Speaker 1: Hey, everybody, it's Bill Courtney with an army of normal folks.
Speaker 1: And we continue with part two of our conversation with
Speaker 1: Stacy Horst. Right after these brief messages from our generous sponsors,
Speaker 1: let's talk about those kids. Sixty one percent of kids
Speaker 1: with level one autism fall subject to bullying and social isolation.
Speaker 1: Sixty six three out of five kids that are already
Speaker 1: struggling with having autism are bullied and subject social isolation,
Speaker 1: with depression rates and suicidal thoughts fifty percent higher, and
Speaker 1: children with level one autism than the general population, meaning
Speaker 1: that there's a large number of kids with autism trying
Speaker 1: to mainstream and get through life, handling their difficulties and
Speaker 1: their families along with them. And there's a bunch of
Speaker 1: those kids that are having suicidal thoughts because they're so
Speaker 1: sad and so isolated as a result of the people
Speaker 1: around them.
Speaker 2: Bullying them one out of ten as a has suicidal
Speaker 2: tendencies one out of ten. Then you know, in Tennessee, Florida,
Speaker 2: right now, there's diagnosed roughly four hundred and thirty five
Speaker 2: thousand autistic adults, and that can be an eighteen year old.
Speaker 2: So if Tennessee has one hundred and forty five thousand.
Speaker 1: Okay, so if you're in Florida said four thirty five yep,
Speaker 1: ten percent. That means there's forty three thousand suicidal autistic
Speaker 1: people in the state of Florida right now. That's what
Speaker 1: the mouth says.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, well that's I mean, they have suicidal thoughts.
Speaker 2: And I think in level one when we go back
Speaker 2: to what you were talking about before, in terms of
Speaker 2: level one, two and three.
Speaker 3: And I am not.
Speaker 2: A psychologist or a psychiatrist, I don't play one on TV.
Speaker 3: I you know, level one.
Speaker 2: They're more aware of what's going on around them, I believe,
Speaker 2: and they're more aware of.
Speaker 1: The isolation, which makes them probably more susceptible to suicidal
Speaker 1: tendencies because much like my brother in law Ben, they're
Speaker 1: high enough functioning they see it. So honestly, if you're
Speaker 1: sitting here listening to us, should I before even get
Speaker 1: to the there is redemption coming everybody. It's not. That's
Speaker 1: all ball listening to this day. But if you didn't
Speaker 1: tear up here in the story so far, something's wrong
Speaker 1: with you. This should be a call. There should be
Speaker 1: a call to parents. If you have kids and you're
Speaker 1: blessed with happy, healthy, completely functional, normal kids without a
Speaker 1: whole bunch of stuff. For goodness sakes, talk to them.
Speaker 1: Explain to him that sometimes there are people around you
Speaker 1: that aren't just like you, but they are most deserving
Speaker 1: of our grace and our understanding. Talk to your kids,
Speaker 1: because we could fix a lot of this if just
Speaker 1: parents would have kids have a more understanding, graceful heart
Speaker 1: about people around them that may look or act a
Speaker 1: little differently.
Speaker 2: Amen.
Speaker 1: So that's one. Number two is Aaron's story is the
Speaker 1: one we are learning about no today. But the data
Speaker 1: shows that Aaron's story is not at all a one off.
Speaker 1: And unfortunately, Aaron's story also puts a light on the
Speaker 1: fact that there are a lot of people who are
Speaker 1: probably quietly and may be very maybe even unknown, having
Speaker 1: suicidal thoughts as a result of their isolation. They're pulling
Speaker 1: and the way people around them treat them. Absolutely, they're
Speaker 1: not creating they're not thinking of committing suicide because of
Speaker 1: the autism. They're thinking creating suicide because of how people
Speaker 1: treat them, because they have something that they didn't ask
Speaker 1: for and that they're trying to deal with in their life,
Speaker 1: which if you think about the depth of that is heartbreaking.
Speaker 2: It's very heartbreaking, and a lot of them choose to
Speaker 2: be isolated because that's the only way they can be,
Speaker 2: which I think is wrong too, because so many of
Speaker 2: them they're persons. Some of the friends that Aaron did
Speaker 2: have Every year on the anniversary of her death, they
Speaker 2: reach out and which you know, I think is beautiful,
Speaker 2: and they are all on the spectrum. And even this
Speaker 2: year in January, one of them she said, I just
Speaker 2: choose to be by myself.
