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Speaker 1: Hey, guys, welcome to another episode of Eating While Broke.

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Speaker 1: I'm your host, Colleen Witt, and today we have a

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Speaker 1: very special guest, founder, owner of CRCD, Coalition of Responsible

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Speaker 1: Community Development, is in the building. Oh right, And how

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Speaker 1: long has CRCD been around.

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Speaker 2: CRCD has been around. This year makes twenty years.

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Speaker 1: Twenty years. So a little backstory about Mark, Mark Wilson

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Speaker 1: is I don't even say your name, huh. Mark Wilson,

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Speaker 1: owner of Coalition of Responsible Community Development, is in the building.

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Speaker 1: It's an honor to have you, guys. I've tried to

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Speaker 1: get this interview for a couple of years now. That

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Speaker 1: just goes to show you know how much I wanted

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Speaker 1: this interview. And you'll learn throughout this interview why on

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Speaker 1: what Mark has done in the twenty years. But there's

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Speaker 1: a lot to cover, so I want Mark to go

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Speaker 1: ahead and talk about some of the stuff that CRCD

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Speaker 1: has done. And just for a little sticker shock, guys,

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Speaker 1: CRCD owns about seven hundred million dollars in real estate

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Speaker 1: in South primarily in south central Los Angeles, which is

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Speaker 1: a if you even own a condo in Los Angeles

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Speaker 1: and you're even fortunate to own one at all. You

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Speaker 1: know how hard it is to possibly own one and

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Speaker 1: how expensive it is let alone to do that under nonprofit, So.

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Speaker 2: The Coalition for Responsible Community Development CRCD, we are not

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Speaker 2: for profit community development corporation, so that our mission is

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Speaker 2: to change lives and build neighborhoods responsibly. We do a

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Speaker 2: lot of that work in workforce development. I'll go over

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Speaker 2: a little bit about what we do. After a lot

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Speaker 2: of workforce development, working with the state, the federal government,

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Speaker 2: the County of Los Angeles, and the City of Los Angeles,

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Speaker 2: providing workforce development and employment training to our most vulnerable Angelinos,

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Speaker 2: particularly those that reside in South LA. So this is

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Speaker 2: false youth, unhoused individuals, individuals returning to our communities from incarceration,

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Speaker 2: and folks that have had difficult times finding employment, and

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Speaker 2: we take them through a host of training programs with

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Speaker 2: pathways to.

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Speaker 3: Careers at their choice.

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Speaker 2: Of course, providing them with wrap around support services along

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Speaker 2: the way, because when you come from a vulnerable background,

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Speaker 2: it's difficult to even keep a job. A lot of times,

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Speaker 2: it's not folks fault that they didn't have.

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Speaker 3: A place to sleep that night.

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Speaker 2: It's not folks fault that somebody may have kicked them

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Speaker 2: out because of of their gender, and it's not folks

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Speaker 2: fault on not having adequate transportation and the transportation system

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Speaker 2: in their neighborhood so they can get to work on time,

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Speaker 2: and so we provide those supports what we call barrier

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Speaker 2: supports or support services, so folks can gav game full

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Speaker 2: employment and get on their feet. We also do affordable

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Speaker 2: housing development, as you mentioned where now embarking on you know,

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Speaker 2: over seven hundred million dollars in real estate development in

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Speaker 2: south central LA that makes up about sixteen hundred units

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Speaker 2: of affordable housing in different phases of development. We have

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Speaker 2: about six hundred units in what we call in the

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Speaker 2: transition right now, meaning folks are actually moving in and

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Speaker 2: twenty percent of our housing is dedicated to formally false

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Speaker 2: youth or young people that find themselves unhoused.

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Speaker 3: Each of our.

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Speaker 2: Buildings and projects, all based in South LA, have wrap

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Speaker 2: around support services, so we actually have offices and staff

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Speaker 2: at each of our building sites, so they're providing residents

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Speaker 2: with opportunities to move into employment, move into.

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Speaker 3: Other services, access.

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Speaker 2: To healthcare, and any other thing that will support them

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Speaker 2: and moving their lives forward and so we're we're proud

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Speaker 2: of that to be able to provide those not only

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Speaker 2: the housing which is very affordable, usually targeting individuals that

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Speaker 2: can move in a place where thirty percent your average

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Speaker 2: income is your rent and it's subsidized by other government sources.

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Speaker 2: So in LA that's a really big deal.

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Speaker 1: And they're really nice building and they're really nice when

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Speaker 1: you get subsidized. I've pulled up on some of these

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Speaker 1: buildings and these buildings are absolutely stunning. You would drive

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Speaker 1: by it and say, this is a very nice building,

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Speaker 1: and yes, when you do walk in, you do see

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Speaker 1: the support.

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Speaker 3: Yes, and so so you know, we're proud of that.

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Speaker 2: We have partnerships with the LA Community College District, so

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Speaker 2: we provide services on site in partnership with colleges like

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Speaker 2: Los Angeles Trade Tech Community College, East LA Community College

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Speaker 2: in Los Angeles Community College. At Los Angeles Trade Tech,

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Speaker 2: we actually have office spaces there so we can work

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Speaker 2: side by side with department chairs recruiting students into opportunities

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Speaker 2: for employment, particularly those that are on track to graduate

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Speaker 2: with their AA degrees, to possibly pair them with career

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Speaker 2: opportunities in that degree or in their major.

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Speaker 3: So that's pretty exciting.

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Speaker 2: We've had and withstand that partnership for about almost fourteen

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Speaker 2: years now.

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Speaker 3: Yes.

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Speaker 2: Yes, we also partner with youth Field Charter School of California,

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Speaker 2: so we manage charter school on the campus of La

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Speaker 2: Trade Tech where we're working with young people eighteen to

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Speaker 2: twenty six primarily for whatever reason, they didn't complete traditional school,

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Speaker 2: and so they find themselves at CRCD and go through

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Speaker 2: CRCD Academy where they earn a high school diploma and

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Speaker 2: they're duel enrolled in the community college at the same time.

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Speaker 2: So when they graduate, they're already in college, they're already

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Speaker 2: on track, and a lot of them are already on

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Speaker 2: career paths with CRCD.

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Speaker 1: Wow. Yes, and then to go back to workforce development,

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Speaker 1: can you give you an example of some of the

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Speaker 1: trades that do you guys teach or teach me?

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Speaker 2: Yes, And so fourteen years ago we created CRCD Enterprises,

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Speaker 2: which is a separate entity. It's a for profit entity

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Speaker 2: that is now a general contractor licensed with the state

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Speaker 2: of California. We're also licensed to do let abatement and

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Speaker 2: let abatement training. And so young people that go through

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Speaker 2: are workforce say particularly Youth Bill. So we run the

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Speaker 2: South LA Youth Build or we are South LA Youth Build.

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Speaker 2: That's part of the Youth Build Global international network. And

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Speaker 2: young people they are enrolled in CRCD Academy, but then

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Speaker 2: they have an opportunity to work side by side going

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Speaker 2: through a multicore curriculum that's approved. It's called MC three

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Speaker 2: and it's approved by the La Orange County Building Trades

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Speaker 2: and so.

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Speaker 3: That's the labor unions.

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Speaker 2: So they have an opportunity to learn about multiple trades,

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Speaker 2: so plumbing, drywall, painting, pipe fitting, concrete and then through

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Speaker 2: that training which is typically about three weeks or three.

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Speaker 1: Four weeks I want to get in that.

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Speaker 2: Youth Build is three weeks, and then we have other

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Speaker 2: traders that are eight weeks that are more apprenticeship base.

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Speaker 3: So for Youth BUEL you do three hundred hours.

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Speaker 2: If the young person decides for trade they like, they

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Speaker 2: have an opportunity to go through a pathway with a

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Speaker 2: union to become an apprentice.

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Speaker 1: And the Youth Built age group is age group.

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Speaker 3: That age group is eighteen to twenty four at entry.

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Speaker 1: Wow you hear that, guys, So straight out of high

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Speaker 1: school you could pick a trade you can.

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Speaker 2: Pick a trade as soon as you actually during while

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Speaker 2: you're getting your diploma. With Crcity Academy, you can actually

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Speaker 2: be working on your trade and receiving your high school

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Speaker 2: diploma at the same time.

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Speaker 3: And when you graduate.

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Speaker 2: You can work more towards that trade because you will

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Speaker 2: be a pre apprentice. Because our training is approved by

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Speaker 2: the union.

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Speaker 1: Now is there stipulations if they don't go to the

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Speaker 1: charter school.

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Speaker 2: If they don't go to our charter school, there's no stipulation.

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Speaker 2: You still can enroll in our mc th training because

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Speaker 2: we now have the Tresa McCoy Regional Infrastructure Development Training Center.

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Speaker 2: So basically it's a training center that we now run

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Speaker 2: the community. It's right off of twenty fifth in Central Avenue.

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Speaker 2: And any young person rather they go through Youth Bill

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Speaker 2: or just want to come through one of crcd's workforce

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Speaker 2: development training programs, they have access to going through these pathways.

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Speaker 1: Wow. That's a big deal. Wow. And then would you say,

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Speaker 1: I want to talk about race a little bit. When

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Speaker 1: you think of South Central you think of predominantly a

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Speaker 1: certain race. What race would you say is the community

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Speaker 1: that you tend to help more so or what is

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Speaker 1: that divide of that race.

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Speaker 2: So the community itself, meaning residents that live there, are

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Speaker 2: directly a majority of Latino. I would say probably eighty

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Speaker 2: five percent. In our programs, it's roughly fifty percent African

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Speaker 2: American fifty percent Latino.

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Speaker 1: Wow.

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Speaker 2: And we get a higher number of African Americans unfortunately,

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Speaker 2: because African Americans make up a high rate of the

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Speaker 2: individuals that are returned to the community from prison.

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Speaker 1: Wow.

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Speaker 2: They are the majority of young people that are in

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Speaker 2: the false care system and that age out. Also the

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Speaker 2: majority of young people that are unhoused in LA And

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Speaker 2: because of those statistics and because we work with that

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Speaker 2: population primarily, our African American numbers are higher than the racial.

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Speaker 3: In the community.

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Speaker 2: So the community itself is eighty five percent Latino, but

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Speaker 2: we hear about a fifty to fifty racial and the

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Speaker 2: people that we serve.

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Speaker 3: Yeah.

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Speaker 1: I worked with a startup that dealt with a lot

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Speaker 1: of apartment buildings, and when you're dealing with low income housing,

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Speaker 1: I noticed when I would talk to property managers what

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Speaker 1: they were dealing with on a regular basis in mental

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Speaker 1: illness or mental struggles was all over the spectrum, Like

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Speaker 1: you had to have a whole different caliber of I mean,

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Speaker 1: you would assume that they were like numb to just

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Speaker 1: so much trauma that these people go through. What do

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Speaker 1: you guys do to deal with the mental illness, because

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Speaker 1: there's got to be some would amagine that's a big

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Speaker 1: part of the equation.

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Speaker 2: Right, We're not a licensed therapist. And the good thing

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Speaker 2: about SERISD is we know how to partner. We know

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Speaker 2: how to do what we do well, and then we

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Speaker 2: know how to collaborate and partner with others that do

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Speaker 2: their craft well. And so we partner with Kedrin, which

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Speaker 2: has a mental health hospital in South Los Angeles. They're

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Speaker 2: actually working on building a new facility i think close

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Speaker 2: to the Watts and they have some of the best

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Speaker 2: mental health professionals that I've ever worked with and I've

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Speaker 2: ever seen. And so when we have cases, because we

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Speaker 2: do have a housing and support services department that primarily

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Speaker 2: works with young people, and unfortunately a lot of young

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Speaker 2: people are dealing with a lot of trauma, trauma that

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Speaker 2: they've been dealing with for years, some of them decades,

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Speaker 2: And having that partnership with Kedron really helps our coordinators

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Speaker 2: to provide this young person with services. Because every young

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Speaker 2: person that come through our doors because we have a

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Speaker 2: dropping center called Ruth Place Yes.

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Speaker 1: Dropping center called Place Yes.

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Speaker 2: It's a youth dropping center, so young people from anywhere.

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Speaker 2: Usually we get young people from all over the city,

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Speaker 2: not just South LA. And we're probably one of the

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Speaker 2: few dropping centers in the city of La, particularly in

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Speaker 2: South LA. So they drop in primarily looking for housing opportunities,

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Speaker 2: and we have housing navigators.

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Speaker 3: Individuals may come in needing mental.

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Speaker 2: Health support, so we provide support to them by way

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Speaker 2: of KEDRON. Others may just be coming in for other services.

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Speaker 2: Maybe they need to take a shower, maybe they just

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Speaker 2: need to park somewhere and take a nap because they've

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Speaker 2: been up all night. Because a lot of young people

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Speaker 2: do not like going into the shelters that are available

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Speaker 2: that are primarily for adults. There's not many youth shelters

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Speaker 2: and so they don't like that, and so they're in

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Speaker 2: the parks in a car if they have it, or

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Speaker 2: they're walking around the streets because they're scared and terrified

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Speaker 2: of going to sleep. And so we have a place

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Speaker 2: where folks in come and if they need to take

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Speaker 2: a DAP, they take a nap, and that's an entry

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Speaker 2: point for us to see what other services they need.

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Speaker 2: And these are folks that are not living in our

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Speaker 2: apartment buildings and folks that we're connecting to what we

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Speaker 2: call scatter site housing. So these are working with private

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Speaker 2: apartment building owners, usually small mom and pop apartment building

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Speaker 2: owners for the ten units, and we're master releasing buildings

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Speaker 2: and we're working rental or leasing arrangements with those owners

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Speaker 2: and placing young people in housing.

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Speaker 1: Wow, that's a lot. Yeah, how many people do see

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Speaker 1: RCD I'm getting all don't get all up in people

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Speaker 1: to CRCD employing.

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Speaker 2: So right now today because we're so CRCD the nonprofit

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Speaker 2: employees about one hundred and sixty seven full time employees.

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Speaker 3: We probably employ on part.

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Speaker 2: Time basis through different services or whatnot, another two to

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Speaker 2: three thousand people that come through our doors.

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Speaker 3: Now.

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Speaker 2: CRCD Enterprises On which is our for profit and construction company,

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Speaker 2: employees today about two hundred and fifty individuals full time.

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Speaker 2: And then CRCD Partners, who is does everything real estate

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Speaker 2: development and it's also a for profit entity, employees about

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Speaker 2: forty individuals.

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Speaker 3: So all together, if you.

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Speaker 2: Do the math, we're employing about a little over five

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Speaker 2: hundred individuals.

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Speaker 3: Can do the math that quick, but.

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Speaker 1: That's a lot and there's a lot of arms. Yes, yes,

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Speaker 1: I'm genuinely curious what a day in the life of

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Speaker 1: you is. Do you have two phones or one?

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Speaker 3: I have one phone.

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Speaker 2: They've tried to give me two phones, but I'm like

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Speaker 2: one is enough. And then I have to have an

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Speaker 2: executive assistant that is more than just another phone, but

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Speaker 2: she takes care of other things and people that's been

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Speaker 2: trying to find me or.

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Speaker 1: So you have your cell phone number? Are you am?

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Speaker 1: I am? I very lucky and fortunate to have this numb.

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Speaker 2: I don't want to put it like that, but you

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Speaker 2: wanted to look, I feel cool now.

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Speaker 3: You got a direct connect.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I hit them directly, like please, please, please please,

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Speaker 1: because I think I did try the other ways, which

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Speaker 1: is like going to through other people. See but if

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Speaker 1: you go direct, go direct. If you think about it,

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Speaker 1: it worked best when I went direct. It does so

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Speaker 1: if you see them on the street, guys hit me up.

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Speaker 1: So that's a huge footprint. What I think is crazy

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Speaker 1: about LA because I do work with like the LA

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Speaker 1: Business Journal and all these guys, is like I have

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Speaker 1: shocked sometimes that I don't see you on the cover

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Speaker 1: of some of these, Like, I don't know if it's

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Speaker 1: because you're not doing prs, the just you're just your

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Speaker 1: footprint is pretty large.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, it's a number of things. I don't think.

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Speaker 2: I know, I'm not doing a lot of PR because

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Speaker 2: I'm typically focused.

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Speaker 3: On the work.

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Speaker 2: I've never been someone that like to be all in

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Speaker 2: the videos in front of the newspapers, so I ride

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Speaker 2: a little low. So even doing this is a little

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Speaker 2: different for me.

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Speaker 1: I love it. I think you need to do more

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Speaker 1: of it. I wonder if does that help or hinder

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Speaker 1: your fundraising processes. I would imagine you have to do

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Speaker 1: some level of PR.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean with fundraising.

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Speaker 2: I mean, you know, I do the conferences, I do

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Speaker 2: the panel discussions, and I do those things which helps

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Speaker 2: to get our word and our message out. I do

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Speaker 2: a lot of meetings with different foundations and things of

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Speaker 2: that nature. So I would think that it may hinder

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Speaker 2: it a bit because our message and what we do

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Speaker 2: a lot of folks still don't know. Yeah, yeah, and

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Speaker 2: I appreciate that, and so we're working on figuring out

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Speaker 2: how to do better or be better at.

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Speaker 3: PR and communications, you know.

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Speaker 2: But for me myself, I'm just more focused on the

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Speaker 2: work and then allow folks like the board and others

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Speaker 2: to think about ways that we.

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Speaker 3: Can kind of get out more and get.

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Speaker 2: In journals, get interviewed by different magazines. Really, you know,

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Speaker 2: talk about the unique work that we're doing in South LA.

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Speaker 2: Because it's tough work that the team is doing. It's

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Speaker 2: not easy when you're managing contracts that have time limits

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Speaker 2: on them and you have a young person or an

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Speaker 2: adult that doesn't have a time limit on when they

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Speaker 2: can get on their feet or when they can somehow

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Speaker 2: overcome trauma. I mean, when you have a contract where

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Speaker 2: they say you have six months to produce these results,

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Speaker 2: and you have someone that's just getting out that they're

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Speaker 2: twenty years, it's going to take bore than six months.

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Speaker 3: To work with him.

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Speaker 2: So you know, that's why, you know, the work is difficult,

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Speaker 2: and where there are opportunities for us to talk more

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Speaker 2: about the work, we can be better at doing so

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Speaker 2: because I know there's a lot more people that may

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Speaker 2: want to support what we're doing.

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Speaker 1: So yeah, yeah, did Amazon ever hit you guys up?

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Speaker 1: I'll discouraged because she has been making it right all around.

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Speaker 2: You know, I don't think they hit us up, And

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Speaker 2: I can be mistaken, so I don't want a mistake openly.

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Speaker 3: But I haven't seen anything.

