SF Unscripted - JB Brown

Hear from JB Brown of the Saints Care Center at Santa Fe College.

Transcript

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Welcome to Santa Fe Unscripted, the podcast that brings you the behind-the-scenes stories of Santa Fe College.

I'm your host, Mark Barley.

00:00:13 Mark Barley

Let's dive in.

00:00:14 Mark Barley

Or welcome back to Santa Fe Unscripted.

00:00:17 Mark Barley

I'm joined in today's episode by Saints Care Coordinator JB Brown.

00:00:22 Mark Barley

JB, welcome in.

00:00:23 JB Brown

Hello, thank you.

00:00:25 Mark Barley

Yeah.

00:00:26 Mark Barley

Well, thanks for taking time out of your day to join us here on the podcast.

00:00:30 Mark Barley

First and foremost, tell us who is JB?

00:00:33 Mark Barley

Tell us about your journey,

00:00:35 Mark Barleyto Santa Fe, where you've been, kind of your travels along the way and how you ended up at

Santa Fe.

00:00:42 JB Brown

Sure.

00:00:44 JB Brown

So I am JB.

00:00:47 JB Brown

I think I'm cool by calling myself JB.

00:00:48 JB Brown

My real name is Jasmine Brown, but everyone calls me JB just because it has stuck for such

a long time.

00:00:55 JB Brown

But ultimately, I'm a student affairs practitioner.

00:00:59 JB Brown

I didn't intend to be.

00:01:00 JB Brown

Originally, I went to college

00:01:03 JB Brown

to get a business degree.

00:01:05 JB Brown

However, in the journey of getting a business degree, life really happened to me.

00:01:10 JB Brown

And I'm a first generation student.

00:01:13 JB Brown

So my mother didn't go to college.

00:01:15 JB BrownMy father didn't go to college.

00:01:16 JB Brown

And I did pretty well for myself in regards of I applied for scholarships.

00:01:21 JB Brown

I was top 10% of my class.

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I was class president.

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And so I applied to go to college for get into the business program and I thought I was doing

well.

00:01:30 JB Brown

However, I went to college and did everything I wasn't supposed to do.

00:01:34 JB Brown

I got that refund check and I blew it.

00:01:38 JB Brown

I wasn't going to class.

00:01:40 JB Brown

I was doing all of the inappropriate things.

00:01:44 JB Brown

And I ended up being on academic probation my first year of being in college.

00:01:48 JB Brown

And so I went from being class president, getting a full-ride scholarship to college, to now

being on academic probation and being threatened to be kicked out of the college.

00:01:58 JB Brown

And so ultimately, I had to pivot.

00:02:02 JB BrownI was working at a job at a YMCA, and I was also working at Ballyhoo Bar and Grill at a

restaurant.

00:02:09 JB Brown

And so

00:02:11 JB Brown

had every intentions of getting a business degree.

00:02:14 JB Brown

However, I couldn't pass the classes.

00:02:16 JB Brown

And so I ended up changing my major to communications.

00:02:19 JB Brown

And that's where I ended up getting my bachelor's degree.

00:02:21 JB Brown

But it wasn't easy at all because like I said, I lost everything and I was on academic

probation.

00:02:26 JB Brown

So I went from being super elite and having my life together to not being confused, not

knowing which path to take.

00:02:32 JB Brown

And now I'm homeless.

00:02:33 JB Brown

And I also don't have anything to eat because I literally had everything and just fumbled it

away because I didn't know how to do that as a first generation student.

00:02:42 JB Brown

And so ultimately what ended up happening was I was sleeping at the YMCA at night and

then getting my food from Ballyhoo from the job I worked at.

00:02:51 JB BrownAnd like I said, it was hard.

00:02:52 JB Brown

So I ended up having three classes, three jobs at that time.

00:02:56 JB Brown

And then I transitioned to receiving my bachelor's degree and someone said, well, you've

done enough programs and things on campus and we've seen you go from not having

much to now building yourself back up.

00:03:07 JB Brown

And so they asked me about, you know, being in a student affairs program and

00:03:12 JB Brown

I didn't know what to do after getting a bachelor's degree and I said, okay, sure.

00:03:16 JB Brown

So I ended up getting a degree, a master's degree in curriculum and instruction and I

worked at Virginia Tech.

00:03:23 JB Brown

I then transitioned over to K through 12 because I worked at a charter high school and it

was a college preparatory school, but they had no students that had been enrolled into

college yet.

00:03:35 JB Brown

And so I was a part of their pilot program to get those students to get to college.

00:03:40 JB Brown

I founded a dual enrollment program.

00:03:41 JB Brown

So those students started taking dual enrollment classes and I also founded a community

service efforts on their campus.

00:03:47 JB Brown

And so I went from just being a college counselor to now creating a college readiness

program at a college prep school and supporting those students.00:03:55 JB Brown

And it was fun and it was enriching.