Speaker 1: Because at least when she's by herself, she doesn't get
Speaker 1: rid of killed.
Speaker 2: Yes, and she knows what to expect, right. We all
Speaker 2: we're all creatures of habit in our lives and want
Speaker 2: normalacy and schedule. And it's kind of like knowing when
Speaker 2: you come into work most of the time, you know
Speaker 2: what's going to happen today. You know there's going to
Speaker 2: be something different here and there, but not on a
Speaker 2: major scale.
Speaker 3: So we all have of you know.
Speaker 2: The ability to go through life and it's just going
Speaker 2: to be kind of going along except for the bumps
Speaker 2: in the road, where I think they sometimes isolate themselves
Speaker 2: because they don't they don't want to have to deal with.
Speaker 3: More bumps than we have. Because if you put.
Speaker 2: Yourself out there and you get shot down, you put
Speaker 2: yourself out there and nobody pays attention to you. You
Speaker 2: put yourself out there, nobody talks to you. Then why
Speaker 2: do it?
Speaker 1: Well? And imagine and.
Speaker 2: There's a great there's a great lesson when we get
Speaker 2: to the other part, the redemption part.
Speaker 1: We're getting there now.
Speaker 3: There are great lessons and all of that.
Speaker 1: So back to that fourth day you are and I
Speaker 1: interrupted you because I just had this visceral reaction to
Speaker 1: I'd honestly do not know how you got through that.
Speaker 1: But on that day you side to be a rock.
Speaker 1: Tell me what that being a rock looks like and
Speaker 1: what you decided and what that was.
Speaker 2: Well, I can tell you one thing that without our faith.
Speaker 3: This wouldn't have happened. There's no way.
Speaker 2: Couples who lose a child one in four get divorced
Speaker 2: and very quickly because of the trauma and everything else.
Speaker 2: We just we sat down on the floor again and
Speaker 2: realized that there has to be something that we can
Speaker 2: do to bring these kids out of isolation, to be
Speaker 2: able to have a place that they can go on
Speaker 2: the weekends when they're being isolated from the rest of
Speaker 2: the world, to have fun, to just go be who
Speaker 2: they are, whether you know that's sitting there for three months,
Speaker 2: which we had one one gentleman, do you know, And
Speaker 2: so it kind of it started from there, and we
Speaker 2: thought about somewhere fun like Dave and Busters, where you
Speaker 2: can go and just play games, just be no therapy,
Speaker 2: absolutely none, somewhere where there are no parents because oh yeah,
Speaker 2: because as parents and those people who are listening and
Speaker 2: you parent of an autistic child, you or a child
Speaker 2: with special needs, as they're growing up, you continue to
Speaker 2: try and help them and part of that helping is correction.
Speaker 2: And we didn't want this to have anything.
Speaker 3: To do with that.
Speaker 2: It's just a place where they can come hang out.
Speaker 2: No parents, nobody correcting themal.
Speaker 3: Yeah, absolutely little kids.
Speaker 2: Yeah. And one of the lessons that we learned in
Speaker 2: that is, you know, as a parent, you take your
Speaker 2: kids to all these things ptot, social skills groups, you
Speaker 2: name it whatever. In the last eight years, nine years,
Speaker 2: we've learned that. And this is my analogy, so nobody
Speaker 2: throw rocks at me. But anyway, I call our members
Speaker 2: our square pegs, and you know, it's like you take
Speaker 2: your kids to all this type of therapy, trying to
Speaker 2: take a square peg and fit it in a round
Speaker 2: hole to make them normal so that they can be
Speaker 2: out in the world with what we call normal or
Speaker 2: neurotypical individuals, when really all they've ever needed this whole
Speaker 2: time is to be with each other. They all they
Speaker 2: don't care about their quirks.
Speaker 3: They don't care.
Speaker 2: We have thirty two kids with one staff bert well
Speaker 2: two staff members now and eight volunteers, and they can
Speaker 2: flit around the room. They can do whatever they want
Speaker 2: and nobody cares, and they.
Speaker 1: Have a ball and if they don't look somebody in
Speaker 1: the eyes will hell, everybody there understands.
Speaker 3: Why Yep, it's okay, it's okay.