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Speaker 1: Oh you would know. I've heard, Sorry, she dropped millions

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Speaker 1: on some nonprobability. They just say they just get a

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Speaker 1: random I.

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Speaker 3: Mean, I'm sure, but I haven't gotten a rack.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I think you would know.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I would know.

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Speaker 1: I think you would.

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Speaker 3: I think see.

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Speaker 1: When you refer to Amazon about Kensey Scott.

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Speaker 2: So I believe we did support from McKenzie Scott a

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Speaker 2: couple of years ago.

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Speaker 1: So yeah, I'm like made it.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, No, No, she's good. They good folks. You're like

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Speaker 3: a lot of Amazon packages.

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Speaker 1: No, because she has she definitely, I don't know. She's

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Speaker 1: definitely been making it rain on.

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Speaker 2: A lot of I mean, her support definitely helped us

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Speaker 2: to move a lot of our real estate development efforts forward.

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Speaker 3: A lot of people don't know.

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Speaker 2: You know, when we're doing these projects, you're putting, you know,

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Speaker 2: millions of dollars into them before you even see one

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Speaker 2: dime back, and so you're constantly raising money doing applications.

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Speaker 2: They're very complicated projects to put together. It's not like

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Speaker 2: your typical real estate investment deal where you just buy

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Speaker 2: a hum flip or by rent because you.

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Speaker 1: Break your progresies, break ground permit request.

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Speaker 2: And so from from ground from acquisition to breaking ground

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Speaker 2: to actually people moving in is typically a four year process.

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Speaker 3: Geeze for each project.

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Speaker 1: And then you're paying the whole time.

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Speaker 2: You're paying the whole time, you're paying those twenty forty staff,

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Speaker 2: you're paying for permits, you're paying for you know, engineering,

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Speaker 2: architectural services, and a lot of legal fees. Yeah, So

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Speaker 2: affordable housing for the good people that do it all

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Speaker 2: across the country don't get recognized enough for the actual

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Speaker 2: difficulty that goes into it and expertise that needs to

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Speaker 2: go into it. To actually build a project for people

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Speaker 2: that need affordable housing is very different than your typical

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Speaker 2: real estate investment project.

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Speaker 3: And that's honestly a.

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Speaker 2: Lot of people don't do it because it's really hard,

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Speaker 2: and it's because you're you have to put so many

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Speaker 2: or go after so many different subsidies to make the

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Speaker 2: project happen. So hats off to folks that do that work,

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Speaker 2: include our team.

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Speaker 1: How long is a waiting list for you guys for

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Speaker 1: your affordable housing?

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Speaker 2: So typically, unfortunately, on any given project, you'll have five

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Speaker 2: hundred to two thousand people on the waiting lists, and

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Speaker 2: the waiting list is even more you know, probably you know,

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Speaker 2: I don't know the exact but we get a lot

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Speaker 2: of referrals from Department of Mental Health, so they have

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Speaker 2: a waiting list of thousands of folks we get on

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Speaker 2: a waiting list with LARSA. They refer people to our building,

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Speaker 2: particularly young people. They have you know, hundreds, if not

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Speaker 2: thousands of people on the waiting lists.

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Speaker 3: And that's why, you.

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Speaker 2: Know, our mayor, our governor, our council members continue to

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Speaker 2: fight to try to bring in more resources for housing

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Speaker 2: because there's not a lot of units to support the need,

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Speaker 2: so you have to build more. And you know, our

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Speaker 2: mayor has done things to cut down the wait time

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Speaker 2: and the time it takes to actually build a housing project,

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Speaker 2: but it's still not enough yet of buildings in the

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Speaker 2: ground to support the need. So you have a long

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Speaker 2: waiting list. And that's throughout the state of California, not

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Speaker 2: just the city of Los Angeles.

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Speaker 1: Wow, that's when you get a wait list. I'm guessing

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Speaker 1: there's some kind of lottery process to help.

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Speaker 2: Unfortunately, I mean a lot of us don't like the

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Speaker 2: lottery process because people that we're working with directly or

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Speaker 2: have worked with directly, we can say, hey, we can

399
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Speaker 2: get you housing. So in fairness to people that have

400
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Speaker 2: been waiting for sometimes years, there is a lottery process

401
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Speaker 2: that's controlled by either the housing the apartment, or Department

402
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Speaker 2: of Mental Health or one of the county agencies.

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Speaker 3: And as you can imagine, they fill up pretty quickly.

404
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Speaker 1: Yeah, and it's with Ruth's Place, the dropping center for youth.

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Speaker 1: How does that whole process work. Is there like a

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Speaker 1: huge waitlist or they're just it's a safe It's.

407
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Speaker 3: Just a safe place you can drop in.

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Speaker 1: Okay. Is it like twenty four hours or something.

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Speaker 2: No, No, So it is not a shelter and it's

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Speaker 2: not open twenty four hours. It's an eight to five

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Speaker 2: or eight to six where folks can literally drop in,

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Speaker 2: go through an intake process, be placed with a case manager,

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Speaker 2: or if they just coming in to get some food

414
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Speaker 2: or just want a place to relax, they can do that. Okay,

415
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Speaker 2: So it's radomly whoever, Yeah, safe place whoever wants to

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Speaker 2: come in.

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Speaker 1: And then if they come I'm just saying this for

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Speaker 1: all y'all listeners. So if they come in and you're

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Speaker 1: you know, you have say an issue one area transportation

420
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Speaker 1: or food or how or whatever. You go there, you

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00:24:01,680 --> 00:24:05,159
Speaker 1: get linked with a case manager that helps redirect you

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Speaker 1: to help you get those services at least temporarily.

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Speaker 2: Temporarily and usually our staff is good at connecting folks

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Speaker 2: to warm handoffs.

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Speaker 3: We don't like you saying hey, go over here.

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Speaker 1: To follow this website.

427
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Speaker 2: It's usually refer to good groups that we work with

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Speaker 2: that you know, have a relationship with our team, and

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Speaker 2: then folks are placed in good hands with them. And

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Speaker 2: usually it's a group, you know, like topics or others

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Speaker 2: that may provide resources for un housed families. See, we

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Speaker 2: don't do families and we don't do adults, and so

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Speaker 2: when folks come in they may be over the age

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Speaker 2: of twenty.

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Speaker 3: Four years old.

436
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Speaker 2: So we have partners like them and many others that

437
00:24:49,960 --> 00:24:52,920
Speaker 2: we can refer people to and help them get services.

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Speaker 1: Wow, that's a lot. So going back to my question,

439
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Speaker 1: it was the day in the life.

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Speaker 3: I mean, you know, the day life.

441
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Speaker 2: I mean when you're you know, you're managing your family

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Speaker 2: or the best I can and you know, so a

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Speaker 2: day in the life starts at six in the morning

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Speaker 2: and probably ends at about six about nine at night.

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Speaker 3: Something like that. Yeah, no, sometimes it's longer than that.

446
00:25:21,040 --> 00:25:24,840
Speaker 2: It depends on what's going on and everything scrunched in between.

447
00:25:24,880 --> 00:25:28,920
Speaker 2: There's a lot of teams, meeting, conference calls, meetings in person,

448
00:25:29,640 --> 00:25:34,200
Speaker 2: you know, meeting with you know, funders, investors, legal teams,

449
00:25:34,320 --> 00:25:37,520
Speaker 2: so forth. It depends on what's happening in the week.

450
00:25:37,600 --> 00:25:41,360
Speaker 2: But every hour, on an hour, there's something going on,

451
00:25:41,560 --> 00:25:43,840
Speaker 2: and then you kind of sneak in some time for

452
00:25:43,960 --> 00:25:48,359
Speaker 2: some grub and maybe yeah, speaking of it, maybe a

453
00:25:48,400 --> 00:25:51,520
Speaker 2: happy hour, but usually a happy hour turn into a

454
00:25:51,560 --> 00:25:59,040
Speaker 2: meeting too, So yeah, yeah.

455
00:25:57,560 --> 00:25:59,280
Speaker 1: Did you take your shot yet? We're about to tell

456
00:25:59,280 --> 00:26:02,400
Speaker 1: you something important, you man, I like it. You never

457
00:26:02,440 --> 00:26:05,840
Speaker 1: get those like just me, well just tell me on

458
00:26:05,880 --> 00:26:08,720
Speaker 1: the phone. No, No, you're going to you're going happy hour, lady.

459
00:26:08,800 --> 00:26:11,440
Speaker 1: Let's wait till after happy I mean you.

460
00:26:11,600 --> 00:26:14,720
Speaker 2: I mean in the earlier days, you know, you got

461
00:26:14,760 --> 00:26:17,320
Speaker 2: a lot more of those calls. Nowadays it's more so

462
00:26:17,800 --> 00:26:20,560
Speaker 2: because they want us to do more, you know, And

463
00:26:20,600 --> 00:26:23,040
Speaker 2: so that's a good feeling to actually be at that

464
00:26:23,160 --> 00:26:26,879
Speaker 2: place where you kind of the go to organization, or

465
00:26:26,880 --> 00:26:29,159
Speaker 2: at least one of them that people can go to

466
00:26:29,280 --> 00:26:32,360
Speaker 2: and depend on. And so because people know we're already

467
00:26:32,400 --> 00:26:35,199
Speaker 2: doing a lot. Sometime a shock can help get to it.

468
00:26:35,280 --> 00:26:41,840
Speaker 1: Yes, smart, I'll take a note in my mind. Now,

469
00:26:42,080 --> 00:26:45,000
Speaker 1: now that everyone is caught up to who you are today,

470
00:26:45,119 --> 00:26:47,160
Speaker 1: I had to give you a backstory because you don't

471
00:26:47,160 --> 00:26:49,359
Speaker 1: do a lot of prs. So we are again thank you,

472
00:26:49,400 --> 00:26:52,040
Speaker 1: thank you for coming on the show. Now I want

473
00:26:52,040 --> 00:26:54,200
Speaker 1: to take us back to who you are, back with,

474
00:26:54,680 --> 00:26:58,639
Speaker 1: way back, way back. So tell me what you're gonna

475
00:26:58,640 --> 00:27:03,680
Speaker 1: have me eat today. Something you ate when you were broke.

476
00:27:04,160 --> 00:27:07,920
Speaker 2: So the easy and you can't go wrong in la

477
00:27:08,400 --> 00:27:12,520
Speaker 2: but especially when you broke without going to tacos. And

478
00:27:12,640 --> 00:27:17,360
Speaker 2: so we're gonna have some chicken tacos today on flour

479
00:27:17,560 --> 00:27:22,360
Speaker 2: tortilla shells. We'll go mix in some cilantro, some salsa,

480
00:27:22,520 --> 00:27:26,840
Speaker 2: green and red or your choice, with some regular white onions,

481
00:27:27,160 --> 00:27:30,080
Speaker 2: and then if you like cheese, once done, you can

482
00:27:30,119 --> 00:27:32,520
Speaker 2: sprinkle some of that on with some dishal our.

483
00:27:33,400 --> 00:27:35,280
Speaker 1: Yeah, this is this is good. By the way, We've

484
00:27:35,320 --> 00:27:38,639
Speaker 1: had some guests do some taco type dishes, and so

485
00:27:38,720 --> 00:27:43,480
Speaker 1: I went in our fridge I found this. Oh yeah,

486
00:27:44,440 --> 00:27:47,000
Speaker 1: I tried it, you know, but go ahead, get your

487
00:27:47,240 --> 00:27:49,560
Speaker 1: get yourself in the kitchen. I don't know if we

488
00:27:49,640 --> 00:27:52,359
Speaker 1: put the right seasonings out for you. If we have it,

489
00:27:52,359 --> 00:27:53,919
Speaker 1: it's okay because we could call cutting.

490
00:27:57,440 --> 00:27:57,879
Speaker 3: We got some.

491
00:27:59,400 --> 00:28:06,520
Speaker 1: Chicken seas season were good. Okay. So take me back

492
00:28:06,600 --> 00:28:09,960
Speaker 1: to what was going on. Take me all the way back.

493
00:28:10,200 --> 00:28:13,560
Speaker 1: I want to go broke, broke you. So take me

494
00:28:13,600 --> 00:28:16,080
Speaker 1: back to what was going on when you were eating tacos.

495
00:28:16,080 --> 00:28:20,840
Speaker 2: So my mom and dad, you know, I was fortunate

496
00:28:20,880 --> 00:28:25,400
Speaker 2: to grow up in a house, two parent household, and

497
00:28:25,640 --> 00:28:29,080
Speaker 2: both my parents were from the South, so I want

498
00:28:29,200 --> 00:28:34,520
Speaker 2: my dad. My father was from Harris County, Georgia, and

499
00:28:34,680 --> 00:28:37,840
Speaker 2: my mom was from Texas Cana, Arkansas, even though they

500
00:28:37,880 --> 00:28:41,440
Speaker 2: say it's Texas, but I kind of reminded that it's Arkansas.

501
00:28:43,120 --> 00:28:46,520
Speaker 2: But because of their background, we eat a lot of

502
00:28:46,560 --> 00:28:49,800
Speaker 2: different Southern food, and one of them was tacos.

503
00:28:49,880 --> 00:28:55,040
Speaker 3: I mean it's not traditional La style tacos. It's more like.

504
00:28:55,040 --> 00:29:00,880
Speaker 2: Ground turkey, ground chacking, ground everything, I think, because stretch.

505
00:29:00,560 --> 00:29:02,960
Speaker 3: Out a little longer and you just kind of eat

506
00:29:03,040 --> 00:29:08,320
Speaker 3: on that for probably a few days. And my dad, because.

507
00:29:08,000 --> 00:29:11,040
Speaker 2: He's a good country boy, busted up the concrete in

508
00:29:11,080 --> 00:29:14,400
Speaker 2: the backyard and built out a garden so he wouldn't

509
00:29:14,400 --> 00:29:18,280
Speaker 2: make his own tomatoes and squash and cucumbers.

510
00:29:18,320 --> 00:29:18,840
Speaker 3: I think we.

511
00:29:18,760 --> 00:29:23,680
Speaker 2: Grew watermelon at season and strawberries and you know, and.

512
00:29:23,600 --> 00:29:26,880
Speaker 3: So that's where that's where it goes back to him.

513
00:29:26,920 --> 00:29:30,040
Speaker 2: Remind me of of a you know, my elementary or

514
00:29:30,120 --> 00:29:34,280
Speaker 2: childhood days of you know, eating tacos and it'll be

515
00:29:34,320 --> 00:29:37,920
Speaker 2: tacos one day, it'll be a burrito the next day,

516
00:29:38,400 --> 00:29:40,520
Speaker 2: but it'll be the same meat.

517
00:29:41,240 --> 00:29:43,840
Speaker 1: I can respect that. Yeah, And you know, now that

518
00:29:43,840 --> 00:29:45,640
Speaker 1: I think about it, you're right, because ground turkey, you

519
00:29:45,680 --> 00:29:47,880
Speaker 1: could do tacos and spaghetti.

520
00:29:48,480 --> 00:29:51,120
Speaker 3: You know. Yep, you can mix it up.

521
00:29:51,160 --> 00:29:51,880
Speaker 1: You can mix it up.

522
00:29:52,080 --> 00:29:54,680
Speaker 3: It wasn't no waste. Let's just say that. And so

523
00:29:54,720 --> 00:29:56,720
Speaker 3: that's what it always remind me of.

524
00:29:56,800 --> 00:30:01,200
Speaker 2: And my grandmother and my auntie's they were great, good cooks.

525
00:30:00,880 --> 00:30:04,080
Speaker 3: And you know, and so it was just you know.

526
00:30:04,120 --> 00:30:07,920
Speaker 2: Who made the best burrito or you know, like my

527
00:30:08,600 --> 00:30:11,960
Speaker 2: auntie Debbie rest in peace, but she made the best.

528
00:30:11,840 --> 00:30:16,800
Speaker 3: Chunky beef still tis there. I don't know how it

529
00:30:16,840 --> 00:30:18,000
Speaker 3: was made, but it was good.

530
00:30:18,680 --> 00:30:19,960
Speaker 1: And what did they do for work?

531
00:30:20,440 --> 00:30:24,640
Speaker 2: So my father was a contractor. It was a contractor

532
00:30:24,920 --> 00:30:27,200
Speaker 2: more of a like a foreman superintendent.

533
00:30:27,280 --> 00:30:28,160
Speaker 3: He was the hands on.

534
00:30:28,360 --> 00:30:32,920
Speaker 2: Guy probably built a lot of the early shopping centers

535
00:30:32,960 --> 00:30:36,680
Speaker 2: in South LA. Did a lot of brick mason work,

536
00:30:36,880 --> 00:30:40,480
Speaker 2: so a lot of the walls and other concrete related

537
00:30:40,520 --> 00:30:42,120
Speaker 2: work in La.

538
00:30:42,560 --> 00:30:45,360
Speaker 3: My dad was part of. He wasn't just one trade.

539
00:30:45,400 --> 00:30:50,040
Speaker 2: He knew all of the trades and so that inspired

540
00:30:50,080 --> 00:30:53,680
Speaker 2: me as a young boy when he told me I

541
00:30:53,800 --> 00:30:55,360
Speaker 2: was you know, we had to get up and go

542
00:30:55,400 --> 00:30:59,240
Speaker 2: to work when we were young. So it wasn't no

543
00:31:00,240 --> 00:31:01,640
Speaker 2: up and go outside and play.

544
00:31:02,320 --> 00:31:03,840
Speaker 3: Not for me and my sister.

545
00:31:03,920 --> 00:31:07,800
Speaker 2: We had to get up, clean the backyard, wash the dishes.

546
00:31:08,280 --> 00:31:11,760
Speaker 2: And that's because he had a strong work ethic early

547
00:31:11,800 --> 00:31:14,960
Speaker 2: on when helping around, you know, things that need to

548
00:31:15,000 --> 00:31:18,800
Speaker 2: be repaired in the house. He figured out probably when

549
00:31:18,800 --> 00:31:22,240
Speaker 2: I was about four or five years old, that construction

550
00:31:22,440 --> 00:31:25,560
Speaker 2: wasn't gonna be for me, meaning the actual being a

551
00:31:25,600 --> 00:31:29,320
Speaker 2: construction worker wasn't gonna be for me. And so I'm

552
00:31:29,480 --> 00:31:32,800
Speaker 2: seizing this a little different, but just work with me here,

553
00:31:35,320 --> 00:31:39,280
Speaker 2: probably about a couple of days ago. It wasn't tacos though, okay,

554
00:31:39,640 --> 00:31:44,000
Speaker 2: So he would you know, instill in me that I

555
00:31:44,080 --> 00:31:47,760
Speaker 2: needed to use my brain to actually get a career

556
00:31:47,880 --> 00:31:51,200
Speaker 2: or whatnot. Because these hammers and nails is not gonna

557
00:31:51,240 --> 00:31:55,880
Speaker 2: work for you, And he was right. My little brother different,

558
00:31:56,040 --> 00:31:59,880
Speaker 2: you know, he grew up and became an electrician, you know,

559
00:32:00,280 --> 00:32:04,600
Speaker 2: and now owns his own electric electrician company in Las Vegas.

