Contributing to the Community You're In - Part 2

In this continuation of the conversation, Christy Dragotta talks with Esther Miranda about her journey in founding Sweet Oak Collaborative, a nonprofit dedicated to addressing unmet needs in Bryan/College Station. They explore topics like homelessness, food insecurity, transportation, faith, and community action, emphasizing solutions and faith-driven service.

To find out how to get involved with Sweet Oak Collaborative:

Website: www.sweetoaktx.org

Email:  admin@sweetoaktx.org 

Phone: 979-557-2176

Facebook: facebook.com/sweetoaktx

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Hey friends, thank you so much for being with us today. As you can see, this is our continuation of my discussion with Esther and with Sweet Oak Collaborative. And so we're just excited for you to join us. If you haven't listened to the other segments of this, I recommend go back and start there because it'll give you a lot of information about the multiple areas that she is working in in our community. But we're going to continue this conversation. So we're just glad you're back.

SPEAKER_03 0:28

And the light bulb went puff in my head. The solutions were very clear. Fill out that application, Esther. Get it to Blake as soon as you can, get a van and start helping people move forward faster. Yes. That's another goal of Sweet Oak. Moving forward faster. How do you help families in crisis move forward faster? Because lots of other agencies help. How fast do they help? Right. Wait a month, wait three months. In next year, we'll fit you into this or that. And my thinking is they can't bear waiting. How can we do this for them faster?

SPEAKER_02 1:06

Right.

SPEAKER_03 1:06

There's red tape everywhere.

SPEAKER_02 1:09

Right.

SPEAKER_03 1:09

Everywhere. And imagine these people who have waited a year on the waiting list for a voucher. Then they get their voucher. Then they're told to go find the apartment. And they cannot find a two-bedroom because they're all gone. So they're waiting another four months. Then they finally find one. And then they're told the inspection will take about six to eight weeks because we don't have six inspectors. Now we only have two. And now they're all excited because the inspection is scheduled for next week. But they shot$200 on their deposit. That's when I want to pay the$200. So you ask me what else do I need? If I had a seed money,$10,000,$15,000 just for these emergency needs to take somebody over the finish line. It's those kinds of things, you know?$50,$100. Yeah. Somebody who barely has$30 for one apartment now has to give$30 here,$50 there,$25 there, non-refundable. They don't have money for the application fees. So they don't even know if they're going to get in or be accepted.

SPEAKER_01 2:21

This goes back to, you know, this is something I can speak to you about from the realtor side of things and honesty. You said you can't help someone that's not honest with you. And it's the same when you're putting in your applications, do not waste your money if you're not going to be 100% honest. Yep. Because if you have a felony, there are some management companies that will work with you, but they have to know it on the front end. The whole story. Because everybody's going to say, Well, my management company was unreasonable or my landlord was terrible. But oftentimes we see repeated behaviors, or that you don't just have one eviction, you have multiple. You've got to be up front. And if you're ready to make a change, I do believe there are people that are willing to.

SPEAKER_03 3:11

We work with second chance landlords every day. I know. In fact, yesterday I had two of them message me. I have a three-bedroom. I have a two-bedroom. Then when I said they cannot show three times the rent, she said, We're asking only for 2.5. And if you get three different people who want to share the apartment, we'll put all three of them on the lease and we'll we'll consider their combined income. Nice.

SPEAKER_02 3:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 3:35

That's the kind of stuff we gotta tell people who are looking. We get we have clients who've got felonies, who have had multiple evictions, who've got a horrible rental history. Okay? And they think that there's no hope for them. And I said, yes, there is. And I will tell you the landlords to go to in town who are second-chance landlords. Yes. But they can see your whole history. That's right. They can see everything. When they run your check, when they go to Justice Web, when they go to criminal background, they can see what your felony was, how much time you spent in jail, how many evictions you had, how many times you were late on your rent, they can see it. So don't leave it out.

SPEAKER_01 4:14

Right.

SPEAKER_03 4:14

Tell them truthfully the first time.

SPEAKER_01 4:17

That's right. So important. And so then there may be, this is kind of a call to action for my listeners too. If you would be a second chance landlord, I know Esther will love to get to know you. To have you contact her and let her know. And that's if you're willing, if you own your own business and you're willing to hire someone that maybe doesn't have their own transportation, but they have proven out that they are willing to get the bus ticket and get there, please reach out to Sweet Oak Collaborative because just working together as a community, we can do so much. And if you are a believer, what better picture for the world right now that has so much, there is so much hopelessness, there is so much pain, there is so much hurt. And what they need is to see the church coming together, but the church isn't a building on the highway.

SPEAKER_03 5:09

Every single person that calls themselves a believer.

SPEAKER_01 5:12

That's right, that is the church. I understand it's easy to hire someone that has their own vehicle. I understand that we need people to come that we know that we're gonna count on. But do you know there are so many people out there who would become the people we could count on if they're just given the opportunity, given a chance, and who more than that single mom that is trying to provide for her kids? I'm telling you, that mom will do anything to make sure her kids are taken care of. And so put your feet where your faith is and do the work that it takes to help people. And I just think that's really it's really some, it's a need that it is. It's a need, and people would be less inclined to hate Christians if Christians acted like Christ did.

SPEAKER_03 6:02

Yep. I mean that do the work. You know, somebody asked me the other day, how do you describe yourself? I would say a follower of Christ. Many times we want to define ourselves by I'm a Baptist, I'm a Methodist, I'm a Catholic, I'm a this. Yes, I'm cradle Catholic, but I would prefer to say I'm a follower of Christ. Yes. What does that mean? Right. That is living the two greatest commandments.

SPEAKER_01 6:27

Yes, love God and love your neighbor. Love others. That's it.