Speaker 1: I get you.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2: So we so we decided to create a five O,
Speaker 2: one C three. We didn't know what that would look like,
Speaker 2: and we came up with the tied Aaron's Hope for
Speaker 2: Friends because she always hoped for a good friend. And
Speaker 2: as my husband has said, if Aaron had had one
Speaker 2: good friend, she'd probably still be here.
Speaker 1: And so you called it Aaron's Hope for Friends Foundation,
Speaker 1: so that her memory, at least and her legacy would
Speaker 1: be that people like her would have that one friend
Speaker 1: or more.
Speaker 2: Or more and date so and go to prom We'll
Speaker 2: be right back. The mission is to create lasting relationships
Speaker 2: through joyful interaction. So it's to allow these teens and
Speaker 2: now young adults. We are now moving into adults. We're
Speaker 2: also potentially looking at some point maybe doing younger kids.
Speaker 2: But we just wanted that place where they could come
Speaker 2: together and they could feel safe and they could hang
Speaker 2: out with each other. So we created E's Club e
Speaker 2: Apostrophe S Club that's what the names of the clubs are.
Speaker 2: And it is like a mini Dave and Busters. You
Speaker 2: walk in, it has ping pong, air hockey, pool tables,
Speaker 2: ski ball, video gaming, and art session.
Speaker 1: Yeah it's actual money.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, most definitely. Oh yeah, so.
Speaker 1: You went out and so you actually built EA's Club.
Speaker 1: Is actually not a group of people, It.
Speaker 3: Is a physical place.
Speaker 1: So tell me about it.
Speaker 2: So the first year we started the five O one
Speaker 2: C three, we had our first fundraiser. She passed away
Speaker 2: in January. We had our first fundraiser June twenty eighth
Speaker 2: because that was her birthday. Wow, and so we said
Speaker 2: it was her birthday party and we.
Speaker 3: Gosh, I'm trying to.
Speaker 2: Remember how much money we raised. I mean at that
Speaker 2: point in time, which was twenty fifteen, it roughly cost
Speaker 2: us about seventy to eighty thousand dollars to open the
Speaker 2: physical space. So it is an actual physical open space
Speaker 2: with everything that I just talked about in more. And
Speaker 2: then we just continued every year with as we do now,
Speaker 2: with a fund you know, a big fundraiser a Gallo,
Speaker 2: which we just had, and we do other fundraisers throughout
Speaker 2: the year, and grants and everything else to Our goal
Speaker 2: was to be in every state in the United States
Speaker 2: by twenty twenty five, but unfortunately COVID that oh well
Speaker 2: it sloaded down, it like squashed it a little bit.
Speaker 1: So but does exist in Georgia.
Speaker 3: Yes, it exists.
Speaker 2: So the first club was in Alpharetta, Georgia. Then we
Speaker 2: opened the second club in Ackworth, Georgia. So we had
Speaker 2: two clubs and we had four other states that we
Speaker 2: were in contact with that they were interested individuals who
Speaker 2: wanted to open East Club in those other four states.
Speaker 2: And then COVID came and we couldn't meet in person
Speaker 2: any longer, so we ended up we do not own
Speaker 2: these properties. We lease them the build out and everything
Speaker 2: that's in it.
Speaker 3: Well, the first one was very grad.
Speaker 2: Roots, as you can imagine, but we try to get
Speaker 2: everything donated, even the buildouts, as much as we can
Speaker 2: so we can use the monies that we raise for programming.
Speaker 2: And we ended up having to close both of those
Speaker 2: because we couldn't meet in person.
Speaker 1: But before COVID you went from twenty six kids to
Speaker 1: two years later, three hundred and seventy kids.
Speaker 2: Up to this point, we've helped fifteen hundred children, teens,
Speaker 2: young adults.
Speaker 1: We have both I want to share three quotes which
Speaker 1: speaks to the fifteen hundred people you've helped. A dad
Speaker 1: about his son. He doesn't feel pressure, He's not afraid
Speaker 1: to say something that someone is going to make fun
Speaker 1: of him. For another dad, my daughter always said, I
Speaker 1: just wish other kids were like me. Now she has that,
Speaker 1: she's surrounded by other kids like her. It means the
Speaker 1: world to her. She wouldn't miss it for anything in
Speaker 1: the world. A kid a teen, I feel a little
Speaker 1: bit more open here than I am at school. It's
Speaker 1: easier to interact with people who are similar to me
Speaker 1: than to force being normal around others. I'm just glad
Speaker 1: I can hang out with other people on the spectrum
Speaker 1: understand me better than all the kids at my school day.
