Podcasts about community liaison

In this episode of Discover Lafayette, we honor the 25th anniversary of Miles Perret Cancer Services, a nonprofit that has supported more than 27,000 families in Acadiana over the years facing the challenges of a cancer diagnosis. Joining us are Executive Director, Tim Rinaldi and Community Liaison, Sherry Hernandez, two passionate leaders dedicated to advancing the mission and heart of this vital organization. The organization was founded in honor of Miles Perret who tragically died at the age of eight years of age in 2001 from glioblastoma. From this experience, his parents, Hank and Debbie Verret, had the vision to help others in Acadiana fight, survive and live with cancer with dignity and to have access to the services they may need. Miles's legacy lives on through a mission of compassion. The organization provides 100% free support services—from wigs and nutritional supplements to transportation assistance and wellness programs—without income restrictions. Tim Rinaldi shares his deeply personal journey to leading Miles Perret—rooted in his family's long-standing ties to oncology care—and how faith, entrepreneurship, and a calling to serve intersected to bring him home to Acadiana. He offers insight into the organization's commitment to both strategic impact and compassionate care, and how building a sustainable, team-driven culture remains central to his vision. Sherry Hernandez, who has served with the organization for eight years, reflects on the full-circle moment that led her from for-profit public relations to her role at Miles Perret. Her lifelong passion for community engagement and her personal experiences with cancer have fueled her dedication to connecting families with resources—at no cost and with no income verification required. Listeners will learn about the many services offered by Miles Perret, including nutritional supplements, wigs, medical supplies, transportation assistance, and a growing wellness program that includes yoga, Pilates, circuit training, and soon, a teaching kitchen. All services are 100% free to cancer patients and their families. We also explore the Games of Acadiana, the nonprofit's largest and most iconic fundraiser, now celebrating its 25th year. What began as a friendly competition among the Perret brothers as they looked at how to honor Miles' legacy, has evolved into a beloved tradition, including a Birthday Bash Kickoff on Saturday, May 31, 2025, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., behind the Bayou Church, followed by a two-week virtual scavenger hunt through the GooseChase app. Participants can complete missions for a chance to win prizes, including a $10,000 grand prize, all while raising awareness and support for the organization. The green space along Settler's Trace Boulevard (behind the Bayou Church) will be transformed into a hub of excitement with fun games, engaging activities, and interactive attractions including an obstacle course, inflatable mini golf, and a monster fun jump. Cancer survivors will be honored with an inspiring Survivor Walk and the crowd will celebrate together with a delicious birthday cupcake. Other key topics include: The founding story of Miles Perret, named after Hank and Debbies's son whose legacy lives on in every service offered The organization's decision to forgo government funding to remain nimble and community-focused The importance of monthly recurring donations and employer-based giving programs Plans for a new facility and expanded wellness services, including a chapel and increased access to nutritional support Whether you've participated in the Games of Acadiana, supported the Camellia Crossing Glow Run, or are learning about Miles Perret for the first time, this episode highlights how deeply rooted the organization is in the fabric of Acadiana—and how each of us can play a role in their mission of neighbors helping neighbors. To get involved, donate, volunteer,

Poet Steve Langan talks about his poetic craft and his new poetry book, Bedtime Stories, with themes of death and desire, faith and healing. Langan also reads some of his poems for us and shares how art and poetry in his life have yielded new emotional knowledge.Steve Langan has a background in creative writing and public health. His most recent poetry collection “Bedtime Stories” follows on his previous poetry collections: Freezing, Notes on Exile and Other Poems, Meet Me at the Happy Bar, and What It Looks Like, How It Flies. Langan served as Director and Community Liaison for Medical Humanities at the University of Nebraska Omaha and founded the Seven Doctors Project, in which Omaha area writers guide healthcare workers in writing workshops. Langan developed the course, Writing About Sickness and Health, and currently teaches at Baylor University's Medical Humanities Program.

Joining me is Michelle Walsh, Community Liaison Officer at EirGrid, to discuss the Celtic Interconnector Project.

Art has a unique ability to transcend language, evoke emotion, and bring people together across cultural divides. This idea is embodied in the work of Samra Bashir, whose glass paintings celebrate the rich traditions of South Asian and Islamic art while inviting a broader audience into their intricate beauty. Samra's journey as an artist began as a personal escape—something she turned to during challenging times. But over the years, her work evolved into something much larger. Through her use of glass paint and light, she has built not just an art practice, but also a powerful means of storytelling, connection, and cultural education. In this episode of The Art Biz, host Alyson Stanfield talks with Samra about: How her creative journey started and what led her to glass painting. The role of light in her work and why it's an essential element. How she uses art to foster community and bridge cultural gaps. The importance of stepping out from behind the screen and sharing art in real-life spaces. Samra's story is a reminder that art doesn't just exist in isolation—it thrives in conversation, connection, and shared experiences. 01:50 Samra's Early Inspirations 02:28 Reviving Her Art in the U.S.04:05 Samra's Cultural Heritage and How It Shows Up in Her Work 08:42 Building an Audience and Overcoming Challenges11:37 Balancing Multiple Roles and Art 18:47 The Importance of Community and Teaching Workshops22:43 Connecting Through Art and Overcoming Barriers 26:08 Practical Tips for Artists to Engage with Community 36:50 Conclusion and Practical Applications for You

Matt kicks off his final hour in the host chair joined by Carlene Bechen, a leader with the Oregon Area Progressives and the Community Liaison for Law Forward, to talk about the aftermath of November's election and moving forward as progressives. Then, he is joined by Mark Martin from the Goose Pond Wildlife Sanctuary in Arlington, Wisconsin just north of Madison. As always, thank you for listening, texting and calling, we couldn't do this without you! Don't forget to download the free Civic Media app and take us wherever you are in the world! Matenaer On Air is a part of the Civic Media radio network and airs Monday through Friday from 10 am - noon across the state. Subscribe to the podcast to be sure not to miss out on a single episode! You can also rate us on your podcast distribution center of choice, they go a long way! To learn more about the show and all of the programming across the Civic Media network, head over to https://civicmedia.us/shows to see the entire broadcast line up. Follow the show on Facebook, X and YouTube to keep up with Jane and the show!

A very special Thanksgiving tradition was held early this morning on Alcatraz Island. The Indigenous Peoples Thanksgiving annual Sunrise Gathering kicked off at 5 a.m. to give thanks for the resiliency and survival of Indigenous Peoples' cultures in California and around the world. The gathering commemorated Indigenous Peoples' living cultures, and ongoing struggles, and highlighted the true history of Thanksgiving, as well as honor and commemorate the historic occupation of Alcatraz that began on November 20th, 1969. For a closer look, KCBS Radio's News Anchor Bret Burkhart spoke with Morning Star Gali, International Indian Treaty Council Tribal and Community Liaison and emcee of this morning's Sunrise Gathering on Alcatraz Island.

"The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong at the broken places." - Ernest Hemingway Guest Introduction:  Hey there, friend! Welcome to Exploring the Seasons of Life: Travel Edition! I'm Cindy MacMillan, your host and founder of Pangea World Travel Agency. Whether you're a busy midlife professional, an empty nester, or a woman with a heart for adventure, you're in the right place! This podcast isn't just about travel—it's about how travel connects with the broader themes of life: growth, discovery, and reinvention. Join me and inspiring guests as we share personal stories of adventure and meaningful transformation. We'll explore everything from hidden travel gems to life-changing experiences. So grab your coffee, get cozy, and let's embark on this adventure together! Now, it's my pleasure to introduce today's guest, Susan Houts. Susan Houts is a world traveler, former educator, and current Community Liaison for Assisting Hands Home Care here in Brevard, Florida. After serving as an Associate Professor of Public Speaking and Interpersonal Communication at Eastern Florida State College for 12 years, she transitioned into Senior Care after seeing the need for community education in this area. She grew up in Rockledge, Florida, and currently lives in Palm Bay with her husband of 16 years, Aaron. Here's a glimpse of our conversation:  2:15 I've spoken to many people who are afraid to leave because they're the primary caregiver for someone. But this can be a great opportunity to benefit both the person receiving care and the caregiver, allowing them to continue living their lives without worry. 6:01 In our community, there's a phrase that resonates with travelers: 'Take your oxygen first.' On a plane, they always instruct you to put your own oxygen mask on before helping a child or anyone else. The reason is simple: if you pass out, you won't be able to help anyone. 6:46 It's important to prepare in advance by reaching out to the community and using resources like Assisting Hands and the healthcare community to set up care ahead of time. If you leave it as an afterthought, you might find yourself on your trip, unable to fully enjoy it because you're constantly worried about what's happening at home. 8:35 If you have a company, ask others for recommendations. When we have a loved one in need of care—whether it's a senior or someone with health issues—it often feels like we're the only ones going through it. It feels very personal and can affect every part of our lives. But remember, you're not alone in this. 13:36 The really interesting thing about care, especially that I've learned in the senior care world, is that everybody's needs are completely different. Completely different, right? 34:33 I'd like to share one more tip I got from a friend who is a senior care advisor. I love her advice: when you're looking for support, whether before your trip or even during, focus on getting help with the task you dislike the most. You can find Susan Houts at: Website  |   Susan Houts, Certified Dementia Practitioner  Thank you for tuning in to Exploring the Seasons of Life: Travel Edition! I'm Cindy MacMillan, and I'm truly grateful to have you on this adventure with me. If you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to share it with your friends, post about it on social media, or leave a rating and review. Thanks to your support, we can inspire even more travel enthusiasts like yourself! I'd love to connect with you! Follow me on Instagram @pangeaworldtravelagency for more travel inspiration and updates. Until then, keep exploring and embracing the journey. I can't wait to see you next time!

Briana Kurlinkus, the Department of Systemic Equity & Inclusion's (DSEI) Community Liaison, talks about her role and the work of her department, the DSEI JEDI (Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion) Alliance, and the Equity and Action Community Conversations events.

Send us a Text Message.Curious about the latest strategies for home care sales and marketing? This episode promises invaluable insights as Valerie steps in for Dawn, who's on voice rest. Along with seasoned co-hosts Annette, Dawn, and Lisa—who despite being under the weather, share their wisdom.We also introduce you to the Kollab app by LeadConnector, a game-changer in user communication and support. Annette's segment wraps up with a deep dive into effective in-person sales techniques that you won't want to miss.Ever wondered how AI chatbots can revolutionize your home care business? We dissect the integration and functionality of these AI marvels, trained to provide spot-on information and capture vital contact details from potential clients and job seekers. Human intervention remains key for personalized follow-ups, ensuring a seamless experience. Real-world examples, like Star MultiCare's success across multiple offices, showcase the tangible benefits of deploying AI chatbots. We also offer best practices, highlighting what to include and avoid in your chat interactions to maximize efficiency and client satisfaction.Exciting news for home care agencies! Discover our new monthly service, Lead Behind Legends, featuring unique, branded leave-behinds. October's themes include a pumpkin decorating contest and Breast Cancer Awareness Month, providing creative and customizable marketing kits to make your agency stand out. We delve into the challenges and rewards of infield marketing, identifying traits for success, and offering advice for newcomers. Finally, we discuss effective community engagement strategies, from sponsoring activities like bingo to scheduling educational in-services, ensuring your outreach efforts are both impactful and memorable.Visit our website at https://asnhomecaremarketing.comGet Your 11 Free Home Care Marketing Guides: https://bit.ly/homecarerev

We met with the City of Erie's two Community Liaisons Thursday to learn about their efforts to build bridges between city government and citizens. Saeed Taraky, Immigrant and Refugee Liaison, and Daryl Craig, Community Liaison were our guests.

On Thursday morning East Coast Breakfast had the most incredible morning on Mandela Day when visiting the Newtown Community Hall in Tongaat. The team did a follow up to see how your contributions to the value of R1.6 Million helped uplift the community. Bilall Jeewa, Gift of the Givers Community Liaison Officer is featured in this podcast Webpage