00:03:57 JB Brown

But if I'm being honest, I saw I still had that grit in me and wanting to be in the business field

of some sort.

00:04:06 JB Brown

And so I ended up transitioning.

00:04:08 JB Brown

I made a leap.

00:04:09 JB Brown

I ended up cutting my hair, quitting my job, and I moved to Spain just on a whim because I

said, I feel like there's more to my life.

00:04:16 JB Brown

There's more that I want to do.

00:04:19 JB Brown

And so I took the leap and I moved to Spain and then I started a consulting business there.

00:04:23 JB Brown

And that's where I was able to really see my strengths and abilities and all the things I

thought I had before, but I let go of because of the trauma and experiences that I went

through.

00:04:33 JB Brown

And so

00:04:34 JB Brown

I came back to the States visiting family and then of course COVID happened.

00:04:37 JB Brown

And anybody else that experienced COVID, it was hard for me to get a job.

00:04:42 JB BrownMy family was really sick and I'm from Gainesville.

00:04:44 JB Brown

So I decided to come and spend some time with my grandmother and then it ended up me

being here for 2 1/2 years.

00:04:51 JB Brown

And I wanted to get back into the field and connect with students in a more fruitful way like

I was doing before.

00:04:56 JB Brown

And I applied actually for a job at Project Saints because the Saints Care Center didn't

exist.

00:05:02 JB Brown

And so while I'm in the interview, I'm talking about Project Saints and literally they were

like, I think you,

00:05:09 JB Brown

I think you think you're applying for another job.

00:05:11 JB Brown

The Saints Care Center doesn't exist yet, but let's continue the interview.

00:05:15 JB Brown

And I was so embarrassed.

00:05:16 JB Brown

I was like, no, I don't want to do this anymore, but they encouraged me and it was

00:05:21 JB Brown

I feel like it was for me.

00:05:22 JB Brown

I walk into my office, it's blue, my favorite color.

00:05:25 JB BrownAnd then I'm able to serve students in a role that is more expansive than what I was doing

before.

00:05:32 JB Brown

And it allows me to support students.

00:05:33 JB Brown

And so I went from doing it in college prep through K through 12 and higher education to

now supporting students that are experiencing basic need and security like I was when I

was in college.

00:05:43 Mark Barley

That's a very winding Rd.

00:05:46 Mark Barley

back to Gainesville, right?

00:05:49 Mark Barley

And I'm gonna throw you a compliment, but I'm not gonna ask you your age.

00:05:52 Mark Barley

You don't look that old.

00:05:53 Mark Barley

So that's a lot of experience in what I would assume is a pretty short period of time.

00:06:01 Mark Barley

So you end up here and you get the job as the coordinator, right?

00:06:05 Mark Barley

So tell us what is the Saints Care Center?

00:06:07 JB Brown

Sure.

00:06:08 JB Brown

So the Saints Care Center, I would like to describe it as a one-stop shop for on and off

campus resources.00:06:15 JB Brown

And so what a lot of people don't realize is that 52% of the students that are attending

college at Santa Fe are basic needs eligible.

00:06:22 JB Brown

So that means they're first generation, they are registered with the disabilities office, they

have food insecurity, housing insecurity, that's 52%.

00:06:28 JB Brown

That's half of the

00:06:30 JB Brown

students here.

00:06:31 JB Brown

And so because of that, and with that in mind, prior to me getting here, leadership, faculty,

and staff worked together to just figure out how Santa Fe can support students, and they

apply for a grant with the Department of Education.

00:06:43 JB Brown

And so the Saints Care Center is birthed from a Department of Education, basic needs, $1

million grant for the next three years.

00:06:51 JB Brown

And so what we do at the Saints Care Center is we connect students to housing resources.

00:06:57 JB Brown

We do have two services like the Care State program, and we

00:07:00 JB Brown

security deposit.

00:07:01 JB Brown

We have a full food pantry.

00:07:04 JB Brown

We help with Uber vouchers.00:07:06 JB Brown

And so essentially, if there are any barriers preventing a student from exceeding in their

classroom, the Saints Care Center is here to support students and also connect them to

the right resources.

00:07:15 JB Brown

We're not here to solve their problems, but we are here to at least advocate for them and

be the accountability for them to get out of the situation that they are in.

00:07:23 JB Brown

Yeah.

00:07:25 Mark Barley

So, and your space over there and you're in the S building,

00:07:31 Mark Barley

it used to be the student healthcare area of that building.

00:07:35 Mark Barley

And it's since gone through multiple transformations.

00:07:39 Mark Barley

And I really love kind of the layout now is because it is, it's set up like a kind of a, like you

said, a one-stop shop where everybody's in the central location.

00:07:50 Mark Barley

You've got somebody as like kind of a reception person.

