When the icy grip of a winter threatened the vulnerable in Topeka, a torrent of compassion and collaboration surged through the community. In this episode we celebrate the efforts of community helping community! Joined by Kristin Stock from Valeo, Richard Martinez from Street Team Ministry, and Sergeant Matt Rose from the Topeka Police Department, we reflect on the collective effort it took to create multiple warming centers that helped over 300 unduplicated individuals and share a few of the stories that touched our hearts.
To learn more about TRM Ministries: Click Here!
To support TRM, Click Here!
When the icy grip of a winter threatened the vulnerable in Topeka, a torrent of compassion and collaboration surged through the community. In this episode we celebrate the efforts of community helping community! Joined by Kristin Stock from Valeo, Richard Martinez from Street Team Ministry, and Sergeant Matt Rose from the Topeka Police Department, we reflect on the collective effort it took to create multiple warming centers that helped over 300 unduplicated individuals and share a few of the stories that touched our hearts.
To learn more about TRM Ministries: Click Here!
To support TRM, Click Here!
Our dear and my Father, we thank you for this day and your blessings and provisions. God, thank you for this time, for this podcast and for all of our listeners. And Lord just thank you as we reflect on all of the efforts from the Warming Center. Lord, just all of the partners in the community that surrounded to bring help and hope to those in need. God, pray that you bless this time and this conversation In your holy name. We pray Amen.
Speaker 2:Hello everybody. You're listening to our community, our mission, a podcast of the Topeka Rescue Mission here on February 21st 2024, episode 210. We have some All Stars in the room today. I'm going to introduce Andy Reed, patrick Mahomes, travis Kelcey and Taylor. Oh, wait a minute. That's a podcast for you. Today. We're here with some other All Stars. We have several tailors in here with us today, so Amanda Broiles yes, taylor, I've never been called Taylor. Executive director, mary Ann Crabill, directed and supported services.
Speaker 4:Okay, very good to be here this morning. I'm still trying to figure out the Taylor thing, taylor. Swift.
Speaker 2:Okay, she doesn't want to see me, oh no, I knew that, but it's keep going.
Speaker 4:Okay, okay, okay, I know you're just humbled.
Speaker 2:I am Kristen Stock from Vallejo, good morning. Good morning, we are also joined with. Let's see who's going to be Travis. Who's going to be? I'll be Andy Reed.
Speaker 2:I got the belly for him, richard Martinez, from Street Team Ministries. He's the founder. We also know him as the phone guy at the MAP Mobile Access Partnership. And then we have none other than our Sergeant Rose, matt Rose, who is behavioral health CIT, abc. Befg, wonderful.
Speaker 2:We're here today to actually talk about what is hard to kind of imagine right now, and that is the polar vortex. Here we are, february 21st. It's nice outside. We're into this spring. Hopefully we're going to stay here for a while. We don't get what we had before, but we knew something was coming. We want to unpack this today about an incredible effort to reach the unsheltered vulnerable in our community because of a weather event that was headed our way. I don't think too many of us will ever forget about it Some record breaking temperatures for the particular time of year we were in Not the first, but rare and so we saw it coming. We knew we needed to do something and some amazing things were happening, fast forwarding some of the numbers 300 individuals were sheltered in various different locations around the community who otherwise would have been outdoors, plus an additional 250 to 270 people sheltered in Tpeca, rescue Mission shelters and probably some others that we didn't even know about. So 550, 60, 70, close to 400 people, or no, close to 600 people.
Speaker 2:The community came together to help them out. And so, Amanda, I'm going to start with you as Executive Director of the Rescue Mission. You had been involved in some polar vortex-type meetings and conversations, but nothing really seemed to get going this year until a Sunday afternoon, January the 8th, which was some wet weather was headed our way and it was going to get very cold. So tell us what you were thinking in regards to what are we going to do, because we didn't really have a plan yet.
Speaker 3:Sure, you know, when we did this in December of 22, we had really no clue what we were doing, but we did have logistics of hey, if we think we need to do a warming center, here's what we're going to try. We did it for three days. It was very successful. We had a great partnership with a lot of different people in the community.
Speaker 3:But this one we knew was going to be a bigger magnitude because of what was being predicted as far as the length of time that this weather was going to be an issue and that it was kind of happening where it was drawn out. The precipitation in the snow and the sleet was coming first, before the temperatures were dropping. That had me really concerned, as well as some other individuals, because we know sometimes that if our neighbors get wet, it can be life or death, because then they struggle to regulate their body temperatures and then they're more susceptible to hypothermia, frostbite, those kinds of things when the weather starts to decline and that temperature starts to drop. So I was watching it for about a week and a half, but you know, kansas weather changes literally three or four times a day. But when we really saw, okay, the snow is anticipated to come, I had been asking permission to make sure that we could use 206.
Speaker 2:Which is the warehouse.
Speaker 3:That we own, but just making sure that we were okay with codes and all of that, because I did not want to open something that would then be shut down because I had done something wrong or something.
Speaker 3:Anyways, we decided there was a lot of community support. People were coming to me individually saying the community is going to rally around you If you start this. You're going to have enough volunteers, you're going to have enough donations. If God's calling you to do this, he's going to show up through his people. And so on that Sunday, I just knew that it was coming in. I didn't know what it was going to look like, but we had the logistics from the year before and I know that we serve a God who brings all things together. And so we decided to go for it, because we did not know how many people were going to be impacted in for how long, but we knew that it was serious and we knew that it was just up to us to take that first step and that people were going to rally around. Okay, that sounds pretty simple, but it wasn't.
Speaker 2:It wasn't simple at all. So you call in your deputy director on a Sunday afternoon. Kim Turley was here and I got to join you as well, and so you had this idea but it hadn't been launched yet which would involve how many volunteers, how many different agencies eventually, that would come together very quickly, in a matter of hours, to be able to launch the very first warming center by 8 pm the following day. So this was a Sunday afternoon, monday 8 pm, you're going to open up this warming center. So what all did that involve of getting that going when we had how many volunteers did we have?