Welcome to the Aphasia Access Conversations Podcast. I'm Jerry Hoepner. I'm a professor at the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire and co-facilitator of the Chippewa Valley Aphasia Camp, Blugold Brain Injury Group, Mayo Brain Injury Group, and Thursday Night Poets.  I'm also a member of the Aphasia Access Podcast Working Group. Aphasia Access strives to provide members with information, inspiration, and ideas that support their aphasia care through a variety of educational materials and resources. I'm today's host for an episode that will feature three voices, one of a partner of an individual with primary progressive aphasia, CeCelia Zorn, who also happens to be a former professor in the department of nursing at the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire; along with Tania Riske, an SLP at the Mayo Clinic Health Systems Eau Claire, and Nancy Petersen, a social worker with expertise in grief and bereavement from Ability KC in Kansas City. Each of them have both professional and personal experience and expertise with grief and loss. June is aphasia awareness month, so we wanted to take this opportunity to share the lived experience directly. Today's episode will address grief, death, and loss: leaning into a much-needed discussion. Biosketch: Our first guest, CeCelia Zorn, Ph.D., met her husband Wayne in high school in rural northeastern Wisconsin. Wayne died from the consequences of primary progressive aphasia last August, 2023. Since that time, CeCelia has continued her work as an advocate for families living with primary progressive aphasia and more recently about grief, death, and loss as a care partner. Cecelia brings multiple perspectives to our conversation about grief, death, and loss. She is a registered nurse and a lifelong writer. She has been an award-winning university professor for 32 years. CeCelia reads voraciously, plays pickleball, and is relearning how to play the flute – taking individual lessons, playing in community bands and auditing university music history class. She volunteers at the local free clinic and is an active member of the Board of Directors for Wayne's former memory choir. On a daily basis, CeCelia strives for a life enriched by kindness, joy, perseverance, curiosity, patience, and collaboration. But she will be the first to tell you, “some days are easy but some days you just crash. Yet everyday it counts because I remind myself, life isn't waiting for the storm to pass it's about learning to dance in the rain.”   Tania Riske, MS, CCC-SLP is a speech-language pathologist at Mayo Health Systems – Eau Claire. She initially entered the speech language pathology field through her volunteer work with the Chippewa Valley Aphasia Group and graduated from the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire Communication Sciences and Disorders program. Currently, she serves as an adjunct faculty member at UW Eau Claire, teaching undergraduate courses such as anatomy and physiology of the speech and hearing mechanism. Tania continues to enjoy treating patients with aphasia and their families within the LPAA Paradigm. Developing plans of care, counseling individuals' unique lifestyles, goals, interests, and priorities. Tania is an avid trail runner and equestrian. CeCelia, Wayne, and Tania were my guests for Episode 49 – Primary Progressive Aphasia: A conversation with Wayne Zorn, CeCelia Zorn, and Tania Riske. Nancy Petersen, MSW. Nancy grew up just outside Tulsa, OK and has an undergraduate degree in Speech Language Pathology from Oklahoma State University. She received a Master of Social Work from Jane Addams School of Social Work at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where she worked in urban hospitals and neighborhoods. Nancy is currently a Community Liaison for Ability KC, assisting patients as they transition from acute care to an intensive outpatient complex neuro-trauma rehab program. Her job also involves providing conferences and education to the medical and general Kansas City community. In her 30 years in the helping professions, she has learned much working in a variety of areas including nursing homes, hospice care, a suicide hotline, senior home care and case coordination. She has served on both the local and national Board of the Funeral Consumers Alliance providing education and advocacy relating to consumer protections in the funeral industry. Nancy is also involved with the Children's Mercy Hospital Rare Disease Patient Family Advisory Council, as well as the Ethical, Legal, and Social Integration (ELSI) Committee for the CMH Genome Project. Nancy has been married to Jimmy for 24 years and has an 18-year-old son with a rare disease, 21-year-old daughter, a cat, a dog and many wonderful friends. Take aways: Avoidance. We avoid difficult conversations and miss opportunities to engage our clients and their families in important discussions about loss and grief. Culture. There is a culture in the US of avoiding or sugar coating conversations about grief, death, and loss; using euphemisms to describe death. Prolonging. We (as a society) are often guilty of prolonging life at any consequence and failing to consider quality of life. Loss. Loss and grief do not exclusively apply to death and bereavement. They apply, as we know, to identity and loss of a whole host of pieces of our lives and identity, particularly following stroke and aphasia. PPA and degenerative loss. This loss is something we know is going to happen and open conversations about loss may help to open the door to bigger conversations about death and dying.   Interview Transcript: Jerry Hoepner: let's just kind of settle into a conversation. I really appreciate having the 3 of you here together. I know you all fairly well, but having the lens of a speech language pathologist, the lens of a social worker, and the lens of someone with the lived experience themselves is just a great way to have a conversation about a complicated and challenging conversation sometimes one that maybe people want to avoid. So, I'm just excited to talk to all of you. I'm going to open it up on the front end with a really broad question. I want to be careful, you know. I don't want to make you relive moments and things like that, but I also know that you are here because you want to be advocates for teaching and conversations about death and dying and grieving, and all of those processes. So, wondering if the 3 of you are willing to share a little bit about your personal background and experiences with grief. CeCelia, go ahead. CeCelia: Yup, yeah, I happy to start. Thanks, Jerry, for kind of pulling us all together. I really appreciate the opportunity to be part of the conversation. The thing that comes to mind when you pose that question is my family history around dying and grief and death and I'm so fortunate to have had that family experience. I think it was sort of a balance between the emotional side of dying and death, and the practical side of dying and death, and our family held both of those at the same time. It wasn't just the emotion, and it wasn't just the practical aspects, but it was sort of, I don't know, running down a river of white water with one foot in each canoe, and I remember specifically, at my dad's death bed. There were 7 of us kids, and we of course, mourned his passing and were extremely emotional about that, and stayed with him 24, 7 for 3 weeks, etc. Etc. And but at the same time we were talking about. Should we have spaghetti or ham at his funeral luncheon? So, sort of the practical aspects of how is this all gonna come together in a few weeks when we knew the funeral was coming? So, for me, that's a strength that has carried throughout my life. And I I just am so appreciative of that. And I can only speak to my experience. Perhaps other families have had similar experiences, or one versus the other, or neither. But I just wanted to sort of throw that out there. That sort of ability to handle both things sort of in the same at the same time, has been a source of strength for me. Jerry Hoepner: Wow! Thanks for sharing that, CeCelia. And I'm not sure that that is the experience of a lot of people that ability to do that. I want to take a step back, and mention something I should have mentioned. CeCelia. You kind of wear a couple of different hats, so you were a nursing faculty member for many, many years you have that holistic care, nursing perspective on grief and death as well, and then you also wear that lived experience hat as well. If I can use that metaphor in dealing with your husband. Wayne's death related to primary progressive aphasia. So just so. Our audience is understanding those perspectives. I think that's important. And to go back to what you just said, everyone has a different experience, and I'm not sure that everyone does process those things in parallel. Jerry Hoepner: Nancy, I'll invite you to share a little bit next. Nancy Petersen: Well, I'd be happy to. So, background is I have a master's in social work from Jane Adams at University of Illinois, at Chicago my experiences over the time figuring out what I wanted to be when I grew up, and what I ended up doing where I worked at a suicide hotline. For 3 years. I then worked in hospice for a number of years, including pediatric hospice while kind of in my life. At the same time my father died when I was 20, very unexpectedly at 52. I have worked in kind of every different version of the helping profession and nursing homes and pediatric settings and am currently working in complex neuro trauma rehab I was on the National Board for the funeral Consumers alliance when all of a sudden, my son was diagnosed with a rare progressive, neurodegenerative disease, 6 years ago and we're dealing with what that means and what that looks like. What that does to a 13-year-old when they get diagnosed with something that will limit his life. And so have kind of truly become aware of the difference between someone who talks about life and things that people need to know and what how things should be in an academic way, and truly have learned what it feels like to live that you know, your parents are important, but kids are different. They hit different. And when you kind of start living that deeply, what I have learned becomes a lot closer to home, it just hits really close to home. So that's kind of my background. I did a lot of I wrote a section for Jerry's book about you know, one of the textbooks about death and dying, and what I believe about it. I'm kind of curious having not read it for a while. How my! Just how the changes in what has happened in my life. And Clark was sick then. So, it's not brand new, but even then kind of the differences of what happens over time when you're living kind of a situation like that. And I just looked at something. I wrote a while back a presentation called Death as a 5-letter word and it has some interesting things in it as well. So, I think the topic of death has no answers. And the talk of bereavement has no answers, and very often people who are bereave, who are bereaved, or who are getting ready to, who are bereaving before the death, want there to be. And I think that's one of the biggest, although obvious. When you stop and think about it, that's one of the biggest issues that you're going to run into families is they want an answer to make it better. And it's very hard to explain to people they have to live it. That's part of the problem, and the issue with grief is that you can't step around it. If you do, you'll find yourself in far worse situation than if you live through it. So, I think for caregivers or those around you. There's a lot more to say about what to do for someone or with someone who's experiencing it. So, I try to look at it from all the different perspectives to see what sometimes nonsense I can spout. That sounds intelligent, because truly it is such an individual, it is so utterly individual. And there aren't right ways and wrong ways. People think there's a good way or a bad way, or they think there's a right way. And what happens is what happens. And the biggest problem is making sure that you know when it's kind of out of hand or when you need external kick assistance. You need to understand how long it lasts. You need to understand what happens in that and that it's okay. So much of what's going to happen that feels difficult or feels odd or feels out of place is normal. And maybe that's our goal is to normalize people's reaction to it is to normalize their own personal journey as not being something. Then you have to compare to anyone else's. Jerry Hoepner: Yeah, that's such an important point. And again, really emphasizes the fact that all 3 of you are experts with multiple lenses. And I guess everyone is at some point in their life. You know you. You bring your personal background to it, your professional background to it, and then your experiences with life and death and grieving, and all of those things. So, really, I mean, I think we're really fortunate to have this conversation with 3 individuals who have such a broad lens, and are able to view death and grieving from multiple lenses like you all are. Yeah, thank you for sharing that. Tania. I'll let you jump in next. If that's okay. Tania Riske: Yeah, that'd be great. Well, as a clinician, I think I really first sort of became interested in and in investing in conversations about grief because I saw a lot of patients who were facing terrible diagnoses and care partners who are trying to figure out how to sort that out and not having the opportunity to do that. Your neurologist was maybe going to be interested in providing analysis and checking in with you every few months, and maybe adjusting your medications. Your primary care provider was keeping an eye on your blood pressure and your cholesterol. And there just really wasn't a person or a provider who was acknowledging that there was going to be partings happening, that this you know, that this might be a diagnosis that was going to lead. Brief or certainly significant life changes. So it wasn't being talked about. It wasn't being supported, and that really started to make me feel like there was a that was a gap that needed to be filled, the conversations that needed to be opened and had and continued, it wasn't just a one and done kind of conversation, using it to be ongoing conversations and support. And as things change, the conversation maybe changes a little bit, and the resources change. So, I became really interested in the role of speech, language, pathologists, and other providers also in supporting brief and just. Incidentally, as this became a bigger part of what I was thinking about and taking up more headspace for me and making me really think about how I was practicing and how it's impacting patients and families. Incidentally, I lost an adult child. So, I have some of my own grief that I'm dealing with as well, and you can hear that coming up me a little bit right now. But it really shapes how I think about grief and how it's impacting families, and what they might need, or what they might want. And when I was hearing Nancy talk about there being no real answers, and gosh! Families want answers so badly and helping them explore through their grief. And what's right for them and supporting that. And when CeCelia talks about that practical versus the emotional standpoint having one foot in each canoe. I don't think that's an experience that a lot of families have. I think that that's such a lovely perspective and strength that you have, CeCelia but I don't think a lot of other families have that. So as a clinician, investing in families and helping them to have those conversations and recognize that there's not right or wrong answers. But the questions are very fair and very valid, and just be able to support that in a way that feels authentic and feels genuine and caring, and not filled with trite comments and superficial responses. And let's move on from this because we've got other things to talk about, I think, is really important. Jerry Hoepner: Yeah, thanks for sharing those perspectives. Tania. And one thing that I want to highlight for this particular podcast is, we're working with individuals with communication impairments who have maybe additional barriers to talking about death and dying. So, I mean beyond the challenges that we have with what that all of us have in everyday conversations about death and dying. That's just an additional layer. From the standpoint of sharing education with them, but also decision making and planning that becomes so much more challenging in that context. Nancy Petersen: Well, and more importantly, it may isolate them even further from those around them who could support them, who were having enough trouble, just having regular conversations with them. And now we need to have a conversation that's frightens them, that they don't know how to do and I will never forget one of my that I just read said that people who are trying to support people need to remember they're not expected to be Yoda like you. You aren't. You don't have to have the answers, and we for some reason think that is such an important thing that if you talk to someone about something difficult. I said. If you know suddenly, if you someone you know, has cancer, you're supposed to be able to talk to them about cancer treatment. I mean, I don't. The people that helped me the most in the most difficult situations in my life have been the ones who said the least and I don't know why that is hard for people to grasp or be okay with. Hmm. I think part of it is that we are really bad at silence in general and we feel like everything has to be filled. And I am one of those people who, when I get anxious, I just talk more so when I'm being silent is a learned skill, and that is something that many of us is skilled. Many of us don't have. Tania Riske: I think you're right on with that, Nancy. It's so hard to be quiet and listen and I think especially many of us who are in clinical or provider fields tend to feel like it is my job and my responsibility to try to fix this or make it better. But that's not true. But, boy, it's that's what we want to do. Nancy Petersen: Right. Even I have put in that situation, and knowing, you know, it's kind of the same thing about having a sick child, I know the right thing to do but I don't. My emotions. I'm not always. I don't always react with my brain. So, you have to have a lot of self-talk to say. Now, remember, you don't have to know everything, and quiet is good, and they know their own answers, and even with a degree in speech, I mean my undergrad in speech, pathology, so I only know enough to be dangerous. But my I mean social work teaches you to let people find their own answers, and it's still so difficult to do in a really serious situation to not want to fix and to not want to help and it's hard to believe that help is less in situations such as serious grief. CeCelia: And maybe it's not necessarily just sort of pure silence, but it might be reframing. Nancy Petersen: Reflection. Yeah, I agree. CeCelia: You know. Help me understand what you're thinking, or help me understand what you're feeling, rather than sort of tolerating the silencing. When this person is done talking. Then I can go on to some real things, but sort of reframing that silence in a new way might be helpful in some situations. Nancy Petersen: Certainly, active listening is/can be good. I mean, it can be very helpful in many situations. What I kept getting was, what can I do? when I was in that situation, all I wanted to say was, if you can't make my dad well, there's nothing you can do, and it almost angered me that people would ask, What can I do? Because there was only one thing I needed done, and nobody could do it. So, you kinda I would much have preferred, and I did prefer my friends, who were very active listeners, or who sat and padded in my leg or my arm, you know, and you also have to kind of figure out. Are they in the middle of the death, like are they? Is the death actively occurring right then, in which case silence might be helpful. But then, when they want to talk about it. When someone wants to really talk which happens inner, you know, it's interspersed in all of that that reflection and active listening and reframing and making sure you understand what they're saying can be, I think, most helpful. Tania Riske: Oftentimes I've really seen my role as inviting the conversation, opening the door and making it a safe space for that conversation. Even if a patient or family isn't ready to have a conversation about grief that either they're experiencing or they're anticipating they may be or they're going to experience in the future. To know that first of all, I'm acknowledging that, and then also really trying to create that safe space with an open door that we can go to that conversation and that this is this is an okay place to start thinking about what might be coming, what we're afraid of. So, I think starting the conversation early is also important. Nancy Petersen: Well, and here's one of the we. I'm sorry, CeCelia, do you wanna. CeCelia: I was just gonna sort of concur with you, Tania, in terms of, in addition to that sort of the idea of repetition and patience that it's not just a one-time shot. Okay, this happened on Tuesday, 3 weeks ago, and now I don't have the space to do that. But sort of the need to repeat that open door, and maybe I wasn't ready 3 weeks ago. But by God, I really need to do this again. So please be patient with me, and please repeat this opportunity. So, the idea of repetition and patience seems important. Nancy Petersen: And one of the differences is, a lot of people don't always have a Tania that they see regularly in life to do this and what the thing that I have seen happen so many times is that the person who so …, we get a lot of rehab and we do what we do. But sometimes we'll get people who have glioblastomas, and they want rehab and I'm not sure the patient wants rehab and that yes, getting stronger is helpful. And yes, that gives them more energy. And maybe they just had a reception, and maybe they really can build up a little bit, but it's so much the families who are in denial that want them to get better, and they'll grasp. But any straw to try to make their need to understand and accept what's happening to put it off just a hair longer. And when I worked in hospice specifically we would walk in. They actually even took the word Hospice off our name tags because families were insistent that we not tell the patient they were dying. What was always most amusing was that the patient always knew they were dying and would ask me not to tell their family they were dying. So, the conversations that weren't getting put off were grief related, and fear of death related so intensely. Both desperate to protect the other member of their family, the other group and we did a lot of trying to get to the elephant in the room trying to get to the thing that everyone knew was happening. But people get there so differently that it's very difficult, as the social worker put in the middle of that pers that situation, to figure out who's ready or what their reactions gonna be. If we decide to talk about this and how to handle that reaction because we would get I mean, we changed our name tags. We got so many families angry that we were supposedly letting their dying loved one in on the little secret they were dying and instead of us saying, It's not a secret. The word. Hospice is not going to come as a great surprise to them. We just took it off. Tania Riske: Wow! That's really interesting. I do see on a routine basis what you're talking about, where families do not want death dying hospice any of those words uttered around their loved ones, and sometimes vice versa, too, but almost always it's families protecting their loved one who is dying. But to take it to that extreme of. We can't even have this on a name Tag, because it's just saying too much angering. Too many people is really fascinating, and I think very telling about just our whole thought process around death dying and grief. Nancy Petersen: Our death, denying culture. What do you possibly mean? Having worked in it, I literally would sit at a table at an exposition. You know, when we're trying to talk to people about Hospice, and people would literally go away from our table and around like Hospice was somehow catching. Tania Riske: Wow. Nancy Petersen: And say, I'm not dying. I don't. Don't talk to me about it, and like literally avoid and it would catch me. So I mean I just I was always amazed at the number of ways people would avoid talking about something. That's one of the very few things you must never. You can't avoid. No matter how far away you walk them from my table. What it does instead is make you ill prepared for when it does come. Hmm, okay. CeCelia: Wonder if we need to reframe the language that we use to describe people's reaction. You know, thinking about the negativity associated with some of the labels. I'm just. I'm just thinking about the word denial and avoidance aren't very positive words in my book. And yet we continue to label people in denial and avoidance. And I wonder if we could think about the meaning of the language, and how that might help people I don't know. Just raising the question. I don't have any answers, but. Nancy Petersen: Well, I think there's a part of me that says, if you soft pedal it, you're not doing them any favors now, that's my belief, and I have been in working with death and dying my whole life. So, I know that I'm not your average person, but I blame society. I blame the way we talk about things in advertisements, the way we talk about things on the news. We don't even use the word die. We don't use the word death. We don't use the word, you know. We come up with all these euphemisms of passed on or lost. I think personally, they are not benefiting us. I don't think so personally softening the language. Now, if I'm dealing with a family that can't handle what I'm not trying to force this sudden societal change down everyone's individual throat. But what I am saying is that in general we probably need to. You know, when you talk in different cultures about death. It's something they talk about constantly. When you look at, look at the native Americans. Death is part of the circle of life. It's what there is. And we talk about. You know, vitamin water like it's gonna be the Fountain of Youth, and we're never gonna have to die if we take enough pills that are vitamins, and we drink this magic water, and we Yoga or Pilates that we suddenly have this option and America is known for I mean, I went and studied Hospice in England, and they were vastly different in how they approach death and how they handled pediatric deaths. Jerry knows not to get me started about that. We literally act in this country. We do not let children die, we will not, no matter how much we know. That's we can't stop it, we will not people die. I saw a 95-year-old woman with advanced Alzheimer's getting a feeding tube put in and I, who did not know where she was in the hospital. She was terrified. She didn't know what was happening. It was a horrible situation, and I thought, well, probably the best thing we need to do is put a lot of food in her that sounds like the best ending for this and it just the whole thing sums up our inability to understand that if we talked about it more we might have a better reaction to it when it was time because when I've been around hundreds of people who were actively dying. They're very comfortable talking about it and they're very. They're anxious to talk about what they want and what's meant things to them and what they want to hear, and I would have family. Say, mama, don't talk like that. I don't need to hear that. I can't hear you talk about you dying right now. Don't talk to me about things like that. We're going to go make dinner, and we're just going to have a great dinner together, and push back on the dying person's desire to speak their truth and their what they wanted to talk about at the end of their life. And that doesn't. That didn't work either. Tania Riske: I agree with that, Nancy, that we are really a society, that life at all costs prolong life at all costs, and I hadn't thought about that before in light of the fact that maybe that is tied into sort of our belief system in our conversations or the conversations and the beliefs that we don't have about death dying and grief. That because we don't talk about it, it's not Ok to talk about it that facilitates that we must prolong life no matter the costs. Not thinking about quality of life but instead, thinking about prolongation of life, and those are 2 very different things. Nancy Petersen: And I see it all the time I was with the family, Father had a massive stroke. Daughters adored him, wanted him at no matter what Dad needed to get better. And so, they were pushing it better, and the dad looked at me with aphasia after a massive stroke. And I'm doing all this talking about our program, and they're so excited. And he looked at me and said, Why. yeah. Tania Riske: There it is! Nancy Petersen: Wasn't long before they let him die. They stopped coming and pushing for all of this, because he knew that the kind of stroke he had had was not going to work well with Rehab, that he had had a massive stroke and did not want to live like that, but his family was absolutely unable to manage that until he finally, after months of coming here and pretending to get better and stronger for them. And that's the other thing is, you're trying not to be mean to the family that loves you so much. They don't want you to die. But you know, let's not even get into the amount of money we're spending in Medicare, keeping people alive who have no, who, if given the choice, would never choose to live like they were living. I guarantee you they would not. And we can get into the ethics of that. When I was in Hospice we had a 36 year old man who had a ventilator and we had a 92 year old woman who was unable to explain on a ventilator who didn't, couldn't talk. The 36-year-old, said, I want to die. I am of... I have no psychiatric illness. I am not. I cannot live on a ventilator. The rest of my life. I do not want this. I've done it for 2 years. I am not living this way. and people were horrified, would have nothing to do with taking this man off of ventilator, but had no issues, taking a woman who couldn't speak off of ventilator because of her age. Now she couldn't tell you if she wanted to die or not. But that was comfortable. But taking a 36-year-old, who could talk and make a conscious choice, was horrifying and I think that for me just summed up the way that we go, that we look at death and handle death, and think we somehow have some obligation to keep people alive or never, or the pain of discussing it needs to be prolonged. I don't know if it's life that needs to be prolonged. I don't. I don't know what that is, but it may be death in this culture is a failure. And it's framed that way in some of the words like lost the battle. Yep, yep, for sure. So, it's we do it like it's war. Jerry Hoepner: How do we open that dialogue, Tania? I know you and I talked about the PLISIT model, and that as an opening for conversations. But what do you think all of you, in terms of how do we open that dialogue? Nancy Petersen: I always. I'll open it with funerals. I don't know why it works sometimes, but funerals are a practical money situation. So, if you talk about funerals in a joking way, or in a kind of a, you know. By the way, we're all here at Thanksgiving. We've never talked about this. What do you want or not want? And if you can start a conversation with something that is less than so, you're going to die sometime. Why don't we talk about that instead, it's when you die. What do you want it to look like? And it feels less threatening. I think in many cases and it can start a conversation in a non, and I know it sounds weird to say funnels are non-threatening, but sort of a practical situation that people are always told to take care of their business before they need it. So, I don't know. I think sometimes jokes or humor, or practicality sometimes are less off putting. Tania Riske: Well, and for me as a clinician. I have to be in a certain place of having built a certain amount of report before we can jump into that, you know. I don't have the sort of built in, automatic family dynamics that you might when you sit down at that Thanksgiving dinner. So, having some rapport, and really knowing a little bit more about the patient or and or their family and the relationships. But for me, I it really requires me to consciously be bold and not use the euphemisms, not just avoid and skirt around, but to really be bold and open. That conversation of first of all, acknowledging that in the case of a degenerative condition, that that is where we are heading, we are ultimately heading toward death and opening that door for conversation, about losses that are anticipated. And whether it's changes in what a person can and can't do physically, cognition, health, opening the door to those conversations and re, and making sure that I revisit that and going back to that PLISIT model where really sort of the first step in that is granting that permission to have the conversations. Maybe it's not today. Maybe it's not in a month. And frankly, with some families and patients, maybe it's never but always being intentional about opening the door and keeping the door open. How does that resonate, CeCelia? When you hear these sides of the conversations where we're thinking about it from that provider standpoint. And you are. You've had the lived experience. How does what we're saying resonate with you. CeCelia: Right. I wonder if the idea of loss isn't just dying in death. In my experience, it was a lot of different loss for 9 years. So maybe framing the conversation around loss for Wayne's loss of speech and loss of cognition and loss of toiling abilities and loss of hygiene skills and how that evolved it's not just dying as loss, but it's a loss of everything over 10 years, and maybe I don't know. Maybe reframing that loss and not in not in terms of denial or avoidance. I still have issue with labeling people in that way. I don't think that fosters an acceptance. So, in addition to that, maybe reframing loss might be I think, was important to me. Nancy Petersen: And I absolutely please don't think that I was speaking to you. I was speaking in general about the denial I, or avoidance of death, as a rule, to someone who is not in a situation of actively managing that or even thinking about it. I was talking in general to people that are out getting freebies off my table at an exhibit hall who don't even wanna start the conversation because it's something that isn't happening to them. The other thing I want to say to you is, there are other losses that you're experiencing, that I talk. I've always talked about the loss of the husband that you had until he got sick, the loss of the ability to travel with him, the loss of conversations that you would have. So it's not just the losses of him, which, of course, you worried for him and those losses, but also to understand what you were losing, what everyone was losing. And I say this to people sometimes when I say grief can happen any time and grief is something that we should look at. We're going through all the time. If you lose a job if you lose, you know your home, you know. I just moved from my big house to this small house that my son could navigate, and there was loss involved in that. Not being a choice I wanted to make, and that being forced upon us, and that being the house, we hope to be in forever. So, people experience losses constantly and I don't think we give that enough thought. We're in America. We just seem to go and go and go. We're on the move forward wherever that is, and we don't. Maybe part of this is that we don't. We're not introspective all the time about loss and about, you know, when I talk to family sometimes, it's they haven't even sort of. They haven't put towards the losses that they've experienced. And those are losses, you know. That's not. Did you lose him when they died? But those are true losses. I once had to do a thing. I was gonna volunteer with Aids patients, and they gave us all these slips of paper with, we had to write down the 5 most important, you know who's the most important person in your life. What's your favorite hobby? And then they would make us take these pieces of paper and choose which piece of paper to remove from our pile, and that was gut wrenching, and all I was doing was wading up a piece of paper, so that just that activity was very hard, and made it so clear what losing parts of your life to a disease or to a situation could cause so please don't believe that I believe people that are in that situation are in denial in that respect, or that we should use that as a negative talk just that I think we live in death denial as a culture with the way we kind of act like. It's not a part of you know. We can show all kinds of medicine on TV. But if you put anything on there about a funeral or someone dying, people push back hard. We just have a problem with it. Jerry Hoepner: Yeah, so kind of related to your example of people walking around your booth to not get to not catch Hospice. Yeah. But the other thing I'm thinking about. Nancy, as you were describing. Some of those losses. I don't think people always recognize them as losses. Just to have a conversation about changes. That you've experienced like. For example, when you said the loss of you know your larger home for a smaller home that your son could navigate. I think some people would recognize that as a change until they really think about. I loved that old house I mean, I loved it, and just opening up that dialogue might be an important piece of that conversation, too. Tania Riske: A conversation that I'm having more often is conversations with patients and families, too, about loss of identity. And I think that ties into the same idea where, if your identity was, you know, I'm gonna I'm gonna live in this house with my healthy family. And you know, we're gonna do these activities. And we're gonna take these trips and and we're going to. And this is who I am and the vision that I have when that vision changes. I think there's a real loss of who am I? What does my future look like? What does this mean? And that I think that loss of identity is a really big, a really big deal, too, that we really need to support. Nancy Petersen: And we see a lot of men. And it's not only men, but we see a lot of men who, if they can't go back to their job. They've identified themselves as the breadwinner, or the a lawyer, or whatever it might be, and just that loss is almost. I mean, they think about it as a kind of death that they suddenly, you know nobody wants to be a burden, so everyone thinks of themselves as that. But when they lose their ability to do the thing that that made them who they were in their mind. We don't talk a lot about that we talk about. Well wouldn't get you. So, security disability. And, you know, like, money's gonna solve that problem. And now you can stay at home and watch TV. You don't like and not go golf anymore with your friends, and probably not be a part of those conversations that all your guys are having at poker, because you're not going anymore. Because you have. You know, you have aphasia. So you are absolutely right. And that's why I think that and why I was big about everybody who has a part of their life, who has a piece of that person, whether it's in rehab. And they're doing speech, pathology, or PT, and they're talking about it should be comfortable with having those harder discussions than you know. How about them chiefs, or whatever it is that you can have. Once well, here, you can have it a lot we win, but you know. But you know what I mean. Like you can. You need to have a conversation that gets a little deeper. Maybe you should feel comfortable having that come. Maybe you could do somebody more good if you were comfortable with that. Jerry Hoepner: Yeah. And I'm still glad you broaden the conversation to thinking about loss, not just as death and bereavement, but thinking about the application to everyone that we're working with in terms of, you know, people living with aphasia regardless of whether that's a degenerative aphasia or whether that is a stroke-based aphasia. There's a tremendous amount of loss and change, and even being able to have a conversation about that change, to be able to say those changes sound a lot like loss. I think that's an important piece of this conversation, too. Tania Riske: Over the years that I knew Wayne and CeCelia. I really had this, I think it was a very unique and awesome experience of seeing a partnership that works so well together to support identity. Even as Wayne went through changes with his primary, progressive aphasia. How they worked together and brought me into those conversations about, how do we continue to support Wayne, but also to support CeCelia as a partner and caregiver? And I think that's a part of a conversation that very often is overlooked by providers kind of circling back to when we first started this conversation. But about how do we support people as they're going through losses that affect their identity, that affect their physical health, their emotional health, their cognitive health? How do we support families, patients, loved ones. And I had the pleasure of just really seeing a phenomenal example of that. And that's not a support system that everyone has. How do we facilitate that. Jerry Hoepner: To me it feels like. It's not a support system until you open that door. Go ahead, CeCelia. CeCelia: I was just listening. Thank you, Tania. Jerry Hoepner: Gotcha, I mean, I feel like in this situation. Tania. You made it possible for some of those conversations to be initiated. I'd be interested in CeCelia's perspective about what it took, what kinds of doors were open for that conversation? Was that something that was initiated from only Tania? Or was it initiated in both directions? What are your thoughts on that. CeCelia: It certainly was Tania and per the other speech therapy colleagues, and the aphasia community and some friends and some family. I think one question that I heard that was or comment, and I heard it several times over the course of the years was being asked like, what are you experiencing, or what are you hearing other people say? That's painful for you and sort of letting that guide the conversation when people said such and such that was really painful. But when people said other things that you might think would be horrible, it wasn't horrible at all. So maybe kind of looking at, or listening, or asking for, What are people telling you? That's painful? I don't know if that sort of addresses your question, Jerry. Jerry Hoepner: Yeah, I think so in terms of initiating those conversations about. you know what's happening in your world. And how are you responding to that it actually made me wonder to what extent was Wayne a part of those conversations. To what extent was he involved in that process, especially early on. CeCelia: Well, Wayne wasn't a real chatty guy, but of course, in my heart of hearts I I you know, being married, and so on for decades. I knew what was painful for him, even though he wasn't able to say it, and I knew what was supportive to him. So, from Wayne's perspective, he would never have. It just wasn't part of him to say, well, this is really a crack of crap sort of a thing, you know. He just wouldn't say that so it hang out. Jerry Hoepner: Was it helpful for him to be there when you were having these conversations with Tania. CeCelia: Oh, absolutely just because of the inclusion of the 3 of us you know, and Tania was so skilled in in pulling out a picture off his iPad or whatever, and it wasn't just a picture of him golfing, but it was digging deeper around his golfing, for example. So, it was a springboard for conversation. That Tania would just do over and over and over again, and of course Wayne saw it as golfing, and the fact that oh, he wasn't really golfing 18 holes anymore. And he wasn't, you know, golfing a 92 or an 88, or whatever. And Tania's questions about so what's a birdie, and what's a bogey? And you know Wayne wanted to be helpful at all that. But of course it opened up a whole door of conversation from Tania's professional position in what was happening with his identity. It ends, it. Jerry Hoepner: Go ahead, Tania. Tania Riske: I was gonna say, thank you for really highlighting that, CeCelia, because that was. I guess how I learned so much about Wayne. So, I felt like I could help to better support his identity. So when I, when we were talking about pictures, that was my favorite, because I could see such a peek into what? Who he was? Which was so much better than if I would have brought in, you know, some pre created or commercial therapy products that told me really nothing about Wayne. So that was really something that was just such a great tool. But tool is such an inadequate word for that. It was just. It worked so well for me to learn about Wayne and for Wayne to be able to school me a little bit, too. Sometimes. CeCelia: And it's just an example, I think, of starting where the person in the family are at in in the pictures. Of course, that was, as you said, tool, or whatever it's called. It was like this is who Wayne is, and this is his life. It's like what's painful for him and for me and for us together. So, it was. It was the foundation that guided the discussion, and not something you know, sort of external, that that was sort of put upon us. If you will. Jerry Hoepner: Maybe this is a good time. I jotted a question down as we were talking from a life participation approach to aphasia. Why is it so important that people have this conversation, or that this is a part of our conversations about loss and grief and death and dying? Why is that such an important piece of the life participation approach. CeCelia: I don't know 1 one aspect that I thought about when you asked that, Jerry. It's of course going through the process, and the process never ends of dying and death. It never ends but it's so. It's sort of the day to day, but it's also sort of the memory of that. Now, when I look back 8 months later, I I those are the good things that I have. Those are the times in the bottle that I will keep forever and ever and ever. So, it's not just. Oh! Wayne was discharged. Wayne died on August 20, fifth, etc., etc. It's like, Oh, that that's been my life. So, it's that time in a bottle idea of, you know, one can go with Jim Croce idea. Jerry Hoepner: Yeah. And I think that alone is powerful, that I think some clinicians might feel like, Oh, don't even touch that time in a bottle, because that's sad when you really frame that time in a bottle as something really positive and meaningful for you. And I think that's a really good reframe on the entire lens, of talking about loss and death, and dying. Tania Riske: I feel like so much of that life participation model is also about honoring identity, honoring wishes. Honoring people as individuals, not as impaired patients who we must fix. But instead, as people with lives and dreams, and some of those dreams have just been shattered or maybe they were shattered years ago. But yet they are. These are people with identities who matter as individuals and really honoring that. And I think that's another reason these conversations are important to honor the fact that yes, there will be death, and we want to do kind of right by you and by your family and loved ones with how we approach that and also recognizing these losses that we've been talking about, now honoring those and not just throwing them away, but doing our best to continue to really celebrate honor, embrace individuals and grief anticipating grief. Bosses is all part of that. Nancy Petersen: So, I just have a question because you're typically talking about people who have a progressive situation so that it. Tania Riske: That's true. That's where my lens is a little bit focused right now. But yeah. Nancy Petersen: And so that would be an I don't want to say obvious, but a wise choice to add to those conversations. I wonder if it, I think it needs to be a conversation that's in any in any sort of situation where there has been loss. Even if it's someone who's trying to rehabilitate from a stroke like we talked about, or someone who doesn't have the path of degenerative situations. But maybe that whole thing about how we have a difficult time with loss or recognizing loss would be beneficial, because we would be in a better position when other losses occurred. In other words, that it would make believing, understanding, discussing, recognizing loss in many situations would help us. What happened with what happens when those final losses start to occur. Because I just don't think we look at Change. We try to put a positive spin on change, and there's nothing wrong with coming up with the good reasons for that change, but that we don't recognize the loss that comes with those changes, you know. Yay, Daddy got a new job in a new city, and we're leaving. And then you hear we're having trouble with the teenager, because you know, I know it's hard for her, and we're changing schools and all of this. But if you don't then recognize per loss, even if to you it seems like a lesser concern than the other things that are going on that you're telling people that those losses don't count, or that that emotion isn't important and I'm just thinking about our speech pathologists and the opportunities that they have, or that opportunities any speech pathologist would have after an event or a health event to make to make it more than just, you know. Let's talk about Bill, and how you know our story today, or whatever it is that they're doing. That's sort of the more traditional speech pathology like you mentioned Tania, the typical structured speech pathology session that they would have. Tania Riske: Nancy, that makes me so happy that you kind of bring that up, because that's something. CeCelia and I have had extensive conversations about and that I get really all worked up and excited about is really the role of speech pathologists in counseling in general, you know. Yeah, maybe it is more at times focused on grief. Maybe it's identity other times. But just that whole idea of there is lots and I think speech pathologists have a huge role in acknowledging that supporting that you know, there's lots of conversation going on right now about what kind of education do we need to provide for a speech pathologist to better enable them to counsel and counsel well, and still staying within our scope of practice. Of course, our very respectful boundaries. Nancy Petersen: Absolutely. I can tell you, I can tell you there's very little even in doctor schooling. Oh, I believe they don't get any. They just nobody gets this. So, I love Jerry's been doing and what you're doing. It's just if you have an hour with a person who's coming out of some sort of crisis or medical situation. Why not use it in a way that's beneficial in a larger scope than just working on your t's, or whatever it might be. Jerry Hoepner: Yeah. And this has just been such a fantastic conversation. And I think you've done a really nice job of tying things together in terms of the life participation approach. I mean, if I just take a step back and kind of summarize our conversation, part of what makes an effective interaction is not avoiding those difficult conversations, but leaning into them, asking the questions, creating that safe space, as Tania said, for the conversation, giving permission to discuss those tricky topics. And then just actively listening, beginning where the family and that that individual are at. So, I hopefully, I've some summarized those things. Well, any missing elements that we should discuss before we bring this great conversation to a close. Nancy Petersen: I just appreciate you guys, I don't know the 3 of you that well, and I'm trying not to. I get very excited. And on my soapbox about things that I've witnessed, and things I think we could do better. So, I just want to apologize if I don't know the kind of the framework. But I certainly learned a lot and appreciate very much what you all shared today. So, thank you for that. Tania Riske: I really enjoyed having conversation about things that are so often really kind of dismissed, or nobody wants to talk about that, Nancy. I really appreciated your frankness. I you know your honesty, and just putting out there the things that we tend to be so uncomfortable about. And I think you're so right that these conversations need to happen. And they need to happen outside of the traditional of this context that we're talking about where people are looking down the barrel at loss but also they need to happen at the Thanksgiving table. And now those they just those conversations are so valuable. But yet we do such a stellar job at not having them. So. Thanks for talking about that. Nancy Petersen: No problem. Thank you. Tania Riske: And, CeCelia, I'm always so appreciative and grateful for your willingness to be so vulnerable and to really put so much out there about your lived experience. CeCelia: Thank you. Jerry Hoepner: Well, I want to thank you all for having this conversation. It feels like we could talk for another day, but we'll bring it to a close, for now. Thank you all, and I look forward to more conversations in the future. Tania Riske: Thanks. Jerry. Nancy Petersen: Bye, Jerry. Jerry Hoepner: On behalf of Aphasia Access, thank you for listening to this episode of the Aphasia Access Conversations Podcast. For more information on Aphasia Access and to access our growing library of materials go to www.aphasiaaccess.org. If you have an idea for a future podcast series or topic, email us at info@aphasiaaccess.org. Thanks again for your ongoing support of Aphasia Access.

Choosing Resilience: Carlee Maddox's Journey Overcoming Hardships: The Path to Transformation Carlesha Maddox better known as CarLee is a professional Community Liaison in the mental health field. She is known for spreading mental health awareness and suicide prevention by educating and connecting those who struggle with mental health illness to behavioral health services. CarLee was raised in Sacramento, California but now likes to refer to herself as a Houstonian that resides in Houston, TX. She has worked in the behavioral health hospital settings for 7 +years consistently advancing and learning the importance of mental health wellness. Most importantly, CarLee has dedicated her life to spreading mental health awareness due to loosing multiple loved ones to mental illness and overcoming her own mental struggles. She is a new business owner of her company named Stand IN Resilience. Every day she makes the conscious choice to stand in resilience and believes it is her purpose to help others overcome their own mental health challenges by providing tools and resources that inspire others to make the choice to go through the processes to stand in resilience. CarLee believes taking care of your mental health daily is essential to mental health wellness. Keywords mental health, resilience, suicide prevention, coping skills, resources Takeaways Carlee's personal experiences with losing loved ones to mental illness have shaped her dedication to spreading mental health awareness. Stand In Resilience is Carlee's new business that provides tools and resources for overcoming mental health challenges. Taking care of your mental health daily is essential for overall well-being. It's important to ask for help and find coping skills that work for you. Choosing resilience and going through the healing process can lead to a beautiful transformation. Sound Bites "Keep fighting, keep going, fight for yourself." "Go through the process of grief, go through the process of healing." "Stand in your ability to survive the pain and find a way to thrive again." Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Carly Maddox: A Journey of Resilience and Advocacy 02:04 Carly's Upbringing and Personal Loss: Impact on Mental Health 03:55 Witnessing and Coping with Loved Ones' Mental Health Struggles 06:41 The Journey of Healing and Recovery: Seeking Help and Overcoming Guilt 10:42 Career in the Mental Health Field: Empathy and Purpose 19:42 Connecting with Standin' Resilience and Final Message info@standinresilience.com @StandingInResilience

Xavi Calvo (Valencia-Spanien, 1980) ist ein Designer und Förderer von Design mit einer sozialen Vision und einem Schwerpunkt auf Innovation. Er ist Autor und Mitarbeiter in verschiedenen Medien, Mitbegründer von Estudio Menta, Lehrer, Redner zum Thema Design und Juror bei verschiedenen Wettbewerben und Auszeichnungen. Er ist ein großer Fan von Alltagsgegenständen und Alltagsdesign. Er war die treibende Kraft hinter der Bewerbung Valencias als Welthauptstadt des Designs 2022, wurde Generaldirektor des Projekts und leitet derzeit die Stiftung für Design der Region Valencia, eine Einrichtung, deren Ziel es ist, Design als Instrument für die wirtschaftliche und kulturelle Entwicklung zu fördern und zu unterstützen, in Zusammenarbeit mit anderen Institutionen, Unternehmen, dem akademischen Sektor und Berufsverbänden. Die Ernennung zur Weltdesignhauptstadt Valencia 2022 war ein Wendepunkt in seiner Karriere und in der Geschichte der Stadt Valencia, die international als Designstadt bekannt und anerkannt wurde. Xavi Calvo förderte die Gründung des Designrats der Stadtverwaltung von València, eines in Spanien bahnbrechenden Beratungsgremiums, das er in Zusammenarbeit mit dem Bürgermeisteramt koordinierte. 2023 leitete er die Bewerbung um die Aufnahme in das UNESCO Creative Cities Network und erreichte vor einigen Monaten erfolgreich die Ernennung von València zur Stadt des Designs. Auf internationaler Ebene wurde er kürzlich zum Community Liaison der Weltdesignorganisation ernannt, eine Anerkennung für die Arbeit der Verbindung von lokalen, nationalen und internationalen Designgemeinschaften sowie eine Verbindungsposition zwischen der Weltorganisation und ihrer Reichweite in der Welt. kreativen Sektoren Europas.

Caroline Hurteau is involved with countless events and organizations in the Albion community. As the Community Liaison for Caster Concepts her role involves Swingin' at the Shell, Run Albion, and INNOVATE Albion. In this episode, learn about INNOVATE Albion's most recent accomplishments.