Speaker 2: Yep, that's it right, that's it in a nutshell, in
Speaker 2: a nutshell, yeah, No, it's at our galla.
Speaker 3: We had a young adult. She got up and.
Speaker 2: Spoke about her experience in the young adult program. And
Speaker 2: it's not just when I talked before about those AHAs
Speaker 2: and those lessons that we've learned. This isn't just about
Speaker 2: EA's Club, because when we had to shut those doors
Speaker 2: within a month, we went virtual.
Speaker 3: Still have virtual today.
Speaker 2: And we have teens and young adults from around the
Speaker 2: country and Canada who are part of the virtual program now,
Speaker 2: which we're not going to get away. That's not going
Speaker 2: to go away now that we're back in person. But
Speaker 2: at the event, this young lady talked and her dad
Speaker 2: came up to me afterwards with just tears rolling down
Speaker 2: his face, and he came up to me, he hugged me,
Speaker 2: and he says, you don't know how much you've helped me,
Speaker 2: and you've helped my family, and that makes it. That's it,
Speaker 2: that's everything, And it's not just a fifteen hundred. It's
Speaker 2: a respite for the parents. The parents can drop their
Speaker 2: kids off and have three hours to themselves, to go
Speaker 2: to dinner, to go to a movie, to just sit,
Speaker 2: to spend time with the other kids who like my family,
Speaker 2: I had a neurotypical daughter and I had Aaron who
Speaker 2: was on the spectrum. What it would have been like
Speaker 2: for Aaron to be able to go and hang out
Speaker 2: and make friends with other kids and we could spend time.
Speaker 3: With Rachel by yourself.
Speaker 2: The other lesson is is that we have we use
Speaker 2: National Charity League and Young Men's Service League for our
Speaker 2: volunteer base, not solely, but they are the largest majority,
Speaker 2: and the it's moms and daughters and moms and sons.
Speaker 2: And when they walk in the door and you think
Speaker 2: about you were asking about you know, level one to
Speaker 2: level three, and they hear, oh, I'm going to a
Speaker 2: club to work with autistic teens and young adults. Well,
Speaker 2: most people the first place they go is three. So
Speaker 2: you know they're thinking, well, are they going to be
Speaker 2: non verbal? Like how do I talk to them?
Speaker 3: You know they going to get.
Speaker 2: Upset, what are they going to do? And they come
Speaker 2: in like deer in the headlights. They have to be
Speaker 2: there thirty minutes prior and we just kind of tell them,
Speaker 2: you know, we just want you to engage everybody. If
Speaker 2: you see somebody sitting by themselves, ask them if they
Speaker 2: want to play pool or you know whatever. By the
Speaker 2: time they leave, they come up to us and they're like,
Speaker 2: oh my gosh, I've had this is the most fun
Speaker 2: I've ever had.
Speaker 3: Do you know Antonio he.
Speaker 2: Is hystericle, you know, I mean, they just they have
Speaker 2: a blast. And it's so it's become an educational experience
Speaker 2: for those folks who come in as volunteers because now
Speaker 2: they see our kids in a different.
Speaker 1: Way, normal folks that were just like you before you
Speaker 1: had an autistic kid.
Speaker 2: Yes, but they walk away with an appreciation of who
Speaker 2: these kids are.
Speaker 1: So you got the virtual and you've reopened Where is
Speaker 1: this thing? Now? Where are we now?
Speaker 2: Right now? We opened our club in Woodstock, Georgia, So
Speaker 2: we have an East club in Woodstock, Georgia. In November eleventh,
Speaker 2: we'll be opening our first charter in Lexington, Kentucky. That's
Speaker 2: where Aaron was born, so it's really that's special. But
Speaker 2: you know, our goal right now is to have ten
Speaker 2: clubs open by twenty twenty six.
Speaker 1: And you have two we have to and a virtual
Speaker 1: and virtual. How many people are served by virtual and
Speaker 1: how many will be served by these two clubs?
