WEBVTT
00:00:01.919 --> 00:00:04.400
Welcome to Eight Principles Voices.
00:00:04.719 --> 00:00:07.519
Conversations with those who are making a difference.
00:00:07.679 --> 00:00:11.919
I'm your host, Larry Johnson, founder of the Eight Principles.
00:00:12.160 --> 00:00:18.559
Now join me as I welcome this week's guest, as they invite us to come along on their journey.
00:00:18.879 --> 00:00:19.679
Hi, everybody.
00:00:19.760 --> 00:00:25.920
It's Larry Johnson, your host for Eight Principles Voices, and you're going to enjoy, really enjoy our guest today.
00:00:26.000 --> 00:00:27.600
It's someone I met just recently.
00:00:27.760 --> 00:00:30.000
You know, you just never know when you're going to meet people you really like.
00:00:30.160 --> 00:00:34.399
If you just keep your eyes open, you meet people and you just learn so much.
00:00:34.560 --> 00:00:40.719
And so I met Eduardo at a donor event, I guess it was in California not too long ago.
00:00:40.880 --> 00:00:43.600
And I was just really taken with his story and what he does.
00:00:43.679 --> 00:00:47.520
And so I wanted to bring him on the show, Eduardo Regal.
00:00:47.759 --> 00:00:58.719
And he is the CEO or the executive director of Christ in the City, which is an urban ministry that has several locations, and he's in Denver.
00:00:58.880 --> 00:01:01.200
So I'll let him tell you a little bit about himself.
00:01:01.359 --> 00:01:03.280
But uh welcome, Eduardo.
00:01:03.600 --> 00:01:04.560
Thank you, Larry.
00:01:04.640 --> 00:01:06.799
Hi, thank you for having me on your podcast.
00:01:06.959 --> 00:01:08.640
This is a it's a blessing for me.
00:01:08.959 --> 00:01:10.079
Well, it's a blessing for me.
00:01:10.159 --> 00:01:11.280
That makes two of us.
00:01:11.439 --> 00:01:14.400
Um now, and you're Peruvian, correct?
00:01:14.719 --> 00:01:15.920
Yes, I'm Peruvian.
00:01:16.000 --> 00:01:17.920
I was born in Lima in Peru.
00:01:18.319 --> 00:01:22.640
I moved to the US in 2011.
00:01:22.799 --> 00:01:25.920
So I've been living here 2014, excuse me.
00:01:26.079 --> 00:01:29.840
So I've been in the US for 11 years already.
00:01:30.000 --> 00:01:30.560
Yeah.
00:01:31.040 --> 00:01:34.400
So tell me a little bit about Christ in the city.
00:01:35.200 --> 00:01:44.159
Christ in the City, it's uh it's a very unique organization because it has like three very different goals.
00:01:44.319 --> 00:01:47.599
The first, which that are combined all together.
00:01:47.840 --> 00:01:55.680
The first one is the spiritual growth and formation of young people, young Catholic men and women.
00:01:55.920 --> 00:02:04.239
And at the same time, it's a service to the poor, which is this combination that it's it's uh, I would say not very common in in the church.
00:02:04.400 --> 00:02:05.040
No, no, that is.
00:02:05.359 --> 00:02:14.159
And we have a third goal, which is the let's say, the transformation or evangelization of the culture with the approach that we have.
00:02:14.639 --> 00:02:20.960
So a good way to uh understanding this unique combination is how it started.
00:02:21.120 --> 00:02:45.680
So maybe I can start sharing with you that uh Jonathan Reyes, uh, who in Denver, he was living in Denver, he had the uh idea of this kind of program because he was helping organizations to start and to run, and those organizations were basically about the formation of the youth.
00:02:45.840 --> 00:02:59.759
He was helping focus, he was helping the Augustine Institute, and it those organizations were about evangelization, catechesis, sharing the word of God, learning the Catholic teaching for young people.
00:03:00.080 --> 00:03:10.800
And then later he became the CEO of Catholic charities in Denver, who was an organization dedicated to serve the poor, reach out to those who were in most need.
00:03:11.520 --> 00:03:22.479
And having these experiences of these two worlds, he saw that many times these two aspects in the church are not very well connected.
00:03:22.719 --> 00:03:28.159
So he had this idea: why don't we do something that connects these two aspects?
00:03:28.240 --> 00:03:31.919
So a formation program for the youth that are growing.
00:03:32.000 --> 00:03:35.120
They are going to be the future of the church and of the world.