Speaker 3:We ended up having, throughout the whole two weeks, close to 300 when you look at all of the different locations, and that does not include staff time that some of our staff put in and things like that In other agencies, in other agencies, so three, four hundred people got involved.
Speaker 2:You had the location, you got permission to do that. It wasn't like that location was ready for this, though, was it no?
Speaker 3:We had the facilities, we all met, we had the logistics ready and we knew the first step was to get 206 prepared, which 206 kind of looked like Christmas had thrown up all of it, exactly.
Speaker 3:Because we were going nonstop and hadn't had time yet. You know we're only what eight days past the end of the year and stuff, and so still lots of Christmas trees and decorations. In addition to that building is a multi-purpose use building. So we're talking the kitchen uses it, our maintenance team uses it, food service uses it, street reach uses it, the distribution center uses it.
Speaker 2:So we, there were some like big vehicles.
Speaker 4:Yes, there were trailers Traylors for the clothing trailer, mobile kitchen and mobile clothing trailer.
Speaker 2:I mean it wasn't like it was ready to go.
Speaker 4:This gives me heart palpitations.
Speaker 2:Yes, so you know. Yes, I just want to bring you back to the reality.
Speaker 3:Yes.
Speaker 3:It was really cool, but oh yeah and it, but we had a map, and we were. We tracked everything along with Kim Turley, and so we had a map of how we organized it the year before. So we started off with that, and the team just ran with it. And you know, one of the things that I have to say is I respect our team so much, because nothing at TRM stops when we do this. Nothing stops with Sergeant Rose's job when he does this. Vallejo doesn't stop when they help us with the warming center. Everyone's roles continue. This is an added responsibility and added privilege, but also added complications. I mean, it's it's a lot to manage and to do, and no one, though, was like, no, I just can't do this. It was we're going to make this happen. So how'd you?
Speaker 2:get the word out. How'd you get the word out? And then there was this incredible organized volunteer system. So Lomanda talked about how you got the word out, and then Maryam talked about the United Way and their part, and to speak of rescue mission, joining together to recruit volunteers.
Speaker 3:So once we knew, okay, we're going to, the team went over to 206 and was like we can have this done today.
Speaker 3:Then our team is so organized so we already kind of had an inventory of how many sheets we had and pillows and things like that, so we knew we could open the next day. Once I knew that that was going to happen, I reached out to a couple of our partners Sergeant Rose being one of them, united Way being one of them of like how much time do we need to be able to get this going? And everybody said we're just waiting for you to tell us what you think. And so we watched when the weather was coming in and we were trying to make sure that we also had at least 24 hours worth of food, snacks, water, all of that prepared, ready to go. And then we were ready. So that's where we picked the eight o'clock. We knew that that would also give us time to get back out on the streets once the weather comes, because sometimes people want to wait it out, but then when the snow and stuff hits and it's at nighttime, we didn't want people to go.
Speaker 2:I should have went with them when we had transportation and so they didn't know how many people were going to come, and so yet people did come, not only from the streets, but also volunteers came, but that was just day one. And so Maryam, former director of the United Way, working with the United Way, great relationship that we have in this community with them, what was that system like that they put together?
Speaker 4:You know, they're just. United Way of Cal Valley is a wonderful partner of ours. They're just wonderful. I mean they'll do whatever they need to do to be invested and be able to benefit the whole situation. So, working with their volunteer person and Susie from our team, they got the word out to all of the email addresses that they had saying here's what we need. It went up on social media. We need volunteers, and they all United Way just organized all of it would give us the information. Then Susie would do her magic on it to find out who is the staff lead. Who is this lead? You know, do we have enough for every shift? Do we have men and women on every shift? You know how?
Speaker 2:do we do this? You created a homeless shelter operational system, just like it's done every day at Topeka Rescue Center or Vallejo in regards to crisis center and those kind of things, in a heartbeat with people that don't necessarily work in this arena.
Speaker 4:Oh yeah, they definitely do.
Speaker 2:And so they're coming in, engaging with people who, as one former elected official said when he walked in, we shouldn't have closed the state hospitals down, should we? And it's no, sir, we should not have. And so we have all these people who are living outdoors. We're bringing in volunteers, some professional, some experienced, most not engaging them with people very broken, very traumatized. Normally that don't do well in small spaces, but yet it worked. Three feet apart, yet there was protocols, amanda, that had been established before all this happened. In regards to protocols, there were job descriptions, so to speak, that people came together and we had people who were taking leads on shifts, we had people on call we had people assisting them.
Speaker 2:We even had people who were stirring porta-potties to try to keep them unfrozen from the stuff that goes in porta-potty.
Speaker 4:Let me just tell you those two words put together like that, those two P words, I don't really care to hear them ever again.
Speaker 2:Well, one thing we did learn through the cold, cold weather is the antifreeze that they put in there. Oh yeah, it doesn't work. To keep it from freezing doesn't work. Doesn't work, no, but sticks and and to have sticks that you stir with Right.
Speaker 4:Let me just tell you it was an amazing learning experience. How's that for a positive twist on something that was horrible?
Speaker 2:It'd have been a learning experience amazing if it would have been a day or two, but it was two weeks long and it was beyond a learning experience, it was a life.
Speaker 4:Every time Marcus got a phone he saw my name pop up on his phone. He would answer saying do not talk to me about porta-potties. That isn't exactly the word he always used, but porta-potties Seven porta-potties Seven, we just kept adding porta-potties.
Speaker 3:It gave a whole new meaning to stirring the pot or pot stir. Yeah, there's been a lot of different jokes set around. Oh, my goodness yeah.
Speaker 2:So in order for this to occur with volunteers, there had to be a system in place. There had to be relationships in place, like with United Way to pick a rescue mission and other organizations, with people who were saying, hey, call us whenever you need us. But also, on the other end, sergeant Rose, there is the individuals who are the unsheltered, the people that don't necessarily wanna come in off the streets, don't necessarily trust people, don't necessarily wanna go into confined space. What would you attribute the reason of such success, with 300 of them at various times coming off the streets to come initially to what we call 206, a warehouse, and then eventually some other sites in the community? What happened on the front end of that, so that when you guys were out there with the Pica Resh Commission Vallejo from law enforcement? What made that work?