Speaker 2: About about well you can have so Virtual is once
Speaker 2: a week. Teens are Friday and Saturday nights. Young adults
Speaker 2: right now are Sunday nights. Eventually we will fill out
Speaker 2: the programming through the week with other things that there
Speaker 2: are so many needs now that we've realized for all
Speaker 2: of them, adults and teens that I mean, even how
Speaker 2: to ask somebody out on a date. How oh yeah, No,
Speaker 2: We've had kids go to prom together. I mean, it's
Speaker 2: just I can't the stories I could tell, well, tell
Speaker 2: them they're just I mean, it's just so great. Well, Antonio,
Speaker 2: who was funny. We had a sixteen year old girl
Speaker 2: who would come and volunteer, and she went to high
Speaker 2: school with Antonio. And the one thing that just melted
Speaker 2: my heart is she said, when I see Antonio in
Speaker 2: the hallway, I always stop and talk to him. He's
Speaker 2: the funniest guy I've ever met. Well, let me tell you,
Speaker 2: there aren't a lot of neurotypical kids who are going
Speaker 2: to stop in the hallway in high school. Out of
Speaker 2: twenty five hundred kids in a public high school.
Speaker 3: And talk to a kid on the spectrum.
Speaker 2: But the reason she did that was because as she
Speaker 2: came and she saw and she saw how real and
Speaker 2: fun and bright. I mean one of the kids that
Speaker 2: we had, he was ranked one hundred and eighty first
Speaker 2: in chess in the United States. Wow, and my husband
Speaker 2: tried to play him multiple times.
Speaker 1: We'll be right back, we returned. When I asked Stacy
Speaker 1: about how many folks come to East Clubs.
Speaker 2: Well, I mean, it depends on their programming. So if
Speaker 2: you have sixty four, you can have thirty two kids
Speaker 2: per night. So that's sixty sixty four on a weekend.
Speaker 2: That's just for teens, right, that doesn't include young adults.
Speaker 3: And we're open forty eight weeks out of the year.
Speaker 2: And then don't ask me to do that math virtual
Speaker 2: virtual right now, roughly about twenty per night, And don't
Speaker 2: forget that the parents are being served. And I've when
Speaker 2: I've met parents, they've come up to me and told
Speaker 2: me about their children being suicidal and or attempting to
Speaker 2: take their life.
Speaker 3: And now they're still here.
Speaker 2: No, and as a result of this that it's helped
Speaker 2: because they've found a place that's safe, they've found a
Speaker 2: place that they can go be themselves to the quotes
Speaker 2: that you stated, and not have to worry about being
Speaker 2: bullied or made fun of, and everyone.
Speaker 3: Accepts each other.
Speaker 2: And that's that square peg in the round hole that
Speaker 2: I was talking about we really didn't need, which breaks
Speaker 2: my art as a mom to try and force that
Speaker 2: square peg in a round hole where really all the
Speaker 2: square pegs just need to come together and have fun.
Speaker 2: And these kids end up calling each other outside of
Speaker 2: the club.
Speaker 3: They end up meeting each other and doing things.
Speaker 1: What kids do exactly because they have a safe place
Speaker 1: to do it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but they meet each other in that safe place,
Speaker 2: and then it grows from there. The friendship grows, which
Speaker 2: is our mission and that it can be a lasting friendship.
Speaker 2: We just had two people who met on virtual and
Speaker 2: forgive me, I don't remember where everybody lives. Oh well,
Speaker 2: the one in Canada and another one in Pennsylvania. I
Speaker 2: think the parents got together and the one was going
Speaker 2: on vacation and the parents brought them together so they
Speaker 2: could meet in.
Speaker 3: Person and they got to hang out. How cool is that?
Speaker 1: That is cool? So cool? I can't quit thinking what
Speaker 1: Darren said that if Aaron had one of these interactions,
Speaker 1: she'd be with you today and you are literally saving
Speaker 1: lives in Aaron's memory, which, in the coolest sense, is
Speaker 1: probably her legacy.
Speaker 3: I hope, So we hope.
Speaker 1: So that's phenomenal.
Speaker 2: We want this to be on the same level as
Speaker 2: the Boys and Girls Club. We want that legacy because
Speaker 2: of all these kids in the United States, all these
Speaker 2: young adults, adults. I mean, there's so many needs that
Speaker 2: we can continue to talk about beyond what we've already found,
Speaker 2: which we're going to work on. But this can be
Speaker 2: a space that's open seven days a week for all
Speaker 2: different types of things to help all these individuals feel complete,
Speaker 2: feel whole, whole, safe, yes, and productive.