00:03:35.199 --> 00:03:42.639
They are going to be the future professionals, um, husbands and fathers and mothers.
00:03:42.960 --> 00:03:56.639
So, and at the same time, he said there are there is poverty in our country and in the world, and we can address that poverty with these young people that really want to serve.
00:03:56.879 --> 00:04:14.080
He saw that in the past there there was a huge division between these two worlds, but nowadays there is a new generation of young people, especially Catholics, that don't see this difference between having a good formation and spiritual life and serving the poor.
00:04:14.159 --> 00:04:15.840
So they want to serve the poor.
00:04:16.000 --> 00:04:30.639
So that's how Christ in the City became the program that we are right now, which is helping young adults to grow in their faith, to learn about the Catholic Church, to learn to be prepared for the future.
00:04:30.800 --> 00:04:41.519
And at the same time, every day we go out into the streets to reach out to those who are suffering the most, people that are living in the streets and homeless.
00:04:42.000 --> 00:04:46.560
So another interesting question.
00:04:46.720 --> 00:04:48.959
So let me ask you, let me ask you a question.
00:04:49.199 --> 00:04:50.959
How do the young people come to you?
00:04:51.120 --> 00:04:52.560
How are they recruited?
00:04:53.279 --> 00:04:57.040
Basically, word of mouth and social media, I would say.
00:04:57.279 --> 00:05:22.639
So they they share with their friends what they are doing, and they share the joy that they have found in serving for a year because our volunteers, we call them missionaries, and they give one year of their lives to do this, to have this experience in community with other young people like themselves, and to reach out to the poor every day.
00:05:22.879 --> 00:05:30.160
In Denver, we have 30 missionaries, 30 full-time volunteers, and in Philadelphia, we have 20.
00:05:30.480 --> 00:05:40.879
So they form a very beautiful community of young men and women, and they grow together and they go out to the streets together.
00:05:41.120 --> 00:05:56.560
So they enjoy being part of this group of um people that want to have the same goals, the same uh desires to grow in their faith, and at the same time to reach out to the poor and help them.
00:05:56.879 --> 00:06:03.040
So these are young people that come to you who are pretty much self-identified based on what you've said.
00:06:03.199 --> 00:06:05.920
They identify themselves, they want to be a part of this.
00:06:06.240 --> 00:06:14.240
And then um they are used um in a um in a ministry to the poor.
00:06:14.560 --> 00:06:18.720
Um, and there was something there's another thing, I was gonna say something else about that.
00:06:18.959 --> 00:06:21.920
Um, that these are what college-age kids?
00:06:22.000 --> 00:06:24.319
Are they high school, uh older?
00:06:25.360 --> 00:06:31.680
It's it's so the requirement would be 18 through 27.
00:06:32.160 --> 00:06:50.959
Most of them are, I would say between 22 to 25, usually, usually when they finish college before starting to work or doing a master's degree or something, that's when they take this gap year to volunteer.
00:06:51.439 --> 00:06:53.920
This is a street ministry, is what it is then.
00:06:54.000 --> 00:06:56.800
You're you you go down right to the streets.
00:06:57.199 --> 00:07:00.480
Um, and uh, do these people get any training?
00:07:00.560 --> 00:07:03.120
Are there what kind of supervision do they get?
00:07:03.199 --> 00:07:05.360
I'm just kind of curious is this organic?
00:07:05.439 --> 00:07:06.319
How does it work?
00:07:06.720 --> 00:07:13.439
Yes, at the beginning of the year, we have like almost three weeks to a full month of training.
00:07:14.000 --> 00:07:22.240
The training begins with building the community of friends, because that is going to be key.
00:07:22.399 --> 00:07:31.360
It's a it's a it's a part that we can't miss because once they start going out to the streets, they are going to see very tough situations.
00:07:32.079 --> 00:07:36.879
So the support that they need is what we build at the beginning.
00:07:37.040 --> 00:07:41.199
This is 30 people or 20 people coming from different states, different walks of life.
00:07:41.439 --> 00:07:44.959
And they we we emphasize a lot the friendship.
00:07:45.040 --> 00:07:54.240
So they create a beautiful community that is going to become the support throughout the year for them to be able to go to the streets.
00:07:54.560 --> 00:08:00.000
We divide the community, let's say we have 30 missionaries in Philadelphia, in Denver.
00:08:00.240 --> 00:08:07.680
We divide the community in small groups, and that group becomes a team, a street team.