Speaker 7:I wish I could show you a flowchart, but Go ahead. The way I've always looked at it is whenever, whenever they're trusting you and their need reaches a certain level.
Speaker 7:So, whenever those two find a nexus. That's usually what you'll find. Most people try to get to the warming center. There's a couple of people Amanda and I talked to that first day after eight when we went out to go collect people that didn't wanna come in yet, that the weather hadn't gotten bad enough or they just weren't ready to trust anyone in that environment, and a big thank you to them for actually coming in at some point.
Speaker 7:Even if it was just to warm up for 10 minutes to get some food, but several people. We just needed to let them know that we were there that we'd come by again and we'd check on them again and again as the weather got worse and worse. So I think everybody that we had checked on came in at some point. Yes, just depends on whenever their need and their trust in us matched that level.
Speaker 2:This didn't start when the weather started getting bad. This has started way before by repetitive engagement with individuals, trying to build trust, whether it's law enforcement, vallejo's workers to pick a rescue mission, workers going out to build a relationship with people, and that is what you guys do. And so how effective do you think, kristen, do you think it would have been if those engagements would not have been there before?
Speaker 6:Yeah, I don't think it would have been as effective. Yeah, definitely, when he talks about trust, that's a big part of it. Between the same familiar faces and knowing that they're gonna be safe and that they're not gonna be taken to jail?
Speaker 2:Yes, yeah, that's a good one, because we do have individuals are necessarily warm and fuzzy with law enforcement, or anybody for that matter. Sergeant Rose, what would you consider? We all have our opinion about you and the success that we have about you.
Speaker 2:What do you attribute the relationship that you have with people who are experiencing chronic homelessness, the unsheltered people that some people very irritated with in our community? Some people have, on the other flip side of that, a very compassionate heart. What's your success in engaging with these individuals and I want you to kind of give us a little picture of the time that you spent at the Warming Center for days why people would trust you as a cop to follow you to go somewhere else versus where they are.
Speaker 7:I think it has everything to do with keeping the promises you make. So initially it wasn't very easy at all. But once you build a relationship with one or two or three or four or five doesn't really matter then word starts to spread about what you're doing. The community seems disjointed, the homeless community seems disjointed, but in reality they're not. They do a lot of talking. There's a lot of separate groups that communicate back and forth, so it doesn't take a whole long time for word to spread about what it is that you're doing. Now, getting those first three or four to trust me was the hardest part. But then you have to constantly renew those contracts.
Speaker 7:So if they say I could really use some water and you're out and you tell them you're gonna be back with some water, you'd better come back with some water, because they'll remember that you didn't, and so just building those relationships and then sometimes just going down and having a conversation to let them know that you're just like them is a huge help Not carrying yourself like an authority figure, but also still carrying yourself like an authority figure because there's a certain level of you build this respect and this rapport with them and you're friendly. But they also need to be held accountable on a certain level as well, and I think applying that fairly and reasonably furthers my rapport with most of them.
Speaker 2:So you develop a rapport relationship with them, but also you're the law enforcement, so if there's a line that's crossed, they know that. So, sergeant Rose, you came not only from the street bringing people to us and telling people about it, but you actually served a lot of hours during that two weeks. And then you don't like talk about yourself, but go ahead and give us an idea. We're gonna make up stuff. So how many hours did you serve in the warming centers in a two-week period? I have no idea. Okay, so it was a lot. It was a lot.
Speaker 3:In five days there was 109 hours.
Speaker 2:I was there regularly, you were there regularly, Shift after shift after shift. Amanda, what did you? How could you explain the value of Sergeant Matt Rose being at the warming centers?
Speaker 3:Oh, I don't wanna have to compliment him and it be recorded, then people are gonna know. You know, I think that there's a lot of value. One, it's value for our neighbors, but it's also value for volunteers. So for just a minute I'm gonna switch the focus.
Speaker 3:We had some volunteers that came out of and I loved that they were honest with me about it, that they were curious and they kinda had a negative attitude about homelessness. So they wanted to sign up and they wanted to come work and see it for themselves, and so some of those individuals, I think, were hesitant. And then when they walked in and they see, oh, we've got 55 people in here and we've got 10 that are talking to themselves and two that just defecated on themselves and this woman is crying and this one has a black eye. I mean, you're in the midst of brokenness and when you are coming in to volunteer you're not really sure what the experience is going to be. And I know that there were a lot of people that were like, oh, is this safe? And they realized and felt safer with Sergeant Rose there. Now I don't think that that always continued, because some people, their eyes really saw man, they're people just like us and they are struggling, or maybe they're not, but for those volunteers that this was the first time for them to interact or do? I think that Sergeant Rose also brought a comfort in that, because you really get out of your comfort zone and unknown as far as the neighbors.
Speaker 3:I think that that really showed that Sergeant Rose wasn't just telling people about it, that he believed in their worth and their safety, and a lot of the neighbors knew that I needed Sergeant Rose to be here because I was working a lot of hours too, but one, I'm female and two, there's just some things that he can do that I can't do, and so really, he was my security-wise and all of that, my counterpart to this.
Speaker 3:And the neighbors were grateful for that, and there were a couple that we, when we loaded them in the ATV, I had said guys, I do not know if we're gonna have volunteers to work this, it could just be Sergeant Rose and I, and then that means I'm gonna need all of you to work it and be on your best behavior. And I was telling them as Sergeant Rose was driving the ATV, and they were like, yep, we've got you, we'll do whatever you need. And they did. The neighbors worked it, and so there's just so much value in what Sergeant Rose says and what he does because it matches. There's not disconnects to who he is, whether it's on the streets or in that warming center or presenting with me. Sergeant Rose is who he says he is.
