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00:00Ladies and gentlemen, a nice round of applause for your host, Angie Starr.
00:07Hello.
00:08Good evening, everyone.
00:10And I welcome you to our first podcast.
00:14This is a favorite of mine.
00:15It's called Solutions, Not Slogans.
00:19You hear a lot of politicians, a lot of people trying to win brownie points.
00:23They come up with a lot of slogans.
00:26We're going to do this.
00:26We're going to do that.
00:27We need to do this, that.
00:29But then I'm listening, and I'm always trying to find, so what is the solution?
00:34So today, we're going to talk about homelessness.
00:38And the reason we chose this topic, I'm sure all of you saw on the news, the kids that froze to death in a van in the Greek town or Hollywood casino.
00:52And when I saw that story, and I just thought of the innocence of a child.
00:57You know, they don't pick their circumstances.
00:59You know, they're just trying to survive and become an adult.
01:02And to die like that, just, it hurt me.
01:06And I felt, as human beings, how could we allow this to happen?
01:11How did it happen?
01:13The city did address it.
01:15You know, I saw different news outlets do specials on it.
01:19And they interviewed people that try to get into the system when they're in that situation.
01:26And there's waiting lists.
01:28And there's not always places for people to go.
01:31Or they might not know what to do or where to go.
01:33So, my thing is, I asked our listeners on the radio, I said, maybe you guys have solutions.
01:42Maybe you have, you know, an idea that might help us make this terrible event that occurred, the death of those kids, never happen again.
01:54So, today, we're going to address that and, you know, see what kind of solutions, not slogans, we can come up with.
02:02So, I'm going to start with a video.
02:06And this particular video is a program that's in Indiana right now.
02:12And Ben Perez, who you met today, it's his brother.
02:17His brother is the CEO of this company.
02:22And it's called The Tiny Shelters.
02:25So, I'm going to go ahead and run this video.
02:28And this is a solution that could work in Detroit.
02:32Hi, I'm Mike Perez, CEO of Faith, Mission, and Elkhart.
02:40We're located in Elkhart, Indiana.
02:42We're a homeless center.
02:43We serve single men, single women, and families.
02:46We offer a holistic approach for the residents that stay here in the sense that we offer emergency overnight shelter all the way through a transitional housing program.
02:56Today, I'm going to tell you about two of our programs, which is our Tiny Shelters program and our Tiny House program.
03:02And our Tiny Shelters.
03:03Those are 12 by 16 units that we use for vets.
03:08We use them for individuals who have service animals.
03:10And we use them for individuals who have severe mental health issues who can't live in a dormitory setting.
03:18There, they have a bed, a restroom in them.
03:22And they have a little storage area.
03:24And we have a shower and laundry facility in a separate building.
03:27That's a 90-day renewable program.
03:30And it's strictly for single individuals only.
03:32Through our transitional housing program, we have 20 by 24 houses.
03:37And in those, those are full houses where they have kitchens, restrooms, and they have a living space.
03:43Those individuals can live and apply to live there after they've graduated through our actual programming from one to two years.
03:50There is a program fee, which we charge 25% of the gross income, which 5% of it they save, and they're required to save,
03:58as they work with an advocate that works towards getting them into more stable and more permanent housing.
04:04And when they leave the program, they're allowed to take that money and do whatever they like.
04:08So far, we do have some success with that.
04:11We've had 70 individuals in the last few years move out.
04:14We've got cars, put deposits, held live in a house.
04:17So if you'd like to find out more information about how we work with those individuals in those programs,
04:22please go to our website, thefaithmission.org.
04:28All right, let's go.
04:34That's a solution.
04:35A solution.
04:37Okay, I'm going to introduce our panelists right now.
04:42To my right, we have Dice, and we call him Dice.
04:48He can tell you more of the name.
04:49I don't even know your last name yet.
04:50Clark.
04:50Clark.
04:50Clark.
04:51I'm sorry, because I'm Dice.
04:52Dice.
04:53We call him up because he is a person that, again,
04:57action speaks louder than words, and he's a community activist, and I'm watching him on
05:04Facebook all the time.
05:05He'll find out that a kid was begging for money at a store, and the people call him because
05:14they're wondering, why is this kid doing this?
05:16And I'm going to kind of let him speak to that situation.
05:19But his result was not talk about the kid.
05:22Oh, I can't believe this kid is doing this.
05:24He got on Facebook and said, we got a kid here that needs the community's help.
05:29So, if you're in this area, I need you to pull up.
05:32I need you to do what you can do to help this kid out.
05:35Then I'll let him kind of tell the story.
05:37But this is Dice, everybody.
05:39Dice club.
05:40Yeah, Dice club.
05:41Dice welcome.
