WEBVTT - Beauty 2 The Streets (w/ Shirley Raines) 0:00:01.160 --> 0:00:04.920 Good morning, good afternoon, good evening. You are tuned into 0:00:04.920 --> 0:00:07.280 the Vitamin D with Dawn Day Podcasts, and I am 0:00:07.320 --> 0:00:09.880 your host, Dawn Day, here to get you excited about 0:00:09.920 --> 0:00:11.840 your life so that you can live life on purpose 0:00:11.880 --> 0:00:13.920 and for a purpose. If this is your first time 0:00:14.000 --> 0:00:17.280 tuning and welcome a Vitamin D. It's upon of my name. 0:00:17.520 --> 0:00:19.520 My name is Dawn and you get Vitamin D from 0:00:19.520 --> 0:00:21.759 the sun. So I'm here to shed light into your life. 0:00:21.840 --> 0:00:25.240 And I do this with inspirational insights and conversations with 0:00:25.280 --> 0:00:28.280 celebrities and everyday people like you and me, because if 0:00:28.320 --> 0:00:30.240 you want to be better and you want to do better, 0:00:30.760 --> 0:00:33.000 then you're going to have to be able to see better. 0:00:33.360 --> 0:00:36.000 So join me on this journey of living our best 0:00:36.040 --> 0:00:40.440 lives and understanding and realizing how you are your greatest ass. Act, 0:00:40.640 --> 0:00:44.520 get your right m D right with me and get 0:00:44.560 --> 0:00:50.040 excited about your life. If you didn't know, we are 0:00:50.040 --> 0:00:52.680 recording okay and we're on yeah, and oh my gosh, 0:00:52.720 --> 0:00:54.680 I don't have the FCC down my back, so girl, 0:00:54.720 --> 0:00:57.600 we can talk. Yeah, a real conversation. You was like, 0:00:58.280 --> 0:01:01.920 I want to say something extraction of stuff, but I'm like, 0:01:02.040 --> 0:01:04.360 let's just keep it real. So first and foremost, this 0:01:04.440 --> 0:01:07.240 is vitamin D with daring day. You may have heard 0:01:07.280 --> 0:01:11.920 me make mention, but to you, okay, okay, I was like, 0:01:12.200 --> 0:01:14.440 I'll find coming in high You know I'm an airy 0:01:14.520 --> 0:01:18.600 so it's like, um, anyway, I'm back to you, so 0:01:19.000 --> 0:01:21.600 vitamin D. Let me just tell you real quick. It 0:01:21.680 --> 0:01:24.680 started underneath the comforter in New York, but it's a 0:01:24.760 --> 0:01:26.800 part of my name. Essentially, you get vitamin D for 0:01:26.800 --> 0:01:28.240 the sun, so I'm here to shed light and see 0:01:28.240 --> 0:01:31.160 your life. It started off using lyrics of popular music 0:01:31.200 --> 0:01:33.479 because you know, my thing has always been to inspire 0:01:33.680 --> 0:01:35.760 and to motivate people. Hence I got life tattered in 0:01:35.800 --> 0:01:38.600 my mouth. I know that, but it ain't gangster like 0:01:38.640 --> 0:01:41.280 you don't because you all saw it. Oh my gosh, 0:01:41.280 --> 0:01:43.319 I would't even love to hear this story. This this 0:01:43.480 --> 0:01:48.040 is art. It's like art. Mind you. I got three 0:01:48.120 --> 0:01:53.560 and thought I'm the most gangster you know. Bye bye anyway, 0:01:53.880 --> 0:01:55.680 So yeah, starting with that, and I would use the 0:01:55.760 --> 0:01:58.360 lyrics of popular music because I was like, yo, I 0:01:58.400 --> 0:02:00.320 want to motivate and inspire people, but don't want to 0:02:00.320 --> 0:02:02.440 come just like a motivational speaker or like you go 0:02:02.480 --> 0:02:04.760 to CEOs and it's like you can't connect similar to 0:02:04.760 --> 0:02:08.160 the work you do. You got other people with this diversity, equity, inclusion, 0:02:08.200 --> 0:02:11.040 but are you on the streets knowing what the people 0:02:11.120 --> 0:02:16.079 need because you're constantly telling people, but are you communicating exactly? 