Speaker 2:We're blessed. Anything else you wanna add to that Sergeant? Nope, no, thanks, I'm sorry.
Speaker 3:I do wanna add about the award we gave him, Uh-huh please do so. You know when did you start this?
Speaker 4:A long time ago, Okay before I was born.
Speaker 3:I haven't said that in a while, I just slipped that in.
Speaker 3:But we do a Faith With your Sleeves Rolled Up Award, and you know, it's really just when people go above and beyond, and I wish I could give everyone an award just for their hearts and the teamwork, and it was just incredible.
Speaker 3:But Sergeant Rose, I gave him one, and it really was not just the time that he put in, not just the effort, but just the heart with it as well, because his role is not easy. He's gotta be the perfect balance of accountability and law and order, but also compassionate and a person and human, and there's just not that many people that I know that could do it the way that he does. And so not just the 109 hours worked in five days, plus all the other ones that he did not just you know he was having. He was calling on his friends to get us donations when we were lacking on snacks. And I mean just when I say a partner. He is a true partner and we are thankful for him at the Topeka Rescue Mission. I'm thankful to call him friend, but I know that there are hundreds on the streets that are also thankful that he is in that uniform.
Speaker 2:That's right. No, it's a multiple stories in one story, there for sure, and it is an example of Topeka Police choosing Sergeant Rose to represent them on the streets of some incredible agency. Speaking of agencies, kristen Stock, you are director of project development and public policy. Which man? That sounds like a real fun job With Vallejo.
Speaker 2:You've been with Vallejo for a long time, and so what we call 206 Warehouse wasn't big enough to handle all the people that were coming in. We just used up every bit of floor space that we could with mattresses on the floor. I know there were times that I was trying to get from one end of the building to another and literally had to step over people's stuff, or sometimes them, because we were packing them in. It was definitely not within any kind of code, but it was saving lives and so it was an emergency. Kristen Vallejo opened up space, and also there were some individuals that couldn't do very well within the particular environment. I was thinking of at least two that needed mental health services, and you brought them in. Your CEO actually volunteered several shifts himself. Bill Persinger at the Warming Center. Talk about Vallejo's role in this polar vortex.
Speaker 6:Okay well, first I would like to touch on I was just so impressed at the volunteers like you were talking about earlier. There was always such an interesting mix of different skills that just seemed to work out perfectly. I worked several shifts and I was just always surprised at those are the right people. It always seemed to be there.
Speaker 2:And that was always so amazing to me.
Speaker 6:And saw people helping people roll over in their bed or get up and I just had to add that piece. But yeah, when it was realized that there could be a benefit to move people having some acute behaviors or struggles with behavioral health over to our 400 building, we opened up our lobby and a conference room and I think we served 51 distinct individuals there and I think it was helpful to get that element out of way. You have people in a building that have been there for days. Behaviors aren't just gonna add to that.
Speaker 2:And you had some expert mental health professionals there that could kind of help with that next level of care. But also there was how many volunteers were assigned. People from LAO actually work the Warming Center, the 206 one 206, I think we had over 35.
Speaker 6:Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's awesome. So that was not an easy decision to pull off of what you were doing to be able to go do this as well, and so working over, night shifts, wee hours of the morning, not stopping at all.
Speaker 2:Yeah well, lao's been a great partner for a very, very long time, and so we appreciate what you've done before and what you especially did in this case. But it still wasn't enough. We had the 206, we had the Vallejo hallways, putting people wherever you could, and then our good buddy, richard Martinez, who always jumps in wherever he can find a place to jump in. He got wind of this and there was a church before that, I think, amanda, that contacted you. Talk about, talk about. I got a little fuzzy, I think I got brain freeze somewhere along the path here of what always going on. So there was a church that reached out to you. And then how did Richard get involved?
Speaker 3:Yes. So one of the things that we had committed to was I said, okay, trm can be open for at least three or four days. So the first goal was for us to operate from Monday to Wednesday and then I would, on Thursday, go to the media and say are we going to extend this or not? Vallejo decided to open. I will tell you, lisa Hastings is remarkable on so many levels. She's a part of the extreme cold weather task force. So she had already told me let's try this, let's see if we can get certain people at ours, certain people at yours and kind of do this triage. So when I realized the weather was going to be longer, I did a Facebook live and a media release is saying we're going to extend ours through Saturday if we have enough volunteers. But I also asked the community to step up because I said we are overflowing in the two capacities that we have. And Richard and some people saw that and said you know what Pastor Buffett said? We've got a building Like God is telling us to do this. And it wasn't about for how long. They knew that they could do it for a couple of days, but that was what the need was and because they said yes.
Speaker 3:At True Vine and I'll let Richard talk about that they opened. I went over there. I was personally blessed. If we have time I can talk about that from them. I went over there to be helped to them and left totally blessed by their congregation. That helped, but they did for a couple of days and then Richard, when he knew that that was closing, richard went to some other people and then that's when we got God's way and everybody just stepped up and the next thing we know we've got four or five that are operating.
Speaker 2:Richard, you got involved in this in the process and you became kind of like a homeless shelter director.
Speaker 3:Yes, on the fly.
Speaker 2:On the fly. So how did you get him? I mean, obviously you've been involved with MAP and different outreaches in the community. What happened to get you to this level, to where you're running something 24 seven?
Speaker 5:So it started out with volunteers. I realized all that weather's coming and I knew I was going to have some time on my hand. So I did a four hour shift at the main shelter, 206. And for some reason I just was observing everything there, and now I know why, but you know, I just saw how everything was set up and this and that, and so it was like another day later I saw Pastor Buffett's post about one open up a warming center. I was online getting ready for a lot more shifts to come here and help out at 206. So my heart said reach out to Pastor Buffett because I know him from football, from home and park football team, and I said, pastor, if you need help, I'm here, I'll help you. Just please do. So did I've always known Amanda, but we never got connected as far as like telecommunication wise. Somebody tagged me in it and she called and it's like hey, whatever you guys are going to do with it, we got your back.