05:42Thank you again, always.
05:44Appreciate the offer from you guys.
05:46I love y'all, of course.
05:47Thank you, everybody that's here.
05:49If you hear that, mean you concerned and you want to make a change.
05:53So, that's the first step.
05:54That situation is just one of thousands that people don't get to see.
05:59That was one that was serious where a young boy was on Linwood, Dexter area.
06:04People reached out to me that who know I do things in the community.
06:08He was standing out there with no socks on, just in the cold.
06:13And it was during the wintertime.
06:14So, it was real cold.
06:16And I'm not going to lie.
06:18At first, I was against it.
06:19But God put on my heart to turn around.
06:21And I just reached out to my community.
06:23Like, look, we got to save this little boy.
06:26He come from an abusive family.
06:28Parents on drugs.
06:29He was just standing out there trying to panhandle it to survive.
06:33So, we pulled up.
06:34I pulled up first.
06:35Got the video out.
06:36Reached out to my community.
06:38And then, before I knew it, 20, 30 people was pulling up.
06:42Clothes, money, food.
06:44To where the next day we went to his house.
06:46Because we needed to meet his parents to see how they was living.
06:49Which we realized it was worse than we thought.
06:51So, thank God we did make those steps.
06:55He was out of school.
06:56I was able to get him back in school at Central High School with his mother's consent.
07:01But it's sad to say that in that situation, his parents are on drugs.
07:08Which they use their kids for their use of drugs.
07:12They use them to go out there to get what they need.
07:14He's 16 years of age.
07:17I tried to get him in job court.
07:20But his parents kind of went against me because that would take away from them.
07:25Which hurts me.
07:26And then the police told me that I had to step away from helping him.
07:30Because he's still a minor.
07:32And that's their child.
07:33But then they won't do nothing because they say he's a young adult.
07:37So, I'm like, that don't make sense.
07:39But I'm going to stay away.
07:41Because it's a shame that I'm going to get in trouble for helping him.
07:44You know what I'm saying?
07:45But people still calling me today.
07:47They still see him out there panhandling, trying to get money for his parents.
07:51And that's the sad part.
07:53He's out there risking his life.
07:55And in the living conditions, it's not good.
07:57But again, that's one of thousands that I take care of in the community.
08:02And that's on the young end.
08:04One of the reasons we first met you, Dice, was because you were doing a fundraiser for the senior citizens.
08:10Can you speak to that?
08:12Yes, ma'am.
08:12Every year, shout out to my partner, Aaron Patway from Detroitism.
08:17Just him and I.
08:18He decided to get with me.
08:20And we decided to take care of the senior citizens every year for Thanksgiving.
08:25We know that seniors, a lot of them are lonely or don't have family.
08:29So we decided to feed them each year pre-Thanksgiving.
08:36So we're up to 1,000 seniors now.
08:39So we've been doing it for the past five years, man.
08:43All right.
08:45And this young lady over here, Shalonda Spencer, is the director of housing and aftercare at Marina's Inn.
08:55I'm going to let her speak to you all about what they do and who they help.
08:59Welcome.
08:59Welcome, guys.
09:02I'm so happy to be here in this space with you all.
09:04So if you're not familiar with Marina's Inn, it's a, can you guys hear me okay?
09:08Yeah, we can hear, yeah.
09:09So Marina's Inn is a residential treatment program, so for substance abuse.
09:14I run the housing department.
09:16So there's a recovery housing program and then there's a permanent supportive housing program.
09:21So the recovery housing program is more of like a short-term housing program where they can stay in the program for about four months up to about two years while they're working on like employment.
09:32And all wraparound services so that we can prepare them to transition into independent living.
09:38And then our permanent supportive housing is more of a long-term housing program where they stay for a minimum of five years.
09:45How do you find them?
09:47They come to us.
09:48Where are you located?
09:50Where are you information?
09:50So we're actually in the heart of downtown, right across the street from the Little Caesars Arena and next door to Cass Technical High School.
09:59Now, I'm going to ask both of my panelists before we move on, and I'll start with you, Dice.
10:04What is the biggest need that you see in the community when it comes to homelessness?
10:13Unity.
10:14I think that our community need to step up and take accountability.
10:18And instead of talking about it, like you said, solutions over slogans.
10:23So that's my biggest thing.
10:25And like everybody here, everybody just need to play their part, and we can slow this down tremendously.
10:31All right.
10:34Shalanda, the same question.
10:36I would say affordable housing.
10:38I know people with full-time jobs who are struggling with housing.
10:42So just imagine if you get someone who's struggling with substance abuse, but definitely having those resources up for affordable housing.
10:51All right.
10:51Beautiful.
10:53Okay.
