#4 - Cyndi Kirkheart - Foodbank's Roll in the Mission's Work

n this episode, Mitch Webb sits down with Cyndi Kirkhart to talk about the partnership between the foodbank and the Huntington City Mission and how they work together to feed people across the region. Cyndi shares what drew her into this work, the reality of food insecurity in the United States, and where she believes the future of serving people is headed. Along the way, she tells powerful stories that show how something as simple as food can change a life. Listen, be inspired, and enjoy.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:13

Well, welcome to this edition of Hope Cast, the podcast for the Huntington City mission. And I'm excited today because I have a good friend of mine with us here today from Facing Hunger Food Bank here in Huntington, just right down the street from us, my good friend Cindy Kirkhart. Cindy, welcome. Glad that you're here today.

SPEAKER_00 0:33

Mitchell, it's a pleasure to be here with you.

SPEAKER_01 0:37

I tell you, now I tell everybody that will listen to this uh what a great partner that Facing Hunger has been with the Honey City Mission. And I will tell you, as we went through COVID, I don't know how we would have made it without your help. And I will forever be grateful for that, my friend. And it's just remarkable.

SPEAKER_00 1:01

Well, I will tell you, Mitch, that that was a time that required all of us to pivot in ways that we probably hadn't thought about.

SPEAKER_01 1:09

That's right.

SPEAKER_00 1:10

I like to say to our team, when we go through it, we grow through it. And I think that the learnings through COVID helped both of us and and certainly in the work that we do in a lot of ways. So it was an honor to uh stand beside you and in the work here, and and clearly I think everything we do together is is is stronger.

SPEAKER_01 1:40

I think so, definitely. And I know I've seen in the past, uh, especially on social media, uh, and I know that the people just don't understand how things work, but there have been times when we have maybe talked about a particular need that we have or how many meals that we're serving. And I've heard people say, well, why doesn't the food bank help them? And I just want to make sure everyone knows that that is that is not the right question. That that they are they help us tremendously. And and as I said before, we'll forever be grateful for that. So Cindy, tell me about a little bit about your background. What were the steps that that took you to running facing hunger?

SPEAKER_00 2:26

Well, I will tell you that probably the first thing and the core uh part of my life that led me to the helping professions, but certainly it makes the food bank feel like home, is that for the early part of my life, my mother and father divorced, and my mom was a single parent for a while. And back then, there weren't food pantries or the food bank, right? But the church.

SPEAKER_02 3:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:03

You know, so we had neighbors that would, if they saw or heard that there was need, there'd be a knock at your door. And before you got to the door, there was a box of food. Um, my mom always worked. She worked from the time she was 17 till when she was 81. So it that wasn't an issue, but it was a very difficult time.

SPEAKER_01 3:29

Yes, that's right. You know, did you have siblings?

SPEAKER_00 3:31

I did not. I did not until I was 20.

SPEAKER_01 3:34

Oh, wow.

SPEAKER_00 3:34

And then my mom and my stepfather had my sister. Um, so my mom is the only woman I know that raised two only children because of the, you know, the age difference. Um I was blessed, as we would hope all children are, to have been uh celebrated by my grandparents as just the most special thing ever.

SPEAKER_01 4:04

Yeah, that's right. That's good.

SPEAKER_00 4:06

And when a child is given that kind of support, I think that helps you overcome a lot of other challenges. My stepfather was an alcoholic, and there were very difficult days in in our home. And then there was the kindness of teachers, yeah, you know, who may have seen me struggle or just you know, good souls. And so I pretty quickly determined I wanted to be in the helping professions, had designs to be a psychologist, and you know um got my bachelor's in psychology and um then kind of entered the master's, you know, realm doing the same thing. My first job in Huntington, you know, daughter of Marshall, was at branches as a shelter worker. Oh, wow. Okay, good. Then I went and you know, lived in the woods with psychiatrically challenged teenagers who were actually more behavioral than anything. And, you know, long story short, the path returned here.

SPEAKER_02 5:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:19

And when the food bank position came open, it became clear to me that I was the school in full circle. You know, the most basive needs, but I've been working with people in need um all my life. So I landed, and I think everything, as I'm sure you would feel, everything that you did before prepares you for this place, right?