0:02:16.560 --> 0:02:19.200 So um, I said, well, let me go away where 0:02:19.200 --> 0:02:22.080 people can't, where people are, let me reach them. Everybody 0:02:22.120 --> 0:02:24.520 loves music, so you might hear a track back that 0:02:24.560 --> 0:02:27.400 ass up and that's about standing in your integrity. You 0:02:27.480 --> 0:02:29.360 might you know, get to see and she talking about 0:02:29.360 --> 0:02:33.040 being titanium. That means your bulletproof. Nothing can penetrate you. Yes, 0:02:33.360 --> 0:02:38.000 you know. So anyway, here we are now. I love 0:02:38.040 --> 0:02:41.960 that you have this platform. It's needed. It's needed because 0:02:42.000 --> 0:02:45.160 real conversations are needed, real conversation and we're not able 0:02:45.160 --> 0:02:47.600 to have those real people. But I'm not able to 0:02:47.680 --> 0:02:51.840 you know, speak my You're trying its entirety. Wow, you 0:02:51.880 --> 0:02:54.760 feel that way? I knew. I feel like, yeah, I 0:02:54.760 --> 0:02:56.360 feel like it's on the editing floor. You know that 0:02:56.800 --> 0:02:58.040 I wouln't say what I want to say, but I 0:02:58.080 --> 0:02:59.480 feel like it's going to be on the editing floor 0:02:59.520 --> 0:03:01.800 because I don't feel like people think it's important to 0:03:01.880 --> 0:03:03.680 leave that in there. I don't feel like it's intentional. 0:03:04.480 --> 0:03:07.000 I feel like they maybe don't think that that's important. 0:03:07.000 --> 0:03:08.760 They've heard it before, but they haven't heard it the 0:03:08.760 --> 0:03:11.000 way I've said it. You know what I mean, I 0:03:11.040 --> 0:03:12.600 hear you, and you know what that's even how I 0:03:12.600 --> 0:03:16.240 feel over KJLA. Yeah, family, I host from page KJLA. 0:03:17.480 --> 0:03:21.440 But I always say make room. Yes, like you can't 0:03:21.480 --> 0:03:25.640 tell me how my life experience, whether produce my trauma 0:03:25.760 --> 0:03:28.720 or reaction from trauma, or just how I live my life, Like, 0:03:28.800 --> 0:03:30.560 who are you to say what my truth is other 0:03:30.600 --> 0:03:34.119 than me? I am the truth, I am the way, Absolutely, 0:03:34.160 --> 0:03:37.840 I am the life. Absolutely can I shine, absolutely touching 0:03:37.880 --> 0:03:40.760 while it's high. I lets you wonder, you say, Dawn, 0:03:40.920 --> 0:03:42.960 you just got on here and you just talking. Who 0:03:43.120 --> 0:03:50.760 is this? Well, this is the one and only Shirley Ryans. Shirley, 0:03:50.760 --> 0:03:52.720 you ain't know because you two finally had these headphones on. 0:03:52.840 --> 0:03:57.360 But that was around of applause. I went up and 0:03:57.440 --> 0:04:01.560 did a shitty But this is Shirley rains and all 0:04:01.600 --> 0:04:05.760 I can think of that Kirk Franklin track Rain Down, 0:04:06.720 --> 0:04:10.560 Rain ain't down, oh me? Oh but you know, but 0:04:11.000 --> 0:04:14.360 in the same essence, just like how God rains down blessings. 0:04:14.720 --> 0:04:18.760 You are raining down blessings to people I don't want 0:04:18.800 --> 0:04:22.280 to say, who are homeless, who are experiencing homelessness, who 0:04:22.360 --> 0:04:25.080 are experiencing encampment. Why do you want to say that? 0:04:25.160 --> 0:04:26.840 Because you know, I spoke with somebody. I'm on the 0:04:26.920 --> 0:04:31.400 metro myself right now and even biking and running into 0:04:31.520 --> 0:04:34.560 running across, coming in contact and this gentleman I try. 0:04:34.600 --> 0:04:36.320 I was like, oh, are you homeless? Homeless? He said, no, 0:04:36.360 --> 0:04:39.799 I'm an encampment and he viewed it that was based 0:04:39.800 --> 0:04:42.240 on I guess this one individual viewed it as a 0:04:42.279 --> 0:04:45.400 way of Um. I guess it was like a judgment 0:04:45.600 --> 0:04:47.919 or a slander, and I so can I receive you? 0:04:48.120 --> 0:04:52.479 Because it wasn't for him. It wasn't I want to say, 0:04:52.960 --> 0:04:55.040 a condition and not his state of being or essence. 