10:54When we first put this podcast together and the idea, we went to our airwaves and we asked our listeners to go to our website.
11:03Which are all of you.
11:05Yes.
11:06And I go to our website and I put in suggestions.
11:10And first, I would like to start with Anita Hawkins.
11:15Is Anita Hawkins here?
11:17Did she make it here?
11:19Okay.
11:19This is what Anita wrote that I really like.
11:22The rehab of the many old and abandoned houses, buildings located throughout the city of Detroit, which is subsidized, affordable, rent-based housing, as you spoke of, and it's based on income.
11:37That came from one of our listeners, Anita Hawkins, on video.
11:41You guys can give her a round of applause for that.
11:43But Dice, when it comes to rehabilitating homes, we had a gentleman, again, that you knew, Mr. Brooks, that built a castle.
11:55What was his vision with that?
11:56Because he took an old, run-down place and turned it into basically a castle.
12:01Yeah, it's actually two city blocks long right now.
12:05And that's not all he owned.
12:06He owned other properties as well on the east side.
12:09But his mission is also to try to help the homeless as well.
12:13I don't know if anybody heard about that, Charles Brooks, I think it's Lakewood, is it Lakewood, where it's located, if you drive on the east side of Lakewood, the castle, you cannot miss it.
12:25It's been a big topic for years.
12:28And lately it's been real big because it was controversy with the city and with him, which I don't understand if this guy is doing something great to give back and help the community.
12:39How could the city go against him?
12:41You know, and then we all can argue that because it's in the neighborhood, which I think they should stop labeling our neighborhoods, neighborhood, while we can't be labeled community like everybody else.
12:52That's right.
12:53You know what I'm saying?
12:54And so but shout out to Charles Brooks for doing a great thing over there.
12:58And we want to link up with him as well because he got the contract, the construction company to help build these ran down homes.
13:05And the part when we interviewed him, it brought me to tears because his story goes a little bit like this.
13:12He lived in Grosse Pointe.
13:13His house burned down.
13:15Money was funny at that time.
13:17And he and his wife, I guess their kids had to live in a van.
13:21And he does construction by trade.
13:25And one of his clients gave him a house that was pretty much run down and he was able to rehab the home.
13:31And the rest is history.
13:32You see this castle built.
13:34But what brought me to tears was his son because his son was what, 21, 22?
13:41Looking up to his dad.
13:42And the first thing he said when we gave him the microphone was, my dad has taught me something that I can eat on for the rest of my life.
13:51And you know what I mean?
13:52And that, to me, we could teach kids how to rehab.
13:55We could really teach them trades and then help homeless people.
13:59So to that.
14:00Charles Brooks.
14:01That was good.
14:03Is Melanie Sharp here?
14:06Melanie.
14:07Okay.
14:07Can you just stand up so everybody can see you?
14:09Give her a round of applause.
14:10Actually, step toward the table some.
14:15Yes.
14:15There we go.
14:16And Rob is going to bring you a microphone right behind you.
14:20There you go.
14:21Hi.
14:22Hi.
14:23I'm a reintroduction.
14:23And welcome.
14:24And welcome.
14:25Yes.
14:25And thank you for doing this.
14:27What Melanie wrote was, get a list of private landlords that have open housing and create incentives.
14:35You think like me.
14:36For these landlords to partner with the city and these housing organizations, create a committee that meets monthly to keep the current housing market updated and a list of high-risk families needing assistance.
14:51Dedicate a team of volunteers and paid staff to meet with these human service agencies and DHHS to offer wraparound services to these at-risk families.
15:02Amen.
15:05What would you like to add to what you read?
15:08I kind of have a different perspective.
15:10I'm a real estate agent and I'm also a social worker.
15:13So that perspective has allowed me to see things differently.
15:18You know, having been on both sides of as a renter and also working with families and homelessness and all of these communities, you kind of get a different perspective.
15:28You hear the stories.
15:30You recognize, you know, the housing market issues and affordable housing.
15:34I think my sister talked about bad credit.
15:39Yeah.
15:39The bad credit issues.
15:41You can have a bomb house.
15:42You can have the income.
15:43But if your credit won't allow you to get into it, your perpetual homeless problem is going to continue.
15:51So in addition to getting them in there, you got to have addressed the qualifications.
15:55And we know credit is an indicator of future success.
15:59So even a person who's down and homeless does not have any concept of credit and how to deal with that.
16:06But then we have all these barriers to even get and apply into housing.
16:11So recognizing the high-risk families and keeping a real pulse on them, that's so important.
16:18You know, it's easy to fall through the cracks.
16:20It really is.
16:21You know, you talked about the situation with not having a consistent address.
16:26I was an intern at a program in Hawaii, and it was a mobile crisis unit.