SPEAKER_01 5:46

And I I know that not everyone has the same uh spiritual views, but I look back at my life and I can see, just as you said, that uh everything really was just a uh maybe not a stepping stone, but it was more like breadcrumbs. You know, you you follow the breadcrumbs uh and you got where you were were supposed to be.

SPEAKER_00 6:07

Yes. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 6:09

That's so true. I I tell people I was 55 years old before I knew what I wanted to be when I grew up.

SPEAKER_00 6:14

Right.

SPEAKER_01 6:15

And uh yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:16

Well, I could I could say that same thing because it was about that time that you know I landed at the food bank.

SPEAKER_01 6:22

Yeah, yeah, right. Me, I it was me, 55 years old and changing. I've been a state electorate for 35 years and changed careers. Yeah. So a little bit scary, but no no regrets at all. And I would hate to have think that I would not have done that and played it safe and missed out.

SPEAKER_00 6:41

That's right.

SPEAKER_01 6:42

Yeah, yeah. Um, so you you said you got your degree was in in psychology, did you say?

SPEAKER_00 6:49

Yeah. So And then I got my MBA.

SPEAKER_01 6:52

Oh, nice.

SPEAKER_00 6:52

Yeah, yeah. So I've got a master's in psych. But what they don't teach you is you really gotta know about business. Yeah. So you wanna be a therapist, you wanna be this, uh, you know, you gotta understand business. So there was a reason I didn't go to business school when I could have, right? Right. So that was tough.

SPEAKER_02 7:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:16

That was tough. Econ and accounting and um a later stage, but I will tell you, I'm sure you feel the same way about things. Sometimes when you're older, the appreciation for the work put in and and what you're able to accomplish in spite of being out of school for how many years, you know, keeps you young. Yeah, it's or you know, keeps that fighting spirit going. I'm not sure.

SPEAKER_01 7:46

Yeah. So I've I've always interested in what you have to say about the local state of things from a food insecurities perspective. I I I just have a feeling that the majority of Americans really, and and probably people in our area, have no idea how serious that need really is. And I was wondering if you would just talk to us a little bit about that.

SPEAKER_00 8:16

Sure. Nationwide, the average is one in six adults are food insecure, and one in five children. Okay. So around here, yeah, that's that's probably um, if you consider the whole state, those statistics would probably ring true. But where the food bank is located in our service area, our food insecurity rate for children is actually one in four. Okay. And then the one in five for adults. Um, I think that people believe that the Huntington area doesn't have all of the challenges that it does, or they might relegate whatever challenges to, oh, well, it's the unsheltered population. Oh, well, it's disk.

SPEAKER_02 9:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:13

Huntington has a very high poverty rate.

SPEAKER_02 9:17

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 9:19

That that's not what brings those numbers, you know, so high. Um, a lot of the counties that the food bank serves, Mingo Counties, one of them, 30% food insecurity rate overall, um, about 32% for children. So in the good old days, Mitch, you know, we were looking at serving 130,000 souls. But as you know, yeah, increasingly people are that one paycheck away from problems.

SPEAKER_01 9:57

Right.

SPEAKER_00 9:58

They can't recover. Then we have a really high inflation rate. We have really high food prices, fuel, you know, gas, electric utilities, everything's very high. So people who once didn't have to worry about being food secure, you know, they were good, suddenly are slipping.

SPEAKER_02 10:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:20

So the variability of the food insecurity rate, I think, has increased exponentially since you and I came to know each other, right?

SPEAKER_01 10:29

Ten years ago. That's right. Uh, we've certainly, like you say, you've seen in here, our our meals served have almost tripled. And two-thirds of those meals that we serve are not for people who live here, but they're for people in the community. Many of them are the working poor.

SPEAKER_00 10:46

That's right. Yeah. I can't tell you, especially with the government shutdown and when SNAP benefits went away. People who called, well, they needed food, but they needed a meal. And we said, the mission will serve. You know, you can go and have a meal there. I saw your social media post where people are going, well, you know, I can't go to the mission because I don't live there. And you, you know, open the door.

SPEAKER_02 11:17

Right.

SPEAKER_00 11:18

So it's an incredible thing that we're seeing now with what hunger looks like versus the assumption of what it looks like, that it's some failing, right? Right. You said it, working poor. 89% of the people we serve are underemployed.