00:08:07.920 --> 00:08:12.639
So the same group walks the same route the whole year.
00:08:12.959 --> 00:08:15.839
So that has many uh advantages.
00:08:16.079 --> 00:08:37.600
One is that it's a small group that they really get to know each other, they really get to help each other, they walk the street together, and they meet the people living in the streets on those routes because homeless people usually live in the same area, even in the same street.
00:08:37.840 --> 00:08:41.679
So that's what that's important for us, the consistency.
00:08:41.919 --> 00:08:59.200
I'm going, we're going to share how we do our ministry later, but that that consistency of the same small community of people reaching out to a single person living in the streets every day, every month, and every year, it's very important for them.
00:08:59.759 --> 00:09:04.480
So um, these people walk the same routes, they meet a lot of the same people.
00:09:04.720 --> 00:09:07.120
Is the goal simply to befriend these people?
00:09:07.279 --> 00:09:09.519
Do they provide some sort of services?
00:09:09.600 --> 00:09:12.399
Do they find out what they need and direct them in the right way?
00:09:12.639 --> 00:09:14.240
Do they invite them to church?
00:09:14.399 --> 00:09:16.720
What's the parameters of the ministry?
00:09:17.039 --> 00:09:26.320
Yes, that's when it comes the to the interesting part because Mother Teresa had a very profound saying.
00:09:26.720 --> 00:09:34.159
She said, Many people talk about the poor, but very few people talk to the poor.
00:09:35.759 --> 00:09:36.720
Let's say that again.
00:09:36.960 --> 00:09:40.960
Repeat that very many people talk about the poor.
00:09:41.600 --> 00:09:44.559
Very few talk to the poor exactly.
00:09:44.799 --> 00:09:46.080
That's a very big difference.
00:09:46.639 --> 00:09:47.200
It is.
00:09:47.440 --> 00:09:55.279
And after walking the streets for these 12 years or so, we have found something that is important.
00:09:57.440 --> 00:10:02.559
At the root of homelessness, there are always broken relationships.
00:10:02.879 --> 00:10:10.159
There are there is crime, addictions, financial struggles, mental issues, everything.
00:10:10.399 --> 00:10:14.399
But there is one common denominator, broken relationships.
00:10:14.639 --> 00:10:26.159
Something happened at some point in the in their lives, and it could be one of the of the previous crime, it can be addiction or something, but at the end, there are broken relationships.
00:10:26.320 --> 00:10:32.960
These people that really don't have anybody in the world, anybody to reach out to.
00:10:33.519 --> 00:10:39.840
And because of that, that's why we can understand that there are many resources.
00:10:40.000 --> 00:10:45.519
There is food, there is medicine, there are shelters, there is money, there are houses.
00:10:46.159 --> 00:10:49.039
But at the same time, there are many people living in the streets.
00:10:49.120 --> 00:10:59.039
So why people living in the streets don't reach out to the many resources and money that is being offered to them in different ways?
00:10:59.600 --> 00:11:13.279
Because for many of them, I wouldn't say everybody, but for many of them, they don't have this someone or some people with them to help them to overcome their situation.
00:11:13.519 --> 00:11:20.320
So what we provide, uh, when we see this broken relationship, we provide healthy relationships.
00:11:20.399 --> 00:11:22.480
We provide friendship in Christ.
00:11:22.720 --> 00:11:26.879
We we reach out to them to get to know them.
00:11:27.039 --> 00:11:33.519
We don't offer food, we don't offer anything, we just offer friendship.
00:11:33.840 --> 00:11:42.159
You know, and uh let's talk about that because this you know, homelessness is in in some places an epidemic.
00:11:42.480 --> 00:11:48.320
Um, and uh there's all this hand-wringing about what it is and what causes it.
00:11:48.559 --> 00:12:00.159
And generally speaking, the uh the public or uh our government answer, the civil answer is to throw money at it, either through facilities or or drug rehab programs or something.
00:12:00.399 --> 00:12:08.399
But what you're saying is at the root of all of this is a lack of a relationship, the lack of human contact.
00:12:08.720 --> 00:12:15.600
And so there's no amount of material or social programming that's gonna make up the difference for that.
00:12:15.759 --> 00:12:17.039
That's not gonna compensate.
00:12:17.200 --> 00:12:30.559
So you're you what you say is that you are providing that, and as you're providing it within a Christian setting, so you're offering them the love of Christ, which enables them to connect, to reach out.