00:07:56 Mark Barley

And so it's

00:07:57 Mark Barley

It's just interesting to see the type of the clientele of students that there's stigmas.

00:08:05 Mark Barley

There's stigmas tied to a lot of these challenges, right?

00:08:08 Mark BarleyCan you talk a little bit about your experience with those stigmas and how difficult it is to

get a student to maybe recognize that they have these resources and to ask for the help?

00:08:23 JB Brown

Yeah.

00:08:24 JB Brown

I think what's most important is to acknowledge first that these are everyday regular

people.

00:08:30 JB Brown

I think too often when we hear basic needs or just insecurity or a student that's homeless,

we're thinking about someone that's on the side of the corner.

00:08:38 JB Brown

But really this is a vet who was in the military before and now they're trying to get back into

college, but maybe their benefits haven't tapped in yet.

00:08:48 JB Brown

It's that student that has a disability that haven't received their accommodations yet.

00:08:54 JB Brown

And so it really is a regular person and it's not this figure of a person that's super hopeless

and doesn't have anything.

00:09:01 JB Brown

It really could be us in this room, in this space right now.

00:09:05 JB Brown

And so the stigma, I think the biggest stigma is the embarrassment of acknowledging, man,

I don't have money.

00:09:13 JB Brown

I'm not, I'm struggling to afford my gas right now.

00:09:17 JB Brown

Yes, I want to go to classes and I do have financial aid, but man, this $400 book is going to

kind of set me back from paying my utility bills.00:09:25 JB Brown

And so the stigma is, I would argue that people aren't as afraid

00:09:32 JB Brown

to communicate they need help.

00:09:33 JB Brown

I think it's just an embarrassment of, man, I've really been through some things in the past

and I feel like it's overwhelming and it's heavy for me to carry.

00:09:41 JB Brown

And I don't want to share that with other people, but at the Saints Care Center, we

welcome it because it's not really a stigma.

00:09:46 JB Brown

It really is just your story.

00:09:48 Mark Barley

Right.

00:09:49 Mark Barley

And I would argue that a community college is built on those individuals and their past

00:09:58 Mark Barley

experiences bringing them to this moment.

00:10:01 Mark Barley

And so when I say that, I really mean like these students, and it's not all of them, but a good

number of them have worked their butts off to get to this point.

00:10:15 Mark Barley

And then now they have to say, hey, I need help, right?

00:10:18 Mark Barley

That's hard to do, right?

00:10:20 Mark Barley

I mean, you see it more than, in my day-to-day job, I do see that a lot.00:10:26 Mark Barley

but you being the coordinator of Saints Care, what does it mean to you when a student

comes in and just kind of lets the guard down and says, hey, I need that?

00:10:37 Mark Barley

How do you receive that?

00:10:42 JB Brown

If anything, I'm grateful.

00:10:44 JB Brown

I'm grateful because for once,

00:10:46 JB Brown

I feel like this person or this student is expressing everything that they are.

00:10:51 JB Brown

They are showing up unapologetic in their mess and their things that they have going on.

00:10:56 JB Brown

And at a college, yes, our priority is the academics, but

00:11:00 JB Brown

if you're hungry and your utility bills aren't paid, you can't focus on this EEOC class or

whatever you have going on.

00:11:07 JB Brown

So I think if anything, just creating a space and letting them know they're not alone.

00:11:10 JB Brown

I'm just like you.

00:11:11 JB Brown

I'm not here to try to act professional or rub elbows with anyone.

00:11:15 JB Brown

I'm here to say, hey, you don't have anything to worry about.00:11:18 JB Brown

Anything that you can tell me, I probably have heard worse than that.

00:11:21 JB Brown

And so I think just acknowledging that

00:11:25 JB Brown

it's okay and it's not a bad 5 minutes doesn't mean a bad life or a bad college experience.

00:11:30 JB Brown

And so not allowing their circumstance or their environment or them not being able to pay

their bills define who they are in this situation and see them as so much more than that.

00:11:41 JB Brown

And I think I would also just say

00:11:43 JB Brown

The fact that they came to my office or that they are at Santa Fe shows me that that's grit

and that's perseverance.

00:11:49 JB Brown

And so if anything, I'm celebrating them for just being able to speak up and speak their

truth.

00:11:53 JB Brown

And now we're going to create a plan to get them out of it.

00:11:55 JB Brown

So it's go time now.

00:11:57 JB Brown

So it's not even, oh, I'm so sorry about what you're going through.

00:12:00 JB Brown

It's like, okay, thank you for telling me what's going on.

00:12:03 JB Brown

Now let's get together and create a plan and get you out of this.00:12:06 Mark Barley

And I can speak on it.

00:12:08 Mark Barley

I've seen you in action, right?

00:12:10 Mark Barley

there are so many more things like the nooks and the crannies of helping somebody, right?