Speaker 5:So that was going to be the Sunday, I'm not sure the date. It was going to open up a six. Well, a bunch of things happened. Let's see open up a six, I think. Four in that afternoon, three in the afternoon a line over at a six in Croco telephone pole just popped for three or four lines went down so the church was out without a literacy. You know that the whole neighborhood actually, but God, and you know it was then four, six hours. Everything was back up and running. Normally that many lines down takes 24 hours or more to get there.
Speaker 2:We love it when we're getting ready to do something. Then we can't do a thing because the basics aren't there.
Speaker 5:So that's how that guy started. We was actually up and running by 10 o'clock that night and Lisa that you're talking about, she called and it's like hey, rich, we got like nine folks over here that they're sitting in chairs and that's how they're going to be able to sleep tonight because we're full. We'll bring them on over. And she's like Well, that's the problem, we don't have transportation. Well, I got a van that can fit three at a time. She's like come get them. So we did so. The first night we had nine, next night, 13.
Speaker 5:And then Trudevine was kind of going back and forth if they were going to be able to extend their days and they couldn't. So when they called and told me about it, my heart sank. I prayed on it and God literally just told me to start calling, called all my friends, friends from Godwish church. She said Give me a few hours. Let me call the pastor and see if we can work this out. It calls me back within an hour. She says yeah, the church is yours. And literally the church was mine. I mean they they didn't send nobody there to keep an eye on us or anything like that.
Speaker 5:They literally just opened the doors and said we trust you do what you need to do down here. And that's how that started. We followed the guys, your guys's lead on how to get on social media. They asked for help, volunteers, donations. All that came in. And so, before all that, yeah, go back to the water break. So that afternoon when we switching over from Trudevine to God's way church, we get all of our guests over there like 13. Matt just dropped them off. I'm outside, welcome to them, tell them what door to go in, go down the stairs, blah, blah, blah. Next day I know it's Richard, richard, waters everywhere. Water's coming from the men's bathroom down the hall like a part of exaggeration, but like Niagara Falls. So.
Speaker 5:But next thing I know I turned around and our guests that just got there are grabbing mops and just started cleaning up and that, just that really touched me because I was, I threw the flag up, I was done. It's like try and do what I could do and seeing that, you know, I'm at my back up against the corner and I'm like, wow. Next thing, you know, a good friend of mine, michael Mayer, was there. He was able to fix it. We talked to pastor. He's like you guys can stay here if you want to. I turned around. Look at our guests. So what do you guys want to do? Match back, he can take you somewhere else, or we get the place ready. They're like let's get it ready, we want to stay here. So that was pretty hard touching Definitely brought my fate back, you know, because I said I was beat up, I was done, you were trying hard, obstacle after obstacle.
Speaker 2:So let me ask you this question. There was a point in time besides the electricity, the water, that you're in the middle of it, middle of the night, asking yourself what in the world have I done?
Speaker 5:about every night.
Speaker 6:Richard, me too.
Speaker 5:Absolutely. I say that because you know, I felt that I wouldn't definitely no expert but because my relationship with MAP and you guys and and everything, I felt like I kind of knew our neighbors a little bit more than all of our volunteers there and I'm kind of going back with you guys reflected on that.
Speaker 5:Gotta kind of know their situation, everything. So I was telling everybody this is my ship, I'm the captain and you see a lot of me. But anytime we got somebody new and I was gone, I come back and I would always hear well, this person, blah, blah, blah, and you got to watch out for this person. I just go to them right away as soon as I got back and be like hey, my name is Richard Martinez. You know you guys want you to feel safe here. You're welcome, you need anything, please come see me because I'm the captain of the ship.
Speaker 2:So next thing, I know that was my nickname, was captain, yeah, yeah, and they respected that and, of course, there's a lot of vulnerabilities there and you had ability to reach out. I know there were some conversations through some apps that we had.
Speaker 5:Right, right, that made me feel special, yeah, and well we want you to be successful. For a lot of reasons. I was like man, I'm hanging out with a big dog.
Speaker 2:So you did this and volunteered and, like so many people did, we also had sent, opened up some space.
Speaker 2:We fellowship high crest and fellowship, high crest right, and we had Central Park Christian Church, we believe, opened up something and so, and maybe others we weren't aware of. So this was kind of. We've talked about the logistics, how things got started. Let's talk about the people. Let's talk about some of those unique aha moments that we've talked about, the aha moments with volunteers to some degree, but what about the people that came in? What did we see happen? Richard, you mentioned, you know, we had a leak and all of a sudden, some of the folks that were there picked up mops and they started helping out.
Speaker 2:Yes, what are some of those specials when we could probably be hours talking about what we learned two weeks from our guests? You know, again, these are people that are very misunderstood. There is a growing concern that takes on very many forms in the whole country about homelessness. Now Some of those concerns have turned to a lot of opinions and judgments and anger, calling them all kinds of different names in regards to judging them. But what did we learn? Maybe that we didn't know as much anyway through this two week experience?
Speaker 6:Okay, I think people would be surprised. There were people that checked out during the day to go to work.
Speaker 7:Yeah, I guess Asked us to hold their beds until they got back from work.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you mean they're chronically homeless, living outdoors, and they get a job?
Speaker 3:Yes, there was. I haven't shared the story yet, but there was a gentleman that just appeared different. He was very clean, had a beard, but very put together. When I first saw him I wasn't sure if he was a volunteer or not, so I had come out on the streets and then come back to the shelter and all of that and was in and out enough to realize that he was a guest. I was outside, did a Facebook live and after I finished I walked up to him and I said I just wanted to come introduce myself to you. He said are you a leader here? And I said I am. I'm part of the Speaker Rescue Mission team and shook his hand, got to know him a little bit.