16:33And they would go around the island and just bring people their mail, where it was like a P.O. box.
16:39So, again, thinking outside of the box, or how can we bring mail to these identified families, those who are at risk,
16:47what kind of contact or communication are we having with them on a regular basis?
16:52So I'm willing.
16:53I do a lot of volunteering.
16:55So I know there's the city and the spirit of Detroit, there's a lot of volunteerism.
16:59So we've been tapping into some of those opportunities to connect with these resources.
17:04All right.
17:05Melanie, one of my listeners.
17:07Go on, girl.
17:09Timothy Smith, could you please stand and come up?
17:12Or you want to stay seated?
17:13It's up to you.
17:13You should stay there.
17:14Okay, this is what he wrote.
17:16Plan, Detroit Public School Community District, Building Futures Initiative Mission.
17:22I mean, you went deep.
17:23To revitalize vocational education within the DPSCD, addressing the critical need for housing
17:33for the homeless population in Detroit by empowering students to develop valuable skills
17:39and contribute to a tangible solution, vision, to create a sustainable program where high school
17:48students learn construction and life skills by designing and building safe, functional mini
17:55homes, fostering student development, promoting community partnerships, and providing dignified
18:02housing options.
18:04Phase one, program development and curriculum design three to six months goals.
18:11Develop a comprehensive, engaging, and age-appropriate curriculum for the Building Futures shop class.
18:19Secure all necessary approvals and integrate the curriculum into DPSCD framework.
18:28Establish rigorous safety protocols and acquire essential initial tools and equipment.
18:36Identify suitable pilot schools within the DPSCD system to launch the program.
18:42Wow.
18:44Woo!
18:45Yeah, yeah.
18:47Tim, what would you like to add to all of that?
18:51Well, you know I don't do this at all.
18:55I know, right?
18:56I'm in shock, but I love it.
18:57Yeah, I don't do it.
18:59I was actually sitting in the loft and everything, and a light came to me.
19:04The same thing with you, Angie.
19:06It really hurt me a lot.
19:07You know that we always was thinking about the homeless people.
19:10Mm-hmm.
19:11And there's a lot of politics that goes on in the United States, period, not just Detroit.
19:17But Detroit is real unique.
19:19So just to get to the point, that was part of the plan.
19:23It was very comprehensive.
19:25I couldn't give it to all of you.
19:27But I get to the point.
19:29Since Detroit is, well, every place is real politics.
19:32It's always politics.
19:33It's just like they want to call us neighborhoods when we need to be communities.
19:37They've taken a lot out of the schools and the urban, what they call urban.
19:45When they say urban, they mean blacks.
19:47Let's just be honest.
19:49So they take out home economics.
19:51They've taken out just shop classes.
19:54So this light that came to me in the loft, it was like, wait a minute.
19:59With the kids that died at Greektown or Hollywood Casino, Detroit is like on a spotlight right now.
20:06And the whole, all of us can take advantage of it right now.
20:11We need to look good.
20:13Or Detroit needs to look good because I'm not from Detroit.
20:15But we need to look good.
20:17And Detroit has the big three and they have Dan Gilbert.
20:24And so getting to the point, they're going to say, like Viddy.
20:27I talked to Viddy.
20:28First thing he wanted to do before he could even read, got to the point.
20:31We can't afford it.
20:32We can't afford it.
20:33But I know who he was and then when he found out who I was, he ran away.
20:37Because he was like, wait a minute.
20:38This guy is the media and stuff.
20:39I got to get out of here.
20:41He ran away with his couple of bodyguards and stuff like that and left a couple of them to see what I was going to do.
20:46You know, I don't care nothing about that anyway.
20:48But you know it.
20:49But he don't know it.
20:50So anyway, I figured he was going to run away anyway because he's put there to keep the urban kids not getting the right kind of education.
21:02But we go right over in West Bloomfield and they got that kind of education.
21:06I mean, and I'm not racist or anything.
21:09Well, maybe a little bit.
21:11But getting to the point, the money.
21:15The money can be, we can get the money.
21:19The schools don't have to pay for it, for the shop classes.
21:22So the shop classes in essence would, you know, you bring the shop classes back to the high schools.
21:29The kids, what are their number one things?
21:31The phones.
21:32AI is now building homes.
21:34We already have a little tiny community of tiny homes.
21:37But the shop classes can start building these homes for the homeless.
21:42And Detroit can become like the model for the rest of the country.
21:48Dan Gilbert, of course, and you know Dan good.
21:51Dan will actually put his money in on that.
21:53I mean, he's a different kind of person now, especially.
21:55I mean, he was even good back then, but he's really good now.
21:59And then you got the big three.
22:00They want to look good.
22:02These are politicians.
22:03They want to look good.