0:04:55.920 --> 0:04:58.680 But does it mean the same thing perhaps, But I 0:04:58.720 --> 0:05:02.760 wanted to make room to say, okay, encampment. Yeah, I 0:05:02.800 --> 0:05:04.720 feel like and I hear that a lot, and I 0:05:04.720 --> 0:05:06.520 don't feel like it has anything to do with the word. 0:05:06.920 --> 0:05:08.919 You don't think it's like an identity people referred to 0:05:08.920 --> 0:05:11.360 as homelessness, because like that's how you identify. No, No, 0:05:11.360 --> 0:05:13.760 you know, is your condition? It is homelessness. I feel 0:05:13.760 --> 0:05:16.200 like I feel like when we're arguing about a word 0:05:16.240 --> 0:05:18.360 to put it, I feel like the argument of trying 0:05:18.360 --> 0:05:20.640 to find a proper word for ugly situation should not 0:05:20.720 --> 0:05:23.320 even be That's like saying she was violated, she was 0:05:23.360 --> 0:05:26.000 taking advantage of No, she was raped. Let's not trying 0:05:26.040 --> 0:05:28.320 to find a pretty word for ugly situation. So my 0:05:28.360 --> 0:05:30.760 whole argument is this, why are we worried about what 0:05:30.800 --> 0:05:33.400 we call them when how we're treating them is this way? 0:05:33.560 --> 0:05:36.720 It doesn't They don't wait shuggly. They gotta know who 0:05:36.760 --> 0:05:43.400 you are. Lord. Well, we're coming in hot, coming out, Okay, 0:05:43.480 --> 0:05:47.240 So I got Shirley Rains Shirley Rains It's founder and 0:05:47.360 --> 0:05:50.320 executive director of Beauty to the Streets, a non profit 0:05:50.440 --> 0:05:53.400 organization that aims to serve the homeless by providing necessities 0:05:53.440 --> 0:05:58.920 alongside the things that make us feel inherently human. A 0:05:59.000 --> 0:06:03.039 hot shower, a hearty meal, the hope inducing feeling of 0:06:03.160 --> 0:06:07.200 looking in the mirror and loving what you see. Rains 0:06:07.200 --> 0:06:09.200 in her nonprofit, Beauty to the Streets, has been a 0:06:09.200 --> 0:06:13.640 stronghold on Los Angeles gid Row since twenty seventeen, providing food, clothing, 0:06:13.720 --> 0:06:17.159 and hair and makeup services weekly to hundreds of people. 0:06:17.640 --> 0:06:20.440 As of now, her organization has focused their efforts in 0:06:20.480 --> 0:06:23.360 Long Beach. Currently, they are partnered with cow State Long 0:06:23.400 --> 0:06:25.880 Beach helping them stock their food and pantry, and it's 0:06:25.920 --> 0:06:28.320 also working to get a food truck on campus a 0:06:28.360 --> 0:06:33.120 few times a week to support unhoused students. Vitamin D Family, 0:06:33.240 --> 0:06:42.320 You Better Radio wims, Shirley rained, Hey, okay, so now 0:06:42.320 --> 0:06:46.160 we started. Okay, thank you Vitamin D Family for having me, 0:06:46.200 --> 0:06:48.560 and thank you doing oh doing like the break of day. 0:06:48.800 --> 0:06:51.560 You've got to catch your violence high. Okay, guys, Okay, 0:06:51.560 --> 0:06:53.360 so I told you about Shirley Scharlie and I, um 0:06:53.600 --> 0:06:56.560 we actually met. Oh my gosh, and I shared with 0:06:56.800 --> 0:06:59.039 bits and pieces with you all about me being on 0:06:59.120 --> 0:07:01.200 front page. But we met on front page and I 0:07:01.240 --> 0:07:03.760 had her come in because I saw this woman, our 0:07:03.760 --> 0:07:07.080 own social media passing off for I said producer body, 0:07:07.160 --> 0:07:11.880 who is this? And then now, since the interview on 0:07:12.000 --> 0:07:14.239 KJLAH one or two point three, owned by the legendary 0:07:14.240 --> 0:07:18.240 Living Treasure, Detroit's own Stevie Wonder you were on stage 0:07:18.240 --> 0:07:22.280 with Lizzo, haul Off says, I don't even want to 0:07:22.320 --> 0:07:24.760 jump to the next thing. Girl, you outside and listen, 0:07:24.800 --> 0:07:27.080 that was a secret that I had to hold onto 0:07:27.360 --> 0:07:29.760 for a couple of months. So you was in my 0:07:29.840 --> 0:07:36.920 face at King and tell let t boty Listen, Um, 0:07:36.960 --> 0:07:39.840 that was an amazing honor. What was that about? Tell me? 0:07:39.960 --> 0:07:43.760 Tell me T was Lizzo Um accepting the People's Choice 0:07:43.760 --> 0:07:47.679 Award the PCAs And you know she's a really sweet person. 