Speaker 3:He was here working construction, has always worked but then, because of the weather, the construction job wasn't going to be anymore. And so now he's here, didn't have money to pay for a hotel because he's not been able to get the money because the job stopped, and so we're sitting out there by the sidewalk and he's in a different town here to work, but now it's postponed, not sure what he's going to do. And he said I had no idea that there was anybody in the world that cared like this. And I said what do you mean? He said I just thought I was going to be walking the streets for a couple of days. And he said and then the weather, and he's real masculine and all of this. But you could tell he was trying to be so kind to me. And I said well, you know, this is just what we do and I'm sorry that your job is postponed and all of that. And I said just know that you're going to be safe while you're here. You're going to be fed and all of that.
Speaker 3:He said, well, speaking of that, he said can I give you something? And he reached in his bag that he had and he pulled out this container of chicken and I said what is this? And he said well, I used it the last paycheck that he had gotten. He got himself some, some chicken. And he said because I thought I was just going to be trying to fend for myself.
Speaker 3:And he said and then I found out about this. And he said I saw that y'all have snacks and drinks and all of that. And he said I don't need extra. He said so y'all are going to be taking care of me. He said so, I want you to give this to, maybe someone who is hesitant to come in or scared to come in. He said you know, I don't have a lot of those mental illnesses that would prohibit me from being safe. And he said so can you make sure that someone who can't access this food and stuff that you have can have this chicken? And I hugged him, I asked him if it was okay and he said yeah, sure, and he's incredible. Just saw him today doing good stuff.
Speaker 3:But I say all of that because when I walked through the door of the warming center with this thing of chicken, it was another example to me that sometimes the people that have the least give the most. And I tried telling him keep the chicken. I even said well, you may not like one of our meals we serve, and he said no, I don't need extra. What you all have done will take care of me. I want this to help take care of somebody else. And I just was like man.
Speaker 3:I just wish this is a story that I could tell and it's not to be weepy or sappy, but it is to show. Do we have people experiencing homelessness because of mental illness, drug addiction, all of those things absolutely Do we have people experiencing homelessness who are employed and working and do not have mental illness? Yes, we do, and it's right here in our streets. But what is powerful is that we all come together to help, regardless if we think they need it or not. It's not up to us to decide who should be given a meal or not. That's not what this is about. So I just I will forever remember him, expressing his gratitude but then also saying he did not need extra.
Speaker 4:Yeah, and that reminds me of one young woman that was helping us. She too was a guest with us and she helped us a lot. She folded more clothes than I think anybody right, and she just wanted to help, wanted to help. But that's not what struck me. What struck me was when we were recording some things to say thank you to the volunteers, and she was one of the people and the thing that struck me and I can't believe I'm being a total Amanda.
Speaker 3:I'll. There's some tissue right there, mary.
Speaker 4:The thing that struck me was how she thanked us for allowing her to help, and that was a knife to my heart, because it's like we think we're doing such good things when we're helping people, when sometimes all we need to do is allow them to just be able to be normal right? Have some purpose. Have purpose. Be the ones that give back.
Speaker 7:I think there are exact words we're thank you for letting me work alongside you.
Speaker 4:Exactly, exactly. And how powerful is that? That, to me, was just. It was such a really great reminder of who we serve in both directions the God we serve. That gives us the opportunity to have those kinds of reminders and the opportunity that we have to work alongside people that I might never meet otherwise, that just wanna be part of community.
Speaker 3:And I will also say there are moments like this that are beautiful and then there's moments that are not beautiful, that turn beautiful. So two different situations that Sergeant Rose and I were involved in. One was a gentleman who became pretty escalated because of an incident that happened and his first reaction is to fight. His first reaction is to know how to survive and if there's gonna be a fight he's gonna win it, those kinds of things. But Sergeant Rose intervened pretty quickly and then this individual was still pretty escalated but trusted both of us enough that he wanted to tell us the why. He wanted to tell us why that was a trigger for him and why it was a struggle.
Speaker 3:And Sergeant Rose and I listened, I don't know for how long, but it was so incredible and I don't know how many times Sergeant Rose and I told him we're proud of you. Yes, you still did this, yes, you still cussed or whatever, but we are so thankful that you had enough self-control in the midst of your own trauma and PTSD and everything that was coming up. And so if you were there looking in that moment where we are breaking up two people from an issue, it doesn't look beautiful, but then what people don't see is that can still be beautiful, because in his brokenness he's trusting Sergeant Rose with things, trusting me with things. And then, not 30 minutes later, we're getting ready to eat and he's the one that asked to say the prayer.
Speaker 2:I heard that prayer and I said who was the pastor? He just gave me a prayer and they said, no, this was the guy you're talking about Really.
Speaker 7:Well, I think I'm sorry you had said something earlier about the mistrust of law enforcement in this community.
Speaker 7:And that's absolutely true. But one of my most powerful memories from this whole thing and in working with the community, they've always said things like we always have your back. Well, nobody's ever going to do anything to you, you're safe, everything's taken care of, and not that I was ever concerned. But we were in the warming center and there was one guest that I don't have a relationship with I don't think I've met him prior to the warming center at all and he was getting pretty escalated and there was a couple other officers that were dealing with another issue that they had gotten called there for, and so I was trying to keep this individual from interfering, because that's what his MO was. He kept trying to interject himself and everybody's issues and just escalating things further. So I'm standing there with my back to the other officers and I'm talking to him and I'm dealing with him and it just keeps escalating and every tool I have in my toolbox to de-escalate him is not really working all that well.
Speaker 7:He's just in a place mentally that he's unable to really hear me, which is unfortunate. But as he continued to escalate, I could see behind him all of our neighbors standing up and starting to come around him because they thought something was about to happen to me and so to actually see it happen. They've always said it would happen, but to actually see it, that they meant it, that meant a lot to me, that is earned.
Speaker 2:That's not something that's just granted. That is earned because what we talked about in the beginning, it's about relationships, it's about connection with people. That's what's made it successful. If there's one message that we will need to say over and, over and over again yeah, we can say their people, but they're not just people, they're people that need relationship, and we need the relationship with them as well.