Speaker 1: So you said earlier, by twenty twenty six, you plan
Speaker 1: on having ten.
Speaker 3: E clubs clubs, yeah, rightes, yes.
Speaker 1: And and you want to go you want to be
Speaker 1: as big as the Boys and Girls Club.
Speaker 3: That's our goal.
Speaker 1: That would be one in every city. Yes, So how
Speaker 1: do you get there?
Speaker 3: That's a good question. Who's out there that can help me?
Speaker 2: That's what I want to know, which is that's a
Speaker 2: good question.
Speaker 1: Which is exactly what you emailed me, which was, now
Speaker 1: I can tell everybody you ill me Hey, this is
Speaker 1: what it was, so quick and to the point. I
Speaker 1: love an army and normal folks. I love what you're
Speaker 1: or sharing. I love the stories. My daughter had autism
Speaker 1: and took her life, and this is what we've done
Speaker 1: because of that. You sent me a link, and we
Speaker 1: just want to get the world out to create more
Speaker 1: of these places for kids all over the country. It's
Speaker 1: what you said to me in your email. I don't
Speaker 1: know if you remember, but I read it today. Yeah,
Speaker 1: what do you need? It sounds like you need people.
Speaker 1: It sounds like you need families that are struggling with
Speaker 1: the same things you guys were struggling with with a
Speaker 1: child with autism, and you need them to call you
Speaker 1: and learn how it's done and get involved.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, it'll roughly to get to ten by ten, ten
Speaker 2: by twenty twenty six. I mean it's probably about two
Speaker 2: and a half million dollars. It takes us roughly about
Speaker 2: one hundred to one hundred and fifty thousand dollars to
Speaker 2: run a club for a year, and that's including staff.
Speaker 3: So it's.
Speaker 2: It's daunting, but we'll do it.
Speaker 1: You know, it's a lot, but it's actually not a lot.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's a lot of money. But with all
Speaker 1: of the riches available to people in this world looking
Speaker 1: for good quality things to do that actually do change
Speaker 1: and save lives, I've got to believe there's people hearing
Speaker 1: this right now that are like, oh, yeah, I want
Speaker 1: to do that, or I have an autism person in
Speaker 1: my family, or I know somebody that does. And what
Speaker 1: an amazing mission that you and and I mean, you're
Speaker 1: still right, You're you're working, right, You've got a life.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, yeah, still working.
Speaker 1: Still working in still working, doing your thing. So the
Speaker 1: other part to this is beyond the ten thousand. Exactly
Speaker 1: what you said was think of all of the families
Speaker 1: and all of the rachels who are being post affected
Speaker 1: by this too. I mean, this thing just has tentacles
Speaker 1: that are far reaching to every community that it's in.
Speaker 2: Oh absolutely, I mean just the families, just like the
Speaker 2: dad who came up to me two weeks ago in tears.
Speaker 2: You know, it's helped them because it helped their child,
Speaker 2: therefore it helped the family. I mean, it is a
Speaker 2: trickle effect.
Speaker 1: Well, I think also maybe it can serve to be
Speaker 1: a conduit to for their education. To people who don't
Speaker 1: deal with autism and their family and their childs to
Speaker 1: just understand that this is a very real thing and
Speaker 1: it's not trivial and it shouldn't be made fun of.
Speaker 1: And as parents, we have a responsibility to teach our
Speaker 1: children better.
Speaker 3: Absolutely we do.
Speaker 2: I agree, And that's why I love that we bring
Speaker 2: the volunteer base in who gets that education in person
Speaker 2: and get you how see these kids and how funny
Speaker 2: and smart and I mean.
Speaker 3: It's just there's there's so Like.
Speaker 2: You said, I love the octopus and the tentacles because
Speaker 2: that's we we created. The head of the octopus and
Speaker 2: the tentacles are just coming out. And the things that
Speaker 2: we're learning and the things that we can do through
Speaker 2: Aaron's Hope and through Ease Club, and the number of
Speaker 2: people that we can reach not only the autistic kids
Speaker 2: but beyond is it's unlimited because we learn something new
Speaker 2: every day.
Speaker 1: Aaron's Hope for Friends Foundation, anybody who's listened that wants
Speaker 1: to be involved, or who is struck by this and says,
Speaker 1: this is something I want to do and can do.
Speaker 1: Who do they call? How do they do it?
Speaker 3: They can call me?