SPEAKER_01 11:41

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 11:41

Okay. Families with children, seniors, veterans.

SPEAKER_01 11:47

Yes. Right.

SPEAKER_00 11:48

Okay. Um, or unemployed. And a lot of that through no fault of their own.

SPEAKER_01 11:56

Right. Right. I think that the uh so so the thing about what you just said, you said children, seniors, veterans. And you know, you would think in America that neither one of those groups would have to worry about whether or not they had enough to eat.

SPEAKER_00 12:14

That's right.

SPEAKER_01 12:15

And the days where you could just drive by, roll down the window, and you'll get a job, I don't know if that ever was effective, but it's certainly not now.

SPEAKER_00 12:24

No. No. You know, we've asked so much of the people who serve our country.

SPEAKER_01 12:31

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 12:32

I will never forget I was in Boone County and I was pulling up to get on the quarter, and there was a veteran standing there, and he had his identification to verify it. And he came running over and he's waving his ID at me to confirm that he was a veteran and he just needed something. Okay. And I'm we can do better than that. Uh, a lot of our seniors are people who did everything right. They worked at a time when there were pensions and when there were retirements. I mean, good luck finding those now. But no one planned on, and I'll never forget, someone kind of approached me and said, Well, they should have planned better. And I said, Well, you know, how would they have planned for the company they work for, say a coal company, um, going bankrupt and defunding their retirement and health care benefits? And that person said, Oh, I hadn't thought about that. Did they plan to raise their grandchildren and great-grandchildren because of the opioid epidemic? You know, I there are a hundred different stories, and we see them a lot just like you do here. You know, we don't know all the things that people went through to get where they are.

SPEAKER_01 14:02

That's right. It's very easy to be uh judgmental. And but it's another thing altogether when you when you uh start to hear the stories and you find out uh what people are actually going through.

SPEAKER_00 14:14

That's right.

unknown 14:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:16

So where do you think the biggest threats are right now to to this problem increasing?

SPEAKER_00 14:26

I will tell you, I think one of the greater threats right now is that people have very recently been introduced to a level of uncertainty that they hadn't experienced before. And that is we had a government shutdown, which we've had before, but we had never had SNAP benefits stopped. So I think people had some confidence that that part of the safety net would continue. And it's like anything, once it happens one time, it's introduced to you as something you always have to worry about.

SPEAKER_01 15:10

That's right.

SPEAKER_00 15:11

And I think that there are a lot of things going on now that that create uncertainty for people, for me, and probably for you all. Funding, you know, access, all these things, crazy weather. Yep. Right. So I think that's the greater thing that uh the core belief that they would have resources has been shaken.

SPEAKER_01 15:40

You know, that little four-letter word hope, you know, once that gets dashed, then uh the whole atmosphere just changes.

SPEAKER_00 15:49

Indeed. And you know, Mitch, you and I have talked about that sometimes the easiest thing to do is to talk to people.

SPEAKER_01 15:58

Yes, that's right.

SPEAKER_00 15:59

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 16:00

Right.

SPEAKER_00 16:00

And I know that your team here, you know, uh that you have supported and continue to in in a lot of different ways. My team takes such comfort out of the work.

SPEAKER_02 16:17

Yeah, that's right.

SPEAKER_00 16:18

That they're helping. But then suddenly there is now an increasing need for people to feel better. So they're asking questions. What what is there for me? Is there help for me? So even though we don't pay them as therapists, they become therapists.

SPEAKER_01 16:42

That's the truth.

SPEAKER_00 16:43

You know, they're safe people to talk to. And you have hired a lot of people that were lived experience. I do too. And the threat of traumatizing them by them having shared a lived experience with those we serve a sph a lot.

SPEAKER_01 17:06

Yeah, sure does.

SPEAKER_00 17:07

So not only are, you know, the people we serve uncertain, we've introduced more uncertainty to our team members.

SPEAKER_01 17:15

Right. Right. I think that is the key word is uncertainty. We just uh you know, we just don't know. But let me ask you this question along that line. Uh you personally, are you hopeful about the future?

SPEAKER_00 17:32

That's a good question. Um Mitch, both of us have worked closely with Mission Tri-State. Uh I'm not a preacher. I am a fallible child of God. But I put my yes on the table a long time ago because I needed to do that.

SPEAKER_02 17:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:58

And so I just wait for God's questions.

