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Speaker 1: Everybody. It's Bill Courtney with an army of normal folks.

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Speaker 1: And we continue now with part two of our conversation

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Speaker 1: with Jill Kingston, right after these brief messages from our

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Speaker 1: general sponsors. What does physically, what does architecturally? What does

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Speaker 1: Bridges Path look like?

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Speaker 2: Is it like a house or it's a facility, but

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Speaker 2: it looks in the front it looks like a little house.

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Speaker 2: But then there's a long hallway with four nursery areas.

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Speaker 2: One nursery area has been changed into a family center,

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Speaker 2: so it's a place where moms can cook, do their laundry,

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Speaker 2: there's a shower, hang out, watch TV, have meetings, that

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Speaker 2: sort of thing. Then we have an education nursery where

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Speaker 2: they do mommy and me classes and do any kind

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Speaker 2: of education that way. And then we have two nurseries

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Speaker 2: that have six bedrooms on the nursery area, and so

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Speaker 2: when a baby comes, each baby gets their own bedroom,

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Speaker 2: and then there's a bed in there for mom or

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Speaker 2: dad or whoever's rooming in. We had a grandpa recently

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Speaker 2: that roomed in with a baby, and that.

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Speaker 1: Sounds pretty cool. Yeah, it's probably for some of these

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Speaker 1: parents one of the most wholesome settings they've ever been

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Speaker 1: able to exist in with their baby.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, and we have two people, Neelie and Brad, who

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Speaker 2: take care of the whole building, making sure it stays

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Speaker 2: organized and clean, and it is the most beautiful building.

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Speaker 2: I get compliments all the time about how clean. You know,

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Speaker 2: we've been operational eight years and it looks like it's

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Speaker 2: still brand new because of the care they take.

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Speaker 1: Well, that's a great segue, the operational for eight years part. Yes,

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Speaker 1: lots of people have ideas, lots of people have passions,

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Speaker 1: and I love that, just as a foster mom, you

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Speaker 1: decided to it's only three hours away, let me go

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Speaker 1: down to West Virginia and check out what these folks

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Speaker 1: are doing because this and I mean I love that

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Speaker 1: you got passionate about it and decided I got to

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Speaker 1: see what other people are doing about it. But there's

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Speaker 1: a problem with all that, which is this work of

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Speaker 1: helping moms and babies withdrawing from Doug. It's expensive, yes,

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Speaker 1: and you're quote just a normal person.

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Speaker 2: Yes, it's not.

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Speaker 1: Like you have some big, massive organization behind you.

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Speaker 2: I didn't even know if people could write checks. When

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Speaker 2: we start getting bigger donations, and I'm like, I had

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Speaker 2: no idea. People just wrote a check like that.

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Speaker 1: But that's my question is eight years ago, where are

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Speaker 1: you going to get the money for all this? How

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Speaker 1: and how does this even get reimbursed from any systematic

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Speaker 1: healthcare organization or even because this brand new? Does it initially?

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Speaker 1: You know what, somebody's got to be thinking this sounds great,

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Speaker 1: but how were we going to pay for it?

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Speaker 2: I'm sure somebody else was. I had no idea. I

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Speaker 2: stepped out in faith that I had. It was, like

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Speaker 2: I said, a strong calling for me. I knew this

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Speaker 2: was what I was supposed to do. I didn't know

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Speaker 2: how to do it. I didn't know what it would

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Speaker 2: entail with how much money we would need to raise

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Speaker 2: our operational budgets about three and a half million a year.

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Speaker 2: And because we're twenty four to seven and we have

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Speaker 2: nurses there twenty four to seven taking care of these kiddos, So, oh.

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Speaker 1: What'd you do? We in the beginning, because these people

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Speaker 1: are listening to us, maybe they don't want to get

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Speaker 1: into this, but they have another idea. And one of

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Speaker 1: the biggest barriers to entry is where am I going

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Speaker 1: to get the money in the sport? You know? So

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Speaker 1: how'd you do it.

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Speaker 2: I honestly just told my story and what I envisioned happening.

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Speaker 2: And I had people that reached out to me saying,

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Speaker 2: I hear what your vision is and how can I

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Speaker 2: support That's.

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Speaker 1: That's a good thing.

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Speaker 2: It is a god thing. And all of this has

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Speaker 2: been same with the building that we're in. A family

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Speaker 2: reached out to us and said, we heard that you

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Speaker 2: are in need of a building, will donate it to you?

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Speaker 2: Do you have your five? Oh one c three? And

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Speaker 2: I'm like, what, No, I don't have any of that.

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Speaker 2: I was still learning all of that. Yeah, I didn't

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Speaker 2: know any of that, and so.

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Speaker 1: We didn't even know what now.

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Speaker 2: Really, No, I hadn't been I'd stayed at home doing

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Speaker 2: my you know.

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Speaker 1: This all sort of what is your background professionally or sure?

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Speaker 2: I have my master's in education from Ohio State and

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Speaker 2: Wright State, and so I stayed at home after teaching

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Speaker 2: for two years. Oh yeah, I taught for two years

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Speaker 2: and stayed at home.

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Speaker 1: I've stayed at home raised our four kids. So when

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Speaker 1: I say what I say, please know that I know

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Speaker 1: that despite all of the work I've done building my

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Speaker 1: business and the stress and everything else, I had the

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Speaker 1: easy job, And I do not mean that in this

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Speaker 1: all shucks false humility, you know, masculine, gratuitous way. I'm

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Speaker 1: not trying to say it falsely. I truly could not

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Speaker 1: have done what Lisa did, staying at home with kids

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Speaker 1: screaming at her yep, and somehow putting a smile on

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Speaker 1: her face and putting lipstick on and have a dinner

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Speaker 1: ready when I walked on the door. I have an

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Speaker 1: enormous amount of appreciation respect for what my wife did.

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Speaker 2: She is the same.

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Speaker 1: So having said that, what makes you think, as a

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Speaker 1: stay at home mom former teacher, that you're going to

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Speaker 1: be able to take this massive thing on when you

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Speaker 1: don't even know what a five oh one C three is?

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Speaker 2: I didn't know. I was just stepping out in face.

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Speaker 1: That is phenomenal. Where was your husband's mentality on this?

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Speaker 1: Are you crazy? Or you know? What was he thinking?

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Speaker 2: Probably that's a great question. You have to ask him

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Speaker 2: what he was thinking. He'd probably say, I'm a dreamer

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Speaker 2: and so I'm always looking at how to make things better,

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Speaker 2: and he's very supportive. I wouldn't be able to do

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Speaker 2: this without him. He's very supportive of But he never.

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Speaker 1: Once looked at you and said, honey, now come on.

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Speaker 2: He often says he likes to how things to death

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Speaker 2: and I like to wow them to life.

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Speaker 1: Oh. I love that he likes to how things today

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Speaker 1: to death and you like to wow them to life. Yes,

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Speaker 1: that's on our social media. We've heard Nick Kingston.

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Speaker 2: Nick Kingston.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, you don't get the credit, Nick, I don't take

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Speaker 1: that line. Will go on an army in normal folks

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Speaker 1: lore as long as we are are live. He liked

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Speaker 1: to how things to death and you liked a wow

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Speaker 1: them to life.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, it sounds like your relationship too, Bill, I did

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Speaker 3: a lot like it.

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Speaker 1: It maybe why I like it so much because identify

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Speaker 1: with it. That is a great quote, and that is

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Speaker 1: also on Knixed Behalf. That is really an aware statement.

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Speaker 1: I think that's pretty cool. Okay, so you don't know

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Speaker 1: what a five of one C three is. You have

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Speaker 1: a family reach out to you and say, if you

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Speaker 1: get a five O one C three, we'll give you

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Speaker 1: a building. And then you just started telling your story

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Speaker 1: how social media or to mouth at church, going knocking

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Speaker 1: on doors.

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Speaker 2: It was more through the church. It was more through

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Speaker 2: the church, the Optimist clubs, the community groups and getting

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Speaker 2: with you know there's big nonprofits in the area, getting

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Speaker 2: with them too at different events to talk about what

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Speaker 2: we were doing.

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Speaker 1: And people started writing jacks.

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Speaker 2: And people started. We had a woman and her best

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Speaker 2: friend who were taking a walk one day and they

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Speaker 2: just were praying about what they wanted to support and

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Speaker 2: they both brought us up at the same time, and

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Speaker 2: so they were our first donors. They came alongside and

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Speaker 2: financially got us off the ground.

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Speaker 1: How much money did that take that first year put

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Speaker 1: off the ground.

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Speaker 2: About two million to get the building.

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Speaker 1: And say that and you say that about two million,

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Speaker 1: do you realize how much money that is?

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Speaker 2: I do because I don't have that much money. I do.

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Speaker 2: And that's just how God works. He brings the right

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Speaker 2: people at the right time. We had an architect come

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Speaker 2: when the building was donated to help us. He became

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Speaker 2: our first board president, still on the board, but his

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Speaker 2: guidance through all of this has helped me because he

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Speaker 2: had a long professional career of managing people and it

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Speaker 2: helped me. He's helped me since day one. He still

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Speaker 2: helps me every day. We had a sister of the

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Speaker 2: Precious Blood and her best friend come alongside to help

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Speaker 2: take in donations and write grants and organize all the things.

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Speaker 2: People were already starting to do diaper drives before we

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Speaker 2: even had our building ready for us, and so they

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Speaker 2: helped do that. So we just had people walk alongside

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Speaker 2: us that said, how can I help, but how can

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Speaker 2: I be part of this? One was our clinical director,

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Speaker 2: Lisa Jason. She's a natal nurse practitioner. She had been

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Speaker 2: working with babies who are exposed for twenty years, but

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Speaker 2: this was starting. She was starting to see the increase

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Speaker 2: and working on initiatives in Ohio to decrease the length

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Speaker 2: of stay, that sort of thing. And we were connected

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Speaker 2: and she was I'll say one of her quotes. I

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Speaker 2: told her about Lily's place and when we first met,

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Speaker 2: and she said, I'll go to West Virginia with you,

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Speaker 2: and she no idea who I was. She jumped in

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Speaker 2: the van. She said that jumping in the van with

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Speaker 2: a stranger is how you end up. What she say

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Speaker 2: had listened the cornfield, she said, but she jumped into

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Speaker 2: the vand with me and went down there and she

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Speaker 2: was bought in at that point. And so she created

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Speaker 2: the whole medical side of what we do. Because I'm

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Speaker 2: not medical, but what she has created on the medical side,

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Speaker 2: and how these babies are treated medically is top notch.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, it's I mean, you're not a nurse that.

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Speaker 2: They failed out of nursing school.

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Speaker 1: I know.

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Speaker 2: I started Ohio State nursing and I just couldn't do it.

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Speaker 2: I couldn't do it believable.

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Speaker 3: At least Tarah Sundom was an actual nurse.

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Speaker 2: I'm so jealous of Tara. She's amazing.

