Welcome back to the Christian Bitcoin podcast, an episode of the RTW College of Business at Christmas Christian University. I'm your host and show that helps Christian Business Leaders to integrate Philadelphia into business. On this episode, we're joined by Keelan Blackwell. Keelan is the co-founder of the Chicago Eco House and South Side Blooms, organization that's dedicated to eliminating poverty through sustainability. He's the grandson of an Arkansas sharecropper who moved to Milwaukee so his grandfather could secure a factory job in the aftermath of the civil rights movement when racial tensions were high. After earning his bachelor's degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, he went on to serve in the Peace Corps in Thailand. When he returned to the United States, he enrolled in a Chicago ministry school where God led him to commit to a life of community service. And he began by tutoring high school students in Inglewood, where he saw the devastating impacts of inner city poverty. Eventually, he and his partner, who's now his wife, Hannah, founded the Chicago Eco House to transform blighted urban lots into sustainable flower farms. And that grew into Southside Blooms, which provides jobs on these farms and in a flower shop to at-risk youth. Keelan, welcome to the Christianity and Business Podcast.
SPEAKER_01Thanks. Appreciate it, Dan. I'm really, really excited to be here.
SPEAKER_00When did you first realize God wanted to be involved in your work in business?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so you know, I didn't grow up Christian. You know, I grew up in Mass, Wisconsin in a, you know, relatively secular home. Spent Sundays cheering on Brett Favre and the Packers. So, you know, I didn't really uh you know come to faith until I was about 18. Um, and you know, like being a new Christian, I really did feel like I was behind the eight ball because, you know, a lot of my uh other friends at church, you know, like grew up going to Sunday school and you know, summer camps and that kind of deal. Uh so, you know, like one of my uh, you know, one of my uh mentors at the time, like just started talking to me about reading the Bible for yourself and you know, just God will speak to you through the scriptures. Um, so I just did that. I just kind of came in like, you know, I was very ignorant. I just started reading the Bible, you know, and just seeing like where the Lord would lead me. Um and you know, one of the things I really began to see was just how, you know, God really did these amazing things, you know, particularly like the Old Testament, um, you know, like parting the Red Sea or, you know, Joseph being raised up to being the second most powerful person. And, you know, there's like just so many miracle, miraculous things that God did, you know, in you know, the marketplace. Um, and then even looking at Jesus' ministry, just seeing, you know, just seeing like how many of his works was right there in the public forum, right there in the marketplace. So, you know, like that was the the initial impetus behind me looking at, you know, God potentially using me in business to uh advance his ministry and his kingdom. Um then, you know, you fast forward to about 2011 when I first came to Chicago. You know, God basically asked me to sell everything I had and lead the comfortable life that I was living in Madison. Um, and you know, like I was going to ministry school in the western suburbs of Chicago. Um, and during that time I started tutoring at a high school on the south side of Chicago in the England neighborhood. And that's really for me the first time I'm coming face to face with urban uh inner city poverty. Um, and God really just began to speak to me about, you know, kind of taking up my cross and, you know, uh giving up everything that I had to lay down my life for the good people of inner city America, um, and really trying to, you know, develop a business and uh bottom up industry. So that's really kind of my, you know, story into uh coming into you know business more from the spiritual lens.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. What's one of your favorite stories that illustrates the impact being made uh by your company?