Join us as Claudette, and Kim engage in another special lit talk. In this episode, they talk with special guests, Randi Mendes, Ph.D.  Program Manager & Community Liaison, and Katie Malgioglio, MSW, Community Liaison & Community Engagement Coordinator from the University of Connecticut's Technical Assistance for Brownfields (Region 1). https://tab.program.uconn.edu/

I would like to introduce you to Barbara Anne Gardenhire-Mills. She had a decent childhood, for the most part. She was raped and also gang raped, but as she learned to be unstoppable and gained strength from these experiences, she grew into a fierce advocate for women and then later for other marginalized groups. Her story is quite amazing. To me, the most amazing thing is that she is quite willing to share her story if it will help others. She will tell us all about her philosophy on the subject.   For a time she worked in the insurance arena and then went into other endeavors. Over the past 20 years she has been a coach, trainer and consultant to over 2,000 companies and, as she says, she has assisted countless more in various ways.   Barbara's story and life lessons demonstrate how someone can make the choice to be unstoppable. She lives in Mount Loral, NJ with her family. If you ever meet her, don't mess with her as she is quite proficient in various martial arts styles as you can read in her bio. I hope you gain wisdom and knowledge from our conversation. Barbara Anne is a gem and a wonderful person to talk with. I hope you feel the same.   About the Guest:   Barbara Anne is a “Solutions Navigator” and servant leader who has directly assisted over 2,000 businesses in the past two decades and provided training, coaching, and technical assistance to countless more companies, teams, entrepreneurs, and individuals throughout her career. She is the founder and owner of Purpose-Filled Solutions and Evolutions LLC, a business consulting and leadership coaching company that partners with people, leaders, companies, and agencies to find their "why" (core purpose), identify resources, navigate challenges, change mindsets, and develop and implement plans to achieve their visions of success, with an emphasis on civility, inclusion, equity, and diversity (CIED), her unique alternative to current DEI approaches. Barbara Anne also serves as Director of Compliance & Engagement for Cooperative Business Assistance Corporation (CBAC) in Camden, NJ, and hosts “What The Why?!? with Barbara Anne,” a weekly talk show on RVN Television, Roku, and more. Before her current roles, she served as the Management Analyst and Community Liaison for the U.S. White House Promise Zone Initiative in Camden, NJ, stationed at the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD), and as Supervisor of Lender Relations and Economic Development/Women's Business Ownership Representative for the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) New Jersey District Office, and in other leadership roles in the corporate, non-profit, and municipal government arenas. Barbara Anne holds an M.S. in Executive Leadership, a B.A. in Political Science/ Honors with concentrations in Pre-Law and Women's Studies, and an A.A. in Liberal Arts with a concentration in Business Communications. She has completed multiple professional designations and adult continuing education certificates, including her Professional Certified Coach (PCC) certification with the International Coaching Federation (ICF), Certified Professional Coach in Executive Coaching from RCSJ, and certifications in talent optimization and implementing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in the workplace. Barbara Anne serves in volunteer leadership capacities with ICF's NJ Charter Chapter and Braven, and she is a member of ICF Global, the Association of Talent Development (ATD), CDFI Women's Network, and other professional and civic organizations. The National Association of Women's Business Owners (NAWBO) – South Jersey Chapter honored her with their 2016 “Women's Advocate of the Year” award.  She is also a Second-Degree Black Belt and member of the Okinawa Goju-Ryu Kenshi-Kai Karate-Jutsu Kobu-Jutsu Association and trains in multiple other martial arts styles.   ** ** Ways to connect with Barbara:   Email: info@Purposefilledsolutionsandevolutions.com Phone: 856-313-0609 Website: https://www.purposefilledsolutionsandevolutions.com/  Personal LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bgardenhiremills/ Purpose-Filled Solutions & Evolutions' Social Media Links Through LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/purposefilledcoach "What The Why?!? with Barbara Anne" On-Demand: https://rvntelevision.com/tv-show/what-the-why/        About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog.   Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards.   https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/   accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/   https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/       Thanks for listening!   Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!   Subscribe to the podcast   If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can also subscribe in your favorite podcast app.   Leave us an Apple Podcasts review   Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.     Transcription Notes Michael Hingson ** 00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us.   Michael Hingson ** 01:21 Well, and hello, once again. Welcome to unstoppable mindset. I'm your host, Michael Hingson. Or you can call me Mike, it's okay. Just Oh, I hate to do the joke, just not late for dinner. But anyway, here we are. And today we get to talk with Barbara Anne Gardenhire-Mills. Barbara Ann is in New Jersey has an interesting story and things that she's doing as a coach and other work that she is doing. And also, I'm going to give it away and she'll talk about it anyway. Barbara has had a couple of bouts with COVID. And actually just got through with one but she has a lot of wisdom about long COVID And actually already and just talking with her before we started this I learned some things I didn't know. And knowledge is always useful thing to have. So Barbara Anne welcome to unstoppable mindset.   Barbara Anne Gardenhire-Mills ** 02:12 Thank you so much. I am super happy and honored to be asked to be your guest today. I'm really looking forward to our conversation.   Michael Hingson ** 02:23 Well, then we ought to have one right. So tell me about maybe the the younger barber and growing up and all that let's start there. It's always good as they say to start at the beginning somewhere.   Barbara Anne Gardenhire-Mills ** 02:34 Yes. Start at the beginning. So younger Pribram was born in the late 60s to Maryland and Joseph, a biracial couple. So when my parents got married, still wasn't even legal in some states. And I was born right here in New Jersey, Jersey girl my whole life. And my my five foot three Caucasian mom and my six foot three. Black dad, African American reef. Yeah, they met when they were in college. And while my mother's family was very, very not in any way any color in the family tree has recently improved by one to three me my father's family was always very integrated. And I was the first of four children. My mother and dad had me and my sister exactly 16 months apart on purpose. I think that's insane. I can't even imagine doing that these days. And, and then there was three other siblings that would come along the way. One of whom died shortly after birth because of complications. And it was interesting. I grew up in an apartment complex that wasn't then but is now officially designated as what you would call affordable housing. And a small little, I never thought of it as rural growing up, but they call it rural. It was Vineland, New Jersey. Ah, and it actually is the biggest city in the state of New Jersey in terms of land size, all 69 square miles of it. And but definitely in southern New Jersey. And this is at a time when a lot of the highways and systems that exist now didn't even exist in its parts of South Jersey. And it was like its own whole other world. Anybody who has any familiarity with North and South Jersey knows how vastly different the two are the right down to the accents. And you know, we you know, had a good upbringing, the Things were going well, when it's time for me to go to school, because of the time that it was was you talking about early 70s, I was bussed as part of a program to make sure that they were, you know, equally distributing children aka schools. Which was really interesting. When back in the days before there was cell phones, in fact, my parents had a party line. They accidentally put me on the wrong bus. That was fun when you're in kindergarten. Yeah. But probably one of the earliest tragic things that would happen to me what happened when I was seven. And it's interesting, because I, my mom said, I've always been a forward planner, I've always been very rational, but also very even tempered. And she likes to tell stories about how you know, at a time when I was 14 months, I spilled a bowl of popcorn and I sat there at 14 months old, individually picking up each piece of kernel of corn and putting it back in the bowl. And when I was when I started walking it at nine months, and around 1112 months, we were out walking, and I saw a dandy line and I bent over and I pulled it up, I had no idea that would kill it. I picked it up and I sniffed it, and proceeded to put it right back in its exact place where it was. And so all these years later, she still loves to tell that story because I was very methodical and particular and had my routines and my processes. And then 10 days before Christmas, just after my seventh birthday, my father was killed in a car accident. And here was my mother, at the age of 28, widowed with four biracial children, the oldest of whom was seven and the youngest of whom was only had just been born on October 27. And that would be one of many pivots, in terms of that would define my future going forward. Okay, how   Michael Hingson ** 07:09 did you how did your parents, your, your grandparents deal with you? Maybe at the beginning, you said that they on your mom's side, we're not really oriented toward having biracial or any color in the family did that mollify at all especially towards you as you grow older,   Barbara Anne Gardenhire-Mills ** 07:30 not till I was much older. In fact, when my dad died, my grandfather, who was an Episcopal priest, refused to let my grandmother even can be with my mother, her grieving daughter, because as far as he was concerned, she was dead to him.   Michael Hingson ** 07:51 I have just never comprehended, of course, I've been blind my whole life, baby. And I regard it as a blessing. But I've just never understood this whole issue of color, and skin color having any significance to anything. It's just crazy. But   Barbara Anne Gardenhire-Mills ** 08:09 for the most part, it wasn't even a thing until the mid 1800s. In terms of, you know, I can't think of his name right now, because I'm coming off of my long COVID relapse, but a British scientist, was the one who kind of artificially constructed and classified race. Yeah. And there were a number of people, including Alexander Graham Bell, who bought into some of those theories. Yeah. And but before that, it really was just more of a familial designation, in terms of what country you are from and royalty was royalty. So they intermixed all the time. You know, there was how we understand things now really, are an artificial construct, which is one of the foundational pieces of what I do in my work as it relates to civility, inclusion and equity and diversity. But in that time, my grandmother didn't come my aunt didn't come they were in Florida. My dad's family. My dad was the youngest of six and he was a sports person he had played for the Eagles, arm team and he played basketball and everybody knew who he was. And his family stepped up and stepped in by her family was non existent. I would finally meet her sister a few years after that, and we have a good relationship. I only ever met my one uncle on her side once and I have a necklace that's handed down to my mother was. Her maiden name was aptly As in former Prime Minister Attlee of England, and so they were very particular, he was very much. Interestingly, it was almost bad that he married my grandmother. He was very much a white Anglo Saxon Protestant male, who married my mother's mother, my grandmother, credibly beautiful woman, her name was Ruth Fogarty. And like, parents off the boat Irish, her dad was an Irish house in New Orleans. And, and they had three children, and my mother was the oldest of them. And so dad wasn't so thrilled and dad ruled the household. And I finally met my grandmother right before I turned 12, because there's a family necklace that's handed down through the Fogarty family line to the to the oldest female on their 12th birthday. And so she was permitted to come see us and, and transfer that to me. And then right around the time I turned 16, my grandfather decided to have a change of heart, and that he was wrong. And I would meet him a couple of times between 16 and 19. And then when I was 19, he passed us was very awkward, I agreed to go to the funeral for my mother. But that was probably actually one of the biggest fights we ever had to because I had very strong feelings about being forced to go and mourn someone that had done, what I now understood had been the things that he had done over the course of her life in mind. But I, you know, she she said, incredible person. So my mother, who I'm I've ever been, I don't know who it is, but I don't like she tends to be much more private. She watches everything I do. But I don't usually name her for her own privacy reasons. You know, she would raise all four of us on her own, she never remarried, she went back to school, because she dropped out when she married my dad, and then had me, you know, urina. She got married in February of 67. They had me in mid November of 68. So she decided to go back to school, she completed her associate's then her Bachelor's than her Master's. And she went on to teach at the college where she got her nursing degree. And all of that joined the military before age 40, to become a nurse. And for the US Army, reserve corps, so she did a lot of really amazing things on her own, with me, helping out along the way, as the oldest child. So I learned to do a lot of things very young, that I probably wouldn't really be able to do now, in terms of watching siblings, cooking and cleaning, and things like that, but things that were otherwise really common at the time. And another big part of our lives was the church that we raised in. And because the whole family, my dad's family, was involved on both sides, my family were involved in the clergy, but the brother and cousins that we were most close to, went to the church where we went to and so they became a huge support system for my mom. And in a very interesting indoctrination process for me, that I would spend the better part of my teens and early 20s trying to undo. So that's the very early I, you know, we went to a private Christian school on scholarship. And when my mom graduated, they said no more scholarships. So I went to public high school, and did really well. You know, but I felt like I had been kind of thrown into this weird alternative universe where I had been used to being one of the only children of color in an entire school. And now I was in a school that was pseudo integrated. Different kids tended to be tracked based on their intelligence, but also, in part based on their socioeconomic status and, and race. And on my very first day, when I went to go in with the few kids that I didn't know, into the school cafeteria, I was stopped at the door and I was told that only the white kids ate in there, I had to go to the other cafeteria with the black and Spanish kids. And I was like, what, what are you talking about? And they were like, You eaten here. And that that was not something that my high school fixed for almost another 15 years when they finally decided to assign cafeterias, and eliminate a lot of staff. But other than that, I did choir, I did drama, I did all the things that I loved to learn, had its really great friends. And then couldn't afford to go to college. Now that my mom was working, I didn't get enough aid, and I wanted to be a doctor. And so I ended up getting just enough grants to go to community college. And then I went to work full time, and we went to school full time at nights. I went to work for Prudential insurance company, and they paid 90% tuition reimbursement. And I worked there in policyholder services, answering questions for agents for 10 states. Here I was, you know, the ages of 1819 20 ensiling complex insurance questions back when everything was in these little books, we would have to pull the pages out. And to replace them to update them. We covered all of New England and most of the East Coast with the exception of New Jersey and Massachusetts along scope   Michael Hingson ** 16:36 guard. So this was like 1987 88. Yes, exactly.   Barbara Anne Gardenhire-Mills ** 16:40 8788 89. And, and then one of the next major pivotal things in my life happens. Having been raised in a very fundamentalist religion, I had never been involved in any kind of a sexual relationship. And I got raped. And what was interesting about it, other than the fact that it was pretty bad and it was somebody I knew, I got angry. And that's, that pivoted me into advocacy. And I became a speaker. I spoke on college campuses, I spoke at my high school. I was like, oh, no, no, no, this is never going to happen to another woman. Right? Yeah. This is just not okay. And, and then I had this whole world of advocacy opened up for me. And it's funny, I'll never forget, I ended up changing my major. Because my political science class and my sophomore year of college, the professor has put a list of all of these different characteristics. He said, Well, what describes a typical politician and he was what in New Jersey, we now call commissioners, but back then we called them freeholders freeholders held land. And we put all these characteristics on a board of what a typical politician is. And he said, Georgia class, he said, Okay, everybody, if you aren't, at least, almost all of them, if not all of these, you never, ever, ever have a chance of holding any kind of high office or elected office in government. And I looked at him in my stereotypical, defiant way, when somebody says I can't do something, and said, Oh, really. And I changed my major to political science that week. And I would later tell him after I graduated from political science honors from what is now Rowan University, with concentrations in pre law and Women's Studies. I would eventually tell him go back and tell him that he was the reason why I changed my major. And he was just so blown away. He's like, Oh, wow, I'm so odd. Really told him why. And guess what, like many politicians, he ended up having an affair with a staffer and losing his his seat and his wife in the process. So I guess he was so much more like, far too many prostitutions back then, than what was listed on the board.   Michael Hingson ** 19:31 Do as I say, not as I do.   Barbara Anne Gardenhire-Mills ** 19:35 When I go ahead, no, go ahead. I was gonna say when I finished college, though, my first job right out of college. As I had left Prudential to go back full time to finish, which was good because by the time I got done Prudential no longer existed. They had moved their job offices to Jacksonville and have the office that I would have worked at had I stayed there like so many people said I should. Of course they He told me he really shouldn't leave this great job. And I said, Okay, really well watch me. And so again, I answered an ad in the newspaper. And I ended up going to work for the city of Bridgeton, in my field, actually working for the city in a new role for called the Community Development Block Grant sub recipient monitor. And my job was to create the infrastructure for monitoring funds from a community development block grants that were distributed to organizations in the community as a whole host of other things. And that was the beginning in 1992, of my 31 year career, other than one, brief six year return to insurance after having my son, my otherwise 31 year career in community and economic development.   Michael Hingson ** 20:59 So you got married along the way?   Barbara Anne Gardenhire-Mills ** 21:02 I did, but not yet. I stayed for a while. Yeah. Which is a really great question. I, I just wasn't ready. Yeah, I, I was in this I was in this weird world of, I was too white for most black boys. I was too dark for most white boys. I was not Latina. But that was what I was most often mistaken for, because of my skin tone and where I grew up. And, and I was often just a novelty, somebody wanted to be able to say that they had tried being with a black girl. And in 2012, when I was 23 years old, that culminated actually, in a second, much more serious rape scenario with a guy that I had been seeing. Who knew about the first one, we'd had conversations about the fact that his sister had been through something similar. And then myself and a friend went to a party at his house, and they, I didn't even drink, because I didn't want to be in that situation. And yet, I felt like I was drunk. And it didn't. We didn't talk about things like being date rape drugs, and things like that. But yeah, it was, it was bad. And I remember bits and pieces, and they were just kind of joking that they all wanted to know what it was like to be with a black girl. And, um, so I was very protective of myself in many ways for many years. And when I met my husband, I was in a, I was long distance seeing someone he was seeing somebody else, we could care less. And then we would be reintroduced a couple years later. And I was at a point where I was like, I just not I can't get involved with. I've had all these bad experiences with white guys and black guys. I just know, I was seeing a guy from Puerto Rico at the time. And as my husband likes to say, he just had to convince me that he was the only thing missing from my life. So he did what every other guy who wants to be with somebody does, he became a really good friend. And then we would end up finally getting married three years after our first date, which was a disaster, by the way, because our first date was literally the day of the very first Million Man March. Oh, and I said to him, What were you thinking we had ended up getting into a political conversation and realized we were about as diametrically opposed as one could be. And that's what he thought about. What was he thinking when he asked out a young black urban professional, he said he didn't know because he didn't realize I was black. He thought I was lucky not then. And then one of the jokes of that evening that still gets repeated to this day, I said, oh, and I suppose you haven't marched? And I suppose you've marched in a militia too. And he says, well, not lately. Now he was he had been on the north on a Civil War reenactment militia militia, but my husband would really appreciate your sense of humor. So no, in spite of that disastrous first date, next month, we will have been married for 25 years and together for 28. Any he was so everything I was not looking for at the time, which is probably exactly why it worked because I after all of those other experiences I had decided to find out. And we did, we got married. And, in fact, I was executive director of a nonprofit housing organization at the time, and it was selling, it's celebrating its 25th anniversary. So we postponed our talk about understanding guy, he's always supported me and said, You go be you. We actually postponed our honeymoon, so that we could get the anniversary banquet and celebration out of the way, and then go on our honeymoon without having that hanging over our heads. So he knew what kind of person he was getting together with. And he was he was fine with that. And so yeah, and we would go on, and I would have, we would have one son. And that was another pivot. This year, I was, at this point, I'm now running an organization that the nonprofit that I was with helped start, I'm used to like going around the country, and conducting training classes in housing counseling, and homeownership education for housing counselor is for the federal government on going all these great places. And then along comes this son, who God purposefully gave me to prove I have absolutely no control over anything. I remember Oh, my gosh, it was it was something else. And remember, and of course, you know, being a slightly older mom, at this point, I'm 33. Having a geriatric pregnancy just didn't sound right. At all, I'm like, Oh, my God, I've I've tested I'm sitting there in tears one day, like, how is it that I could testify and in front of the state legislature and congressional hearings that I can't get this kid to go to sleep? What is wrong?   Barbara Anne Gardenhire-Mills ** 27:10 got through it. I went back to the insurance industry. took a pause. 911 happened. I remember you. I remember seeing interviews with you on Larry King. And you know, one of the reasons why we chose our son's name, Colin, which is, the original Greek word for courage was after that happened, because we had, as you probably I know, you can relate based on having heard your story. I worked in Trenton and so there were people, a lot of people would commute by train. So someone I grew up with was lost. Very, very close friend of ours, his cousin was lost. But then there were other people that were actually supposed to be there that I was friends with, for various reasons that, like interviews were cancelled. A friend of mine who worked in Jersey City was supposed to cross over to work for Wall Street Journal, he was supposed to be there that morning, it got postponed to that afternoon. So many people that had so many close brushes. And so Colin seemed like a really good name. And, but it also drastically affected our funding as a nonprofit, because all the organizations where we were basically redirected already committed funds to World Trade Center efforts. And which is why to this day, I'm still firmly believe in cash accounting, and not the cruel accounting. And I went back into the insurance industry for six years. And it was fun. And I was underwriting manager for a company here in New Jersey. And and then, we unmerged with our parent company merged with another company and a whole bunch of changes started happening. And I ended up going through my next major pivot. I decided to leave a role where I was having a lot of difficulty with someone who was actively sabotaging my work. And so I decided to take a lateral move left a team of 19, several of whom were in extreme tears to help go create another department. And that behavior continued constant, what we would now call bullying but there was no such thing as bullying in the workplace. Right? And that would culminate in him. physically assaulting me on the job in a conference room full of leaders in front of witnesses. And he herniated all the discs in my neck. And what was really interesting about that is all of the other things that I had been through. They were emotional, and it was easy to recover. But the physical injury that I went in for a while I, my neck got everything swelled up so much I couldn't walk, I couldn't feel my feet. I couldn't function it was was incredibly painful. All of my C spine discs, were either damaged or bulged. And you would think, with so many people having witnessed it, it would be a no brainer, he would get fired. That's not what happened. Yeah, I was gonna ask. Yeah. That's not what happened at all. I would later find out through notes that he was giving a an a one time final warning, but this person had had a history of inappropriate behavior. And everybody would just chalk it up as to being that person. And so he had been there 20 years I had been there, three, and they decided that I was the one that needed to go. And they did what we used to call an insurance terms and other corporate terms called circle the wagons, protect their jobs. And that got ugly, very, very ugly. And Lisa Halloran was my hero. She was my, she taking the job was supposed to be a director was downgraded to a manager, which then downgraded me from management to consultant. And so she had only been there six months when this happened, she had transferred from another office. And in full integrity, she stood by me. Even when she personally was threatened, she stood by me. One point, she was told by the Vice President, I'm trying to save our jobs, you need to get in line. And she said, I would rather lose my job and be able to sleep at night, and do what you're asking me to do. And fortunately, for me, even though that left knee permanently partially disabled, I was able to find specialists, they did pay for one disc to be replaced. I did, New Jersey has binding arbitration, and the company pays for it. So there's not really much of an incentive for a binding arbitrator to actually rule in the favor of an employee. And they had argued in court that assaults were not not considered eligible for arbitration, but then tried to argue, in arbitration, that assaults belonged in court and the judge saw right through it and sent them all and joined everybody together, inviting arbitration and what was interesting is they lost. Wow, they lost and what what the ruling basically was was that the assault aside the way I was treated, including having ignored blatantly and openly admitted to ignoring their own grievance procedures process, that they had made a bad situation worse. And the funny thing is, then they then filed an appeal. At which point the arbitrator scathingly said, what part of binding arbitration Didn't you understand when you asked for binding arbitration? And they would eventually shut down all New Jersey operations. I, there's lots of rumors, I won't speculate. But yeah, almost everybody lost their jobs, all the way up to the top, including the New Jersey president. And I went back into government nonprofit work, and that's where I've been ever since.   Michael Hingson ** 34:26 You know, it's the insurance industry is a fascinating place. The reason I said early on that you joined in the insurance world in 1987 1988. Something like seven years before around 1980, maybe 1979. Probably 1980. Somebody in the National Federation of the Blind, which is the largest consumer organization of blind people, was at a meeting of insurance people Sitting next to a person from Prudential and said to this person, I think it also had to do with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, but anyway said, you know, insurance companies won't provide life insurance for people who are blind. And this guy said, Yeah. And the person who I knew said, Well, why don't you do everything that you do based on evidence to actuarial statistics and evidentiary data? And you have mathematical models for everything? And the guy said, Well, absolutely. That's how we make all of our decisions. And my friends said, Well, can we see the evidence that says that blind people are a higher risk? And the guy said, Sure, no problem. Six months went by, without any indication that there was anything. And finally my friend said, so where's the evidence? And the guy from Prudential said, Well, we were working on it. We haven't found it yet, but it's there. And my friend said, you don't have any do you? You have been discriminating against blind people and other persons with disabilities is it eventually expanded. But you've been doing that simply based on prejudice, and a mistaken belief that we're a higher risk without any evidence to show for it. And on the other end, we as blind people know, we're not a higher risk. Well, what that eventually led to was a campaign in every State of the Union at the time, I was living in Massachusetts. So I ran the effort for the state of Massachusetts for the National Federation of blind in Massachusetts. But to get every state to pass a law that said, you can't discriminate against blind or other persons with physical disabilities, unless you can provide actuarial statistics or or evidentiary data. And to this day, of course, no one's been able to because it doesn't exist. Yeah. It wasn't scientific at all. It was prejudice. Yep.   Barbara Anne Gardenhire-Mills ** 37:00 Absolutely. Absolutely. And my husband had worked in that industry for a while. And yeah, and it both in the life insurance, but also in health and also in property and casualty. To be honest, at one point from in 95, and 96, I had gone back to insurance company, because I was recruited from a nonprofit specifically to help with a pilot program where they were reentering the urban environment to because they had stopped insuring in most cities, urban environments, because of flat roofs, and the fire risk that they support that they had. And my boss, an amazing person, his name was, Andre Howell had conceived of this idea that if we worked with people to help mitigate risk, we think that they'll actually perform well. And he was right. And we worked in a very specific target targeted neighborhood of Philadelphia, and offered like free inspections, and all kinds of things. And, and part of my job was to track the performance of that. Now, this was for all state at the time, and I will name them because at that time, they had lost more money in Hurricane Andrew than they had made in the history of the company. Yeah. And this is a program that they would eventually roll out across all the states. And I had been serving on the National Insurance Task Force which dealt with access, availability, and affordability, affordability of insurance and regional or in a metropolitan as well as rural areas, because there's a big issue with rural areas too. But interestingly, a division of theirs decided not long after I got there that they were going to start mass canceling and a non renewing policies in the state of New Jersey. And the actuarial logic behind it was they looked at all of the people who had had not an accident, apparently you get an accident every five years, they looked at all the people who had not had an accident within a five year period determined that they were due and decided that they were going to use a loophole in a tooth what was called the two for one law. For every two g non renewed you could take one new customer and they just started, guess what group hasn't had a car accident within a five year timeframe. Disabled people, seniors and those who only use vehicles for pleasure use. So here I was in the government relations divisions of a company whose state subsidiary was mass, non renewing disabled and non working individuals. We had agents that were losing clients like 90 a week, and of course, those individuals were taking other business with them, I've never. And this is on the heels of them having gotten in trouble because somebody had made a very inappropriate comment about why they wouldn't cover repairs to a property for a same sex couple. So it was a rough period for them that they would eventually overcome. But really just, that was some of the eye opening for me in terms of why my advocacy needed to be so much broader than just around women. So   Michael Hingson ** 40:28 is that what sort of really led you into dealing with the whole issue of inclusion and equity and so on?   Barbara Anne Gardenhire-Mills ** 40:36 Yes, because I had now at this point, I had worked. in Bridgeton, I had worked in Cherry Hill Township, I had worked in Camden, I had worked in Philadelphia, looking at all of this, I'm seeing all this happening, I'm looking at people use numbers in ways that they should never have to use them because they had their own proprietary insurance score. And I had to know that model. So I had to know what went into it, so I could teach it. And I realized that the problem was so much bigger than even the different things that I had in my life that were intersectional in terms of being a female being a woman of color, you know, I wasn't even dealing with the disability yet at that point. And, but just other things, and, and hearing the way people would talk about people, as groups and status as individual human beings.   Michael Hingson ** 41:34 You know, it's, oh, go ahead.   Barbara Anne Gardenhire-Mills ** 41:36 No, go ahead.   Michael Hingson ** 41:37 It's amazing, just how, as I said, Before, people do as I say, not as I do, how people behave, you know, and most people don't think about their own disabilities, all of you who have eyesight, and I've said it several times on this podcast, have a disability as well, your light dependent, just wait till the power goes out in the building, and you got to go off and try to scrounge for a flashlight or a smartphone. The thing is that, because so many people think that eyesight is really the only game in town, our society collectively, has worked really hard to make light on demand, a fact of life everywhere. And so we've spent basically 145 years developing this technology to make light on demand available, pretty much in a ubiquitous sort of way. So most of the time, you have light on demand until you don't like when I was in a hotel in March. And I've seen it other times since then, before being a building and settling, the power goes out and people start to scream and they don't know what to do. And the fear comes in, and I'm sitting there going so what's the problem? The the issue is, you guys are light dependent. And the reality is disability should not mean a lack of ability, because it's not. Disability is a characteristic that every single person on the planet has. And what we need to truly understand and do is to recognize that the characteristic manifests itself in different ways for different people. It doesn't mean it's not there. So let light cover up your disability, but you still have it. And you can say all day long, you don't. But you do. But but we're too arrogant sometimes to really address that and deal with it. And it's so unfortunate, when that happens so much in our world today. But but the fact is, that's that's the way it is. And so I talk about it, probably more than some people would like on the podcast, because I want the message to be heard by everyone. That disability does not mean lack of ability, and everyone has that characteristic in one way or another. For my part.   Barbara Anne Gardenhire-Mills ** 43:51 Yeah, go ahead. Go ahead. No, no, no, I was gonna say AB so lute Li and I loved hearing you talk about it, on the podcast that I listened to in the speeches that I listened to. Because disability disabled individuals are among some of the most discriminated individuals in this country. And that's planet. And, you know, when you were talking about what happened to you as a child in terms of what the doctors told your parents, you know, a lot of people don't realize that in this country in this country, till as recently as 1979. They were sterilizing women to keep certain women from being able to reproduce, because it will pollute the gene pool with disabled disability character, and   Michael Hingson ** 44:37 there were courts who backed that up. Yes. And supported eugenics like that. Yes, exactly.   Barbara Anne Gardenhire-Mills ** 44:43 And so, you know, I mean, depending on it had I didn't born in a different state, God knows what would have happened. Yeah. But you know, in California was one of the biggest ones. And, you know, a lot of people don't know that because we don't talk About those parts of our history, but whether I was paying attention, I'm really good at listening. And I realized that it's naturally human beings tend to want to group things. They all want to be seen as individuals, but they want to put everybody else in groups. And you could say, you know, people talk about, you know, different immigrants being stupid. I'm sorry, How many languages do you speak? Because they may be struggling in English. But most, most people I know, who have immigrated here know at least one if not five, or six. My Spanish is terrible got Mexico, to for my honeymoon. I mean, people who have all these diverse people, we are all wonderfully and perfectly made, depending on whether or not you believe in God, we've written to flee imperfectly made in God's image. Yeah. And if the Bible says God makes no mistakes, who are we to think that any one else is any less? More superior, less, less superior? Or that we're more superior than anyone else?   Michael Hingson ** 46:19 Well, except that in Oh God, George Burns said that he made a mistake, because he made avocado pits too large. Yeah. Oh, my God to sneak that one in.   Barbara Anne Gardenhire-Mills ** 46:34 Which is funny, though, only. But   Michael Hingson ** 46:37 I hear exactly what you're saying. The fact of the matter is, and kids especially I was talking with someone earlier today. And we were we were doing another interview, and we were talking about children and growing up and how kids are, are fun loving, they are full of adventure. And they don't have all of these agendas. And it's so unfortunate that we teach this in so many ways to children, and they grow up with these these horrible attitudes to a large degree, and there's no need for it. Children aren't evil. But we make them that way.   Barbara Anne Gardenhire-Mills ** 47:17 Well, we could say that about a lot of things, right? I mean, a thing is a thing. It's, it's how we use it. Now, children are born a blank slate, it's what we write on it. Right. And the younger, we can undo that the better. And which is a huge part of you know, you know, like I said, my third pivot was was my most recent pivot after going to grad school. Because I was determined, I was going to get that master's degree before I turned 50. And then getting long COVID. I was like, Okay, you're still here. What are you going to do with this? And I said, well, since grad school, I've been talking about it, because here I am this black female who's been, you know, the first list the first you know, first black female here at first black female there because I was lighter skin, I was palpable, which gets into a whole other issue. And I didn't say quote, unquote, sound black or growing up, the black kids would say your family talks white. Half of my family is white, all my cousins are all interracial. That was my way my dad's family was three possible shade. So it was just normal to me. But then in the post Obama era, it was a little bit more normalized. For a while, oh, if I had $1 for every time somebody said, Oh, she speaks so well. I'd be very, very rich. Well,   Michael Hingson ** 48:45 if I had $1, for every time somebody said, you're amazing. And of course, what they're really saying is, especially for a blind person, you know.   Barbara Anne Gardenhire-Mills ** 48:53 And so after getting COVID, and realizing I was still here, and seeing the spotlight shine on all things that were broken with our health care system, and then some, for anybody who was a person of color, who had an existing disability. Some of the things that I experienced. I actually had to I was like, Mom, you deal with the hospital, you're a nursing professor, you're Caucasian. They're not listening to me. You just deal with it, because they're not listening to me. Because there's so many of us continue to have to deal with ongoing symptoms before anybody would acknowledge that that was a real thing. The and so many people who are in the disability community, we're right in there with us. We're all in there together finding each other and social media and Facebook groups, because no one would listen to us. Mm. That's when I was like, Okay, it's, you're still here, you're here for a reason, it's time to get vocal about everything that's broken in this country about how we treat each other in general. And as the person of color in many organizations back when it was still called affirmative action. And having been part of integrating teams and corporate and government agencies, and seeing the narrative shift. Over the years, I was already getting concerned. And then when everybody was exposed to what so many of us knew, in the death of George Floyd and others, while everybody else said, Okay, stand up, this is a time for celebration, people are finally going to live, learn, change is going to happen, companies are issuing pledges everywhere, we're finally going to get the change that's been coming. And me, I'm on a webinar, still in very deep throes of long COVID with massive cognitive issues. And I said, here's my concern. And I meant to say backlash. I said, the black lashes coming. And that stuck. I see, I see, give it time. People know, when things aren't authentic. People know, when change is being shoved down their throat, people don't like being told that they're responsible for things that they didn't have happen. And saying, Now, you know, how it feels to be me is not the right response for that. And people started reading books about anti racism and all these things I said, I'm telling you, and then I repeat it, I said, I'm gonna keep using the word the black lashes coming since 2021, on record in a webinar. And now we have what we're seeing in Florida, and other states, and book burnings, and Supreme Court decisions. And all of these things as the pendulum swings back from one side to the other. And companies are eliminating diversity, equity inclusion programs, and people are leaving this fairly new kind of practice, for lack of better words. I mean, they've been, it's been slowly been evolving from diversity, diversity, inclusion, diversity, equity. And, and I've been saying for eight years, we're doing it all wrong. doing it all wrong. At no point, in over 20 years, if I ever brought a new hire into a situation without first addressing what needed to be addressed in house to create the environment that would make it possible for them to succeed, we should be doing it differently. And then, of course, after my assault, I was like, we have a serious civility issue. Just in terms of me, you can only legislate how people treat each other so much. But we have serious civility issues going on in workplaces that aren't being addressed, for all of the wrong reasons, across different groups. And it's time that we get our houses in order in terms of civility, then focus on creating the inclusive environment that it should be, then look at the equity issues within that environment, then you bring in the diversity hires that you want to bring in to help your company capitalize on the 30% return on investment that most companies that are diverse actually experience when they are run properly. In a truly, you know, culture add way, and then everybody can succeed. Otherwise, they're just hiring somebody that person comes in, they can't function, they quit. Everybody throws up their hands and says, Oh, well, we tried it didn't work, move on.   Michael Hingson ** 53:46 Tell me about purpose, build solutions and evolutions, if you would.   Barbara Anne Gardenhire-Mills ** 53:49 Sure. It's a purpose built solutions and evolutions while I was in grad school, and I've been doing coaching internally and externally, since 1997. And I was asked, in grad schools, what as part of one of my classes to come up with a two or three word way to describe what I am from a professional standpoint. And I described myself as a Resource Navigator. And because so many of my roles involved, either giving the answers or putting people into the direction where they could find the answers. And so I had been doing everything that you're not supposed to do as a business as a side hustle. And Maryam with long COVID I go ahead, I finally get my international coaching Federation certification that I've been putting off for 12 years. And my coach says, When you get to start a business, you've helped like 1000s of others when you can actually do it yourself. And I figured, okay, so put was filled solutions and evolutions was originally going to be purpose filled solutions and evolutions navigators. But I've refiled the service mark to drop the the navigators, even though I still use it. Solutions navigator was already taken. So I was like, well, everything I do is coaching around the purpose. Once your why what is your core purpose? I know mine, mine is helping others figure out theirs, and then achieve it. And after about three weeks of analysis, paralysis, and finally settled on purpose built solutions, and evolutions, a company that would offer the coaching that I had been doing, but also capitalize on my years of experience in various leadership roles, from supervisor up to Executive Director, as well as my Masters of Science and executive leadership and all that I had learned in grad school with a big focus on fixing what I felt was broken with what I call civility, inclusion, equity and diversity. And my company's turned to in June. And I have a team of consultants that support me, and a young woman that I hired from a program that I served as a leadership coach in breathe and shout out to Braven, which is a fellowship program for college students. I brought her in as an intern, and then hired her as my team. And she was a young woman who came here at the age of three, as part of her parents trying to escape Mexico. And she's DACA. And she's going through the citizenship process. And she couldn't find a job in the DEI space. And so we after a number of things, I asked her apologize for the parking. After a number of meetings, I asked her, Okay, we've had all these conversations about what I feel is wrong with the tape all of the information that I gave you, and then I want you to go and I want you to research and I want you to come back and tell me how you would redo my inclusion, equity and diversity program. And she came back. And she said, I think we need to start with mental health and physical disabilities. So this young woman who herself was an immigrant, who had was given carte blanche to look at everything that we should be looking at as part of a program that focuses on inclusion, equity and diversity, had every reason to throughout her life to come back with any number of options. And that's what she came back with. And I said, Okay, would you like a job as consultant? And how would you like to help me take take the lead and developing this program, and that's how paving the way to civility, inclusion, equity and diversity was born. Wow.   Michael Hingson ** 58:09 Well, that is pretty cool. And, and you're even making enough to pay her and everything, huh?   Barbara Anne Gardenhire-Mills ** 58:14 I am. That's a blessing. Unfortunately, it works out she's she's part time consultant. She just had her and her husband just had their second baby. And she's on maternity leave right now. But we did our first official full public offering of the program in June, it was very well received, people were blown away. They learned things, of course, that they were never taught and about everything from how the messages are even being manipulated to you know, you know why it's so important to see every person as an individual being and someone who I love Louis Brandeis Griggs was the one who I stole the spelling of it from because I would always say people want to be human beings. And he would always capitalize the B E. In being and so paving the way to civility, inclusion, equity and diversity, a new way of be in, in workplace and in life is our our most comprehensive flagship training program, who   Michael Hingson ** 59:24 have been some of the people who had the most influence on you as you're going through life.   Barbara Anne Gardenhire-Mills ** 59:31 My mom obviously has been one. I mentioned a couple of Lisa Halloran who stood by me when she had everything to risk. I have to ride or die. Best Friend's one. Unfortunately. Kathy Jagger passed actually. It'll be here next week. She was also a rape survivor and we met when I was 19. She was a little bit older too. She was 32. And we bonded and she was my best friend and mentor in so many different ways. She was the reason I went to work at Prudential. We went through all kinds of things together. And you know, she will she I referred to her as one of the greatest loves of my life. And the other one, her name is Maria Callahan, Cassidy, who she relocated to an amazing new position at Richmond University only weeks before Kathy passed. So I lost I fortunately didn't lose Maria, it's, it's hard because she's not here. But these are both people that I've known since my teens and have definitely shaped who I am. My son, actually, I've learned so much from him. My son is neurodiverse. He likes to say he's not on the spectrum. He broke the spectrum. Well, that's can and and, and he is hysterical and funny and incredibly talented and incredibly brilliant. And helping navigate the public schools where we live. And watching him continue to still get back up even when he was pushed down. Because in our school district, if you are not in the box, you're basically out of luck. So we had to get an attorney for our son when he was only in third grade, to fight for his rights, and the he knows himself. And really, his biggest challenge is he has something called dysgraphia. He can recite things verbatim, but you could give him that same thing to copy, and he struggles to copy it. And that was a very difficult educational experience for him. But now he's a mechanic, he's training to be a mechanic, he wants to own his own mechanic shop, he has a lovely girlfriend, Collins girlfriend is Ariel, they've been together since they were 14 and 16. And now they are 19 and 21. Going on 20 and 22. And she is the daughter I would have chosen. I call her the daughter I got to choose. And I've learned so much because of her a lot of her upbringing is very similar to mine, they say we've we're very careful to make sure it doesn't get weird. But they say you end up with somebody very similar to your parent. Ariel and I have definitely have a lot in common and and then I would be remiss if I didn't say my husband because even though we have a definitely have our different political beliefs. He has really just unleashed me. He, one thing he stands very firm on is equal pay for women after watching some of the experiences that I go through and he is constantly up, go do it. You got to do this, you got to speak up up, you've been offered a show. I should mention Joe Cole, Antonio, my coach, she is the one who did push me off the cliff to get my show by saying I'm booking you on a local talk show. So that you have two weeks, you have a couple of weeks to get ready to go announced your business is finally open. That's the other reason why purpose filled solutions and evolutions came in. But these are some really all unique but very interesting teachers in my life. So   Michael Hingson ** 1:03:36 tell me really quickly if you would about your talk show.   Barbara Anne Gardenhire-Mills ** 1:03:39 My talk show was an offshoot of Joe pushing me off the cliff, ironically, and we joke because Joe is my husband. But Joe is my coach and also probably one of my closest friends at this point. To Joe to Joe's once God wants J O. And Jo booked me on this talk show called Morning Coffee and gave me a couple of weeks. She said I know you can incorporate a business within 72 hours. I've seen you do it. You're going to do it. And so sure enough, on July 2 of 2021, I went in there. My business was two weeks old. And I announced and introduced myself and my one intern to the world. Somebody else who my son's girlfriend and told them about what I was looking to do and how I was going to change the world and the narrative and be a coach and offer services that I couldn't offer in my day job. And they came back to me and said the response to your episode was so amazing. Do you want to do a show? I was like, I was like I've always been the person on answering the questions or writing for government officials who are answering the questions. I've never been on that side of the mic. They said, Well, what do you think I said, Let me think about it. And I was originally going to call my blog, what the why? Kind of like instead of WTF, WT w. And I said, I have an idea. If you give me full control over who my guests are, would you be interested in doing a show called What the Why, and it would be conversations with diverse leaders from all walks of life, all races, genders, disabilities, ages, and I would interview them about what their purpose in life was and how they figured it out. And the station manager said, huh, yeah, let's do it. And so right now I'm on a brief hiatus because the station is in the middle of a move, but I'm in my second season. Of what the why with barber and and I have, I'm hoping to have you on in like, third season because you are so friggin awesome. And not because you're blind. You're just freaking awesome. Period. You just amazing. I'm completely and utterly amazing. But I have interviewed the smallest of businesses. My oldest guests had been in their 80s. My youngest recently was eight. He is a he's a math genius who video of him doing complex math at the age of three went viral. He was invited to join MENSA fours. Mom submitted it and he was accepted at age five. He and She both have long COVID Cynthia, shout out to Cynthia ad Nagin her brilliant son, Aiden. They're both brilliant. And she founded a health equity agency. And he is officially the paediatric spokesperson. He does not know he does not know his IQ. So cute. He had literally just turned eight a couple of weeks before I interviewed him in August. And one second, he's telling me what I need to understand about quantum singularities. And then the next second is holding up pieces of clay saying look at the ribbon I made. And he's what's funny about the interview we did is all three of us were having a level of a COVID flare up. So all three of us were having cognitive challenges. So   Michael Hingson ** 1:07:24 it was like a fun show.   Barbara Anne Gardenhire-Mills ** 1:07:25 It was fun. But you know, when you're with an eight year old, you roll with it. Yep. And we just kind of laugh with but he's, he's amazing. He is training to be a chess champion, because COVID has affected his ability to do outdoor sports. And he's homeschooled with a pod of other little young geniuses like Kim. And but I got to talk with the Sunni meet. One of the people I got to interview was the biker from the village people, ah, and the first woman to be the president of the National Association of government guaranteed lenders and, you know, some local elected officials. But then like, I found out a whole side to my hairdresser. And, and his story as a small business owner who's getting ready to hand it off to his daughter, now that he's in his 60s and I know what his journey was like and how his grandparents stood behind him as a black straight male wanting to do hair.   Michael Hingson ** 1:08:28 There you go. So you have lots of lots of people. I have one more question for you. This is a very crucial question. How tall are you?   Barbara Anne Gardenhire-Mills ** 1:08:38 five foot six.   Michael Hingson ** 1:08:40 And how tall is your husband?   Barbara Anne Gardenhire-Mills ** 1:08:42 five foot eight.   Michael Hingson ** 1:08:44 Ha we did not follow in our parents footsteps. Okay, I just wanted to check that out.   Barbara Anne Gardenhire-Mills ** 1:08:49 But here's the flip side to that though. Yeah, they were both named Joe. My dad was a Joseph. My husband is a Joseph.   Michael Hingson ** 1:08:57 There you go. And what's your son's name?   Barbara Anne Gardenhire-Mills ** 1:09:00 Colin   Michael Hingson ** 1:09:01 Cartwright. You said that Yeah. Well Colin Joseph. Okay. So there's a Joseph in   Barbara Anne Gardenhire-Mills ** 1:09:05 all of them in my dad was was rather dark for a mixed race man. All three of them are avid outdoorsman. In my husband's not into the same kind of football basketball. My dad was but all three of them were hunters. Okay. married to former vegetarian. Yeah,   Michael Hingson ** 1:09:24 there you are. If people want to reach out to you maybe learn about your coaching and and get in touch. How do they do that?   Barbara Anne Gardenhire-Mills ** 1:09:31 They can find me on LinkedIn. BGardenhiremills. And you spell it sure it's B G A R D E N H I R E. Mills. I'm on all forms of social media. And honestly, if they can get Barbara Anne garden Hire Mills if you Google that and What the Why it pops up the show airs on RVN R V N television.com as well as roku. And then I believe I forwarded you some some other links to the website. I'm not going to spell out our whole ridiculously long website because I'm actually I actually bought the URLs to shorten it. So   Michael Hingson ** 1:10:26 how do I find it on Roku?   Barbara Anne Gardenhire-Mills ** 1:10:28 I believe rvn because I don't have Roku that's why it's there. Yeah. But if you go on Roku you should be able to find the channel for RV and television is supposed to be on the Roku channels are and I'll check out under the Roku channels otherwise, RV and television or there's access to it directly from my website, which is my entire name spelled out a moment of weakness. It when I was having COVID Happy hypoxia which is really not happy. But I thought somebody said to me, Oh, let it you just name your website, your company and I thought, Oh, sure. Yeah, well, yeah, well, as if my name isn't long enough purpose built solutions and evolutions because you can't have an ampersand and a website.   Michael Hingson ** 1:11:08 No, that's okay. I'm gonna go hunted down on Roku though. That'll be kind of fun. Awesome. Well, I want to thank you for being here. And I want to thank you for listening. I love to hear your thoughts about today. This has been a lot of fun and firebrands, life and lessons are definitely worth paying attention to and I really value the time that we got to spend. I'd love to hear your thoughts, please feel free to email me Michaelhi m i c h a e l h i at accessibe A C C E S S I B E.com. Or go to www dot Michael Hingson H i n g s o n.com/podcast. To listen to more podcasts. But you can also find us wherever Podcasts can be found. And wherever you listen, please give us a five star rating. We appreciate it. We appreciate your insights and your comments and value them greatly. Now, of course, both Barbara Anne for you and for you listening. If you know of anyone who want to be a guest on our podcast, please let us know. We're always looking for more people to come on our podcast. I'm sure that Barbara Anne could talk to you about talk shows and in finding guests. So whatever. We'd love to hear from you and we really value your time and that you took the time to be with us today. And Barbara Anne one last time. T