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Speaker 1: I don't want to do the guilt trip thing here. Okay,

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Speaker 1: do your families and moms that you serve do they

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Speaker 1: have any conception of what you and your community are

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Speaker 1: doing for them and their families and the commitment takes

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Speaker 1: to make it happen, Because to me, they need to

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Speaker 1: understand that they really aren't alone. Right do they know?

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Speaker 2: I think they know it. They feel it. The people

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Speaker 2: at work at Bridget's Path, the nurses, patient care assistants,

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Speaker 2: the volunteers, all our staff, they just they just fill

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Speaker 2: them with love. Some of them have never had that

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Speaker 2: support system around them.

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Speaker 1: It's a gotpe.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a gote.

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Speaker 1: So help me understand this. If you get a baby

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Speaker 1: born exposed to drugs, you get them to withdraw, whether

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Speaker 1: it's that one week or some that you recognize are

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Speaker 1: the ones that take all thirty days. Okay, once they're

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Speaker 1: over it, I don't know the right term, so forgive me.

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Speaker 1: But once they're completely clean and over the withdrawal symptoms

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Speaker 1: and everything, why not just send them home and call

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Speaker 1: it a.

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Speaker 2: Success, because that's when we see the family fall apart.

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Speaker 2: Because families have to be educated and supported so that

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Speaker 2: they can succeed. It's not always done after that. Ninety days.

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Speaker 2: Ninety days is not enough. I would love to have

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Speaker 2: the next step where they have housing and a supportive

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Speaker 2: community around them, because it's I mean, I think about

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Speaker 2: my own children. I have five children, and my three

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Speaker 2: oldest are in college and still all live at home.

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Speaker 2: I can't imagine them trying to figure this out on

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Speaker 2: their own. It's the cost of housing, the cost of

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Speaker 2: living in general. None of these families have that support

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Speaker 2: system around them, and so we're trying to create that

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Speaker 2: around them so that they have that stability so that

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Speaker 2: they can succeed. It's giving them a hand up so

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Speaker 2: that they can also build a family and be strong

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Speaker 2: community members.

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Speaker 1: We'll be right back. This is not part of my

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Speaker 1: original plan to ask, but as you said that, I'm

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Speaker 1: thinking of my kids in college. We raised them, right,

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Speaker 1: we educated them. Of course, kids are idiots. So despite

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Speaker 1: your expectations and your rules and everything else, they're going

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Speaker 1: to do do those dumb things that they all do.

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Speaker 1: Lord knows, I did plenty of them when I was

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Speaker 1: their age, And so while you hold them accountable, you

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Speaker 1: also forgive and you take mistakes as teaching moments. All

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Speaker 1: to say that when my children were nineteen twenty eighteen

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Speaker 1: twenty one, even college getting through college, honestly, they were

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Speaker 1: ridiculously stupid human beings and they had absolutely no chance

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Speaker 1: of making it in the world despite Lisa and I's

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Speaker 1: best effort to prepare them. Even as twenty five to

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Speaker 1: thirty year old people, while they're paying their bills and

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Speaker 1: they're employed, they still do things that I just look

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Speaker 1: at and go, I didn't raise you. I don't know

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Speaker 1: where you came from, because that's the stupidest thing I've

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Speaker 1: ever seen in my life.

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Speaker 3: Well it seems pretty straight laced.

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Speaker 1: Will, Yeah, he does some of the stupidest stuff. You'll

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Speaker 1: never imagine. He's just a complete jacket. So anyway, he's

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Speaker 1: my child, and I love them, and i'd give my

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Speaker 1: right arm for him. But they're idiots. So I'm thinking about,

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Speaker 1: even with support and great education everything else, how lost

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Speaker 1: they are when it comes to things and some of

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Speaker 1: the questions they asked me that, I'm like, how did

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Speaker 1: you not know that already? Did I not teach you?

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Speaker 1: So transfer that to somebody their same age that had

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Speaker 1: none of that that fostering.

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Speaker 2: We're in foster care and passed from his mentoring.

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Speaker 1: Let's say, yes, right, what do you think the average

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Speaker 1: ages of the parents that are having these babies? Are

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Speaker 1: They usually pretty young? Really know?

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Speaker 2: Our average age is thirty you're case old, No.

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Speaker 1: But chronologically they're thirty, but maturely they're still.

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Speaker 2: Like yeah, kids, Yeah, they seem a lot younger than

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Speaker 2: what than thirty? Okay, I just haven't had the They

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Speaker 2: have had a different experience in life, so they haven't

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Speaker 2: had the same Like when I was thirty, I had

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Speaker 2: three kids and was starting the foster and you know, stable,

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Speaker 2: but I also had parents who raised me to go

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Speaker 2: to college to you know, and are there for me

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Speaker 2: still if I need if I need something right now,

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Speaker 2: I could call my mom and dad and say, hey,

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Speaker 2: going through this, help and I could get the help

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Speaker 2: or from my older sister. You know, we're really close.

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Speaker 1: So none of that.

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Speaker 2: No, they don't have that. I never have, never have,

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Speaker 2: or their parents aren't alive anymore.

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Speaker 1: But that explains the whole need for the ninety days

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Speaker 1: and beyond. Yes, you are catching up in some cases

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Speaker 1: a decade or more. Yes, of absence in all things. Yep.

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Speaker 1: Do you do you work on how to handle yourself

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Speaker 1: financially and things like that too. Yep. So you're mentoring

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Speaker 1: these parents as well as taking care of their child.

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Speaker 2: Yes, they do a one class called Parenting in Recovery

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Speaker 2: because a lot of them may have had children previously

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Speaker 2: that they could have lost to the foster care system,

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Speaker 2: and this is the first time that they're actually parenting

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Speaker 2: while they're in recovery, and so it's a very focused

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Speaker 2: program that works with them on how to deal with

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Speaker 2: the issues that you know, any parent has to deal with.

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Speaker 2: I mean, like you said, your kids make dumb decisions

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Speaker 2: and instead of losing it, what's the proper way to

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Speaker 2: handle that situation? And they work there.

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Speaker 1: Especially when their experience as a child of making a

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Speaker 1: spake was probably to get just beaten or something. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: and no mentoring, no.

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Speaker 2: Teaching, yeah, so we're teaching them how to be parents.

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Speaker 1: So you're literally trying to reverse a lifetime of Yeah.

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Speaker 1: So that fully explains why, Okay, the kids no longer withdrawals,

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Speaker 1: let's send them home, why you want to keep them longer.

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Speaker 1: But under that context, ninety days isn't near enough.

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Speaker 2: No, not near enough.

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Speaker 1: We do you stay in touch after?

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Speaker 2: Oh? Absolutely. We have about four family events where everybody

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Speaker 2: comes back to and like we're getting ready to have

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Speaker 2: our Easter a hunt, you know, we do Halloween, Christmas,

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Speaker 2: we did the big holidays, and they can come to

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Speaker 2: us at any time need anything. We had a mom

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Speaker 2: recently that she was in a I believe it was

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Speaker 2: sober a Living program that dropped, like she didn't have

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Speaker 2: to pay very much for rent, but they changed it

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Speaker 2: all of a sudden said you're going to be evicted

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Speaker 2: if you don't pay this X amount of money. And

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Speaker 2: so she came to us and we were able to

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Speaker 2: help get the money that she needed to stabilize at

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Speaker 2: that time. So, and her daughter's much older now. So

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Speaker 2: our oldest baby is eight years old.

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Speaker 1: And the oldest baby is eight years old.

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Speaker 2: From Bridget's Path. Because we've been operational for eight years.

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Speaker 1: That's incredible, Colton, And so you stay in touch with me.

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Speaker 1: You know what this infit was that.

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Speaker 2: She's going to be our next spokesman because he is.

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Speaker 2: He is the cutest guy.

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Speaker 1: He is.

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Speaker 2: So yeah, he still comes to all the family events.

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Speaker 1: We've talked about it a little. But if there's one

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Speaker 1: thing you want our listeners to hear about these moms

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Speaker 1: in drastic contrast to dismiss them as a terrible person,

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Speaker 1: what is that one thing we need to know about

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Speaker 1: these moms.

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Speaker 2: That they just want to be loved and understood, No.

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Speaker 1: Different than their infant.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, no different, no different than us. We just want

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Speaker 2: to we want to be accepted and understood and loved

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Speaker 2: as people. And so that's what we open our doors with.

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Speaker 2: And that's what we lead with because we are a

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Speaker 2: faith based organization, but we don't like lead with. Here's

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Speaker 2: the Bible, start reading it. We just walk the walk

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Speaker 2: and we offer love and kindness. Because many of our

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Speaker 2: moms have been burned through their lives. Why God has

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Speaker 2: forsaken them? They feel like that, and so we're trying

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Speaker 2: to show them the other side of it that God

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Speaker 2: does love them and that we are here for them.

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Speaker 1: Tell me a story. It's going to warm my heart.

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Speaker 1: I'm sure there's a lot of them. I know of

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Speaker 1: an infant, a mom that you took him where the

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Speaker 1: child was going through all kinds of mass and the

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Speaker 1: mom was had clearly led a disastrous life that through

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Speaker 1: the work that you've done with them and their investment

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Speaker 1: in the work that you've asked them to do, looks

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Speaker 1: completely different today. Tell me one of those stories.

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Speaker 2: So we have one mom who she had multiple children

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Speaker 2: and she had lost custody of most of them, and

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Speaker 2: she her two year old he was one at the time,

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Speaker 2: was in foster care, and she was pregnant, and so

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Speaker 2: the she was had been lost in addiction, had a

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Speaker 2: hard life growing up.

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Speaker 1: What was she addicted to.

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Speaker 2: I don't know what her drug of choice was, because

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Speaker 2: it's different heroin or math or yeah, and a lot

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Speaker 2: off yeah, hard stuff. The lot of things we see

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Speaker 2: now is we don't see heroin anymore. Fetanohl has definitely

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Speaker 2: taken over. And then we see meth cocaine, that kind

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Speaker 2: of thing crack. I don't know if they can tell

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Speaker 2: the difference when they drug test that from cocaine, but

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Speaker 2: they could, I don't know. I'm an expert on that

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Speaker 2: a lot of marijuana. But anyway, Mom had struggled her

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Speaker 2: whole life, but was at a point where she was

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Speaker 2: ready to be well. She was tired, she was exhausted.

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Speaker 2: She just wanted to be a parent. She came to

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Speaker 2: Bridget's Path and spent the whole ninety days there with

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Speaker 2: her son and did an amazing job. I would go

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Speaker 2: anywhere and take her anywhere, and I would take her

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Speaker 2: into my own home. She's amazing and she's worked her

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Speaker 2: butt off to parents this child. And Children's Services came

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Speaker 2: in and took the baby. Why I don't know, because

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Speaker 2: she did everything she was supposed to do, and think, yeah,

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Speaker 2: I don't know what they're historic working with her, and

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Speaker 2: a lot of people the stigma of you've messed up,

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Speaker 2: so now you're never going to have a chance. We

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Speaker 2: fought and fought for them not to take the baby,

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Speaker 2: and we were not able to do it. So we

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Speaker 2: stayed with her and fought with her, and she now

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Speaker 2: has custody of her one year old and so she worked.