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so uh there's uh there's a lot of stories. We've been around for about 10 years. Um I would have to say my you know, my most favorite story at this point is probably a young man named Deontay. Uh Deonta, he uh uh been with us for almost three years now. Um so you know, me and my wife Hannah, who's the co-founder of uh our organization, um, you know, we live here in Inglewood. So I was like, that's like one of the things is, you know, uh it's very important to us to, you know, kind of meet people where they're at. So, you know, we purchased a property in the heart of Inglewood, uh, and Deontay and his family lived across the street. So, you know, when we first came into the neighborhood, you know, his family was uh, you know, they saw us and you know, they're a little skeptical. Uh, for those who don't know, my wife is white. So, you know, and being in England on the South Side, it's a predominantly black community. Uh, so you know, a lot of people were uh a little uh a little suspicious. You know, I definitely had some neighbors who would come up to me and be like, hey, Keelan, like what are you doing? Like bringing that white woman to this neighborhood, like, you know, well, you know, don't you know where we are, et cetera, et cetera. Um, I was like, look, it Hannah's a great person, you know, you guys, you guys will, you guys will come to like her, you know what I mean? Um, you know, so you know, Deontay and his uh, you know, Deontay's mom actually uh came to some of our first barbecues and was like part of our initial block club. Um and she helped us with, you know, sort of getting the first vacant lots that we used to build our first solar power flower farm uh in the neighborhood. Um and, you know, so she was kind of part of that, those early years of format forming our organization. Um then you fast forward to about 20, you know, 22 or 2021. And, you know, Deontay, uh, you know, her son, uh, you know, he's you know, kind of still having like trouble with gangs, you know, he was shot in his leg. Uh he was in jail for about six months, and he really needed uh, you know, a new lease on life. And um, you know, because his mom was familiar with our work um and they lived on the block, you know, he came over and you know, started working for us. And, you know, he's been with us, you know, ever since. And, you know, he's he really credits uh our ministry as like as saving his life. You know, he hasn't relapsed, he hasn't been back in jail, um, he's been totally clean. Um, so you know, I think his story really illustrates uh, really, in my opinion, what makes Southside Blooms special um is that it's more than just you know growing flowers, it's more than just doing good works. Uh, you know, it really is about, you know, getting in there with the people, being one with the people. And, you know, even though there may be some of those surface level differences, those worldly differences that uh, you know, sometimes people maybe are putting too much stock into, uh, really just shows like how the Spirit of God can overcome that um and really, you know, bring in that ministry of reconciliation and you know, and love uh to really demonstrate his character to people who uh really need it.
SPEAKER_00Love that story. So is Southside Blooms uh for-profit or nonprofit and and what is the business model?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so we are a 501c3 nonprofit. Um we're not a religious nonprofit. Um, so what I tell people is we're a nonprofit with a for-profit model. So, you know, we do have, we are a fully vertically integrated farmer florist, uh, which basically means that we grow our own flowers, that we then arrange and sell our flowers for a full service florist. So we'll do everything from delivery bouquets to weddings, events, cancieras, ba mitzvahs, you name it. Um, and we also do our own delivery. So, you know, we'll deliver anywhere in the Chicagoland area, all the way down into northwest Indiana. And as of Mother's Day, we started our national shipping of flowers. So now anyone in the country can get access to Southside Blooms flowers. So yeah, we are we're really very aggressively trying to uh, you know, get as much market share as we can uh because you know, those flower cells help to support the job development and keeping kids like Deontay uh employed and off the streets. Um, so you know, really it's a way to keep our ministry uh, you know, economically and financially sustainable without having to totally rely on grants and donations.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. So you're able to ship anywhere in at least in the United States. And is that by partnering with farms around the country, or are you somehow able to ship everything direct from your local farms?
SPEAKER_01Oh no, yeah, we're able to ship them direct from our local farm. So, you know, we have a partnership with FedEx, and uh, you know, yeah, so like, you know, when you order flowers from us, these are flowers are coming from Chicago and uh going to you. So, you know, it's directly from our door to your door.
SPEAKER_00Wow, that's awesome. Could you tell us the story of a time? I mean, you you sure shared this amazing story already, but is there another time when you saw God's hand at work in your business?