560
00:32:05,120 --> 00:32:08,280
Speaker 2: And so that's in My mom. She did a lot

561
00:32:08,320 --> 00:32:12,240
Speaker 2: of different things, definitely running the household, but she also

562
00:32:12,400 --> 00:32:15,720
Speaker 2: was into insurance, and she worked at a lot of

563
00:32:15,720 --> 00:32:19,800
Speaker 2: different department stores. But always know her as being the

564
00:32:21,280 --> 00:32:25,600
Speaker 2: general manager of the house, if that makes sense. So

565
00:32:25,600 --> 00:32:29,280
Speaker 2: she ran the home, she took care of business. She

566
00:32:29,360 --> 00:32:32,320
Speaker 2: went out and work, but she always took care of business,

567
00:32:32,840 --> 00:32:35,680
Speaker 2: you know, because when you're working in construction.

568
00:32:36,400 --> 00:32:36,640
Speaker 3: You know.

569
00:32:37,400 --> 00:32:41,160
Speaker 2: Before I may say global warming got into effect, it

570
00:32:41,280 --> 00:32:43,840
Speaker 2: used to be when I was young, we actually had

571
00:32:43,880 --> 00:32:47,160
Speaker 2: seasons in La You had your summer, you knew when

572
00:32:47,200 --> 00:32:49,680
Speaker 2: it was gonna rain. They actually used to sell rain

573
00:32:49,720 --> 00:32:52,520
Speaker 2: coats in the department stores. They don't know more.

574
00:32:52,600 --> 00:32:54,600
Speaker 3: You gotta find it or go online.

575
00:32:54,760 --> 00:32:57,720
Speaker 2: But it was like racks and racks of like rain

576
00:32:57,800 --> 00:33:01,960
Speaker 2: gear that you don't find as much today, you know.

577
00:33:02,640 --> 00:33:06,000
Speaker 2: And so when it rained, my father didn't work, so

578
00:33:06,120 --> 00:33:08,080
Speaker 2: it was my mom that had to pick up the

579
00:33:08,120 --> 00:33:13,440
Speaker 2: slack whole season without working because they couldn't work in

580
00:33:13,480 --> 00:33:17,040
Speaker 2: the rain. Yeah, and so you know my mom would

581
00:33:17,080 --> 00:33:20,000
Speaker 2: be there to pick up the slack. Make sure you know,

582
00:33:20,280 --> 00:33:22,800
Speaker 2: when we were young, we didn't know no difference. I mean,

583
00:33:22,800 --> 00:33:25,000
Speaker 2: it was not like it wasn't no food on the table.

584
00:33:25,480 --> 00:33:26,840
Speaker 2: She knew how to stretch things.

585
00:33:27,680 --> 00:33:30,160
Speaker 3: You know. It never was like lights didn't go off

586
00:33:30,200 --> 00:33:30,360
Speaker 3: of it.

587
00:33:30,480 --> 00:33:32,640
Speaker 1: Did they ever talk about did you ever hear them

588
00:33:32,760 --> 00:33:35,280
Speaker 1: argue about money or it was it was seamless.

589
00:33:35,480 --> 00:33:38,840
Speaker 3: Never never heard them arguing about money or anything like that.

590
00:33:38,920 --> 00:33:39,720
Speaker 3: It was seamless.

591
00:33:40,280 --> 00:33:42,920
Speaker 2: We would you know, you just have to like they

592
00:33:42,920 --> 00:33:46,520
Speaker 2: were the old school managing the household budget. You know,

593
00:33:46,640 --> 00:33:49,880
Speaker 2: there were times you just didn't get certain things. But

594
00:33:50,000 --> 00:33:53,160
Speaker 2: we didn't never go without nothing, you know.

595
00:33:53,400 --> 00:33:54,880
Speaker 3: I mean I don't ever remember.

596
00:33:55,440 --> 00:33:58,560
Speaker 2: I didn't really like to wear a lot of fancy

597
00:33:58,640 --> 00:34:00,400
Speaker 2: tennis shoes and clothes.

598
00:34:00,440 --> 00:34:00,880
Speaker 3: Anyway.

599
00:34:01,600 --> 00:34:03,920
Speaker 2: When I was in elementary, I used to tell my

600
00:34:03,960 --> 00:34:09,080
Speaker 2: mom just brought me some dress shoes, just like to

601
00:34:09,080 --> 00:34:09,480
Speaker 2: do that.

602
00:34:09,600 --> 00:34:12,719
Speaker 1: You like to dressing slacks slacks? Did you see your

603
00:34:12,760 --> 00:34:14,560
Speaker 1: dad dressing like that?

604
00:34:15,360 --> 00:34:17,120
Speaker 3: Had? Yeah.

605
00:34:17,520 --> 00:34:21,200
Speaker 2: I used to give speeches when I was a young kid,

606
00:34:21,960 --> 00:34:24,919
Speaker 2: so you know I would go on I called a

607
00:34:24,960 --> 00:34:27,440
Speaker 2: circuit tour to a lot of the black.

608
00:34:27,320 --> 00:34:29,120
Speaker 3: Churches in the neighborhood.

609
00:34:29,160 --> 00:34:30,719
Speaker 1: Oh you for real, for real?

610
00:34:30,880 --> 00:34:34,720
Speaker 2: And I used to give speeches inspiring other young people

611
00:34:34,920 --> 00:34:35,600
Speaker 2: at that time.

612
00:34:36,239 --> 00:34:38,200
Speaker 3: And so to go to church you.

613
00:34:38,160 --> 00:34:40,759
Speaker 2: Had to wear slacks, and you know, at least I think,

614
00:34:41,520 --> 00:34:44,320
Speaker 2: and I took it real serious in the second grade.

615
00:34:44,400 --> 00:34:47,640
Speaker 3: So second grade through sixth grade, that was my thing.

616
00:34:48,320 --> 00:34:50,759
Speaker 1: Did you know then, what you kind of wanted to do.

617
00:34:51,440 --> 00:34:54,840
Speaker 2: When I got to high school and I went to

618
00:34:54,840 --> 00:34:57,640
Speaker 2: school all in South LA by the way, you know,

619
00:34:57,760 --> 00:35:02,000
Speaker 2: I started wanting to be a school teacher, an elementary

620
00:35:02,000 --> 00:35:05,399
Speaker 2: school teacher, because when I was in elementary school, there

621
00:35:05,480 --> 00:35:10,640
Speaker 2: was only one black male teacher from kindergarten to sixth grade,

622
00:35:11,120 --> 00:35:14,920
Speaker 2: only see one maybe two male black teachers. And I

623
00:35:15,000 --> 00:35:19,360
Speaker 2: knew by high school what male teachers, how they influenced

624
00:35:19,440 --> 00:35:24,319
Speaker 2: positively young black men. And I just wanted to be

625
00:35:24,360 --> 00:35:24,840
Speaker 2: a teacher.

626
00:35:25,640 --> 00:35:26,399
Speaker 3: That was my thing.

627
00:35:26,520 --> 00:35:30,080
Speaker 2: I was gonna figure, I'll go to cal State Domingus Hills.

628
00:35:30,120 --> 00:35:33,160
Speaker 2: That's where a lot of the teachers went Ril Camino

629
00:35:33,239 --> 00:35:36,520
Speaker 2: to start, you know, So that's what I wanted to do.

630
00:35:37,080 --> 00:35:38,719
Speaker 2: And then nineteen ninety two hit.

631
00:35:39,680 --> 00:35:40,919
Speaker 1: But in nineteen ninety two.

632
00:35:41,080 --> 00:35:45,040
Speaker 2: The uprising or what people will say, the riots, okay

633
00:35:45,080 --> 00:35:46,799
Speaker 2: of ninety two, and.

634
00:35:46,760 --> 00:35:47,880
Speaker 3: In my neighborhood.

635
00:35:48,280 --> 00:35:50,319
Speaker 2: You know, I watched a lot of the buildings where

636
00:35:50,320 --> 00:35:52,839
Speaker 2: I used to run down the street and shop at

637
00:35:53,040 --> 00:35:56,120
Speaker 2: or you know, commercial corridors when we moved into the

638
00:35:56,200 --> 00:35:59,920
Speaker 2: neighborhood in nineteen seventy nine, burned it.

639
00:36:01,160 --> 00:36:01,400
Speaker 3: You know.

640
00:36:01,880 --> 00:36:04,400
Speaker 2: Thirty years later, we happen to have a project that

641
00:36:04,719 --> 00:36:07,480
Speaker 2: is about to open right there on the same corner

642
00:36:07,560 --> 00:36:11,960
Speaker 2: of Vermont and Manchester in South la which is pretty exciting.

643
00:36:12,040 --> 00:36:16,240
Speaker 2: But back then, in nineteen ninety two, being in high school,

644
00:36:16,880 --> 00:36:22,240
Speaker 2: it changed me. I saw the disproportionate investment in resources

645
00:36:22,840 --> 00:36:26,920
Speaker 2: in our community as well as in young people. And

646
00:36:27,000 --> 00:36:29,040
Speaker 2: so from that moment, that's what I wanted to do.

647
00:36:29,400 --> 00:36:31,920
Speaker 2: I wanted to work with young people. I wanted to

648
00:36:31,960 --> 00:36:35,680
Speaker 2: become an advocate for change. That's what I started wanting

649
00:36:35,719 --> 00:36:39,840
Speaker 2: to do because I couldn't believe our community was burning

650
00:36:39,880 --> 00:36:42,520
Speaker 2: and I couldn't believe what appeared to be at the

651
00:36:42,560 --> 00:36:44,239
Speaker 2: time people letting it burn.

652
00:36:44,360 --> 00:36:46,439
Speaker 3: And I'm not talking about the people that lived there.

653
00:36:47,920 --> 00:36:50,719
Speaker 1: You're talking about like a government and police.

654
00:36:50,719 --> 00:36:55,080
Speaker 2: Just the investment politics at the time. They're very different today.

655
00:36:55,640 --> 00:37:00,480
Speaker 2: The undercurrent of racism. You know, I mean we were

656
00:37:00,560 --> 00:37:05,839
Speaker 2: called in the news media at the time thugs, you know, criminals,

657
00:37:06,480 --> 00:37:08,399
Speaker 2: you know, things of course that they don't do as

658
00:37:08,440 --> 00:37:11,239
Speaker 2: much today they hide it a little more, but then

659
00:37:11,280 --> 00:37:14,080
Speaker 2: they were pretty blatant and that's how they described us.

660
00:37:14,160 --> 00:37:17,080
Speaker 2: And they said, oh, they burning their community. Why would

661
00:37:17,080 --> 00:37:20,440
Speaker 2: they burn their community? Well, people in that community at

662
00:37:20,480 --> 00:37:23,600
Speaker 2: the time didn't feel like those businesses were their businesses.

663
00:37:24,200 --> 00:37:26,480
Speaker 2: They were mistreated a lot of times.

664
00:37:26,520 --> 00:37:29,040
Speaker 1: I'm not making up excuses, no, okay, Well, actually it's

665
00:37:29,080 --> 00:37:31,759
Speaker 1: good to have that because of course that's a that's

666
00:37:31,800 --> 00:37:34,880
Speaker 1: an obvious question to ask, but that's a very yeah,

667
00:37:34,960 --> 00:37:36,480
Speaker 1: that's an answer that nobody would think.

668
00:37:36,600 --> 00:37:39,000
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean people didn't feel like they had a

669
00:37:39,000 --> 00:37:42,680
Speaker 2: connection to those businesses, right. A lot of times people

670
00:37:42,680 --> 00:37:46,160
Speaker 2: were mistreated when they went in those businesses. You had

671
00:37:46,280 --> 00:37:50,839
Speaker 2: Natasha Harley that was unfortunately murdered and you know, her

672
00:37:51,560 --> 00:37:55,920
Speaker 2: killer was given probation. You know, this was before Rodney Key,

673
00:37:56,200 --> 00:37:58,640
Speaker 2: and so all of this build up was happening, and

674
00:37:58,680 --> 00:38:03,080
Speaker 2: people didn't feel like those businesses were reflections of them.

675
00:38:03,760 --> 00:38:07,720
Speaker 2: And so that's why it wasn't felt as if people

676
00:38:07,760 --> 00:38:11,680
Speaker 2: were burning their own communities. Now, the unfortunate things is

677
00:38:11,719 --> 00:38:15,560
Speaker 2: there are a lot of Korean Americans, Koreans that lost

678
00:38:16,040 --> 00:38:20,120
Speaker 2: lifetimes of investments that they put in and that's absolutely,

679
00:38:20,600 --> 00:38:22,640
Speaker 2: you know, heart wrenching and it's terrible.

680
00:38:23,120 --> 00:38:25,560
Speaker 3: But the flip of the coin is that a lot

681
00:38:25,600 --> 00:38:27,560
Speaker 3: of folks didn't feel that way.

682
00:38:27,880 --> 00:38:30,759
Speaker 2: But there was just some plaane on looting and you know,

683
00:38:30,920 --> 00:38:32,720
Speaker 2: just illegal activity as well.

684
00:38:33,200 --> 00:38:36,040
Speaker 3: And as a young man, I was flat dabbed.

685
00:38:36,040 --> 00:38:41,040
Speaker 2: In it right in it, not participating of course, but

686
00:38:41,280 --> 00:38:44,880
Speaker 2: in it because I was witnessing something that was going

687
00:38:44,960 --> 00:38:47,280
Speaker 2: to be with me for the rest of my life.

688
00:38:47,680 --> 00:38:51,240
Speaker 2: And it actually changed your trajectory of what I wanted

689
00:38:51,239 --> 00:38:54,600
Speaker 2: to do as a career. And so that's when I

690
00:38:54,640 --> 00:38:58,840
Speaker 2: started working more with young people and looking at things

691
00:38:58,880 --> 00:38:59,520
Speaker 2: that I can.

692
00:38:59,400 --> 00:39:01,520
Speaker 3: Do more to support the community.

693
00:39:02,120 --> 00:39:05,960
Speaker 2: I even started working with my Korean American and Asian

694
00:39:06,000 --> 00:39:10,000
Speaker 2: brothers and sisters as well, particularly groups like the Korean

695
00:39:10,080 --> 00:39:14,160
Speaker 2: Youth and Community Center KYCC, still doing good work today,

696
00:39:14,760 --> 00:39:18,000
Speaker 2: work with a lot of them doing some community healing work,

697
00:39:18,400 --> 00:39:22,719
Speaker 2: you know, bringing Black and Korean communities together. So part

698
00:39:22,760 --> 00:39:25,520
Speaker 2: of that solution to healing is what I wanted to

699
00:39:25,520 --> 00:39:28,919
Speaker 2: do as well. So I work with Korean youth, work

700
00:39:29,000 --> 00:39:32,000
Speaker 2: with Latino youth, A lot of young people that were

701
00:39:32,440 --> 00:39:34,799
Speaker 2: in the gangs, A lot of people who don't know

702
00:39:34,840 --> 00:39:36,759
Speaker 2: that Korean's Gang Bang Do.

703
00:39:37,680 --> 00:39:39,279
Speaker 1: I would never know that. Yeah, I would have never

704
00:39:39,320 --> 00:39:39,960
Speaker 1: guessed it.

705
00:39:40,160 --> 00:39:44,000
Speaker 2: And so you know, we had programs to address gang

706
00:39:44,120 --> 00:39:49,680
Speaker 2: violence with Koreans, Latinos and African Americans, you know, and so,

707
00:39:50,520 --> 00:39:53,440
Speaker 2: but it was nineteen ninety two that sparked something in

708
00:39:53,520 --> 00:39:58,160
Speaker 2: me that said I needed to do more for community.

709
00:39:58,719 --> 00:40:01,880
Speaker 2: And from just working with you've spun off this whole

710
00:40:02,560 --> 00:40:05,680
Speaker 2: notion and ideal I had around would that young person

711
00:40:05,760 --> 00:40:08,359
Speaker 2: need a job, get well, that young person is gonna

712
00:40:08,360 --> 00:40:11,080
Speaker 2: need somewhere to live, that young person may want to

713
00:40:11,160 --> 00:40:13,560
Speaker 2: own a business one day. And so that's when the

714
00:40:13,640 --> 00:40:17,680
Speaker 2: economic development piece came along with my journey.

715
00:40:17,800 --> 00:40:20,600
Speaker 1: But before we get to that part, take me back

716
00:40:20,640 --> 00:40:23,120
Speaker 1: to Okay, so you find out in nineteen ninety two

717
00:40:23,400 --> 00:40:27,120
Speaker 1: that now you have this sense of purpose is involved

718
00:40:27,160 --> 00:40:30,160
Speaker 1: around youth. What is the first job or the first

719
00:40:30,239 --> 00:40:33,520
Speaker 1: direction you take in like, what are those first conversations

720
00:40:33,560 --> 00:40:34,759
Speaker 1: with your parents looking like.

721
00:40:35,480 --> 00:40:39,439
Speaker 2: So, I mean with my mom and dad, they never

722
00:40:39,520 --> 00:40:42,400
Speaker 2: said you need to do this. I mean basically, you know,

723
00:40:42,800 --> 00:40:45,360
Speaker 2: black folks from the country. They want you to be

724
00:40:45,480 --> 00:40:49,480
Speaker 2: doing something positive. Get your education so you can get

725
00:40:49,520 --> 00:40:53,760
Speaker 2: a job, you know. But you know, curves happen in life,

726
00:40:54,160 --> 00:40:56,560
Speaker 2: and one of the curves that happened outside of nineteen

727
00:40:56,640 --> 00:41:00,320
Speaker 2: ninety two is that a few short years later, I

728
00:41:00,560 --> 00:41:02,560
Speaker 2: found out I was going to be a young father,

729
00:41:03,160 --> 00:41:05,080
Speaker 2: and so that changed.

730
00:41:04,719 --> 00:41:09,759
Speaker 1: Me a young How old are you like in your

731
00:41:09,800 --> 00:41:11,080
Speaker 1: early twenties at this point, a.

732
00:41:13,040 --> 00:41:14,280
Speaker 3: Fresh out of high school?

733
00:41:14,800 --> 00:41:18,280
Speaker 2: In high school, so I am now eighteen years old

734
00:41:18,480 --> 00:41:23,000
Speaker 2: about to be a father following the nineteen ninety to

735
00:41:23,000 --> 00:41:25,600
Speaker 2: two riots uprising.