0:07:47.800 --> 0:07:49.720 Listen has worked with us before. Look, that's not my 0:07:49.760 --> 0:07:52.240 first time meeting Lizzo. Lizzo has actually had us come 0:07:52.280 --> 0:07:54.840 to her house and pick up clothing. Fallback says, yeah, 0:07:54.840 --> 0:07:57.640 how did you get in contact with Lizzo? Lizzo actually 0:07:57.680 --> 0:08:00.160 reached out to me. She did a post about us 0:08:00.160 --> 0:08:02.200 one time and I was the thing. I was working 0:08:02.240 --> 0:08:03.720 in skid row and all of a sudden my phone 0:08:03.720 --> 0:08:05.960 just would not stop vibrating, and I was like, where 0:08:06.120 --> 0:08:08.560 is all this coming from? And I went to TikTok 0:08:08.640 --> 0:08:10.640 and Lizo had actually did a post about me and 0:08:10.680 --> 0:08:14.520 shared and she encouraged people to donate to us, a 0:08:14.600 --> 0:08:18.560 black run nonprofit, and I got tens of thousands of 0:08:18.560 --> 0:08:21.880 boxes of donations. Lizzle donated money and it just was 0:08:21.920 --> 0:08:24.880 a whirlwind. I thinked her and that was the end 0:08:24.920 --> 0:08:27.040 of it, and later we had a need for plus 0:08:27.080 --> 0:08:29.200 sized clothing and Lizza was cleaning out her closets, so 0:08:29.280 --> 0:08:30.760 she hit us up and said, hey, you know, come 0:08:30.800 --> 0:08:32.800 to my house and pick up for clothing. So they 0:08:32.840 --> 0:08:35.680 put every single thing on a hangar and gave us 0:08:35.920 --> 0:08:38.680 all of her clothing, girl everything stuff I had seen 0:08:38.679 --> 0:08:42.160 her on TikTok with I'm not going you identity, it's 0:08:42.160 --> 0:08:44.920 something it stood out to me because I've donated, you 0:08:45.040 --> 0:08:48.760 said on a hangar. Usually when I think of people 0:08:48.760 --> 0:08:50.680 are donating clothes, they're the one and throwing it in 0:08:50.720 --> 0:08:53.560 the bag. Yes, bunching it in the bag, said, she 0:08:53.720 --> 0:08:55.400 hung it on the hand. First time we ever got 0:08:55.440 --> 0:08:58.920 donations on their Yeah, she put every single item on 0:08:58.960 --> 0:09:02.199 her hangar and didn't have us go to her assistance 0:09:02.280 --> 0:09:04.240 house or anything. Had us pull up to her house 0:09:04.280 --> 0:09:06.400 because she said, I'm a real person, a real person. 0:09:06.480 --> 0:09:08.720 So we'd already connected and I think during the DMS 0:09:08.720 --> 0:09:12.120 and she said, you know, you're welcome. And so when 0:09:12.200 --> 0:09:14.760 this honor came up for her, she wanted to shed 0:09:14.880 --> 0:09:17.679 light on some people who she felt like deserved the spotlight. 0:09:17.760 --> 0:09:20.760 Seventeen amazing people. You know, I got to meet up 0:09:20.760 --> 0:09:23.679 Brianna Taylor's mom, Tomka was there and we I mean, 0:09:23.720 --> 0:09:25.280 she's amazing. This is the house when you guys are 0:09:25.280 --> 0:09:28.640 on stage. This is at the Awn State. Tamika was 0:09:28.679 --> 0:09:31.839 part of the seventeen I see. I only saw clips. Yeah, 0:09:31.920 --> 0:09:35.480 Tamika was there. Brianna's she's a girl. This queen is 0:09:35.520 --> 0:09:39.520 so strong. We had girls one she's hilarious girl. I 0:09:39.559 --> 0:09:43.680 spend my days where she's hilarious girl. Seventeen were amazing. Yeah, 0:09:43.720 --> 0:09:47.000 but Tamika was there and it was just amazing meeting her. 0:09:47.320 --> 0:09:49.079 It was such an honor just to be in the 0:09:49.120 --> 0:09:51.160 presence of all these women. And I don't you know, 0:09:51.200 --> 0:09:53.720 I don't feel like it's hard for me to receive 0:09:53.800 --> 0:09:56.280 those things, because, like I said, I'm just following instructions. 0:09:56.880 --> 0:09:59.200 There's literally a book that tells you're supposed to help people. 