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Speaker 2: That's the baby that was with us. She got him back.

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Speaker 2: She stabilized her and her husband in their home, doing

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Speaker 2: an amazing job, and now they just got custody back

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Speaker 2: of their two year old and they are they're, they're

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Speaker 2: they're ready to light the world on fire. They're they're amazing.

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Speaker 1: There.

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Speaker 2: They are incredible people, and she's going to do amazing things.

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Speaker 2: I think she's going to be able to show others

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Speaker 2: the path that she's been in and what how how

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Speaker 2: to do what she has done.

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Speaker 1: And without your organization that ever happens.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, that's what she tells us.

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Speaker 1: That I know you don't I know you don't want

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Speaker 1: to pound your chest, but I can say it. I mean,

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Speaker 1: where does that story end if not having had if

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Speaker 1: often you see that kind of story.

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Speaker 2: We see that a lot. We walk with moms a lot.

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Speaker 2: We go to court with her, we we fight for

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Speaker 2: we help find housing, we help do connect her to

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Speaker 2: other organizations that do supportive you know, help as well,

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Speaker 2: and so we really try to build that community around

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Speaker 2: these women so that they can thrive.

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Speaker 1: How's this changed you?

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Speaker 2: Oh, it's changed me tremendously. I had no idea, even

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Speaker 2: of the the trauma that people have been through in

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Speaker 2: their lives, to sit down with a mom and listen

413
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Speaker 2: to how she's been trafficked by her own mom. What

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Speaker 2: We hear that all the time and it's just.

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Speaker 1: Their mother trafficked out their own daughter. Oh, that is disgusting.

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Speaker 2: Yep. We've seen it over and over. We've had a

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Speaker 2: mom that she's passed away. She ended up not getting clean,

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Speaker 2: but her mother was still doing it even when the

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Speaker 2: babies were with us.

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Speaker 1: And well, okay, well but okay, awful. Why does a

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Speaker 1: twenty one or twenty two year old person just not

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Speaker 1: say no?

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Speaker 2: The abuse is so deep and so has been happening

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Speaker 2: their whole lives. They don't know to say no. They

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00:24:34,880 --> 00:24:39,080
Speaker 2: don't know anything else until they're given that opportunity to

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Speaker 2: see that there is a different path. Talking to these

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Speaker 2: other women that have been through what they've been through

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Speaker 2: and that there is a different path that they can follow.

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Speaker 1: They literally feel like, well, this is this is life.

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Speaker 2: This is life.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and that is horrific. It's horrific that in our society.

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Speaker 2: Yep, that is in our regular neighborhoods. And people think

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Speaker 2: that it's like, oh, inner city problem or teenage problem.

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Speaker 2: It is not. It's happening in our neighborhoods that are

435
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Speaker 2: affluent neighborhoods. Wow.

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Speaker 1: So it's open your eyes is one of the ways

437
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Speaker 1: it's changed as a person.

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Speaker 2: I guess it's opened my eyes and it makes me

439
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Speaker 2: want to even I just want to take all the

440
00:25:27,520 --> 00:25:28,639
Speaker 2: moms and babies home with me.

441
00:25:31,440 --> 00:25:33,679
Speaker 1: Nick, that's a wow statement. You better build a bigger

442
00:25:33,680 --> 00:25:52,320
Speaker 1: House's right. We'll be right back when it comes to

443
00:25:53,880 --> 00:25:58,600
Speaker 1: those moms right that you know are just full of

444
00:25:58,720 --> 00:26:05,560
Speaker 1: lifetime of trauma and all of that ballpark. How many

445
00:26:05,560 --> 00:26:08,080
Speaker 1: of those moms are you able to actually change? I

446
00:26:08,160 --> 00:26:10,359
Speaker 1: know you can change their baby's life, and if they

447
00:26:10,400 --> 00:26:14,280
Speaker 1: don't get straight, the baby can find a way somewhere else. Yes,

448
00:26:14,440 --> 00:26:17,239
Speaker 1: but how can you change how many of those What

449
00:26:17,320 --> 00:26:19,600
Speaker 1: percent do you think of those moms you can change

450
00:26:20,040 --> 00:26:21,080
Speaker 1: or do you change?

451
00:26:21,680 --> 00:26:25,720
Speaker 2: I don't know a percentage. We know that we're keeping

452
00:26:25,760 --> 00:26:29,440
Speaker 2: about eighty five percent of our babies with their family

453
00:26:29,480 --> 00:26:30,000
Speaker 2: of origin.

454
00:26:30,119 --> 00:26:33,439
Speaker 1: Well that it has to be eighty five percent ish ish.

455
00:26:33,600 --> 00:26:36,760
Speaker 2: Sometimes moms aren't ready and so we do find healthy

456
00:26:36,760 --> 00:26:41,400
Speaker 2: family members. Or sometimes it's dad. Dad doesn't have addiction

457
00:26:41,560 --> 00:26:45,639
Speaker 2: problems and he steps up and takes raises the baby.

458
00:26:45,680 --> 00:26:48,400
Speaker 2: We have some amazing fathers raising their babies right now

459
00:26:48,760 --> 00:26:51,280
Speaker 2: and do It's phenomenal to watch that too.

460
00:26:52,760 --> 00:26:59,760
Speaker 1: Listen to this, everybody. As Jill explained, opened eight years

461
00:26:59,760 --> 00:27:04,360
Speaker 1: ago in twenty eighteen, Bridgett's Bath is one of only

462
00:27:04,400 --> 00:27:07,200
Speaker 1: a handful of dedicated centers in the United States providing

463
00:27:07,240 --> 00:27:12,120
Speaker 1: specialized care for babies born exposed to addictive substances while

464
00:27:12,119 --> 00:27:15,280
Speaker 1: supporting mothers working towards recovery. What Jill just said is

465
00:27:15,320 --> 00:27:19,280
Speaker 1: really important. The organization have served over three hundred families.

466
00:27:20,000 --> 00:27:24,240
Speaker 1: Eighty five percent of newborns cared for are discharged into

467
00:27:24,240 --> 00:27:28,399
Speaker 1: family care, and seventy percent of those seventy percent of

468
00:27:28,440 --> 00:27:31,520
Speaker 1: those would have otherwise ended up in foster care. And

469
00:27:31,560 --> 00:27:35,040
Speaker 1: we've done enough stories around here to understand that, despite

470
00:27:35,080 --> 00:27:40,639
Speaker 1: its best efforts, foster care as at best and inadequate backstop.

471
00:27:43,240 --> 00:27:48,159
Speaker 1: After an eleven year advocacy effort, you guys became the

472
00:27:48,200 --> 00:27:52,160
Speaker 1: first facility of its kind to be reimbursed by Medicaid

473
00:27:52,720 --> 00:27:55,720
Speaker 1: in the state of Ohio. I want to talk about

474
00:27:55,720 --> 00:28:01,720
Speaker 1: that a little bit, because before or we started recording,

475
00:28:01,760 --> 00:28:04,159
Speaker 1: you told me a little bit about it. Sure, but

476
00:28:04,280 --> 00:28:08,600
Speaker 1: because you're not a hospital, in addition to funding that

477
00:28:08,640 --> 00:28:12,800
Speaker 1: you got to go raise money. You have historically not

478
00:28:12,840 --> 00:28:16,600
Speaker 1: being able to get any real reimbursement from the state

479
00:28:16,800 --> 00:28:20,919
Speaker 1: or the federal government or anything, even though you're doing

480
00:28:22,240 --> 00:28:25,200
Speaker 1: the important work for from some of the most at

481
00:28:25,280 --> 00:28:29,520
Speaker 1: risk babies that even hospitals can't do. So it's like

482
00:28:29,560 --> 00:28:33,160
Speaker 1: this catch twenty two quandary that you found yourself in

483
00:28:34,160 --> 00:28:38,400
Speaker 1: and somehow you lobbied the federal government to start changing

484
00:28:38,400 --> 00:28:41,120
Speaker 1: some of that, and the state tell us about that

485
00:28:41,760 --> 00:28:47,680
Speaker 1: from this poor little housewife who didn't no issues, which

486
00:28:47,720 --> 00:28:48,840
Speaker 1: is not at all.

487
00:28:49,440 --> 00:28:53,720
Speaker 2: Yeah. So in twenty eighteen, we were able to work

488
00:28:53,800 --> 00:28:57,400
Speaker 2: with Congress to amend the Social Security Act to allow

489
00:28:57,920 --> 00:29:02,200
Speaker 2: pediatric Recovery centers as our doessign that's federally to get

490
00:29:02,520 --> 00:29:07,560
Speaker 2: Medicaid reimbursement. At the time, Lily's Place was getting Medicaid

491
00:29:07,600 --> 00:29:10,239
Speaker 2: through their state plan amendment, so they did have some

492
00:29:10,280 --> 00:29:12,480
Speaker 2: sort of medicaid. Ohio didn't want to do a state

493
00:29:12,480 --> 00:29:14,360
Speaker 2: plan amendment, so we had to go federally and do

494
00:29:14,440 --> 00:29:19,440
Speaker 2: it hushed to buy and Jacob's, which are in Arizona.

495
00:29:19,880 --> 00:29:25,160
Speaker 2: Arizona reimburse as an adult detox, so they actually get

496
00:29:25,680 --> 00:29:29,560
Speaker 2: Medicaid as an adult detox for their babies. And then

497
00:29:29,920 --> 00:29:33,160
Speaker 2: Maddie's Place in West Virginia does not get any kind

498
00:29:33,200 --> 00:29:36,840
Speaker 2: of reimbursement either because their state doesn't have anything. So

499
00:29:37,440 --> 00:29:40,760
Speaker 2: Maddie's is now working to replicate what we've done. So

500
00:29:40,800 --> 00:29:41,560
Speaker 2: now that we've done it.

501
00:29:41,520 --> 00:29:43,440
Speaker 1: Federally traveled all way.

502
00:29:43,760 --> 00:29:46,240
Speaker 2: Yeah, I work closely with all the centers. They're amazing

503
00:29:46,280 --> 00:29:49,280
Speaker 2: people at each one of them totally. Like I said,

504
00:29:49,320 --> 00:29:51,600
Speaker 2: a total of five of us. So Maddie's is now

505
00:29:52,160 --> 00:29:54,040
Speaker 2: the whole country.

506
00:29:54,040 --> 00:29:59,000
Speaker 1: And there's two in Phoenix or two in Arizona, Yours,

507
00:29:59,600 --> 00:30:01,080
Speaker 1: one West Virginia.