SPEAKER_02 18:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:02

And that yeah you have to be eternally hopeful with that. Right. And I will also tell you that if I'm not hearing God talk, I bear I bear shut up myself.

SPEAKER_01 18:16

That's right.

SPEAKER_00 18:17

And so in dark moments, which we have, I remind myself that me, my team, this community, the communities we serve, have managed to survive a hundred percent of the things. So, okay, I may not know the path forward.

SPEAKER_01 18:43

Right.

SPEAKER_00 18:44

But all right, here we go.

SPEAKER_01 18:46

Yeah, that's right. And you know, that's one of the great things about our area. We hear a lot of complaints, and I know there are a lot of things that we could do different and do better, but when the rubber meets the road, uh, we tend to, you know, the Appalachian comes out of us and we tend to take care of each other. And uh it's a shame sometimes that it takes that before we do it, but but we do tend to do it. And I like what you said there too, and again, I didn't intend to get preachy on this uh discussion here. But you know, if if I didn't have a faith in uh a sovereign God, then I don't know if I would even want to do this work because it's hard for me to see any hope apart from that. You know, when you see you s there there's all sorts of people doing really good things, but when you s you you start to see how fragile that is and how quickly that can change. So if there's not a if there's not a a more steady, firm, stronger hand than mine at the helm, we're trying. Yeah. So Right.

SPEAKER_00 19:57

I know myself.

SPEAKER_01 20:03

So what is what's coming up for facing hunger? Are there any new new things coming up or any of us even to I I think you and I are similar in this, even when things are challenging, maybe especially when things are challenging, uh, you don't tend to sit still. You tend to that's right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:21

Can't hit a moving target.

SPEAKER_01 20:24

So what's coming up for for facing hunger?

SPEAKER_00 20:27

Well, I tell you, you know, you and I have talked a lot about we can do more together. We can't separate. And number one, clearly, is to get the building at 1329, functioning as an on-site food pantry, okay, that will help us be able to distribute through our programs, the medically indicated food box program, um, the CSFP, the senior program, that people can come and get those food resources whenever they want, versus us, you know, showing up at First Presbyterian, they they miss that. That's a problem. So I want to do that. We need the doubled, you know, warehouse space. Um, I really feel and I have such respect for every recovery program and people in recovery. Um, I think we can do more uh with our team members. You know, I'm very committed to second and fair chance employment at the food bank. Um I'm finding that there's still work to be done in recovery that isn't accomplished in a program.

SPEAKER_01 21:51

That's right.

SPEAKER_00 21:51

Okay. There's the trauma, there's grief.

SPEAKER_01 21:54

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 21:55

Um I have invited uh that work. Into the food bank that has been a blessing, but then it has been a heartbreak. It's true. We have lost team members. I signed up for that. I didn't think about the impact on the rest of the team. So I have introduced trauma and heartbreak to them. So I think that there is more programming that can be done. I would really like to have an on-site chaplain that can be engaged in that team and that we're doing those touches. We're really focusing right now on social determinants of health of our team members. One of the team members we lost and just kind of did the anniversary of that passing had been living in a camper and it caught on fire and he died. And you know, I can't own that. Yeah, but had I known, maybe we could have done something to help him secure better housing. So I'm taking a real serious look at that so that we all understand where we are together. Um, and then maybe I can um we'll do financial planning, we'll, you know, help educational gaps by you know Excel training, computer training. So that's there. I'm still committed to Mingo County.

SPEAKER_01 23:40

Rose Born, by the way.

SPEAKER_00 23:42

Well, you know, you know, talk about Appalachian. Yeah. There's good, good, good people. 76% of the grandparents in Mingo County are grandfamilies. So we really want to figure out a way for all of the recovery programs and efforts down there, that there's employment opportunities. So we still look to have a warehouse down there, uh, do workforce development, and you know, Mitch, I buy a lot of produce.

unknown 24:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:22

And through LFPA with the department bag, we helped make whole a lot of farmers. LFPA goes away, then farmers are struggling. So keeping those partnerships and figuring out may not be a lot of acreage down in Mingo.

SPEAKER_01 24:43

Right. Not much flight rent.