0:09:59.240 --> 0:10:01.040 You know, I didn't make this up. I didn't create it, 0:10:01.080 --> 0:10:03.600 you know what I'm saying, And so um, it's hard 0:10:03.640 --> 0:10:05.280 to receive that. But when you sit in the room 0:10:05.280 --> 0:10:07.640 with people like that and you hear stories and you 0:10:07.679 --> 0:10:09.720 get to be on stages like that, I think it 0:10:09.800 --> 0:10:12.720 just reaffirms you know that you're on the right track 0:10:12.760 --> 0:10:15.240 because they say, birds of a feather flock together, and 0:10:15.320 --> 0:10:18.160 if you see fruits blossoming upon you, that means you 0:10:18.200 --> 0:10:20.240 on the right block. You know, it takes somebody that 0:10:20.240 --> 0:10:22.400 thinks that they're less than to get jealous of someone 0:10:22.440 --> 0:10:25.080 else just because God is blessing somebody next to you. 0:10:25.120 --> 0:10:27.080 Don't you got enough sense to say God is in 0:10:27.120 --> 0:10:30.120 the neighborhood, in the white room at the right time. 0:10:30.200 --> 0:10:34.520 Your ego get you the fastest way. The best thing 0:10:34.520 --> 0:10:35.959 you need to do you have on your way to 0:10:36.040 --> 0:10:38.520 your ego is a kneepad. That part right because you're 0:10:38.559 --> 0:10:40.880 falling on your knees. But they don't hear me though. 0:10:41.320 --> 0:10:44.719 So the fact that you are amongst all these great women, Yeah, 0:10:44.840 --> 0:10:48.320 what does that say about you? You know what, I 0:10:48.400 --> 0:10:50.680 am a very grounded person. It's very hard for me 0:10:50.679 --> 0:10:53.040 to receive and take confidence, especially for this work. One 0:10:53.040 --> 0:10:55.600 thing me and Tomica talks about a lot. One thing 0:10:55.640 --> 0:10:57.560 I feel like I'm not one of these things is 0:10:57.559 --> 0:10:59.640 not like the other like I have. You know seven 0:10:59.640 --> 0:11:04.000 meis I'm considered an influencer, but I can't even influence 0:11:04.040 --> 0:11:06.040 my baby daddy to marry me. Girl, I'm not in here. 0:11:06.160 --> 0:11:08.600 But that was so real. You coming in and I 0:11:08.679 --> 0:11:12.120 want to explore, but we gotta go here. I'm an 0:11:12.120 --> 0:11:15.960 activist and so it's hard to be in those spaces 0:11:15.960 --> 0:11:19.280 and receive that because I feel like a lot of 0:11:19.320 --> 0:11:21.600 times it's the messenger who gets the praise while the 0:11:21.640 --> 0:11:23.920 message gets pushed to the back. And I always have said, 0:11:23.920 --> 0:11:26.360 pay attention to the message and not the messenger, that's all. 0:11:26.400 --> 0:11:28.480 And people fought me for my habits. I'm like, you 0:11:28.520 --> 0:11:30.480 shouldn't be looking at what I'm doing behind the scenes 0:11:30.480 --> 0:11:34.040 that for my life. Pay attention to my message. My 0:11:34.280 --> 0:11:37.840 roots are firmly planted. You know, our fruit is good. 0:11:38.200 --> 0:11:39.720 You know you could tell a tree by its fruit. 0:11:39.720 --> 0:11:41.960 So I was telling big Titis in the car ride home. 0:11:42.240 --> 0:11:44.640 I mean up here, you know. And when people seem 0:11:44.679 --> 0:11:46.360 to look at me and judge me because I don't 0:11:46.400 --> 0:11:48.760 fit this image of what they think. Come on, I'm 0:11:48.800 --> 0:11:50.839 someone like me who does the work I'm doing, it's 0:11:50.840 --> 0:11:53.880 supposed to fit. Then it's like, okay, you know, then 0:11:53.920 --> 0:11:55.800 they have a problem with it. But no, my fruit 0:11:55.960 --> 0:11:58.840 is good howl means my roots are in good soil. 0:11:59.400 --> 0:12:01.200 You know what I'm saying. And then again I keep saying, 0:12:01.240 --> 0:12:04.000 don't pay attention to me. I'm the messenger. The message 0:12:04.040 --> 0:12:06.600 is completely different. So you keep talking about this message. 0:12:07.120 --> 0:12:08.800 What's the impact of What have you seen with the 0:12:08.800 --> 0:12:12.200 impact of your message? What is your message doing? Miss rings? 0:12:13.000 --> 0:12:15.480 I hope my message we ain't hope. We have to 0:12:15.600 --> 0:12:17.400 a firm to speak what it is, not, what enable 0:12:17.520 --> 0:12:19.240 it could be, what it is? Well, from what I 0:12:19.320 --> 0:12:21.520 see in my DMS on social media, it is helping 0:12:21.559 --> 0:12:24.319 people to move in their own community, you know, and 0:12:24.320 --> 0:12:26.320 shed a light on homelessness. And it shed a light 0:12:26.360 --> 0:12:29.360 on the people who are experiencing homelessness what they're going through. 