Podcast S1 Ep. 1-23: The State and Solutions of Homelessness

0:04

Hello, This is Maggie Derocher, the host of the inaugural Neighbors Helping Neighbors podcast from Father Joe’s Villages.

This will be the first in a series of podcasts that will explore issues surrounding homelessness, its causes, and solutions to addressing the issue.

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Our guests will include experts and leaders in the space, as well as people with unique perspectives on homelessness.

Today we have with us Deacon Jim, president and CEO of Father Joe’s Villages, San Diego’s oldest and largest homelessness service provider, and Tamara Kohler, CEO of Regional Task Force on Homelessness in San Diego, that serves as funder, promoter of best practices and policy leader in San Diego’s collective efforts to end homelessness.

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If you’d like to learn more about our mission, visit us@neighbor.org or follow us at at Father Joe’s Villages.

So welcome Tamara and Deacon Jim.

You’re both experts on this topic and I appreciate you coming here to discuss the state of homelessness and solutions.

1:05

Let’s start by having you each introduce your organization and your mission.

Well, thank you.

You want to go first?

No.

You go first.

Well, thank you.

I’m Tamara Klarn, the CEO of the Regional Task Force on Homelessness.

We are what is known as the Continuum of Care Body, So that’s federally authorized.

1:22

We are the lead organization for planning for policy, for best practices.

We’re known for our regional plan that we’ve put together and also data so point in time regional data that that comes out.

We are really the convener in this work and our mission and focus is that homelessness in San Diego becomes a rare experience.

1:46

If you have that experience, it’s brief and we use the term non reoccurring, which means that you’re stably housing.

You don’t.

Turn to homelessness.

Thank you for joining us, Tamara.

Thank you.

It’s a pleasure to be with you.

In fact, I serve on the continuum of care with one of the services providers, Father Joe’s Villages is it’s my pleasure to work with Tamara.

2:03

So Father Joe’s Villages is, as you mentioned, Maggie.

It’s the oldest homeless services provider in Southern California.

In fact, we’re nearing our 75th anniversary and we have to prepare for that in a in a couple of years, right.

So that that’s exciting and it came into its own back in the 80s when Father Joe Carroll came on the scene.

2:21

And at that point in time it all the services were really scattered.

There was in one organization that was available that was able to help an individual from soup to nuts in a sense, right.

And and father Joe recognized that.

So he put together a talk about continuum, right.

I mean so continuum of care right across the board within our organization.

2:40

So that if you have health needs, that’s addressed.

If you have children or we help the children, of course basic needs are covered as well.

And employment, right.

So really across the board shelter, how important shelter is, right.

He was one of the first ones out there in the in the 90s actually building affordable housing.

2:58

And so we continue our legacy now and we centered around those four pillars, right pretty much what I just mentioned it to make meeting those basic needs.

It’s the team making health a priority, investing in our children that’s so very important.

I’ll talk about each of these and as we progress in this segment.

3:15

And then lastly, strengthening self-sufficiency, wonderful.

Thank you.

So what is the state of homelessness?

Can you tell me about the landscape and the size of the issue?

Well, I’ll take a stab at it first, seeing as we’re sort of known for data.

So I’ll share a little bit of numbers, but I’ll always ground my work in that behind every number there is an individual.

3:37

So I think it’s always important that when we talk about numbers and these numbers are large, that they represent individuals.

As Dickon Vargas said, many of them being children, seniors, veterans.

But we’re seeing nationally on one given night over a half million folks experiencing homelessness and California unfortunately has about 25% of that population on any given night, so about 125,000 individuals on any given night.

4:10

And we’re also responsible for the point in time, so this last year.

We’ve seen historic numbers, over 10,000 individuals on one given night in San Diego experiencing homelessness, both sheltered and unsheltered.

And so our our numbers are challenging, but I’ll also say that was on one given night.

4:29

We also tracked data every day and we know last year over 41,000 individuals touched our homeless system.

Some for short stays in shelters, some spending an entire year of homelessness.

So from a understanding numbers you know we’re we’re seeing as a historic numbers.

4:49

We also are seeing more people 55 year old are experiencing homelessness for the first time.

We are seeing more families, two parent families experiencing homelessness, that young adult population.

And just generally greater needs across the board today I think and and we’re that’s why it’s so important that we have the partnerships that we do and need all of our providers in this work.

5:17

Right.

And and great greater need as you, as you mentioned also the the face of homelessness has changed, right.

That profile used to be an older face, used to be mostly a male face and now as you mentioned, it’s across the board.