00:12:18 Mark Barley

And I'll be honest, I didn't know the depths of what your department does and how it can

help a student.

00:12:28 Mark Barley

Talk a little about the organizations that you work with, kind of on a day-to-day and then

maybe globally that

00:12:35 Mark Barley

most people wouldn't know about.

00:12:36 JB Brown

Sure.

00:12:37 JB Brown

I think the departments that we work with, that's our bread and butter.

00:12:41 JB Brown

So yes, you can come in and you can tell me what's going on.

00:12:44 JB Brown

But if you mention you are a veteran, if you mention you have a disability, if you mention

you're a non-traditional student, automatically I'm thinking about the displaced

homemakers program, our veterans office, and then getting them registered with DRC, the

disabilities office.

00:12:57 JB Brown

And so it's not00:12:59 JB Brown

The Saints Care Center is a one-stop shop.

00:13:01 JB Brown

You stopped here.

00:13:02 JB Brown

This is your first stop.

00:13:03 JB Brown

But just know when you leave my office, you're going to receive an e-mail to connect you to

so many other resources around.

00:13:08 JB Brown

So I think that's the biggest resources that we have on campus is that there literally is a

community of care.

00:13:15 JB Brown

And we meet once a month.

00:13:17 JB Brown

And it's every department that we have referred students to and we're saying, hey, we

referred this student to you.

00:13:21 JB Brown

These are the conversations we're having.

00:13:23 JB Brown

Has this student followed back up?

00:13:24 JB Brown

And so yes, you're having a conversation with me, but really it's a conversation with the

college to say, how can we best support this student in and outside of the classroom?

00:13:32 JB Brown

So I would say that's what happens at Santa Fe.

00:13:34 JB BrownOutside of that, we have a partnership with Bread of the Mighty.

00:13:37 JB Brown

They give us a lot of items.

00:13:38 JB Brown

I want to shout out Mise on Church because when there are students that are, we had a

student recently that was in a shelter and they timed out of a shelter.

00:13:47 JB Brown

Who knew you can time out of a shelter?

00:13:49 JB Brown

But they timed out of a shelter and they needed somewhere to stay for two weeks before I

can get them into an apartment because I paid for their security deposit.

00:13:55 JB Brown

I called up the church and I said, hey, we need some support.

00:13:59 JB Brown

And they literally paid for the hotel for a student for two weeks.

00:14:02 JB Brown

And so not only is Santa Fe working with students, but it's the community.

00:14:06 JB Brown

We work with the Continuum of Care.

00:14:08 JB Brown

We work with Gainesville Housing Authority.

00:14:10 JB Brown

I also partner, work with Life Happens Grant on campus.

00:14:14 JB Brown

And so not just housing, but I'm literally connected to resources on and off campus.

00:14:18 JB BrownI go to these meetings at Library Partnership because essentially I should be able to call,

pick up the phone and call anyone and say, hey, this is what's going on.

00:14:26 JB Brown

How can Gainesville or how can Alachua and Bradford County help?

00:14:30 Mark Barley

Yeah, that's

00:14:32 Mark Barley

because it's a community college, right?

00:14:36 Mark Barley

And every, like we just said, everybody's journey is different, but it's the continuum of care,

right?

00:14:43 Mark Barley

That's a phrase, that's a phrase I've never used in the podcast, but continuum of care of

how are we assisting a student?

00:14:49 Mark Barley

Like you said, it's not just academics, it's everything else that can play a part in how

successful somebody is.

00:14:57 Mark Barley

Do you have like a story

00:14:59 Mark Barley

from your time as the coordinator that you get, it's a success story, right?

00:15:03 Mark Barley

That your program, the things you do on a day-to-day basis impacted somebody so

positively that it's the success story that you can just hang your hat on.

00:15:15 Mark Barley

Can you share one of those?

00:15:16 JB BrownCountless stories.

00:15:17 JB Brown

I mean, we've only, let me also acknowledge, we're only one years old.

00:15:20 JB Brown

We've only been here for one year.

00:15:21 JB Brown

So this is our second semester.

00:15:24 JB Brown

But I think specifically about a student that came to me, his family didn't support him and

didn't believe in him.

00:15:32 JB Brown

And he went from bouncing from house to house, but because of what happened in the

military, his family already had a stigma of who he was.

00:15:40 JB Brown

And so he came down here looking for support.

00:15:43 JB Brown

He wanted to get into

00:15:46 JB Brown

a shelter.

00:15:47 JB Brown

And so we were able to get him into a shelter.

00:15:48 JB Brown

So he went from being in a day-to-day bed.

00:15:50 JB Brown

We got him into a permanent bed.

00:15:52 JB BrownBut like I said, he's timed out of the permanent bed.

00:15:55 JB Brown

But we worked with him to get a work study position.