22:05And we will use that.
22:07And that way, they can afford, we can afford those programs.
22:12And so Viddy and the school boards don't need to put no money in it.
22:16I love it.
22:17All right.
22:19Thank you, Tim, who's originally out of Chicago.
22:23Yes.
22:23I have one of the community programs.
22:29I guess, Mason, you received the card from one of their workers when we started talking
22:33about the homeless situation on air.
22:36They gave you a card.
22:38This is John from Community Home Supports.
22:41Come on up, John.
22:42John, can you come on up?
22:43Yeah.
22:45Come into the light.
22:46Yeah, Rob is trying to give you the mic.
22:49Thank you for coming.
22:50He's behind you.
22:50Yep, he's right behind you.
22:52Hey, how y'all doing?
22:55Yeah, could you just tell everybody?
22:57I guess, John, you sent that worker that day.
23:01That's her.
23:01Right here.
23:02She's over there.
23:03That's Cherie Dowdell.
23:04Oh, there she is.
23:04That's our development director.
23:05Come on up, sweetheart.
23:06No, you good?
23:06Okay.
23:08All right.
23:09When she came in to talk to us, she mentioned that you wanted her to get us that information
23:17and because of what you do.
23:20Explain to everyone what you do, what your project does.
23:24Well, our organization is Community and Home Supports.
23:28My name is John Stoick.
23:29I'm the executive director.
23:30And we do two things.
23:33We have teams of outreach teams that go out in the streets in the shelter and engage with
23:40people who are unhoused.
23:42And then we try to refer them.
23:45We try to work with them to get their vital docs and help them with just the basic stuff.
23:49And then we refer them to permanent housing programs out in the community like Anna Lassam,
23:55Mariner's Inn.
23:55I'm sure she probably works with some of our staff members of Community and Home Supports.
23:59The homeless services community is real integrated.
24:02But I think one of the reasons why we wanted to get it out here is like the gentleman was
24:07saying, you know, when these tragedies happen, I think that a lot of the focus gets on the
24:14people that are here, that are already out here in the streets doing the work.
24:18And it's like, what are y'all doing?
24:20Why aren't y'all doing more?
24:21But for me, I'm looking at all the money that's surrounding the people who are in the
24:26casino parking lot sleeping at night or who are on the street.
24:31And why are we not looking at them and saying, how can we get you engaged with a
24:37problem to get more, more resources and more money behind it?
24:40So we have more permanent housing and we have more behavioral health because that's
24:45a big part of this mental health and trauma that people have been through growing up in
24:50the city, going through things plays a role.
24:53And when they get housing, staying in housing, maintaining that housing.
24:58And so I think that's, that's really what I wanted to get out here is that it's got to
25:01be more than just the agencies that are already out here than the people that are already out
25:06here. It's got to be a whole community effort that sees the problem.
25:09And one other thing I want to point out too, is the federal government has a definition of
25:14homelessness. And one of the parts of that definition is a place not meant for habitation.
25:20And there isn't a definition behind what a place not meant for habitation is.
25:24So when we do our annual count as a community and say, we've got six, 7,000 people who are homeless
25:30in the streets and in the shelters, they're just catching the people in known locations
25:35and streets and places we know abandoned. We're not looking at all the housing that people
25:39are staying in that substandard that you might consider doesn't have water, has mold grown
25:44in the basement. I would consider that a lot meant, not meant for habitation. So I think
25:49we as a community need to advocate to the government that we need more than $40 million. You know,
25:54Southern California gets a half a billion. I don't know that we need that much, but we need
25:58more than the $40 million that we get. And then we need other people in the community,
26:03business people, capital investors to invest in the problem, you know? So, so that's part
26:08of what Cherie does. She helps our organization just get out here and let people know what
26:13we're doing and what the community needs are and try to engage the community.
26:17Wow, John. Thank you.
26:19John, you're going to be working right here.
26:20Thank you for having me.
26:21John. Thank you. And thank you. Thank you. It was because when I was thinking,
26:28about this, when Mason had this card to me, it was like a sign that we've got to do this
26:33and it, it was you. So thank you. I really appreciate that. Um, so now I'm going to go
26:41to my idea. Um, I've always been a person that likes to think out of the box, but I always
26:48like to try to think with my ideas. Well, how can I do it? How can I accomplish it and try
26:53to have a solution? And you might think that this might be a fairy tale or could never happen.