Speaker 3:And for it to be authentic. Relationships are not always going to be on positive notes. One of the other things that was powerful to me we have a neighbor that Sergeant Rose and I are really close to on so many levels. He came in, came right over to us, ripped us because he was mad at both of us. Both of us tried to talk. Then we could tell instantly he was not in a place where he was going to hear us. And so then he leaves and storms out of the warming center angry, and both Sergeant Rose and I look at each other and we're like he'll be back, it'll be OK, and we knew in that moment it was not right for either one of us to chase him down, because we knew him. We know when someone needs to be and when they don't. He needed the space because he wasn't hearing us, but neither one of us liked that. Because we love him, we care for him.
Speaker 3:So a couple of hours later I'm driving one of the rescue trucks and he's walking down the road with this big, long stick. He's madder than a hornet. I roll the window down and I said are you ready to talk to me yet? Yep, he comes right up to the window and he said I'm really sorry about all that. I said you don't have to apologize to me. Well, yeah, I do. And I said well, what are you apologizing for? Well, I yelled. I said yeah, you did. I said can we talk about it now? Yeah, I'm really mad because.
Speaker 3:And he told me why he was mad and I said OK, I hear you. And I said can I tell you the other side of it? He said yeah, and I said you know how you think that that wasn't handled? He goes yeah, and I said do you know why it wasn't? No, I said because I was exhausted. I went home last night, but when you came in here to talk to Sergeant Rosanai, that was the first thing that we were addressing. So we were about to fix what you were upset about, but I couldn't do it last night because he worked overnight and I was exhausted. Oh, and so that's?
Speaker 4:authentic.
Speaker 3:Yes, you know, and so I needed him to not just see me as the executive director. He needed to see like, oh, I have to sleep, or Sergeant Rose worked all night and that we're doing this. But I also needed him to know like I've got you. I see your concern and your concern is valid, but I need you to have grace with me too, and so if you would have seen that when he just stormed out and didn't talk to Sergeant Rose and I, you could see or put some type of judgment on that. But to me the power in that was the reconciliation, and I didn't need his apology, but I appreciated it. But I also owed him an explanation, because I wanted him to know why I understood his feelings but why it wasn't accurate, and I needed him to continue to trust me. That matters to me, so it's not just about me earning their trust, you know, it's vice versa too.
Speaker 2:It is.
Speaker 7:To bring that up reminds me that I don't. I think there's somebody we haven't thanked at all for all the work that they did that really deserve it and was single-handedly responsible for a lot of the people we had in the shelter getting to the shelter, and that was the Street Dog Coalition being able to shelter animals that these folks would not have left in their camps, they wouldn't have left those animals behind at all. And I'm gonna call him out by name because he deserves it.
Speaker 7:So Matt Baldwin with Street Dog Coalition, along with Dr Crow Dr Crow have done an amazing job in building relationships with this community and so just being able to tell people that, hey, we have a place for your animal, they're like I don't want my animal to go to the pound or wherever. It's like, no, no Street Dog Coalition's gonna take care of it. And immediately the light went off like oh, I trust them. They can have my animal while I'm in here. Without them, we would have definitely lost people and we definitely would have lost animals, because they would not have come in.
Speaker 6:No, yeah, no.
Speaker 2:There was heroes, heroes, heroes here, including the people that were being served.
Speaker 3:There were heroes. Eas is another one that I wanted to mention the Equity Equity no Easy Access Equity.
Speaker 6:Access Shelter Equity.
Speaker 3:Access Shelter good grief, I've been off for a week, you can tell. But Carrie and Hillary, they were just incredible because their role in the city is housing and to help others, and they not only were doing their stuff, but they were here working shifts, they were getting people on the EAS wait list. They were working around the clock, either from their offices or our warming center or going on the streets, and so just grateful for that too, for them to rise up to do that, because it was really we were trying to maximize every resource we possibly could, why we also had people there, so that, yes, it was meeting an immediate need. But can we also put things in place where transformation was going to to occur?
Speaker 2:So many sung unsung heroes as well that were involved in this that, again, had never done anything like this before, and maybe they came out of curiosity, maybe they just came out of oh my gosh, I would hate to be in that situation and learn so many things. Um, it's a beautiful mess. It was a beautiful mess. Um, lives were saved. Uh, sergeant, as far as we know, nobody froze to death in our community. No, that's says something in of itself. Yeah, that says something right there.
Speaker 2:There were 600 plus people that were that we know of that were brought in out of harm's way, um. Beyond that, relationships furthered, new opportunities for learning about our neighbors who are experiencing homelessness were developed. Um, we will not do well if we say one and done Um, for a lot of reasons. One, it's going to get cold again, uh, some day, and we're going to have this happen again. It's going to get hot, um, but every day in between is an opportunity for us to say what do we need to know about our community? What do we need to know about our neighbors? Um, one one, uh, lemaine. I want you to close with one story I'll tell you about in a minute, but I want to share this one.
Speaker 2:There was a particular well educated individual that's very interesting the homeless issue for a lot of reasons who had come to some conclusions because he had really never been involved with the homeless. He was just interested in the issue and his, um, his thoughts were the best way to solve the homeless problem is to lock all the crooks up and put them in jail, and um, so if we can get all the warrants run and we go out and scoop them up, there'll be very few people left, cause they're all very dangerous people. And so I invited him to go to and this is over a period of months that we'd had these conversations I invited him to come out on the streets with me to actually meet some of the folks he's talking about. And he wouldn't do it, uh, without packing, he said. And I said why would you want to do that? Cause they're dangerous, you know, and if they cross the line I'll take them out. And so we had interesting conversation about that. So he kept asking for information and we were on, I think, the last Friday of the warming center it's still pretty cold out and and um, and he wanted some information from me. And so I gave some information about the homeless and I said meet me at the warming center at 430 this afternoon. He goes. Well, no, I don't want to do that. And I said, fine, don't ever call me again. And uh, he said what do you mean? I said, no, I'm a blocking number If you don't meet me. Well, my wife and I we have plans. I said so Friday I go, we'll cancel them, meet me there for 30 or I'm blocking your number.