Listen to the inspiring story of Indianapolis Public Schools Jonathon Jennings (IPS 109) Family and Community Liaison, Veronica Fuentes, and her effort to restore the schools' K-12 Food Rescue program after the pandemic.

Our guest today is Charles Edwards, CEO and Founder of One Telemed, a telehealth service for mental health patients in underserved communities for a majority of the Medicaid Managed Care Organizations in Louisiana.  One Telemed uses innovative HIPAA video/audio technology to connect individuals in need of licensed professionals, reducing the wait time for a new patient needing to see a Psychiatrist from 90 days to 3-5 days. For more information, please visit https://www.onetelemed.com/about A native of Lafayette, Charles has worked in the mental health field since his first job out of high school 28 years ago. His life journey has been defined by the call for service, a call he heard from God who reached out to him with a distinct voice. During the interview, Charles shares the story of the persistent voice that has led him to step up and serve others. His own life was changed by a traumatic brain injury he suffered the weekend before he left for De Vries Institute. He was playing basketball with buddies, and says, "That moment changed my life forever....I went up for a dunk, me and a guy got tangled there, and I landed from eight feet up onto my head. I had a blood clot on my brain and my spine. I didn't breathe for about 3 to 5 minutes." He regained consciousness but his brain started swelling and he was throwing up. The doctors didn't think he would make it due to the length of time without oxygen and the brain swelling. Charles recalls awakening from his coma in his hospital bed and hearing a voice calling him. "I hear my name, the same voice that called out to me before. I opened my eyes and saw a tunnel with a hand coming out. And I took it. I remember looking down at myself. Then I looked up and saw this ball of energy, this ball of light. It was God!" God asked him if he wanted to stay or go back and do His work. While Charles wanted to stay, God wanted him to go back and do the work he was meant to do. This near death experience introduced him to a higher force that has led him to serve others in love ever since. Charles is a persistent fellow who keeps going no matter the challenge before him. He has experienced miraculous events and circumstances that continually remind him that his life has purpose, as long as he follows God's calling. Before Charles founded One Telemed, he worked in a series of jobs, including as Community Liaison and a Regional Director of Community Relations for one of the largest mental health providers in the state of Louisiana. It was through that experience that he learned firsthand that people in underserved communities did not have access to mental health care. He came to realize that utilizing the traditional method of delivering services would not be an effective way to resolve the need for the growing mental health crisis. So, he heeded his higher power's call for him to serve. In August 2013, Charles pioneered the movement for Telepsychiatry services and started Advance Telehealth, a telemedicine technology company. In September 2017, he started a provider company and founded One Telemed with a goal in mind to improve patient outcomes by making mental health treatment accessible to all, no matter their income or location in Louisiana. One Telemed provides trauma and grief counseling over video conferencing technology, thus allowing individuals to talk with a licensed professional from anywhere in Louisiana in a private and safe environment for healing and growth. Other services offered include Brain Tap Therapy, Transition Care Management, and Clinical Oversight for Behavioral Health patients. Charles Edwards, owner of One TeleMed, received the Small Business of the Year Award by Junior Achievement of Acadiana in 2021. "I've always had a heart for service." One Telemed now employs 27 and is actively hiring. Approximately 40,000 patients in Louisiana are being served and Charles is currently in negotiations with a national provider to expand One...

In Part 2, Sondra Eger reaches out to the Apoqnmatulti'k Project to learn how their collaborative research project embodies Etuaptmumk, also referred to as Two Eyed Seeing. She hears stories and lessons from project partners Darren Porter, Alanna Syliboy, Dr. Shelley Denny and Skyler Jeddore who are all working to gather data and information that can contribute towards informing protection measures for culturally significant species. The episode reflects on Phase 1 of the project in the Bay of Fundy and the Bras d'Or Lake and concludes with the news that the project was recently awarded with funding to continue to expand and include new study species. With permission for Ocean Tracking Network and Apoqnmatulti'k project team, this episode is based on pre-recorded material from a previous webinar as well as interviews and subsequent commentary. The original webinar can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/OctP9jXixTs?si=ajA2EpXUQ3TnrPhW APOQNMATULTI'K (https://www.facebook.com/apoqnmatultik/) Project Home Page: https://www.apoqnmatultik.ca/ Video of Phase 1 Successes: https://www.apoqnmatultik.ca/new-blog/video-highlights-apoqnmatultik-successes Guests Evelien VanderKloet, Senior Operations Manager (Ocean Tracking Network (@OceanTracking; oceantrackingnetwork.org) https://www.apoqnmatultik.ca/faces-of/faces-of-evelien) Alanna Syliboy, Community Liaison for the Bay of Fundy (https://mikmawconservation.ca/our-team/mcg-staff/) Skyler Jeddore , Community Liaison for the Bras d'Or Lake (https://www.apoqnmatultik.ca/new-blog/meet-skyler-jeddore) Darren Porter https://www.facebook.com/darren.porter.737 Marine Institute of Natural and Academic Science: https://www.facebook.com/MINASscience You've also heard Darren in Ep. 1 - Come Together (https://soundcloud.com/conservechange/coastal-connections-episode-1-come-together?in=conservechange/sets/crr-volume-2-coastal) Shelley Denny, Senior Advisor, Unama'ki Institite of Natural Resources (UINR) (https://www.uinr.ca/people/shelley-denny/) In the news: https://www.apoqnmatultik.ca/new-blog/apoqnmatultik-partnership-receives-15-million-to-continue-initiative-for-five-years What traditional lands are you on? Here are some resources from the Canadian Government, but always best to speak with the peoples in your area. https://www.rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca/eng/1605796533652/1605796625692 https://sidait-atris.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/atris_online/home-accueil.aspx Please share comments and more resources in the comments below or on social media @soneger @coastal_routes @resiliencerural

GNFCC 2023 Women of Excellence Award Winners: Toseima Jiles, CAI Business Group, and Freda Hardage, Northside Hospital (GNFCC 400 Insider, Episode 85) This episode of the GNFCC 400 Insider celebrates two of the Women of Excellence Award winners: Toseima Jiles owner of CAI Business Group and Freda Hardage, Community Liaison for Northside Hospital. They each […] The post GNFCC 2023 Women of Excellence Award Winners: Toseima Jiles, CAI Business Group, and Freda Hardage, Northside Hospital appeared first on Business RadioX ®.

Today's Reframed Brain episode highlights connecting the unseen to environmental justice with guest Dr. Mustafa Santiago Ali, Executive Vice President of Conservation & Justice for the National Wildlife Federation (NWF). Please subscribe and like The Reframed Brain Podcast YouTube channel today! Dr. Mustafa Santiago Ali is a renowned Thought-Leader, Strategist, Policymaker and Activist committed to fighting for  environmental justice, public health, resource equity and political empowerment to uplift our most vulnerable communities.   For over two decades, Mustafa Santiago Ali has focused on creating power to bring about positive change for communities that are often unseen, unheard and forgotten.  Mustafa Santiago Ali is internationally renowned as a Keynote Speaker, Trainer, Leader, Community Liaison and Facilitator with 26-years of expertise specializing in Social Justice issues focused on revitalizing our most vulnerable communities.  He has also worked with over 500 domestic and international communities to secure environmental, health and economic justice. Mustafa Santiago Ali has been a Guest Lecturer at Harvard University, Yale University, George Washington University, Georgetown University, Spelman College, Albany Law School and Howard University School of Law.  Mustafa is a former instructor at West Virginia University and Stanford University.   Mustafa Santiago Ali has been featured on TV, including MSNBC, CNN, VICE, and Democracy NOW. Dr. Ali has been featured in over 250 news publications, including GQ, New Republic, Ebony, Bustle, The Guardian, The Root, Los Angeles Times and The Washington Post.     You can connect with Dr. Mustafa here:   Twitter: https://twitter.com/EJinAction   Website: https://www.mustafasantiagoali.com/   If you or someone you know may be considering death by suicide, please, please call or text one of the numbers. You are loved and not alone.   Call or Text 988 National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 24/7 1–800–273–8255 National Institute of Mental Health Text HOME to 741741 to connect with a Crisis Counselor 24/7   National Institute of Mental Health WhatsApp: https://api.whatsapp.com/send/?phone=...   Disclaimer: Erica Savage is not a medical practitioner, therapist, or counselor. This podcast is not a substitute for medical or mental health services. Erica's brain health expertise is centered in having sustained a traumatic brain injury in March 2021 and having to adapt a new life managing disabilities and chronic illness brought on by the brain injury. Erica's life is one involving active healing and advocacy for health disparities.

It is my joy to share our next episode with a remarkable woman of God!⁣ ⁣ Ms. Annie Roberson was formerly president and founder of a nonprofit ministry — Women Who Fear God, International. She is a graduate of Southern Bible Institute and served on staff at Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship for eleven years — eight years as administrative assistant to Dr. Tony Evans and three years as Director of Evangelism. Ms. Annie was a contributor in the book Women to Women: Perspectives of Fifteen African-American Christian Women by Dr. Norvella Carter, she served as an instructor with Prison Fellowship, and Mentor Coordinator at Mercy Street. Ms. Annie is currently on staff at Disciple City Church as Community Liaison and continues to serve in a variety of capacities within her community in West Dallas. She has three daughters, five grandchildren, and she loves Jesus. ⁣ ⁣ Take some time to glean from an amazing uplifter and minister of the Gospel!⁣ Check out Uplifting Gospel Transformation with Ms. Annie Roberson... ⁣ Subscribe to the Mission: Uplift YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@MissionUplift Scriptures Romans 3:23 Romans 6:23⁣ Romans 5:8⁣ Romans 10:9-10⁣ 1 John 5:11-12⁣ 1 Peter 2:2⁣ Hebrews 4:12⁣ Proverbs 31⁣:10-31 Romans 10:17⁣ Matthew 5:14-16⁣ John 3:16⁣ Resources Women to Women: Perspectives of Fifteen African-American Christian Women by Dr. Norvella Carter: https://amzn.to/3nj7zXa⁣ Connect with Mission: Uplift!

This is the first episode in a series of three talking about Christianity and the Church today. The hope for this series is to go beyond denomination and institution.  The purpose is to dive into hard topics that come up as challenges for Christians and Church culture today; and simply talk about it with Christian leaders. In this episode, Reverend Timothy B. Warner is sharing his wisdom, insight and experience as a Church Leader with us. We are talking about the demands of discipleship, church hypocrisy, and can we Christians really be Jesus like? (And so much more!) Reverend Timothy B. Warner was called to the gospel ministry while serving as a Deacon at Mt. Calvary Baptist Church of Rockville, MD in 1996. He was licensed to preach in 1998 and ordained to pastoral ministry after he completed his Master of Divinity degree at Wesley Theological Seminary in 2003. Reverend Warner was trained as a bacterial geneticist and enjoyed a productive career in pharmaceutical research and development, where he held various scientific and executive leadership positions for over 18 years before committing to full-time ministry. He has served as the Associate Council Director for Community and Economic Development in the Baltimore-Washington Conference of the United Methodist Church, on the staff of the Montgomery County Executive in his Office of Community Partnerships as the Community Liaison for the African American and Faith Communities, and as Chief Engagement and Partnership Officer for Montgomery County Public Schools. He is a frequent lecturer in community engagement for several graduate schools, and has received Wesley Theological Seminary's Urban Ministry Distinguished Alumnus Award.  Rev. Warner is proud to have served for the last 9 years as Senior Pastor of the Emory Grove United Methodist Church in Gaithersburg, MD, where he is a co-founder of the Racial Justice Coalition. Most recently, he has founded The Heritage Emory Grove Community Development Corporation which is leading in a partnership to redevelop the historical Emory Grove community and restore a sense of authentic community.  He also serves as the Director for Faith Relations at Habitat for Humanity of Metro Maryland where he helps to engage faith communities in the justice ministry of affordable housing in Montgomery and Prince Georges Counties. He believes in the power of prayer, and attributes whatever success that has been ascribed to his ministry to the great many conversations so many have had with God on his behalf.  Rev. Warner shares an extreme sense of pride in the family God has given him with his wife, Paula, of nearly 4 decades.  I would love to hear from you!  Leave me a message via Anchor at:  https://anchor.fm/momcourage/message or send me an email at info@kariprmozic.com. Check out my website to learn more about courageous conversations:  ⁠Courageous Conversations | Courageousliving (kariprimozic.com) --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thecourage/message

We stumbled upon the American Space Museum in downtown Titusville by chance. With hundreds of artifacts donated by individuals, astronauts, space workers and NASA - it was pretty clear that if you're a space enthusiast…then THIS is the place to be!So in the days before the O3b mPOWER satellites were launched we headed inside and sat down with one of the museum's members of staff to remind ourselves just exactly how cool space really is!Thank you to our guest Mark Marquette, Community Liaison & Astronomy for the American Space Museum and US Walk of Fame in Titusville, Florida. You can visit spacewalkoffame.org to find out more about the museum.Thank you to SpaceX for the actuality. To watch SpaceX launch the SES O3b mPOWER mission in full visit the SpaceX YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WAQD83ElZY And to read or watch more about the new SES constellation, click here: ses.com/o3b-mpowerSatellite Stories podcast is presented by SES Senior Creative, Kristina Smith-Meyer.