508
00:30:00,840 --> 00:30:03,640
Speaker 2: Lily's Places in West Virginia, and then Maddie's Place is

509
00:30:03,680 --> 00:30:04,920
Speaker 2: in Spokane, Washington.

510
00:30:05,520 --> 00:30:07,120
Speaker 1: That's it and Maddie's.

511
00:30:07,520 --> 00:30:11,800
Speaker 2: Maddie's Place and Bridge's Path are the most similar in

512
00:30:11,840 --> 00:30:15,240
Speaker 2: that we are allowed to have that longer stay, whereas

513
00:30:15,360 --> 00:30:18,440
Speaker 2: Lily's hushould Buy and Jacob's they have to do the

514
00:30:18,480 --> 00:30:21,960
Speaker 2: medical stay only as long as the baby's medically necessary

515
00:30:21,960 --> 00:30:24,960
Speaker 2: to be there. They can't have that social stay. Where

516
00:30:24,960 --> 00:30:26,680
Speaker 2: we're trying to balance.

517
00:30:26,800 --> 00:30:29,840
Speaker 1: It has to be almost as important as the initial

518
00:30:30,480 --> 00:30:34,520
Speaker 1: as you've explained it is. But first there's only five.

519
00:30:34,800 --> 00:30:36,400
Speaker 1: It seems like there needs to be at least one

520
00:30:36,440 --> 00:30:38,960
Speaker 1: of these in every city in the country because it's rampant,

521
00:30:39,280 --> 00:30:42,800
Speaker 1: which is interesting that we can talk about. But before

522
00:30:42,800 --> 00:30:47,040
Speaker 1: we get to that, you lobbied the federal government to

523
00:30:47,120 --> 00:30:49,120
Speaker 1: start getting How did you do that?

524
00:30:50,560 --> 00:30:55,600
Speaker 2: Our senators came beside us and helped us do that.

525
00:30:55,640 --> 00:30:57,600
Speaker 2: I don't know how to do any of that. I

526
00:30:57,640 --> 00:31:00,640
Speaker 2: went to DC and I would testify when they told

527
00:31:00,680 --> 00:31:04,520
Speaker 2: me to testify. But I had other people that they

528
00:31:05,080 --> 00:31:06,600
Speaker 2: really helped do this.

529
00:31:06,720 --> 00:31:07,920
Speaker 3: I had to carry the bill together.

530
00:31:08,080 --> 00:31:10,040
Speaker 2: Was a bipartisan It was bipartisan.

531
00:31:10,160 --> 00:31:13,920
Speaker 3: So what shared Brown and I'm blanking on the ports?

532
00:31:14,560 --> 00:31:16,440
Speaker 3: Oh Rob Apartment Portman?

533
00:31:16,600 --> 00:31:19,360
Speaker 1: Yeah, sorry, yep, Well that's that's weird. Do you mean

534
00:31:19,920 --> 00:31:21,520
Speaker 1: a Democratic Republican worked together?

535
00:31:21,720 --> 00:31:24,760
Speaker 2: I worked together and they were amazing and got it through.

536
00:31:24,960 --> 00:31:27,680
Speaker 1: Yeah, okay, So what does that mean now that you

537
00:31:27,720 --> 00:31:29,120
Speaker 1: can get from the federal government.

538
00:31:29,200 --> 00:31:31,920
Speaker 2: So our state kind of fell behind because of COVID.

539
00:31:32,520 --> 00:31:37,320
Speaker 2: So they did not write the rules for the our

540
00:31:37,400 --> 00:31:40,360
Speaker 2: state until July this past.

541
00:31:40,120 --> 00:31:44,960
Speaker 1: July in twenty eighteen. Boy, government moves, I.

542
00:31:44,960 --> 00:31:48,560
Speaker 2: Know, I know. So they they helped us get that

543
00:31:48,600 --> 00:31:51,280
Speaker 2: in place on July first. The rate is not where

544
00:31:51,320 --> 00:31:53,800
Speaker 2: we need to be. It costs about thirteen hundred dollars

545
00:31:53,880 --> 00:31:56,400
Speaker 2: per day per baby at bridge the path and the

546
00:31:56,440 --> 00:31:59,920
Speaker 2: reimbursement is five point fifty nine per day per BA

547
00:32:00,160 --> 00:32:01,880
Speaker 2: be up to thirty days.

548
00:32:02,600 --> 00:32:04,840
Speaker 1: Well, how much does the hospital get.

549
00:32:04,760 --> 00:32:07,880
Speaker 2: Seven thousand dollars per day per baby in Ohio?

550
00:32:08,320 --> 00:32:12,200
Speaker 1: Okay, See this is where I go crazy. I appreciate

551
00:32:12,240 --> 00:32:15,520
Speaker 1: you patting everybody on the back for helping you. But

552
00:32:15,640 --> 00:32:18,640
Speaker 1: a hospital who can't do as good a job in

553
00:32:18,680 --> 00:32:22,680
Speaker 1: this specific instance that you do would get seven thousand

554
00:32:22,680 --> 00:32:25,120
Speaker 1: a day and you get five hundred and seventy bucks. Yep.

555
00:32:25,240 --> 00:32:33,200
Speaker 2: Why I'm always told by Medicaid and by lobbyists is

556
00:32:33,240 --> 00:32:36,440
Speaker 2: that hospitals have a lot higher overhead and so they

557
00:32:36,480 --> 00:32:37,720
Speaker 2: get higher reimbursements.

558
00:32:38,400 --> 00:32:41,520
Speaker 1: But it's still not covering your cost. I know, what

559
00:32:41,600 --> 00:32:42,120
Speaker 1: is your cost?

560
00:32:42,160 --> 00:32:44,360
Speaker 2: Thirteen about thirteen hundred dollars a day?

561
00:32:44,920 --> 00:32:47,040
Speaker 1: I mean, you're not looking to make a profit, just

562
00:32:47,080 --> 00:32:47,920
Speaker 1: cover your cost.

563
00:32:48,240 --> 00:32:50,479
Speaker 2: We would just like, yeah, I would, even if they

564
00:32:50,480 --> 00:32:53,880
Speaker 2: would just double our rate and we can fundraise the

565
00:32:53,920 --> 00:32:57,360
Speaker 2: other amount. But right now, where it covers about thirty

566
00:32:57,360 --> 00:32:58,880
Speaker 2: percent of a baby's day.

567
00:32:59,000 --> 00:33:03,080
Speaker 1: Okay, everybody listening to me right now should be on

568
00:33:03,160 --> 00:33:06,760
Speaker 1: the phone calling somebody that's a policymaker that you have

569
00:33:06,880 --> 00:33:10,440
Speaker 1: any relationship with or God forbids somebody in DC's listened

570
00:33:10,480 --> 00:33:13,280
Speaker 1: to us now that actually knows how to make some

571
00:33:13,400 --> 00:33:16,640
Speaker 1: of this happen. To me, that is just dumb. It's

572
00:33:16,680 --> 00:33:21,880
Speaker 1: just dumb. I mean, you're changing family. We're always looking

573
00:33:21,920 --> 00:33:25,600
Speaker 1: how to break the proverbial cycle. You guys have come

574
00:33:25,680 --> 00:33:29,520
Speaker 1: up with a way to significantly break the proverbial cycle.

575
00:33:29,920 --> 00:33:32,720
Speaker 1: Take at risk children who are probably going to grow

576
00:33:32,800 --> 00:33:35,320
Speaker 1: up and continue the cycle, and absolutely break it. But

577
00:33:35,520 --> 00:33:40,320
Speaker 1: also with their parents. You're serving these some of the

578
00:33:40,320 --> 00:33:44,800
Speaker 1: most disadvantaged families and turning them, hopefully at a clip

579
00:33:44,840 --> 00:33:48,840
Speaker 1: of about eighty percent, into productive people in our society.

580
00:33:49,600 --> 00:33:53,200
Speaker 1: Yet we want to reimburse you at about eight percent

581
00:33:53,640 --> 00:33:57,040
Speaker 1: of what we would reimburse a hospital because it's different.

582
00:33:58,840 --> 00:33:59,760
Speaker 1: Does that not bother you?

583
00:34:00,080 --> 00:34:03,719
Speaker 2: Bothers me like crazy? But I try to, you know, politically,

584
00:34:03,800 --> 00:34:07,040
Speaker 2: be work with the system and hopefully we can get

585
00:34:07,040 --> 00:34:09,000
Speaker 2: something changed. I've been trying to get a hold of

586
00:34:09,080 --> 00:34:15,760
Speaker 2: AHHS at the federal level Health and Human Services, Yeah,

587
00:34:16,280 --> 00:34:19,800
Speaker 2: Secretary Kennedy, because they just put a new initiative and

588
00:34:20,080 --> 00:34:24,919
Speaker 2: federally to help with some addiction services. And I'm like, well,

589
00:34:25,560 --> 00:34:28,839
Speaker 2: we'll be your guinea pig, help us and we'll you know,

590
00:34:30,360 --> 00:34:32,799
Speaker 2: We'll show how to do it correctly. There's a lot

591
00:34:32,800 --> 00:34:36,479
Speaker 2: of changing changes in medicaid and reimbursement for behavioral health

592
00:34:36,560 --> 00:34:40,200
Speaker 2: right now, even that the state's going through. But I'm

593
00:34:40,239 --> 00:34:42,360
Speaker 2: not too worried about that because we're not There's a

594
00:34:42,400 --> 00:34:44,840
Speaker 2: lot of people that abuse the system and abused Medicaid.

595
00:34:45,120 --> 00:34:47,319
Speaker 2: We're not doing that, so I'm not worried about us

596
00:34:47,360 --> 00:34:50,600
Speaker 2: losing any anything that way. So I'm trying to work

597
00:34:50,640 --> 00:34:54,640
Speaker 2: with those systems to say show what we're doing, we're

598
00:34:54,640 --> 00:34:58,440
Speaker 2: doing it the right way. Let us be your example

599
00:34:58,480 --> 00:35:00,440
Speaker 2: of how to how to do things the right way.

600
00:35:01,000 --> 00:35:04,040
Speaker 2: I will say our Governor Mike Dwine has been a

601
00:35:04,160 --> 00:35:06,759
Speaker 2: huge supporter of bridge its path. I would not have

602
00:35:06,800 --> 00:35:09,960
Speaker 2: been able to do what I've done in the last

603
00:35:10,120 --> 00:35:13,880
Speaker 2: or eight years without him by our side, So that

604
00:35:14,040 --> 00:35:16,840
Speaker 2: is one that's been very, very helpful.

605
00:35:17,080 --> 00:35:19,319
Speaker 1: I have two kids that work in DC. I have

606
00:35:19,360 --> 00:35:24,839
Speaker 1: one that's been in policy making in DC. Everybody I've

607
00:35:24,880 --> 00:35:27,960
Speaker 1: ever met, when it all comes down to it, they're

608
00:35:28,000 --> 00:35:29,480
Speaker 1: really good people, well intentioned.