SPEAKER_01Yes. Uh I mean, when when when when hasn't there been a time that has seen God's work, right? Um, yeah, so I would say, like, you know, um, you know, probably in the very beginning. Uh, so I think back to 2015 when we were trying to buy this house. So, you know, just for context, uh, I was broke. Um, Hannah was broke. She was just a hairstylist making like $25,000 a year. We were newlyweds and you know, we were trying to buy this property. Um, for those of you who aren't familiar with Chicago, Chicago has thousands of vacant properties, you know, blighted buildings, dilapidated buildings. Um, and that was really all that we could uh afford at the time. So, you know, there's like this two-flat building that, you know, had a grease fire. It was, you know, it totally needed like a full gut reap, right? Um, and you know, like we didn't have uh, you know, the you know, uh a lot of money. Um, so you know, like really we were just believing that like, hey, God, if, you know, we know this is your will, you want us to be in Englewood, you want, you know, you want us to be this outside of Chicago. Um, and but you know, we're gonna we're gonna need a miracle to make this happen. We're gonna need you to basically take uh, you know, the our metaphorical five loaves and uh uh two fish and you know, basically stretch this so that we could be able to afford this. Um, you know, and God really began to make some connections with a contractor who was willing to kind of give us, you know, a little more favorable terms uh after, you know, sort of getting bids from previous contractors that uh was way, way outside our budget. Um, we were able to find a bank that was, you know, willing to uh, you know, really stretch our credit uh to the max so that we could literally uh afford, you know, not only the purchase of the property, but the rehab of it. We had to go through a FHA, you know, rehab loan to be able to pull that off. Um, you know, we're able to find an inspector who was pretty good and you know, who really helped us to uh, you know, ensure that the work was being done properly. Um and God even gave us favor with Fannie Mae. So that's who we're getting the property from. Because, you know, like uh uh, you know, at the time, um when we're going through like our financial due diligence process, uh it sort of came up that um, you know, we were about $7,500 short. And the only way that, you know, we would be able to get that is if uh Fannie Mae was willing to come down on the sell price. Um and, you know, uh if you've never negotiated with Fannie Mae before, they generally don't cut you deals like that, especially after uh, you know, the the price has been accepted. But, you know, we uh, you know, God gave us favor with uh uh you know, whoever the decision maker was. And the guy was like, oh yeah, well, I already wrote this off my book, so yeah, we can knock off that $7,500 just to make sure the goatee deal goes through. And for us, you know, that might as well have been like seven million dollars because uh did feel like manna from heaven at the time. Um and you know, like we were able to get that first property, we were able to fix it up, and that became, you know, the home that we then used to start our ministry. You know, that's where we started our first uh youth after school program. That's you know how we were able to really begin to build those relationships with like Deontay's family. Um, and we were able to, you know, really, you know, we've even launched Southside Blooms from our house, you know, in our basement. You know, we have like a little made a little DIY walk and cooler. So everything that you see today, uh, you know, with Southside Blooms, like the oh, you know, we were on over 10 acres of farms, uh, we're about to open up our second flower shop on the west side, you know, we employ about 30 youth uh every year. Um, all that started because we were able to get this house. Um, and not to mention, you know, for those of us who've are married and uh, you know, are new, you know, if you're uh you remember being a newlywed, um, you know, heel and blackwell years truly had a lot of pressure on myself to really pull this off. Because, you know, Hannah, my wife, uh, she really, really wanted a home. And if this deal didn't go through, I had no plan B. So I had a lot of my marital credibility was at stake too. You know, we were just married for like three months at that point. And here I am putting all the chips, you know, in the middle, uh, hoping that this house is gonna go through. Otherwise, I was gonna have some uh early problems in the marriage. So yeah, like I would definitely say that was probably uh one of the biggest testimonies uh, you know, that you know, we had uh that really helped to propel our ministry.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. So these young people that are working, and by the way, it's an amazing miracle. Uh praise God for that. Um, you know, a lot of times we can we can think, you know, how come we don't see miracles today, you know, and blind eyes open and manna from heaven and things like that. Well, go into business. I mean, you're gonna you're you're walking on the water, you know, in a lot of in a lot of cases, just dependent on the grace of God. Um, and so just just um, I mean, step out as an entrepreneur, and maybe that's what God's calling you to do. If you want to see more miracles um as an entrepreneur, uh especially in those early days, I mean, you were dependent on those miracles to come through.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that is a hundred percent true.