SPEAKER_03 6:31

That's it. Yeah take take church out of the what I tell people. Do you go to church? Oh yes, this is my church. Go on a Sunday, oh yes, we go on a Sunday. How do you take church out of the pew after you've left church on a Sunday?

unknown 6:46

Right.

SPEAKER_03 6:47

Take church out of the pew you sat in. You sang nice songs, you listened to a great preacher, you love your church, all your friends go there, their kids go there. That's great. If your spiritual tank is not so filled that it doesn't take you all through the week spilling out to others till you come back next Sunday, you just went into a building. That's right. You just sang some nice songs. Part of a club. Part of a club, you sang some nice songs and you feel good. You feel good, but you will feel a whole lot better when you start pouring out to others.

SPEAKER_01 7:21

Yes, truly, it is better to give it a couple of things.

SPEAKER_03 7:24

Oh my gosh. People tell me I'm crazy, yes, you need to slow down, you need time for yourself, you need a social life, you need self-care. I said, I don't think you understand that this is my self-care. This is the most fulfilling thing I do.

SPEAKER_02 7:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 7:40

Everybody has to have purpose for what they get up every morning for. For some people, it's a 9-to-5 job, that's okay. For others, it's a stay-at-home mom, that's okay. It doesn't matter what it is, pick something, make it your purpose. For me, this is the most soul-filling thing I do. It's enriching all day, every day, all week.

SPEAKER_02 7:59

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 8:00

You know? So, anyway, when I was starting this, I decided 99% of all sweet oak volunteers and leaders are Christian. They all belong to a Christian church. So people were like, Well, Esther, why don't you just make it a Christian ministry? And I said, Because of the people we will be excluding. I want people to feel included, and that means everybody. Right. And the minute we say, you know, we're a Catholic group or a Baptist group or a Methodist group or whatever group, then we're defining ourselves by that church. Right. And the people who already feel excluded are going to say, Well, that's not for me. They won't help me. They won't help me. I can't go to that group.

unknown 8:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:47

And I think you know that it brings up something that I think is super important. John 3.16 is the most popular verse in the Bible. Right. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that whoever would believe on him would have eternal life. Whoever. All is all. It means everybody. There is no one that Jesus excluded for the call to come to himself.

SPEAKER_03 9:14

And it's not for us to judge whether Jesus is going to let them in.

SPEAKER_01 9:17

Right.

SPEAKER_03 9:18

That's right. Have you heard that story about the thief who was next to him on the cross? He arrived at the Purley Gates, and the angel said to him, How did you get here? Why are you here? And he said, Because the guy on the middle cross told me to come. That's right. The man on the middle cross told me to come.

SPEAKER_01 9:38

That's right.

SPEAKER_03 9:39

Even him with his dying breath.

SPEAKER_01 9:42

Yeah. He hadn't done any good works in his whole life.

SPEAKER_03 9:44

His whole life. He was a thief, and he said, And Jesus said, Tomorrow you will be with me in paradise. That's right. The guy on the middle told me to come. That's right. What a beautiful invitation. It is a beautiful. If you think about it, imagine Jesus saying that to you, hey, come. Yeah. I got a spot for you in my father's house.

SPEAKER_01 10:03

Come.

SPEAKER_02 10:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:04

But we get so arrogant. I mean, this is where people start thinking, well, I've cleaned up my life. I used to be that, but now I've cleaned up my life. And so we feel more acceptable. And therefore, we it's almost like we're saying, thanks, Jesus, for the for the handout. But we, you know, I I got mostly here by myself, but thanks for the last little help in. And I mean, it's just utter arrogance to think that way. And and you know, it isn't our job, it is our job to speak the truth and love, but it is not our job to convict somebody's heart. No, only the the Lord can do that, only the Holy Spirit can do that. And so I love that your agency is not one that is going to say you're just beyond our help, except for it's the one that goes across the if you aren't truthful, we can't do it.

SPEAKER_03 10:55

And if you don't, and if you don't want to make any effort, that's right. And if you're not willing to work harder than I am for your we're gonna offer you so many options, and we can't do it. I always look to see who's the best person I can put them on to. Which of my friends can I call when I get off this call? I'm always trying to, you know, not just give them a name, right? But you know, actually connect them with somebody, and then I'll follow up. Hey, tell me what happened with that lady or that gentleman or what happened with the job, what happened, you know, because I want to follow up to know is there still unfinished stuff we can help with? Yes, and that's the other thing I tell people about case management. It's not one and done. Right. You've given them the initial help, their lights are back on, or they got the job, or their car is fixed. Doesn't cost you anything in one week. Send them a text, hey, I was thinking of you, how's the job going? In one month, you know what happened to childcare? Did that come through? Did that start? What about your disability check? Um, are you getting it regularly every month? And then one year later, now you've touched, you know, the one day, the one week, the one month, the one year, and the person feels that you've not just disappeared from their lives. Right. When I do that, they're like, Oh, Miss Esther, so nice to hear from you. Sometimes I don't stick to that, sometimes it's like many months later. There was a lady I met at the airport. We were both headed to Boston to see our grandchildren. The flight was delayed. So she and I start talking, and then I realized she's from right here in Bryan.

SPEAKER_01 12:34

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_03 12:34

At uh First Baptist in Bryan. And so we're talking, and then I'm telling her, Oh, I'm looking for a place to do this, and I'm looking to expand pantry. And in the short time we were together, she's telling me who's the ministry person I need to talk to, who the pastor is, what the women's group had started doing. And so we go our separate ways on the ride back after our trip, we are on the shuttle together, and she's like, Okay, and we exchange numbers. I don't know whether I'll see her very often, but now she knows my name. I know her name. I I'm saying there is connection with the random people uh you come across in life.