We have children.

On the streets, more women historically than ever.

Yeah, that’s exactly right.

5:33

And in in in that.

So if you think about the reasons for it, right, a lot of people ask me or just assume that it’s because of substance use disorder or mental health challenges.

And yet the number one reason people falling into homelessness in San Diego is an economic one.

It’s just very expensive to live here when you think about the fact that an average apartment cost about $2700.

5:56

And then the rental vacancy rate right now is at about 3 1/2%.

That means no sooner there’s an apartment come on the market, get scooped up, and not by our population obviously, because it’s beyond them.

So the economics are are what it’s all about.

That’s what’s throwing people into homelessness.

And we know that housing is what breaks that cycle of homelessness, right.

6:14

So there’s just a lot of play there, not to say that substance use disorder and mental health challenges.

Don’t exacerbate the situation, because they do and we see it.

What is it now?

Maybe about 40% was suffering from either or both.

And we know that because it is a tight rental market, people are experiencing homelessness longer than they have historically.

6:34

We see longer lengths of stay which exasperates any sort of health condition.

So to your point, substance use, if that was an issue at all, it gets.

Exasperated, The longer they’re experiencing homelessness, the same thing with mental health issues, but we know the majority of people with mental health issues are housed.

6:52

The majority of substance, both legal and illegal, are housed.

This is truly a housing issue at its core.

There’s lots of good data behind it, but you know, living in San Diego, we know it’s a very expensive market.

So we’re one of those communities, unfortunately, that’s known for having a high homeless population.

7:10

But it correlates with our high housing costs and low vacancy.

And to that point, people, people ask me.

I’m sure they ask you as well, Tamara, Is it because of what you just said, doesn’t mean that more people are coming in as a result.

The nice weather and so forth are most of the people not from here.

And I know that’s not the case, but do you ask a question during your point in time count each and every single year one of those survey questions?

7:32

Why don’t you talk?

About that, you know we ask that I and we ask it not because it’s required.

We conduct the point in time federally were required to do it to bring funding to the community.

But we ask it because I hear it so often that people come here because the weather is great.

The truth of it is we all came here for some reason, usually work opportunities.

7:52

Families here, school, the majority of folks experience homelessness in the community they were last housed. 85% of those that we surveyed said they experienced homelessness here in San Diego, the last place they were housed.

In San Diego, I’ll just say for most of us, if you were to lose your housing, let’s just even say you’re locked out of your housing for a day, you don’t think where’s the cheapest place I can maybe find additional housing.

8:15

You stay close to home because we’re connected to community.

So these are San Diegans, many of them who came here for opportunity.

And you know, it’s challenging.

San Diego’s tough in housing and it’s also challenging to.

8:32

You know, if you’re not living paycheck to paycheck, it’s rare.

And I think you also have we have just very limited housing stock.

We don’t have a diversity of housing stock, which you guys have done a fantastic job bringing more housing because we just don’t have even the housing that meets the needs too.

8:49

You’re right, Tamara.

You’re right.

I mean, at the end of the day, housing is what makes a difference.

Just a couple of months ago, I’m sure you remember, we had a press conference.

We’re going to be building, God willing.

And breaking ground and the second-half of next year on two buildings, right under five homes each, right about half PSH.

9:08

Permanent supportive housing for those who are struggling through chronic substance use disorder and have mental health challenges.

And so you’re right.

That breaks the cycle of homelessness along with the comprehensive services.

Because you and I know that it’s not just a matter of placing people within four walls and walking away.

9:25

Some of them need those services for the rest of their lives, but that’s why 96% of those who we help into into into housing at Father Joe’s Villages retain their housing long term.

So housing is is the name of the game?

Yeah.

Before we get into more solutions, can you tell us more about the point in time count data and how that’s collected?

9:44

Absolutely.

You know, it’s a huge effort.

It’s required, federally required of continuums of care.

It is a early morning count.

And so on the last weekend in January, because historically nationally that’s one of the coldest times of the year.

10:01

So if people can find any level of shelter, they’re going to do that, put their money together for a hotel room, whatever that looks like.

So the date is set the last week in January, we do it for that Thursday night and we have 36 deployment sites around the region.

10:17

So we have the entire county.

As a a geography we’re responsible for and we put out it was 1900 volunteers this last year to literally canvas the community in areas you know, some people say, well, we went out and didn’t find anyone.

10:34

That to me is what I want to hear.

Instead we find far too many individuals in vehicles, sleeping in other places not meant for habitation.