SPEAKER_00So uh Keelan, do you have a sense that you are actually discipling these young people who who because you know there's a general sense that, well, you got to go to church to get discipled, but do you really feel like you're discipling them because you have a lot of influence and a lot of time, and they're they have a lot of exposure to your your company and and its culture. Um, what what's um what's happening in terms of disciple making?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that's uh I'm really glad Jay asked that question. That's something I you know usually get, you know, when I especially when I'm talking to more Christian audiences, someone so I sort of like, well, what about sharing the gospel, right? Um, and you know, like the thing that I like to tell people is do not underestimate how much you can disciple and share just in the context of relationship. Um and there's really no better way to do that than being an employer. Uh, you know, it's like at the end of the day, you know, when you're an employer, uh, you know, like you're you're you know, you're responsible for people's livelihoods. And, you know, you are spent working with them like eight hours a day, 40 hours a week, right? The the the culture that, you know, you as a Christian, like, you know, when you're the CEO, you're the one who sets that culture. You're the one who sang the values, right? You know, you're the one who decides uh, you know, what kind of music's gonna be played and you know what kind of conversations we can have and can't have. So there's a lot of influence that you have from a ministry standpoint, uh, you know, when you're uh a Christian who's running a business. Um I kind of underestimated, you know, in my in my early days, you know, like I did kind of doubt myself a little bit of like, okay, is this really ministry, you know, because it doesn't look like church. It doesn't, you know, we're not handing out tracts, you know, but you know, like kind of looking back on it and seeing where we're at today and just really seeing how many of our youth and even our staff, like how they progress and how they've even become more open to, you know, the kingdom and open to God. Uh, like, yeah, those conversations happen organically. And it's because they really get that opportunity to see the way, you know, you handle yourself in business, right? Like, you know, you know, it's it's one thing to say you're about the uh fruits of the spirit. It's another thing when you have to correct an employee and you know, you have to do it in love, right? And you're not just you know gonna rip into them or cuss them out, which is something that people are used to, you know, with more, you know, secular businesses. Um, so yeah, like we're definitely discipling people every day. Um, you know, uh it's it's there's kind of like this running joke uh among the farm guys that uh you know they're they're they're trying to do their best to kind of emulate me in terms of the way they go about them, you know, they're carrying their, you know, carrying themselves and um going about their day-to-day work. Um I really, you know, I take that as uh a great compliment because I'm just trying to emulate Jesus. So I'm like, hey, if I can basically point you to him, like, you know, that's me doing my job. So yes, does it look like you know, uh a more conventional church ministry, you know, where we have Bible studies and Sunday services? No, you know, but is it a situation where you know we can really, you know, walk the walk with people uh, you know, each and every day and you know, show them like what it actually means to be uh a Christian, you know, in in word and in deed. Yes, like we get to do that a hundred percent. Um, and you know, like there's been you know several of our youth who've talked about, you know, going back to church with their grandma or like getting a little more serious about uh you know reconnecting with Jesus. And, you know, like they've, you know, they're you know, like on their own, you know, they're they're getting inspired to get back to their faith. Um and you know, one thing too that you know, I like to share with people is, you know, there's a lot of people, especially in our country, where they've already heard the gospel, you know, like the the problem isn't they don't know the Jesus story, the problem is they're not seeing it manifest in their life, right? Um and when you're in business, you really get that opportunity to meet people's material needs and do those miracles in their lives and allow God to use you as a vessel that then will, you know, help to ignite that faith that you know was once there, but you know, sort of uh got lost, uh, you know, uh dealing with the cares of the world.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Like Paul said, and and you and you said it, really. I mean, exactly what Paul is saying, imitate me as I imitate Christ in First Corinthians 11 1. And uh that's discipleship. And I don't know where you're gonna be able to uh imitate somebody uh except in a place where you spend time with them. Um so uh I mean discipleship doesn't happen without enough exposure to where there's something to you gotta have something to imitate. Like, you know, it's it's great that you can hear somebody preach for, you know, and by the way, the lost world is not hearing anybody preach except through their lifestyle or who they come in contact. And the but even Christians getting discipled, most Christians are not being discipled because they're they haven't been um or they don't realize they've been discipled. I I think there's probably a lot more discipleship going on than we realize, but it really uh most of it is happening at our workplace, and we're being discipled by the people in the culture in which we work because that's what uh has the most um that's what we have the most exposure to, and that's what has the most influence uh on us. We might not admit that, but just the sheer volume of time that we spend in the workplace, um, but that's uh what a what an opportunity you have and what an opportunity those of us and as entrepreneurs, as as CEOs have to be able to make disciples. Um, I mean, what does a what does a discipleship conversation sound like? Or what what has it sounded like in your workplace?