00:15:58 JB Brown

So now he's working on campus.

00:16:01 JB Brown

And just recently he got into his own apartment.

00:16:03 JB Brown

And so that was one of those stories where he comes into my office every day just to check

in.

00:16:07 JB Brown

He was bringing other students to me that were his roommates.

00:16:11 JB Brown

And like I said, now he's interested in moving into education.

00:16:14 JB Brown

And so he wants to continue to inspire other people to say, hey, your past doesn't define

you.

00:16:20 JB Brown

And yes, I'm a male and I've been through things and I've seen the bottom, but here I am on

the other side.

00:16:24 JB Brown

And he's been through things.

00:16:26 JB Brown

He's been through addiction.

00:16:27 JB Brown

He's been through just people not believing in him.

00:16:30 JB BrownAnd I promise if you could have seen him the first day I saw him, he did not

00:16:35 JB Brown

believe in himself.

00:16:36 JB Brown

His energy was really, really low.

00:16:37 JB Brown

And now you see him around campus, I feel like he needs to be an ambassador, just talk

more about what he has going on.

00:16:42 JB Brown

And so I think that's probably my biggest success story.

00:16:45 Mark Barley

Yeah, and it's stories like that, we talk about this on the podcast a lot, the ripple effect of

Santa Fe, right?

00:16:55 Mark Barley

And that's that ripple effect is because that person will then go to however many other

people and say, man, Saints Care really helped me out.

00:17:03 Mark Barley

And of all of those 10 people that he told, maybe one of them shows up.

00:17:08 Mark Barley

And then the impact is felt there and then the ripple effect from there.

00:17:11 Mark Barley

And it's just, it's amazing how Santa Fe has that effect, right?

00:17:17 Mark Barley

And so what is maybe success to you

00:17:23 Mark Barley

for one year in, right?

00:17:27 Mark BarleyTalk a little bit about the trials and tribulations one year in and where do you see Saints

Care going in year two?

00:17:33 JB Brown

Sure.

00:17:35 JB Brown

Trials and tribulations.

00:17:36 JB Brown

So I think sometimes I feel like Oprah in my role, right?

00:17:44 JB Brown

I have a security deposit or Uber voucher.

00:17:47 JB Brown

I have a CareState program.

00:17:49 JB Brown

But there are great services.

00:17:51 JB Brown

However, Santa Fe is not a social service institute.

00:17:54 JB Brown

We're not here to do all of that type of work.

00:17:58 JB Brown

And I'm blessed to be able to work at the Saints Care Center and do this work.

00:18:01 JB Brown

But really, all of the agency goes to the student.

00:18:05 JB Brown

And just being able to connect in ways that are meaningful.

00:18:08 JB Brown

So I would say the biggest issue is not even an issue.00:18:13 JB Brown

are not even a challenge because students are coming in.

00:18:16 JB Brown

I'm telling you, last year we had 2,000 plus students that filled out the basic needs survey.

00:18:22 JB Brown

271 students were active students that we work with to create a plan.

00:18:26 JB Brown

So that's a high number for within our first year.

00:18:29 JB Brown

Within this past week, last week alone, we issued out 157 bags.

00:18:34 JB Brown

We had four students apply for our security deposit, four students apply for our Care State

program.

00:18:39 JB Brown

So that lets you know that some students came here to Santa Fe and have nowhere to

00:18:43 JB Brown

to stay their first two weeks.

00:18:45 JB Brown

And they're literally asking us for a hotel and a security deposit.

00:18:48 JB Brown

So I would say that is one of the challenges that we don't realize is that students are

coming to us with these issues.

00:18:54 JB Brown

And it's not, oh, I lost my financial aid and now I need support because it's my second

semester.

00:19:00 JB BrownA lot of students are coming here with the generational trauma, with everything that's going

on.

00:19:05 JB Brown

And so I think in year two, what I would like to do is be better at following up with these

students and not holding their hand

00:19:13 JB Brown

but just saying, where are you on your plan?

00:19:16 JB Brown

And students, we are always pushing students to reach out to us, but I think we can do a

little bit better of just like sending those additional follow-up messages if that's a week or if

that's every month.

00:19:25 JB Brown

And so that's one of the things I'm aiming to do.

00:19:28 JB Brown

and really just welcoming more students.

00:19:30 JB Brown

Before last year with our grocery bags, they were pre-made $17 bags that we were giving

students.

00:19:36 JB Brown

Now we changed the system over, and so now students get to pick the items that are in

their grocery bag, and oh my goodness, students love that.

00:19:45 JB Brown

Now they get to pick the items.

00:19:46 JB Brown

I have more diversified meals and healthier meals as well.

00:19:49 JB BrownAnd so in general, I see us streamlining our process a little bit more and supporting the

students with exactly what they need and not just giving them what we think they need, like

a

00:19:57 JB Brown

we may bag, but they're asking us and they're saying, this is how I need you to show up for

me and we're walking together doing that.