Brad Hyde got his start in the mental health field 29 years ago with Greenleaf, which was later St Bernard's Behavioral Health. Through his career, Brad has learned not to try to be rational with irrational people, that "No" is a complete sentence, and that health is about the whole person.

In this episode of Vital Psychedelic Conversations, Kyle interviews Carla Kieffer: psychedelic educator, Certified Psychedelic Facilitator, Community Liaison at Maya Health, and Founder of Kairos Integration, a company offering psychedelic training, preparation, facilitation, integration, and microdosing support. This episode was recorded in-person, in between the first and second psilocybin retreats at Atman Retreat in Jamaica, where Kyle, Johanna, and a large group of Vital students just worked with Carla last month. Many participants that attend retreats are new to psychedelics, and often don't know each other, so it was powerful to have a group of classmates follow the breathwork model of having sitters and journeyers take turns (which is the same model she uses for her Psychedelic Guide Training and Certificate Program), and demonstrates how much one can learn when taking the role of the sitter and how the journey becomes the teacher. They talk about how big the therapy part of psychedelic-assisted therapy is, in how rare it is to have someone attending to your every need for hours on end, and wonder: How can we take that aspect of holding space for each other and apply it to everyday life?  She discusses the importance of data collection and how her Internal Family Systems training has helped her balance her love for the mystical with her more science and data-based mind; the importance in facilitators meeting some sort of baseline harm reduction and safety training (and the need to establish an agreed-upon set of standards); the need for increased accessibility; how important it is to further educate about and normalize conversations about psychedelics; and how integration isn't just a box you check off as part of the experience, but a continuous process and part of our lives, where checking in on ourselves should be a regular practice. www.psychedelicstoday.com  

This week on Clear Lake Connections Podcast presented by UTMB Health: Meet Marcy Fryday, Community Liaison, Lakewood Yacht Club. In this week's episode Marcy tells the listeners all about the history of Lakewood Yacht Club and her experiences in the Clear Lake Area. Marcy explains how the hierarchy at the Yacht Club works from their staff, members, to the Commodore. Lastly, Marcy talks about the many events hosted at the Yacht Club, including Keels & Wheels every May.

Jacque Salomon is the founder of the Seeds to Inspire Foundation in Arizona. Jacque is an American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM) Health Equity Achieved through Lifestyle Medicine (HEAL) Initiative Committee Member, collaborator/supporter to Let Our Ancestors Rest Campaign, Founding Board Member of SimpleVeg, Board Member for Eat for the Earth 501(c)(3), former Pod Advisory Committee Member for PlantPure Communities and proud former Community Liaison to Stand Up ASU student club.https://www.seedstoinspire.org/jacque-salomonSpecial thanks to Chinwave for the intro/outro music. Please listen to their sound at https://www.chinwave.com/ Supporting music and especially live music is important. Music is love.https://twitter.com/chinwavemusic

In this episode of Black Health 365, hosts Britt Daniels and Jackie Paige pick up where they left off bringing you part 2 of the Black Health 365, Substance Abuse series. “It's kind of hard for me to paint an ugly picture using pretty words”, the candid words of Britt and Jackie's 18+ years sober guest John Goode, as he shares in an honest conversation about his life before and after substance abuse. John is a certified peer recovery specialist and Community Liaison for HYPE Counseling Services, Community outreach leader, Specialist in harm reduction, and Co-founder of Clean Dreams.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this episode of The C.U.T.S Podcast, Reemo chops it up with Educator, Community Leader, and Community Liaison for the 25th Precinct in East Harlem; Pilar Wilkins aka "Principle-P" What to Look For 0:00 Intro/"Story Time" 01:55 Reflections about Black Creative and Business Space 13:56 Feelings of Dreams vs Reality? 22:49 Purpose Of Black Educators SPECIAL GUEST: Pilar Wilkins aka "Principle-P": https://www.instagram.com/ms.principle_p/?hl=en FOLLOW US ON IG: https://www.instagram.com/ofnietheufo/ YOU TUBE CHANNEL: [[SUBSCRIBE]] - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbVNj5NtHbfenXkoxa3xAKg?view_as=subscriber ****FOR SERIOUS INQUIRES & FUTURE GUEST(S) APPEARANCES - CutsPodcast1@gmail.com ****** FOR ALL Music Artists, Submit Your TRACKS for Review, and Feedback on my GROOVER.COM page: https://groover.co/en/influencer/profile/0.cuts-podcast/ ******Please LEAVE COMMENTS, FEEDBACK, and [[SUBSCRIBE]] the PODCAST on ALL MAJOR STREAMING PLATFORMS!!!!! HOST: Reemo Meerak - https://www.instagram.com/reemomeerak_/?hl=en Email: ActorKareemTyson@gmail.com or ReemoMeerakBrand@icloud.com --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thecutspodcast/support

The Sharvette Mitchell Radio Show | www.Sharvette.com | Tuesday, October 18, 2022 Community Spotlight: Raina Vann | Multicultural Community Liaison for Henrico County Multicultural Community Engagement provides access to resources, key information and a variety of engagement opportunities to the diverse population of multicultural, immigrant and refugee residents who call Henrico County home. Individuals and community partners are encouraged to come here to learn about – and find – the services, support and access residents are entitled to receive throughout the county. Whether you are new to the county or a long-time resident, it is helpful to have trusted relationships and resources to improve your experiences. By prioritizing language access through interpretation services and translation, we are focused on building strong county-community partnerships. Multicultural Community Engagement Links MCE  - https://henrico.us/multicultural-community-engagement/ Bulletin Board - https://henrico.us/multicultural-community-engagement/bulletin-board/ Heritage and Identity - https://henrico.us/multicultural-community-engagement/heritage-celebrations/ Bond Referendum Page and Video Links  2022 Bond Referendum- https://henrico.us/bonds/ 2022 Bond Referendum: Overview video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUtm2rWbjfw&t=17s Henrico County voters will have the opportunity to participate in a bond referendum to approve more than $511 million in funding for proposed county capital projects — including new and renovated schools, firehouses and parks — as part of the 2022 general election. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 8.