SPEAKER_01 13:15

Yeah, random divine appointments. God puts people in the right places at the right time to connect you for a purpose.

SPEAKER_03 13:23

Yes, there is nothing random about it, nothing accidental. That's right. Uh, you know, and I tell people don't brush it off as like ah, that just happened at the car dealership or that just happened at the grocery store. Uh-uh. Um, I have another nice story to tell you. This is my friend Kathy. Kathy is a founding member of SweetOk. She became my first secretary, and it didn't stop there. Somebody that she was doordashing for, that she took groceries for, when she went to their house, she started telling them all about Sweet Ok. Yeah. Now, fast forward half a year, one year, she goes back again to him or he connected with her and she said, What's that agency with that name? You said some name that you are helping to found, and she says, Sweet Oak Collaborative. And he goes, Do they do anything with education? And she said, Yeah, Esther's all about education, but they haven't started the educational programs yet because they're waiting for a community center to begin all of that. And he goes, Well, tell me more. Tell me so. She tells him more. And he goes, Well, I'm very interested in the educational part, so keep me informed when that begins. But in the meanwhile, I'm a very busy uh professor and I can't get involved in the work, but I can make a monetary donation. So I want to tell you something about you know the mustard seed. You've heard the parable of the mustard seed, right? The tiny mustard seed, what it can become.

SPEAKER_02 14:52

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 14:53

People who give five bucks or ten bucks, it becomes 200 the next time, and that's what he did. Right away, he wrote a check. I've never met the man. Yeah, wow. I have never met him. We have not started any of our educational initiatives, but I know we have his support. Yes, he's sewing into it. Yes, he has the treasure to give, he doesn't have the time, right? He does can't give his talent yet because he wants to do something educational. Yes, but he was ready to give treasure because he said I have I have the means to write a check. Yes, and I tell people that just discern what I am able to give right now. Five minutes of my time, five dollars for bus tickets, right? Five thousand because I want a tax deduction on my next income tax return. Yes, we'll take it gladly, and I'll give you I'll give you a tax receipt for your income tax, not a problem. Right. We we need it all. Yeah, we cannot do this on our own, and I'm just so thankful. The other thing I need are leaders. I got lots and lots of volunteers. Well, I need more volunteers. I need good leaders, and there are leaders amongst our volunteers, and I'm trying to make them leaders that are reluctant leaders who don't acknowledge that they're capable of leadership.

SPEAKER_01 16:15

They're probably fearful. They're fearful, yeah. They just don't know the good that God has sewn into them, their identity that He's put in that says, Yeah, you on your own can't do it, but you with me, we can do it.

SPEAKER_03 16:30

Yeah, and so yes, I need leaders because, like, even things like say we get a van and I want to begin this transportation initiative, I cannot take on one more thing to run on my own. I need people who help with scheduling, who take the requests, who take care of the maintenance, who deal with the drivers. It's all those things. Right. The insurance, the liability. You know, you don't just start, and that's one the other thing with me. I have dreams. I don't want to start something that falls flat on its face in a month or two. Lots of people do this. They start something, they get the community excited, and then you never hear about it again. Right. Or they have meetings after meetings after meetings, and there's no action plan, there's no deadline, it doesn't go anywhere. Right. I tell people, why do you have another meeting if you haven't completed the action item from last meeting? There's no need for another meeting, right?

SPEAKER_01 17:30

Right.

SPEAKER_03 17:31

Do something, but you spent two hours talking about the last time. Yes, do a little bit, yeah, then come back and say, okay, you tried that, this is how far we got, we ran into this stumbling block. But do something, right? You know, yeah, and so many people are just sitting on the sidelines, like you said, scrolling Facebook, angry, writing angry stuff, riling up people who don't need to be riled up, right? But they're not doing anything, they don't commit to any cause. Yeah, I tell people it could be Israel, it could be the trees, it could be the dogs, it could be old age homes. I don't, it doesn't matter to me. Yes, pick something and go do good. Yes, don't just sit on the sidelines and complain.

SPEAKER_01 18:21

It makes me think of the scripture: the harvest is plentiful. The laborers are few, but there are few laborers, and so if your heart is stirring as you're hearing all of these things, if I've not scared you off, just listen to the Lord because any place that you have fear, if He is inviting you into it, He will equip you to do it. That is the God that we serve, that is the Holy Spirit that works inside of us and through us always to make a difference. And so if you're feeling any kind of a stirring, or even if you're just curious to know more, again, I'm gonna ask you, go to the links in the description and see how you can get involved. You can contact GetHonest at it's just gethonistpod at gmail.com, or you can contact Sweet Oak Collaborative.

SPEAKER_03 19:15

Yep, at uh uh info at sweetoattx.org.

SPEAKER_01 19:20

Okay, info at sweetoatx.org. And so we'll and I'll have all that in the show notes, but I really want to encourage you if your heart is stirring, don't put it to the side to come back to it because you know how life goes and you're gonna get all busy and you're not gonna do it. Stop right now. If you're driving, pull off to the side of the road and write this down and contact and just trust that God is stirring your heart for a reason, He's inviting you for a reason. Okay, so I want to pick back up. I had asked you um, what is the number one area that you could use support? And we talked about many, many things, but I kind of want to reframe that question because what I want to know is you've expressed to me you have things that are in the works, and all you need is either the people to help or the resources to help make it be. So tell us what what do you have out there that's just waiting, but it's ready to go. Somebody's given you something ready to go.

SPEAKER_03 20:28

I don't did we talk about our transitional housing program? I don't think we did. You didn't. Maybe I should.

SPEAKER_01 20:33

Yeah, you mentioned that you have it, but we haven't gone into it.