0:12:29.600 --> 0:12:33.120 It's humanizing people. You know, people were so I think 0:12:33.120 --> 0:12:35.840 it's when they come in and found our nonprofit. We 0:12:35.920 --> 0:12:38.520 provide choices. You know, you want your hair done. What 0:12:38.760 --> 0:12:40.480 We don't put food in the bag. I don't have 0:12:40.520 --> 0:12:42.480 to eat it just because you're homeless. Just because you 0:12:42.480 --> 0:12:45.600 don't have four wall structures, doesn't mean you should eat meat. 0:12:45.640 --> 0:12:48.199 If you're a vegetarian, it doesn't mean you should eat 0:12:48.240 --> 0:12:51.880 sugar if you're diabetic. It doesn't mean your standards change 0:12:51.920 --> 0:12:55.120 just because your circumstances change. So they have a right 0:12:55.160 --> 0:12:58.640 to keep those same standards without those circumstances. But people 0:12:58.679 --> 0:13:01.880 think that they don't sometimes they think they negate those. 0:13:01.960 --> 0:13:07.000 But why but why we're referring to is your organization 0:13:07.240 --> 0:13:10.560 entitled Beauty to the Streets? Correct? When did you start 0:13:10.600 --> 0:13:13.160 this organization again? Gosh, I think it was like around 0:13:13.200 --> 0:13:18.719 two thousand and sixteen or some twenty. Been in in 0:13:18.760 --> 0:13:21.520 the seventeen correct, And I just already going out. It 0:13:21.559 --> 0:13:23.680 wasn't really an organization. I was going out with another 0:13:23.800 --> 0:13:27.520 nonprofit police project in the backstreets of Los Angeles. And 0:13:27.880 --> 0:13:31.120 where is the backstreets in the la um behind skid Row? 0:13:31.200 --> 0:13:33.560 There's some So skid Row is a fifty five block 0:13:33.720 --> 0:13:37.120 radius where they're en campuses, their encompasses um like about 0:13:37.200 --> 0:13:39.760 eight thousand homeless people in that fifty five block radius. 0:13:40.240 --> 0:13:42.040 And it's a really dangerous place. So you got some 0:13:42.040 --> 0:13:45.439 people who are vets, you got LGBTQ, trans community people 0:13:45.440 --> 0:13:48.120 who don't want to stay in that population. So they 0:13:48.200 --> 0:13:50.000 kind of go, await do you said dangers? Why don't 0:13:50.000 --> 0:13:54.240 you want to drive by a girl? Yeah? Was it there? Oh? Yeah? Girl? 0:13:56.600 --> 0:14:01.599 You you you said dangerous? Well that's that's that's that. 0:14:01.760 --> 0:14:04.000 But that's not a girl, that's life. I'm from Compton. 0:14:04.200 --> 0:14:06.760 Wait what happened. You're doing good work down there. If 0:14:06.760 --> 0:14:08.600 somebody tried to shoot you, you know what, it's just 0:14:08.640 --> 0:14:11.400 it's the streets, you know. What do you mean by that? Like, 0:14:11.440 --> 0:14:13.480 I've never I haven't been in a drive by. So 0:14:13.600 --> 0:14:16.360 when you you're you lit, what does that mean? Like 0:14:16.400 --> 0:14:20.280 you're talking to somebody and then somebody came spraying bullets. Yeah, 0:14:20.320 --> 0:14:22.600 basically we were walking down the street and something happened, 0:14:22.640 --> 0:14:25.440 and you know, gunfire arose and we were just on 0:14:25.480 --> 0:14:27.800 the block and serving at that time. And of course 0:14:27.960 --> 0:14:32.120 you were serving, yes, you were doing the work. Yes, 0:14:32.520 --> 0:14:34.120 And are you sure? How do you know that you 0:14:34.160 --> 0:14:36.760 were the target? We weren't. I don't think we were. 0:14:37.080 --> 0:14:38.920 If we just were in the wrong place, wrong time. 0:14:39.080 --> 0:14:41.440 That could have been somebody's baby. It could have been 0:14:41.440 --> 0:14:43.280 and that's my mother that was trying to get from 0:14:43.320 --> 0:14:46.840 this abusive relationship, or perhaps somebody that fell into some depression. 