INTRODUCTION: Cheyenne Mihko Kihêw (they/them) is a Two-Spirit Indigi-queer, born and raised in amiskwacîwâskahikan (Edmonton). Inspired by their own lived experiences with meth addiction and street involvement in their teen years, Cheyenne has dedicated their life to community-based work. They were the first in their family to attend university, holding a BA in Sociology from MacEwan. Currently, they are the Community Liaison for Edmonton 2 Spirit Society, a role that affords them the privilege of incorporating many of their passions into their work and is supporting their own journey of cultural reclamation. Cheyenne is the current Two Spirit Warrior regional titleholder 2021/2022, alongside Rob Gurney. They are also the current Chair of the Board of Directors for Boyle Street Education Centre, their former high school to which they accredit much of their achievements. Cheyenne is unapologetic in their identity as a nêhiyaw, fat, and queer femme and lives loud and proud. ***PHOTO CREDIT*** All My Relations Photography:  https://www.facebook.com/allmyrelationsphoto  INCLUDED IN THIS EPISODE (But not limited to):  ·      Cheyenne's Story·      Being Born Into Trauma·      Using Crystal Meth As A Teenager·      Are Your Drugs For Pleasure Or Pain?·      Surviving Abusive Adoptive Parents·      The Benefits Of Forgiveness ·      The Benefits Of Chosen Family·      The Toils Of Being A Homeless Youth·      The Triflingness Of The Department Of Veteran's Affairs·      Freedom In Becoming An Emancipated Teen   CONNECT WITH CHEYENNE: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tugs.cuchina/  CONNECT WITH DE'VANNON: Website: https://www.SexDrugsAndJesus.comWebsite: https://www.DownUnderApparel.comYouTube: https://bit.ly/3daTqCMFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/SexDrugsAndJesus/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sexdrugsandjesuspodcast/Twitter: https://twitter.com/TabooTopixLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/devannonPinterest: https://www.pinterest.es/SexDrugsAndJesus/_saved/Email: DeVannon@SexDrugsAndJesus.com  DE'VANNON'S RECOMMENDATIONS: ·      Pray Away Documentary (NETFLIX)o  https://www.netflix.com/title/81040370o  TRAILER: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tk_CqGVfxEs ·      OverviewBible (Jeffrey Kranz)o  https://overviewbible.como  https://www.youtube.com/c/OverviewBible ·      Hillsong: A Megachurch Exposed (Documentary)o  https://press.discoveryplus.com/lifestyle/discovery-announces-key-participants-featured-in-upcoming-expose-of-the-hillsong-church-controversy-hillsong-a-megachurch-exposed/ ·      Leaving Hillsong Podcast With Tanya Levino  https://leavinghillsong.podbean.com  ·      Upwork: https://www.upwork.com·      FreeUp: https://freeup.net VETERAN'S SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS ·      Disabled American Veterans (DAV): https://www.dav.org·      American Legion: https://www.legion.org ·      What The World Needs Now (Dionne Warwick): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfHAs9cdTqg  INTERESTED IN PODCASTING OR BEING A GUEST?: ·      PodMatch is awesome! This application streamlines the process of finding guests for your show and also helps you find shows to be a guest on. The PodMatch Community is a part of this and that is where you can ask questions and get help from an entire network of people so that you save both money and time on your podcasting journey.https://podmatch.com/signup/devannon  TRANSCRIPT: [00:00:00]You're listening to the sex drugs and Jesus podcast, where we discuss whatever the fuck we want to! And yes, we can put sex and drugs and Jesus all in the same bed and still be all right at the end of the day. My name is De'Vannon and I'll be interviewing guests from every corner of this world as we dig into topics that are too risqué for the morning show, as we strive to help you understand what's really going on in your life.There is nothing off the table and we've got a lot to talk about. So let's dive right into this episode.De'Vannon: Hello? Hello. Hello. Are you beautiful souls out there? I love you so much. Thanks for joining me another week. For another episode, I'm super excited to have back with me again, the wonderful Cheyenne Miho. And today we're gonna be talking about their personal life story. Their history entails a lot of early life trauma and extreme abuse. They've been through everything from early life, meth addiction to abuse of adoptive parents who would do things like with whole food and lock them in their bedroom. [00:01:00] Cheyenne's situation was so terrible that the legal system allowed them. To emancipate themselves at the age of 16. Look, y'all healing can be a super long journey and Shahan is definitely on their way.Please listen to their share. Hello? Hello. Hello. All my lovely little fuckers out there and welcome back to the sex drugs in Jesus podcast. To see how I did that. I said, fuck in Jesus in the same sentence. And I know he is most pleased with me standing up on his throne at the right hand of God, applauding me as I give a fuck about Jesus on today.Cheyenne, do darling, how are you doing today? Cheyenne: hello? I'm great. How video1970169709: are De'Vannon: you? I'm fan fucking, you know, I love the cuss. Cussing is very cathartic and healing. Even people out there have not seen the history of swear words on Netflix [00:02:00] narrated by Nicholas cage. I need you to check it out that way you can understand why the fuck I cus so fucking much.So I have back with me today. Cheyenne, be Hoku. And he's coming to us from up there in Canada, Edmonton two spirit society. We did a show with her before and she really gave us a good breakdown on the indigenous history, you know, of Canada. And she gave us some good definitions and everything like that told us what two spirit meant and all these different things.She ed us. And so today we have her back on to talk more about her, her personal struggles and everything like that. And I'm so proud of her for being so transparent to go over the topics that we are going to talk about today. Cheyenne, is there anything you'd like to say right now? Cheyenne: It's just great to be back.Just a gentle reminder that my pronouns are they them that I don't usually her pronouns. De'Vannon: Okay. Sorry if I [00:03:00] messed that up or Cheyenne: something, but no, that's okay. Yeah. It's just it's yeah, it's kind of important. Also. You might hear my cat, he's still adjusting to our move. We just moved into a new place last week.And so he is a little anxious. He's an anxious baby. So he might hear him meowing or he might jump up at some point. De'Vannon: I love cats. I wish I could own every cat in the world. I have two, they go out into their special Playhouse whenever I do meetings because my cats are hell needy. And there's no way they let me get through a one hour conversation without causing a scene.so Cheyenne: I just have a door that I could close but I don't have that anymore in my new office space. So we're just rolling with it. . De'Vannon: Give us a little brief, very quick rundown on the, the society that you work for and kind of what y'all do. Cheyenne: Yeah. So I work for the Edmonton two-spirit society. I'm the community liaison, and we're a really small nonprofit organization in Edmonton, Alberta.We're traditionally known as a [00:04:00] Misu west Gein. And we primarily serve any indigenous person who identifies as two-spirit or queer trans gender diverse, sexually diverse as well as their kinship circles. So supporting family members, their networks and understanding their loved one, a little better.So we provide access to like things like ceremonies, culture and other social events. And as well as a wide range of like mental health and social support. So we're still a bit of a baby organization, but we have a lot of big plans for the next few years. De'Vannon: See there, they do all the things. And so.And again, the first episode I shot with her, we have a lot more info on all of that and a lot of information in the showy notes. So today we're, we're gonna talk about your history, very chaotic history. And but you know, we plant seeds and dirt and mud and all this crazy shit, you know, and out of that dirt and feel comes up [00:05:00] the most beautiful things that we all use to sustain ourselves off of.And so there's nothing wrong with having issues because, you know, they make us who we are. So when we wrapped up our last conversation several weeks ago, we. You know, got onto the, the happy trail about you and stuff like that. And I learned some things about you that I didn't know. So you have a history of meth addiction as do I, I don't know what they call her in your neck of the woods, but down here they call her Tina, you know, miss tea T Cheyenne: I mean, it's been a while since I was in that circle back in my day, we used to call it jib or pin are kind of like two of the, the common terms here, but I've also heard like ice or, you know, the usual ones, but yeah.Jib or pin are like the ones that I De'Vannon: always used. Mm-hmm are these, they call her that [00:06:00] fucking bitch, you know? Cause she, she ruins things. And so so what would age range was, was the meth addiction? What age range was this? Yeah. Cheyenne: So like you said, my, my background is messy and complicated, but I started using math at age 14.And it took me about three years. So I was into my 17th year when I finally was able to stop using. De'Vannon: Okay. Do you remember who got you into it for the first time or how that oh yeah, Cheyenne: I remember the exact moment. Oh yeah. 100%. I, so I grew up in a really violent household, just a trigger warning for anyone listening that my story does come with, like child abuse and trauma and all those hard things.As well as like indigenous trauma and [00:07:00] residential schools, all of that's a part of my story. So I left home at 14. I was adopted by my aunt and uncle and we can talk a little bit more about that. But I was adopted by my biological aunt and her husband and brought into their family. And after like a sustained well of like physical abuse in the home, I decided to leave at age 14.And so I was kind of living on the streets for a little while there prior to getting placed into a group home. And it was during that initial time that I had on the streets. And so I had met some person like on, I think like Nextopia, which was like a popular social media. It was like Facebook, but way before Facebook.And it was like made here in Edmonton. So it was like our own little social media that we had. And so I had met this guy and we like started dating or whatever. I was 14, he was like 16. But we were both unhoused at the time. And so we were like hanging out on the streets and he had this gay man that he was friends with.And in Edmonton, I don't know where you live, but in Edmonton, it's common. And particularly in the inner [00:08:00] city for there to be what we call rooming hoses. So it's just like a building full of like isolated suites that have enough room for like a bed. It's a small little kitchenette and usually the bathroom is down the hall.And so they're quite small. You can't really fit a lot of people in there, but my boyfriend at the time, and I moved in with this gay guy and he had about like four other queer men living there with him. And my boyfriend would like go and try and find work during the day. And so I was often like hanging out with these queer guys and one of them one day was like, Hey, you wanna come for a hoot?And I was like, I smoked cannabis at the time and was like, and I thought I knew about drugs. Like I had heard a lot about the acids and the, the ketamines, but I hadn't really tried anything to that point, other than weed, I smoked a lot of weed and he is like, Hey, you wanna come for a hoot? And then like, he's like taking me to the bathroom.And I was like, yeah, I figured it was just gonna be cannabis. And he pulled out a light bulb and like had like his whole little setup and started pouring the crystals in. And I was like the. Fuck is that and I was just fascinated by the [00:09:00] whole process and it was just like extra sketchy, cuz we were in this bathhouse like bathroom in this rooming house.Not a bathhouse. We were not in a bathhouse. I, I was underage at this time. So that was my first time using it. I didn't really know what I was getting myself into. And it was like harmless enough, but I can trace the following three years back to that moment and not really understanding what it was.And like I said, just being so fascinated by the whole process and being like instantly brought into it.De'Vannon: I dunno how it was for you, but it wasn't until after, you know, I went through traumatic experiences that I became open, you know, to drugs and stuff like that. Cuz people had been offering them to me all my life and I always said no. Do you feel like had you. You know, you're basically homeless at the time.Do you think that if you were at home in a more [00:10:00] supportive situation that you would've accepted that, or, you know, from him. Yeah, Cheyenne: I think about that a lot, because I was born into trauma. Right. I was born into grief and that's not even just an indigenous thing. It's just like, my family is so broken. And like, we're doing a lot better now.I just wanna preface that I have a fairly decent relationship with my aunt and uncle now. We haven't quite worked through a lot of this stuff yet. I'm hoping that will come. And if they listen to this, I love you. But you know, growing up in a home where the people that were supposed to care for me, because they had adopted me, they instead of like providing a safe space for me, they further traumatized me.Right. And so I also have ADHD. And I think it's really important to note that I was already on Ritalin at a really young age. I, I think they had me on Ritalin at. Grade one. So I was already on subs like stimulants. I had already been using stimulants for a number of years prior to actually having that first encounter with [00:11:00] meth.So like, I think my likelihood of getting into it probably would've been a lot more dis decreased, but just by understanding my family's history with addiction, my own history with substances that were prescribed to me, I likely probably still would've engaged in that, but maybe not as early or not as aggressively than I had, but I mean, it's all speculation, right?De'Vannon: I'm here from some, I'm here for some speculation this morning. I'm here from some specul. I am, I really am this ING. Cuz what I'm thinking is like, you know, drugs, you know, release so much dopamine in different chemicals. Yes. Chemicals in us that make us feel all yummy. You know, when we're walking around feeling bad and miserable, it creates like an emotional deficit and drugs feel that void it's, you know, it's a complete opposite direction.And, you know, and there seems to me to be like a [00:12:00] pattern and a trend to people who are generally unhappy or who wrestle a lot in life and struggle who like tend to find drugs and cl to them. Now, when I was going through it, I didn't realize that that's what I was getting out of the drugs. I thought that I was just partying and having to get time.I didn't realize that I was actually trying to make myself feel better and numb pain. And so I wanna point that out. Cause I'd like people to be aware, you know, sometimes you're just partying for the sake of part and there's nothing more than a fucking party, but sometimes you're actually trying to to patch over trauma, but you're not really addressing the issue.And then as soon as you sober up, you're gonna want more because then the pain comes back. Cheyenne: Yeah. Yeah. It's like such a temporary fix to that heavier stuff that we carry around, you know, and I think for a long time, that's actually what it was for me, you know? And when I was unhoused and using meth, a lot of times it was also to stay awake, cuz I was walking around all night and didn't have anywhere to sleep.And so [00:13:00] you're trying to wait it out until like the, the local drop in opens, you know, so you need to be up and alert all night. And so it was helpful for that. But you know, when I did quit smoking meth, I didn't stop using drugs. Like I wanna be super clear about that. Like I stopped using meth at 17, but I still used other substances for a number of years.And even to this day, I'm not totally sober and very open that I, I use cocaine a couple times a year. I use mushrooms a couple times a year, but it's not at all where I'd start on a Friday and finish on a Monday, you know in my twenties, like when I was raving a lot and really partying hard. And I think at that time I was masking the trauma and I was masking that pain and not really conscious of it and aware of it.So as much as I'm like, oh yeah, I'm just partying. No, I'm actually just needing to start dealing with my stuff and I'm not quite there yet, you know? I'm there now, but it's, it's taken me a little while to get there. De'Vannon: so then it require, I'm thankful that you're there. It requires like, you know, a gut check moment or several of them, [00:14:00] because, you know, as a drug dealer, when I was a drug dealer, I I'd say probably 95% of my clientele, you know, was probably going way too hard on the meth and all the other drugs that I was selling them.And I only had very few who were like, they only did meth or G or whatever I was selling on their birthdays or when they travel, you know, most people didn't have that sort of discipline, but that discipline does exist. But the thing is, if you're already doing drugs and you're actually doing it in a balanced, fun way, if a traumatic experience happens, you could slip into this.Into this, what we're talking about, where you're now, what was once just fun. You're actually now using it to deal with the trauma and you may not be consciously aware of it. And so if something really bad happens, I would say probably stop the drugs for a moment until you get your shit sorted out so [00:15:00] that you don't overlap that pleasure of the drugs and get it mixed in with whatever bad thing has befallen you.Yeah. Cheyenne: If I find that I'm having a tough time in life, or if I'm struggling, stressed out, mental health is bad. I know that that's not a time to reach for substances or alcohol. Right. It's really in a moment of recreation, I'm at a music festival. It's like a celebrate. I don't even really wanna say celebratory, but it's, you know, a more intentional kind of move as opposed to, I'm just trying to like deal with my stress in a, in a, in a trauma response kind of way that I'm used to.So I'm pretty good now at, at understanding the difference there. And like I say, I don't I try to avoid substances if I'm not doing well in my head. cause I know it's a slippery slope. De'Vannon: And so I wanna walk down the path that you're talking about. You know, it sounds like you basically harm reduced yourself to a point where you can manage the different narcotics and substances.I don't think drugs are bad. [00:16:00] I think they can become bad for certain people. And it's for us to understand when the shit's gone too far, when you need, you need to dial it back or stop. Now, what you've done goes against a lot of conventional. I won't call it wisdom because I don't find it to be very wise, a lot of conventional advice, like the anonymous movements and shit like that.Try to give out and where, and they say once an addict, always an addict you know, and I just don't believe in that. And so. So I, I love that you're being transparent and telling the world that yeah, I used to be strung out on meth and you know what, now I'm able to just do me a couple of bumps of cocaine a year and be good with that or whatever may come along.But what do you think about how, you know, oh, here's the kitty let's Cheyenne: Steve don't show De'Vannon: them your bubble please. Hey Steve. Yeah, it's happy Friday. He's like, look at his ass[00:17:00]Cheyenne: ass, a small, he in a house. So he is really curious about everything right now. De'Vannon: Yeah. So what are your thoughts about he has stripes like my, like my eldest cat, Felix. What are your thoughts about how the anonymous movement like crystal meth anonymous? Alcoholics anonymous tries to keep people under that thumb of always being an addict forever and saying, if you ever use anything ever again, and RA a rock will happen in your life.Cheyenne: Yeah. I mean, I have, I have friends and family that are in the program. And it, it, if it works for them, it works for them. But in my personal experience, in trying to use those programs, it was very shameful. I was like taught to feel shameful of my decisions, taught to feel shameful of my trauma responses.And I just, I, I also don't resonate with religion as we spoke about before. And so a lot of those programs are centered around go. And even though it's like good orderly direction, it still has like a religious undertone to me. Which [00:18:00] makes me feel uncomfortable just in general. But the whole idea of like, you know, a relapse is like the end of the world, or, you know, you have to like repent, anytime you'd make a mistake.There's just like a lack of humanity there, or like an imposition of shame that we don't need to hold. Right. Like I Tru I do believe in harm reduction because I've seen the benefits in my own life and how it's. Like been a benefit to the community that I serve. And I don't feel that those programs honor that space of harm reduction or that space of like meeting people where they're at and, and, and understanding their traumas.You're standing up in these rooms and you're talking about your pain, but. It's not therapy. Do you know what I mean? Like it's not a substitute for actually sitting down and working through your traumas because the people in that room are not equipped to support you through that process because they also need someone else supporting them.So peer based education, peer based support is definitely beneficial, but at some point we also need to realize that like those rooms, you know, there's not a lot of success rate that [00:19:00] come out of them. You need to actually be like attending them. And there's like a lot of research around the productivity of these, of these spaces.And they're not super. Great. Like they, they tend to lead to relapse a lot more actually. And I think that's really worth noting. Like you're going into these rooms thinking that you're gonna get better. And at some point you might just be retraumatizing yourself by listening to these stories and putting yourself back on that path, which then is then shamed if you use again.So I don't really resonate with those rooms, but again, I, I honor and respect that it does work for some people. Some people really need that rigidity in the routine to be able to say on their path. I'm not one of those people. So it didn't really work for me. I found that what got me to where I'm at today was.My, my mom, like my biological mom, she was an addict for many years. Had a pretty severe addiction to alcohol and you know, injection drug use contracted Hep C at one point during the poor, the process of her drug use. And that's why she didn't raise me. Right. But so [00:20:00] she tried the rooms when she was getting sober, but it was really having support from her family that got her there.And that's what got me to where I'm at. So if I'm having a rough time or if I need support, I call my biological mom and we talk about it. And it's just a really open Frank conversation. And I really appreciate that she can hold that space for me because, you know, she had to take accountability to the harms that she also caused me that got me to the point where I need to talk about this stuff.Right. So she's able to like actually come to terms with what she's done, her choices, how it's impacted me, and then now my choices, if all of that makes sense. Welcome to my long winded responses. Again. De'Vannon: Hey, use all the fucking winds you want. Cheyenne: Blow through mm-hmm De'Vannon: so let me, let me, let me think, let me think.Let me think. So I'm gonna throw a little bit of shade at the anonymous movements. You know, I found them to be very negative and I'm saying this because there's probably somebody out there listening. [00:21:00] Who's new with this whole fighting addiction and everything. And the anonymous movements might be one of the first things that someone throws at them or something like that.And it just reminded me so much of being in church, you know, where they think that their way is better than any other way. And they're not willing to be open minded and take a second look at things. And it's just so Just so bad, you know, and like you said, when I would, I would go to the meetings feeling happy by the time the shit was over, I would feel heavy and depressed.Like I wanted to go get high, you know, from listening to the, a bunch of grown ass men, bitch and moan, you know, and everything like that. And it just, it never worked for me. I did not like re you know, calling yourself an addict every time. The whole point is to get over being an addict where they don't believe you can ever be healed, but at the same time, what sentences are gonna say, what sense is gonna do for me to sit here and say, I'm an addict every damn day.You know? Cause sometimes they want you go to meetings three times a [00:22:00] day. It's like you're reaffirming the negatives thing that you're trying to get away from. But if it, if, if it's a program trying to keep you under their foot and under their thumb, then it works great for their agenda, which is the same thing.The church does a lot of times as they have the, the members in a certain way, that you can never really be free of them. It's like, you always are gonna need them for some reason. And I also found them to be hypocritical because all the, all the shit they talk about drugs, the pots of coffee that they would go through, you know, at every meeting and how they chain smoke cigarettes and shit outside.I said, okay, let me get this straight. I'm not supposed to do cocaine or meth or anything, never again for the rest of my life, but you can smoke five packs of cigarettes and drink 10 gallons of coffee a day. Okay.Cheyenne: yeah, it is. It is quite hypocritical. Yeah. And, and like, [00:23:00] even to the, the amount of like donuts or sugar that they provide, you know, and I'm not saying don't feed people, like, obviously we should feed people in these faces, but like, it is ironic that they then, you know, encourage other basically you're just substituting your one addiction for something else.Right. And I think that's too, is the rooms also become an addiction of it's. So I think that's kind of my other issue with them is that because we're not really teaching people how to build their toolkits up, to respond to traumatic moments or stressful moments, we're actually just creating further dependency onto the rooms.And so then you're not actually helping them be able to maintain it when there's no access to a room or when that's not a, an option, because then, then what's the next option to them. It's the room, drugs, the room or alcohol. Right. And it doesn't have to be like that. There's a whole other spectrum of supports that exist between the room and the drugs.De'Vannon: Mm. And so help me understand, how was it like [00:24:00] growing up, like in an adopted home? Did you know that your mother was out there somewhere? Did she reappear randomly out of nowhere? One day? Cheyenne: Yeah, she was in and outta my life. So I can like start from the beginning. So yeah, like my grandparents were both on my mother's side, I don't know my biological father, so I've never met him.I don't know anything about his family. When him and my mother were together they, she, he was quite abusive to her. And so he was actually it got to the point where she was too scared to tell him that she was pregnant with me because she thought that he would basically just. Forced her to abort or beat her up to miss Carrie.And so he actually went to jail and so she fled Vancouver and came back to Edmonton and had me here without the knowledge of my father. So whether or not my father knows I'm alive, I have, I have no idea. But so my mother on my mother's side is all indigenous say for like one or two family [00:25:00] members through the line that were, were settler.And so we come from drift Powell, CRE nation in Northern Alberta. I was not born and raised there because my grandmother's only experiences with the residential schools and abuse. From her partner, my grandfather she left the reserve at a young age when my mom was really young and raised all her children in Edmonton.And it was very like an intentional thing where she didn't want us to grow up on the reserve. She wanted us to have better access, to supports and grow up in a healthier way without the violence, which didn't necessarily work cuz some of that trauma. So deep-rooted right. We just carry it between family members, between generations.And so my mother struggled with substances, as I mentioned and tried really hard to take care of me for the first couple of years, brought me back to British Columbia and there's like this weird timeline in my story where I actually. Don't know what happened to me. So there was some sort of incident in Parksville where my mother was living at the time and social services got involved and, and I don't know the true story, but I've heard that [00:26:00] I was found like in a pile of pills in a hotel room, I've heard that my mother was like passed out on a couch in an apartment and social workers found me.So I don't really know the actual story. No, one's really kind of given me clarity, but my grandmother came to BC and brought me back to Edmonton. And then I was raised by my aunt and uncle. And so I knew that I was adopted. Like they didn't try to hide that from me. And my mom was really struggling with alcohol at the time, particularly.And so my household that I was growing up in was alcohol free. So that was one good thing about my home. There was a lot of cannabis in my house, but I had three siblings that were my biological aunts children. And they had it slightly better than I did, I would say. But my mom would like come in and out.So she took me back again in grade three. I can't remember how old I was in grade three. Like, I don't know, eight maybe. And she took me back and brought me back into her care. And then one day she just never picked me up from [00:27:00] school. And I was waiting and waiting and waiting and she had relapsed and was back out on the streets partying.And so I ended up back in social services and I was actually at a foster home for a few months before my aunt and uncle took me back in. So my mom was, was in and out of the picture. She would come to like the odd family events and stuff, but it was mainly my aunt and uncle that were, were raising me and, and doing so in violence at that De'Vannon: time.Okay. I'm on that violence from the aunt in just a second. So having never met your father. How, how do you feel about that? Do you have peace about that? I ask because so many times I come across people who really, really, really have a big problem with not knowing one or both of their parents. Where are you on that?Cheyenne: Yeah, it does bother me. Not so much because I wanna know him, like if he was treating my mom poorly and was like, my mom was [00:28:00] terrified of him. I don't necessarily wanna know that person. But he has a family. I have grandparents on that side. I know I have two half brothers I don't know their names, so my dad's name was Walter Adams and he was born in Scarborough, Ontario, and that's like the only information that I have about him.And then he had two sons. I haven't been able to find any other information out. And I refuse to do like one of those DNA things, cuz I don't want them having my DNA on the that's like a colonizer tactic, not giving them my DNA. But it's been a thing of like what medical. Things are in my, in my family's history that I should know about what culture am I from?Right. There could be a whole beautiful thing that I could be immersing myself in. Maybe my family's Scottish or Irish, or I have no idea. So it would be lovely to be able to connect with what other parts of my heritage exist. And also too, like who do I look like? Like I know, I look like my mom, I can see my mom and myself, but I'd love to know what my dad looked like, because it would just give clarity about who am I as a [00:29:00] person.And like, how did I get this beautiful brain of mine? And where does my personality come from? Cuz it doesn't always match my mom and right. So like there's stuff like that where I'm like, I would love to know who is Cheyenne, but there's a half of me that I'll never know. So there's a half of me that I'll never understand where it came from and it doesn't work quite like that genetics and stuff.It's not half and half, but you know, I'm, I'm just always curious about how I got to be the person I am and I can see a lot of my mom and myself, but I also see a lot of what's probably my dad. De'Vannon: I heard you say you felt like the the DNA test was, is a colonizer tactic. Tell me about that. Well, it's just, they keep Cheyenne: your day in DNA on file.And they're using it. I mean, it is pretty cool that they're using DNA now to like solve cold cases and like that kind of thing, but like, they keep your DNA on file and they can use that for however they wish. Like that just makes me feel UN uneasy. I just, yeah, I don't know. like, like, it feels like a colonizer, like just like gaining in control by containing [00:30:00] DNA.Like it's like my ultimate that's as intimate a part of me as you can get. De'Vannon: I can understand that. And you, you know what, there's no reason why you're not right. Cuz what you're saying is once it's out there, it's out there and you really don't know who the fuck has it. Cheyenne: yeah. That's my issue with it is where does it go?And like I say, like I don't have issues with law enforcement using it to, to solve murders and get justice for people. But at the same time I feel like if my consent should be given for that and I guess when they take your DNA, they probably have some sort of consent form and that's on the release form.I'm guessing. I'm not sure I've never tried. Cause I'm just, it, it makes me nervous. De'Vannon: so when you say like, so your aunt and uncle were the people who adopted you, who were abusive to you, you know, I'm getting like you know, do you mind telling us like how was, were they like withholding food from you, locking you in a closet or hit, you know, hitting you.[00:31:00]Yeah, Cheyenne: it was never like, I wanted to be super clear. Like I love my aunt and uncle, and I wanna acknowledge that my aunt came from the same like violent background that my mother did. Right. So she carried a lot of that stuff forward. My uncle has some stuff that was never really revealed to me, but he was going through some stuff out of him.I'm not trying to excuse their behavior. It's just a way of me trying to understand and process what happened to me. And I still hold a lot of love for them. And again, if they're listening, I love you. But I, I, I talk openly about what happened to me because that's who Cheyenne is. And if you didn't want me to talk about it, then you shouldn't have done it.Okay. And that's my that's my bottom line is like, if you didn't want me to talk about my hurt, then why did you hurt me? Because I was a child. And so yeah, it, it, it, I, because I have ADHD, I have a lot of behavioral problems and no one really sat down with us and explained what ADHD meant. Right. And they never really [00:32:00] explained rejection, sensitivity, dysphoria, or explained executive dysfunction or all like the complexities of ADHD.Usually people think like, oh, they can't sit still. And like, you see me, I'm fidgeting with something all the time. I'm never really sitting still, but ADHD is actually really. Impactful on so many parts of my life. And now as an adult, I understand that. But as a kid, my behavioral issues that came from ADHD, but also from a place of trauma and me trying to like fit into this world that I didn't, as I mentioned last time, I feel like I'm the in between person, right.I'm always in between kind of everything. And that was even in my childhood. And so whenever I would do something or if I, I, and I'm trying to, like, when I look back at my childhood, I'm, I'm trying to pinpoint exact moments of things that I did. And I can never remember what I did. I just remember the abuse after.And that's like really telling, because it was probably something super mild that I did. So some of the punishments that I would receive were yep. Having fooled food with help from me. So a big tactic was taking away my [00:33:00] mattress and just leaving me on a two, like a plank, like a plywood, my bed frame and locking me in my room and I wasn't allowed to play with anything or talk to anybody or, or anything.So it was isolation by myself in my room, like like you're in the hole or something in jail, you know? And they wouldn't feed me. They wouldn't nothing. And one time I remember I was playing with a pencil crayon and my uncle came in to check on me and saw me with a pencil crayon and beat me with a pencil crayon.And so I had like bruises and, and everything. And I had to go to camp that, that week. And so I went to camp with all these bruises and had to lie and say that I like fell off my bike and it was like a whole thing. But, so that was a big one was lots of like physical violence. Lots of like manipulation of like, you know, calling me a slot or like using really like, like aggressive language or towards me, weird like psychological stuff where they would one time they pretend to abandon me.We were going on a camping trip and they drove away without me and left me [00:34:00] standing in the yard. And I was abandoned as a child by my mother. Right. So not growing up with my mom, I have abandoned in trauma. And so when they left me, it's like something that I'm processing in therapy right now.Going back to that, that moment of like, they was a joke to them. But to me it was traumatizing because I still carry that now, like 30 years later, you know, of like, they just drove away, but they came back like 10 minutes later, you know? Yeah, lots of like, or if I didn't wanna eat something, we weren't allowed to leave the table until we ate it.So I fucking hate zucchini. I will not eat zucchini. I hate fish because it's a trauma around that. Right. Like being forced to sit there and. You're not allowed to eat anything else. And if you didn't finish eating it, then you'd go to bed without any other food. You'd come back in the morning and you'd go back to the table and have to finish eating that.And so step zucchini is my fucking nemesis. I hate it. Just because of that. So yeah, lots of like physical violence, lots of like mental, emotional stuff. Like psychological stuff. [00:35:00] Yeah. And from a young age, like it started as, as early as I can remember. I don't even remember when it started, but yeah, young and it carried right through until I would say I was in grade six.And that's because my, my sister, my cousin, she got social services involved. She had run away to my grandmother's house and social services were contact and they did an investigation. And so the physical violence stopped at that point, but the, the emotional violence was still continuing. And so I was 14.I was in grade seven or grade nine. Sorry. When I, when I made the decision to leave the house. So the physical violence had stopped at like 12. But yeah, the mental, emotional stuff carried through throughout junior high. De'Vannon: I, so, you know, I, I, I have so much respect for you. You're able to have such a positive attitude and everything like that about, you know, towards these people, kudos to you.So what was it like having a mother who was on and off of [00:36:00] drugs like that? Do you remember how that affected you or I just Cheyenne: remember being like, why doesn't she want me. Like, why doesn't she love me? Right? Like that's, that's I think the biggest thing that I took away of like, nobody wants me, my mom doesn't want me, my dad doesn't want me.And then now these people who are supposed to care for me, who made the choice, they chose to bring me into their house instead of loving me and protecting me, they further traumatized me. And so I think that was the thing that I struggled with the most as a kid of like, not understanding why everything was happening to me and not understanding why choices were being made for me.And where was my mom? Like, and then when she did come in, she would be drunk or she'd have a new boyfriend and like, it would just be uncomfortable, you know? So like, yeah. I just remember just always wondering, like, what's next like, why, why is this happening? Like, and I just block out a lot of my childhood.There's a lot of like memories that I just don't have. And a part of that is an ADHD thing. Just cuz I have a terrible time forming [00:37:00] memories. But I think I've just shut down a lot of my childhood. And I remember some of the heavier traumatic moments, but some of the good times are gone too.You know, like I try. I'm figuring it out. But yeah, it's just, you know, it was a lot of confusion for my childhood of like, why doesn't she wanna get better? Why doesn't she want me, why doesn't anybody want me, you know?And that's like a hard thing to carry as an adult. Like even still being chronically single for three years. You're like even still, nobody wants me, you know, but I know that's not at the end of the day, that's not true. It's just, you know, things you carry forward from your De'Vannon: past. I have every belief that you are going gain the strength you need to totally overcome at all.And so I'm curious. So we have all of this fuckery that, that didn't happen. Would you have the experience once you broke away [00:38:00] from your aunt, uncle and you were now homeless, you know, a homeless youth, did you find like a community in a sense of family out there in the streets that you felt like you had found for the first time?Yeah. Cheyenne: I would say in particular, like we had our straight family, you know, we would like, like ride around on our BMXs and hang out in the square and play ack and smoke meth and stairwells, you know, I had that crew, but it was when I started raving that I really found myself and I really felt like I found a community.So I started going to the after hours when I was like 14, but I would like always get kicked out. Cause I was, they had passed a bylaw that it was 16 plus. So I had a couple years to wait, so I would go in, they'd kick me out. And so everybody knew me in the parking lot to hang out in the parking lot a lot.But that was where I really started to find a community for the first time where I felt like I was like loved and welcomed. And for all of my. Weirdness all my flaws, all my eccentric nest that I bring to the table that was like [00:39:00] welcomed in the rave community, because a lot of the people that we shared space with were also coming from background similar to mine, or coming from spaces where they were the, the black sheep, the ostracized one, the, you know, and so I think that was the space where I was like, oh, I, I actually belong in this world.And, and then that's okay that I exist.De'Vannon: Honey, the, the tears you're shedding right now are not in vain. You know, I feel like, I feel like they're healing you, you know, I see those tears and I appreciate appreciate them because I believe they're healing you. And also, I believe you're shedding tears for other people too. Who've gone through the similar things.And so, and I love how you're just letting 'em flow. You're like, you know what? This is me. They call me cry Cheyenne: in for a reason. always crying. De'Vannon: let it go, honey, let it go. Let it go. Let it go. Cheyenne: Well, and I think it's important [00:40:00] that people hear my story because, and that's why I don't shy away from talking about the harder stuff.Even though I know it's like other people's story too. It's, it's very much my story. And I think that if someone can hear my story and know that like you're gonna be okay, like it's gonna be okay, you don't have to be what other people tell you that you are or who you've been made out to think that you are like, you're just so beautiful and perfect the way you are.And like, no matter how much other people beat you, like that's never, they're never gonna beat that out of you. Like that's yours to own. And I think I've had to really accept that. None of those things were my fault, everything that happened to me, some of the decisions I made when I started using meth and like living on the streets and being more violent, those were my choices that I have to own, but I didn't ask my aunt and uncle to beat me.I didn't ask to be adopted. I didn't ask to be born. Right. And so a lot of that staff I had to really just separate mm-hmm my. My choices from their choices. And so that's why I say, if you don't want me to talk about my story, then don't hurt me. [00:41:00] Like, if, if you don't want that to be part of my story, then don't make it part of my story.And I think that goes like with any person that comes into my life now, it's not just about my aunt and uncle it's about anybody, you know, like, and I've had really good conversations with my biological mom. Like I said about everything that she's done about the abandonment and about how it's impacted me now as adult.But I haven't quite had that conversation with my aunt and uncle yet. And so I know it's coming. And I don't know if it's gonna go in a positive direction or Renee. I don't know if it's like gonna be a make or break for our relationship, but I'm ready to have the conversation. I still have a few more therapy sessions before I, I get to that point, but I'm, I'm almost there to have the conversation of like, this is what you did and this is how it's affected me.And I just need to hear you be accountable for it. Right. And like, I love you. I forgive you, but I, I need you to hold space for my pain.De'Vannon: I commend you on your bravery. You you gotta. You you gotta walk ahead of you, but [00:42:00] but you know, but you're doing everything that you can do because you can't really control it, what anyone else does, but at least, you know, you have a strong sense of peace knowing you exhausted every possible means to sort it all out.And then you haven't acccess to anger. You haven't become bitter, you know, or anything like that. And that's something that I'm noticing, and that can happen to people by it'll just get angry and stuff like that, and not really do anything except for stay angry. But what, one thing, one good thing I did learn from my sponsor and crystal meth anonymous is that bitterness and resentment it's like me drinking poison and expecting someone else to die.so, so, so however it is that you do it. Y'all let that bitterness go. Let it go. Let it go. Let it go. Let it go. I like stay on this, the, the, the, the, the homeless, like, youth experience, because I'm, I'm thinking about like, say [00:43:00] chosen family and things like that. So like, so like when the biological family doesn't quite work out in.Sometimes I see people who just cannot get over their biological family. Be it sisters, brothers, cousins, moms, dads, whatever. I dare say. I think some people have an addiction to family. Okay. I, I, I do believe that. What do you think about chosen family? Because there's a lot of people. There's a lot of us, black sheepy ones.Okay. It's never gonna work out with us in our biological family. And I just think it's time we come to terms with that. Cheyenne: yeah. It's, it's the dependency thing. We're like we're indoctrinated to believe that our family is like, we need to be right or die with our family. No matter how much they hurt us. And I just can't get on board with that.Like it's like being in a toxic relationship, being with an abusive partner, we wouldn't say, oh no, you need to stay with them because you love them. Right. We would say, no, that person is hurting. You, you need to separate yourself [00:44:00] from them. That person does not bring you joy, separate yourself from them.And I think that's the same with the family. You know, like I say, it it'll be a make or break conversation with my family because like, it's, it, it, it, it just has gotta happen. But I think that's why I love my chosen family so much, you know like particularly the rave community helped me for so many years, and now I have a drag family and like The drag community has been so much just so loving and caring and comforting for me.And I've only been doing drag since August. And so I found a chosen family, even within that small group of people and it was instant. It was like, they were just like, yeah, I see you. And I love you for who, who you are. And so I'm, I'm a firm believer in chosen family as well. I think we need to make spaces for ourselves that bring us joy, Marie condo, that shit.If, if, if your family does not spark joy, fucking, just move on and, and find someone who does carry you. Someone who is willing to love you in your messy times, someone who is willing to say, Hey, you're fucking up. How do we fix that? [00:45:00] Someone who can call you in and, and, and cry with you and love with you and celebrate with you.And if your family's not willing to do that and accept you for who you are, then it's okay to step away. Like, and I, and I firmly believe that. De'Vannon: And we're not saying it won't take some counseling and some talking through because it, oh, no Cheyenne: therapy, like, please get, get a therapist, please. De'Vannon: Cause it's like, when you leave biological family, it's almost like they've died in a way.And, and I, and I found, I had to like mourn the loss, you know, of a certain sibling of mine when, when there was just no path forward for us because of bitterness that they hold towards me and they refused to talk through it. You know, it felt like it was like, it was like attending a funeral for them.And it was, and I had to, you know, you know, I talked to my counselor and everything about that and, you know, we were able to find peace and resolution. I was curious like your aunt and uncle are they like, [00:46:00] do they say they're like religious people. Not at all. Cheyenne: No, no, no, no, no, not at all. No, we, we did not grow up with religion.My grandmother was the religious one. And so I spent much of my youth, like I said, in going to church and choir and like doing all the things. But my family was never really there at church. They would go like once a year, but in the last couple of years, a lot of my family has been really embracing our indigenous side, which has been beautiful to see.So not quite going to ceremonies and stuff yet, but you know, rejecting Canada day, rejecting religion you know, even starting to reject the religious holidays, which has been really great for me because I'm like, I feel bad that I'm not coming to Christmas dinner, but like I'm not celebrating Christmas anymore.It's just not my thing. It's not for me. I don't believe in it. But yes, it's been really great to see them embrace the indigenous kind of side of things. And, and thankfully religion. Wasn't a big part of my story outside of like the earlier part of my years.[00:47:00]De'Vannon: So, so then you get into a group home, so you're no longer homeless. So when you were homeless, like you said that you were like smoking meth to walk, you know, to stay up all night. It reminded me when I was, when I was homeless in Houston, I would constantly have meth in my system. And so I would just walk and walk and walk and walk and walk, you know, that's when I walked myself down to 127 pounds, you know, everything like that.And it was whew. I was barely here. This, this, this girl was barely here. And sohow often did you eat? Because for me it was about like maybe every five, seven days or so. I might come across food. Do you remember. Cheyenne: Well, see, I had a unique experience because I was in high school at the time. So I was still attending classes and I, I love my high school there. It was the boil street education center.And they have a meal program, [00:48:00] so they feed their students breakfast and lunch, and that was a big way of getting me into school. So I was like living in like the river valley. I would hike up the stairs in the morning, come out of the, come out of the ravine and go to class and, and be able to get a hot breakfast and a hot lunch.And so school, as much as I wasn't so engaged in the material. It could keep me there because they would feed me. And they're smart. It was a very intentional thing for them. And even to this day, the school still feeds their students. Two meals a day. They have hamper programs, they have supports for their students.And so when I was, when I was homeless, it was like a really big thing for me, was to be able to go and eat Monday to Friday. And then Saturdays, it would depend if I would make it to the soup kitchen or not. There would be days when I wouldn't make it to school or wouldn't make it to soup kitchen and I'd go without food.Or when school was off during the summer, so they have more of a year round program. So they're really only off for part of July and August. And so there would be that short brief of time where I wouldn't have two [00:49:00] meals a day. And. From 14 to 16. So when I was 16, even though I was still using meth, my biological mom was sober by that point.And so she got a new home. She got like an apartment and I moved in with her for a while. So I lived with her for a year while I was still using meth. And I was still very street involved. I had a space to go home and sleep in, but I was still like very much out and about on the street all hours of the night and day.But I was getting food at that point. So, De'Vannon: and you said in the was it a hamburger program you said? I couldn't quite hear. Yeah. They call it a ham, a hamper program. Cheyenne: Yeah. We have hamper programs yeah. At the school as well. I'm actually the board of directors for the high school. I'm still involved with the school.I just really believe in the work that they're doing because they saved my life. Like it was boil street being like, yeah, you're tweaked out. You're, you're a sketchy wild child, but we're gonna just love you and accept you as you are. And again, that's where my earliest [00:50:00] introductions to harm reduction came from, was through the school of like, yeah, you're clearly sketching, but you're still allowed to be here.It wasn't like, oh, you're high on meth. You need to leave. It was like, oh, you're high on meth. Let's sit you down here and support you and give you extra attention so that, you know, you are going to be okay. Like, we make sure that you're okay. And I just really appreciated that approach. So they, I would say they saved my life and they fed me, which I really appreciated.De'Vannon: yeah, my God. I had too many doors closed in my face when I. High on meth and everything like that. I'm so glad you had a different experience and I didn't have enough sense to go and find, like, I didn't know that there was one stops and places you can go and shower and stuff like that. I tried to eat at the shower was Cheyenne: harder De'Vannon: for me.Yeah. I tried to eat at the veteran's affair. It's like a soup kitchen that my cousin had told me about. I eat there like once and the next time I went back, they told me I was dressed too good. And so they turned me away. So they, so they [00:51:00] wouldn't let me eat because I looked too good at the, at the veteran's affairs.And so. They were I Cheyenne: didn't forbid I, how people look De'Vannon: nice. yeah. Like, and I think what it was is from where the drug rate had happened. I think, you know, when you're homeless, you show from house to house, sometimes you might pick up a shirt here, pair of jeans there, that sort of thing. And I think some of my clothes may have been recycled back to me from when the drug rate happened.My shit got scattered all over Houston. And so I was able to piecemeal a decent outfit together. I just, you know, and I just felt really good about myself for that one day at that one time. And you know, so I'm thinking I'm looking good. I'm gonna get me something to eat. You know, I haven't shot up meth yet.Otherwise I wouldn't have an appetite and they're like, Leave. And so I had to sit there and watch everybody eat, not once, but twice. And then I was denied food. And so I was like, you know what? Back to the streets I go then . And so Cheyenne: And I'm guessing that was run by some sort of, you said ministry. Oh, no veterans.[00:52:00] So not religion based? No. Okay. A lot of RSU kitchens here are religion based. Two in part, part, two of the main ones are run by like churches. De'Vannon: You have them, they might be like under like a Catholic archdiocese or something like that. But the ones that are like that here are not very religious. Like they might say a prayer when all the homeless people get in there, otherwise disadvantaged people get there to eat, but nobody's like coming around, handing you out little Bibles or anything like that.No, this was a government facility. I'm a veteran of the United States air force at a veteran's affairs. Kitchen. And I was denied food there even as a veteran. Yeah. That's all that was, there was veterans. It was a place just for veterans. And so, but they told me that's so frustrating. I wasn't looking trashy enough for their, for their liking and Cheyenne: so gross.[00:53:00]De'Vannon: Okay. So then. So then you got emancipated at the age of 17. Talk to me about that process. I think it's abundantly clear why you probably wanted to be emancipated, but there's something you'd like to say about the why I'd also like to know the, how. Cheyenne: Yeah. So when I left home at 14 and by the time I then began living with my mom at 16.So in those years I was like in and out of group homes. I had some charges that I received as well for some stuff. So I was like in and out of the young offender center as well, never more than like a couple days or a week. I had 2, 2, 2 instances where I was in jail. But it was like going through group homes and going through like just constantly in and outta group homes.And like, I always just felt like I'd just rather be on the streets. I would much rather be like, and I, I think part of that was like I had what's that disorder. Oh, I can't remember what it's called anywheres, like pressed. What is I [00:54:00] can't remember the name anyways. I just didn't take to authority very well.And I think it's because when you grow up in violence and you grow up, like constantly being told how to think or act, or, you know, being punished for trying to be yourself you know, authority just is there's conflicting there. Right. And so I just didn't really like being in group homes. And so I was talking to my social worker at the time.And I had a lot of bad social workers over the time as well. Like they just didn't really want to actually like sit with me or support me. They would just throw a food voucher my way, or throw a clothing voucher my way and then, or throw me in a group home. And that would be it, there was not really a lot of like dignity coming from conversations with social workers.And so when I talked to my social worker about it and I said, I think I'm ready to like, not be a part of the system anymore because I had been my whole life. Right. My mom. Adopted me out to my aunt and uncle. So I already had child welfare involvement from like a young age. And so for me, it just [00:55:00] made more sense to separate myself from the state, so to speak.So I did have to go through a court process. I remember it being fairly easy. Because at that point I was living with my biological mom. And I was, I think I was actually 16 when I emancipated cuz I was still using at that time. But I just remember the court process being really easy. And I remember just being really like, that's it like, there's like, okay.You're and, but I mean, it, it cost me some support, so I didn't get like any sort of food or clothing vouchers anymore. I didn't have any financial assistance from, from child welfare or anything like that. So there was like a whole side of supports that I, I could have probably accessed. I think now it's up until 23 is when you can access those supports.At that time it was probably like 18 or 19. So I still had a few more years of support, but for me it just made more sense to be independent. And I was so fiercely independent because my whole [00:56:00]life, everybody that was supposed to care for me, let me down. And so at that point I also felt like the system had also let me down.And so I just rather do the things on my own. And I've been doing things on my own ever since I've been, I left home at 14 and I'm still living alone and I'm, I'm very independent. I don't ask for a lot of help. It's hard for me to ask for help. So that's a, a thing I'm, I'm learning to work through now of like being comfortable asking for help.But for many years it was like, I just wanted do my own thing and getting out of the system was the best way to do that. So I'm glad I emancipated, but it's not the great move for everybody. Right? Like some people might need additional supports moving forward. And I don't know what it's like in the states.And I, and again, this was a number of years goes, I don't even know what the emancipation process would be like now, if it would still be as easy for somebody, but I think they just saw a traumatized child who was willing to do it on their own. And it was easier to wipe themselves clean of it, not having to deal with it anymore.Right. De'Vannon: Well, [00:57:00] you know what, here's the freedom. I am so glad that you feel free. And so it's so quintessential to our mental health and our emotional wellbeing. And I think I'm like you in terms of bucking against authority, you know, because I grew up in an abusive home too, that I went to the military, not to mention all the influence of the church and this every day I'm, I'm particular about whose authority I come under.Like, and I, it is a miracle. I even made it out of the military. It was an honorable discharge because it's not that I don't like being told what to do, but I'm very particular because a lot of people wanna control others and they're not really qualified or all that competent. And so that I agree like for, but you know, for a long time, I.Well shit. That's why I'm in business for myself because I really, I really don't like being told what to do, just fuck it. I don't. What, so you, you, you did say that you lived in group homes. What, what would you say to anybody currently? Who's like a youth living in a group home because I know that came with this own set of [00:58:00] struggles and everything like that.Just what advice would you give. Cheyenne: I think looking back there were some group homes that I probably could've actually thrived in if I would've just given it a little bit of more of a chance. And so I think it like really comes down to your own intuition. If a space doesn't feel safe, like talk to your workers, talk to your support systems about that.And I, I, I just like the streets seem like a better option, but it might not be right. Like a lot of stuff happened to me on the streets as well. That was violent and abusive. And I did a lot of violent and abusive things when I lived on the street as well. Like you're in survival mode all the time.Right. So I don't know if I have like, necessarily like advice. I would just say like, Just do what feels what's going to keep you safe. And just like, remember that you're loved, like somebody out there loves you who like, and it may not seem that way when you're in a group home, everything feels really isolating and scary.And like I have social anxiety. And so it was already [00:59:00] awkward enough to be in these spaces with new people every few weeks. And like other youth who are just as angry as you are, you know? Yeah. I just like, it's just about finding ways to keep yourself safe and recognizing that it's okay to sometimes ask for that help.And that not all authority or not all group homes are out to get. Yeah. Even though it fucking seems that way when you're a kid I really wish I would've had more of an understanding of the disabilities I have and how I respond to authority. You know, and even my attachments, my attachment disorders and stuff like, yeah.I, I, I think it's really important that we start to understand who we are. And I think if you're in a group home that can feel really overwhelming. And so I don'

 Keith E. Green II, MPH is an enthusiastic public health practitioner, who is a HBCU Thought Partner and Change Agent. He is versed in marketing, communications, and program support functions. He got his Bachelor's of Science in Mass Communication & Media Studies at Clark Atlanta University and then worked for some years with the US Navy. He then got his Master of Public Health at Morehouse School of Medicine. He currently works as a Program Manager Institute for Capacity Building at United Negro College Fund, as well as more recently became a Harvard University Strategic Data Project Fellow. Keith E. Green II, MPH on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kgreen85/Shownotes: https://thephmillennial.com/episode114Omari on IG: https://www.instagram.com/thephmillennial Omari on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/omari-richinsAll ways to support The Public Health Millennial: https://thephmillennial.com/support/Shop at The Public Health Millennial Store for discount: https://thephmillennial.com/shop/@0:00 Episode teaser@1:30 Introduction to Keith E. Green II, MPH@3:39 How are you doing?@9:55 What does public health mean to you? @14:27 Bachelor's of Science at Clark Atlanta University@18:20 Intern WCLK Clark Atlanta University@22:46 Logistics Specialist at US Navy@27:47 Inventory Control at General Nutrition Centers, Inc@30:54 Community Liaison at Another Chance of Atlanta@36:51 How did you learn about public health?@40:44 Master of Public Health at Morehouse School of Medicine @43:05 Advertisement for Public Health Hired@46:30 Student Intern at Kennedy-Satcher Center for Mental Health Equity@50:50 Having conversations about mental health@55:11 Policy and Action Associate at APHA@1:00:30 Community Research Analyst at Morehouse School of Medicine@1:02:50 Graduate Certificate in Fundamentals of Emergency Preparedness & Social Media in Preparedness and Response at Columbia University: Mailman School of Public Health@1:07:20 Researcher at National Research Mentoring Network@1:13:20 Certificate in Data Analytics at Cornell University @1:17:56 Research Assistant at Morehouse School of Medicine@1:20:10 Program Manager Institute for Capacity Building at United Negro College Fund@1:31:18 Where do you see yourself in the future? @1:41:06 Advice for student in public health@1:43:10 Advice for someone seeking a career in health content writing@1:44:16 What are you working on improving in your life?@1:46:19 Professional recommendations@1:48:00 Connect with KeithSupport the show