SPEAKER_03 20:35

So let me describe it and then I'll tell you the huge opportunity that has just landed in our laps. Right. So uh I've mentioned emergency shelter and you know, uh people needing a place in during a crisis, but there are families who need a second chance at life, a second chance at renting a place because they cannot immediately get into another apartment. However, they might be starting a new job, uh, but they get paid every two weeks, so they don't have a paycheck on the first of the month. And what we decided to do was begin a transitional housing program where they could stay for up to six months at a time, but we are flexible with how you pay your rent, when you pay your rent, let you slide on late fees for the first month or two that you're with us. By month three, we want you to be paying on time, otherwise, you're gonna have to start paying late fees because the landlord is not gonna just let you keep going without paying rent and late fees. And we were blessed with a four-plex for two-bedroom apartments by a friend who was running a bunch of Airbnbs around town, and he didn't want to be doing that anymore. And so we began that November of 2024. And I think we just moved in our 11th family recently, and we decided okay, it's still needed, and maybe we could use more space. Than just the four apartments that we have. Well, this five-bedroom house was offered to us recently.

SPEAKER_02 22:08

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 22:08

And it's not just a five-bedroom house. There's place for five mobile homes or RVs in the backyard. There's place for 30 to 40 people in the basement, which has electricity, to use it as a warming or cooling center in extreme weather. Wow. It has this huge backyard for a community garden.

SPEAKER_00 22:31

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 22:32

And they don't even want a huge market price for it because the lady who owns it owns multiple properties. She doesn't want a realtor or broker. She just told her family members find the right people who'll use it well and sell it to them. So we would really, really love to be able to buy that house by December 2026 because we would use it for so many people.

SPEAKER_02 22:58

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 22:59

A sober living program for women indoors. A similar program for men in the backyard, a whole community area for women and children. So we separate groups and we're not just mixing everybody up inside. We got offered another two-bedroom house in Bryan that is so ready to go. We need about$30,000 to$40,000 to finish renovating it and adding a third bedroom. That would become a day shelter. It could become a place for three different individuals to live. We are really hoping to get the donation of a 15-passenger van. With the donation of a van, we need responsible drivers. We need the funds to cover liability and insurance. Not everybody can be a volunteer. There are young people who need to be paid. But that could truly become a shared van for community rides, which we share with other agencies for people who need doctor to get to doctor appointments, people starting a job and can't get back at midnight or 10 o'clock at night because the buses don't run.

SPEAKER_02 24:13

Right.

SPEAKER_03 24:14

Many people don't know that the transit system does not work late evenings or on weekends. Many people don't know.

SPEAKER_01 24:20

Right.

SPEAKER_03 24:21

They just say, Oh, can't they take a bus? No, the buses don't run then.

SPEAKER_01 24:25

I really didn't know that they didn't run on the weekends. I had no idea. At all. Yeah. Yeah. Wow.

SPEAKER_03 24:30

Or at midnight to bring people back from Sanderson Farms. Right. Right? Right. I I had somebody who took a second job and he told me I walk back from Waterburger at 10 o'clock at night, two miles every night after work. Yeah. There's no bus at 10 o'clock at night. Gosh. And if their only choice is Uber, half their paycheck has gone to Uber. So community rides is huge, and that for all of this falls right in line with our top two initiatives, which are shelter and transportation.

SPEAKER_02 25:02

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 25:02

So these are two immediate projects we want to jump on, get that house, renovate the two-bedroom, get that community ride van going. Anybody who can help with any of those three initiatives, we'd welcome your support. Down the road, Sweet Oak is still working towards our dream of having a community center, a hub. We have a name for it. The name was chosen before we even got our 501c3 approval. And the name is The Ladder, a community care center, a place where you can fill out your applications, we follow up on your benefits, we have skills workshops, we have a tech center, we have a community garden, we'll have a place for seniors to gather, we'll have after school programs, everything happening in one place. So people who need their food stamp application to turn that in. People who are following up on their disability check, on their housing voucher. Many people do not have the luxury of going to different offices to do these things. And then they don't have a computer or a smartphone. People think like, oh, there's an online application. Well, not everybody has a computer and printer at home.

SPEAKER_01 26:25

Or even just internet access or even internet.

SPEAKER_03 26:28

So, you know, I envision a single mother coming in, she's got a crying baby on her shoulder, she's probably hasn't even sat down for a cup of coffee for the day, and we say, Come on in, let's hold your baby. Why don't you get a cup of coffee and we'll help you fill out your application? And then after she's done that, we say, Okay, uh, it now needs to be turned in in that office on 29th Street. We'll take it for you. Or let's drive there and drop it off. Now, with one visit to the center, that mother leaves feeling like, okay, they helped me fill it out right and they helped me turn it in. Now, in a week or two, they're gonna follow up and see if everything is approved or not. Yes. It made me very angry. This was about over half a year ago, maybe last year. I was helping somebody and he told me, I'm never gonna hear back from that office. I turned in my application six months ago and nobody called me. I deal with that office a whole lot. I was right there. I picked up the phone that day and I called my friend who works in that department upstairs, and I said, Hey, can you just look through your stack of pending applications that are not approved and tell me what is the status for this gentleman? In two minutes, she told me, Oh, it's here sitting. There are like three places he didn't put his signature. I said, Who was going to call him? This is over six months ago. He turned it in, he thought everything was okay. Uh, I'm telling you, I was not savvy, whether PhD or not, to fill out 45 pages for the IRS. Right. How do you expect somebody maybe he hasn't finished high school, maybe he hasn't ever gone to college, even if they have? Some of those forms are so daunting.