00:12:30.720 --> 00:12:37.440
Um, and then uh if if they need some sort of quote unquote services, you can direct them to the right place.
00:12:37.600 --> 00:12:39.519
But that's not what you really you're providing.
00:12:39.600 --> 00:12:42.000
You're providing friendship to these people, correct?
00:12:42.320 --> 00:12:52.960
Yes, that's that's exactly because I would say many people living in the streets, they have lost the desire to overcome their situation.
00:12:53.200 --> 00:13:00.159
They they have already assumed that they're going to be living like that and die like that.
00:13:00.399 --> 00:13:01.840
Nothing is going to change.
00:13:02.159 --> 00:13:08.080
So they've come to they've come to accept their situation, they've become passive in their situation.
00:13:09.120 --> 00:13:15.200
So even if there are if there are resources, I don't need them, I don't want them, I can't.
00:13:15.360 --> 00:13:16.639
It's very difficult.
00:13:16.879 --> 00:13:19.039
So why is that happening?
00:13:19.360 --> 00:13:25.519
Because they they see themselves, they don't want to see themselves as a problem to be fixed.
00:13:25.679 --> 00:13:33.919
What we what we say, one of our mottoes is a homeless person is not a problem to be fixed, it's a person to be loved.
00:13:34.399 --> 00:13:46.960
So once they we respect their dignity, we see them as they are, where they are at, where we see them in the in the in the uh streets and start talking to them.
00:13:47.200 --> 00:13:47.679
Yes.
00:13:47.919 --> 00:13:48.720
How are you doing?
00:13:48.799 --> 00:13:49.840
How is your day going?
00:13:50.000 --> 00:13:52.559
Tell me about your family, what are your desires?
00:13:52.799 --> 00:13:58.240
And we can at the beginning, of course, they are like a little bit uh surprised.
00:13:58.399 --> 00:13:59.919
And why are you coming?
00:14:00.080 --> 00:14:00.799
Why are you here?
00:14:01.120 --> 00:14:07.039
Okay, there's no there's a degree of suspicion, there's a degree of being closed.
00:14:07.200 --> 00:14:12.639
Um, they're afraid of being either uh hurt or to be uh what's the word?
00:14:12.799 --> 00:14:21.200
Um taking advantage of, sort of taking advantage of, um, either materially or spiritually, either one or both.
00:14:21.440 --> 00:14:25.200
Um that you know that explains a lot, Eduardo.
00:14:25.600 --> 00:14:26.879
That explains a lot.
00:14:27.519 --> 00:14:40.480
We see now that you bring the the faith aspect, one of the things that they reject very soon is people that come and want to fix their situation.
00:14:40.720 --> 00:14:50.159
That's why many case workers don't have much success because they come with a mentality, let me fix you, let me let me fix your problem, let me solve your problem.
00:14:50.480 --> 00:14:51.360
Let me fix you.
00:14:51.440 --> 00:14:52.000
I love it.
00:14:52.159 --> 00:14:53.279
Let me fix you.
00:14:53.440 --> 00:14:54.639
You know, I will solve this.
00:14:54.720 --> 00:14:56.480
You know, I'll just let me fix you.
00:14:57.039 --> 00:15:02.559
And on the other side, they they need many what they say preachers.
00:15:02.639 --> 00:15:12.320
So they don't want to be preached because they feel that it's it's another form of trying to fix me because I have I have something that is broken.
00:15:12.639 --> 00:15:16.159
It's either fix me materially or save me spiritually.
00:15:16.480 --> 00:15:17.039
Exactly.
00:15:17.279 --> 00:15:18.159
That's what they're saying.
00:15:19.039 --> 00:15:26.320
So when we approach them, we just approach as friends, as opening our friendship to them.
00:15:26.559 --> 00:15:34.480
Of course, the conversation about our faith, beginning with the name of our organization, they have their t-shirts, it says Christ in the city.
00:15:34.720 --> 00:15:43.279
The conversation about faith and God and Christ and what that comes up naturally, probably in the first, in the first conversation.
00:15:43.440 --> 00:15:46.240
That's very natural, but we don't come with that mentality.
00:15:46.320 --> 00:15:48.159
We just explain what we do.
00:15:48.559 --> 00:15:58.080
What we try to be, Christ in the city, the name is beautiful because we we aspire, we we want to be Christ, walk in the streets.
00:15:58.480 --> 00:16:01.840
We want them to see Christ in our missionaries, in us.