609
00:35:29,640 --> 00:35:30,879
Speaker 2: They really are.

610
00:35:31,760 --> 00:35:35,360
Speaker 1: It's just the gears of government grind at a pace,

611
00:35:35,480 --> 00:35:38,839
Speaker 1: and there's so much politics involved in policy that good

612
00:35:38,840 --> 00:35:42,400
Speaker 1: ideas get gummed up for ridiculous reasons that make no sense.

613
00:35:42,440 --> 00:35:49,320
Speaker 1: So I'm really not throwing stones at any individual, but systematically,

614
00:35:49,719 --> 00:35:51,640
Speaker 1: I will still say it does not make any sense

615
00:35:51,680 --> 00:35:51,880
Speaker 1: to me.

616
00:35:52,080 --> 00:35:55,560
Speaker 2: I would love to change some systems. From child welfare

617
00:35:55,640 --> 00:35:58,440
Speaker 2: because we're keeping kids out of the system, we're changing

618
00:35:58,480 --> 00:36:03,720
Speaker 2: families or having family preservation. And then from the medical side,

619
00:36:03,800 --> 00:36:07,040
Speaker 2: looking you know, we're starting to partner with big managed

620
00:36:07,080 --> 00:36:11,040
Speaker 2: care organizations, having them they're the insurance company that pay

621
00:36:11,080 --> 00:36:15,720
Speaker 2: the Medicaid, having them look at us as the place

622
00:36:15,760 --> 00:36:17,880
Speaker 2: that these babies need to be. And so that's what

623
00:36:17,880 --> 00:36:19,080
Speaker 2: we're working toward right now.

624
00:36:19,560 --> 00:36:21,759
Speaker 1: There's a lot more wow stuff going on in your.

625
00:36:22,400 --> 00:36:25,239
Speaker 2: Yes sah, yes. And it's hard because then there's all

626
00:36:25,280 --> 00:36:28,400
Speaker 2: the all the operational side of what needs to be

627
00:36:28,440 --> 00:36:30,319
Speaker 2: taken care of and just keeping the culture good at

628
00:36:30,360 --> 00:36:33,040
Speaker 2: Bridget's Path and you know, everybody that reports to me

629
00:36:33,080 --> 00:36:35,880
Speaker 2: and working with them, and then we're doing hard but

630
00:36:35,960 --> 00:36:40,239
Speaker 2: holy work is what we say. And so keeping secondary

631
00:36:40,280 --> 00:36:44,319
Speaker 2: trauma is a real thing. And so our staff is

632
00:36:44,360 --> 00:36:47,200
Speaker 2: stretched so thin because we only have so much of

633
00:36:47,200 --> 00:36:49,800
Speaker 2: a budget that we can pay people and keep people

634
00:36:49,840 --> 00:36:52,400
Speaker 2: and not add more people because of our tight budget,

635
00:36:52,920 --> 00:36:55,520
Speaker 2: that I have. I'm constantly working with our team to

636
00:36:55,719 --> 00:37:00,600
Speaker 2: keep them healthy and trying to create, you know, really

637
00:37:00,640 --> 00:37:03,359
Speaker 2: build out these programs so that they continue to be

638
00:37:03,400 --> 00:37:05,040
Speaker 2: powerful and change lives.

639
00:37:05,640 --> 00:37:07,879
Speaker 1: I can I believe you've done this in eight years.

640
00:37:07,760 --> 00:37:10,640
Speaker 3: With all the reinveursement stuff too. It's super short sighted

641
00:37:11,000 --> 00:37:13,759
Speaker 3: because yes, you may spend more with you guys are

642
00:37:13,800 --> 00:37:15,920
Speaker 3: proposing a long term would say, the system a ton

643
00:37:15,960 --> 00:37:18,239
Speaker 3: of money. That's not having kids in foster care, not

644
00:37:18,280 --> 00:37:20,200
Speaker 3: having kids in prison, like whatever. It is.

645
00:37:20,239 --> 00:37:22,680
Speaker 1: Like if you look at the amount of money a

646
00:37:22,719 --> 00:37:26,239
Speaker 1: government would invest, at the long term return on that investment,

647
00:37:27,040 --> 00:37:32,760
Speaker 1: the cost let's just say you didn't exist the cost

648
00:37:32,800 --> 00:37:36,200
Speaker 1: of these children and what they're going to cost society

649
00:37:36,200 --> 00:37:40,640
Speaker 1: in our system. Likely I'm not saying that people don't

650
00:37:40,640 --> 00:37:44,320
Speaker 1: pull up themselves by their bootstraps, but likely what their

651
00:37:44,400 --> 00:37:47,719
Speaker 1: parents and they are going to cost the systems in

652
00:37:47,880 --> 00:37:54,360
Speaker 1: terms of social services and incarceration and everything else pails

653
00:37:54,440 --> 00:37:58,440
Speaker 1: in comparison to what an extra six hundred dollars a

654
00:37:58,560 --> 00:38:01,520
Speaker 1: day would be for ninety days to actually get them

655
00:38:01,520 --> 00:38:05,560
Speaker 1: on the right path. I mean, it's pennies on the return.

656
00:38:05,320 --> 00:38:07,440
Speaker 2: It really is. And that's what we've been trying to

657
00:38:07,480 --> 00:38:10,399
Speaker 2: tell that story. But again, like you said, it's hard

658
00:38:10,440 --> 00:38:13,600
Speaker 2: to get government to change, and so I would love

659
00:38:13,640 --> 00:38:16,880
Speaker 2: to be able, I don't have the capacity to to

660
00:38:17,000 --> 00:38:20,080
Speaker 2: do those numbers, right, Say, Okay, what what's the scenario

661
00:38:20,120 --> 00:38:22,080
Speaker 2: look like if this baby does not get help and

662
00:38:22,120 --> 00:38:23,959
Speaker 2: this family does not get help. What is the cost

663
00:38:24,000 --> 00:38:26,719
Speaker 2: on the system, and then in turn, what is the

664
00:38:26,760 --> 00:38:28,400
Speaker 2: savings by us existing?

665
00:38:28,719 --> 00:38:32,000
Speaker 1: Oh well, okay, I can do this six hundred dollars

666
00:38:32,560 --> 00:38:38,440
Speaker 1: a day more times ninety days. Yeah, right, okay, so that's.

667
00:38:38,280 --> 00:38:42,279
Speaker 2: Well after they only pay the five point fifty nine

668
00:38:42,320 --> 00:38:45,480
Speaker 2: per day for thirty days. Yeah, I'm sixty to ninety.

669
00:38:45,239 --> 00:38:48,359
Speaker 1: Okay, So we need twelve hundred dollars for sixty days. Yeah,

670
00:38:48,800 --> 00:38:51,839
Speaker 1: and we need another six hundred for thirty. Yes, So

671
00:38:51,920 --> 00:38:56,239
Speaker 1: six hundred for thirty is eighteen thousand dollars, right, and

672
00:38:56,239 --> 00:39:00,320
Speaker 1: then twelve hundred times sixty is seventy two thous thousand

673
00:39:00,360 --> 00:39:03,800
Speaker 1: dollars about So you need about one hundred thousand dollars

674
00:39:04,360 --> 00:39:08,880
Speaker 1: per child for the whole ninety days. Yes, one hundred

675
00:39:08,920 --> 00:39:11,160
Speaker 1: thousand dollars for that child for ninety days. To get

676
00:39:11,160 --> 00:39:15,279
Speaker 1: everything fixed and on the right path, I guarantee you

677
00:39:16,120 --> 00:39:20,360
Speaker 1: the cost to the revenue stream and the government caffers

678
00:39:20,520 --> 00:39:24,400
Speaker 1: over the course of that child and their parents' lives

679
00:39:24,440 --> 00:39:29,279
Speaker 1: in terms of social services, incarceration, everything else, foster care,

680
00:39:29,640 --> 00:39:33,080
Speaker 1: school systems, that's the future of those of both the

681
00:39:33,120 --> 00:39:37,680
Speaker 1: parents and the child's life well exceeds a million dollars.

682
00:39:38,280 --> 00:39:40,480
Speaker 2: I have been told just to get a child that

683
00:39:40,560 --> 00:39:43,440
Speaker 2: has a lot of issues through from kindergarten to twelfth

684
00:39:43,440 --> 00:39:45,840
Speaker 2: grade is about a million dollars in the school system

685
00:39:45,960 --> 00:39:47,319
Speaker 2: that one child.

686
00:39:48,840 --> 00:39:52,560
Speaker 1: So it's at least a ten times multiple on the

687
00:39:52,600 --> 00:39:54,240
Speaker 1: investment of one hundred thousand dollars.

688
00:39:54,320 --> 00:39:58,560
Speaker 2: It is, it is. There's a huge ripple effect for good.

689
00:39:58,880 --> 00:40:01,480
Speaker 2: If we can invest early in these children's lives.

690
00:40:01,600 --> 00:40:03,759
Speaker 1: That's got to be a story somebody can take up

691
00:40:03,800 --> 00:40:08,000
Speaker 1: and go tell and get changed. Has to be Where's Nick?

692
00:40:09,320 --> 00:40:10,080
Speaker 1: What do we doing?

693
00:40:12,560 --> 00:40:13,480
Speaker 2: He's an IT guy?

694
00:40:13,520 --> 00:40:16,800
Speaker 1: So I got it. There's another volunteer job that I

695
00:40:16,920 --> 00:40:18,920
Speaker 1: want you to talk about that is not a nurse,

696
00:40:19,480 --> 00:40:22,799
Speaker 1: that is not anything but just a normal person that

697
00:40:23,200 --> 00:40:27,120
Speaker 1: everybody listening to us could be right now, a coddler.

698
00:40:27,360 --> 00:40:29,040
Speaker 1: Right tell us about that and why.

699
00:40:28,920 --> 00:40:34,000
Speaker 2: It's so important our cuddlers come in twenty four to seven, well,

700
00:40:34,360 --> 00:40:36,560
Speaker 2: usually during day hours. We'd take them during night, but

701
00:40:36,560 --> 00:40:38,200
Speaker 2: it's hard to find people in the middle of the night,

702
00:40:38,840 --> 00:40:41,080
Speaker 2: and they just come into rock and feed the babies

703
00:40:41,960 --> 00:40:45,279
Speaker 2: they're there. They even become friends the moms because the

704
00:40:45,320 --> 00:40:47,160
Speaker 2: moms have meetings to go to and they're like, they

705
00:40:47,160 --> 00:40:49,640
Speaker 2: have their cuddlers they like, and so they just come

706
00:40:49,640 --> 00:40:52,960
Speaker 2: in to do that therapeutic handling fit on Rock a Baby.

707
00:40:53,440 --> 00:40:55,280
Speaker 2: They come in for three hour shifts.

708
00:40:55,880 --> 00:40:57,560
Speaker 1: And they simply rock a baby.