INTRODUCTION: Cheyenne Mihko Kihêw (they/them) is a Two-Spirit Indigi-queer, born and raised in amiskwacîwâskahikan (Edmonton). Inspired by their own lived experiences with meth addiction and street involvement in their teen years, Cheyenne has dedicated their life to community-based work. They were the first in their family to attend university, holding a BA in Sociology from MacEwan. Currently, they are the Community Liaison for Edmonton 2 Spirit Society, a role that affords them the privilege of incorporating many of their passions into their work and is supporting their own journey of cultural reclamation. Cheyenne is the current Two Spirit Warrior regional titleholder 2021/2022, alongside Rob Gurney. They are also the current Chair of the Board of Directors for Boyle Street Education Centre, their former high school to which they accredit much of their achievements. Cheyenne is unapologetic in their identity as a nêhiyaw, fat, and queer femme and lives loud and proud.E2S:EDMONTON 2 SPIRIT SOCIETY (E2S)amiskwacîwâskahikan ᐊᒥᐢᑲᐧᒋᐋᐧᐢᑲᐦᐃᑲᐣWe are an intergenerational society dedicated to the acknowledgment and support of Two Spirit and LGBTQQIA+ Indigenous people and their kinship circles. Our organization offers: Cultural Ceremonies Cultural Competency Training Education Workshops Land Acknowledgments Resource Tabling Sharing Circles Outreach & Referrals Socials & Events  INCLUDED IN THIS EPISODE (But not limited to): ·      Indigenous Life·      Deculturization/Colonization·      Residential School Scandal·      The Catholic Church's Role In The Torture & Death Of Indigenous Children·      The Indian Act·      Replacement Theory·      The Short Sightedness Of The Rich & Powerful·      Indigenous Ceremonies ·      Two Spirit Defined·      In Between Defined·      Indigi-queer Defined·      Indigenous Vs. Native American CONNECT WITH CHEYENNE: Website: https://e2s.ca/Cell: 587-385-9670Email: communityliaison@edmonton2s.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/edmonton2spiritsocietyInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/edmonton_2_spirit_society/Twitter: https://twitter.com/e2s_2  CONNECT WITH DE'VANNON: Website: https://www.SexDrugsAndJesus.comYouTube: https://bit.ly/3daTqCMFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/SexDrugsAndJesus/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sexdrugsandjesuspodcast/Twitter: https://twitter.com/TabooTopixLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/devannonEmail: DeVannon@SexDrugsAndJesus.com DE'VANNON'S RECOMMENDATIONS: ·      Deculturalization: https://bit.ly/3am35bC·      Quannah Chasinghorse: https://cnn.it/3wIItTC·      Pray Away Documentary (NETFLIX)o  https://www.netflix.com/title/81040370o  TRAILER: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tk_CqGVfxEs ·      Hillsong: A Megachurch Exposed (Documentary)o  https://press.discoveryplus.com/lifestyle/discovery-announces-key-participants-featured-in-upcoming-expose-of-the-hillsong-church-controversy-hillsong-a-megachurch-exposed/ ·      Leaving Hillsong Podcast With Tanya Levino  https://leavinghillsong.podbean.com ·      Upwork: https://www.upwork.com·      FreeUp: https://freeup.net·      Disabled American Veterans (DAV): https://www.dav.org·      American Legion: https://www.legion.org  INTERESTED IN PODCASTING OR BEING A GUEST?: ·      PodMatch is awesome! This application streamlines the process of finding guests for your show and also helps you find shows to be a guest on. The PodMatch Community is a part of this and that is where you can ask questions and get help from an entire network of people so that you save both money and time on your podcasting journey.https://podmatch.com/signup/devannon  TRANSCRIPT: [00:00:00]You're listening to the sex drugs and Jesus podcast, where we discuss whatever the fuck we want to! And yes, we can put sex and drugs and Jesus all in the same bed and still be all right at the end of the day. My name is De'Vannon and I'll be interviewing guests from every corner of this world as we dig into topics that are too risqué for the morning show, as we strive to help you understand what's really going on in your life.There is nothing off the table and we've got a lot to talk about. So let's dive right into this episode.De'Vannon: Good day. Good day. Good day to everyone out there. Hello. Oh, you beautiful people. I love you. I bless you. I kiss you in the name of the Lord. Hallelujah. Today I am talking with Cheyenne Mikko Kyo, and this beautiful soul is the community liaison at the Edmonton two-spirit society, which is up there in Canada. . So I entered the two-spirit and Digi queer, who was born and raised in [00:01:00] Edmonton. And this episode, we're going to be diving deep into indigenous struggles.We're going to talk about the ongoing search for buried indigenous children up there in Canada. Uh, we're going to get into the Indian act and then the church has a role in all of the evil that has been done to indigenous people.Quite a ways back,please take a close list. Hello? Hello. Hello. Every fucking beautiful body out there. And welcome, welcome. Welcome to the sex drugs and Jesus podcast. Hallelujah, tabernacle and motherfucking praise I have with me today. Shagun B O B go keel. Who is the community liaison for the Edmonton two society up in Canada. How the fuck you doing today, girlfriend?Cheyenne: I'm doing wonderful. Thanks so [00:02:00] much for having me so excited to De'Vannon: be here. Hell yeah, this has been a long time. Come in. It has out here. So tell us who you are. I'm super excited. Y'all we're going to be focusing on native American, indigenous peoples a day and getting some head and all of that. What all the different terms are the struggles, the persecution of our native American indigenous people.I'm part native American myself. And so as you can see, you are full blood. And so tell us who you are and what you I'm not Cheyenne: full-blood no, I'm not full-blood. So I'll just introduce myself in my indigenous language. So Cheyenne Mingo county and say godson I Ms. . So I said, hello, all my relatives.My name is Cheyenne NIGO, Q M, or amigo que equate, which is my ceremonial name. It means blood Eagle being and I am from [00:03:00] Edmonton up in treaty six territory in Canada. And I'm not full-blood indigenous, so I'm actually mixed. But I don't know my biological father. And so I have a whole half of my identity that I have no way to relate to.So I'm very focused on my indigeneity for that reason, because there's a cultural background that I'm missing in my life. And so it's really important for me to stay connected to the parts that I am aware of. And so on my mother's side, my maternal side I am from a tribe called the Woodlands Cree in Northern Alberta and treaty eight territory from a reserve called drift pal creation.I was born and raised here in Edmonton, just due to family stuff. And my, my grandmother raising her children away from the reserve very intentionally. And yeah, so I'm, I'm not full blood, but I'm half, not that, but all of that is blood quantum. Like if you have a drop in your, your, your indigenous.De'Vannon: Yeah. So you said she's a Woodland Cree, not to be confused with marble Cree, but[00:04:00]the multi-verse is huge. So you prefer they them, Cheyenne: I do. Yeah. And there's like a cultural reason for that. De'Vannon: What is it? What's the culture? Cheyenne: Well, I met, oh, it's broadly known as two-spirit. But within my, within my culture, cause two-spirit, we can talk a bit more about the intricacies of it. But two-spirit from my own understanding and learning my teaching from my nation.I am one of eight genders. And so that equation, which is part of my name, amigo Cahill, a quail that means like neither man or woman, but all of the genders in one. And so I use they them pronouns to honor that my culture and my gender are inherently tied to each other. And it helps me as a way of stepping outside that binary of man and woman and being a little closer to my cultural.De'Vannon: Okay. So then if someone says like how I did a few seconds ago, like, Hey girl, is that like the wrong? Well, Cheyenne: [00:05:00] I really liked like girl, like when it's like super sassy for me personally, and I can't speak for all, like two-spirit people. Cause obviously I'm just one person from one nation. But like for me, I don't mind like a sassy girl, but I low as being called lady or woman or ma'am or like inherently feminine ones because I have like the female body people like impose that on me.And so I will very quiet, like plays, they not a girl or not a ma'am, but thank you. But when it's like girlfriend, like that's like sassy enough that I I'm cool with De'Vannon: that. Yeah. The games we can get away with anything. So she likes her a good gay girl. Hey girl.Cheyenne: And if I'm in ceremony, like that's like the one spot too, where I'm like, if, if a, if an elder who's running the ceremony, he uses, he, him pronouns for me. That's how that person is seeing me in that ceremony. And so then that's, that's okay. I'm okay with that in a ceremonial context, within reason. De'Vannon: So when you say ceremony, okay.So is this like the Indian powwows that I used to go to where they've got [00:06:00] everything like that? It sounds like you're talking about some high spiritual person who's viewing you in a, through like a, an Oracle lens. So what, when you say ceremony would. Cheyenne: Yeah. So when I'm talking about ceremony so here in Canada, we don't tend to call ourselves Indians.That's like a very, more like American kind of way of speaking of indigeneity. But up here in Canada, our ceremonies, like particularly within my nation, again, I can't speak for all indigenous people because we're not a monolithic group. Right. We all have different teachings and ceremonial practices.But in my teachings a ceremony would be like, I think like a sweat lodge how else are ceremonial? But they've also kind of shifted into more of like a social gathering now. Other types of ceremony could be like a Sundance ceremony or a pipe ceremony a fasting ceremony, chicken dance ghost.There's lots of different kinds of ceremonies. De'Vannon: I know that's right. And we're going to get into lots of different kinds of things. So y'all heard her mentioned two-spirit [00:07:00] indigenous, you was saying the native American is kind of like, you know, an Americanization. The, the culture here. So so Cheyenne is going to break down to us like what two-spirit means in depth.What I wanna, I wanna, we're gonna find out that I want to know what in-between means in Digi queer, and is what the fuck, the differences between native versus indigenous and everything like that. Cause I don't want people looking at me fucking crazy when I address them. But before we get into that, I saw an article that came on on LGBTQ nation which is a great website to keep up with LGBTQ trends and they have a term called the culturalization and the article is talking about basically how.Education systems are low key whitewashing, native American indigenous children. They get them in there. They're cutting their hair as a different way. The things that they show them and everything like that, they're basically turning the native American, indigenous kids white and doing it undercover and have been getting [00:08:00] away with it.What do you think about. Cheyenne: Yeah, that's a big topic here in Canada right now. Because we have our own system of education that was imposed on indigenous children since the 18 hundreds. And that was the Indian residential school system here in Canada. And it was largely based off of the boarding schools that, that article that you're talking about.Highlights. I really recommend folks to go take a look at the article if you're not familiar with the process of deculturalization for students. So here in Canada, the, the idea was that if you took the children out of their home and put them into a school, you could disrupt control continuity. So what that means is you interrupt their learning of their traditional language, their belief systems you interrupt basically all of that cultural development that they would receive by living with their elders, living with their community.And that process in Canada was really, really, really violent. My own grandparents actually were in the residential school system. They both survived, but not without the long-term impacts [00:09:00] of that. So while it also does things like, you know, it helps you forget your language or helps you be ashamed of your indigeneity.Students were coming out of the schools with like sexual abuse, trauma, physical trauma. Some students didn't make it out of the school's life. And so that's where we're at now in Canada is the schools. They're starting to use ground penetrating radar to look into the school yards and finding unmarked graves like mass, unmarked graves, basically.And so of the, I think it's 136 schools here in Canada. They've only gone through a small portion of them, but many, many, many children are being found. And so actually I'm wearing a pin to. This orange pin here, this symbolizes the children who didn't make it home, that symbolizes all of the children who survived.And it's based off of a residential school survivor here in Canada named Phyllis Webb's dad. And she had gotten brought into the school with her little orange shirt. She was so proud and they took the school. The school took her shirt from her [00:10:00] and took away her pride and her dignity and replaced it with trauma.And so I do believe that that process of deculturalization is happening in the schools. And we say a lot now, like in Canada, the last school closed in 1996. But the process is still ongoing because you're seeing indigenous students face higher rates of bullying and suicide within schools than their non-indigenous counterparts.And if you add the like complexity of being queer on top of it, you're queer and indigenous you're like. You're just having like harder outcomes basically. So I think education is used as a way of really separating our students from their belief systems. And it's, it's, it's problematic to say the least, because as two-spirit people, we're, we're still trying to come back from the eraser that happened within Canada, the residential school system we've been here.So it's a hard topic to talk about, but yeah, apologies that I'm going to cough. I am still recovering from COVID. So, De'Vannon: honey, I'm glad you're alive. [00:11:00] Yeah. So I want to date, I appreciate your bonus and your willingness to talk about this difficult subject. I want to dig deeper into the deaths of these children.So let me be clear. The, the, so the kids are showing up in school. Are they getting murdered at the school or were they murdered, murdered somewhere else? Then they dumped the bodies at the school. Cheyenne: So historically the children were actually forced to leave their homes. There wasn't an option. So the RCMP, the Royal Canadian mounted police would come to the homes, take the children and bring them to the school.If the parents weren't going to give the children up, then the parents were imprisoned and the children were brought to school. So many children. Died trying to escape the schools. I'm trying to cross through Canadian terrain, which is obviously in winter, quite cold and harsh. And so was children died that way.But many children died in the schools at the hands of the priests and the nuns that were often running the school. So Catholic church, other denominations were running these schools across Canada. And stock was basically who [00:12:00] was incurring the abuse onto the children, but there was also a another level where the Canadian government authorized.Experimentation medical experimentation on the students, in the schools as well. So some students were being starved. Other students were having their nutrients kind of like being toyed with so that they could figure out how different nutrients impact the body. And they did that on the students, in the schools.So some students died just simply malnutrition not being fed enough or the conditions in the schools were, were quite terrible as well. Like, like quite deplorable you know, very drafty, no weather protection and the nurse, the, the, the nuns and the priests, they good, they were taken care of, but the children yeah, and, and a lot of sexual abuse too.And there's a lot of stories of priests impregnating young women in the schools and then the babies being taken and, and burned in furnaces. So those are bodies that will never recover. But some of the bodies are marked like some of the graves are. And you can find them in records, but a lot of the bodies [00:13:00] are not written or documented anywhere.And there are residential school survivors who never saw their families come out of the schools or saw their families die in the schools and, and know that their bodies will never be found. So it's, you know, a lot of it was at the hands of the people who were running the schools. De'Vannon: I really hate the Catholic church.Cheyenne: It's yeah, it's, it's a hard thing. De'Vannon: I, I, I don't really hate very many things in this life, but th the, then the destruction that churches, denominations of religions, cause this is just load some is the testable is one of the things that I cry out to God. I cry out against churches and denominations.I pray about this, you know, all the time, you know, because who else can really do anything about an organization say as the largest Catholic church or mega churches. So I pray to God specifically for him to do [00:14:00] something about these churches and these preachers that have gone book damn wild, drunk with power, and they have no accountability.They fear nothing. And and I suppose, I think, cause they have a lot of money or whatever the case may be. Don't know, but that, that that's that bullshit right there. It really, really pisses me off, you know, these priests nuns. And I'll tell you the megachurches again, you know, we're supposed to be, would go to these people for a sense of security and help, and everything is supposed to be all right.If it's wrong, everywhere else in the world is supposed to be right when we're in the house of the Lord or in front of somebody who's supposedly his representative or ambassador not getting raped, beat starved. You know, down here kicked out a church for not being straight or fired from volunteering or not being straight the way churches just handle people.I don't attack churches for like having money and stuff like that. Everyone else is already doing [00:15:00] that. I don't want to turn into the guy who's trying to control them, which is the problem I have with them as the way they want to control what the people. So if you want to make money, if people are silly enough to sit there and give it to you and keep buying your books, your regurgitated sermons, and all of that, okay, that's your, you ground, you selling something to another grown person that's on y'all with the abuse of the people that they're trying to conversion therapy, people trying to con you know, make people change to be accepted.And all of that is what I go after the church fourth, the way they treat people in that, that bullshit right there. What you're talking about is absolutely terrible. How, how many years back are these bodies being found? How long ago was. Cheyenne: Well, the first school was in the 18 hundreds, the ground penetrating radar.That was just over a year ago that they started doing this. So the first school was, I don't know the exact date. I apologize. But yeah, it was just last year that they did the first school. And then now where there's just funding happening for all of these different, smaller nations [00:16:00] to also start the process.But the last school closed in 1996. I was already like 10 years old at that point. Right. Like I was alive. If I would've grown up on the reserve, I could have gone to a residential school. I have friends who went to residential schools or went to day schools. Right. A lot of the elders that we work with went through this process as well.So it's fresh. It's, it's like, you think it's from the 18 hundreds, but it's, it's really not like it's, it's fresh in our minds and our hearts. De'Vannon: So these schools were on the reservation. They were not. Cheyenne: They weren't public. Some of them were day schools on the reserve where students just went in for the day and came back out.But the majority of the schools were on the reserve or near the reserve. Sometimes they would be multiple reserves attending one school. And like the earlier schools that we were developed, it's not like how Canada is now, where, you know, we we're, we're quite colonized at this point. And so there's a lot of settlements all over the country.Right. But at that point, Canada was largely empty land. Right. So the schools would be between reserves or settlements. [00:17:00] Yeah. And like they were weren't, they weren't necessarily public, like for non I don't, I'm not aware of non-indigenous students attending the schools unless they were inherently related to the church or the people running the schools.De'Vannon: So then I'm curious. So there was Catholic influence there. What history, how is the Catholic church in native American indigenous people intertwined in the first. Cheyenne: Yeah, well, because the government was working directly with the church, right? So the government developed a document in 1876 called the Indian act and the Indian act is still in progress today was still, still guided by this policy.And it basically the Canadian government gave themselves authority over indigenous peoples. So it determines that indigenous peoples are clearly incompetent of taking care of themselves there and colonized or uncivilized. We need to you know, eradicate them. Basically. They wanted to kill the savages.There's like documentation from the earlier government [00:18:00] of how they wanted to do this. And part of that process was in collaboration with the church. So having the church run, these schools was a way of, Hey, we're moving the government, right? They're not, they're having to provide more staff. But also that indoctrination process, right, because the Canadian government at that time, I was coming from Europe.And so a lot of what they did was based around their religion, very, very Eurocentric religious kind of ideologies that were running these political movements. And so that's kind of how it got intertwined. And there was like a really contentious history now with indigenous people and the church, because the church ran these schools for so long.And so people like my grandmother while she was alive, you know, I couldn't get her to go to a pipe ceremony with me. We didn't go to sweat lodges. She went to church, like she went to church religiously. She was in church every Sunday. I sang in the choir for like a few years before I realized, what am I doing here?Like this isn't for me. And I miss my grandmother. I love my grandmother, but I basically had to recently stop celebrating anything, tied to religion [00:19:00] holidays. Like I don't do Christmas. I don't do Easter. If it's tied to a religion I'm not interested. And that's a way of me honoring my grandmother.Because she was so religious, but that was like that cultural indoctrination, right? The religious indoctrination that she experienced from being in the schools for 12 years. Right. And she didn't talk about the abuse or the violence, but we experienced it in our family that was passed on to us. So I think that's why the religion aspect is tied to us.A lot of our indigenous peoples still honor religion in, in a way that makes sense for them. And that's up to them. We can't say you shouldn't do that because the, the church did this, right. It's a, you know, autonomous decision. But for me personally, as an indigenous person, I don't see how I could honestly honor a religion that caused so much harm in my family.That I'm still feeling the effects of that might generations beyond me will still continue to feel. De'Vannon: So I'm a little confused. So she, you started, you're telling me she was an avid church goer, but she was abused by the, by the church. Yeah. Cheyenne: Yeah. That's, that's how deep some of that trauma is. That's how deep [00:20:00] some of that pain is like.And like I say, hers, her, her experiences in the schools, she wouldn't talk about. She, she, she adamantly the only thing she talked about was the babies being thrown in the furnace basically. De'Vannon: But if, but if her pain came from the religious people, why would she still go to the religious place? Cheyenne: I wish he was alive.So I could ask her because that's something I've been struggling with my whole life. I don't understand how people who have this experience and their families can turn to the church for comfort or for kindness. And, and a lot of indigenous people who will celebrate in religion will like very adamantly speak up about it.Like, you know, they are very much, we had had experienced with an individual recently who works for a very well-known organization for a group called the Maytee, which is a group of indigenous peoples here in Canada. And at one point this individual said, you know, I'm not to spirit. I believe in God, I don't go to ceremony.And he was like in a space full of two-spirit people. And we were like, [00:21:00] what is happening right now? Like, it's so it, I wish I had the answer to that. I don't know. And I think that just goes to how deep some of, some of that internalization and that shame of being indigenous really goes, that comes from having those experiences that you do in the school.De'Vannon: No, At the end of the damn day, all we need is God. I believe in the Trinity. I'm not naive. I know not, everybody's going to believe in God, Jesus Christ in the holy ghost. And I don't really care. I just, but I can only say about me. And so and I don't think anyone's less than me or they're going to burn up and go to hell or anything like that.If they don't believe, like, I believe we just believe differently into story done. I say it all the time. I love hanging out with the Buddhist temple because I like being around other ball bitches. Like me it's fucking the brain. So they had great vegetarian food. So I flux and everything like that, but I'm clear on what I stand for.They don't try to make me worship that that day as Buddha statue they have in the temple, you know, that I don't have to bow to it or anything like that. It's a [00:22:00] very comfortable space and they don't judge me. I don't judge them. We just share thoughts. And so at the end of the day, Oh, I feel like only thing I need is God, you know, my personal relationship with him when I die and everything like that, it's just going to be him.There's not going to be a church. The stand before the judgment throne with me, there's not going to be a dogma or a doctrine or a choir at least not an earthly choir, you know, or anything like that. Do you know the, one of the main pillars of my ministry, Cheyenne, is to get people off of this church and religion and pass their preacher worship leader conference, going book, buying addiction that people have to these organizations and things like that.A lot of it is rooted in fear. They felt like they don't go to church. They're going to burn up and go to hell. And so then I tell these people, where did you get this belief from? Who told you that the person who wants you to keep coming to church? So, you know, I encourage people to do their own research across religions.[00:23:00]And especially the Hebrew Bible to learn how to read the original languages. I'm getting ready to do a show. I'm going to get really deep into exactly who in the fuck interprets the Bible, you know, and things likein it. And I'm like the masses are not represented. And so I don't blame you for saying, fuck Christmas, fuck Easter. You know, Christmas is just a greedy ass holiday buck, an Easter bunnies and chicken eggs. What the hell does that have to do with anything? And so I don't feel like we should have to have a holiday to remind us the worship price or to remind us of his sacrifice is better than nothing at Vanguard for the people who only go to church on Christmas and Easter for fuck's sake, it's better than nothing.You know, I, it was only, it's only been one. Tom. And my life that I have been to someone's house with this was when I was in the military and I wasn't able to come home for leave. [00:24:00] I think it was Thanksgiving where some were where the family who was running, this actually went around the table that acknowledged the reason for the holiday and gave us a chance to express gratitude everywhere else.I've been no matter whose house has been labor day, Memorial day, 4th of July, Christmas, Easter, new year's or whatever. It's just food, alcohol, whatever nobody ever stops to pray for the veterans who died to give you the holiday to say a prayer to Jesus or nothing is just consuming and consumption and more greed.And I don't sound bitter because this is the truth. Isn't, as I'm saying this, how many holidays festivals, people who are listening when you go for labor day, weekend, 4th of July, things that are centered around veterans dying, you know, so that you can have. The holiday. When do you ever give thanks to the veterans, the people who have died, when do you pray for the people who are in the military or anything like that?Do you donate to the veteran service organizations, the disabled American veterans, the DAV, or the American Legion? [00:25:00] What do you do on veteran holidays besides get fucked?Cheyenne: One Thanksgiving to the indigenous people who lost their lives so that you could have the land that you're on now. Right? Like the Thanksgiving is another one. Again, our Thanksgiving here in Canada is a little different because ours isn't centered around pilgrims and all of that, ours is centered around the harvest.And so we're getting thanks to the lens, the abundance that we're getting from the land. Whereas I think your Thanksgiving is based on cultural genocide, right? So it's a bit of a different I think I know there's a big push now for Thanksgiving to be shifted into. Right. I'm thinking more Columbus day as well as the other one.Both of those holidays, I think, are quite contentious in, in your part. Not so much here in Canada, but the two often get quite confused, right. There was no border prior to colonization. Right. That's and I guess that's where the American thing comes from. Yeah. De'Vannon: So yeah, so they're starting to call Thanksgiving [00:26:00] friends giving down here instead of Thanksgiving.I want to say maybe Joe Biden started that or something. You know, our current president. I'm not don't quote me on that, but I think something like that may have come out of the white house, but it's friends giving now. So we're not even calling it Thanksgiving anymore. It's over. It's done with and you have fuck Columbus.Y'all, don't have a fuck Columbus attitude up there. Cheyenne: Don't De'Vannon: do any shit at all. Okay. Cheyenne: We have other we have other like leaders, more of the political side of things, as opposed to like the explorers. So one of the big, like, fuck you people right now is John ate. McDonald's like, fuck that guy. He was candidate.Prime minister. And he was the one who signed a lot of those documents that took the children from their home that forced indigenous people to live this whole new way of being and knowing. Right. So, yeah, fuck that guy like, and Ryerson that's another one. Fuck that guy too. They recently had an event in, in Toronto and they [00:27:00] went to the Ryerson university and they took his fucking head off the statue.And that, that statue head now lives in an indigenous land camp where they're fighting for, for their land. Yeah, it's interesting times here in Canada, but yeah, we we've got different, different leaders that were like, no, fuck that guy. That guy sucks. Like, why are we honoring Johnny McDonald like that?Because the douche bag, he's the OG douchebag like,De'Vannon: oh, gee deuce bag. That's not a title we want. Cheyenne: I know, I think I'll pass on that title. De'Vannon: So, so colonization is something you've mentioned that. So that's basically like our deep, culturalization the way they're trying to turn the indigenous and native American kids. White, low key is colonization. It's the same thing, right?I Cheyenne: would say like, deculturalization deculturalization is like a process of decolonization, right? It's like it's a, it's a piece of the whole deep colonization process, if that makes sense. [00:28:00]De'Vannon: So have you heard of replacement theory yet? Cheyenne: I don't think so. De'Vannon: There's something that's happening down here right now.I'm going to send you a, since we're talking about the evil shit, white people. Right now this, if it's into the conversation, I wasn't going to bring this up, but we just had a shooting down here likely in the last couple of days, I want to say maybe Buffalo, New York or something like that. This fucking white kid went, took his ass online and research places where black people are known to be.If he took his time they were saying on the morning, Joe show on MSNBC this morning that he he went the day before to like the school or mall or church or whatever it was to case the place. And he went there a few hours before the shooting. And then he took out like 10 people. I think he killed like 10 people or something like that.And that's, that's an ongoing story, but you know, this is a white person in these, and he read the manifestos of previous serial of mass shooting people and stuff like that [00:29:00] before. So it was going on down here in the United States. We have all of these white people who feel like they're fearing that they're going to be replaced by everything.Not. And so this whole replacement theory that of nonwhite people should be eliminated in the white people should take over. But what do you think about that theory is as a thing and it's happening now? Cheyenne: Yeah, that my heart goes out to all the people that were impacted by that, but it's just so sad replay like that.It's just so ridiculous. There are a lot of white people in the world. White people have the monopoly on like so much, you know? I, I, yeah, I, it honestly blows my mind that people, I wonder how somebody gets to that point and I have empathy for that person in that he is so wrapped up in this delusion that's like basically just guided by racism, right?Like just, just call it what it is. It's a hate crime. He was a white guy, intentionally targeting a black [00:30:00] community. Right. Like if you're that diluted about skin color, like melanin, like you just have more melanin in your skin then than him. Like, I don't understand. Yeah, I honestly, I'm a little, I'm a little out of words for that one, because it's just, so it's just so out there, like replace in theory, it's.It feels like it's a direct attack on critical race theory, right? Like it's like almost like the, the extremist alternative to critical race theory. But it's like obviously going in the wrong direction. De'Vannon: Well, you know, the Republicans are behind that sort of thing, even though they don't want to say it because that same guy who wouldn't shout of all these people, like I think a year ago he had, he was in a mental health institution for a reason.And there is a law that they could have used for ban him from buying a done and they didn't do it. So he had illegally purchased gun that he modified using some tools from his dad's shed. But the point is somebody who was, who are they? Mental health patient [00:31:00] was allowed to legally purchase a gun who has now killed people and see the white Republicans here don't want strict gun laws.Cheyenne: Right. That's a whole other conversation. We could do a whole podcast on just that. De'Vannon: So y'all, don't hear her for like Democrats and Republicans in Canada. What do you Cheyenne: have? Yeah, like liberals and conservatives, which is like basically the same thing. Like a lot of our leaders. Have, you know, models off of American Republicans.The province that I live in Alberta, we have a premier. His name is Jason Kenney, and this is me taking off my work hat and putting on just my own personal hat because it's nonpartisan. Jason Kenney is also a douchebag and he doesn't really care about much of anybody. So his handling of the pandemic has been terrible the way he honors he's just very fake kind of person, but.Very much like a mini Stephen Harper who was a prime minister and here in Canada for many years, very conservative. And [00:32:00] that individual is very in with a lot of the Republicans in the states. So you know, a lot of our laws here we're, we're really curious about what's going to happen with the overturning of the row because that could also trickle up here in Canada.A lot of what happens in the states impacts is impacted in Canada. And you wouldn't think, but again, borders are imaginary, right? And Canadians aren't that far removed from American politics, unfortunately. De'Vannon: Oh for fuck's sake. I know, I think about this Cheyenne so much, you know, the way white people greet people of every race, but it seems to be heavily white, you know, because the rest of us, you know, we don't, we're not coming from generations of wealth and shit like that, you know?So we're not so comfortable that we have time to go fucking with other people. You know, we're still, we're trying to keep, get, keep our own shit together. This is a comfort and luxury. That's typical for like white people. They've been financially comfortable, so long, medically taken care of [00:33:00]accepted everywhere they go.So they have time to try to attack other people and take them down. When you're trying to build up yourself, your family, your energy is going towards, self-improvement not towards trying to tell a woman what to do with her body or try, you know, not trying to tell people they can or can't get married. We don't have the time.We're too busy trying to survive and come up ourselves. Cheyenne: We're just trying to survive literally. De'Vannon: But in the grand scheme of eternity, You know, the Lord said, what, what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and the lose his soul. These people act like that judgment day is never going to come for them or is not going to come at all.Maybe they can build a colony on Mars and skip out on the return of Jesus, you know, can kind of watch it from afar or whatever the fuck they think they're going to be able to do with all these space missions and shit. But but you know, the way they add it has no eternity in the, in the scope. In the perspective, there isn't no eternity, you can't treat people the way these white [00:34:00] people treat people and think you're going to die and have a peaceful afterlife.So it's shortsighted. If I was the devil, I would totally try to trick people into being racist. And I'm a thoughtfulness and hateful in any way, shape or form. And to get them to focus on the things of this. You have rich people who are stepping on people to get even richer. Well, bitch, you can already buy whatever you want.Why the fuck do you want more money? Even if you have to hurt people to get it, you know, it's shortsighted. So you might get all of that here, you know, and you die. And you'd be like the Richard Guy in the Bible, you know, who turned away the people. And then he died and went to hell, you know, what is the point?You know, you can't take it with you. Why so much struggling in this life on things that are going to be temporary anyway. Cheyenne: Yeah. And so much disregard for the humanity and in your peers around you, right? Like at some point money, this overrides so much common sense. [00:35:00] Ridiculous. Yeah. Capitalism. De'Vannon: It's just foolish it testifies against them that they already have it.You know? And then I'm gonna say this about the mega churches and then we'll get into the definitions of things. You know, the book of Jeremiah it It speaks about how, let me see specifically, I can't think of the damn chapter. It's like Jeremiah 21 or 22. And it talks about how God is angry with pastors who, who dismiss people or who just keep on plodding along with their success.And if they lose a member or a sheep or, you know, they hurt people and they don't go to try to make it right. You know, you know, just treat them as collateral damage, you know, just, you know, just a part of doing business. You can't save everyone, but the Lord is not that way. He wants you to stop the whole.To go and get that one loss sheet, not [00:36:00] just keep on trucking along, you know, writing more books and more sermons than selling more music, more worship albums and all the stuff that they do and more tapes and expanding your media empire and getting richer. But you know, you have people, you have churches have caused damage to people.They don't apologize for it. They don't do anything to make it. Right. And that is not okay. Cheyenne: Well, we just got an apology from the Pope. I don't know if you follow that. So there was a group of delegates first nations Maytee and Intuit. So those are our free, like overarching indigenous groups here in Canada, first nation, maintain and unit.And then there's different subgroups within those it's gets complicated. There's lots of indigenous people. Anyways, we had done. Go to the Vatican recently, it was all over the news where they basically we're going to bring their stories to the Pope. It was like kindness. The way Canada has a big history of apologizing for things that they do.You know, they've apologized for many things over the years. The residential schools and all there were all sorts of stuff. [00:37:00] But these delegates were hoping to have, you know, some recognition, not only from the Pope, like not only an apology, but the Pope and the Vatican are holding onto documents. And those are what we were hoping to get was these documents, as well as all of the ceremonial items that were taken from indigenous people when our ceremonies were illegal here in Canada, which was for many years.And so none of those items that were stolen were returned, the documents weren't released, but the Pope did make an apology. But if you read the apology. The language that he used was very specific. He doesn't apologize for the church's involvement. He apologizes for certain individuals activities.And that is a cop-out because it's a way of absolving the entire church, including himself as the Pope, from what happened here in Canada. So apologies are one thing, but like, we need action, right? Like why isn't the Pope here in Canada and he's supposed to be making a trip actually in the coming, I think year it's supposed to be stopping here.It had been Ted, but why isn't he going to these graveyards? Right? Why isn't he going to these quote unquote [00:38:00] schools? We're calling them schools, but they're like concentration camps. Why isn't he going to these, these, these grounds and seeing the bodies in the graves? Why isn't he helping dig? Do you know what I mean?Like, he's never going to do that cause he's a million years old, but that's besides the point is that we got this like apology, but even the apology itself is so convoluted. If from a linguistic perspective, if you break apart the apology, it doesn't mean anything. It's, it's nothing, it's nothing. So yeah, and, and there was a specific.Around two-spirit people like where's the apology for us in particular, right? Because there is a bit of a different impact for two-spirit people specifically here in Canada, De'Vannon: the poke and go fuck himself. Like I literally don't give a damn about the Pope, the Catholic church, and none of that idol worshiping convoluted, religiously diluted and watered down.And Krokus shit that the Catholic church is, you know, just, just, I mean their [00:39:00] amount of like angel worship and stuff like that. Is just, okay. You know, the Hebrew brothers tells us not to pray to angels and when angels would come only to, there's only two names of angels in the typical recorded Bible and that's Michael and Gabriel, the other angels did not give their names.And so I don't know where these people get all of these angels names from and everything like that. And they're praying all of these saints. I mean, offering prayers up to everyone, but God, and I'm all like, Okay. Okay.Jesus said pray to him and him alone. Not the Virgin. Mary, not St. Jude, not Felicia, our trough on Ark Kendrick or whoever else you, you who fucking dead, you know? Cheyenne: Yeah. When I pray, I always say I pray to my ancestors. I prayed to the creator as well, but I don't really know who created me or what that is, [00:40:00] but I have ancestors and I know that they were real and I know that they lived because I'm here and I'm alive.And so that's who I pray to. Cause they're still, they're guiding me and supporting me and loving me. Yeah, I think prayer can be a very like personal thing. Right. And you're right. Like a lot of times it is watered down. Do your prayers before bed, like what does that even mean? Or where's the intention, right?De'Vannon: I agree with what you're saying. I get from a native American perspective, it reminds me of a lot of how it is in Asia, Nina, where they pray to their ancestors, do what you gotta do. But I'm saying if you're going to claim a division of Christianity and tie directly to the Trinity and the Trinity has told you to create to no one, but the father, then you're doing wrong.You, you know, what you're doing is not Christian strictly in the religious I'm talking about in the E and E in the east and Asia are not, you know, Christians specifically like say at the Buddhist symbol, when I go there, they have like a whole altar and everything to the ancestors and stuff. Okay. Pray to your ancestors, but you're not [00:41:00] claiming to follow Jesus Christ in the first place.I would think if you're going to follow him, they act like who you're following, but the Catholic church as a whole. Hodgepodge the whole, then the, all the fucking rules they have. 'em all like we wouldn't have fuck came up with this. And so everyone went to the next shit changes with the wave of his hand.I'm all like at each on of them is supposed to be infallible or whatever the fuck, I don't know, go to HBO. Max, do law, sexy ass. There's a series on that. He called the young Pope and the new Pope. It is interesting as fuck. And everybody, all the down to the poker, smoking cigarettes and shit, and people are fucking everything.And they're really telling you what life is like behind the Vatican and the police in the Vatican and the political scandals and the bullshit and the secrets and the priests fucking, the alter boys and everything like that. Yeah, it's all in there. That shit is good. [00:42:00] Okay. So tell us two spirit. You've talked about it.You're going to go through the definition it's defined to spirit go. Cheyenne: I can't. So the word two-spirit the idea of being two-spirit is that it is generally an indigenous person who is part of like who is gender or sexually diverse. And so the term two-spirit actually is really just a placeholder term.It was developed in it actually came to an elder. Her name is Myra Laramie and she had a pipe vision. So she was in a ceremony, lifting a pipe and you know, saying her prayers, whoever she praised to, I don't know. But in her prayers, she, you know, was asking for some guidance because she was starting to do this work with indigenous queer and trans people and being like, how can we unite us?Because the impacts from residential schools meant that our community was really divided. Folks were like, you know, internalized homophobia, internalized [00:43:00] transphobia. So it was a very underground movement. And there was just, you know, they needed more. And so she received this word. It's an initial, initial nob bay more Winward and it's a niche money dialogue, and that's literal translation is two-spirit.So she brought this that was in 1996. And she brought that term to or 1990, sorry, I'm getting my dates wrong. Anyways. She brought it to the native American gay and lesbian conference. It was their third annual one in Winnipeg, and there was a number of queer and trans indigenous leaders who I look up to now as a two-spirit person.But folks like Barbara brew is Beverly Little thunder and Albert McCloud. And these individuals gathered at the conference and were like, we need a term that helps us to unify our. It is a term that folks can use while they're reconnecting to their own indigenous languages. And it's like, basically something that is there for the [00:44:00] youth, right?Like what is, what is, what can we do? And she said, well, you know, I had this pipe ceremony, like I had this vision and niche money dog is the word that came to me. And so they kind of decided as a group that this would be a term that they would start using. Recognizing that really what we want folks to do is reconnect to their own indigenous language because that's where you start to get into the complexities of what it means to be two-spirit within your own cultural identity.So when I say that, I can't define it. It's because my teachings as a Cree person are going to be different as somebody who's done a Stony SU Navajo, right? Like, so what being two-spirit means to me comes with an own, my own cultural definition. And so that's going to look differently to different people in different nations.And it really depends on how far into your journey you are, how connected. And you are to your community, your culture, your teachings, but also recognizing that a lot of these teachings have been impacted by the residential school system, by the church. Right. And so you have teachings that even seep into our ceremonies now, right.And that's a whole other, we can, we can get into that topic, but so that's kind of how the term [00:45:00] two-spirit was. Developed. And it's, you know, that native American gay and lesbian conference is still happening. They're going to have the 35th annual conference this year and it's now called the international two-spirit gathering.And we hosted it. They had been to two spirits society hosted it last year. So it was really nice to be part of that little piece of history. There's also a lot of roots within HIV advocacy. That that group was originally doing back in the nineties. And so, yeah, it's been a bit of a journey, but really there was a term that was being used because when the settlers arrived, there was a really negative term and it's called Burdoch.And that was a term that was imposed on any gender and sexually diverse person. And it was used as like a, as a slur. So they were like, how do we get away from this damn slur? How do we get a word that's going to empower us and, and support the growth of our community? So that's kind of where a two-spirit spirit comes from.De'Vannon: Oh, shit. I Cheyenne: know even just that one question alone. Good luck. De'Vannon: Well, the, the spectrum, all of that, but maybe you let me have it. And that's [00:46:00]what dos, so when you say this, this lady who received the term two spirit and a vision was raising Piper, are you telling me she was smoking and getting high or something?Was she smoking out of the pipe? Was that, is that what Cheyenne: it is? Yeah, we don't like throw like PCP or whatever in our pipes. Like, again, I don't know what she does in her culture. She might use drugs in her, in her ceremonies. I don't know, but generally a pipe ceremony a pipe is a sacred piece and a tobacco is a medicine in our culture.And so when we put the tobacco tobacco into the pipe or communicating with creator, we're communicating with our ancestors, we're setting an intention in the circle and anybody that's in that circle, you're, you're unified together. And it's really just a way of bringing your prayer. Up and out, and as you smoke, you're inhaling that medicine and you don't have to inhale.You can just hold the pipe to your heart or to your heads. But it's just the process of being in a circle with each other in a ceremony with each other is really important. De'Vannon: That's sounds interesting. [00:47:00] Sounds very sincere, has a very sincere spirit about it. So you hear people like how Cheyenne is talking about.The LGBTQ a to S conferences and things like that. I don't, you know, there may come a time. I guess some conservative people might listen to my show. This is not a conservative show by any stretch of the fucking imagination, not even the least, but it is open to people who might be interested in ulterior or alternative perspectives other than their own.So you see not everything about the gay culture is whatever it is. That's bad about us, that they think we're not just having origins and shooting up crystal meth and taking it up the ass all the time. You know, there's conferences, there's intelligent things that we do. We contribute to society. You know, I say that specifically because when I got kicked out of Lakewood church in Houston, Texas, we're not being straight.Once they found [00:48:00] out, you know, my MySpace page that I was hanging out with Montrose in the gay district and Houston, the lady from who was over the kids, quiet. I'll never forget her fucking words, that fucking cunt. And and I only use con if it's really warranted and she's a fucking cunt and she was kicking me out, she was all like referring to the gay district of Houston.She was like, you can't be doing that. Hanging out there with those people.Wait, wait, what the fuck do you think we're doing? Oh, wait, you have never been okay.Cheyenne: And it's common here too. Like with specific, like, particularly with the two-spirit community a lot of that, like stigma and shame that people experienced and learned from the residential school system is like now in our own communities. So the work that we're doing at Edmonton two-spirit society, Is really trying to reconnect to our own indigenous communities because the two S [00:49:00] LGBTQ community, they, they honor us.They respect us. They brought us in, right. Like we don't have to justify ourselves as much people don't understand. So there's still a lot of learning that has to happen. But in indigenous basis, they're like, well, like there's, these are new teachings. This two-spirit doesn't even mean anything. It's a new term.You know, and like, like those you're just gay. You're just trans like, you know, there's like almost like an alienation of us within our own indigenous spaces. And that's like that whole residential school piece, that's still coming from religion really. De'Vannon: Okay. So explain to me the difference in between native American and Indian.Cheyenne: Yeah. So I use the term native American partially because the term American is a colonial word. The idea that America is these three separate areas. Cause I also include south America as part of the America's right. We use the term turtle island. And so turtle island is basically Canada [00:50:00] United States and all the way down from the top to the tip that's turtle island.And so we use that there's there's stories and beliefs around that, that I'm not going to get into very cultural stuff. But you know, turtle island the fact that we're from this land. Predates the people who came and brought the term America to us. Right. And so here in Canada, a lot of people will say native or, or indigenous first nations, Maytee it?They don't really use native American up here. And I think that's, again, that's that, that separation of Canada versus America, right? Like we don't see ourselves as, as American we're Canadian. And so a lot of people, I can't speak for all indigenous people. Obviously I'm one guy, like I'm just one person.But for me personally, that's how I perceive it. Is that like, I'm not from America, I'm from the land I'm from, I'm from this space. This is my home. And so I'm, I'm indigenous to this land. I'm from this land, this land is mine. And so I don't see myself as an American or Canadian even I'm I'm, I'm Cree first and foremost.I'm [00:51:00] Nikki out. That's that's the Cree word. How we say in the metalanguage De'Vannon: NICU, here's the people who know exactly who the fuck they are. No question was in your voice. You said. I know who the fuck I am.Cheyenne: I'm I'm so grateful that I grew up in Canada of all the places in the world. I didn't grow up knowing war. I didn't grow up knowing, like I grew up in a home that was very violent. I grew up with abuse and, and not having a lot of money, but, you know, I was never starving. I didn't have to struggle for water.You know, like I don't have to there's things that like, that I'm privileged. I carry a lot of privilege being born in a country like Canada. And I honor that, and I recognize that, but I also honor and recognize the flip side of that, that being indigenous in Canada. Is meaning growing up in violence, that means you were born with grief because of the whole history.Right. And we don't have a say in [00:52:00] that. It wasn't my choice. It wasn't my decision to grow up with that pain and the violence in my family. Right. And that's something that I'm actively working against to, to break that cycle and to, to live in what we say a good way. And yeah, so I, I, it's taken a long time to know who I am and I'm still on that path.I'm still on that journey, but I can say it with confidence, like, yeah, I'm, I'm indigenous and I'm, and I'm out of De'Vannon: that. I own that. So indigenous is the purest. Form because when native American has the American in it, and what I'm hearing you say is, well, we not American because we were here first. So indigenous is really the purest of the two.Yeah. I Cheyenne: don't know purist. I don't know if that's the word that I would use, but for me personally, that's how I, and again, you might talk to a different indigenous person, like, especially in, in America where they often refer themselves to Indian, like Indian is, is a, is a word that's owned and used. And I don't personally understand why they use that, particularly elders.I think he was not in the states. Here that's like a slur. Like it's like, you know, the Indian act like it's literally a part of our history that [00:53:00] is still controlling us, still defining us. Right. So like, I'm literally. In engulfed in Canadian politics just by being born, because I'm part of that document.My life is guided by that document. Right. So Indian here has like a negative connotation. We don't have typically use it. Native is like as a, a very common one, but I think indigenous is, is more and more being used. De'Vannon: Okay. Tell me what is in between me. Cheyenne: Yeah. So in between. Speaking for my own personal context.Cause I can't speak for all two-spirit people. And also recognizing that I'm not an elder or an old carrier the in between is just kind of how I've always seen myself. So we actually have eight genders in my culture. And you know, one of those genders is the in-between people. The test you went and walk and the tests you went and walk are a group of people who can like walk between men and women's worlds.You know, but they're there in the center of it. And so my whole life, I was like, I don't feel like quite like a man. [00:54:00] So quite like a woman, I didn't have terms for gender growing up. I always kind of knew. I was like, like queer. Like I was, I was bisexual at 14. Like, you know, I was doing nothing. Now I identify as like, if I use a colonial term it's more pansexual, right?Like I've, but I never had language for gender growing up. And because I didn't grow up in my culture, our family was so impacted by the residential school system that we didn't grow up, going to ceremony. We went to like powwows and round dances, but I didn't grow up on the land. I don't know how to hunt.I don't know how to like, you know, like I, I'm not a pipe carrier. I don't do any of these things. I'm just learning. And I'm just learning my traditional language now. But like, historically I've always felt like I'm just like in this, in this in-between space, I don't know how else to describe it. Like, and I was also adopted at a young age, so it was adopted by my biological mom's biological sister.So I was raised by my aunt and uncle, and that's where I love them. We've come past this now, but that's where a lot of the violence that I was raised with came from them. And so my whole life I've been between my biological mom's family and my [00:55:00] biological aunt's family. And I've always felt like that in between person.So when I started to go. Path of cultural reclamation and learning about my indigeneity from a Cree context. And I learned that there was a gen, like there's a whole group of people that are honored for being in between of, of everything. And if you think of in Cree culture, we, we honor the circle, right?Does the circle of life, the sun, the moon, we all know the circle. And so the in-between person is kind of in the center of the circle and it's not like a power thing. It's not like a privilege thing. It's just a holding the balance. Right. And you need to have somebody there holding it all together.So that's kind of, for me, where it comes from being an being part of the in-between. But I think it really kind of is other people might have different perspectives of that. De'Vannon: Okay. Thank you for that breakdown. The last definition I need from you is individually. Cheyenne: Yeah. Okay. So when did you clear as another one of those ones?So not all indigenous two-spirit or, sorry, let me start again. Not all indigenous people who identify as queer or trans are two-spirit and not all two-spirit people [00:56:00] identify as spiritual sense, right. It really is a very personal process and it really does depend on what your cultural teachings are and how you carry yourself.And so indigent queer is another way of folks who maybe don't feel tied to that two-spirit term indigent queer as a way of honoring their queerness and their indigeneity. So it's just the two terms put together. I often include trans folks and other gender diverse folks within that label of queer, but you know, it doesn't always fit so into, to queer and trans is kind of another thing.It's just, you know, colloquial language that we use when talking about. And I think it's just kind of fun to saying, did you queer like, oh yeah, De'Vannon: I'm thankful for all of the variety, you know, so no one's left out and, you know, new terms of being. All the time. And so this, the beauty in this variety is something conservative assholes will never understand because they don't have happiness residing inside of their hearts.Cheyenne: Yeah. And that diversity, I think is really beautiful. Like I say, when I learned that there were eight genders in my, in my culture that like there's so much [00:57:00] diversity and that, that alone in those teachings it, it it's really empowering and uplifting to know that diversity is honored in my culture.And as I was learning about like our indigenous language, I'm still very new in learning my language. But as I was learning Nikki hallway, when the, the Cree language I was asking about kinship terms because kinship and family is really important in our community. And so there's words for like mother and father that are similar to aunt and uncle, but there's also kinship terms for honoring diversity in relationships.There was like kinship terms for multiple partners. And as a polyamorous person, I'm like even the diversity of how I love is honored in my language. And that's beautiful to me. So I love diversity. I, and I'm so glad. De'Vannon: You know, culture, this is not, you know, they embrace, you know, various sexual expressions Cheyenne: inherited.I mean, so I think like yeah, I, again, I can't speak for every nation [00:58:00] because we're not a monolithic group. And so I can only speak from a CRI perspective and from my own personal learnings. Diversity of so far. And, but there is an individual, his name is Harlan Pruden, highly recommend you look into his work.He's done a lot of research around language, indigenous languages around the world, not just in turtle island, but around the world that honors gender diversity. And there's over 130 unique terms for gender in different nations around the world. And that for me is like, again, beauty is that that diversity has always been there.And I think even though that's talking more specifically about gender, I think we can look at it from a sexuality perspective as well, because if you're in a gender split a particular gender role or filling a gender role in your, your community, but you're also representing as a different gender, right?Like if you're a born male and y