26:59But when I drive around Detroit and I see all these abandoned schools
27:03and I'm like, okay, these schools are just sitting here. And then when I watched the news
27:13after the Hollywood casino tragedy and they interviewed people that are on the waiting
27:18list and I'm like, there's an actual waiting list. Wow. Okay. And I don't know if you guys remember
27:22that movie with Will Smith when he and his son, you know, had to go in the bathroom and,
27:28you know, he was just trying to maintain his dignity. Some people don't like rules and regulations
27:32and that's that part of the community. But I feel like every human being should have a place
27:38that they can go. If times get hard and they find themselves homeless or not having a place
27:44to live. I just feel that should just be like McDonald's. I don't know. I just do as a human,
27:49right. Um, that's safe. Um, if you, if you follow the rules, you can stay. If you, if you don't,
27:56you can't stay. But I think that there should always be an option. So my idea goes back to the
28:03abandoned schools. We can start one by one. And, um, when you take an abandoned school, you say,
28:09okay, well, doesn't have any DTE. We're going to have to rehab it, get beds. There are costs
28:15involved. Security is huge. You've got to have a security. And I thought to myself, Detroit,
28:22they say we got the best choirs, you know, when any church around the world, I'm going to say around
28:28the world country, whatever, when they look for musicians, they look for Detroit gospel musicians.
28:33Our churches are huge here. In fact, there's a, uh, something that goes around a rumor that we have
28:40over 4,000 churches. So I did the research, uh, in, in, in metropolitan Detroit, there are over 4,000
28:47churches or religious organizations. So just me in my fantasy world, uh, I said, what if just half
28:55of those churches donated $500 a month, 500 a month, that gives us a million dollars a month
29:06to take care of DTE? Cause Mason's like, you can't go after DTE. They don't just give away electricity.
29:12I said, okay. So I had to feel like he keeps it real with me. He says, I said, I got to figure out
29:17a solution. So my solution is, uh, speaking to the churches, uh, putting a word out and, you know,
29:25saying to them, we have, we own the praise station here at Beasley. If you, you know,
29:29contribute monthly to this fund, we will shout you out as that type of church or organization
29:35that does that. So that helps your PR. It shows your people that you really care and do a missionary
29:40work in the community. And again, 2000, $500,000. And we can get half of that, but that's a source in
29:48a way that we can get money to fund these schools. If we could rehab them because they're just sitting
29:53there doing nothing. It's no reason that if you are, and I'm going to tell everybody and I live
29:58like I'm life is real one paycheck away. You know, everybody can sit big and bad and life,
30:04you know, or let the computer system, something not drop into your account or something happens.
30:09You don't know that you might be in that situation. So, you know, thinking proactively and,
30:14you know, bringing positive karma back to yourself. If you are ever in that situation,
30:19you can help and contribute to this. Another way that I thought that we might be able to raise
30:24money again, Beasley, we're a major radio group. As you guys can see, we own Riff, CXX,
30:32The Bounce, The Praise Station, and Kiss. I think we can maybe ask some corporate people to donate
30:40and in exchange, them helping us, the Beasley Community Project, these particular vendors,
30:46Kroger's, Joe's Pizza Shop, you feel me? They're donating and they get these mentions. That helps
30:52them. You know, people, what's in it for me? Okay. So you get the little, you get the mention,
30:56but then you get the fact that you are actually helping the community. So that was my idea.
31:02Sounds great. Well, you all came and took out your time to be here. We'd like to hear from you. So who
31:12would like to come up and give us their thoughts? Because we appreciate you all being here. Would
31:17you like to speak? Yes. Come forward and speak. And we really appreciate your involvement in the
31:25program. Hi, everybody. My name is Cleo. Only reason why I'm speaking is because Angie brought
31:32that up and I was sitting there just literally thinking about all the abandoned schools. We
31:37have these buildings. I mean, they could be made into dorms and stuff like that and with those kind
31:43of donations and get things going. Yes. And people can come in there and now, you know, it is some
31:48homeless people out there that's choosing. That's right. To do that. Some people not doing the work
31:54that they need to do. Right. So in a situation like that, and we got these dorms for you to come
31:59and get shelter and a roof over your head and all that, and we have to see you doing something
32:04to better yourself. Yeah. If you're not doing it, then, yeah, you could go back on that corner
32:09with that sign, you know, but that was a great idea. And that's the only reason why I'm speaking
32:14on that because there's so many abandoned buildings. Some of our high schools and junior high schools
32:20are just sitting there. Only thing it is, is a memory. And you know what you can do with that.
32:25And y'all, it's, it's people, it's opportunity out here and it's money out here. Like this
32:30gentleman said, they got the money. It's there. Right. Right. So we just need that. Great idea,
32:35Angie. Thank you. Thank you, Cleo. Is there anybody else who would like to, to share a thought?
32:41Stephanie, would you like to say something? Because we talked, you were in our studio and we
32:46were talking about grants. I'm sorry. Yeah. I'm just reminding. Okay.