SPEAKER_02 28:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 28:21

So many boxes and so many confusing questions and places to sign. Okay, leave all of that. With good faith, he tried, he turned it in. Why couldn't anybody have called him? Okay, so then I found out well, our system is we will only send a reminder in the mail. Now, the reality for the population we're serving, many of them don't stay at that same address for a long time. They're never gonna get it. Yeah, so he never got it. And those are the holes in the system that I keep talking about, the cracks through which good people fall and their needs fall. And that's why you need organizations like ours to say, okay, the reality is this is happening. What part can we play to fill the stuff that falls through the cracks? So we need the volunteers and we need the leaders, we need case managers, we need people who are unafraid to make phone calls. You can make a respectful phone call and still get your message across that we are very upset that you're waiting six months. Yes. And say, what's the next step? Tell us what you need. What do we need to bring you? It's all those things. So those were our short-term projects I told you about. Longer term is we absolutely want to work towards getting a center. If you know anybody in city government, in the planning and zoning office, there are empty buildings in our city sitting empty for months, even years. There is no plan for them, nobody's getting rent from them. What part can the city play in making those spaces available to nonprofits like us? We will run them, whether it's for seniors, whether it's a community center, whether it's for housing. If there is work that the cities cannot do on their own, use the non-profit leaders to run this stuff for you. That's what we're here for. So I tell people if you've got a best friend who's run for office and been elected or is sitting in a position of power, if you've got a best friend who's a bank manager who can give us a very low interest loan, talk to your friends. It's good. Help make it happen faster. Because the people who need this stuff, they're desperate, they've been waiting for a very long time. Just help to make the solution happen faster.

SPEAKER_01 30:49

Yeah. That's so good. So even if somebody had, let's just say they have one hour in a week, then they want to do something for good with that hour. If they called you, would you be able to say?

SPEAKER_03 31:04

I have phone calls I'd love you to make for me. I've got some data entry I'd like you to enter on the computer. I got text messages you can send. Uh, if you want to come up to the office and you know help us get ready for an event, we have community events. Uh, there are people who like a social life. So they go to First Friday in downtown Brian. Right, they go to the farmers market on a Saturday morning. Take our stuff, set up a table, and tell people about Sweet Oak. Yeah, you're there already.

SPEAKER_01 31:32

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 31:33

I'll make all the coffees, I'll give you a little box, put up a banner, tell people.

SPEAKER_01 31:39

So good.

SPEAKER_03 31:39

You can recruit for us. Yeah, you don't have to do anything, you don't have to spend any money, you don't have to prepare any stuff. I have it ready in a box, ready to go. Uh, we just need people who have the time to give to do that. If you're going with your grandchildren or your family already to First Friday in downtown Brian, you know, we have registered to take up a booth. We need people to volunteer one hour at a time.

SPEAKER_01 32:06

Yes, incredible. Yeah. And so that would only be even one time a month.

SPEAKER_03 32:09

That's only once a month.

SPEAKER_01 32:10

Yeah. Yep. It's not even every week. Yeah. So there's so many opportunities, and that's just what I really want to help you to see. And you know, for those of you who aren't in Bryan College Station and you don't know what First Friday is in downtown Bryan and all of these things, find out in your community, you know, look for the helpers. There are surely people helping in your community. And if you don't know where they are, go to the city. Go, where would people go? That's a great question for you because I don't know. But where would people go in their city to go?

SPEAKER_03 32:41

Many people start with church programs because church programs have ministry groups, the women's group, the men's group, you know, the youth groups. Uh, that's one place. If you're not a faith-based person and uh you want to just volunteer, the school district you would start with the PTO. What are the biggest needs at your school? Or the library, or the blessing boxes that you have at the top of your street. Uh blessing boxes have become the mini default pantries in many cities across the United States. They're little boxes. You may have heard of the little libraries, the free libraries, where people would put books and you could go put the books you didn't want and take books that you like. Well, a blessing box is similar with shelf stable food. So you'd put in your ramen noodle cups or your mac and cheese or your granola bars or little fruit cups, and people who need a meal at nine o'clock at night, they can look up the closest place to go from down their street. And if there's a blessing box there, they've got food to eat that night.

SPEAKER_02 33:44

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 33:45

I tell people put pop-top cans. They don't have many don't have a can opener. I once met a lady, and this goes back to the invisible unsheltered, who was one of the first people to tell me, don't ever call us homeless, because my car is my home. But could you please tell those people who put food in the blessing boxes to please either put a can opener or when they're buying groceries at the grocery store, only choose the cans that have a pop top. And all those extra silverware you get from with takeout, fox and spoons with a little pepper and salt, please throw a bunch of those in. Many of us do not have forks and knives or pepper and salt.

SPEAKER_01 34:27

Wow, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 34:28

Throw those in. So when we take a can to eat in our car, we have something to eat it with. It's simple stuff like that that we don't think about.

SPEAKER_01 34:36

We don't even it doesn't even cross our mind because we haven't lived it. We haven't lived. We don't have that lived experience.

SPEAKER_03 34:42

Yeah. So all good things you can do.

SPEAKER_01 34:46

So good. Yeah. So just look for the people in your city and go to the go to the city meetings, and you will find people who are helpers who are looking to do the same things that you're looking to do. But it it takes moving your feet. You can't just sit around and talk about it and think about it. You've got to get up and do something about it. And so I would encourage you for that. So thinking of um in this last little section, what is something that we haven't covered that you would like to cover? Um, I know we've talked about these houses and these opportunities. I guess I want to ask a little bit more about that. You know, with the two-bedroom house and the five-bedroom house, is the biggest thing stopping you there? It's just the funding. Yes.