If it’s a 10, we ask.

We let them know we’re surveying.

We give a gift card for them to participate.

We ask demographic information, household information.

10:53

So we want to make sure that we’re counting folks.

And so if it’s a temp we talked to, you know, good morning, we’re doing this count.

Can we ask a couple questions and get a really good, It is a minimum count.

We’re not going to find everybody, but it also helps us understand on at least one night what the population looks like.

11:16

It was sort of the the it’s important for trend data.

It’s also important for folks that are interested in understanding homelessness.

There is nothing like having a conversation with someone and asking them why they’re experiencing homelessness.

At that point, I’m not delivering services, not talking about a program or where Shelter is at.

11:35

I’m having a conversation early in the morning understanding why someone experienced homelessness.

It has been profound for folks to participate in it, which I think is important.

It’s a great community engagement piece, but those numbers are sent to the federal government and on a state level to bring resources to our community.

11:54

It is not.

If we show more numbers, we get more money because there’s a formula behind it.

But if we didn’t do the count, we risk losing funding for our community.

What has been fantastic is.

That one night was a data set that we used for years.

12:11

Now we, you know, we put out data almost monthly.

We do a inflow and outflow report because I think the tone in our communities about the work when people were seeing marked people experiencing homelessness was that what we were doing wasn’t working, that housing wasn’t working, that our that our providers weren’t working.

12:29

And what we were able to show is that every month we were housing hundreds of folks.

But we were also seeing far too many people experiencing homelessness for the first time.

So our homeless population is changing in the sense that more people are now experiencing homelessness for the first time than we’ve ever seen.

12:48

I think our last numbers were a little over 1200 people experiencing homelessness for the first time and over 820 folks housed so.

We need to be housing the inflow and outflow to have those match.

13:04

But the numbers matter to really understand the work that we’re doing and to and to get a clear picture.

We also share the numbers of those that are veterans, those that are seniors and those are families because I think it helps us organize our our resources, what housing programs we need.

13:21

But it has gotten to be such an important issue that it’s important we don’t just look at it once a year on the data, but then we’re looking at it monthly as well.

I own to your point, this is the first time in in the recent years where we’re more people falling onto the streets than we’re being able to help into housing.

13:41

I think that phenomenon has been in this recent year prior to that that wasn’t the case, right.

And that’s very, extremely alarming.

And that’s again, again because of the economics and and inflation and what’s been happening, especially after the pandemic, again fiction moratoriums were lifted.

There are a lot of things.

13:57

Safeguards that have been put in place and they’ll suddenly this it’s changed the landscapes, the landscape has changed.

So, so yeah it’s I would expect it’s it’s going to continue in this way.

Not to say that there aren’t a lot of things, good things that are happening to your point.

I mean there are a lot of successes, right?

14:14

We can’t.

The fact that the fact that we report that more people are falling onto the streets than are being housed doesn’t mean.

That it should downplay.

Those were helping to be housed, right.

Right.

So there’s a lot that’s going on, right?

Yeah, both Father Joe’s and RTFH worked so hard on this issue.

14:31

Where do we go next?

How do we fix this?

Good question.

Well, you know, I wouldn’t do this work if I didn’t believe that it’s a solvable problem.

I’m incredibly hopeful, even as her numbers trend in the wrong direction, the things that I know about this work and why.

14:48

I get up every day really motivated for this work is it really is a housing issue and then the right level of supports.

Everyone I know is successful in housing with right level of supports, right when my grandmother needed housing with a different level of supports, right, we actually had to move her out of her home into a different level of housing.

15:09

So I think it’s important to really think about what it is that we’re trying to solve.

And I think it is important to understand the changes in the population of when you say where do we go from here, We need to continue to trust the providers and the good work and the proven practices, but we also need to evolve to what the needs of the population are.

15:30

That first time homelessness, a lot of that is just an economic issue.

So being able to help people in that first time homeless, a little bit of financial support, but also understanding we’re seeing more families, we’re seeing more women, we’re seeing change.

Ages in the population.

So I think evolving our programs in ways that really meet the needs of folks experiencing homelessness is important And we we have opportunity.

15:56

I think in San Diego our numbers are not at a place, place that seems untenable, that we can’t get our arms around it.

But I think of, like you said, you’re you’re too new permanent supportive housing.

We need to think about housing really robustly and and differently too.

16:14

Absolutely, absolutely.

And and your point is well taken, we need to meet people where they are and then that’s the one thing that Father Joe’s Villages has done really historically, right.