736
00:41:25,719 --> 00:41:27,360
Speaker 1: And and your parents weren't.

737
00:41:27,960 --> 00:41:31,720
Speaker 2: Oh they was upset, Oh, no doubt, because that wasn't

738
00:41:31,760 --> 00:41:34,680
Speaker 2: the direction that they thought I was going in. They

739
00:41:34,719 --> 00:41:37,879
Speaker 2: thought I'm going to college, I'm going to do this thing.

740
00:41:37,960 --> 00:41:42,839
Speaker 3: I'm doing that, you know, was accepted to Domingus.

741
00:41:42,320 --> 00:41:45,040
Speaker 2: Hills, and so they thought, hey, you're doing what you

742
00:41:45,080 --> 00:41:46,200
Speaker 2: said you wanted to do.

743
00:41:46,840 --> 00:41:49,080
Speaker 3: And now you didn't throw this into the mix.

744
00:41:49,480 --> 00:41:51,279
Speaker 1: I did not, just so you know, did not see

745
00:41:51,320 --> 00:41:51,800
Speaker 1: this coming?

746
00:41:51,960 --> 00:41:55,200
Speaker 3: Oh you h yeah, I did not.

747
00:41:56,920 --> 00:41:59,520
Speaker 1: I'm so glad, I said, rewind, did you catch me? Like,

748
00:41:59,560 --> 00:42:03,680
Speaker 1: don't be skipping, don't forget to hit your flower, I'm

749
00:42:03,719 --> 00:42:04,120
Speaker 1: over here.

750
00:42:04,400 --> 00:42:05,840
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, I'm hungry.

751
00:42:06,040 --> 00:42:08,160
Speaker 2: So I just want to make sure that you you

752
00:42:08,360 --> 00:42:10,960
Speaker 2: like it hard or or however.

753
00:42:11,080 --> 00:42:13,800
Speaker 3: I mean, I just don't want to because it's chicken.

754
00:42:13,920 --> 00:42:14,840
Speaker 3: I mean, you don't want to.

755
00:42:15,800 --> 00:42:19,399
Speaker 2: You can't mess it up. But yeah, that's what I mean. Yeah,

756
00:42:19,719 --> 00:42:22,160
Speaker 2: that's the thing. You just want to make sure because

757
00:42:22,200 --> 00:42:23,879
Speaker 2: I ain't gonna do you like I do at home

758
00:42:23,960 --> 00:42:27,799
Speaker 2: and be tasting it while I'm cooking.

759
00:42:28,320 --> 00:42:28,560
Speaker 1: Dad.

760
00:42:28,600 --> 00:42:31,919
Speaker 2: Okay, yeah, okay, So yes, I was a teen dad.

761
00:42:32,080 --> 00:42:34,719
Speaker 1: So you was a teen dad to a boy or

762
00:42:34,760 --> 00:42:36,040
Speaker 1: a girl to a girl?

763
00:42:36,440 --> 00:42:38,200
Speaker 3: A girl name me money?

764
00:42:38,920 --> 00:42:42,600
Speaker 1: Okay, Yeah I did not when I said I did

765
00:42:42,640 --> 00:42:46,160
Speaker 1: not know this plot twist. Okay, so you become a dad.

766
00:42:46,200 --> 00:42:48,319
Speaker 1: What's the first job? Are you still living at home?

767
00:42:48,360 --> 00:42:51,000
Speaker 3: I got so still living at home.

768
00:42:52,520 --> 00:42:55,680
Speaker 2: Because I never you know, so I'm still living at

769
00:42:55,680 --> 00:42:58,200
Speaker 2: home because I was supposed to live.

770
00:42:58,080 --> 00:43:01,760
Speaker 3: On the dorms, living on the doors for a minute.

771
00:43:01,800 --> 00:43:05,760
Speaker 2: But you know, I, you know, I needed to figure

772
00:43:05,760 --> 00:43:08,160
Speaker 2: out how it was going to earn money. I didn't

773
00:43:08,160 --> 00:43:11,319
Speaker 2: want to borrow money from my mom and dad and

774
00:43:11,400 --> 00:43:15,080
Speaker 2: didn't want to feel like I was taking advantage of them.

775
00:43:15,600 --> 00:43:18,920
Speaker 2: I wanted to get out there and work, you know,

776
00:43:19,080 --> 00:43:23,080
Speaker 2: and so I did, and I got odd jobs working.

777
00:43:23,000 --> 00:43:26,400
Speaker 3: You know, for this store or this group or you know.

778
00:43:26,480 --> 00:43:29,200
Speaker 2: At the time, because I'm still a youth, I qualified

779
00:43:29,280 --> 00:43:32,680
Speaker 2: for some of youth employment. So I did that, but

780
00:43:32,920 --> 00:43:35,840
Speaker 2: you know, of course that wasn't enough. And you know,

781
00:43:35,960 --> 00:43:38,360
Speaker 2: worked at Staples. A friend of mine at the time

782
00:43:39,040 --> 00:43:41,879
Speaker 2: that got me a job working with him. I did

783
00:43:41,960 --> 00:43:45,239
Speaker 2: very well there, thought maybe I can do some work there.

784
00:43:45,239 --> 00:43:48,759
Speaker 2: But I still was passionate about wanting to work in

785
00:43:48,760 --> 00:43:52,279
Speaker 2: the community and work with youth. And so this couple

786
00:43:52,400 --> 00:43:55,560
Speaker 2: are not couple, but folks came in to the store

787
00:43:55,960 --> 00:43:58,560
Speaker 2: and I helped them because I was real passionate about

788
00:43:59,080 --> 00:44:01,840
Speaker 2: everyone that comes here and you know need a computer.

789
00:44:02,200 --> 00:44:03,520
Speaker 3: Yea, So that was my goal.

790
00:44:03,560 --> 00:44:05,960
Speaker 2: Everyone that comes in, they need to buy a computer.

791
00:44:06,640 --> 00:44:09,080
Speaker 2: So I was I think I was a pretty good salesman.

792
00:44:09,680 --> 00:44:11,879
Speaker 2: Everyone didn't buy a computer, by the way, but they

793
00:44:12,040 --> 00:44:16,759
Speaker 2: went and looked at it. And so those two individuals,

794
00:44:16,760 --> 00:44:19,040
Speaker 2: they worked for a group called the Martin Luther King

795
00:44:19,719 --> 00:44:25,120
Speaker 2: Legacy Association, which was under the Southern Christian Leadership Conference SELC.

796
00:44:25,800 --> 00:44:29,960
Speaker 3: So part of the resources that came out of Washington,

797
00:44:30,080 --> 00:44:30,320
Speaker 3: d C.

798
00:44:30,600 --> 00:44:35,120
Speaker 2: To support South la under the Clinton administration, they were

799
00:44:35,160 --> 00:44:40,239
Speaker 2: able to form an organization, a youth organization called Youth

800
00:44:40,239 --> 00:44:41,560
Speaker 2: Empoment Project.

801
00:44:41,960 --> 00:44:45,279
Speaker 3: And so they told me, hey, well we may have

802
00:44:45,360 --> 00:44:47,360
Speaker 3: something for you. Because I was just telling.

803
00:44:47,120 --> 00:44:49,600
Speaker 2: Them what I want to do, and they were like, huh,

804
00:44:49,680 --> 00:44:53,200
Speaker 2: you would be good at maybe maybe you come for interview.

805
00:44:53,560 --> 00:44:55,800
Speaker 2: I said, when can I come? They said, well, we

806
00:44:55,840 --> 00:44:58,520
Speaker 2: got time today. So that day I went in my

807
00:44:58,719 --> 00:45:02,719
Speaker 2: uniform my stables union and went to that interview and

808
00:45:02,760 --> 00:45:05,399
Speaker 2: then they set up for a second interview to meet

809
00:45:05,480 --> 00:45:08,960
Speaker 2: with the other staff, and after meeting with them, I

810
00:45:09,000 --> 00:45:12,239
Speaker 2: got the job and there went my career as far

811
00:45:12,280 --> 00:45:17,600
Speaker 2: as working with youth. I stayed with that organization, doing everything,

812
00:45:17,680 --> 00:45:20,800
Speaker 2: working with black and brown. That's when I started working

813
00:45:20,840 --> 00:45:25,720
Speaker 2: with Korean youth and Korean communities and Latino communities.

814
00:45:26,239 --> 00:45:29,640
Speaker 3: I started doing community gardens. I was doing everything.

815
00:45:31,440 --> 00:45:34,040
Speaker 1: And did what was your initial intake job when you

816
00:45:34,080 --> 00:45:34,759
Speaker 1: first came on.

817
00:45:34,920 --> 00:45:38,880
Speaker 2: So I was the program assistant, so I would assist

818
00:45:38,920 --> 00:45:43,920
Speaker 2: the coordinator at the time, and we ran youth leadership

819
00:45:43,960 --> 00:45:45,560
Speaker 2: programs at the time, which.

820
00:45:45,400 --> 00:45:46,480
Speaker 3: I thought was very good.

821
00:45:47,000 --> 00:45:49,840
Speaker 2: It worked with a lot of young people that to me,

822
00:45:51,000 --> 00:45:53,920
Speaker 2: had every sense of being on track of going to college.

823
00:45:54,680 --> 00:45:57,799
Speaker 2: But that wasn't a majority population in the community that

824
00:45:57,920 --> 00:46:00,960
Speaker 2: I found out about because I started.

825
00:46:00,440 --> 00:46:02,360
Speaker 3: Walking the community knocking on doors.

826
00:46:03,040 --> 00:46:05,040
Speaker 2: You know, you got a black boy walking on doors,

827
00:46:05,040 --> 00:46:08,880
Speaker 2: don't speak liquor Spanish, but talking to Spanish speaking people

828
00:46:09,600 --> 00:46:15,080
Speaker 2: about the things that we do in the community that

829
00:46:15,160 --> 00:46:18,160
Speaker 2: we provided because and that's when I learned that kids.

830
00:46:17,920 --> 00:46:20,480
Speaker 3: Were game banging. They wasn't in school.

831
00:46:21,200 --> 00:46:24,880
Speaker 2: And then I'm coming back to the organization, like we

832
00:46:25,000 --> 00:46:27,680
Speaker 2: don't have program Why don't we have programs to serve

833
00:46:27,760 --> 00:46:28,600
Speaker 2: these young people?

834
00:46:29,360 --> 00:46:31,919
Speaker 3: And then they had to be created. So I created them.

835
00:46:32,520 --> 00:46:35,960
Speaker 2: Wow, because at the time, the funding was only for

836
00:46:36,080 --> 00:46:40,960
Speaker 2: that leadership program that that supported young people and it

837
00:46:41,040 --> 00:46:44,160
Speaker 2: was a good program that was on track of going

838
00:46:44,280 --> 00:46:47,800
Speaker 2: to college, and that was okay to me. That was okay,

839
00:46:47,840 --> 00:46:50,120
Speaker 2: that was a good program.

840
00:46:50,160 --> 00:46:52,080
Speaker 3: But if you.

841
00:46:52,080 --> 00:46:54,360
Speaker 2: Want to change the needle or move the needle in

842
00:46:54,400 --> 00:46:57,520
Speaker 2: any community, you got to go work with the people

843
00:46:57,800 --> 00:47:01,919
Speaker 2: on the ground that's participated the things that are let's say,

844
00:47:01,960 --> 00:47:04,000
Speaker 2: calls in the disruption in the neighborhood.

845
00:47:04,640 --> 00:47:06,839
Speaker 3: And so so I chose.

846
00:47:06,560 --> 00:47:10,000
Speaker 2: To work with the black and the brown gang members

847
00:47:10,280 --> 00:47:12,560
Speaker 2: and create leadership programs for them.

848
00:47:13,120 --> 00:47:13,480
Speaker 3: Wow.

849
00:47:13,640 --> 00:47:16,359
Speaker 1: Yeah, And that was under the MLK.

850
00:47:16,480 --> 00:47:20,040
Speaker 3: Yep Okay that was under Martin Luther King Association.

851
00:47:19,719 --> 00:47:21,600
Speaker 1: And you were with this organization for how long?

852
00:47:21,680 --> 00:47:24,400
Speaker 2: I was at this organization for about four and a

853
00:47:24,440 --> 00:47:27,000
Speaker 2: half years. So when I left the organization, I was

854
00:47:27,040 --> 00:47:30,279
Speaker 2: the director. So I went from program assistant.

855
00:47:30,400 --> 00:47:32,560
Speaker 1: Through all that went all the way up in four years.

856
00:47:32,600 --> 00:47:36,080
Speaker 2: That's great and four years so I became director at

857
00:47:36,080 --> 00:47:38,680
Speaker 2: the age of twenty three and.

858
00:47:38,600 --> 00:47:41,479
Speaker 1: Then when do you when? Why do you leave?

859
00:47:41,840 --> 00:47:48,040
Speaker 2: So I left because the organization started changing, not necessarily SEOC,

860
00:47:48,760 --> 00:47:52,520
Speaker 2: but leadership shifted. There was more of a focus around

861
00:47:53,280 --> 00:47:57,640
Speaker 2: advocacy and things of that nature. It was less focus

862
00:47:57,719 --> 00:48:00,319
Speaker 2: on kind of the work I wanted to do. And

863
00:48:00,360 --> 00:48:03,239
Speaker 2: then I had an opportunity to do more economic development work.

864
00:48:03,680 --> 00:48:07,040
Speaker 2: So that's when I went over to Dunbar Economic Development

865
00:48:07,080 --> 00:48:10,960
Speaker 2: Corporation on historic South Central Avenue.

866
00:48:11,080 --> 00:48:14,120
Speaker 1: And then for people that don't understand what economic development

867
00:48:14,160 --> 00:48:16,239
Speaker 1: work means, can you break that down?

868
00:48:16,400 --> 00:48:20,840
Speaker 2: So economic development work to me is a combination or

869
00:48:20,920 --> 00:48:24,360
Speaker 2: community economic development work. So work that's driven by the

870
00:48:24,440 --> 00:48:29,360
Speaker 2: community to build business, to look at ways to channel

871
00:48:29,760 --> 00:48:33,560
Speaker 2: financial and other resources in the community. That helps with

872
00:48:33,880 --> 00:48:39,040
Speaker 2: home ownership, helps with business own ownership, helps with job

873
00:48:39,120 --> 00:48:42,960
Speaker 2: creation and create engines around the community where that confess

874
00:48:43,000 --> 00:48:45,520
Speaker 2: your best and so that's what I wanted to do,

875
00:48:46,000 --> 00:48:49,600
Speaker 2: as well as continue to do youth development work.

876
00:48:49,840 --> 00:48:53,680
Speaker 1: Okay. Yeah, so you go to this new organization, I

877
00:48:53,719 --> 00:48:57,120
Speaker 1: would assume that you enter in at director or higher level.

878
00:48:57,440 --> 00:49:00,480
Speaker 2: I went in as the director of Community to Development.

879
00:49:00,680 --> 00:49:01,080
Speaker 1: Okay.

880
00:49:01,160 --> 00:49:03,840
Speaker 2: So that was a pretty big deal for me because

881
00:49:03,840 --> 00:49:08,160
Speaker 2: it allowed me to work with or alongside the director

882
00:49:08,360 --> 00:49:11,719
Speaker 2: of urban Development, which did a lot of the real

883
00:49:11,840 --> 00:49:14,560
Speaker 2: estate development work for the organization.

884
00:49:15,040 --> 00:49:17,440
Speaker 1: And this is your twenty three, this is your pacing

885
00:49:17,600 --> 00:49:19,680
Speaker 1: very well for us, daddy.

886
00:49:20,000 --> 00:49:23,560
Speaker 2: Yeah, and my daughter, I'm still raising her, you know,

887
00:49:23,719 --> 00:49:25,640
Speaker 2: dealing with a little bit of or a lot of

888
00:49:25,680 --> 00:49:27,319
Speaker 2: bit of baby mama drama.

889
00:49:28,880 --> 00:49:32,480
Speaker 1: That you did you end up marrying your.

890
00:49:32,920 --> 00:49:36,680
Speaker 3: I did not. I did not.

891
00:49:37,080 --> 00:49:39,080
Speaker 1: You know, guys did the co parenting thing.

892
00:49:39,280 --> 00:49:42,360
Speaker 2: We did the co parenting thing, We did the co

893
00:49:42,360 --> 00:49:46,600
Speaker 2: courting thing, lock of meaning lots of going to court

894
00:49:47,040 --> 00:49:50,879
Speaker 2: because I didn't want to just pay child support. Didn't

895
00:49:50,920 --> 00:49:54,880
Speaker 2: mind it. But I think, quite frankly, it was abused

896
00:49:54,880 --> 00:49:58,040
Speaker 2: on me because I wasn't dead, that wasn't taking care

897
00:49:58,080 --> 00:49:58,640
Speaker 2: of my daughter.

898
00:49:58,800 --> 00:49:59,759
Speaker 3: Yeah, I was there.

899
00:50:00,000 --> 00:50:02,440
Speaker 2: It wasn't like I was the guy you had to

900
00:50:02,480 --> 00:50:05,920
Speaker 2: go find or things that I hate today where people say,

901
00:50:05,960 --> 00:50:07,319
Speaker 2: well I got to go watch my child.

902
00:50:07,320 --> 00:50:09,879
Speaker 3: How do you watch your child? Is your child, you're

903
00:50:09,880 --> 00:50:11,839
Speaker 3: going to be with your child? Well, I paid chilse

904
00:50:12,040 --> 00:50:13,040
Speaker 3: what I bought diapers.

905
00:50:13,440 --> 00:50:16,160
Speaker 2: The kid need diapers, I mean, so it was more

906
00:50:16,200 --> 00:50:19,520
Speaker 2: than that for me. You know, it wasn't just you know,

907
00:50:19,600 --> 00:50:22,680
Speaker 2: so I just felt like it was an unfair kind

908
00:50:22,760 --> 00:50:26,360
Speaker 2: of thing to me. But I understand so as a

909
00:50:26,400 --> 00:50:29,520
Speaker 2: young man you don't get it as much as you

910
00:50:29,560 --> 00:50:32,759
Speaker 2: would as an adult. I wouldn't probably deal with some

911
00:50:32,800 --> 00:50:34,239
Speaker 2: of the things that I dealt with then.

912
00:50:34,800 --> 00:50:37,359
Speaker 3: So we did our co parenting as you call it.

913
00:50:38,000 --> 00:50:40,600
Speaker 2: But she spent a lot of time with me, to

914
00:50:40,640 --> 00:50:42,919
Speaker 2: a point, probably too much, some people would say.

915
00:50:43,920 --> 00:50:46,080
Speaker 3: But I thought it was cool because.