709
00:40:57,640 --> 00:41:00,680
Speaker 2: They just rock babies. Sometimes we have we so we

710
00:41:00,719 --> 00:41:03,400
Speaker 2: have our new development director who is now one of

711
00:41:03,400 --> 00:41:08,279
Speaker 2: her passions is volunteering and how to bring a volunteer

712
00:41:08,680 --> 00:41:11,800
Speaker 2: to get involved in different ways. And so she's trying

713
00:41:11,800 --> 00:41:16,160
Speaker 2: to create our program now of outside of cuddling, because

714
00:41:16,200 --> 00:41:18,919
Speaker 2: we have about fifteen hundred people on our waiting list

715
00:41:18,960 --> 00:41:19,440
Speaker 2: to cuddle.

716
00:41:19,760 --> 00:41:22,919
Speaker 1: What on the waiting list?

717
00:41:23,040 --> 00:41:26,360
Speaker 2: Yes, and I forget Oh, there was a one of

718
00:41:26,360 --> 00:41:29,359
Speaker 2: our grandfathers took the baby home to go home with him.

719
00:41:29,400 --> 00:41:33,160
Speaker 2: The other day we posted on social media. She is

720
00:41:33,200 --> 00:41:39,440
Speaker 2: now getting about six applications a day since that went viral. No,

721
00:41:39,600 --> 00:41:43,520
Speaker 2: so we're trying to figure out what else can in

722
00:41:43,560 --> 00:41:45,759
Speaker 2: a medical center. Can they volunteer and do we need

723
00:41:45,760 --> 00:41:47,560
Speaker 2: people at the front desk. We need people to help

724
00:41:47,560 --> 00:41:51,520
Speaker 2: with events or second or third party events too. And

725
00:41:52,000 --> 00:41:54,400
Speaker 2: you know what else is there out there that people

726
00:41:54,400 --> 00:41:57,000
Speaker 2: can be doing. So she's been working on that. We

727
00:41:57,000 --> 00:41:58,920
Speaker 2: have a new social media person that's been doing an

728
00:41:58,920 --> 00:42:02,520
Speaker 2: amazing job getting a store out there and telling the

729
00:42:02,560 --> 00:42:05,120
Speaker 2: stories of our moms and our families and showing.

730
00:42:04,800 --> 00:42:06,759
Speaker 1: What we're You tell you what those fifteen hundred people

731
00:42:06,800 --> 00:42:11,399
Speaker 1: can do. Give them each the name, email and address

732
00:42:11,440 --> 00:42:14,640
Speaker 1: of their representative and tell them to start writing letters

733
00:42:14,680 --> 00:42:18,160
Speaker 1: about this inadequacy and funding from medicare.

734
00:42:18,239 --> 00:42:18,800
Speaker 2: It's smart.

735
00:42:19,320 --> 00:42:22,319
Speaker 1: And have them start writing letters and emails every day,

736
00:42:22,480 --> 00:42:25,480
Speaker 1: Because I tell you from a father of aus On

737
00:42:25,600 --> 00:42:28,480
Speaker 1: who's the chief of staff of a congressman, the squeaky

738
00:42:28,520 --> 00:42:32,160
Speaker 1: wheel gets grace. Yep, that is how it works. I'm

739
00:42:32,239 --> 00:42:34,799
Speaker 1: sure there's one thing they could do. Everybody write a

740
00:42:34,840 --> 00:42:36,680
Speaker 1: letter once a week for a year and see if

741
00:42:36,680 --> 00:42:39,000
Speaker 1: people don't start saying, Okay, we got to shut these

742
00:42:39,000 --> 00:42:41,000
Speaker 1: people off what they want, right.

743
00:42:42,160 --> 00:42:43,240
Speaker 2: No, that's a great idea.

744
00:42:43,400 --> 00:42:44,680
Speaker 1: But cuddlers, huh.

745
00:42:44,480 --> 00:42:47,080
Speaker 2: Yeah, cuddlers get to come in and cuddle babies.

746
00:42:47,360 --> 00:42:50,319
Speaker 1: Alex, would you be a cuddler. I don't know if

747
00:42:50,320 --> 00:42:55,920
Speaker 1: you could be a cuddler. Lisa would be a good cuddler.

748
00:42:56,880 --> 00:42:59,399
Speaker 1: Lisa would be a good color. That's just you got

749
00:42:59,400 --> 00:43:02,080
Speaker 1: a nice, big, warm belly. You'd probably be a great cuddler.

750
00:43:02,760 --> 00:43:06,880
Speaker 2: Yeah, we have some guy cuddlers and who we love it.

751
00:43:06,920 --> 00:43:10,439
Speaker 1: Having my children fall asleep on my chest, yes, and

752
00:43:10,560 --> 00:43:14,920
Speaker 1: filling their little heart beats. And research shows and I

753
00:43:14,960 --> 00:43:17,720
Speaker 1: know you know this, but research shows that the infant

754
00:43:17,840 --> 00:43:21,840
Speaker 1: feeling that intimacy, they feel your breaths and your heartbeat,

755
00:43:22,040 --> 00:43:25,600
Speaker 1: and it calms them. It does a lot like being

756
00:43:25,640 --> 00:43:28,640
Speaker 1: in a womb, and so it nurtures them along. And

757
00:43:29,600 --> 00:43:32,680
Speaker 1: I think the job of a cuddler, I think that's

758
00:43:32,680 --> 00:43:36,000
Speaker 1: just a hilarious Hey, what do you do, I'm a cuddler?

759
00:43:36,120 --> 00:43:39,480
Speaker 1: Oh well, that's good. But I mean it's awesome we do.

760
00:43:39,880 --> 00:43:42,520
Speaker 1: And I think it's amazing that you have fifteen hundred

761
00:43:42,560 --> 00:43:44,160
Speaker 1: more cuddlers than you have babies.

762
00:43:44,320 --> 00:43:44,560
Speaker 2: Yes.

763
00:43:45,560 --> 00:43:47,720
Speaker 1: Kind of speaks to the good nature of the human

764
00:43:47,760 --> 00:43:49,920
Speaker 1: spirit too, that people really just want to show up.

765
00:43:50,000 --> 00:43:52,440
Speaker 2: That's what I've seen since the very beginning. People have

766
00:43:52,520 --> 00:43:56,360
Speaker 2: wrapped around Bridge. It's past the date community is a strong,

767
00:43:56,520 --> 00:44:00,759
Speaker 2: amazing community, and people just lean in and help out

768
00:44:00,920 --> 00:44:03,200
Speaker 2: wherever they can. So it's been a huge blessing.

769
00:44:03,520 --> 00:44:06,719
Speaker 3: Just an army of normal coddlers, Just an army of normals, right,

770
00:44:07,239 --> 00:44:07,960
Speaker 3: that's what they are.

771
00:44:10,400 --> 00:44:25,960
Speaker 1: Will be right back. How do our listeners that want

772
00:44:25,960 --> 00:44:27,440
Speaker 1: to find out more? Where do they go to?

773
00:44:28,440 --> 00:44:31,880
Speaker 2: Our website which is Brigidspath dot org b R.

774
00:44:32,120 --> 00:44:39,120
Speaker 1: I G I D s not Bridges bridges brigid Right, yeah,

775
00:44:39,360 --> 00:44:43,680
Speaker 1: b R I G I D spath dot org. Correct.

776
00:44:44,280 --> 00:44:46,600
Speaker 1: So say somebody out there is inspired by this and

777
00:44:46,640 --> 00:44:48,279
Speaker 1: says I'd like to start this. How they get in

778
00:44:48,360 --> 00:44:48,759
Speaker 1: touch with you?

779
00:44:49,400 --> 00:44:52,799
Speaker 2: They can email me. I'm Jill at Bridgidespath dot org.

780
00:44:53,400 --> 00:44:53,680
Speaker 1: Good.

781
00:44:53,840 --> 00:44:56,399
Speaker 3: You should explain the name too, So I.

782
00:44:56,440 --> 00:45:03,400
Speaker 1: Was about swear jumped the out Bridges Path explain it.

783
00:45:03,480 --> 00:45:06,359
Speaker 2: So, Bridget I'm Catholic, and so.

784
00:45:07,320 --> 00:45:08,000
Speaker 3: I guess you are.

785
00:45:08,840 --> 00:45:12,680
Speaker 2: When I was Catholic, I know when I was trying

786
00:45:12,680 --> 00:45:16,240
Speaker 2: to find a name, I was looking for a saint

787
00:45:16,400 --> 00:45:18,400
Speaker 2: of some sort. And she is the patron saint of

788
00:45:18,440 --> 00:45:19,240
Speaker 2: newborn babies.

789
00:45:19,840 --> 00:45:26,120
Speaker 1: There's one, there is such a thing. I'm Presbyterian, so

790
00:45:26,320 --> 00:45:28,960
Speaker 1: I don't even know about all these saints and pearls

791
00:45:29,040 --> 00:45:30,560
Speaker 1: or whatever.

792
00:45:30,280 --> 00:45:33,560
Speaker 3: What are you just thinking for all your holidays?

793
00:45:34,040 --> 00:45:36,040
Speaker 1: I got it. I do know that. I went to

794
00:45:36,120 --> 00:45:41,000
Speaker 1: my mom's house last night and passed the Cathedral of

795
00:45:41,440 --> 00:45:47,719
Speaker 1: Immaculate Away. It's But then four hours later I came

796
00:45:47,760 --> 00:45:49,680
Speaker 1: back from my lum's house and there was as many

797
00:45:49,680 --> 00:45:51,480
Speaker 1: cars there when I left as I came back, and

798
00:45:51,520 --> 00:45:53,800
Speaker 1: I'm like, what are these conflicts doing for five hours

799
00:45:53,840 --> 00:45:54,640
Speaker 1: over here? All night?

800
00:45:54,760 --> 00:45:55,360
Speaker 2: Was it Wednesday?

801
00:45:55,600 --> 00:45:55,839
Speaker 1: Yeah?

802
00:45:55,840 --> 00:45:56,640
Speaker 2: It was Wednesday?

803
00:45:57,000 --> 00:45:58,759
Speaker 1: No, no, no, I knew what that was. It was

804
00:45:58,840 --> 00:46:01,399
Speaker 1: last night. It was, But then I thought, oh, it's

805
00:46:01,440 --> 00:46:07,560
Speaker 1: probably two services. Yeah, you just passed it. Yeah. My

806
00:46:07,600 --> 00:46:10,400
Speaker 1: accountant is also Catholic, and he came in to do

807
00:46:10,520 --> 00:46:12,880
Speaker 1: some paperwork and he walked in and he's balled and

808
00:46:12,880 --> 00:46:15,400
Speaker 1: he had this massive cross on his forehead.