SPEAKER_03 35:33

Okay. The biggest thing stopping is funding, and I'm looking for a few more leaders to help us run the project, the program oversight. So, for example, a property manager, yeah, a bookkeeper, somebody who can help us with making sure you know our bills are all paid on time. Uh I'm currently everything. I'm property manager, I'm office manager, I'm case manager, and I would I want to spend more time telling the stories and going and visiting with groups and making presentations, getting the word out, getting the word out. Yes, and I can't do it as long as there's the daily work. Because, like my board says, we need to tell more stories. I said, Well, if the work doesn't happen, we don't have stories to tell.

SPEAKER_01 36:19

It's true, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 36:21

You you have to show, like like the impact report shows. You have to show the work, yes, the human element of lives touched.

SPEAKER_01 36:31

And you already have somebody that has expressed interest in donating towards the education piece once you can get that part going.

SPEAKER_03 36:41

Yes, that's a whole initiative that I thank you for asking that question because I haven't talked about that at all. So uh I I truly believe that education is probably one of the biggest tools in opening minds and hearts, okay? People don't know, people are not aware. And uh I I also believe, and people think that okay, this is a way out of the box example, Esther, but I when I say it, then they're like, oh, you're right. I said, if your kid or your mother-in-law or whoever had cancer, and I told you that Walmart, like they give out TVs on Black Friday, on a certain day of the week at 6 a.m. in the morning, they were going to give out 10 pills that cured cancer or 10 pills that cured Alzheimer's. Would you not claw your way over 50 people to be in the front of that line to get one of those pills? Would you not do that? Yes, of course. I said, okay. Now, if I tell you that there is a little kid sitting in third grade who has the cure to cancer and Alzheimer's, and he's getting into trouble, and nobody cares about him because he's a little too brown, and they think he should go and get medication for ADHD, right? And this kid goes through school untouched, unchallenged, just cure to cancer, and Alzheimer's dies with him. Now, now start thinking about the pill for the cure to cancer. Now, are you thinking about it differently? What should we be doing to reach that child?

SPEAKER_01 38:29

Right.

SPEAKER_03 38:30

We have the next Einstein, we have the next Mother Teresa, we have the next Martin Luther King, we have the next Bill Gates or Steve Jobs or whether you like them or not.

SPEAKER_01 38:42

Right.

SPEAKER_03 38:42

But we also have the next Yuna Bomber.

SPEAKER_01 38:45

Right.

SPEAKER_03 38:46

We also have the next Jihadi John who is cutting off people's heads.

SPEAKER_01 38:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 38:50

They also are in the same classrooms with the kid who has the cure to cancer in their minds. Right?

unknown 38:57

Right.

SPEAKER_03 38:58

We should care as much about the talent and the solutions going to waste, and we're not paying enough attention to what's happening with our kids and what's happening in classrooms. Yes. And for that reason alone, I want to start leadership academies at all the community centers in after-school programs because the community centers already exist, because there are minority children, especially who do not have the luxury of being signed up for every club, every sport, every this, every that, that the more elite, wealthy kids' parents are able to sign up for their children. Okay? And I feel all these kids need those experiences just as much. They're just not born maybe in the right zip code, uh, have their house in the right zip code, or their parents with the right last name or the right paycheck. And so I want to make this available through community centers, through after-school programs, through Saturday morning workshops. And I've already begun some work on that. I when I visited the Boys and Girls Club, uh, and if you've not visited that boys and girls club in Bryan, it's beautiful. They have all this space for a community garden. Shout out to Stylecraft who designed that building, shout out to those who created a beautiful computer lab. And I asked the lady there, I said, How often is that tech lab used? And she said, Well, so and so does this, and somebody else does this, but for the rest of the time it's sitting empty. And I thought, I can run a whole enrichment program using the indoors and the outdoors. Uh, when I was a school principal at one of my jobs, I began an enrichment program, and it was very popular because, again, the kids who need a hook, not the must-dos. Every kid has must-dos. You must do your homework, you must turn it in by this time, you must, must, must, must. And they don't get much choice with the things they can do. And the enrichment clubs where they could choose, not their parents, they would choose a club for the fall and a club for the spring, and so they got to do two things of high impact. I shortened the school day, and at the end of the school day, every kid on a Friday was in a club of their choice. And I had boys in the cooking club and girls in the carpentry club building birdhouses because they'd never used a drill or a saw or tools. Parents would tell me, you know, my kid hates school. It's torture to get them dressed and put them in the car, but on Friday morning, they're the first outside the door. Yes. And I said, because there's a can-do of their choice on a Friday evening. And we have to offer every kid those choices. So for that reason, I am just longing to start the educational programs at community centers. But right now we're just so busy with all the basic needs I've already described. Until I get leaders who can take some of that off my plate, I can't focus my attention on building up those programs. And I don't want to start something and just let it fall apart in a few months. I really want to think it through. There are so many retired teachers who have loved their career with students and miss being in a classroom.

SPEAKER_01 42:18

Right, and making the impact. Yes. Because I know there's a lot of bureaucracy now that it's harder and harder for teachers to make impact.

SPEAKER_03 42:25

And the best teachers and the best caseworkers. If there's two groups of people that are the most burnt out, it is them. They're being treated so poorly, they're paid so poorly, and and and they're leaving the profession. So the people with heart that you need the most are not available to our most vulnerable population.

SPEAKER_02 42:47

It's true.

SPEAKER_03 42:48

So I want to find a place for them where they can get excited about coming and being involved in something really big.

SPEAKER_01 42:54

Yes. So it sounds very much like you really need the leadership, you need people to step in and help. Yep. Um, and then the funding, right? Because if you had funding, you could pay people all of that.

SPEAKER_03 43:09

Yes, they don't all have to be volunteers, that's the other thing. I would like to be able to pay people a just wage. Yeah, I can't expect everybody to come and work for free, right? You know, but even if part-time salaries cost money, anybody who can write grants for us, yeah, I desperately need people to help write grants for us.