SPEAKER_00 24:45

But hydroponics and aquaponics, and you know, and and what can we do that way? So those are the big ones. And, you know, I I'm watching you and your retirement and taking notes. Um I don't want to work until I'm 81, you know, like my mom did. Um and I think that there are other things, and I think that at some point it's time for fresh eyes and good place. Um so the so those will keep me busy for a little bit. Yeah, that's good. Um and then we'll see what else the future holds.

SPEAKER_01 25:23

Um You mentioned two things a while ago. The boxes you go medically something.

SPEAKER_00 25:30

Medically indicated food boxes, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:32

And then there was another thing. It was I think it started with a C.

SPEAKER_00 25:35

CSFP.

SPEAKER_01 25:36

Would you would you explain those two things?

SPEAKER_00 25:39

Sure. So I'll start with CSFP. That is the commodity supplemental food program, which is a program through USDA that is for seniors 60 and above. Oh, okay. So as with everything with USDA, it's income-based. There are, you know, income guidelines. But qualifying seniors, let's say it's a couple. If they both, you know, meet the program requirements, they would both get a food box. So it's about 40 pounds of food that includes grains and fruits and vegetables and a chunk of cheese, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:17

From is it a one-shot deal or is it a monthly once a month, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:22

Until they decide that they don't want it or no, they're they move into maybe an assisted living facility or something like that. An incredible program. And they can still benefit from other emergency food resources. So they can go to their pantry and get other food in addition to that. Medically indicated food box is a program we've been running since 2017. Um, basically to help people self-manage chronic disease. West Virginia is a state that is number one on all the bad lists. High diabetes, high health, you know, heart disease, um, cancer, obesity, all those things. Yeah. So these food boxes are basically to support uh no salt, no sugar, you know, pretty clean foods, lean proteins. And what we're seeing, and we've been in partnership with Marshall Health for a long time, Valley Health, um, Southern West Virginia Health Services, we just continue to expand, is people don't require the same level of medications. They are losing weight because they're eating better, blood pressures are going down, and it's because of the availability and the nutritional value of that food.

SPEAKER_01 27:51

Well, let me ask you, is that a national program or is that a Sydney Kirkhart design?

SPEAKER_00 27:58

Uh I w I wish it was. Uh, but no, but there is movement across this country for food as medicine kind of initiatives. And I think right now, and we're so lucky, former state senator Mike Stewart is now general counsel at Health and Human Services with RFK Jr., who was a big proponent of West Virginia made and produced food. Okay. Governor Morrissey and his wife, the first lady, both very interested in making America healthy again. So similar to me being a redhead when redheads weren't cool, we were doing this work. And now, you know, the momentum is such that we're actually partnered with several entities in the state, but really kind of regionally for us, um, to find a way to make that programming statewide and catch up with the rest of the country.

SPEAKER_01 29:03

That's exciting.

SPEAKER_00 29:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 29:05

Are there other programs that you guys do that probably the average person doesn't know about?

SPEAKER_00 29:09

Well, clearly, I mean, we do the backpack program, about 4,000 kids a week. During the summer, we do a community-supported agriculture program for our seniors that isn't a voucher-driven thing. We just take the food out. You know, I love that some of these seniors take the seeds out of everything, draw them, and then they plant them later on, you know. So that's always a lot of fun. Um, other than that, you know, we do mobile pantries. Yeah. Uh during this shutdown, Mitch, typically every week it's 250 households at every distribution. Um, I mean, we increased by 70%, and we're serving like 900 households.

SPEAKER_01 29:50

My goodness. The backpack program, is that distributed through schools?

SPEAKER_00 29:55

It is. It is. Now, we do have some partner agencies who get their food from us and then they do distribute to the schools. But a lot of ours is actually taking food directly to the schools either by case and then um volunteers at the school aggregate it, or we bag it up and then they distribute the bags.

SPEAKER_01 30:16

Nice.

SPEAKER_00 30:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 30:17

Do you have any statistics? I wonder how many pounds of food come through your place in a month?

SPEAKER_00 30:25

Um generally when things are kind of level, about a million pounds. Yeah. Um during the shutdown, it was two million pounds in one month. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 30:40

Where did you get the resources to do that?

SPEAKER_00 30:43

Well, full credit to Governor Morrissey for right away understanding that you know, the the food banks, two food banks in the state, um, who have long been soldiers, you know, we we will back your play, whatever, in the charitable food system. When those snap benefits went away, when the shutdown occurred, you know, we have a lot of Coast Guard around here.