32:49All right. Stephanie, welcome. Thank you for having me. Yeah. So we did talk when I was in
32:58the studio about a week ago about maybe looking at some grants and fixing up some of these abandoned
33:05properties and turning these into some opportunities for the homeless, which I think is a great idea. I
33:12do work very closely with the Greater Detroit Relatives Association. And I think that is something
33:19that, and we work with all, you know, real estate professionals, but I do think that is a solution
33:25to that is that, you know, maybe get some grant money, buy up these properties, because just like
33:32the schools, they're just sitting there bringing down other people's property value. So yeah, it's a good
33:39solution. Thank you. Is there anyone else who would like to share a thought? Beautiful. Come, come back.
33:47Ms. Sharp. Thank you. What would you like to share? One of the other concerns that faced with,
33:53I was at church on Sunday and there was a patron that had come in and we served the kids breakfast
34:01and she was kind of hovering around where we were. And I learned that she was homeless, but after church,
34:07she was like, okay, can you take me somewhere? I'm like, where are you going to go? And so she was like,
34:17I don't know, somewhere. And so, Lord put it on my heart, okay, where am I going to take this lady?
34:21And so I'm naming, okay, can you go to Peggy? She's like, no, I don't like that. No, I can't go here.
34:25But just some of the, I think it was mentioned about the mental health issues, the illness, and then the issue
34:32with kids. Some people who have boys can't go into shelters. So even if we say, okay, go to a shelter,
34:42take your kids to a shelter. My son is 12 years old and he's 5'11". So he's a baby face, but he's a man body.
34:51So even understanding how some of these dynamics, you know, she can't go to a regular shelter. She
34:57don't want to split her son and daughter. So even when we talk about, we'll just go to a shelter,
35:02some of those options are just not available to families. And so I love the idea of creating
35:08homes, but having that tracking, even for those families who don't kind of fit that cookie cutter
35:14is definitely something to be considered. I love what you just said.
35:18So we're in a situation where we've had a lot of thoughtful ideas and they need to be categorized,
35:27you know, as she just mentioned, what about families that have boys that can't go to a shelter?
35:33So that would be a category. What about young people who are below under the age of 21 and things of that
35:43nature? So we're going to keep everybody's information. We'll take it to another step. Come on
35:48up to the mic. Yeah. And we'll keep the information and come back. Your think tank information is very
35:56vital and very potent for us today. Do I need to pass the collection plate?
36:01Nope. And we won't close the doors. I swear. I don't have a, listen, I don't have a solution,
36:07but what I have on my heart, because what the world is and just like my solution is food. Now I have a
36:15food truck. I can reach out, you know, cause there's a lot of, last year I went to a school and fed the
36:20whole entire school off my costs. Wow. It's kids and people, seniors, and people don't get to get out to
36:26get things. I am available. I will reach out. If y'all need me, we can go to the community. We can
36:31feed the seniors. We can feed the kids. We can go to the gas station. I don't mind pulling up.
36:37Just reach out to me and just let me know. Smoking mows. All right. His, his brother chases me down at
36:43my other job and the security is so afraid. He's trying to, to, to do something to me because
36:50his whole passion is my brother wants to help. My brother wants to do something for you. My brother
36:57wants to come up and help you guys because of all the good things you do. So, you know, Mo,
37:01yeah, we always got you checked, which is why you know about this again today.
37:06And hopefully in two months, I'll be right back. You'll be back.
37:10Lots of love. I'm here and I'm available. Yes. Thank you. Beautiful. Thank you. I mean,
37:15to all of you and John and to everyone here, you're making yourselves available because what
37:21will happen is we'll start to hear some stuff and get some synergy. And then we get to come back,
37:27bring you back and start to talk dice about that synergy and how, you know, you can't eat the whole
37:33elephant in one bite, but if we can start to do pieces and pieces, I mean, that was very powerful.
37:40What you said, uh, no longer do we want to be identified as neighborhoods, but community.
37:46That's a very powerful statement. Anybody else before we go this evening?
37:52John, do you have closing thoughts that you would like to share before we go?
37:56I mean, my only closing thoughts is just thanks to you, Mason and Angie and 105.9 for just bringing
38:01this subject to the forefront. And, and cause sometimes I think the people, um, like you all
38:07that are working in this kind of feel like maybe we're the only ones that care. So I think that
38:12knowing that there's other people out here, knowing that, you know, people who are out here in the
38:17community doing other things are also thinking about the housing issues and really want to do
38:21something about it to help out. So I appreciate it.
38:23John, just like Mo's brother chased me down at my other job, you're working. She chased me down.
38:28I told her, I said, I'm working. What do you want? She said, no, you're going to hear what I got to say.
38:33And she said, I want you to take this car. I want you to call. Thank you.
