I'm like, we do.

SPEAKER_08 31:32

We have a lot of people in their twenties and thirties that are on the streets. Yeah, really.

SPEAKER_04 31:38

It's generational too.

SPEAKER_08 31:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 31:39

These these are these are people whose parents were either attitude and addicts, substitutes and mental health, and they grew up that way. So it's not abnormal. The next step for them to do is be on a street. It's not abnormal at all. Like revolutional change in the core concepts of what's going on. Like we're just putting band-aids on bullet holes. Yeah, but at least we're doing that. Maybe the person can get to the next step in the next phase um to be able to get some relief, you know, and have like a for you.

SPEAKER_02 32:16

And for me, I'm a firm believer, like when they make these decisions, they they they got people representing us, but they're not either. No, they're not me and you know that knows how it feels to be on this side. They they don't have lived experience.

SPEAKER_03 32:28

People are making decisions for people who have never been in the situation as those people.

SPEAKER_07 32:34

I you know what's also starting to infuriate me is they're putting people in peer positions that's not peers. They don't have any lived experience. And I'm like, how are you connecting with the people that you're serving when you've never been there? Like, I can go out and say, Yes, I'm a peer, but I'm a mental health peer. I don't know what it feels like to be in addiction. So I'm glad I have individuals around me that can say I can relate right here, and you can relate right here, but we work together because if you put in people that's just going to get a degree in peer positions, you cannot relate to the people that you're serving.

SPEAKER_04 33:11

That's why leadership and peer support is a pair. Yeah, there has to be people to separate the genres of peer support. So when I do trainings right here, uh when we vet, because we have 14 people coming up in January, I vet that group of people based on our conversation and their specific living experience. And we go through the training, I directly push those people into positions where resources will um reflect their specific lived experience. But I know I'm just one person. Uh DVHCS has lots of reasons and lots of trainers. Uh my class is fantastic for that. Um, you know, we we really look at the individual and not just the group of people as a group's training, and we don't go out and be peers and everybody will live their best life. In the real world, that's not a reality. No, you know.

SPEAKER_07 33:59

Alright, that wraps up today's truth shot segment of this is not charity, but clarity, voices from the streets, powered by destiny is by choice supported services. Remember, helping doesn't always mean saving. Sometimes it simply means showing up and seeing people as human. We hope today's conversation reminds you that real outreach is not about handouts or checking the box, but it's about lifting people up, restoring dignity, and creating space for voices that are often ignored. To Danny and Pastor Todd, um, thank you for your honesty, your commitment to the streets and the people you serve. To our listeners, if you want to stay connected and support our outreach efforts or learn how to get involved, make sure to visit our link tree and follow us on social media. As always, your destiny is by choice, not by chance. Until next time, keep walking in your truth. And Danny, what is your nonprofit called again?

SPEAKER_04 34:49

555 Recovery Solutions.

SPEAKER_07 34:51

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 34:52

Right, and we have a nonprofit link with Ram House. We do scholarships and I do DBHTS, PRS training for Region 3 in the state of Virginia. So I train peers to do exactly what you guys are doing and what we're all doing.

SPEAKER_07 35:04

And what you're doing as well.

unknown 35:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 35:06

Yeah. Not us.

SPEAKER_04 35:08

It took me 50 years of uh getting beat down to find my passion, and purpose was not my preference.

SPEAKER_07 35:13

Yeah. So and I think that's what drives us all is purpose and our whys. And Pastor Todd, give us the name of your church again for our followers.

SPEAKER_08 35:21

Um Belmont Presbyterian Church, what we like to call the street level sanctuary.

SPEAKER_07 35:25

Okay. And a part two to Danny's and his first one coming out in March.

SPEAKER_02 35:34

Because that's a must see.

SPEAKER_07 35:36

Oh, yeah. Because with when it comes to boots on the ground, we are all boots on the ground. And we really do appreciate you all taking the time and allowing us to thank you for giving us a voice. Oh, no problem. We don't got no choice. Great day. Yeah. Yep. Great morning. Thank you, thank you. I do hugs.

SPEAKER_08 35:54

You do hugs.

SPEAKER_07 35:55

Yeah, I do hugs. We family now. We family now.