00:16:02.000 --> 00:16:07.679
We want them to see Christ extending their hand to them, smiling to them.
00:16:07.919 --> 00:16:12.639
But at the same time, we see Christ in the suffering.
00:16:12.799 --> 00:16:17.840
We see Christ in them that are in our friends in the streets, that's how we call them.
00:16:18.080 --> 00:16:19.440
We see Christ suffering.
00:16:19.600 --> 00:16:28.639
So we it's an encounter in which they see Christ coming to them, and we see Christ in them waiting for us to come to him.
00:16:29.519 --> 00:16:40.000
And and that's why that's why the name Christ in the city, Christ is walking the city, and we encounter Christ in the people suffering in the city.
00:16:40.480 --> 00:16:57.519
Now, um, do these um do you have um uh well I'm sure they are, but I'd be I'm I'm sure that they're invited to formal worship services at some point, uh, invited to sit to to uh either take the can the elements or whatever is needed there.
00:16:57.679 --> 00:17:03.840
Um is there a particular parish they're invited to, or is it in the street, or how is it all set up?
00:17:04.480 --> 00:17:16.960
What we usually do is we have a beautiful story of one of our friends in the streets that he was not Catholic or Christian or anything, but he got to know the a group of missionaries.
00:17:17.200 --> 00:17:23.599
And at some point, the missionaries told him that, okay, goodbye, we are going to Mass at the cathedral.
00:17:23.759 --> 00:17:25.680
And he said, Well, what's the cathedral?
00:17:25.920 --> 00:17:29.039
Well, the cathedral is this beautiful church, it's big.
00:17:29.200 --> 00:17:30.720
Okay, can I come with you?
00:17:30.880 --> 00:17:31.759
Sure, come with us.
00:17:31.920 --> 00:17:34.960
And they and he and he came to Mass with them.
00:17:35.200 --> 00:17:43.200
And the cathedral in Denver, it's beautiful because it has these amazing stain glasses that are beautiful.
00:17:43.440 --> 00:17:46.880
So he came into the cathedral and just saw this.
00:17:47.039 --> 00:17:48.559
He had never been inside.
00:17:49.039 --> 00:18:05.920
He was in awe, contemplating the beauty of the stain glasses, and then the missionary started explaining to him what were the stain glasses about, the story behind, and that was a very natural process to him to get closer to the church.
00:18:06.079 --> 00:18:07.680
Finally, he became Catholic.
00:18:07.759 --> 00:18:22.160
He came into the Catholic Church, but as this natural process, it was not an indoctrination process, it was just sharing the beauty of the faith that the missionaries uh live.
00:18:22.799 --> 00:18:24.480
And that's how he became.
00:18:24.559 --> 00:18:31.279
So we don't have um, we don't try to bring them to a service or to a mass or to an event.
00:18:31.440 --> 00:18:34.240
If it happens naturally, that's going to happen.
00:18:34.400 --> 00:18:43.200
Another beautiful story, one of our friends, uh Roy, he became sick, very, very, very sick.
00:18:43.359 --> 00:18:47.519
He was living in the streets uh because he had some alcohol issues.
00:18:47.759 --> 00:18:50.240
And one day he was about to die.
00:18:50.400 --> 00:18:57.039
And he he was admitted into the hospital, and the doctors asked him, okay, let me call your family, your friends.
00:18:57.279 --> 00:18:59.119
Probably you're not going to make it.
00:18:59.519 --> 00:19:04.079
And he said, Well, my only friends are the Christian city missionaries.
00:19:04.319 --> 00:19:13.920
So the the hospital called the missionaries and they came and they prayed with him, and they prayed for him throughout the night, the whole night.
00:19:14.000 --> 00:19:24.480
And Roy says that he was almost unconscious, and he felt the prayer of this group of young people praying for him.
00:19:24.559 --> 00:19:32.720
And he asked God, he suddenly had this desire to pray, and he prayed, God, give me one more chance.
00:19:32.880 --> 00:19:36.640
And if I make it through the night, I'm really going to recover.
00:19:37.039 --> 00:19:39.200
So he prayed with them.
00:19:39.359 --> 00:19:41.279
They prayed with him, and he prayed.
00:19:41.440 --> 00:19:44.079
Finally, he recovered, thanks be to God.
00:19:44.400 --> 00:19:49.440
And that began his process of coming out of the streets.
00:19:49.599 --> 00:19:55.759
He reconnected with his daughters, uh, and he finally had that desire.