SPEAKER_01 43:28

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 43:28

Because we've not had the time or the people to do that. And I truly believe there's money out there for us. We just not have, we have not reached for it yet.

SPEAKER_01 43:37

Yeah, they haven't made the ask. Yeah. And I do, I do know there are groups of people and certain individuals that absolutely have that skill already. They already know what to do, how to write it well. And so I feel like if you're listening and that is in your skill set, even if you only have a few hours that you could dedicate. To it, like just I could get one grant, or I could or just just one hour a week.

SPEAKER_03 44:04

I'll I'll I'll scroll through and I'll find three grants that Sweet O qualifies for. I'll send you whatever information you need. Just help us put it together.

SPEAKER_01 44:15

Yeah. So, yes, you've heard her plea. And I think um, yeah, surely out of all of these things, like I said, Esther's in the middle of so many different things, but she's just one person, and she has the same 24 hours in her day that we have in our day, which is that's the only thing she's being limited by, yep, is time and basic needs of sleep and things like that. Yeah, and so if any of this has moved your heart, would you please just reach out and like I said, you know, and like she has said over and over, if you've got one hour or you have five dollars, any amount of money or time, and something has stirred within you that says, I feel like if I do something like that, even if it's one hour a week, my life is gonna be richer. That's true, it really will. And you've heard so many things. She's talked about a bookkeeper, she's talked about teachers and mentors and counselors and all sorts of very specific skill sets. And so, if you are right now, maybe you're retired and you've been trying to figure out what you're gonna do with your days and you want to give back, this is an opportunity to say, even if it's something you haven't heard her speak about or us mention, if you have something and you're like, I just want to be a part of something good like this, write in and let us know what your skill set is. And maybe it's something that we just haven't gotten to today, because trust me, there is plenty of people.

SPEAKER_03 45:45

I was just thinking of uh things are uh much more fun when you do them with your friends. Yes. So if you have buddies that you go for a walk with early morning, or you have a group that you play play bridge or bunko with or a book club, and you'll meet every Thursday evening or Saturday morning, uh ask yourself: is there something we can do for 10 minutes or 15 minutes before or after we get together for our activity? Now you're already five or six or eight people gathering together and you're choosing to do something else together, yeah, right? Yeah, and and it could be simple making some phone calls, it could be like you know, um let's each spend 15 minutes scrolling our phones and finding some program or grant that matches what these people are doing in a Brian Collins station, yeah. It could be something as simple as that, yes, and you you you you message us and say, Hey, we just heard about this. Did you know? And that would be huge.

SPEAKER_01 46:58

Yeah, so good. That's awesome. Yeah, well, along those lines, I was thinking about that book club that gets together every week. What if they took just like they get together, you know, four weeks out of a month? What if three weeks they mean for the book club and the one other week they do? Ah, I love it, right? Because then you're there together an hour or two hours for a good book club. I love it, and you have two hours with five people. Yeah, what kind of an impact.

SPEAKER_03 47:24

I just thought of something along those lines. I had somebody uh message me a few days ago and she said, I've collected all these uh miniature toiletries that we get from our trips. Yes, so I've got shampoos and soaps and razors and wet wipes and conditioner and all these things, toothpaste. And I know people need blessing bags, but I don't know where to give out these blessing bags. I don't see too many homeless people when my car is stopped at a light. And number one, I immediately gave her like four places to go drop it off. And then she said, Well, it's all in a big box. Do you think if I just buy the Ziploc bags, somebody can put them all together? Yes, bring it to us with two boxes of Ziploc bags. That's a great activity for a group of people to put together. When we were at the warming center um three weeks ago, a month ago, with the freeze, uh, we had people who were shopping for us for the meals. And they said, We're at the grocery store, we are at HEB, and we're in the travel section, you know, where everything's a dollar.

SPEAKER_02 48:31

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 48:32

Uh, do you still need stuff for your blessing bags? And we had given out a lot of hygiene items because we had 31 people staying at the warming center. Wow. And we gave each of them a bag, and then some came back and said, Could I have another razor or a shampoo or something? Right? So I said, Oh yeah, and make them, bring them, or just pick up Ziplocks, and we'll put them together over here because I had volunteers for each shift, and they're sitting around, and you know, they don't they don't mind putting it together. Yeah, but then they said, Is there something that is not in the bags that you would like us to get? Good. I said, Several people asked us for a comb and there were no combs in the bag, so I said, Go to the aisle that sells all the cosmetics. They usually will sell a bag of assorted combs, yes, and you'll get like 10 or 15 combs of different sizes in that bag for like two bucks. Yeah, I was like, you buy a few of those bags, yeah, and we'll take out the combs and we'll put one in each sitlock. If there are cheap nail clippers, buy 10 or 12 nail clippers. So then they bought nail clippers and we put one in each bag. Sometimes it's as simple as just putting those bags together. Yeah, and then after the warming center was over and we had like, I don't know, 15-20 bags left over. I call my friend in the Nest Ministry or the refuge place. I said, Okay, I got bags for you. Because they meet their friends on the street every week. Yeah, visit them at the potluck. That's the other thing. Be unafraid to tangle with poverty, be unafraid. Many people are afraid of what that person's gonna do. We haven't really touched about racism and bias and fear. I think we touched a little bit about fear, but I can tell you that as a brown person, back in 1995, I was in a PhD program and I was treated very poorly by a lot of people. And and they just looked at me. I don't know what they thought about me, because master's level students would get more priority for an office space, for you know, meeting spaces, and I would have to go and beg and beg, and I would not even it was as if I didn't exist. And I thought, you know, I have a bigger standing in this department than all these new students who just joined last week.