SPEAKER_01 31:18

Oh, really?

SPEAKER_00 31:19

And in our service area, we have two federal prisons. So the prisons were running, people were working, but they weren't being paid. What? Coast Guard's one of the first ones to lose their checks. And then you have government contractors, right? They stopped being paid. So the governor right away started hearing, what are we going to do? Um, and to his credit, he showed up with money. And we saw it coming, and I started ordering food, and it was like a look in the promise how I'm gonna pay for everything. But because no one budgeted for that, and I certainly didn't have on my bingo card, but without the governor and the state funding, I don't know how we would have made it.

SPEAKER_01 32:09

Yeah, that's great to hear.

SPEAKER_00 32:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 32:12

And uh we we seldom hear positive things like that about our political leaders, and that's really encouraging to hear that there there is a.

SPEAKER_02 32:21

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 32:25

I think I've asked you about everything I wanted to ask you. Is there anything else you want to talk about?

SPEAKER_00 32:30

You know yeah. I want to talk about what's surprising to us.

SPEAKER_01 32:40

Oh yes.

SPEAKER_00 32:41

Okay. Sometimes I think here, I'll speak for here, but I see it in other places. We may serve different populations by the nature of the name of our business, right? But we're serving the same people. You and I come together, we provide you food, you feed people. Okay. We get food, we provide it to our pantries, the pantries distribute the food, they feed people. Backpack programs feed, you know. But isn't it interesting that the the donors and the people who support us, they're supporting us. But sometimes then it breaks down that we're we're talking about different people. Okay. I know you've seen it, I've heard it, I've kind of lived it. Okay, well, people want to feed children.

SPEAKER_02 33:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 33:49

Okay. And we value children.

SPEAKER_01 33:54

I'm sure.

SPEAKER_00 33:56

Well, I gotta tell you, Mitch, every child grows up, God willing, to be an adult. And I am struck by sometimes how the value of life is for X amount of time, and then because of an affliction, you know, a disease, um trying to overcome trauma and grief and decisions that people make somehow their life is less same.

SPEAKER_01 34:31

That's right.

SPEAKER_00 34:32

And so I'm kind of thoughtful right now, having reached this milestone age that I have been. But we're all talking about the same people.

SPEAKER_01 34:46

That's true.

SPEAKER_00 34:47

And if you readily attend church and you read your Bible, the least of these.

SPEAKER_01 34:55

Yeah, that's right.

SPEAKER_00 34:56

Okay. I haven't found a Bible yet that outlines and by the least of these, they have to meet these boxes. Check, check, check. Okay. So I know there are so many wonderful people in this community who support the mission, who support the food bank, who support so many initiatives. And I'm struck by the things that divide us.

SPEAKER_02 35:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 35:27

Because what I know and we did it last year, we'll we'll continue to do it, is when we did the Earth Day cleanup.

SPEAKER_01 35:35

Yes, right.

SPEAKER_00 35:36

We came right down here.

SPEAKER_01 35:37

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 35:38

Yeah. I'm looking in the eyes of people who utilize your services.

SPEAKER_01 35:46

Right.

SPEAKER_00 35:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 35:49

Each each one of them created in the image of God, by the way.

SPEAKER_00 35:52

That's right. That's right. And if you believe that you have a purpose on this earth and that God doesn't make mistakes, that gift, that purpose still exist. And wouldn't it be great if we could find a way to remember the value of life at conception and at birth and at age six and at age 15?

unknown 36:24

Right.

SPEAKER_00 36:24

It never ends.

SPEAKER_01 36:26

That's true.

SPEAKER_00 36:27

And I think that the more we do to humanize and remind people of their humanity, the less likely we are to create really great animals.

SPEAKER_01 36:39

Yeah. That's really good. I I like that. I I quickly learned when I came to the mission that there are a lot of people that I refer to as disposable people. You know, I hadn't been here a couple of weeks, and an older woman who was unable to take care of herself, covered in her own feces, uh, was brought here and just dumped out. Recently, we had um a special needs couple from another state that someone loaded into a car, brought them here, didn't see if we have room, drove out in front of our dining hall and dumped them out, said, I love you, kissed him on the cheek, and was done with it. Like you would throw away a Kleenex or a pop can over a bridge so that you didn't have to have that in your car anymore. And I have just seen it over and over and over and over. And then they not just that, but the way that that our folks are viewed, you know, as you say, as though they have no value at all. Uh and that's that makes me angry, and it also is heartbreaking. I think it is.