0:14:46.920 --> 0:14:48.960 It could and that sounds dangerous, but let me let 0:14:49.000 --> 0:14:51.200 me let me say this. I've been doing this work 0:14:51.240 --> 0:14:53.840 for seven years. That's the first time. How many shootings 0:14:53.880 --> 0:14:56.040 have you heard about that? At school? Come on, or 0:14:56.040 --> 0:14:59.280 at the bank talking or a Walmart, catching a Costco 0:14:59.760 --> 0:15:03.400 on the buses or people's homes. There's more shootings in 0:15:03.480 --> 0:15:05.720 those places in the skin row. So while this sounds 0:15:05.800 --> 0:15:09.040 dangerous and it looks violent, and I think it looks more, 0:15:09.160 --> 0:15:13.120 it looks worse. It is because you got this environment, yes, 0:15:13.240 --> 0:15:17.120 and then you got this nonprofit serving and these good peoples. 0:15:17.200 --> 0:15:22.200 The dramatic yeah, but it's the same dramatics of what 0:15:22.320 --> 0:15:24.800 happens behind the closed doors that we don't see the 0:15:24.840 --> 0:15:27.040 same dramatic or what it happens in the church and 0:15:27.120 --> 0:15:29.280 every place as we go. So this is why I 0:15:29.280 --> 0:15:32.800 want people to see it's happening everywhere. You know, am 0:15:32.840 --> 0:15:34.880 I scared to skip row? I'm more scared to walk 0:15:34.880 --> 0:15:37.080 into a Costco because I don't know who's upset that day? 0:15:37.120 --> 0:15:39.200 So you still go down the skin roll servant? We 0:15:39.280 --> 0:15:42.600 do not. We do not. Is it based on the 0:15:42.640 --> 0:15:45.160 shooting or it is protection from my team? I have 0:15:45.240 --> 0:15:46.840 to I have It's not just me. I have to 0:15:46.880 --> 0:15:49.240 consider we're a nonprofit. We have a full team now, 0:15:49.720 --> 0:15:51.280 and you know, I have a full team, and I 0:15:51.320 --> 0:15:53.120 have a family, and I've grown a lot, you know, 0:15:53.200 --> 0:15:55.240 And the spirit will move you when you need to move, 0:15:55.240 --> 0:15:57.400 and sometimes you just have to accept that there's there's 0:15:57.440 --> 0:16:00.760 a there's a closing to every opening, you know, and 0:16:01.120 --> 0:16:02.520 I feel like it was a time to move on. 0:16:02.600 --> 0:16:05.320 And look at we've got the colleges. Now, we've got 0:16:05.440 --> 0:16:08.280 good fruit going on. So sometimes break so needed. I 0:16:08.360 --> 0:16:11.320 love skid Row dearly. Okay, I've loved the men in 0:16:11.360 --> 0:16:13.280 my life dearly, but they've been very dangerous for me, 0:16:13.320 --> 0:16:15.480 and I've had to leave them. Yeah, sometimes you love 0:16:15.520 --> 0:16:17.360 me and you got to leave some dangerous things. I say, 0:16:17.400 --> 0:16:20.160 sometimes the greatest form of love is letting go. And 0:16:20.160 --> 0:16:22.280 I learned that with my mom's transition. But hold on. 0:16:22.360 --> 0:16:24.320 You talked about the backstreets La Give it to me. 0:16:24.840 --> 0:16:26.600 You said that that now you're on the backstreets of 0:16:26.720 --> 0:16:29.640 LA working which is behind, yeah, behind skid Row, or 0:16:29.720 --> 0:16:32.080 some of the elderly are in Polly's Project. He he 0:16:32.160 --> 0:16:34.480 goes back there and he feeds and brings clothing and 0:16:34.520 --> 0:16:37.440 all those things. Polly's Project, Paully's Project. That's it's a 0:16:37.480 --> 0:16:39.440 nonprofit that it's been in skid Row for a very 0:16:39.680 --> 0:16:41.960 Los Angeles for a very long time. So I came 0:16:42.040 --> 0:16:45.400 up under Polly's Project, and I'm the women in the 0:16:45.600 --> 0:16:47.960 trans community, and everybody begin to compliment me on my 0:16:48.000 --> 0:16:50.080 hair and my makeup, my earrings, and I think my 0:16:50.160 --> 0:16:52.200 third time out with him, I'm like, you guys want 0:16:52.240 --> 0:16:54.360 these things because it'sund like they were hinting. They're like, yeah, 0:16:54.360 --> 0:16:56.640 if you could. So I brought makeup. The