38:38Thank you. Thank you. All of you. So, so thank you all.
38:43Shalonda, closing thoughts? Yep. I'm just happy to be in this space. Come closer.
38:47I'm super happy to be in this space and I have some ideas to take back to the team and
38:52see how we can make this community better. Angie was shocked when she heard about what you do.
38:57She had not been aware of Meredith. I'm usually the quiet storm too. So they got me out of my
39:02element, but I'm happy to be here and I hope I can be invited back again.
39:09And Dice, you're closing back.
39:11Yeah, mine is just a unity thing. You know, we sit here and come up with these ideas and
39:18solutions, but like you said, actions speak louder than words. We keep talking about it,
39:22but what you're doing about it? We got to come together and there's enough of us in this
39:26room to start with what even Angie said. We can't wait on the state.
39:31That's right.
39:31We can't wait on the federal. We have to do it ourselves. I'm big on the community coming
39:36together. If we got to take our own dollars to buy that first school, then that's what
39:40we got to do to show them.
39:41That's what we got to do.
39:42Yeah.
39:42Government is already checked out.
39:44Yeah.
39:45So, and here's the good thing about them checking out.
39:52They would prefer, they'd help you to help yourself.
39:55Yeah.
39:55Because they don't want to do it. So you'd get support from them just based on the fact
40:02that they don't want to do it. So you have to use them where they want to be used. That's
40:07the old Bill Wither's record. To use me. Because the Trump administration does not want to give
40:15away another time. But you get Elon Musk in here and you start telling him, he'd say, I got some
40:20friends. We have to use them where they are.
40:24Yes.
40:24Instead of saying, come back to where we were, start working them where they are.
40:31Yes.
40:31That's right.
40:31So the more we do that, you know, the stronger we'll all be. But you guys, man, bigger, because
40:37it's difficult to go to work all day and show up somewhere to participate. We humbly thank you all.
40:43We thank you.
40:43Yeah.
40:44Cleo, come on to the mic.
40:47Yeah. And as she does that, we want to thank our staff, Ron, our engineer.
40:51Ron, I love you.
40:52Will, our camera, our camera operator, and Ben Perez, who demanded that Angie come up
41:03with something and do it right away. I was like, Ben, we could do it in December.
41:08No. Spring.
41:11Thanks, Ben.
41:11Yeah, which is good.
41:12Yes.
41:13Just, yep.
41:14And one more thing we do. My girl, Mary, with the You Drink, I Make.
41:19Mary's over there.
41:20You Drink, I Make.
41:21And to Big Rob, who should have long been gone, you don't get enough time off. But he
41:28told his boss, put me in. I'm here. Whatever you need.
41:32Thank you, Rob.
41:33All right.
41:35Just the last thought that came across my mind, I'm retired from the City of Detroit
41:39DLT bus drivers. And I don't know how many people know this, but City of Detroit workers
41:45get half off on land bank homes.
41:48Wow.
41:48Any city worker, there's a few other entities that also get half off at Detroit land bank.
41:55You go there, even like me, I can pass that on to a sibling, mother, father, sister, brother.
42:05I have gotten houses for family members that got a house that, but you have to be ready,
42:10of course, because all of these thousand dollar land banks, house, need everything.
42:15Yes.
42:15Again, when the money comes in. So my girlfriend and I have sat around and thought about, let's
42:21get us a two family flat. Let's get us a, you know, a little apartment building and stuff
42:26like that. And we sit around and procrastinate. But that is something to know if you know
42:32city workers and people that got the money on the back and hey, let's do this.
42:36Let's do it. You know, yeah.
42:38I think one of the things as we start to get this started is to, you know, to look at
42:45it financially and start to create a bank to put the money in. Then you come back, start
42:54putting ideas together, but we start to raise the money first and then it's easier for people
43:00to follow, you know. So we will come back and do this.
43:05We'll do it again. You guys are part of our family.
43:07And we'll bring back the money people next time.
43:09Yeah, that's my goal. Period. Yes.
43:11We need them.
43:12Thank you guys.
43:14So again, like May said, I want to thank all of you for coming out, but we've only just
43:19begun. I don't know. I think God keeps us living because he can use us as tools to help
43:25those who can't maybe help themselves. So let's keep working together and feel free to take
43:32home a plate, a couple of plates with you. I got my wings. We got my man.
43:36Yes, do take it home.
43:37We made his wings, the spaghetti, the wing, all that. Just yeah, take food, please. I
43:42just wanted to spoil you guys because like May said, it means a lot for you guys to come
43:46out. It does. So thank you. Thank you all. Thank you. And have a good evening. And that's
43:52solutions. Yeah, not slogans. Not slogans today. You did a good job. Thank you. Thank you.
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