SPEAKER_00 37:55

I will tell you something. 40% of my workforce is second chance. Okay. So sometimes I work angles. Those guys, when they're in their programs, they come and volunteer for us. I guess see them.

SPEAKER_01 38:14

You cherry back.

SPEAKER_00 38:15

You do, you do. And what I know is I'm still one of just a few businesses that will hire someone with a felon. Okay. So they've committed to making their lives better. But if you can't get work and you have kids to provide for, and we're expecting them to do those things, you're eventually going to go back to old ways. That's right. Everyone knows how to make money. Okay. But they have to have a start. And what I see and what I've heard many times, and I don't take credit for it, is when they say, You gave me the life I have right now. I didn't. You did. You did it. Um so I see those miracles and those transformations every day. I know you you have seen those. And I just I don't think we're asking people to do more than than we do, which is invest. Invest in time. Yeah. You know.

SPEAKER_01 39:33

And and we think that if we do that, then there's n we can't have accountability. That's that's the exact opposite.

SPEAKER_00 39:40

That's right.

SPEAKER_01 39:41

You have to have accountability. But um I find that people who were in the path to do well, they're going to respond well to that.

SPEAKER_00 39:51

That's right.

SPEAKER_01 39:52

Yeah, they crave that. I had an instance with an employee that everyone dearly loved, not long after I came here, who uh who relapsed. My first experience with that. And so I did everything I could to keep him. And so we did, and then just a little while later, he did it again, and then we finally had to let it go. Well, a year or so later, one of our other guys who was in recovery, who I got to know really well, and when he was comfortable with me, his exact words were, It pissed me off when you didn't fire him. What? He said, Because that let me know that I could do that too. So you have accountability, you you have uh, you know, structure, but uh they become some of the best employees you have. We have roughly 50 employees here right now, and 75% of ours are people in in long-term recovery. And quite a few with prison records, yeah, quite a few felons, and but some of them are the best folks we've got.

SPEAKER_00 41:05

That's right.

SPEAKER_01 41:06

So, but you gotta they gotta have a start.

SPEAKER_00 41:08

They gotta have a start, and to your point, the accountability, it's no different for them than it is anyone else.

SPEAKER_01 41:16

That's exactly right.

SPEAKER_00 41:17

You know, so we're clear about that. I uh say to them, whatever happened back here is back here. Our experience is the future. Yeah, that's good. And you decide how it's gonna be. You know, I know everything, we're done with that.

SPEAKER_01 41:37

Yeah. That's called a fresh start.

SPEAKER_00 41:40

That's called a fresh start.

SPEAKER_01 41:41

How many of us have benefited from having that in our lives?

SPEAKER_00 41:45

Many times.

SPEAKER_01 41:46

Yeah. Yeah, that's for sure.

SPEAKER_00 41:47

Many times.

SPEAKER_01 41:49

Well, let's see what else we've got to talk about.

SPEAKER_00 41:54

I'm gonna talk about the art of the pivot.

SPEAKER_01 41:57

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 41:57

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 41:58

I like that.

SPEAKER_00 41:59

I think that in the helping professions or um when you're in that pulpit in the old country church.

SPEAKER_02 42:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 42:09

I think you know, we we've referenced the pandemic earlier. Um and we learned how to pivot a lot more.

unknown 42:17

Right.

SPEAKER_00 42:18

Truth. And I think that there's a changing landscape about how we all do our work. The original mission, the mission is very different than those you see today. Okay. And look at, you know, what has happened here. You've incorporated all levels of human care. Right. Yeah. Yep. Yep. Um, the same with us, you know, when I showed up at the at the food bank, clearly we had a huge black eye, you know, had to to reestablish ourselves, regain the public trust. But, you know, look, at that time we had so much bakery and stuff, we were a diabetes factory.