00:20:03 Mark Barley

Yeah, that's amazing.

00:20:05 Mark Barley

That's, you know, you don't think about those things, right?

00:20:07 Mark Barley

You don't think about the impact that picking your own food items can have on somebody,

right?

00:20:13 JB Brown

I would even say having

00:20:16 JB Brown

some students don't have a can opener.

00:20:19 JB Brown

Some students don't have pots and pans.

00:20:21 JB Brown

And so we're giving this pre-made bag with canned food items and rice that you have to

cook, but this student lives under the bridge near the Oaks Mall.

00:20:29 JB Brown

And every student isn't like that, but there's a wide variety of situations going on.

00:20:34 JB Brown

There's a mother raising three kids and their kids have disabilities and they just need a little

bit of groceries to help their family.

00:20:40 JB BrownSo it's not all, you know,

00:20:44 JB Brown

students that are homeless, it's the regular family or a single mother or a single father, a

student that's working in a construction management program that has a full-time job and

doesn't have time to cook meals and they need something really quick.

00:20:57 JB Brown

So it's all of those things.

00:20:58 Mark Barley

Yeah, it's for my, years ago, I was talking to somebody on campus and I was like, hey, have

you ever mailed a letter?

00:21:07 Mark Barley

And they're like, what?

00:21:08 Mark Barley

And I'm like, you've never mailed a letter?

00:21:10 Mark Barley

And they're like, no.

00:21:12 Mark Barley

Is that like, what is that?

00:21:13 Mark Barley

I said, do you know what an envelope is?

00:21:15 Mark Barley

They're like, I've heard of an envelope.

00:21:17 Mark Barley

And they never seen an envelope.

00:21:18 Mark Barley

And so it's like, it's, and that's being funny about somebody not having the experience with

a can opener, right?00:21:25 Mark Barley

You just never know.

00:21:26 Mark Barley

You never know what somebody's life experience is and how different and how little of an

impact, and I say little, but

00:21:37 Mark Barley

showing somebody a can opener and saying, hey, this is how you do this, or this is how you

get this open, and how that can transform somebody's outlook on, oh my, you know, now

that person helped me with this.

00:21:50 Mark Barley

What else can they help me with?

00:21:52 Mark Barley

Right?

00:21:52 Mark Barley

And it opens a doorway for further conversations, right?

00:21:56 JB Brown

It does.

00:21:56 JB Brown

And I think oftentimes we also forget about our educational centers

00:22:02 JB Brown

those students that are living in those rural areas.

00:22:04 JB Brown

So we always tell all of our students, if you have a student ID, you can ride the bus for free.

00:22:10 JB Brown

But if you live out in Perry and Andrew and those rural areas, you don't have access to a

bus.

00:22:16 JB BrownNor is there a grocery store that's close by that's super convenient.

00:22:20 JB Brown

So again, students are really trying their very best, which is why when they come into my

office and they tell me what they have going on,

00:22:29 JB Brown

thank you for telling me and let's figure out how we can support you because people are

going through things and we have it.

00:22:35 JB Brown

I have this grant to support them now.

00:22:37 Mark Barley

Yeah, and that's awesome.

00:22:39 Mark Barley

It's amazing what you're doing currently and what you envision that you could continue to

do moving forward.

00:22:47 Mark Barley

Real quick, talk about how important events like Boo at the Zoo are for

00:22:54 Mark Barley

Saints care and how important it is for people to support those type of events because of

what they do and the food resources that are brought in.

00:23:03 JB Brown

Thank you for sharing that.

00:23:05 JB Brown

So Boo at the Zoo is a phenomenal event for the city of Gainesville.

00:23:09 JB Brown

So it gives the city an opportunity to experience the zoo.

00:23:12 JB Brown

The zoo is amazing.00:23:13 JB Brown

However, in order to get into the zoo, you have to bring a canned food item.

00:23:17 JB Brown

Last year we received over 2,000 cans and there were two organizations out there.

00:23:21 JB Brown

This year is going to only be the Saints Care Center.

00:23:23 JB Brown

So now we get to have close to 4,000 cans being donated to us.

00:23:27 JB Brown

So this food pantry that we're supporting, now we have more items.

00:23:31 JB Brown

Now we get to send out more supplies to our educational center so that their students out

there can have those items as well.

00:23:37 JB Brown

So it's important to get plugged in to an event like Blue at the Zoo.

00:23:41 JB Brown

Even this past year we had Recycle Reuse where Saints Care Center was present and you

can come and you can

00:23:47 JB Brown

give away all of the items in your house from houseware to clothes to batteries, but people

can also drop off food that supported our students.

00:23:54 JB Brown

We have an event coming up, a food drive for the departments, an AFC food drive.