916
00:50:45,800 --> 00:50:47,359
Speaker 2: I figured, you know, if I'm going to go on

917
00:50:47,360 --> 00:50:48,799
Speaker 2: the date, you want to go on a date with me,

918
00:50:48,920 --> 00:50:50,640
Speaker 2: then you got to go with me and my daughter.

919
00:50:53,520 --> 00:50:57,319
Speaker 1: That I just became. And I still don't know how

920
00:50:57,320 --> 00:50:59,239
Speaker 1: to navigate that, I.

921
00:51:01,480 --> 00:51:01,719
Speaker 3: Said.

922
00:51:02,280 --> 00:51:05,719
Speaker 2: My navigation was quite frankly and giving shouts out to

923
00:51:05,800 --> 00:51:10,720
Speaker 2: my auntie, to my mom, to my sister. I had support,

924
00:51:11,320 --> 00:51:13,719
Speaker 2: you know, and I know that's tough because a lot

925
00:51:13,800 --> 00:51:17,319
Speaker 2: of folks don't have that support and I have to support.

926
00:51:17,600 --> 00:51:18,120
Speaker 3: So when I.

927
00:51:18,080 --> 00:51:20,160
Speaker 2: Needed to go to work, I had someone that would

928
00:51:20,200 --> 00:51:23,200
Speaker 2: watch my daughter. If I wanted to go out for

929
00:51:23,280 --> 00:51:26,480
Speaker 2: the weekend, I had someone that would watch my daughter.

930
00:51:26,520 --> 00:51:27,680
Speaker 3: She was very good baby.

931
00:51:28,000 --> 00:51:30,239
Speaker 2: People used to call me to ask skin they watch her,

932
00:51:30,840 --> 00:51:33,240
Speaker 2: and so I had that support.

933
00:51:33,760 --> 00:51:35,600
Speaker 3: But I didn't want financial support.

934
00:51:35,719 --> 00:51:39,840
Speaker 2: I needed the moral and support needed to help me

935
00:51:40,080 --> 00:51:40,400
Speaker 2: do that.

936
00:51:40,480 --> 00:51:43,239
Speaker 3: And that's a big thing.

937
00:51:43,239 --> 00:51:47,000
Speaker 1: More. Oh yeah, no, I caregiver.

938
00:51:47,440 --> 00:51:51,480
Speaker 2: Oh man that they liked, oh she loved and it

939
00:51:51,520 --> 00:51:53,279
Speaker 2: was it was it was a win win.

940
00:51:58,080 --> 00:51:59,040
Speaker 1: Got to make yourself one.

941
00:51:59,200 --> 00:52:01,440
Speaker 3: Okay, here do you I'm gonna get you out the

942
00:52:01,480 --> 00:52:02,600
Speaker 3: way on this one.

943
00:52:03,000 --> 00:52:07,839
Speaker 1: So you're a young guy moving in all the right directions.

944
00:52:08,120 --> 00:52:10,640
Speaker 1: Uh huh, you're at You're at.

945
00:52:10,480 --> 00:52:13,480
Speaker 3: The dunbar economic development.

946
00:52:13,560 --> 00:52:16,359
Speaker 1: Economic development. I'm not trying to give them too much shine.

947
00:52:16,800 --> 00:52:20,160
Speaker 1: So how long are you there? Before you? Before you?

948
00:52:20,520 --> 00:52:21,960
Speaker 1: I want to get closer to CR.

949
00:52:21,800 --> 00:52:24,040
Speaker 3: So I'm there about four and a half years.

950
00:52:24,960 --> 00:52:29,759
Speaker 2: The organization at the time was going through some financial

951
00:52:29,840 --> 00:52:36,960
Speaker 2: challenges and a lot of us voice our opinions, not

952
00:52:37,120 --> 00:52:40,799
Speaker 2: to the liking of the leadership at the time, and so.

953
00:52:42,239 --> 00:52:45,320
Speaker 3: A few of the key people was let go, including myself.

954
00:52:46,320 --> 00:52:46,799
Speaker 3: And so.

955
00:52:48,440 --> 00:52:51,239
Speaker 2: What happened was there was a vacuum in the community

956
00:52:51,320 --> 00:52:57,480
Speaker 2: because there wasn't a lot of groups providing those services

957
00:52:57,520 --> 00:53:00,680
Speaker 2: in the neighborhood for young people, right, So there was

958
00:53:00,719 --> 00:53:04,920
Speaker 2: a vacuum. So we left, and now you have, you know,

959
00:53:05,320 --> 00:53:07,240
Speaker 2: no services offered to young people.

960
00:53:07,920 --> 00:53:10,200
Speaker 1: So when you left, the company didn't shut down, they

961
00:53:10,280 --> 00:53:12,040
Speaker 1: just stop providing the services.

962
00:53:12,120 --> 00:53:13,200
Speaker 3: Yeah, because we were gone.

963
00:53:14,280 --> 00:53:16,360
Speaker 1: And how many people did they lose?

964
00:53:16,440 --> 00:53:21,280
Speaker 2: So they lost me and the director of urban development,

965
00:53:22,280 --> 00:53:24,959
Speaker 2: and then the director of youth development left as well.

966
00:53:26,000 --> 00:53:31,239
Speaker 2: So those are three key positions. Yeah, trying not to

967
00:53:31,280 --> 00:53:32,839
Speaker 2: do this the way I do it at home.

968
00:53:32,960 --> 00:53:34,920
Speaker 1: So it looks very very pretty, by the.

969
00:53:34,880 --> 00:53:38,440
Speaker 3: Way, very impressed with So just forgive me.

970
00:53:40,360 --> 00:53:42,920
Speaker 1: I'm very impressed. Look at this, guys.

971
00:53:43,080 --> 00:53:45,319
Speaker 3: So look at that.

972
00:53:46,800 --> 00:53:49,920
Speaker 2: So you know, we left, and a group of us,

973
00:53:50,080 --> 00:53:54,279
Speaker 2: about five of us because they end up leaving or

974
00:53:54,880 --> 00:53:57,680
Speaker 2: getting fired to left.

975
00:53:57,920 --> 00:54:01,000
Speaker 3: And you know, we started meeting right. I called it.

976
00:54:01,040 --> 00:54:03,440
Speaker 2: We went in the laboratory right away and said that

977
00:54:04,480 --> 00:54:07,760
Speaker 2: you know, we all could have gotten jobs. I wouldn't

978
00:54:07,800 --> 00:54:11,760
Speaker 2: say anywhere, but let's say we were sought after people. Yeah, yeah,

979
00:54:11,800 --> 00:54:15,239
Speaker 2: you know, because people saw our passion and what we

980
00:54:15,280 --> 00:54:19,440
Speaker 2: did for that organization in a very short time because

981
00:54:19,440 --> 00:54:22,879
Speaker 2: they were just known for doing kind of historic and

982
00:54:23,000 --> 00:54:26,759
Speaker 2: other development at the time, maybe some projects here and there,

983
00:54:27,360 --> 00:54:30,520
Speaker 2: but when we all got together, it turned into something

984
00:54:31,239 --> 00:54:34,680
Speaker 2: much more beautiful in the community. I think, working with

985
00:54:34,719 --> 00:54:39,440
Speaker 2: small businesses, doing home ownership stuff, looking at other real

986
00:54:39,560 --> 00:54:45,400
Speaker 2: estate possibilities, a rehabit of historic landmarks, and youth leadership development.

987
00:54:45,920 --> 00:54:48,520
Speaker 2: We took you to like two or three different countries.

988
00:54:49,080 --> 00:54:51,799
Speaker 1: Oh, this is prior to you guys leaving, prior to us. Now,

989
00:54:51,840 --> 00:54:54,239
Speaker 1: you guys, so this is the So this is just

990
00:54:54,280 --> 00:54:56,719
Speaker 1: so everyone knows. This is the rumor mill. You know

991
00:54:56,760 --> 00:54:59,880
Speaker 1: when you hear little bits of people. This is the

992
00:55:00,080 --> 00:55:02,680
Speaker 1: part of your story that excited me the most for

993
00:55:03,000 --> 00:55:05,759
Speaker 1: any little bit of tidbits on the street that I heard.

994
00:55:06,640 --> 00:55:09,799
Speaker 1: So now I can finally find out the truth, like

995
00:55:10,640 --> 00:55:13,880
Speaker 1: from the horse's mouth. So this is a very interesting place.

996
00:55:13,920 --> 00:55:16,560
Speaker 1: So just to recap a group of you guys, some

997
00:55:16,600 --> 00:55:18,840
Speaker 1: of you guys got let oh some of you guys left.

998
00:55:19,080 --> 00:55:21,760
Speaker 1: You guys instead of going, hey, let's pitch our jobs

999
00:55:21,760 --> 00:55:25,120
Speaker 1: to different places. That definitely desire us. We're gonna get

1000
00:55:25,120 --> 00:55:28,920
Speaker 1: together and meet tell me about I know this is

1001
00:55:28,920 --> 00:55:32,399
Speaker 1: where a CRCD starts to convert. So walk me through

1002
00:55:32,400 --> 00:55:35,480
Speaker 1: the whole play on like everything's going down, including your

1003
00:55:35,520 --> 00:55:36,439
Speaker 1: emotions at the time.

1004
00:55:36,560 --> 00:55:41,040
Speaker 2: So you know, of course, we were all pissed off

1005
00:55:41,760 --> 00:55:45,880
Speaker 2: because of the void that was in the neighborhood. Primarily

1006
00:55:45,920 --> 00:55:49,600
Speaker 2: we were all thinking about the people really not ourselves

1007
00:55:50,080 --> 00:55:52,319
Speaker 2: at the time. You know, I'm a young man at

1008
00:55:52,320 --> 00:55:56,799
Speaker 2: this time, I'm probably twenty six, twenty seven, and so

1009
00:55:56,840 --> 00:55:59,719
Speaker 2: we're pissed and we you know, the truth is, we

1010
00:55:59,800 --> 00:56:03,320
Speaker 2: have I thought about something like this happening because of

1011
00:56:03,360 --> 00:56:07,560
Speaker 2: the way that the organization was moving, and you know,

1012
00:56:07,680 --> 00:56:10,400
Speaker 2: things that were happening, iris showing up to the office,

1013
00:56:10,440 --> 00:56:14,040
Speaker 2: things like that that you normally don't see. And we

1014
00:56:14,080 --> 00:56:17,680
Speaker 2: got together at one of the co founders, Miami Sodo's house.

1015
00:56:18,320 --> 00:56:20,319
Speaker 3: She's lived in City Terrace.

1016
00:56:20,560 --> 00:56:23,839
Speaker 2: At the time, which is near cal State Los Angeles.

1017
00:56:24,320 --> 00:56:26,920
Speaker 2: Lived in this hill where you got to climb up

1018
00:56:26,960 --> 00:56:29,680
Speaker 2: like eighty steps or it felt like two hundred, and

1019
00:56:29,719 --> 00:56:33,040
Speaker 2: we would go there every day after we were let

1020
00:56:33,040 --> 00:56:37,919
Speaker 2: go and talk about our vision for the community, sort

1021
00:56:37,920 --> 00:56:41,560
Speaker 2: of like a reimagining a group that popped up in

1022
00:56:41,560 --> 00:56:45,359
Speaker 2: the community. What would it be? We went through, we

1023
00:56:45,400 --> 00:56:47,600
Speaker 2: went through what would it be, what should it be?

1024
00:56:47,719 --> 00:56:48,720
Speaker 2: What should it be doing?

1025
00:56:49,320 --> 00:56:51,279
Speaker 1: Keep men with the co founder of the comedy that

1026
00:56:51,640 --> 00:56:52,319
Speaker 1: Let you Guys Go.

1027
00:56:52,440 --> 00:56:54,840
Speaker 3: That's an interesting Yes, it was a co founder. We

1028
00:56:54,920 --> 00:56:58,239
Speaker 3: all worked at Dunbar, you know, all of us.

1029
00:56:58,280 --> 00:56:59,680
Speaker 1: But did she still work there?

1030
00:57:00,120 --> 00:57:05,839
Speaker 2: Nobody also got let Go and she was the one

1031
00:57:05,880 --> 00:57:10,000
Speaker 2: that was running the youth programming at the time, and

1032
00:57:10,080 --> 00:57:13,160
Speaker 2: so she opened up her home, her living room. When

1033
00:57:13,160 --> 00:57:17,560
Speaker 2: we met at her dining room table circle table, and

1034
00:57:17,720 --> 00:57:19,920
Speaker 2: we were meeting around there with some butcher paper and

1035
00:57:19,960 --> 00:57:24,560
Speaker 2: markers every day talking about or reimagining what would an

1036
00:57:24,680 --> 00:57:25,640
Speaker 2: organization be.

1037
00:57:26,440 --> 00:57:30,160
Speaker 3: And we talked about that we should be providing jobs

1038
00:57:30,240 --> 00:57:31,440
Speaker 3: or workforce development.

1039
00:57:31,480 --> 00:57:35,680
Speaker 2: We talked about economic development, working with small businesses, real

1040
00:57:35,800 --> 00:57:37,920
Speaker 2: estate development, doing affordable housing.

1041
00:57:38,680 --> 00:57:41,600
Speaker 3: We wanted to do social entrepreneurship.

1042
00:57:42,000 --> 00:57:45,680
Speaker 2: So that's when we put on their social enterprise because

1043
00:57:45,720 --> 00:57:48,520
Speaker 2: before I left Dumbar, I was trying to convince them

1044
00:57:48,560 --> 00:57:50,360
Speaker 2: to do social enterprise.

1045
00:57:50,480 --> 00:57:53,600
Speaker 3: Work never got off the ground. And we wanted to

1046
00:57:53,640 --> 00:57:54,280
Speaker 3: do education.

1047
00:57:54,440 --> 00:57:57,040
Speaker 2: We wanted to figure out a way to have a

1048
00:57:57,080 --> 00:57:59,960
Speaker 2: school that focused on the art to serve young people,

1049
00:58:01,640 --> 00:58:04,920
Speaker 2: and we came up with different names, but what we

1050
00:58:05,000 --> 00:58:09,240
Speaker 2: landed with was Coalition for a Responsible Community Development.

1051
00:58:10,000 --> 00:58:14,040
Speaker 3: And the story goes, we used to go to a bar.

1052
00:58:14,680 --> 00:58:18,640
Speaker 2: Called four ten Boards in downtown Los Angeles on a

1053
00:58:18,680 --> 00:58:22,480
Speaker 2: street called Boyd and the address was fourteen, So creatively,

1054
00:58:22,520 --> 00:58:25,720
Speaker 2: I guess they created four ten Boyd and we would

1055
00:58:25,760 --> 00:58:26,280
Speaker 2: meet there.

1056
00:58:26,400 --> 00:58:28,280
Speaker 3: After we left her house and met up.

1057
00:58:28,240 --> 00:58:32,600
Speaker 2: With other people that necessarily didn't work at the Dumbar

1058
00:58:32,840 --> 00:58:35,440
Speaker 2: but used to be founders of the Dunbar, bankers of

1059
00:58:35,480 --> 00:58:36,560
Speaker 2: the Dumbar.

1060
00:58:36,600 --> 00:58:37,480
Speaker 3: That kind of stuff.

1061
00:58:38,400 --> 00:58:41,640
Speaker 2: But they liked us and they loved this concept, like,

1062
00:58:41,680 --> 00:58:44,760
Speaker 2: you guys are gonna do what? So we literally took

1063
00:58:44,760 --> 00:58:49,080
Speaker 2: a napkin and it was a designer there, and we said, well,

1064
00:58:50,040 --> 00:58:54,000
Speaker 2: we wanted to be called like Callition four, but we

1065
00:58:54,120 --> 00:58:55,760
Speaker 2: have to have responsible in there.

1066
00:58:55,960 --> 00:58:57,520
Speaker 1: And I love that part.

1067
00:58:57,640 --> 00:58:59,560
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, it has to be responsible and it

1068
00:58:59,560 --> 00:59:00,840
Speaker 2: has to be community in it.

1069
00:59:01,640 --> 00:59:04,680
Speaker 3: And then that's when cr City was birth.

1070
00:59:05,240 --> 00:59:09,000
Speaker 2: On that napkin the name and then the designer at

1071
00:59:09,000 --> 00:59:10,880
Speaker 2: the time, her name was Selda Harris.

1072
00:59:11,880 --> 00:59:15,800
Speaker 3: She designed our logo right on napkin. She said, what

1073
00:59:15,840 --> 00:59:16,280
Speaker 3: do you want?

1074
00:59:16,320 --> 00:59:18,960
Speaker 2: I said, it should be like some colors and some

1075
00:59:19,000 --> 00:59:22,120
Speaker 2: boxes or something like that. That's all I got and

1076
00:59:22,520 --> 00:59:24,880
Speaker 2: the group agreed, and that's when she came up with

1077
00:59:24,920 --> 00:59:25,560
Speaker 2: our logo.

1078
00:59:25,760 --> 00:59:28,880
Speaker 1: So there's a group, how do you become the lead

1079
00:59:28,920 --> 00:59:29,440
Speaker 1: of the group.

1080
00:59:30,080 --> 00:59:32,520
Speaker 2: So I didn't want they thought I should be the

1081
00:59:32,600 --> 00:59:33,560
Speaker 2: executive director.

1082
00:59:33,680 --> 00:59:36,880
Speaker 3: Mind you, we had nothing, no budget, no nothing.

1083
00:59:37,640 --> 00:59:39,280
Speaker 2: And I said, well, I'll do it, but you guys

1084
00:59:39,280 --> 00:59:41,600
Speaker 2: got to vote for it to happen, so it can

1085
00:59:41,680 --> 00:59:43,680
Speaker 2: be your official first action.

1086
00:59:44,840 --> 00:59:47,320
Speaker 3: And if you don't want it, that's fine. I play

1087
00:59:47,400 --> 00:59:51,080
Speaker 3: my part. And they all voted and said, oh, you're

1088
00:59:51,080 --> 00:59:51,560
Speaker 3: doing it.

1089
00:59:53,840 --> 00:59:57,360
Speaker 2: And that's how I became the executive director twenty years ago.

1090
00:59:58,200 --> 01:00:01,760
Speaker 1: Wow yeah wow. And then the funders that you would

1091
01:00:01,760 --> 01:00:04,400
Speaker 1: meet up with ended up funding and helping getting it

1092
01:00:04,440 --> 01:00:05,120
Speaker 1: off the ground.

1093
01:00:05,360 --> 01:00:05,960
Speaker 3: Helping us.

1094
01:00:06,440 --> 01:00:09,440
Speaker 2: There was a contract that Dunbar was running at the time,

1095
01:00:09,640 --> 01:00:13,120
Speaker 2: or you know called and you may be familiar with

1096
01:00:13,160 --> 01:00:14,600
Speaker 2: this graffiti removal.