It’s not a cookie cutter approach.

It’s really meeting people where they are tailoring the program so that you could be most effective in, in providing the resources that they need and also efficient in the dollars to the precious dollars that we have whether they’re public funds or or private funds as well.

16:37

And we’re finding that more and more even as we.

As we go on to the streets when we talk talk about our Health Center right and we talk about the street health that we instituted back in 2019 and that’s grown exponentially now we’ve had a psychiatric clinicians why Because we’re finding that those on the streets right need that level of care or or medication assisted treatment for those who want to wean off of substances as well.

17:01

You know, just on math, medication, assisted treatment, what we’re finding, thank God we’re able to do this is that.

An individual, if they today they come in and they say, you know what, I’m over these drugs, I need help.

We see them that very day and we start working with them and that’s extremely important because they may not feel that way the following morning.

17:19

So you have to seize that opportunity.

Again, that’s meeting people where they are and shelters.

I mean, yes, we we need housing at the end of the day breaks the cycle of homelessness, but we recognize.

We’re not there totally yet.

In the interim, we need that shelter and we need the diversity and shelter.

17:35

One of the things we’re finding, we’ve been finding Tamara, is that people are clamoring for sober living environments.

A lot of them have been victims of substance use use in the past, right?

And now they they don’t want to be around that environment.

And so that’s not publicly funded as we know, but we have philanthropists who believe in that.

17:55

And so we have sober living areas, right?

Again, why?

Because.

We’re meeting with that’s their expectation.

That’s what they need at this point in time.

So we have that the on the other side of it, we also know that to expect sobriety from a certain portion of the population whose brain chemistry is so fried because of the use of drugs, that that means we will be relegating them to the streets and to death.

18:17

This recent we know, Speaking of counts, this recent year 600 individuals have died in the streets, half of whom have died from drug overdoses, right?

Fentanyl is wreaking havoc.

Well, and it’s why your mobile medical is so important, right The the importance as we’ve seen numbers increase, we also are seeing people experiencing homelessness longer and not having enough adequate really focused shelter that meets all of those various needs.

18:41

Then you have to take services to where people are AT and that’s where your mobile medical is so powerful and important.

The ability, as you said, we need multiple opportunities.

We need multiple exits from the the experience of homelessness.

People want treatment.

18:56

People want sober living.

People want low barrier where right?

I just need a place to be in someone to begin that journey, whatever that may look like.

And I think it’s the level of, again, the right level of supports and all of its variations are so important.

19:12

Our work is always to advocate for the lowest barrier.

But that’s also because we want it for the the person who right now can’t choose any of those things just need to be self safely sheltered.

But that level of support is so critical and we talked about housing a lot.

19:29

But again, that’s why I say everyone is successful in housing with the right level of support in all of its variations.

That’s the key, Absolutely.

So it sounds like a warm meal and a shelter bed are very important parts of the solution, but housing and supportive services are what really empower a person towards self-sufficiency.

19:49

And I think self-sufficiency is the is the space of recovery from homelessness.

Homelessness is not a title.

It’s not something that sticks with you your entire life.

And we see people in their homelessness every day through various programs or just a level of support to get there, to connect with family, friends and the vast majority never returned to homelessness.

20:12

And it’s because that level of self-sufficiency, understanding how they connect to the system, having a different level of supports is really recovery from homelessness which is so important.

Some people will never leave the system of a permit supportive housing, but a vast majority leave it with the right level of supports to move on and we need communities to embrace that.

20:36

Someone having a homeless experience, right, shouldn’t be a reason that we don’t want them in our communities, because ultimately you can’t tell the difference between someone who has had a homeless experience a few years after they’ve been housed and someone else who is renting.

20:52

It is amazing.

I visited so many people in your housing and I think that that understanding that people you know can leave the experience of homelessness behind them if they’re housed with the right level of support.

That’s correct.

And you mentioned some may be in the PSH system forever and that’s OK because that means they’re housed, right and they just need that level of support and it could just very well be because of their circumstances forever.

21:17

And you know, you mentioned Maggie, you mentioned empowerment and that’s so very, very important, one of the ways to to empower us through employment for all of us, employment is important, right?

It’s no less for those who who we serve.

I mean we just expanded our employment center and then we call it the Jean Burkhart Employment Education Center because of a generous donation from from him.

21:36

And I’m so appreciative because this is now allowed us really to expand our services.

We know that with through our vocational training comes marketable skills.