00:23:59 JB Brown

And then we're charging the departments and faculty to donate items.

00:24:04 JB BrownAnd so that with those items, we're asking for microwavable items to support those

students that don't have a can opener or that are on the go.

00:24:11 JB Brown

And so really just plugging into those events and supporting those events supports our

students directly.

00:24:17 JB Brown

are coming into the center.

00:24:18 JB Brown

That's awesome.

00:24:19 Mark Barley

It's awesome just the depths of the program.

00:24:25 Mark Barley

JB, anything we haven't touched on that you feel like needs to be highlighted is because

you all do so much.

00:24:34 Mark Barley

And I don't want to shortcut anything that we haven't mentioned.

00:24:39 Mark Barley

Yeah.

00:24:43 JB Brown

I think it's important to just accept that we are a team.

00:24:48 JB Brown

So yes, I am in the Saints Care Center and I'm the coordinator, but we have Bri, who's our

food pantry manager.

00:24:53 JB Brown

We have Reed, who's our case manager.

00:24:55 JB Brown

And we're literally meeting students exactly where we are.00:24:58 JB Brown

And so if anything, just know that everyone at this point is starting to learn about the Saints

Care Center.

00:25:03 JB Brown

And so if someone is saying, maybe you should consider going to the Saints Care Center,

do it.

00:25:07 JB Brown

Just have a conversation with us.

00:25:09 JB Brown

I think another thing that we're working through and I think more people need to know is

00:25:14 JB Brown

If you're struggling with food, nine times out of 10, there's something else going on.

00:25:18 JB Brown

And regardless of what your situation is, we highly recommend everyone do counseling.

00:25:23 JB Brown

And so not only are we saying, yeah, let me support all your basic needs, but we also, we

want you to talk to someone and go to counseling as well.

00:25:29 Mark Barley

Yeah.

00:25:30 Mark Barley

And that's a good plug coming up because we're gonna have to, we're gonna have the

Counseling and Wellness Center, Night of Britain, here on the podcast soon.

00:25:39 Mark Barley

So all right, so we're gonna transition

00:25:43 Mark Barley

to my favorite part of most every episode.

00:25:47 Mark BarleyFive quick questions with JB Brown.

00:25:49 Mark Barley

All right.

00:25:50 Mark Barley

And this is the part where Steve will insert his game show music.

00:25:55 Mark Barley

And so it's just right off the top of your head.

00:25:58 Mark Barley

It's kind of this or that.

00:25:59 Mark Barley

Don't really think about it.

00:26:00 Mark Barley

James Albury sat in that chair and man, he wanted to give a dissertation on why he couldn't

pick one or the other.

00:26:06 Mark Barley

Don't do that.

00:26:07 Mark Barley

Don't do that.

00:26:08 Mark Barley

Don't be James.

00:26:09 Mark Barley

Go back and listen to his episodes.

00:26:11 Mark Barley

Very informational.

00:26:12 Mark Barley

But quick questions.00:26:13 Mark Barley

All right.

00:26:15 Mark Barley

Favorite place in Spain?

00:26:19 JB Brown

La Latina.

00:26:20 JB Brown

So that's in Madrid.

00:26:21 Mark Barley

Okay.

00:26:21 Mark Barley

Why?

00:26:22 JB Brown

Because they have this market.

00:26:24 JB Brown

It happens every Saturday and they have everything you could possibly think of.

00:26:27 JB Brown

You can get a dresser, you can get food, you can get clothes.

00:26:30 JB Brown

It's music going on.

00:26:32 Mark Barley

Is it like the movies?

00:26:34 JB Brown

Say it's better.

00:26:35 Mark Barley

It's better than the movies.00:26:36 Mark Barley

All right.

00:26:36 JB Brown

It's such a community feel.

00:26:38 Mark Barley

Good enough for me.

00:26:38 Mark Barley

Better than the movies.

00:26:39 Mark Barley

All right.

00:26:40 Mark Barley

I'm not going to try to say what you said, but say it again.

00:26:43 JB Brown

La Latina.

00:26:43 Mark Barley

La Latina.

00:26:44 Mark Barley

All right.

00:26:45 Mark Barley

Favorite thing to do when you're not working?

00:26:46 JB Brown

Skating.

00:26:47 Mark Barley

Skating.

00:26:48 JB Brown

Easy.00:26:48 Mark Barley

Oh, like, quad skating, roll bounce.

00:26:52 Mark Barley

That's awesome.

00:26:53 JB Brown

And I'm, yeah.

00:26:54 JB Brown

That's my thing.

00:26:55 JB Brown

Every Wednesday and Thursday I skate.

00:26:57 JB Brown

So I do it with the Saints Care Center and then I go skate.

00:27:00 Mark Barley

Oh, that's awesome.

00:27:01 Mark Barley

All right.