1097
01:00:15,320 --> 01:00:19,240
Speaker 1: Yes, and so they still do graffiti removal, we do, yeah,

1098
01:00:19,240 --> 01:00:19,920
Speaker 1: well you guys do.

1099
01:00:20,320 --> 01:00:26,680
Speaker 2: Un No, it went out of business and so we

1100
01:00:27,920 --> 01:00:31,800
Speaker 2: because they were having challenges running that contract, we had

1101
01:00:31,800 --> 01:00:34,360
Speaker 2: an opportunity and was asked, do we want to take

1102
01:00:34,400 --> 01:00:37,480
Speaker 2: on the contract and of course I'm like, yeah, we

1103
01:00:37,520 --> 01:00:38,040
Speaker 2: can do that.

1104
01:00:38,280 --> 01:00:39,280
Speaker 3: The High Eyes.

1105
01:00:39,080 --> 01:00:42,960
Speaker 2: Closed had a good brother named Bruce Tito who was

1106
01:00:43,040 --> 01:00:46,720
Speaker 2: running the Los Angeles Conservation Corps at the time, that said,

1107
01:00:47,240 --> 01:00:50,439
Speaker 2: we'll step up. If you guys get the contract, we'll

1108
01:00:50,440 --> 01:00:53,080
Speaker 2: manage it for you while you get set up.

1109
01:00:53,680 --> 01:00:57,120
Speaker 3: That was a wonderful thing. Council Warman jam Perry at

1110
01:00:57,120 --> 01:00:59,080
Speaker 3: the time. You know.

1111
01:01:00,520 --> 01:01:05,360
Speaker 2: At council Woman jam Perry at the time. Oh, I'm

1112
01:01:05,400 --> 01:01:10,280
Speaker 2: trying to clean up. So one of the things, sorry,

1113
01:01:10,320 --> 01:01:14,280
Speaker 2: I sweat over when I'm cooking. Yeah, but also one

1114
01:01:14,280 --> 01:01:15,840
Speaker 2: of the things I do when i'm cooking is I

1115
01:01:15,920 --> 01:01:16,600
Speaker 2: like to clean up.

1116
01:01:19,600 --> 01:01:23,720
Speaker 3: I apologize. So council Woman jam Parry was also instrumental.

1117
01:01:23,800 --> 01:01:28,080
Speaker 2: So Bruce, I told council Woman Jampari were instrumental and

1118
01:01:28,160 --> 01:01:29,600
Speaker 2: cr CD getting started.

1119
01:01:30,240 --> 01:01:32,480
Speaker 3: If it wasn't for them.

1120
01:01:31,800 --> 01:01:38,400
Speaker 2: Providing political support and organizational support and just being a cheerleader.

1121
01:01:37,880 --> 01:01:39,840
Speaker 3: For us, it wouldn't have happened.

1122
01:01:39,880 --> 01:01:42,560
Speaker 2: So we were a brand new group with a four

1123
01:01:42,600 --> 01:01:44,000
Speaker 2: hundred thousand dollars contract.

1124
01:01:45,160 --> 01:01:46,680
Speaker 3: Wow, to start.

1125
01:01:46,640 --> 01:01:50,000
Speaker 1: And what was it in your first project was the graffiti.

1126
01:01:49,520 --> 01:01:53,760
Speaker 2: Remove was graffiti abatement. We wasn't doing real estate. We

1127
01:01:53,760 --> 01:01:58,360
Speaker 2: wasn't doing anything. Everything started at cr CD because of

1128
01:01:58,400 --> 01:01:59,760
Speaker 2: graffiti removal.

1129
01:02:00,240 --> 01:02:02,360
Speaker 1: And at this point, are you when you take on

1130
01:02:02,400 --> 01:02:04,600
Speaker 1: these contracts, are you taking a pay cut too?

1131
01:02:04,880 --> 01:02:05,720
Speaker 3: Yeah? Of course.

1132
01:02:06,000 --> 01:02:09,960
Speaker 1: And are your parents still around? Are they saying he's

1133
01:02:10,000 --> 01:02:11,840
Speaker 1: like my first crash.

1134
01:02:12,480 --> 01:02:16,520
Speaker 3: Yep, yep, So took a pay cut. That was okay.

1135
01:02:17,280 --> 01:02:20,280
Speaker 2: At the time, I was living on my own take

1136
01:02:20,320 --> 01:02:22,360
Speaker 2: care of my daughter. It was enough to help me

1137
01:02:22,440 --> 01:02:24,439
Speaker 2: take care of my folks.

1138
01:02:24,480 --> 01:02:27,720
Speaker 3: And you know, that was enough for me. You know.

1139
01:02:28,800 --> 01:02:30,960
Speaker 2: Then later in life I was able to move in

1140
01:02:31,000 --> 01:02:36,640
Speaker 2: with someone and you know, and you know that's with

1141
01:02:36,680 --> 01:02:37,080
Speaker 2: the story.

1142
01:02:37,120 --> 01:02:43,560
Speaker 3: We started our youth program, and we started our twenty

1143
01:02:43,640 --> 01:02:47,120
Speaker 3: years ago, twenty years ago, twenty years ago.

1144
01:02:47,840 --> 01:02:49,800
Speaker 1: Have you guys celebrated your twenty year anniversary.

1145
01:02:49,840 --> 01:02:52,400
Speaker 3: We'll be celebrating it next year. So they're working on

1146
01:02:52,480 --> 01:02:53,080
Speaker 3: it this year.

1147
01:02:53,800 --> 01:02:57,760
Speaker 1: I want to call it. I'm gonna call them Ason.

1148
01:02:58,760 --> 01:03:02,800
Speaker 1: You gotta do what you shoo. Yeah, that's a huge accomplishment.

1149
01:03:02,840 --> 01:03:03,200
Speaker 3: It is.

1150
01:03:04,000 --> 01:03:08,360
Speaker 1: Now do you ever look back and just like, oh, snap.

1151
01:03:08,120 --> 01:03:12,440
Speaker 2: Up sometime every day like I can't believe that we

1152
01:03:12,480 --> 01:03:15,760
Speaker 2: was able to pull it off because it wasn't nothing small.

1153
01:03:16,240 --> 01:03:18,520
Speaker 3: And I asked a couple of people. I said, you

1154
01:03:18,560 --> 01:03:20,760
Speaker 3: think we can do that today? And the answer is

1155
01:03:20,800 --> 01:03:23,360
Speaker 3: always like no, no.

1156
01:03:23,000 --> 01:03:26,200
Speaker 2: No way, because the right the stars have to align

1157
01:03:26,240 --> 01:03:29,600
Speaker 2: themselves right, the right people had to be there, the

1158
01:03:29,680 --> 01:03:33,840
Speaker 2: right supporters needed to be there, the right circumstances need

1159
01:03:33,840 --> 01:03:37,440
Speaker 2: to be there. So, like with any entrepreneur, it's like,

1160
01:03:38,000 --> 01:03:39,680
Speaker 2: here's the moment where I got to jump.

1161
01:03:40,160 --> 01:03:41,280
Speaker 3: I got to jump off.

1162
01:03:41,120 --> 01:03:44,720
Speaker 2: This bridge and hope that that blue thing is water,

1163
01:03:47,440 --> 01:03:48,800
Speaker 2: you know, And that's what we did.

1164
01:03:48,960 --> 01:03:50,880
Speaker 3: It was just everything was at the right time.

1165
01:03:51,720 --> 01:03:54,560
Speaker 2: And then, you know, I was twenty seven years old,

1166
01:03:55,320 --> 01:03:58,640
Speaker 2: you know at the time when we started, and you know,

1167
01:03:58,920 --> 01:04:02,800
Speaker 2: I'm thinking, okay, from twenty seven year old in today's climate,

1168
01:04:03,240 --> 01:04:05,120
Speaker 2: would we get that same kind of support.

1169
01:04:05,720 --> 01:04:06,280
Speaker 3: Probably not.

1170
01:04:07,240 --> 01:04:09,440
Speaker 1: Why do you think that? So what's different between then

1171
01:04:09,480 --> 01:04:09,880
Speaker 1: and now?

1172
01:04:10,120 --> 01:04:13,640
Speaker 2: I think the circumstances then technology then, the way that

1173
01:04:13,680 --> 01:04:18,280
Speaker 2: people access services then is very different now. Social media,

1174
01:04:19,000 --> 01:04:23,080
Speaker 2: I think, could have come in and created all types

1175
01:04:23,120 --> 01:04:26,360
Speaker 2: of other narratives. We were able to create our own

1176
01:04:26,480 --> 01:04:29,720
Speaker 2: narrative because there was no social media then, so we

1177
01:04:29,720 --> 01:04:32,680
Speaker 2: were able to go to meetings, we were able to

1178
01:04:33,120 --> 01:04:36,200
Speaker 2: debunk any lies that were told about us from our

1179
01:04:36,240 --> 01:04:39,960
Speaker 2: previous employer. We were able to do that face to

1180
01:04:40,040 --> 01:04:43,800
Speaker 2: face phone call. A phone call wasn't no.

1181
01:04:43,880 --> 01:04:45,479
Speaker 3: Social media, we think.

1182
01:04:45,600 --> 01:04:48,000
Speaker 2: I think if social media was around, people could have

1183
01:04:48,040 --> 01:04:49,600
Speaker 2: created a false narrative.

1184
01:04:51,160 --> 01:04:55,000
Speaker 3: Like a press release exactly exactly. And I don't think

1185
01:04:55,600 --> 01:04:58,520
Speaker 3: in today's time that would have helped us. It would

1186
01:04:59,120 --> 01:05:01,720
Speaker 3: make this thing. I'm trying to be fancy here.

1187
01:05:02,720 --> 01:05:06,640
Speaker 1: I'm busy. These tacos look good. Turn off the stoves,

1188
01:05:06,760 --> 01:05:08,760
Speaker 1: sit down. You done told your whole life.

1189
01:05:08,520 --> 01:05:15,480
Speaker 2: Story almost almost hopefully bore you, far from boring.

1190
01:05:15,840 --> 01:05:19,360
Speaker 1: Okay, so we are back dishes plated. This looks like

1191
01:05:19,440 --> 01:05:21,200
Speaker 1: the best taco I've ever had in l A.

1192
01:05:21,480 --> 01:05:23,680
Speaker 3: Well, we shall see, we shall see.

1193
01:05:23,720 --> 01:05:25,880
Speaker 1: Okay, put the sauces on it. Do you need any

1194
01:05:25,880 --> 01:05:26,600
Speaker 1: extra sauces?

1195
01:05:26,720 --> 01:05:27,280
Speaker 3: No?

1196
01:05:27,360 --> 01:05:29,520
Speaker 1: Okay, I like this from the cheese. Is this the

1197
01:05:29,600 --> 01:05:30,360
Speaker 1: right size taco?

1198
01:05:30,400 --> 01:05:33,040
Speaker 3: Show a little smaller? I don't know.

1199
01:05:33,480 --> 01:05:35,240
Speaker 1: I actually do the shopping for the show.

1200
01:05:35,280 --> 01:05:42,200
Speaker 3: It works, people like them smaller. Okay, yeah, I ain't

1201
01:05:42,200 --> 01:05:43,720
Speaker 3: did it. That's up.

1202
01:05:44,200 --> 01:05:48,480
Speaker 1: I'm good. The first second you're gonna grill the onions,

1203
01:05:48,520 --> 01:05:49,440
Speaker 1: but they're perfect.

1204
01:05:49,240 --> 01:05:52,120
Speaker 3: Just they are. Okay, I'm gonna.

1205
01:05:51,960 --> 01:05:52,760
Speaker 1: Take your second bite.

1206
01:05:52,760 --> 01:05:54,440
Speaker 3: Guys, go for it.

1207
01:05:55,880 --> 01:05:59,640
Speaker 1: M take up.

1208
01:06:01,080 --> 01:06:01,520
Speaker 3: Very good.

1209
01:06:04,200 --> 01:06:08,200
Speaker 1: Okay for all your all listeners. Not only gonna you

1210
01:06:08,240 --> 01:06:11,520
Speaker 1: build an empire, hign cook it broke this.

1211
01:06:12,680 --> 01:06:14,720
Speaker 3: I'm glad you liked you, budget.

1212
01:06:14,320 --> 01:06:20,320
Speaker 1: Friendly, delicious, You added salsa, I'm gonna add more.

1213
01:06:20,840 --> 01:06:21,600
Speaker 3: Very good. Now.

1214
01:06:22,720 --> 01:06:25,240
Speaker 1: Do you also think that a part of why you

1215
01:06:25,280 --> 01:06:28,920
Speaker 1: possibly couldn't do what you did today is because I

1216
01:06:28,960 --> 01:06:32,640
Speaker 1: think and I have this opinion, but I'm curious to

1217
01:06:32,680 --> 01:06:34,840
Speaker 1: see what you say. You were twenty seven when you

1218
01:06:34,880 --> 01:06:37,360
Speaker 1: did a lot of these things, and sometimes I feel

1219
01:06:37,400 --> 01:06:38,800
Speaker 1: like life, I don't know if you want some of this.

1220
01:06:39,720 --> 01:06:42,080
Speaker 1: Life beats you up along the way where you stop

1221
01:06:42,200 --> 01:06:46,480
Speaker 1: to doubt things. Do you think that you, being young,

1222
01:06:46,720 --> 01:06:50,200
Speaker 1: kind of had that knowing what you know now? Do

1223
01:06:50,280 --> 01:06:52,000
Speaker 1: you think that if you knew what you knew now,

1224
01:06:52,080 --> 01:06:53,840
Speaker 1: you would have had the gun hole to do what

1225
01:06:53,880 --> 01:06:54,280
Speaker 1: you did?

1226
01:06:55,040 --> 01:06:55,200
Speaker 3: Not?

1227
01:06:55,280 --> 01:07:00,200
Speaker 2: No one probably helped kind of motivate it more. You know,

1228
01:07:00,480 --> 01:07:05,640
Speaker 2: the unknown was exciting to me, The possibility was exciting

1229
01:07:05,680 --> 01:07:09,520
Speaker 2: to me. So not knowing actually actually helped, and just

1230
01:07:09,600 --> 01:07:13,280
Speaker 2: being open to learning and being, you know, having good

1231
01:07:13,360 --> 01:07:15,960
Speaker 2: mentors that was willing to mentor me.

1232
01:07:16,880 --> 01:07:19,240
Speaker 3: They will say they did mentor me, but they did.

1233
01:07:20,320 --> 01:07:24,080
Speaker 2: They opened up their offices they opened up their back offices,

1234
01:07:24,640 --> 01:07:27,320
Speaker 2: and as much as I wanted to learn, they wanted

1235
01:07:27,320 --> 01:07:29,720
Speaker 2: to teach and expose me. Because I didn't want to

1236
01:07:29,760 --> 01:07:32,920
Speaker 2: be told. I wanted to be showed. And so in

1237
01:07:33,040 --> 01:07:37,920
Speaker 2: running any nonprofit, nonprofit is really the misnomers that it

1238
01:07:38,000 --> 01:07:40,760
Speaker 2: was nonprofit or selling cookies. You're doing the good for

1239
01:07:40,840 --> 01:07:45,360
Speaker 2: the community, and then everything around you somehow is discounting

1240
01:07:45,680 --> 01:07:49,520
Speaker 2: and that's absolutely false. A nonprofit is nothing but a

1241
01:07:49,560 --> 01:07:52,880
Speaker 2: tax code five oh one C three. You still have

1242
01:07:52,960 --> 01:07:56,760
Speaker 2: to operate and maintain a business. If you don't pay

1243
01:07:56,800 --> 01:07:59,960
Speaker 2: your taxes, Uncle Sam will show up to your business,

1244
01:08:00,480 --> 01:08:03,560
Speaker 2: yeah and shut you down if you don't. And so

1245
01:08:03,760 --> 01:08:08,640
Speaker 2: everything that any for profit has to do, a nonprofit

1246
01:08:08,760 --> 01:08:11,400
Speaker 2: has to do, but even more because we have to

1247
01:08:11,560 --> 01:08:16,280
Speaker 2: report on every dollar that we receive, public and non public,

1248
01:08:16,880 --> 01:08:19,519
Speaker 2: and a lot of for profits don't. And so we

1249
01:08:19,640 --> 01:08:23,040
Speaker 2: have to go through that rigor of understanding that we're

1250
01:08:23,040 --> 01:08:25,640
Speaker 2: a business. And so I had mentors to show me

1251
01:08:26,320 --> 01:08:30,600
Speaker 2: the business side, the appropriate business side of running a nonprofit.

1252
01:08:30,680 --> 01:08:34,160
Speaker 2: Why you want to be mission oriented. So I started

1253
01:08:34,760 --> 01:08:39,000
Speaker 2: off with the pursuit of approaching this as an entrepreneur,

1254
01:08:39,560 --> 01:08:43,960
Speaker 2: not as someone that is a social service worker or

1255
01:08:44,000 --> 01:08:47,320
Speaker 2: anything like that. My drive in my heart was community,

1256
01:08:47,520 --> 01:08:51,439
Speaker 2: young people making change, making the difference. But as far

1257
01:08:51,479 --> 01:08:54,880
Speaker 2: as building an organization, it was very much from an

1258
01:08:55,080 --> 01:08:57,160
Speaker 2: entrepreneurial landscape.

1259
01:08:57,479 --> 01:08:58,000
Speaker 4: Yeah.

1260
01:08:58,160 --> 01:09:00,280
Speaker 1: Now, some of the partners that you partner or with

1261
01:09:01,080 --> 01:09:05,759
Speaker 1: are impressive in their own right Prime store who from today?

1262
01:09:06,439 --> 01:09:09,120
Speaker 1: Were there ever any partners that you partnered with where

1263
01:09:09,120 --> 01:09:11,519
Speaker 1: you were like, please gotta let this happen, and oh

1264
01:09:11,560 --> 01:09:14,200
Speaker 1: my god, I can't believe they did this.

1265
01:09:15,000 --> 01:09:19,240
Speaker 2: You know, I think one of the when you say that,

1266
01:09:19,560 --> 01:09:22,960
Speaker 2: I go to Little Tokyo Service Center, which is based

1267
01:09:22,960 --> 01:09:28,120
Speaker 2: in Little Tokyo primarily focused around supporting and helping the

1268
01:09:28,360 --> 01:09:32,320
Speaker 2: Agent Pacific Island their community. But they were my boys

1269
01:09:32,360 --> 01:09:35,360
Speaker 2: and my girls, my sisters and brothers. We used to

1270
01:09:35,400 --> 01:09:37,240
Speaker 2: hang out at the same bar.

1271
01:09:37,520 --> 01:09:38,559
Speaker 3: This bar come up.