With that comes employment and then income and self-sufficiency, and you mentioned Tamara.

21:53

That behind all these numbers, I mean, you and I can spout numbers all day, right?

But behind all these numbers are individuals.

And you know Terry, who spoke at our grand reopening of our employment center.

Oh, you would love him.

By the way, I need to introduce you to Terry’s.

He’s a great guy.

22:08

He’s such an optimistic and positive individuals despite all the all the heartache and hardships that he’s had in life.

And and he spoke there so eloquently, actually, and mentioned that he really had.

To come down and out and have lost the ability to to pay his rent and he wound up on the street and he just the day that he found Father Joe’s villages they hear him say that it was like this we were this beacon for him you know and it made it’s changed his life and he and he talks about that and and it’s it’s wonderful to hear him speak about that about his travails and how he’s been helped and it’s through the employment center and he’s now gone through the employment center he’s working at at Peco Park.

22:51

And not only is he working there, he has gotten some increases and he’s only been there about a year, but he’s gotten some increases.

And he whispered in my he didn’t want to say it outrightly at the at the grand reopening.

But he said, and you know, they’re they, they want to make me a supervisor.

23:09

But I’m really, I’m really apprehensive about that because I don’t know if I can do that.

And I looked at him because I’m so proud of him and I said you can do it, all right.

They see that in you.

There’s a reason they see that in you.

You take it on, you’re gonna be just fine, right?

So, Terry, one of the many successes, right?

23:25

And that’s what it’s all about.

Yeah, yeah.

Tamara, you mentioned the community coming together.

What can community members do to help?

I think there are probably 3 good ways.

I think we need to educate ourselves on what homelessness is and isn’t.

I think there’s a lot of, I think, misinformation out there.

23:46

I also think that we many times judge the homeless population by something really challenging that we may see.

And when you think about, hey, I saw something, someone at their worst moment in public on a sidewalk, when you think about that, realize there are over 10,000 people on any given night in San Diego experiencing homelessness.

24:07

That one person doesn’t represent 10,000 people.

The majority of them are just trying to put kind of the pieces together.

And I think that that is really important to keep an open mind.

That majority of folks are San Diegans.

They are people you probably ran into at the grocery store, worked in various ways, maybe someone you went to school with humanizing homelessness.

24:31

That it’s about people at the worst moment.

I hope no one ever sees my worst moment in public in front of everyone.

So remembering that there really great providers, I’m just honored to be here with you all for Father Joe’s villages.

But throughout the region we have incredible providers that really need the support, the donations from community partners.

24:55

And if you can’t give, you know I say it the same thing to my board.

I have two boards, you know, time, talent and treasury.

So if you can give financially great, if not, you can volunteer.

What are your talents?

Where can you give back?

And then there are some activities like point in time that you can volunteer to participate in.

25:13

And the final one is when.

Be aware of what’s going on in your community.

If you have a City Council that is trying to cite housing, If you have a developer that’s trying to cite housing, we need to embrace change.

If we want to see change in our homeless population, which means our house is going to look different, our communities are going to look different, and that’s how communities thrive.

25:36

So anyway, that that people can support their communities in increasing housing in San Diego is a benefit for anyone.

Our aging population, our students, our people are in their first job and kind of piercing together those costs.

25:53

Yeah, you’re right.

I mean I have a couple more that I can add to before I do that because your point, your point about the the stigma sometimes that people carry around there and the one one of the things that pops into my mind at least once a day, I would say is the same there before the grace of God go I.

26:09

And we’ve seen it time and time again crossing our threshold.

People who have been well established, have been teachers, have been lawyers, have been engineers, and now suddenly has happened.

Something has happened in their lives and they wind up at Father Joe’s villages, right.

I mean there but for the grace of God Kowai.

26:24

So that really is very impactful that saying to me everything you said as far as getting involved is it’s absolutely right on with us.

We also have thrift stores right, so people can can donate their their household goods to thrift stores.

We have trucks that go out and pre set appointments each and every single day.

They love to do that and they pick up household goods and and clothing and the like.

26:44

We now have bins actually, that are at 12 different places throughout the county as well to make it as convenient for people.

As possible.

So that’s a way.

So it’s a way of being able to be a part of this mission, this great work and also you could also shop at these thrift stores, right.

And you could also benefit in that way because great merchandise and at very, very reasonable rates as well.

27:04

So that’s it.

That’s a way of doing it.

You mentioned donations, of course donations are important.

In fact people will leave a legacy gifts to us and be quest and so those are very important.