Speaker 2:And he was a little angry and he came in and uh, for the very first time he engaged with um, a lot of people in that 206 building and um, a lady came up to me, um, and she um asked me for an ace bandage. And I said what do you need an ace bandage for? And she said I broke my arm. And I said could I look at it? And she rolled her coat up and didn't look good, and so I said we need to get you a hospital now. And she goes nope, not going. And I said, uh, we really need to get you there.
Speaker 2:We, an ace bandage is not going to fix this. She said I won't go to the hospital. I said why not? She said well, and she talked about a bad experience a time or two that she felt like she had in the hospital. And then, uh, I said well, okay, how about if we send somebody with you? You know we've got some volunteers here. I'm sure that they would love to help you and make you feel safe there. And she said no, that happened to me one time too, and they didn't stay with me and bad things happened to me. And she said all I need is an ace bandage.
Speaker 2:She looked like she was in so much pain. So this guy's watching this whole thing unfold, this really dangerous person with the broken arm right. And so I said I don't know if we have an ace bandage in this whole building. And so I walked to the other end of the building and, sure enough, there's brand new box ace bandage sitting on a shelf. You know how God does things.
Speaker 2:And so I came back out and I showed it to her and tears began to flow down her eyes and so I unwrapped it and I said would you like to put this on? She said I can't. She showed me her left hand and it was frostbite. And she said I can't move this hand. Would you mind putting it on me? And I said sure, and so got it to where it was tight and I said please let us know if we can get you to the hospital, because this is not going to last for very long. But she was so happy about getting that ace bandage through her arms around me, gave me a hug and I turned and looked at the guy and I said what do you think now? And he said I guess I needed to see this, didn't I?
Speaker 2:I said these are not dangerous people. By and large, they're not dangerous. If you want to make them dangerous, they'll be dangerous. I could make you dangerous, but we won't do that, and I think that those are the kind of things that were eyeopening to so many people. We get to see that, yes, there has to be value, there has to be opportunity, there has to be structure with people, there needs to be guidelines for people. We all need those things, but we have broken people in our community, people stepped up to the plate to say we care about our neighbors in their brokenness, but let's remember to continue to care for them. And I'd like for you to close in the story about the man who you offered food to on the first night and what he said, and just to paint a picture of one of our neighbors Barry you're in trouble, I know usually.
Speaker 2:You know, there was.
Speaker 3:An individual that the one that was struggling to communicate was that when you're talking about, and I could tell that this individual was just kind of in his own world and I wasn't sure what all he knew or saw or understood Communication, communication, communication, communication communication was lacking.
Speaker 3:He was talking to himself a lot, but it really wasn't reciprocated. And I continued to try to engage with him and to talk with him, and then I realized that he did better whenever I didn't make eye contact, and so I started trying to just get in close proximity to him and then I would just I found out his name, so I called him Mr So-and-so, and he really wouldn't engage with me back, really wouldn't talk a whole lot. But I started noticing that he would kind of quiet some and would stay closer to me if I just got in proximity but then didn't look at him. And so there were a couple of different things that I tried to talk to him about, but it didn't seem like it made a connection. And then I heard him saying food, food. And so I got excited, but I didn't want to be too excited and so I said there's food over here, come over here. And so I walked over to the food table and I was surprised that he followed me. And so then I just sat at the food table and offered him different things. It wasn't reciprocated. But then he was getting stuff off the food table and I just remember thinking, man, this one thing we connected on the word food and I had the food to be able to offer. He understood that. That's what it meant. I don't know if he's really hungry, I don't know what he's trying to communicate to me, but we did it.
Speaker 3:And so then some time passes, and then it was time for me to leave and I was telling him that it was good to see him again, not looking at him, just kind of side by side with him, telling him you know that kind of thing, and he just said thank you, and I didn't know what all he was thanking me for, but I knew that there was something in his mind that he understood and was trying to communicate. And so I told him you know, I was just so glad he was here and that kind of thing, still not talking, still not looking at him, still not facing him, and then I got ready to leave and then he said safe, safe. I still don't know what all that meant, but I have no doubt in my mind that whether it was safe from his own thoughts, safe because he had a place that he was trying to communicate to me that he was safe and it just shows you that the power is not in how many words we share. The power is not in even understanding. Sometimes it's just really in communicating and doing something. And in that moment he felt safe from the weather, he had food. He said thank you.
Speaker 3:I don't know all of his story. I do know that some things happened after the warming center and I saw his mugshot for being arrested for a couple of things, including the ordinance. But I know in that moment we did the right thing and my heart and my hope is that he continues to get help that he needs. That goes beyond a warming center, goes beyond food, but I do hope that, whatever we're doing as a community, that we are continuing to keep him safe, and I'm not sure that we're doing that, but I hope that we do.
Speaker 2:Thank you. That one set the tone, I believe, for the two weeks. Somebody was very broken, had nowhere else to turn, had a hard time communicating but said two words food safe, food safe. Some of our neighbors are that broken. I got to see him the next day after I'd heard that story and he came up to me and smiled and said hi, I knew who you were talking about, so there was some great healing that began in that process.
Speaker 2:Well, thank you all for listening to our community, our mission. We've just barely unpacked a two week experience that was, I think, game changer for many people, including our community. I want to thank Kristen Stock with Vallejo for being here with us today and for everything that you guys did at Vallejo. Sergeant Rose, the police department, thank you. Richard Martinez, thank you for standing in there. Buddy, you could be a shelter director one of these days. Appreciate that. And, of course, amanda and Miriam and all of you who participated that are listening to this broadcast. You change lives, you touch lives, you save lives, and not only that, you set a trajectory in this community. I think that now we can look at things a little bit differently because of our neighbors, who God loves and you do too. Thank you for listening to our community, our mission. If you'd like more information about the Topeka Rescue Mission, you can go to trmonlineorg. That's trmonlineorg. Have a blessed day.