1272
01:09:38,479 --> 01:09:42,680
Speaker 2: A lot by the way, four ten boys. It's not

1273
01:09:42,840 --> 01:09:44,640
Speaker 2: there in the fourteen.

1274
01:09:44,360 --> 01:09:48,519
Speaker 3: Boy but but the bar is there. Yeah, asking detail

1275
01:09:48,560 --> 01:09:49,280
Speaker 3: is something like that.

1276
01:09:49,360 --> 01:09:50,439
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm gonna look it up.

1277
01:09:50,520 --> 01:09:53,559
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's from It's still there, but it's not called

1278
01:09:53,600 --> 01:09:57,840
Speaker 2: fourteen Boyds. So that was there after work hangout because

1279
01:09:57,880 --> 01:10:00,360
Speaker 2: they was right around the corner and it was our

1280
01:10:00,640 --> 01:10:04,360
Speaker 2: after work hangout, and so we built this relationship in

1281
01:10:04,479 --> 01:10:08,600
Speaker 2: bond and so when CRCD was formed and wanted to

1282
01:10:08,640 --> 01:10:12,400
Speaker 2: get into real estate, a lot of doors were shut.

1283
01:10:12,840 --> 01:10:15,120
Speaker 2: You know, went to a lot of African American partners

1284
01:10:15,360 --> 01:10:18,720
Speaker 2: and they didn't necessarily want to make that step at

1285
01:10:18,760 --> 01:10:22,040
Speaker 2: the time, but Little Tokyo did. And what I mean

1286
01:10:22,040 --> 01:10:25,559
Speaker 2: by step that means they're putting their money on the line,

1287
01:10:25,640 --> 01:10:29,880
Speaker 2: their reputations online, their balance sheet on the line, all

1288
01:10:29,920 --> 01:10:32,760
Speaker 2: of that on the line, and they're signing for you

1289
01:10:32,840 --> 01:10:36,719
Speaker 2: as a guaranteur for your real estate deal. And these

1290
01:10:36,760 --> 01:10:40,880
Speaker 2: were Asian Japanese brothers and sisters that said, you know

1291
01:10:40,960 --> 01:10:43,320
Speaker 2: what I like and support your mission.

1292
01:10:43,560 --> 01:10:46,400
Speaker 3: It aligns with what we want to do. Let's do it.

1293
01:10:46,880 --> 01:10:47,479
Speaker 3: And we did.

1294
01:10:48,880 --> 01:10:55,320
Speaker 2: First partnership, Oh my first partnership that turned into many

1295
01:10:55,400 --> 01:10:59,880
Speaker 2: other projects since you know, that ten unit project that

1296
01:11:00,160 --> 01:11:04,000
Speaker 2: they decided to help us invest in and help us

1297
01:11:04,040 --> 01:11:07,800
Speaker 2: develop and teach us how to be good developers has

1298
01:11:07,960 --> 01:11:12,800
Speaker 2: manifested into over sixteen hundred units now today and we've

1299
01:11:12,840 --> 01:11:16,760
Speaker 2: done three three now doing another one now, so four

1300
01:11:16,800 --> 01:11:20,000
Speaker 2: projects with Little Tokyo Service Center since.

1301
01:11:19,880 --> 01:11:22,479
Speaker 1: And you went home that day after that partnership like,

1302
01:11:23,560 --> 01:11:24,639
Speaker 1: were you like, oh, I.

1303
01:11:24,520 --> 01:11:25,400
Speaker 3: Was so excited.

1304
01:11:25,439 --> 01:11:28,080
Speaker 2: I mean, just like what you said, like holy shit,

1305
01:11:28,240 --> 01:11:31,080
Speaker 2: like this is real, this is like because I knew

1306
01:11:31,160 --> 01:11:34,559
Speaker 2: what that would do for the organization, But I think

1307
01:11:34,640 --> 01:11:39,280
Speaker 2: it was more real to me for this community to

1308
01:11:39,360 --> 01:11:42,559
Speaker 2: believe in me because all I had was a vision

1309
01:11:43,120 --> 01:11:47,240
Speaker 2: and passion that we didn't have any resources, we didn't

1310
01:11:47,280 --> 01:11:48,600
Speaker 2: have any guaranteurs.

1311
01:11:48,840 --> 01:11:50,479
Speaker 1: Yeah, it was just you guys have.

1312
01:11:51,520 --> 01:11:59,120
Speaker 2: We had good credibility, you know, and we had good

1313
01:11:59,160 --> 01:12:03,759
Speaker 2: relationship and we had good political relationships that I think

1314
01:12:04,320 --> 01:12:07,800
Speaker 2: they felt could be beneficial to them as well. But

1315
01:12:08,560 --> 01:12:12,160
Speaker 2: they but still when when paying his paper, they took

1316
01:12:12,240 --> 01:12:14,920
Speaker 2: a leap of faith. And that leap of faiths has

1317
01:12:14,960 --> 01:12:17,360
Speaker 2: helped us to be where we are today. So I

1318
01:12:17,400 --> 01:12:19,439
Speaker 2: owe a lot of credit and give a lot of

1319
01:12:19,439 --> 01:12:22,719
Speaker 2: props to my brothers and sisters over at Little Tokyo

1320
01:12:22,880 --> 01:12:23,479
Speaker 2: Service Center.

1321
01:12:23,560 --> 01:12:25,479
Speaker 1: Shout out to them because without that, they were your

1322
01:12:25,479 --> 01:12:26,080
Speaker 1: first partner.

1323
01:12:26,200 --> 01:12:26,439
Speaker 3: Yeah.

1324
01:12:26,479 --> 01:12:29,880
Speaker 1: Now, I started my first business when I was twenty one,

1325
01:12:30,040 --> 01:12:33,480
Speaker 1: and I remember I got an investor. He invested sixteen

1326
01:12:33,600 --> 01:12:36,280
Speaker 1: thousand dollars to a twenty one year old that it

1327
01:12:36,360 --> 01:12:39,120
Speaker 1: took me a whole year to make like sixteen thousand

1328
01:12:39,160 --> 01:12:41,519
Speaker 1: dollars to get it and seeing in one check. It

1329
01:12:41,600 --> 01:12:44,000
Speaker 1: was like getting like an equivalent of getting you had

1330
01:12:44,040 --> 01:12:46,080
Speaker 1: to me a million dollar check for something I believe

1331
01:12:46,080 --> 01:12:49,280
Speaker 1: in when they signed that deal or I'm going to

1332
01:12:49,360 --> 01:12:51,719
Speaker 1: take it back to me. When I got that check,

1333
01:12:51,760 --> 01:12:54,479
Speaker 1: I was like, oh my goodness, what did I do?

1334
01:12:54,880 --> 01:12:58,679
Speaker 1: Why would this person believe in me? Oh my god,

1335
01:12:58,720 --> 01:13:01,439
Speaker 1: I don't want to lose this person money. Now, all

1336
01:13:01,479 --> 01:13:04,439
Speaker 1: of a sudden, it becomes real, like did I am

1337
01:13:04,479 --> 01:13:06,920
Speaker 1: I a fake? Am I a fraud? Am I going

1338
01:13:07,000 --> 01:13:09,920
Speaker 1: to be able to do? All these crazy emotions hit

1339
01:13:10,640 --> 01:13:14,000
Speaker 1: home when you're hearing I hear you say they guarantee,

1340
01:13:14,040 --> 01:13:17,400
Speaker 1: they signed a check. Were any of those emotions of

1341
01:13:17,640 --> 01:13:20,559
Speaker 1: doubt creeping in at all? Like, oh my god, this

1342
01:13:20,720 --> 01:13:22,479
Speaker 1: is no doubt.

1343
01:13:22,960 --> 01:13:27,240
Speaker 2: It just was a It was more motivation to what

1344
01:13:27,320 --> 01:13:31,679
Speaker 2: you said around. Now you have an added responsibility because

1345
01:13:31,720 --> 01:13:37,240
Speaker 2: you're now responsible for their relationship, for their credibility, for

1346
01:13:37,280 --> 01:13:40,960
Speaker 2: their guarantees, and for the money that they're putting into

1347
01:13:41,040 --> 01:13:43,439
Speaker 2: this project, because these projects.

1348
01:13:42,960 --> 01:13:43,639
Speaker 3: Are not cheap.

1349
01:13:44,160 --> 01:13:46,920
Speaker 2: It was a ten unit, you know, building, but it's

1350
01:13:47,080 --> 01:13:49,000
Speaker 2: it was still like ten million dollars.

1351
01:13:51,439 --> 01:13:52,920
Speaker 3: Oh my god. Yeah.

1352
01:13:53,360 --> 01:13:57,599
Speaker 2: So every day I would you know, when the staff

1353
01:13:57,680 --> 01:14:01,880
Speaker 2: and like I said, it's we have nothing more valuable

1354
01:14:02,439 --> 01:14:06,920
Speaker 2: than people's faith in people's trust. If that moves, this

1355
01:14:07,120 --> 01:14:12,120
Speaker 2: organization doesn't exist because of those two things that motivated

1356
01:14:12,120 --> 01:14:14,280
Speaker 2: me to do that more it was almost like I

1357
01:14:14,360 --> 01:14:17,240
Speaker 2: became a protector of that, like we were not going

1358
01:14:17,320 --> 01:14:21,320
Speaker 2: to do anything to put them in a bad situation

1359
01:14:21,800 --> 01:14:22,680
Speaker 2: no matter what.

1360
01:14:23,240 --> 01:14:25,840
Speaker 1: So your your integrity at the end of the day

1361
01:14:26,040 --> 01:14:30,760
Speaker 1: is the staple of the organizer. That's that integrity there, absolutely, yeah,

1362
01:14:30,800 --> 01:14:35,519
Speaker 1: because I would have been on the phone like, oh,

1363
01:14:35,560 --> 01:14:40,240
Speaker 1: what did I get it? If someone hands me any

1364
01:14:40,320 --> 01:14:43,160
Speaker 1: level of responsibility, I go into a deep dive of

1365
01:14:44,560 --> 01:14:50,360
Speaker 1: can I complete whatever I said? I can't complete? You know,

1366
01:14:50,920 --> 01:14:54,160
Speaker 1: But that's that's that's cool to hear that you you

1367
01:14:54,240 --> 01:14:57,000
Speaker 1: knew that. The strength of it was the faith in

1368
01:14:57,040 --> 01:14:57,639
Speaker 1: the trust of the.

1369
01:14:57,560 --> 01:14:59,120
Speaker 3: Relationship, the faith in the trust.

1370
01:14:59,160 --> 01:15:01,800
Speaker 2: And I think the motive aiding factor goes back to

1371
01:15:01,920 --> 01:15:05,240
Speaker 2: my parents, particularly my mom. She's a go get her,

1372
01:15:05,400 --> 01:15:08,519
Speaker 2: as a country will say, a whipper snapper, and she

1373
01:15:08,600 --> 01:15:12,520
Speaker 2: doesn't you know turn you know, everything is not no.

1374
01:15:12,520 --> 01:15:17,680
Speaker 4: No means maybe or not right now or not right now,

1375
01:15:17,960 --> 01:15:22,960
Speaker 4: maybe later, maybe later, Yeah, but it's never no.

1376
01:15:23,120 --> 01:15:27,280
Speaker 2: And I think that motivating fact yeah, and she's like

1377
01:15:27,360 --> 01:15:30,519
Speaker 2: that to the day. It really motivated me because I

1378
01:15:30,560 --> 01:15:33,599
Speaker 2: was excited to have the partnership. And you know how

1379
01:15:33,800 --> 01:15:38,439
Speaker 2: you you know, in an entrepreneurial facing place, you know,

1380
01:15:38,479 --> 01:15:41,240
Speaker 2: you get told a lot no, A lot of people

1381
01:15:41,280 --> 01:15:44,360
Speaker 2: tell you no or not right now or maybe, and

1382
01:15:44,520 --> 01:15:47,760
Speaker 2: it drags and drags and drags, and then you get

1383
01:15:47,800 --> 01:15:50,320
Speaker 2: to a point where somebody says yes, and you don't

1384
01:15:50,320 --> 01:15:52,640
Speaker 2: want to let that yes go and you want that

1385
01:15:52,800 --> 01:15:56,120
Speaker 2: yes to continue to turn into yeses and yeses and yeses,

1386
01:15:56,200 --> 01:15:58,960
Speaker 2: and and that's what happened because they believed in what

1387
01:15:59,000 --> 01:15:59,360
Speaker 2: we did.

1388
01:16:00,120 --> 01:16:00,400
Speaker 3: Yeah.

1389
01:16:00,600 --> 01:16:03,760
Speaker 1: Now, now trying to get into your business kool aid.

1390
01:16:03,840 --> 01:16:06,720
Speaker 1: But you have the non profit side, yes, then you

1391
01:16:06,720 --> 01:16:10,280
Speaker 1: have the for profit side. Can you explain when the

1392
01:16:10,320 --> 01:16:14,280
Speaker 1: for profit side came in and why you felt the

1393
01:16:14,360 --> 01:16:18,160
Speaker 1: need to add the for profit c RCD Enterprises side.

1394
01:16:18,400 --> 01:16:20,920
Speaker 3: So the founders five of us.

1395
01:16:21,800 --> 01:16:23,679
Speaker 1: Oh, there's five founders, five founders.

1396
01:16:23,680 --> 01:16:26,680
Speaker 3: So is myself knowing me so to?

1397
01:16:27,080 --> 01:16:28,720
Speaker 1: I was going to ask about her. She's still here.

1398
01:16:29,600 --> 01:16:32,280
Speaker 2: Yep, she's not with c r c D, but she's

1399
01:16:32,320 --> 01:16:35,080
Speaker 2: still doing good work in the community. You go or

1400
01:16:35,080 --> 01:16:38,519
Speaker 2: tease Fernando Miranda, I have a crush on him, and

1401
01:16:38,760 --> 01:16:39,680
Speaker 2: roof Tie I'll let him.

1402
01:16:41,720 --> 01:16:44,720
Speaker 1: Whenever he would come around him, I would look over

1403
01:16:47,520 --> 01:16:52,479
Speaker 1: that skept seeker just so you know. I how long

1404
01:16:52,520 --> 01:16:54,560
Speaker 1: do you think you guys would have never suspected it?

1405
01:16:54,640 --> 01:16:57,840
Speaker 2: Huh oh, well, you know he has charming ways with them,

1406
01:16:57,840 --> 01:17:01,320
Speaker 2: but very very cool.

1407
01:17:04,360 --> 01:17:07,439
Speaker 1: Tax someone showed up.

1408
01:17:08,640 --> 01:17:10,759
Speaker 3: He definitely helps us to close some deals.

1409
01:17:10,840 --> 01:17:15,000
Speaker 1: Listen, yeah, you know personality. Yeah, so he's a founder.

1410
01:17:15,160 --> 01:17:19,160
Speaker 2: He's a founder. Hugo ortis an ami solo myself and

1411
01:17:19,320 --> 01:17:22,599
Speaker 2: roof Teago Tea so roof.

1412
01:17:22,479 --> 01:17:26,160
Speaker 3: Tig was co founder, and roof Tiak was actually.

1413
01:17:25,760 --> 01:17:30,960
Speaker 2: My former fiance and she passed at the early age

1414
01:17:30,960 --> 01:17:35,640
Speaker 2: of forty six. And she was one of the original

1415
01:17:35,720 --> 01:17:39,840
Speaker 2: funders or financers of our projects because she worked for

1416
01:17:39,880 --> 01:17:43,920
Speaker 2: a group called Corporation for Support of Housing and she

1417
01:17:44,360 --> 01:17:50,919
Speaker 2: ushered in financing projects for young people, for affordable housing projects.

1418
01:17:50,920 --> 01:17:54,240
Speaker 2: And she was the you know, pretty much the captain

1419
01:17:54,439 --> 01:17:57,800
Speaker 2: or pushing groups like ours and others that she's not

1420
01:17:57,920 --> 01:18:01,680
Speaker 2: financing you if they're not archite, actually pleasing, if they

1421
01:18:01,720 --> 01:18:04,960
Speaker 2: don't have the same amenities that you and I would like.

1422
01:18:05,520 --> 01:18:08,880
Speaker 2: So our buildings have air conditions because some people feel

1423
01:18:08,920 --> 01:18:12,040
Speaker 2: like people don't need air condition they need fans, they

1424
01:18:12,080 --> 01:18:16,200
Speaker 2: need to have community space, they need good lighting, you know,

1425
01:18:16,600 --> 01:18:18,400
Speaker 2: it needs to be pleasing to the eye.

1426
01:18:18,800 --> 01:18:21,880
Speaker 3: They need walkable space. So all of these things was

1427
01:18:21,880 --> 01:18:22,519
Speaker 3: the priority.

1428
01:18:22,960 --> 01:18:26,000
Speaker 2: But she was in a position of leadership where we

1429
01:18:26,000 --> 01:18:30,479
Speaker 2: were able to access grants and acquisition financing to support

1430
01:18:30,520 --> 01:18:34,200
Speaker 2: our projects. And she went on to help finance a

1431
01:18:34,200 --> 01:18:37,880
Speaker 2: lot of projects for Little Tokyo Service Center and many

1432
01:18:37,920 --> 01:18:41,840
Speaker 2: other groups in Los Angeles that supported housing people that

1433
01:18:41,880 --> 01:18:42,719
Speaker 2: were un housed.

1434
01:18:43,720 --> 01:18:45,679
Speaker 3: Yeah, now, and that's what.

1435
01:18:45,880 --> 01:18:52,960
Speaker 1: That's my roothplace, correct, Okay, Now I got to get

1436
01:18:52,960 --> 01:18:57,360
Speaker 1: into this part. So she was, Yes, she sounds like

1437
01:18:57,400 --> 01:19:00,919
Speaker 1: an incredible person. She played a huge in the community,

1438
01:19:01,680 --> 01:19:05,920
Speaker 1: and her vision of making sure the playing field was

1439
01:19:05,960 --> 01:19:09,759
Speaker 1: fair and comfortable is really beautiful. With that being said,

1440
01:19:10,160 --> 01:19:13,679
Speaker 1: she was your fiance while your company is growing, how

1441
01:19:13,720 --> 01:19:16,719
Speaker 1: did you deal with the grief of her. This sounds

1442
01:19:16,720 --> 01:19:17,799
Speaker 1: like an early passing.

1443
01:19:18,160 --> 01:19:20,960
Speaker 2: It was an early pass So this year will be

1444
01:19:22,160 --> 01:19:26,840
Speaker 2: fifteen years or nearly sixteen years ago, and so it

1445
01:19:26,920 --> 01:19:30,920
Speaker 2: was the early passing into the life cycle of CRCD.

1446
01:19:31,240 --> 01:19:33,040
Speaker 1: Yeah, and you're still young at this point.