00:27:01 Mark Barley

See, that's why you come to the podcast to learn about JB Brown's Skate Queen.

00:27:05 Mark Barley

All right.

00:27:06 Mark Barley

Last movie you watched?

00:27:10 JB Brown

Last movie I watched?

00:27:11 JB Brown

Spider-Man.00:27:12 Mark Barley

Okay.

00:27:13 Mark Barley

The new one.

00:27:13 Mark Barley

Brand new day.

00:27:13 Mark Barley

Okay.

00:27:15 Mark Barley

Quick 5 star review.

00:27:17 Mark Barley

One to five stars.

00:27:19 JB Brown

Man, 5 I cried.

00:27:20 Mark Barley

Five cried in Spider-Man.

00:27:22 Mark Barley

That's crazy.

00:27:22 Mark Barley

You're looking like my daughter.

00:27:25 Mark Barley

She cried in Spider-Man 2.

00:27:26 Mark Barley

All right, favorite genre of music?

00:27:30 JB Brown

Skate music.00:27:32 Mark Barley

That's one of those Spotify genres.

00:27:35 Mark Barley

It's like, hey, you listen to skate music on August, whatever.

00:27:39 JB Brown

So I have to say, so skate music, there's a style called JB.

00:27:43 JB Brown

And JB originated from James Brown.

00:27:45 JB Brown

So it's a certain, it's a certain hurts, but a lot of the music, if you listen to it, you'll hear like,

get on now, get on up.

00:27:51 JB Brown

So JB skate music.

00:27:55 Mark Barley

Okay.

00:27:55 Mark Barley

All right.

00:27:56 Mark Barley

Do you have a favorite musician that's a part of skate music?

00:28:00 JB Brown

My favorite musician, Jasmine Sullivan.

00:28:03 Mark Barley

Jasmine Sullivan.

00:28:04 Mark Barley

A lot of JB, a lot of, you know, you just paying attention to you.

00:28:09 Mark BarleyAll right, last one.

00:28:11 Mark Barley

Favorite thing about Santa Fe?

00:28:14 JB Brown

Favorite thing about Santa Fe?

00:28:16 JB Brown

The family feel, the community feel.

00:28:18 JB Brown

Okay.

00:28:18 Mark Barley

Yeah.

00:28:19 Mark Barley

Community, the people.

00:28:20 JB Brown

The people.

00:28:20 Mark Barley

As everybody says, the people.

00:28:23 Mark Barley

All right.

00:28:24 Mark Barley

JB, shout out how somebody can find you, how they can get a hold of you, hours of

operation for Saints Care, all that.

00:28:33 JB Brown

So you can look us up on Santa Fe's website or you can Google Saints Care Center.

00:28:38 JB Brown

We are located in the S building on the first floor.00:28:41 JB Brown

I encourage all students to fill out the basic needs survey and they can find that on our

website if they want to plug in and get any of our resources.

00:28:48 JB Brown

And we're also on our website, there's a lot of information around how to donate and how

to contribute, whether that be in-kind options, whether that be monetary donations.

00:28:57 JB Brown

And so that's how you can get connected with us.

00:28:58 JB Brown

I would also say just dropping in, while it's important to have an appointment, if you have

things going on, please just pop in.

00:29:07 JB Brown

And we also, like I said, we have an open house coming up September 17th from 10 to 12.

00:29:13 JB Brown

student life as building and then also a food drive where we're encouraging faculty and

staff to donate to support our food pantry.

00:29:20 Mark Barley

All right, and bread days are still a thing.

00:29:23 JB Brown

Bread days are still a thing.

00:29:24 JB Brown

So Monday and Wednesdays we have bread at 9.30 on Mondays, Wednesday it's 10.

00:29:30 JB Brown

We give out bread and pastries and anyone can come in, faculty and staff to receive those

items.

00:29:35 JB Brown

And we're open Monday through Friday from 9.30 to 4.30.00:29:38 Mark Barley

All right.

00:29:39 Mark Barley

JB, thank you for taking the time to share your experience and your livelihood with us about

Saints Care.

00:29:48 Mark Barley

Many future successes to you.

00:29:50 JB Brown

Thank you so much.

00:29:57 Mark Barley

If you found this podcast informative, there's more to discover on our website,

sfcollege.edu.

00:30:03 Mark Barley

You can also follow Santa Fe on all your favorite social media platforms, X, Facebook,

Instagram, YouTube.

00:30:09 Mark Barley

We're there @SantaFeCollege.

00:30:11 Mark Barley

Give us a like, follow, and a subscribe.

00:30:13 Mark Barley

Have suggestions on who you want to hear from next or watch your story featured on the

podcast?

00:30:18 Mark Barley

Send us an e-mail at communications@sfcollege.edu.

00:30:23 Mark Barley

Thanks for listening and go Saints.