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so it's definitely uh a little atypical. So, you know, I guess like, you know, one example I could think of is uh, you know, we do allow weddings. So, you know, once again, for those who aren't familiar with our community, uh, you know, on the south side, uh, you know, like there's a lot of single uh parent households. Um many of our youth have never been to a wedding, uh, you know, their parents have never been married. Uh, you know, so being able to go to a wedding sparks like a lot of conversation. So, you know, we'll like, you know, when we do a wedding and, you know, they're asking questions about like, you know, well, what's the role of the bridesmaids? And, you know, like, you know, what's the, you know, what's the flower growth for? Because like they're making the flowers for all these things, but they don't necessarily understand like the the context within a in a within a wedding, right? So, you know, then that naturally will begin to open up conversations about marriage and you know, like, you know, why people get married, you know, what is marriage? You know, how can you prepare for marriage, right? And, you know, that is a natural uh, you know, uh lead into, you know, kind of sharing your faith and talking about, okay, well, how does God see marriage? And, you know, like I've had conversations like with our team, you know, with like youth, uh, you know, kind of just using me and my wife as an example of like, hey, you know, a big reason why we're together, as a matter of fact, the only reason why we're together is, you know, because of our faith in Jesus. Like that's really what brought us together. And, you know, because of this marriage and because we've taken, you know, God's covenant seriously, you know, now it's, you know, you're benefiting from that, right? Because like our ministry is being upheld by a very strong marriage, you know, and then they start you start seeing the wheels turn, right? You start seeing them connect the dots in more practical ways of, oh, well, I never really thought about how marriage can like lead to stability or could, you know, lead to helping me to. You know, climb up the economic ladder. And then that leads to conversations about, well, who should I marry? What traits should I be looking for? I mean, there's a whole bunch of things that, I mean, there's a lot of meat on this bone. You know what I'm saying, Darren? So, you know, like, and these are very like robust conversations. And, you know, like when you're doing a wedding, like you pretty much got all day with them. Because, you know, you go in the morning, you drop off the wearables, you know, the boutineers and the brow bouquets and bridesmaids' bouquets. And you generally got some time before you have to set up like the arch and the centerpieces, you know, for the ceremony. And then you got some more times you have to wait to the flip for the reception. And then you gotta like clean up at this. So you literally are with these youth all day, right? So you gotta talk about something, you know what I mean? So when you kind of talk about, you know, a youth ministry and being able to disciple. I mean, there's times where you really have 12 hours, you know, to sit there and just talk about life, you know, and talk about how you see life and talk about, you know, like how faith plays a role in that. And it's in a very natural way. Like it doesn't, it doesn't feel forced, you know, and it's like we don't force those conversations. Like, you know, they start asking questions because they're curious. And then, you know, you're just being authentic, you know, because like we're not we're not like a religious nonprofit, right? So, you know, we don't, you know, we don't go proselytizing, but hey, if you ask me about my life, I'm just sharing my testimony, I'm just sharing my story, right? I'm just telling you the way I do things, you know. And, you know, like because uh you're in a situation where you know you're the employer, well, you tend to have a lot of influence because, you know, you're the model, you know what I mean? So yeah, like, yeah, those conversations happen all the time. I mean, all the time. And it's it's it's amazing, you know, and in in a lot of ways, it's like very refreshing for me because uh, you know, my parents were married or they still are married. Um, I grew up in a nuclear home, you know, upper middle class, they don't want for anything. So, you know, sometimes you kind of take that for granted. You know what I'm saying? And uh, you know, one of the things too that I kind of realize uh doing this work is, you know, like, you know, quote unquote traditional values has, you know, really been uh, you know, I guess uh not under attack's the right word, but you know, challenge, definitely. Um, and I I start to realize, like, you know, like what it says in Hosea 4, 6, like my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. And, you know, for those of us who grew up, you know, with, you know, seeing marriage modeled, you know, successfully, you know, it's easy to take for granted that, like, yeah, you know what, not everyone understands the benefits of marriage. And it's a challenge for me to, you know, when I'm talking to the youth and working with the youth, to learn, okay, how can I communicate the benefits of marriage in a way that is appealing to a 16-year-old, a 17-year-old, right? Who's only seen, you know, broken families or domestic violence or, you know, single motherhood or single fatherhood, right? Like, how can I like, you know, win you, so to speak, that, hey, you know what, taking the time, finding a wife, doing this, doing that, like that, that's worth it for you, right? So, you know, it's, you know, it's a it's a challenge that I enjoy. Um, and it's something that uh, you know, like those are like the little things that honestly anybody can do. You know, really, you gotta just put yourself in that situation. Um, and when you're in business, it's like like these situations just kind of, you know, come like on a daily basis because when you're working together, you know, like you, you, I mean, you know, you've got to, you've gotta figure stuff out together. You gotta spend time together, right? Um, and you know, just so you know, just for your uh audience to know, like, you know, our even though like our youth are you know predominantly black, there's a lot of diversity, right? Like, you know, they're they're individuals. So, you know, we have like LGBTQ youth, right? You know, we obviously have you know boys, we have girls, we have, you know, k kids who are Trump supporters, kids who are Biden supporters, and everything in between, right? So there's a lot of diversity, you know, within these youth. And uh, you know, so for me, I basically get a lot of practice with, okay, well, you know, what buttons work with this kid or what buttons with that work with that kid? And um, you know, I feel like I personally become better at, you know, I guess evangelizing than if I wasn't in business, you know what I mean?