next time 0:16:56.680 --> 0:16:59.240 I came at sample makeup, I had a lot, and 0:16:59.280 --> 0:17:02.240 I brought some colors weren't I wasn't using. And then 0:17:02.240 --> 0:17:04.800 the next Sunday I went out with Paul. They hadn't 0:17:04.880 --> 0:17:06.720 they didn't have the makeup on her, their hair wasn't done. 0:17:06.720 --> 0:17:08.000 I'm like, do you even't like it? They're like, well, 0:17:08.040 --> 0:17:09.720 we didn't have a mirror, we don't have water. I'm like, 0:17:09.880 --> 0:17:11.920 oh well, let me bring some water. So I went 0:17:11.960 --> 0:17:14.600 to targeting about a fold up chair and about an 0:17:14.600 --> 0:17:17.119 igloo container, and I bought some red solo cups and 0:17:17.160 --> 0:17:19.520 I began to just boil water at home and I 0:17:19.520 --> 0:17:21.200 would drag it with me and I would wash their 0:17:21.240 --> 0:17:23.600 hair and chairs, and I would take um, I would 0:17:23.640 --> 0:17:26.680 take grocery bags like trash bags and time around its smocks. 0:17:27.119 --> 0:17:29.320 And I was slowing him down a little bit because 0:17:29.320 --> 0:17:30.560 he was like, Okay, I'm ready to go to next 0:17:30.600 --> 0:17:32.640 block and feet I'm like, hey, maybe I'll come out 0:17:32.680 --> 0:17:34.320 here on the day when you don't come, like on 0:17:34.320 --> 0:17:36.119 a Saturday. He was like, oh, that would be good. 0:17:36.400 --> 0:17:39.320 And they started calling in a makeup lady, and young 0:17:39.400 --> 0:17:41.119 kids used to come and try to get makeup from 0:17:41.160 --> 0:17:43.840 me in the backstreets. I'm like, where y'all all that there? Like, well, 0:17:43.840 --> 0:17:45.199 we're in skid row. I'm like, well, let me go 0:17:45.200 --> 0:17:47.040 over there and take care of y'all. And so that's 0:17:47.040 --> 0:17:48.600 how I ended up in a skid row. And that's 0:17:48.600 --> 0:17:50.520 how I ended up doing my own thing. And then 0:17:50.560 --> 0:17:52.360 I took the social media. I'm like, oh, look, y'all, 0:17:52.400 --> 0:17:54.399 I need more help. Like everybody won't make up in here, 0:17:54.400 --> 0:17:56.760 and I don't handle money, and I to the social media. 0:17:56.760 --> 0:17:58.920 I'm like, well, maybe I should like make my name 0:17:59.040 --> 0:18:00.760 something that I do. I'm I'm gonna chase my name 0:18:00.760 --> 0:18:03.240 to beat to the street. And I did that, and 0:18:03.280 --> 0:18:05.720 I was just doing my thing, and then I think 0:18:05.720 --> 0:18:08.480 I was turning fifty and this lady hit me in 0:18:08.560 --> 0:18:10.760 my DM She's like, hey, I have a birthday present 0:18:10.840 --> 0:18:16.680 for you. You said, what what Jesus scare me? Oh 0:18:16.760 --> 0:18:20.919 my god, I was on the roll sided it is 0:18:20.960 --> 0:18:24.679 what she tried oh you is what she tried. You 0:18:24.760 --> 0:18:27.159 said you do. We're turning fifty. I'm about to be 0:18:27.240 --> 0:18:35.200 fifty five on the twenty nine of my birthday. I'm listen. 0:18:35.320 --> 0:18:36.399 No no no, no, no no no no no no no 0:18:36.400 --> 0:18:38.280 no no no no no no no no no no 0:18:38.280 --> 0:18:41.200 no no man, no no no no. It's very rare 0:18:41.240 --> 0:18:42.439 that you can give me like this. You want to 0:18:42.440 --> 0:18:44.960 know because numbers speak to me. I see, no, see, 0:18:44.960 --> 0:18:46.399 I didn't have to read it because your energy and 0:18:46.440 --> 0:18:48.680 your vibrance, it's so vulnerable that it's not like, oh, 0:18:48.760 --> 0:18:54.720 let me guess, but yo, what you're still sitting, you're 0:18:54.800 --> 0:18:59.800 holding to God be the glory. She could be set 0:19:00.040 --> 0:19:03.080 readjust my life. First of all, I told you she 0:19:03.200 --> 0:19:06.760 come in here with some emeralds, I mean luscious like 0:19:06.800 --> 0:19:12.000 a gem hair. The lashes are whisping to dreams that 0:19:12.119 --> 0:19:16.240 only angels could speak. Okay, and then it radiates this 0:19:16.320 --> 0:19:19.479