1447
01:19:33,120 --> 01:19:34,320
Speaker 3: I'm still young.

1448
01:19:34,800 --> 01:19:37,880
Speaker 1: So this is five years in so you're probably thirty two.

1449
01:19:38,160 --> 01:19:41,639
Speaker 2: I'm thirty two, a third round thirty two, thirty three.

1450
01:19:42,240 --> 01:19:43,559
Speaker 3: Yeah, so you know.

1451
01:19:44,080 --> 01:19:46,840
Speaker 1: Shed than how are you? It was unsuspected?

1452
01:19:47,479 --> 01:19:51,759
Speaker 2: It was it was unsuspected because she was diagnosed with cancer.

1453
01:19:52,240 --> 01:19:54,800
Speaker 3: She had been fighting it for a while. So when

1454
01:19:54,840 --> 01:19:56,479
Speaker 3: she got war.

1455
01:19:56,320 --> 01:19:59,639
Speaker 2: Ill, that's when it became unexpected because I just never

1456
01:19:59,760 --> 01:20:03,719
Speaker 2: thought that it would happen. I never, you know, live

1457
01:20:03,840 --> 01:20:06,920
Speaker 2: with or had a family member, and definitely not live

1458
01:20:07,040 --> 01:20:11,599
Speaker 2: with someone that you know, had that terrible disease. And

1459
01:20:11,680 --> 01:20:15,880
Speaker 2: so for me, it was highly unexpected and it was

1460
01:20:16,040 --> 01:20:18,400
Speaker 2: like bam, you know, how did.

1461
01:20:18,280 --> 01:20:22,599
Speaker 1: You deal with the grief? At the same time, like

1462
01:20:22,640 --> 01:20:25,240
Speaker 1: how did you not trying to get in there? But

1463
01:20:25,360 --> 01:20:28,080
Speaker 1: how do you get to that next milestone? Does your

1464
01:20:28,200 --> 01:20:31,519
Speaker 1: partners say fall back? Do you take a break? I

1465
01:20:31,560 --> 01:20:32,880
Speaker 1: don't know how.

1466
01:20:32,520 --> 01:20:37,880
Speaker 2: How So for me again, you know, another shift in

1467
01:20:37,880 --> 01:20:41,960
Speaker 2: my life. I had family support, and then I had

1468
01:20:42,000 --> 01:20:48,400
Speaker 2: boards support, other community partners support, and of course people

1469
01:20:48,400 --> 01:20:51,719
Speaker 2: thought I would fall back and just take a break.

1470
01:20:52,200 --> 01:20:54,240
Speaker 2: You know, I think I took like two weeks off

1471
01:20:54,560 --> 01:20:57,479
Speaker 2: and I got right in and just started working. The

1472
01:20:57,560 --> 01:21:00,559
Speaker 2: best thing that worked for me was to work and

1473
01:21:00,640 --> 01:21:04,679
Speaker 2: continue what she and I helped to start, and there

1474
01:21:04,680 --> 01:21:07,040
Speaker 2: were a lot of things that she wanted to see

1475
01:21:07,479 --> 01:21:10,599
Speaker 2: continue to happen, and so there was no one else

1476
01:21:11,080 --> 01:21:13,559
Speaker 2: that was going to be able to do that but me.

1477
01:21:14,120 --> 01:21:17,680
Speaker 2: One of them was the creation of CRCD Enterprises. That

1478
01:21:17,880 --> 01:21:21,360
Speaker 2: was a big piece of what she wanted to see happened,

1479
01:21:21,439 --> 01:21:25,360
Speaker 2: because to sustain an organization or to do be as

1480
01:21:25,400 --> 01:21:29,360
Speaker 2: creative as possible, you needed to have a social enterprise,

1481
01:21:29,760 --> 01:21:34,000
Speaker 2: an entity that had the flexibility outside of a nonprofit

1482
01:21:34,520 --> 01:21:38,479
Speaker 2: kind of structure because you're restricted by the brands that

1483
01:21:38,520 --> 01:21:44,559
Speaker 2: you have, or you're restricted by any funders priorities. But

1484
01:21:44,720 --> 01:21:47,840
Speaker 2: as a business, you can not necessarily do what you want,

1485
01:21:48,080 --> 01:21:48,759
Speaker 2: but you can.

1486
01:21:48,680 --> 01:21:51,440
Speaker 3: Prioritize what's needed for the community.

1487
01:21:51,840 --> 01:21:55,880
Speaker 2: And so creating CRCD Enterprises and her being able to

1488
01:21:55,920 --> 01:22:01,720
Speaker 2: see us obtain our contractor's license was the pathway that

1489
01:22:01,760 --> 01:22:03,920
Speaker 2: she supported particularly.

1490
01:22:03,920 --> 01:22:08,240
Speaker 1: Able to see it. So their motivation was really to

1491
01:22:08,280 --> 01:22:11,920
Speaker 1: fulfill that that dream. So it was that's a that's

1492
01:22:11,920 --> 01:22:16,560
Speaker 1: a beautiful, beautiful story. So when you're dealing with a nonprofit,

1493
01:22:16,760 --> 01:22:19,400
Speaker 1: is it that the need of the social enterprises was?

1494
01:22:19,479 --> 01:22:22,160
Speaker 1: When you're dealing with the nonprofit, you have more restricted

1495
01:22:22,200 --> 01:22:25,720
Speaker 1: dollars than dollars than unrestricted unrestricted.

1496
01:22:26,240 --> 01:22:28,880
Speaker 2: You know a lot of nonprofits, you know, we fight

1497
01:22:29,000 --> 01:22:33,559
Speaker 2: hard to obtain dollars that are unrestricted, whereas with the

1498
01:22:33,560 --> 01:22:37,320
Speaker 2: social enterprise, we're able to generate and come through fee

1499
01:22:37,400 --> 01:22:41,479
Speaker 2: for service contracts that are not like construction, that are

1500
01:22:41,520 --> 01:22:44,320
Speaker 2: not restricted. I mean, we have to deliver, but they're

1501
01:22:44,360 --> 01:22:49,120
Speaker 2: not restricted. When the income passes over as profit and overhead,

1502
01:22:49,520 --> 01:22:51,480
Speaker 2: we're able to use those dollars.

1503
01:22:51,160 --> 01:22:52,479
Speaker 3: In more flexible ways.

1504
01:22:52,800 --> 01:22:55,960
Speaker 2: We're able to keep programs open on the lights on,

1505
01:22:56,439 --> 01:23:00,639
Speaker 2: if you may say, when they're funding restrictions that would

1506
01:23:00,680 --> 01:23:01,640
Speaker 2: have prohibited.

1507
01:23:01,280 --> 01:23:02,040
Speaker 3: Us from doing that.

1508
01:23:02,439 --> 01:23:06,160
Speaker 2: So a lot of the construction training programs like MC three,

1509
01:23:06,760 --> 01:23:10,519
Speaker 2: we now have a wonderful partnership with LA County to

1510
01:23:10,600 --> 01:23:14,400
Speaker 2: do lead remediation. We call it the Letterbatement program. There's

1511
01:23:14,439 --> 01:23:18,440
Speaker 2: an excellent program. Both programs are excellent because they're pathways

1512
01:23:18,439 --> 01:23:22,160
Speaker 2: into the painters union, pathways into the labor and local

1513
01:23:22,560 --> 01:23:27,960
Speaker 2: local LAOC you know and Local three hundred and with Latderbatemen,

1514
01:23:28,040 --> 01:23:31,599
Speaker 2: and a lot of these pathways, folks are prevailing wages.

1515
01:23:31,840 --> 01:23:34,120
Speaker 1: And that's that was gonna be my next question. A

1516
01:23:34,120 --> 01:23:36,280
Speaker 1: lot of the trades that I see you training these

1517
01:23:36,360 --> 01:23:40,160
Speaker 1: jobs when people exit the program, they're not minimum wage jobs.

1518
01:23:40,280 --> 01:23:42,439
Speaker 1: These are what would you say the average like.

1519
01:23:42,760 --> 01:23:47,040
Speaker 2: So for US, if we have for letterbatement, we'll start

1520
01:23:47,080 --> 01:23:48,200
Speaker 2: with that program.

1521
01:23:48,560 --> 01:23:51,200
Speaker 3: When they're doing lad remediation in.

1522
01:23:51,200 --> 01:23:54,920
Speaker 2: The training program, which is roughly about seven hundred to

1523
01:23:54,920 --> 01:23:58,519
Speaker 2: twelve hundred hours of training. So when they leave, they

1524
01:23:58,600 --> 01:24:01,880
Speaker 2: leave US as an APPRINT level two or three, which

1525
01:24:01,920 --> 01:24:04,559
Speaker 2: is a big deal on your paycheck. So while they're

1526
01:24:04,560 --> 01:24:09,680
Speaker 2: in the program, they're earning anywhere between thirty and fifty.

1527
01:24:09,360 --> 01:24:10,040
Speaker 3: Dollars an hour.

1528
01:24:10,200 --> 01:24:15,160
Speaker 1: That's great, you know, with benefits, with benef with benefits, wow.

1529
01:24:15,200 --> 01:24:15,439
Speaker 3: You know.

1530
01:24:15,640 --> 01:24:18,640
Speaker 2: And that's while in the training. So when they graduate

1531
01:24:18,760 --> 01:24:21,639
Speaker 2: from US and they move on to the Painters Union

1532
01:24:21,680 --> 01:24:25,320
Speaker 2: and now they're at apprintice level three, let's say, you know,

1533
01:24:25,360 --> 01:24:27,880
Speaker 2: they're at fifty five bucks an hour and above when

1534
01:24:27,920 --> 01:24:30,280
Speaker 2: they're working on a prevailing wage project.

1535
01:24:30,360 --> 01:24:30,719
Speaker 3: Wow.

1536
01:24:30,760 --> 01:24:33,920
Speaker 2: And most of the most, if not all, of the

1537
01:24:33,960 --> 01:24:38,360
Speaker 2: affordable housing projects that are funded by state bond money

1538
01:24:38,760 --> 01:24:43,000
Speaker 2: has a project labor agreement or community agreement in place

1539
01:24:43,439 --> 01:24:46,200
Speaker 2: where contractors have to pay those wages.

1540
01:24:46,760 --> 01:24:49,240
Speaker 3: Wow. Yeah, that's wow.

1541
01:24:49,479 --> 01:24:54,559
Speaker 1: Impressive, very impressive. And then my last question I have

1542
01:24:54,760 --> 01:25:00,240
Speaker 1: in my head is does CRCD Enterprises end up doing,

1543
01:25:01,000 --> 01:25:05,120
Speaker 1: if not all, majority of the build development projects for

1544
01:25:05,160 --> 01:25:05,840
Speaker 1: you that so.

1545
01:25:05,720 --> 01:25:08,200
Speaker 2: That's the goal, that's always been the goal, that we're

1546
01:25:08,280 --> 01:25:14,120
Speaker 2: the go to general contractor for the development team. We're

1547
01:25:14,160 --> 01:25:16,240
Speaker 2: you know, a little ways away from doing a ground

1548
01:25:16,360 --> 01:25:21,320
Speaker 2: up project of that size because yeah, and because you

1549
01:25:21,400 --> 01:25:24,920
Speaker 2: have to get bonding and you know you and bonding

1550
01:25:25,160 --> 01:25:29,840
Speaker 2: requires everything, including your kids and you know, I mean

1551
01:25:29,880 --> 01:25:31,360
Speaker 2: they go real deep in.

1552
01:25:32,040 --> 01:25:33,479
Speaker 3: It's just not a credit score.

1553
01:25:33,960 --> 01:25:37,760
Speaker 2: They want to know everything and they want even more guarantees.

1554
01:25:38,560 --> 01:25:42,320
Speaker 2: And so we're getting to where we can bond to

1555
01:25:42,600 --> 01:25:47,000
Speaker 2: build a twenty five thirty million dollars construction project.

1556
01:25:47,360 --> 01:25:48,960
Speaker 3: We're doing a lot of rehab now.

1557
01:25:49,040 --> 01:25:51,680
Speaker 2: We do come in as a sub to do a

1558
01:25:51,720 --> 01:25:56,360
Speaker 2: lot of the interior exterior decorative painting or professional painting.

1559
01:25:56,640 --> 01:26:00,200
Speaker 2: So our guys and girls are earning prevailing wages. But

1560
01:26:00,280 --> 01:26:04,400
Speaker 2: we're close to doing ground up. We are general contractors

1561
01:26:04,560 --> 01:26:07,400
Speaker 2: on the last two projects that they're doing. They're all

1562
01:26:07,920 --> 01:26:11,000
Speaker 2: you know, rehab projects right now, and so you know,

1563
01:26:11,080 --> 01:26:11,679
Speaker 2: the team.

1564
01:26:11,560 --> 01:26:14,000
Speaker 3: Is moving forward. It's a it's a slow grind.

1565
01:26:14,120 --> 01:26:16,000
Speaker 2: I mean, our team wants to get at it now,

1566
01:26:16,120 --> 01:26:18,760
Speaker 2: but that's not quite how it works and how it's

1567
01:26:18,760 --> 01:26:19,160
Speaker 2: set up.

1568
01:26:19,360 --> 01:26:23,439
Speaker 1: I love it. I love it all. So where can

1569
01:26:23,800 --> 01:26:27,439
Speaker 1: people find out more information? Did we cover everything or

1570
01:26:27,479 --> 01:26:29,479
Speaker 1: is there a future projects or anything we need to

1571
01:26:29,479 --> 01:26:29,880
Speaker 1: know about.

1572
01:26:30,680 --> 01:26:33,920
Speaker 3: I mean there's just ongoing on going construction projects.

1573
01:26:33,960 --> 01:26:37,200
Speaker 2: I mean, we do have our Business Source Center that's

1574
01:26:37,960 --> 01:26:41,519
Speaker 2: contracted with the City of Los Angeles, whereas working with

1575
01:26:41,600 --> 01:26:46,400
Speaker 2: businesses to get them tapped into resources and entrepreneurs helping

1576
01:26:46,439 --> 01:26:50,160
Speaker 2: other entrepreneurs. I will say, what's new is that we

1577
01:26:50,360 --> 01:26:55,960
Speaker 2: created the CRCD Community Loan Fund where we will become

1578
01:26:56,000 --> 01:26:59,559
Speaker 2: a lender in the community separate entity of course for

1579
01:26:59,600 --> 01:27:03,320
Speaker 2: a proper so that we can work with banks and

1580
01:27:03,520 --> 01:27:08,760
Speaker 2: larger community development financial institutions to get money into the

1581
01:27:08,760 --> 01:27:12,960
Speaker 2: hands of entrepreneurs and small businesses to help them thrive.

1582
01:27:13,479 --> 01:27:16,680
Speaker 2: And so that's new on the horizon that we're working on.

1583
01:27:16,760 --> 01:27:19,760
Speaker 2: But we have it set up. We are down licensed,

1584
01:27:20,080 --> 01:27:22,760
Speaker 2: went to State of California to do lending and we

1585
01:27:22,800 --> 01:27:26,599
Speaker 2: did receive a technical assistance grant, went to Treasury Department

1586
01:27:26,640 --> 01:27:31,120
Speaker 2: to get our Community Development Financial Institution certification.

1587
01:27:31,240 --> 01:27:33,479
Speaker 3: Going that's a lot. That's a lot.

1588
01:27:33,720 --> 01:27:39,960
Speaker 1: So where can everybody keep up with Coalition for Responsible

1589
01:27:40,200 --> 01:27:41,920
Speaker 1: Community Development?

1590
01:27:42,240 --> 01:27:45,200
Speaker 3: So One easy way is our website. It's kind of

1591
01:27:45,280 --> 01:27:49,000
Speaker 3: loan is www dot coalition are.

1592
01:27:50,400 --> 01:27:57,000
Speaker 2: Its www dot Coalition RCD dot org. And that's the

1593
01:27:57,040 --> 01:28:01,160
Speaker 2: same social media handle for Instagram and.

1594
01:28:02,720 --> 01:28:05,679
Speaker 3: Meta and all that Coalition r c D. You can see,

1595
01:28:05,720 --> 01:28:06,880
Speaker 3: I don't use it that much.

1596
01:28:07,040 --> 01:28:11,080
Speaker 1: Yeah. And then for the enterprises side, where would they

1597
01:28:11,080 --> 01:28:11,599
Speaker 1: find out more?

1598
01:28:11,960 --> 01:28:15,920
Speaker 2: So more information for the mprise side is www dot

1599
01:28:16,000 --> 01:28:16,559
Speaker 2: c r c.

1600
01:28:16,760 --> 01:28:20,200
Speaker 3: D, E n T dot com dot com.

1601
01:28:20,240 --> 01:28:25,160
Speaker 2: And for partners you have cr W www dot c

1602
01:28:25,439 --> 01:28:27,839
Speaker 2: r c D Partners dot com.

1603
01:28:27,960 --> 01:28:30,479
Speaker 1: Okay, Now, if someone wants to go to one of

1604
01:28:30,479 --> 01:28:32,840
Speaker 1: the sites their links to link them all together to

1605
01:28:32,880 --> 01:28:34,680
Speaker 1: some you'll.

1606
01:28:34,439 --> 01:28:37,479
Speaker 2: Still be able to get to each of the sites,

1607
01:28:37,520 --> 01:28:40,840
Speaker 2: but you can learn more about each of those companies

1608
01:28:41,320 --> 01:28:43,679
Speaker 2: and who's leading those companies and so forth.

1609
01:28:43,960 --> 01:28:46,920
Speaker 1: Okay, cool, Well, thank you so much for feeding me.

1610
01:28:47,040 --> 01:28:49,439
Speaker 1: I'm going to finish the mail the second we rep

1611
01:28:49,600 --> 01:28:51,840
Speaker 1: and thank you so much for your time. I really

1612
01:28:51,880 --> 01:28:55,920
Speaker 1: appreciate hearing your story from the horse's mouth directly. No

1613
01:28:56,040 --> 01:29:00,000
Speaker 1: more rumors on how and when. Thank you so much

1614
01:29:00,040 --> 01:29:01,960
Speaker 1: for your time. We really are thankful for what you

1615
01:29:02,000 --> 01:29:04,000
Speaker 1: do for the community and for are you.

1616
01:29:04,479 --> 01:29:06,080
Speaker 3: Thank you very much for having me.

1617
01:29:06,040 --> 01:29:14,280
Speaker 1: Thanks for tuning in. Peace Out for more. Eating while

1618
01:29:14,360 --> 01:29:18,320
Speaker 1: Broke from iHeartRadio and The Black Effect, Visit the iHeartRadio app,

1619
01:29:18,439 --> 01:29:21,519
Speaker 1: Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.