In fact, Gene Burkhart, that gift was through a legacy’s past.

And so, but he thought a lot of Father Joe’s villages and he left us through his through his estate, right.

27:23

And I’m very appreciative.

May God rest his soul.

And so there are many ways volunteering me pre COVID, we had 10,000 volunteers.

I love our volunteers.

Can you imagine 10,000 volunteers?

And I remember I used to put a dollar amount on that.

That’s the value.

That is about $4 million, Can you imagine?

27:40

And now we’re up to about half that.

And so we’re growing our ranks again, but even 4 to 5000, that’s a lot of volunteers, right?

I take a lot of pride to spend time with our volunteers become very proud of them.

And so that’s a way we have a our ladies Guild, which is a force of these women with 200 plus individuals who their work is just with with Father Joe’s villages on a volunteer basis either.

28:03

Holding birthday party for the parties for the kids or now when Christmas and the holidays come around and what they do, they’re special for them as well.

So that’s it though.

You ladies out there who want to come in and and get involved with the Ladies Guild, you know that’s a way of doing it as well.

But contact us at neighbor.org as you mentioned Maggie, right?

28:20

And their wealth of information on our website neighbor.org.

And people can also call 619 homeless, and that’s a way of getting ahold of us and receiving additional information.

Also, you know, one of the things I think I hear from people often, because we’re not a direct service provider, we oversee federal and state funding.

28:39

And a lot of times I’ll hear people say that, you know, that the government should be able to cover all of this or that they don’t need to donate because we’ve got government money going to providers.

And I don’t think that generally, I mean, it’s not people’s profession to understand that the federal and state funding requires what is known as a match.

29:00

And so for a provider to get these type of grants, they have to fundraise, they need the volunteers that have a value, a dollar value.

They need the donations for every financial bequeath or every volunteered hour.

That a provider can then count that towards applying for funding to bring to the community makes you very competitive.

29:21

But also you’re required to fund a portion of all of these programs with that level of donations.

So it is a way to sort of supercharge those donations to be able to match them with federal and state money, which is just so critical and we couldn’t do it without it.

29:37

You’re right, the housing is a perfect example, even on this housing that we’re building.

It’s important to get that philanthropic portion.

The majority of it is publicly funded as we know, right.

But there’s that philanthropic portion and if you get that in early on, then you can show the funders, hey, you know what the community is committed to this, right?

29:55

And they then they step up.

But so that private public partnership is so very, very critical.

So many opportunities for the community to get involved.

Oh, absolutely.

Yeah, absolutely.

Well, thank you again, Tamara, CEO of RTFH and Deacon Jim, President and CEO of Father Joe’s Villages.

30:13

Can you tell people where they can learn more about your organization?

Well, you can find us on our website, rtfhsd.org.

It is understand that I oversee government money, so there are some government things on there.

But we are truly a nonprofit, so there are places you can find our nonprofit work there as well.

30:32

And our website is even easier to remember.

It’s neighbor.org.

And think about our motto is neighbors helping neighbors, right?

So neighbor.org, I would encourage your listeners and the viewers to to really look us up and see how they can get involved at Tammer’s Point.

That’s what it’s all about, right?

30:48

We’re not here.

I believe we’re not here on this earth just for ourselves.

We’re meant to be here for for one another.

And and we recognize that that’s when we come together as a community.

And and the whole becomes healthier, right?

So that’s that’s what it’s all about.

And if you’ve done this work long enough, the people that you work with become your dear friends and and you understand that it’s more than just a job, it’s a mission.

31:12

And that’s, you know, the importance of recognizing it’s about people, the people that we’re working with that are experiencing homelessness, but also the people that are our peers and we’re just in this work as well.

And thank you, Maggie.

Thanks for having us.

31:27

Yes.

Thank you for being here.

Thanks for joining us today.

The next episode of our Neighbors Helping Neighbors Podcast will air in two weeks.

In this upcoming installment, our spotlight will be on our meeting basic needs pillar of care.

It will encompass our impactful turning the key initiative, our commitment to affordable housing and the essential support provided provided by our food services programs and emergency food pantry.

31:52

We’ll also offer a sneak peek into the upcoming Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week and our famous Thanksgiving Day 5K.

Our Turkey trot has become a San Diego tradition, and we hope to see you there burning some calories before your first bite of apple pie.

Remember, you can make a difference by volunteering, donating, and taking action today at neighbor.org, we are all neighbors helping neighbors, and together we can do better.

32:17

Thank you.