Producer/Host: Ron Beard Local groups throughout Maine are bringing climate work from individual to local action. A Climate to Thrive, based on Mount Desert Island, Maine has recently convened community-based climate groups across the state to learn from one another, focusing on strategic planning and how to engage local citizens, young and old, and elected leaders. This program highlights the work of A Climate to Thrive, Green Ellsworth, Freeport Climate Action Now and Blue Hill Peninsula Tomorrow Climate Coalition. -Each guest highlights what they feel is one or two significant outcomes, so far, of their organization's work -Each guest shares what their organization is working on currently -A Climate To Thrive's statewide work to bring community groups together to focus on strategic planning at the local level -What is climate justice? What does climate justice “look” like on the ground? -What does it take to organize for climate action at the community level—what have you learned Johanna Blackman, Executive Director, A Climate to Thrive Mary Blackstone, Community Liaison, Green Ellsworth Kathleen Sullivan, Acting Lead, Freeport Climate Action Now Allen Kratz, Blue Hill Peninsula Tomorrow Climate Coalition About the host: Ron Beard is producer and host of Talk of the Towns, which first aired on WERU in 1993 as part of his community building work as an Extension professor with University of Maine Cooperative Extension and Sea Grant. He took all the journalism courses he could fit in while an undergraduate student in wildlife management and served as an intern with Maine Public Television nightly newscast in the early 1970s. Ron is an adjunct faculty member at College of the Atlantic, teaching courses on community development. Ron served on the Bar Harbor Town Council for six years and is currently board chair for the Jesup Memorial Library in Bar Harbor, where he has lived since 1975. Look for him on the Allagash River in June, and whenever he can get away, in the highlands of Scotland where he was fortunate to spend two sabbaticals. The post Talk of the Towns 4/13/22: Maine Climate Action Groups first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Jeana Newbern from the Lake Sunapee Region VNA & Hospice has David Linehan with her talking about David's role as Community Liaison, what he does, how his background as the adult child of a parent who needed services previously has helped in his role and more.

Community Liaison, Jon Ray, answers questions / comments from Twitter.

Community Liaison, Jon Ray, goes through questions, comments, concerns, positive feedback, and great ideas from the Jade Protocol, SmartCoin, and “Project X / SUBLAYER” community.

Community Liaison, Jon Ray, goes through questions, comments, concerns, positive feedback, and great ideas RE: Jade Protocol, SmartCoin, and “Project X” from the Twitter community.

Community Liaison, Jon Ray, answers questions from Twitter.Wallet repair: https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqa1J3WlhwN1NrZFlSRjE5LVp3dF9YQjZSbjRiZ3xBQ3Jtc0tuTXVzRGFUWHVXUHlpMGd2bEs0c2kzUVdQdnNPbVlvQTlzMjdCNDhQRWFVZTJQTk5hRXBaVFYwZjRNWEt6ZzgyWGNzeEZWa3NpMDd6ZjdWbmJ6aEI4ZWljaTRReFhWQlU3VmtfQlNnZUF5bWRQcFMtTQ&q=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fjonray%2Fstatus%2F1483511853070311426

Jade Protocol's Community Liaison, Jon Ray, answers questions from Twitter... NFKeys, the future AVAX cross chain/SMRTr swap, and Child sacrifice? Its all covered in this episode

Please enjoy this inspiring testimony from our good friend, Lisa Ripp, Event Coordinator and Community Liaison for Grace Klein Community. You can partner with Grace Klein Community and be a food rescue hero with #FeedBHM: Download the app! Lisa shares how we can have sanctuary in the presence of God no matter where we are. For your own study: Isaiah 49:14-16 Psalm 139

Struggle Berry Crunch welcomes special guest, Andre Prim!Ready to talk about REAL Black American Struggles? Yep - Me too.In this episode, Andre Prim joins me to talk about Black American Struggles . Let's be real, being  black in America is no joke and many people experience it differently.  During this episode,  Andre talks about his struggles with racism, the court system, navigating fatherhood, and a journey through ministry.Andre Prim is a advocate for Black American Gun Rights,  Community Liaison,  Former Pastor, and Proud Father. #felony #jail #pastor #christianity #findingjesus #gunrights #blackvoices #fatherhood #blackfather #faith #believer #trauma #struggleDISCLAIMER:This podcast , the host, and the guests have different thoughts, opinions, views, and experiences and respect and acknowledge other individuals thoughts, opinions, views, and/or experiences.This podcast and the host always encourages listeners and individuals to respect  each other while respectfully agreeing and/or disagreeing with any individuals thoughts, opinions, views, and/or experiences.====================================================Hey! If you  are enjoying the podcast and have a struggle to share, please contact struggleberrycrunch@gmail.com or @struggleberrycrunch on Instagram. If your email is selected, I will uplift and encourage you on an upcoming bonus clip or episode!***This audio clip is meant to be listened to for enjoyment and encouragement. These messages/words are from my own personal experiences and should be taken as a perspective and should NOT be replaced with licensed professional help.  @struggleberrycrunch

We met up with Michelle Smeltzer, Community Liaison for Warren County Social Services to learn more about the resources that are available to the community through her agency. She told us about all the connections she helps to make, reminded us about their resource app, and told us about their new job developer. In the second segment we talked about the Thermal Shelter of Front Royal. She gave us details for who and how many the shelters served last season and talked about her expectations for this winter. The shelter will open on December 11, 2021. Michelle also gave us a quick rundown of items that are always welcomed for donations. For more information about social service programs, visit their website: https://www.warrencountyva.net/government/county-agencies/socialservices and follow them on Facebook. For more information about the thermal shelter, follow them on Facebook.

ReadPlayTalk (RPT) is one of the most important initiatives underway in Mesquite ISD, and like LET, aims for equity in education. RPT's leader, Lindsay Brimer Paris, is no stranger to our community or school district. Learn why the 2005 Mesquite High School graduate and former cheerleader and homecoming queen returned to MISD as the community liaison in what she refers to as her "dream job." Hear multiple ways to get involved in RPT to best prepare our future and current Mesquite ID students for school and life.

Lynda Anello is a Community Liaison for VITAS Healthcare in Cincinnati, where she is responsible for community outreach and marketing. This position combines her love of community outreach, which has been a central aspect of her professional roles throughout her career, with her passion for the mission-centered work of hospice, an industry that mirrors her values in holistic, self-determined living and dying. Sponsor: www.BeyondDrivingWithDignity.com

Despite starting off as a nurse and clinical liaison, Steve's side gig of marketing and content creation soon grew into a full-service agency, Craft Media, of which he remains president. Though senior care facilities serve an older clientele, they are really marketing to younger relatives, decision-makers and placement workers in hospitals, and potential employees. Steve explains that all of these groups will likely be present on social media and will be influenced by the quality of a nursing home's social media presence.In addition, the content will be published online about nursing homes whether they like it or not.  Failing to maintain their brand through a digital presence will ensure that it is not created by them but by consumers, whose spiteful comments may do great damage to their reputation.So where does TikTok fit into all of this?Steve states that, at present, TikTok echoes Instagram's early days, full of young experimenters and rapidly expanding to eventually become a solid segment of the social media landscape. By maintaining a consistent presence on this platform while it is still early days, nursing homes will have a huge advantage in the long run.FOLLOW STEVE AND CRAFT MEDIA!WebsiteLinkedInRELATED EPISODESEp. 65: Content Marketing In Senior CareEp. 62: Social Media Marketing for Nursing HomesEp. 12: LinkedIn Content Marketing with Shaneé Moret