809
00:46:15,520 --> 00:46:19,360
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, yeah, my process, my process, huge hands and

810
00:46:19,360 --> 00:46:22,240
Speaker 2: so he was. And I had to have an interview

811
00:46:22,239 --> 00:46:24,560
Speaker 2: that day by the newspaper, so I had to get

812
00:46:24,600 --> 00:46:27,839
Speaker 2: it all off and it was great. And then path

813
00:46:28,120 --> 00:46:30,640
Speaker 2: that also has it comes from Psalm twenty five to four.

814
00:46:30,719 --> 00:46:33,160
Speaker 2: Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths. Say

815
00:46:33,200 --> 00:46:35,960
Speaker 2: that again, show me your way, Lord, teach me your paths.

816
00:46:36,040 --> 00:46:37,520
Speaker 2: And that was as I was trying to figure out

817
00:46:37,520 --> 00:46:40,479
Speaker 2: how to get this done. That I had the path

818
00:46:40,560 --> 00:46:42,239
Speaker 2: laid out in front of me, but as families come

819
00:46:42,280 --> 00:46:44,040
Speaker 2: through that, they have a new path in their life.

820
00:46:44,239 --> 00:46:49,520
Speaker 1: It's beautiful, Jill. Have you allowed yourself to take a

821
00:46:49,600 --> 00:46:51,200
Speaker 1: step back and just.

822
00:46:52,760 --> 00:46:53,560
Speaker 2: I'm not good at that?

823
00:46:55,480 --> 00:47:00,160
Speaker 1: I mean, come on, look at what's happened. It's what

824
00:47:00,520 --> 00:47:07,919
Speaker 1: do you feel when thinking about that first child that

825
00:47:08,120 --> 00:47:12,120
Speaker 1: you recognized after at three and a half pounds, after

826
00:47:12,160 --> 00:47:15,480
Speaker 1: throwing up everything you just put in them, and the

827
00:47:15,520 --> 00:47:18,600
Speaker 1: bright lights and the screeching from that first child, where

828
00:47:18,800 --> 00:47:25,440
Speaker 1: you are awakened to this real problem of exposed babies.

829
00:47:26,560 --> 00:47:32,240
Speaker 1: To now when you think about that, I mean, jillous,

830
00:47:32,320 --> 00:47:37,360
Speaker 1: is it's extraordinary. Have you taken a moment to just

831
00:47:37,400 --> 00:47:41,359
Speaker 1: step back and take a deep breath and say, wow,

832
00:47:41,480 --> 00:47:42,600
Speaker 1: look what we've done.

833
00:47:43,360 --> 00:47:46,920
Speaker 2: What's amazing is when God calls somebody to do something,

834
00:47:46,960 --> 00:47:49,120
Speaker 2: what he will do through them. That's what I've got

835
00:47:49,200 --> 00:47:52,000
Speaker 2: to see. But one of my favorite things is the

836
00:47:52,040 --> 00:47:55,880
Speaker 2: family events when our moms and babies come back and

837
00:47:55,920 --> 00:47:58,240
Speaker 2: now you know they're zero to eight years old now,

838
00:47:58,320 --> 00:48:00,879
Speaker 2: and to see where they are are, and they're all

839
00:48:00,920 --> 00:48:02,879
Speaker 2: happy to tell you what they're doing and their job

840
00:48:02,920 --> 00:48:05,480
Speaker 2: that they have or where they're living now, and to

841
00:48:05,520 --> 00:48:09,319
Speaker 2: hear their stories and watch them thriving, is it. That's

842
00:48:09,400 --> 00:48:11,640
Speaker 2: when I'm like, my heart is exploding out of my

843
00:48:11,719 --> 00:48:13,040
Speaker 2: chest because it's amazing.

844
00:48:13,280 --> 00:48:15,239
Speaker 1: They have to look you dead nots and hug you and.

845
00:48:15,239 --> 00:48:17,280
Speaker 2: Say things they do They're amazing.

846
00:48:17,680 --> 00:48:19,960
Speaker 1: When you hear that amazing, do you just weep?

847
00:48:21,040 --> 00:48:23,640
Speaker 2: Yeah? Yes, I try to, and I'm like, no, it's

848
00:48:23,640 --> 00:48:26,640
Speaker 2: not me, It's not me, it's them. They're doing the

849
00:48:26,640 --> 00:48:30,560
Speaker 2: hard work. I was just able to lay the program

850
00:48:30,560 --> 00:48:32,360
Speaker 2: out for them some.

851
00:48:32,440 --> 00:48:37,080
Speaker 1: Of I mean I could. I will start tearing up

852
00:48:37,080 --> 00:48:40,920
Speaker 1: thinking about it if I allow myself. Some of the

853
00:48:40,960 --> 00:48:44,319
Speaker 1: greatest experiences in my life are watching some of the

854
00:48:44,360 --> 00:48:46,600
Speaker 1: young men that I've coached or some of the people

855
00:48:46,640 --> 00:48:50,600
Speaker 1: I've hired in my business that their lives are exponentially

856
00:48:50,640 --> 00:48:56,239
Speaker 1: better from their work. Yes, to try to adhere to

857
00:48:56,320 --> 00:49:01,080
Speaker 1: some different notions or different ways of leading life, and

858
00:49:01,920 --> 00:49:05,400
Speaker 1: to know that you're fifteen years later their life and

859
00:49:05,440 --> 00:49:07,839
Speaker 1: their path is just a completely trajectory that it would

860
00:49:07,840 --> 00:49:11,720
Speaker 1: have been. It is, without a doubt some of the

861
00:49:11,760 --> 00:49:16,200
Speaker 1: most rewarding little moments that I get in my life

862
00:49:16,239 --> 00:49:18,040
Speaker 1: when I get to catch up with them and see

863
00:49:18,040 --> 00:49:18,839
Speaker 1: how they're doing it all.

864
00:49:19,000 --> 00:49:21,239
Speaker 3: Ye, Javis is coming to the kickoff event.

865
00:49:21,280 --> 00:49:23,799
Speaker 1: By the way, let's see there's a there's a guy.

866
00:49:24,640 --> 00:49:27,520
Speaker 2: You all reached out to me. I had sent my video,

867
00:49:27,680 --> 00:49:30,759
Speaker 2: the stand together video of you, and my husband's like

868
00:49:32,440 --> 00:49:35,319
Speaker 2: he was crying through it watching your story and it's

869
00:49:35,440 --> 00:49:38,879
Speaker 2: just amazing the lives that you're changing. Well he would,

870
00:49:38,920 --> 00:49:40,160
Speaker 2: he would weoll it to life with.

871
00:49:40,080 --> 00:49:42,719
Speaker 1: You is like, that is so sweet. But that is

872
00:49:42,800 --> 00:49:44,840
Speaker 1: not where I was going. I'm not doing I'm not

873
00:49:44,880 --> 00:49:48,680
Speaker 1: trying to break my arm here. All I'm saying is

874
00:49:51,440 --> 00:49:56,719
Speaker 1: my soul gets filled up with their success, right, Yes,

875
00:49:57,040 --> 00:50:00,120
Speaker 1: and I and and I hesitate to say what I'm

876
00:50:00,120 --> 00:50:01,560
Speaker 1: going to say, but I'm gonna say it because it's

877
00:50:01,600 --> 00:50:04,799
Speaker 1: just true. I don't want to be prideful in it

878
00:50:05,280 --> 00:50:08,160
Speaker 1: because I feel like my pride stands in the way

879
00:50:08,360 --> 00:50:11,880
Speaker 1: of God's work. Yes, but I'd be lying if I

880
00:50:11,880 --> 00:50:15,000
Speaker 1: said I wouldn't proud, right, But I have to temper

881
00:50:15,080 --> 00:50:18,080
Speaker 1: that with why I'm proud and all of that. Aren't

882
00:50:18,080 --> 00:50:20,440
Speaker 1: you proud in that context?

883
00:50:21,000 --> 00:50:25,320
Speaker 2: Absolutely? I love seeing these moms, sorry, I love seeing

884
00:50:25,320 --> 00:50:27,280
Speaker 2: them be able to be moms.

885
00:50:29,080 --> 00:50:33,120
Speaker 1: Facility and you see all the people aren't you just

886
00:50:33,400 --> 00:50:35,000
Speaker 1: love it?

887
00:50:35,480 --> 00:50:38,839
Speaker 2: We have the best people at Bridges's Path. They give

888
00:50:38,920 --> 00:50:41,560
Speaker 2: their lives every day to these babies and these moms

889
00:50:41,560 --> 00:50:46,279
Speaker 2: and families and it's beautiful And one thing that I

890
00:50:46,280 --> 00:50:50,080
Speaker 2: get to do and the people that work in bridges Path,

891
00:50:50,080 --> 00:50:52,480
Speaker 2: they get to experience admission. Every day we get to

892
00:50:52,520 --> 00:50:55,920
Speaker 2: go and rock a baby. Sick of being in meeting,

893
00:50:56,000 --> 00:50:58,960
Speaker 2: sick of doing whatever you're you know doing, you can

894
00:50:59,040 --> 00:51:01,239
Speaker 2: walk down the hall and rock a baby and it's

895
00:51:01,320 --> 00:51:03,960
Speaker 2: the best feeling ever. And we fall in love with

896
00:51:04,000 --> 00:51:05,080
Speaker 2: the babies and the moms.

897
00:51:05,400 --> 00:51:07,040
Speaker 1: Which you have ever thought of me in years that

898
00:51:07,120 --> 00:51:10,480
Speaker 1: eight years after that first child was introduced into your home,

899
00:51:10,640 --> 00:51:11,759
Speaker 1: that this is where you'd be.

900
00:51:11,880 --> 00:51:15,359
Speaker 2: No, No, I had no idea, no idea where we

901
00:51:15,360 --> 00:51:15,840
Speaker 2: were going.

902
00:51:16,480 --> 00:51:21,600
Speaker 1: We often talk about when amazing things happen among the

903
00:51:21,719 --> 00:51:25,839
Speaker 1: army of normal folks in our country. It's when their passions,

904
00:51:25,960 --> 00:51:30,120
Speaker 1: what they really care about, collide with opportunity. That's when

905
00:51:30,120 --> 00:51:33,160
Speaker 1: magic happens. Yep, that's exactly what this feels like. You're

906
00:51:33,200 --> 00:51:35,759
Speaker 1: passionate about babies. You were passionate about that baby and

907
00:51:35,800 --> 00:51:38,680
Speaker 1: what was wrong with it, and you saw this opportunity

908
00:51:39,080 --> 00:51:41,000
Speaker 1: and you took a drive to West Virginia and an

909
00:51:41,040 --> 00:51:41,960
Speaker 1: explosion happened.

910
00:51:42,160 --> 00:51:44,000
Speaker 2: Yep, that's exactly what happened.

911
00:51:44,920 --> 00:51:48,400
Speaker 1: So it's just as easy as seeing what you're interested

912
00:51:48,440 --> 00:51:52,240
Speaker 1: in and taking the first steps and working.