Speaker 1: How does that work? Do they call you? Email you?
Speaker 1: How to get me?
Speaker 3: They can call me at six seven eight seven three.
Speaker 2: Nine nine nine nine nine. They can email me at
Speaker 2: Stacyhorst at kW dot com. S T A C Y
Speaker 2: h O R s T at k W dot com.
Speaker 2: You can reach out to our website, which is Aaron's
Speaker 2: Hope for Friends dot org. There's a contact page you
Speaker 2: can fill that out. You can also send an email
Speaker 2: to info at Aaron's Hope for Friends dot org.
Speaker 1: If there's ever a calling for an army of normal
Speaker 1: folks to get involved, this is it, because that's what's
Speaker 1: going to fix it. The government's not going to fix it.
Speaker 1: Talking about it's not going to fix it. Nothing's going
Speaker 1: to fix it, but just somebody like you and Darren
Speaker 1: who said our children deserve better, and your rock and
Speaker 1: I am just beyond and amazed by how you've taken
Speaker 1: the most traumatic thing that could have ever happened to
Speaker 1: you in your life and turned it into a positive
Speaker 1: and honor of your daughter so that her legacy lives
Speaker 1: on in a purposeful way. It is a phenomenal story
Speaker 1: of sadness and depth and redemption and hope. And you know, nobody,
Speaker 1: nobody tabbed you and said go do this. Nobody gave
Speaker 1: you a foundation and so go do it. You're just
Speaker 1: a normal mom and a normal life raising two kids
Speaker 1: the best you know how whoo who very personally felt
Speaker 1: and saw a need as a result of some great
Speaker 1: sadness and decided to fill it. And you're saving and
Speaker 1: changing lives and helping families as a result of it.
Speaker 1: And I am beyond honored to have talked to you
Speaker 1: about it, And thank you so much for sharing in
Speaker 1: depth the very personal side of the of your story
Speaker 1: so that people can really understand the importance of what
Speaker 1: you're doing. I am it's the first one I've teared
Speaker 1: up in and I've heard some stories, And thank you
Speaker 1: for being the very first of our organic guests. So
Speaker 1: you are you, You are, you are, You will be
Speaker 1: deep in the history of an army of normal folks forever.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much for coming to Memphis and sharing
Speaker 1: your story with us and all the amazing work you're doing.
Speaker 2: Stacey, Well, thank you so much for having me and
Speaker 2: what you're doing with the podcast, because it's amazing.
Speaker 1: Thanks very much, and thank you for joining us this week.
Speaker 1: If Stacy or another guest has inspired you in general
Speaker 1: or better, you have to take action by starting an
Speaker 1: East club, or by donating to Aaron's Hope for Friends,
Speaker 1: or something else entirely. Please let me know I'd love
Speaker 1: to hear about it. You can write me anytime at
Speaker 1: Bill at Normalfolks dot us and I will respond. You
Speaker 1: know a special note after this episode. If you heard
Speaker 1: what you've just heard and aren't inspired to talk about
Speaker 1: any kids in your family, grandchildren, nephews, nieces, and certainly
Speaker 1: your kids, this story should certainly awaken us to the
Speaker 1: desperation felt by some due to bullying and exclusion. We
Speaker 1: have responsibility, y'all. We have responsibility raise our kids with
Speaker 1: an empathetic heart and an understanding about the dangers of
Speaker 1: bullying and the importance of inclusion. I hope you'll think
Speaker 1: about Aaron next time you see your own children, pray
Speaker 1: that they never have to go through what she went through,
Speaker 1: and also take action to teach and foster a level
Speaker 1: of empathy and understanding and love in our kids' hearts.
Speaker 1: And I hope this story motivates you to, at the
Speaker 1: very least do that. If you enjoyed this episode, share
Speaker 1: it with friends and on social subscribe to the podcast,
Speaker 1: rate it, review it, become a premium number at normal
Speaker 1: Folks dot us. All these things that will help us
Speaker 1: grow an army of normal folks for our premium members
Speaker 1: will have bonus content from this episode and it's actually
Speaker 1: the hilarious story about how Stacy and her husband Darren met,
Speaker 1: and if you don't want to miss it, become a
Speaker 1: Premium member today. Lastly, I want to thank our sponsor
Speaker 1: at iron Light Laps. I'm Bill Courtney. I'll see you
Speaker 1: next week.