SPEAKER_02 50:53

Right.

SPEAKER_03 50:54

And and it was as if I didn't exist. And if I could feel that way as an adult, I can just imagine how some of these more vulnerable people, minorities especially, feel like, you know. Yeah, so I would say you don't have to. I mean, having healthy fear is a good thing. Sure. You have to be aware of situation and surroundings. But when you are in a safe place, make an effort to say hello. A smile costs nothing. Nothing.

SPEAKER_02 51:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 51:28

I love your jacket, or I love that t-shirt. Okay, that's a cool cap. It is not costing you anything, right? It is just opening the door a teeny weeny little bit for maybe a conversation, maybe to ask the next thing, maybe to say how are you doing. And many people do not even want to get into that. It is too hard. And I I get it, maybe your own trauma or uh something happened to you, or you're just very fearful for whatever reason, or it's just ingrained in you to be fearful. I don't know, but I'm just saying we live in a country where you're not always going to be able to help people who look like you, right? And so you cannot and should not be fearful if you really want to offer help. That's right.

SPEAKER_01 52:19

We've got to see through to the humanity, and I think instead of there's a label put on people, and when the minute you put a label on someone, they they are no longer human at the deepest level. You've created this label so that you don't have to see their humanity, and I know personally, I was in, I guess I was in Plano for a high school reunion, whatever, and some from the Dallas area, and um a couple of my friends that I hadn't seen in 25 years, we went to have a lunch together. Oh, okay. I passed this gentleman on the street, and he was clearly hungry and um was maybe blind in one eye, and he was sitting there, and so I walked up to him, and you know, I honestly I asked him if he was hungry, if he needed anything, but you know, I started with a hi and a smile, and what's your name? And I'm telling you, the minute I asked him his name, a light came on in his eye, and he said, No one asked him smiling. And it was crazy. I maybe stood there with him for three minutes, five minutes, and in the meantime, I was so thankful to the Lord because I was going to offer to go get him something or just hand him my leftover pizza. You know, I had some pizza from and I was like, instead of just doing that, you know, I'm gonna have this intentional conversation. And while I'm having this conversation, a young um, it's probably it's like a brother and a sister actually came up and they were probably early teens, and maybe like 13 and 15 or 15 and 16, and they brought him some food. And so it was just so sweet in that moment to think, you know, it was it gave me the ability to look at him and say, Look at how much God loves you. He wants you to know how seen you are, that you are seen, you're not overlooked.

SPEAKER_03 54:25

And I wanted to add to that for the people who say, you know, they're just gonna buy drugs. Do not give them cash, do not give anybody cash, whether they come to your car and say, I need gas for my truck, or I need uh I have a deaton, give me cash. If you're at a grocery store, if you're near McDonald's or Wendy's or Burger King or whatever, offer to buy them food and give them food. When I have been uh uh uh asked at a grocery store and I've already done my groceries, I open the back of my car. I say, help yourself to something that you'll eat. Uh those who are truly hungry will accept food. Those who only want money for drugs are gonna say no, it's okay. And there are some who will only ask for cash or a gift card. Do not, please do not, because that is just enabling them. You're putting, I tell people this you're putting alcohol, tobacco, or lottery tickets in their hands. That's what you're doing. Because they can go on drugs, especially at the grocery store. And I tell people, you know, you're handing out gift cards. Do you know whether that card prevents them from buying alcohol, tobacco, or lottery tickets?

SPEAKER_02 55:40

Right.

SPEAKER_03 55:40

You don't know. Uh, and when I was doing the Thanksgiving and uh Christmas drives for St. Vincent, that's when I learned because we would buy our uh gift cards in bulk from Kroger or um HEB or whatever, because we would give a$25 or$50 gift card for them to buy the perishables like the turkey and the butter and the eggs and all of that, and we give them all the rest of the stuff for the holidays. So when we bought the gift cards in bulk, there is a way when grocery stores can put it in their computers, the numbers of those cards, that it's not eligible for alcohol, tobacco, and um lottery tickets. I did not know that. Yes, but it takes work, it takes longer. But I tell people if you're making the effort, make the right effort, otherwise, don't worry about it. Just pick up peanut butter and jelly, pick up some bananas, pick up some fruit, and give them some food they can eat. Yeah, yeah, and but don't give them cash, don't give them gift cards.

SPEAKER_01 56:37

Yeah, that's so good. Yeah, but just those things, right? Just seeing people, everybody. I mean, I am very blessed. I have lack of nothing in my life, and I still want to feel seen, I still want to be treated as a human and um with kindness and compassion, and so those needs don't go away, and it doesn't matter which status you're at. And so um, I love that you brought that out about just offer kindness, a smile. If you have nothing else, just a smile and a two-minute conversation can make all the difference in the world. Well, I want to thank you so much, Esther, for spending all of this time with us.

SPEAKER_03 57:22

What a great opportunity to talk.

SPEAKER_01 57:24

Yeah, we've learned a lot, and I just I really am thankful. And so look up Sweet Hope Collaborative, it's so amazing what they do, and you can find them on Facebook, and then again in all the show notes, I'm gonna have ways that you can access um myself or Esther to tell her how you want to volunteer and how you want to.

SPEAKER_03 57:44

And there's a phone number on the back of the card that uh Christy will give you. Please text or leave me a voicemail and I'll call you back.

SPEAKER_02 57:52

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 57:53

Okay, very good. Yeah, thank you. Yes, thanks for you.

SPEAKER_01 57:56

You are so kind to have me over. Okay, guys. We hope you have a great week, and I'll see you next week.

SPEAKER_03 58:03

And thank you for all that you already do.

SPEAKER_01 58:05

Yes.