913
00:51:52,400 --> 00:51:56,880
Speaker 2: Anybody can do it. Anyone can follow their passion. And

914
00:51:57,600 --> 00:52:02,440
Speaker 2: because I often say that God doesn't call the qualified,

915
00:52:02,600 --> 00:52:05,239
Speaker 2: He qualifies the called, because I.

916
00:52:06,840 --> 00:52:10,200
Speaker 3: Was she did not invent that quote.

917
00:52:10,239 --> 00:52:11,600
Speaker 2: I did not quote.

918
00:52:12,960 --> 00:52:16,520
Speaker 1: Doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies the call. Love it

919
00:52:16,680 --> 00:52:17,000
Speaker 1: that must.

920
00:52:17,160 --> 00:52:19,520
Speaker 2: I feel that every day because I never feel qualified,

921
00:52:19,680 --> 00:52:22,480
Speaker 2: because I'm always up against like now I'm learning medicaid

922
00:52:22,600 --> 00:52:25,759
Speaker 2: language and then you're learning, you know, when you're up

923
00:52:26,320 --> 00:52:28,920
Speaker 2: in DC doing stuff, you're learning that language. Or when

924
00:52:28,920 --> 00:52:30,480
Speaker 2: we were building the building, we had to learn all

925
00:52:30,480 --> 00:52:33,839
Speaker 2: the architect language or the medical language, and so it's

926
00:52:33,880 --> 00:52:37,600
Speaker 2: always something else. I am definitely not qualified, but I am.

927
00:52:37,480 --> 00:52:39,640
Speaker 3: To call the Catholic route, but I mean this is Christian.

928
00:52:39,680 --> 00:52:42,200
Speaker 3: But in the Bible like talks about you know, just

929
00:52:42,400 --> 00:52:43,759
Speaker 3: don't worry about what you're going to say. Let the

930
00:52:43,760 --> 00:52:46,760
Speaker 3: Holy Spirit say the words. And even I've always hated

931
00:52:46,760 --> 00:52:48,640
Speaker 3: public speaking, you know, in the past, but now I'm

932
00:52:48,640 --> 00:52:50,319
Speaker 3: doing more and more of it with what we're doing,

933
00:52:50,360 --> 00:52:52,200
Speaker 3: and it's just you just got to go for it

934
00:52:52,239 --> 00:52:54,640
Speaker 3: and not worry about it. And whether you're Christian or not,

935
00:52:54,719 --> 00:52:56,279
Speaker 3: I mean that the same mentality. You just got to

936
00:52:56,320 --> 00:52:57,680
Speaker 3: go for it and do it, and you'll get better

937
00:52:57,719 --> 00:52:58,920
Speaker 3: over time, and who cares.

938
00:52:59,160 --> 00:53:01,799
Speaker 2: That's exactly I did not prepare for this at all,

939
00:53:01,840 --> 00:53:04,080
Speaker 2: because I just prayed that God would give me the

940
00:53:04,080 --> 00:53:08,279
Speaker 2: words that he wanted the listeners to hear. And I

941
00:53:08,400 --> 00:53:10,759
Speaker 2: do much better that way. If you tell me what

942
00:53:10,800 --> 00:53:13,240
Speaker 2: to say, I'll mess it up completely.

943
00:53:13,280 --> 00:53:14,359
Speaker 1: You did beautifully, Joe.

944
00:53:14,640 --> 00:53:15,640
Speaker 2: Thank you. I appreciate it.

945
00:53:16,000 --> 00:53:18,760
Speaker 1: Thanks so much for all that you do, and thanks

946
00:53:18,760 --> 00:53:22,440
Speaker 1: so much for flying down and spend an afternoon here

947
00:53:22,440 --> 00:53:24,200
Speaker 1: in Memphis with us to tell us a story or

948
00:53:24,200 --> 00:53:28,480
Speaker 1: about a Joe Kingston, founder of Bridget's Path, one of

949
00:53:28,520 --> 00:53:33,239
Speaker 1: only five of what needs to be thousands across our

950
00:53:33,280 --> 00:53:42,719
Speaker 1: countries caring for infants who are born experiencing withdrawals as

951
00:53:42,760 --> 00:53:47,719
Speaker 1: a result of their parents' addictions. And the beauty of

952
00:53:47,760 --> 00:53:50,000
Speaker 1: it is is not only are you helping the babies,

953
00:53:50,040 --> 00:53:54,880
Speaker 1: you're helping the families and hopefully breaking that horrific chain

954
00:53:55,200 --> 00:54:01,080
Speaker 1: of generational issues. I really hope that you get more

955
00:54:01,080 --> 00:54:05,279
Speaker 1: and more help from policy makers, because the less time

956
00:54:05,320 --> 00:54:07,480
Speaker 1: you spend having to raise money, the more time you

957
00:54:07,520 --> 00:54:10,120
Speaker 1: can spend care for families, that's exactly.

958
00:54:09,960 --> 00:54:11,360
Speaker 3: And the easier it is for other people to do

959
00:54:11,400 --> 00:54:12,800
Speaker 3: this across the country too.

960
00:54:12,760 --> 00:54:14,879
Speaker 2: That's what people are waiting for. We had a group

961
00:54:14,880 --> 00:54:16,759
Speaker 2: come in from Alaska, We've had a group come in

962
00:54:16,760 --> 00:54:20,319
Speaker 2: from Chattanooga just recently trying. They want to replicate, but

963
00:54:20,440 --> 00:54:22,319
Speaker 2: there's no sustainability in this right now.

964
00:54:22,400 --> 00:54:25,959
Speaker 1: So unless you have a bunch of really well held

965
00:54:26,040 --> 00:54:27,320
Speaker 1: people write in checks.

966
00:54:28,000 --> 00:54:28,480
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's what.

967
00:54:28,680 --> 00:54:32,960
Speaker 1: Yeah, the policy has to be changed to support what

968
00:54:33,160 --> 00:54:37,320
Speaker 1: needs to be done, and it's still an infinitely cheaper

969
00:54:37,320 --> 00:54:39,439
Speaker 1: option than what we're currently doing.

970
00:54:39,600 --> 00:54:43,239
Speaker 2: Absolutely, we just got to get polished, more investment in

971
00:54:43,239 --> 00:54:46,480
Speaker 2: the family, and it's less cost.

972
00:54:46,719 --> 00:54:48,520
Speaker 3: One thing that hit me while you're wrapping Bill is,

973
00:54:48,760 --> 00:54:51,600
Speaker 3: obviously we care about this particular issue with which draw

974
00:54:52,440 --> 00:54:54,719
Speaker 3: and the health of babies and the mom's but like

975
00:54:54,800 --> 00:54:56,799
Speaker 3: so many of our stories, it's also not about that.

976
00:54:57,640 --> 00:55:00,400
Speaker 3: It's just like with homelessness or so many other iss shoes,

977
00:55:00,440 --> 00:55:03,840
Speaker 3: it's more just an opportunity to have a loving relationship

978
00:55:03,880 --> 00:55:06,080
Speaker 3: with another human being and be on this journey called

979
00:55:06,120 --> 00:55:06,640
Speaker 3: life with them.

980
00:55:06,840 --> 00:55:10,240
Speaker 1: Yep. Absolutely, it's also something in army and normal folks

981
00:55:10,440 --> 00:55:16,000
Speaker 1: could conquer, absolutely no doubt, from the policy issues and

982
00:55:16,640 --> 00:55:19,080
Speaker 1: getting things changed to be able to support this to

983
00:55:20,560 --> 00:55:24,439
Speaker 1: being cuddlers. Yes, it is a beautiful example of from

984
00:55:24,520 --> 00:55:27,600
Speaker 1: the spectrum from federal policy all the way down to

985
00:55:27,600 --> 00:55:30,160
Speaker 1: sitting in a rocking chair for an infant that needs it,

986
00:55:30,239 --> 00:55:33,279
Speaker 1: and all points of the team in between. This is

987
00:55:33,320 --> 00:55:35,880
Speaker 1: a perfect example of what an army and normal folks

988
00:55:35,920 --> 00:55:40,360
Speaker 1: with each individual passion could fit in this this work

989
00:55:40,960 --> 00:55:46,360
Speaker 1: to fix something that ails us. So it's a beautiful

990
00:55:46,360 --> 00:55:50,360
Speaker 1: example in Jill, you know, I just got to believe

991
00:55:50,400 --> 00:55:54,440
Speaker 1: that there's more wows in your thinking, and.

992
00:55:53,600 --> 00:55:54,880
Speaker 2: I tried to hold myself back.

993
00:55:55,040 --> 00:55:57,600
Speaker 1: I can't wait to keep up with you, and I

994
00:55:57,680 --> 00:56:00,960
Speaker 1: know through the Stand Together Foundation or Stay Together Organization,

995
00:56:01,080 --> 00:56:04,120
Speaker 1: we'll hear more about you. And thanks so much for

996
00:56:04,160 --> 00:56:06,359
Speaker 1: sharing your story. Thanks so much for the work you do,

997
00:56:07,000 --> 00:56:08,480
Speaker 1: and I can't wait to see where you end up

998
00:56:08,520 --> 00:56:11,280
Speaker 1: eight years from now. Thank you, because I gotta believe

999
00:56:11,440 --> 00:56:12,920
Speaker 1: you're gonna just keep on keeping on.

1000
00:56:13,239 --> 00:56:16,520
Speaker 2: We are you appreciate it, We appreciate it you having

1001
00:56:16,560 --> 00:56:18,640
Speaker 2: us out here.

1002
00:56:19,719 --> 00:56:22,680
Speaker 1: And thank you for joining us this week. If Joe

1003
00:56:22,800 --> 00:56:26,560
Speaker 1: Kingston has inspired you, in general, or better yet, to

1004
00:56:27,000 --> 00:56:30,920
Speaker 1: take action by not waiting to feel qualified to go

1005
00:56:31,120 --> 00:56:35,960
Speaker 1: solve a problem, by exploring foster care, by creating something

1006
00:56:36,080 --> 00:56:40,360
Speaker 1: like Bridge's Path in your community, donating to them, or

1007
00:56:40,400 --> 00:56:44,360
Speaker 1: something else entirely. Please let me know. I'd love to

1008
00:56:44,400 --> 00:56:46,960
Speaker 1: hear about it. You can write me anytime at Bill

1009
00:56:47,320 --> 00:56:51,080
Speaker 1: at normal folks dot us. If you enjoyed this episode,

1010
00:56:51,840 --> 00:56:54,600
Speaker 1: I'm begging you, share it with friends and on social

1011
00:56:55,080 --> 00:56:59,080
Speaker 1: subscribe to the podcast, rate it, review it, join the

1012
00:56:59,200 --> 00:57:02,160
Speaker 1: army at Fox dot us. Any and all of these

1013
00:57:02,160 --> 00:57:05,960
Speaker 1: things will help us grow an army of normal folks.

1014
00:57:05,960 --> 00:57:09,359
Speaker 1: I'm Bill Courtney. Until next time, do what you can