SPEAKER_02 43:07

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 43:08

And if you want people to do better, to feel better, you got to feed them better. So, you know, uh it isn't mission creep to assess the world around you, the needs of those you serve, and go, how can how can we do X or how can we partner and do Y? And um I I think that maybe the public doesn't always know how often we pivot and how much we do. And to your point about the accountability, yeah, we do hire people, second and fair chance, but there is accountability. Okay, so can we talk of our successes and how we do those things? And they're not exclusive. You know, fair chance doesn't mean you know, free pass.

SPEAKER_02 44:12

Right.

SPEAKER_00 44:13

It means working together. That's right.

SPEAKER_02 44:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 44:16

You know, like we do for everything else. Um I think sometimes uh I must say this and and you'll chuckle when I say it. Out here on nonprofit avenue, um I think we don't always do the best job of talking about the man behind the curtain and and the all the things that go into doing this work. That, oh, you know, there is accountability. Oh, we do have rules, you know, we're not part of the problem. We are pivoting to meet the needs of the entire community. And oh my gosh, you know, we're fresh and creative and right out here, right? The respite facility because it was needed, no one else had done it. Um so I I I would encourage the community to really lean into learning as much as you can about all the services in the area because there's a lot more value than you would have thought. And and then you find that place where we're more alike than we're different.

SPEAKER_01 45:41

That's right.

SPEAKER_00 45:42

And then collectively, everyone can do something, but all of us can do big things.

SPEAKER_01 45:49

Yeah. So I what I uh think of that quote from Mother Teresa Small things done with great love can change the world.

SPEAKER_02 45:59

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 46:00

Uh huh. And I uh you dig down deep enough, there's still a little Baptist boy in here somewhere, but I but I wholeheartedly agree with uh Mother Teresa on that. I just think that's the gospel truth.

SPEAKER_00 46:14

You know, Mitch, I'm uh I'll wrap up. I got a couple of things that guide me that same way. We uh have a a wonderful partnership with Lil Caesars, Vicky Dum Marshall Dion.

SPEAKER_01 46:29

She's they've been good to us too, by the way.

SPEAKER_00 46:31

Incredible, right? And right after I landed at the food bank, they pulled up with the Love Kitchen, right, where they produce all these pizzas. And hot and fresh for real. So they made a ton of pizzas. And one of her pantries, we had her pantries show up and and they had to come and pick 'em up and and get them out. The public seems to think that everyone who is under resourced wastes all their money on all kinds of things. Okay. So this one pantry picks up the pizza as they go, and a little girl was there with her dad. And he had picked her up. They're getting their pizza. And she said, Oh daddy, you got us pizza. And she was thrilled. And he looked at the woman at the pantry and said, I didn't get this. And she said, Don't you tell her how you got it? You're providing her with a pizza. That guy was lifted because he was able to provide for his child. Okay. Those things lift you to do other things. Sure does. You feel good with that. The whole family has a better evening. Okay, because you're eating and enjoying something you wouldn't have typically had.

SPEAKER_01 48:14

A luxury.

SPEAKER_00 48:15

Right? Then you you build on that. And I think that we've tried all the other things. Right? We try and law enforce our way, uh make people compliant. Well, you know, if if they get picked up by the cops and they won't be on my dock or whatever. And I really try and avoid that.

SPEAKER_01 48:44

It is.

SPEAKER_00 48:44

So what I'm hopeful for is that maybe people will consider all the really bad, hard, and mean things we've done. And maybe we look at a kindness.

SPEAKER_01 48:58

Yeah. Be a nice thing to pivot to, wouldn't it?

SPEAKER_00 49:01

Yeah, I think I think we all have that opportunity right now. And I think that, you know, it's worth a shot. And I think we all will feel better.

SPEAKER_01 49:13

Here here close to uh Martin Luther King Junior Holiday. What is the quote that oh, I'm gonna mess it up. And um it basically it's I choose I choose love.

SPEAKER_00 49:26

Yeah. And uh hate is too great a burden to bear.

SPEAKER_01 49:29

That's right. That's right.

SPEAKER_00 49:31

Feels like a good note to wrap up on.

SPEAKER_01 49:33

It does, doesn't it?

SPEAKER_00 49:34

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 49:35

Thank you, my friend. I tr I truly love you, my friend, and appreciate you.

SPEAKER_00 49:39

Honor of a lifetime to share the work. So thank you.

SPEAKER_01 49:45

Okay, though, folks. Thanks for listening today.