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, absolutely. And um wow, that's that's really admirable to be able to just take advantage of those those discipleship moments, because I think if we will uh really view our our team members and customers as people that have emotions, that have souls, that that have questions, um and and would love to just open up and share uh what they're thinking, what's on their mind and ask their questions, um, if we would just if we would just tune in and and pay attention to those opportunities that the Lord is uh presenting to us. And I mean, wow, well being around weddings um as a young person, I remember that was always a very uh introspective experience. Um, you know, to go to a wedding as a young person, like, wow, you know, maybe one day this will be me. And you know, what kind of person am I gonna marry? And what kind of person am I gonna be? Um and to just be able to be right there. And I mean, it's it's one thing to to to teach and preach it, but that you're living it, that you have uh, you know, a solid family, and you and your wife are teaming up and you know, um are homeschooling your kids, and you know, that's um that's imitate me is I imitate Christ. Um, and you have the authority to be able to say that. Um, and it sounds like you have some some very impressionable and receptive young people who are um who are following you. So that's the kind of company you'd be supporting um by buying flowers from southsideblooms.com. Um, anything else you want to say, Keelan, about how people can get involved?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, um, you know, like uh you can go support us by going to our website, southsideblooms.com backslash shop. Uh as I said, you know, we deliver all over the country. Um, you know, you can also, you know, follow us on our Instagram. You can follow us on our Facebook. Um, you know, and uh, you know, we are looking to uh eventually expand Southside Blooms across the country. So, you know, like maybe one day we'll come to a city near you and you know, we would love any help or assistance uh with making that happen. And I guess, you know, finally, uh, you know, we would love to, you know, be able like me and Hannah would love to come and you know speak to your church like virtually in person. Um, you know, we're actually very passionate about, you know, this kind of ministry. And uh, you know, it's one of our one of the things that we would love to share, you know, with just the body of Christ is uh, you know, how you can uh, you know, be able to do ministry in a you know very unique, non-conventional way. Um and even as you said, Darren, like it really is as simple as just being that, being an example, you know, like we got God's one who's putting us in these positions. Um and we're just being true to ourselves, being true to our faith. Like we're not doing anything special, you know, we're not uh, you know, getting like you know, the smoke machine and the lights and trying to get the rap music to try to reach the kids, right? You know, like God basically just take, you know, took Keelan, took Hannah, two people who aren't from Chicago, plopped us here, and all we do is just say, yes, Lord, whatever you need, Lord, we follow you every day. Um, even like with the weddings, like I wish I could take credit for that. That's not my idea. You know, like I did not think that weddings would be a great, you know, discipleship and evangelism tool. Like that's just something that the Lord has led us uh to do. Um so yeah, like uh, and I guess like the last thing I would just want to say is at the end of the day, our work is really about preserving life in all of its forms. Uh, you know, first and foremost, human life. Uh and then, you know, sort of ecological life. You know, our farms are 100% uh, you know, solar, uh regenerative ag. You know, we farm the way that, you know, Mother Nature would want to do it, uh, you know, because creation care is very integral to what we do. Um, so yeah, but like preserving life is really what this is about. Um, because you know, you can't really uh win souls if those souls are dead. So, you know, that's one of the big reasons why we came to Inglewood. It's one of the more violent neighborhoods in in America. Um, and we're looking to bring peace and prosperity. And in the process, uh, you know, God's really elevating our work and, you know, helping to uh reach people in unique and creative ways. So, yeah, that's definitely uh, you know, definitely, I guess, like my parting words for your audience.
SPEAKER_00Beautiful. Keelan, thank you for spending time with our audience today. It's been fascinating and inspiring. And uh thanks for the great work you're doing. Again, everybody, SouthsideBlooms.com. I know we just came through Mother's Day, but um birthdays, anniversaries, all those kinds of things, definitely go reach out and get get some of those beautiful flowers. I've seen them, they're they're gorgeous um um assortments and bouquets and whatever the technical terms are.
SPEAKER_01Uh you're doing good, Darren. You're doing good.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Great work, Keelan. Thank you so much. Thank you. Appreciate it. We hope you've enjoyed this episode. And if so, we would greatly appreciate it if you'd leave us a quick rating number two. You can get more information about HTTPS. It's like free access to all issues of the Christian by visiting our website at Christian.