00:19:55.920 --> 00:20:00.319
That's what I was telling you, that desire to overcome his situation.
00:20:00.960 --> 00:20:11.119
Because with friendship, one of the things that happened is once you start you become friend with someone, then you start trusting someone.
00:20:11.279 --> 00:20:12.799
So trust appears.
00:20:13.119 --> 00:20:18.400
And with trust, you become like, okay, I trust in you.
00:20:18.640 --> 00:20:24.480
If you think that I can recover and you help me, I will do it.
00:20:24.640 --> 00:20:25.839
I I can do it.
00:20:26.079 --> 00:20:30.000
And that's when the missionaries start, accompany them.
00:20:30.160 --> 00:20:41.440
Sometimes it's a very practical step, like getting an ID, because many people in the streets have have lost their documents, IDs, and social security many years ago.
00:20:41.680 --> 00:20:57.279
So start recovering the ID, going into a detox session or a court hearing, whatever they need, that's when the missionaries start accompanying these people to in the process, even housing, of course.
00:20:57.440 --> 00:21:19.200
So I think it's beautiful to see that uh friendship uh becomes into trust, and trust becomes into this desire to break the shell that is covering them, that it's not allowing them to recover uh and start the path to recover.
00:21:19.599 --> 00:21:27.440
You know, um I'm sitting here listening to this, and this is very sincere, it's very serious.
00:21:27.680 --> 00:21:30.079
That kind of thing takes time, Eduardo.
00:21:30.480 --> 00:21:32.799
So what is the tenure of these people?
00:21:32.960 --> 00:21:35.200
Are they a year, two years, three years?
00:21:35.359 --> 00:21:36.640
What sort of tenure do they have?
00:21:36.799 --> 00:21:38.640
Your your your field staff?
00:21:39.200 --> 00:21:55.599
The missionaries they do one year, which is 11 months, and if they desire, which is about 50 percent desire to do a second year, one more year, after that they have to just move on and do something else.
00:21:55.839 --> 00:21:56.079
Okay.
00:21:56.400 --> 00:22:11.920
We think that one year is or two years, it's It's a perfect time for them to grow personally and then to be able to do this very demanding ministry because it is difficult.
00:22:12.079 --> 00:22:13.440
It is it is very difficult.
00:22:13.839 --> 00:22:28.799
I can only imagine because um now do you I presume that you have relationships with um uh medical providers, with law enforcement, uh, with these kinds of things where it becomes necessary to involve these people, correct?
00:22:29.519 --> 00:22:30.160
Yes, yes.
00:22:30.240 --> 00:22:37.359
We have partnerships and connections with all kinds of organizations, beginning with law enforcement, of course.
00:22:37.599 --> 00:22:54.319
Uh we organize, so our ministry is about going into the streets, but once a week we open, um we invite them to come to a lunch that we organize in a Central Park uh in Denver and Philadelphia and downtown.
00:22:54.720 --> 00:23:00.160
So we we bring them to have a meal, and it's not a food line.
00:23:00.319 --> 00:23:07.599
Of course, there is a food line for them to get their food, but then we have chairs and tables and we sit at the park.
00:23:08.079 --> 00:23:27.039
And that's when uh we invite the bigger community, the bigger Catholic community to come and join us in this lunch, which is that's when we connect to the third goal of President City, which is about sharing what we are doing with as many people as possible.
00:23:27.200 --> 00:23:38.160
So every Wednesday when we do the lunch in the park, a different parish organizes the meal, they prepare the meal, and they come with their volunteers from each parish.
00:23:38.240 --> 00:23:48.319
Okay, and the missionaries who we already know, our homeless friends, that we we introduce them to our homeless friends to have a meal with them.
00:23:48.799 --> 00:23:53.839
Because, of course, it is intimidating to talk to a homeless person just like that.
00:23:54.640 --> 00:23:55.279
It's difficult.
00:23:55.839 --> 00:23:59.920
So, and are these held outside, inside the park, the church?
00:24:00.240 --> 00:24:09.680
Okay, outside, yes, and I'm sure that's on purpose so that there's the uh the homeless person doesn't feel threatened or maybe they're being herded into a building or whatever.
00:24:10.160 --> 00:24:15.119
Yes, many many of them feel uncomfortable in a closed space.
00:24:15.279 --> 00:24:15.680
Uh-huh.
00:24:17.039 --> 00:24:23.759
So that's why I was I was saying that um I was connecting up through law enforcement.
00:24:23.839 --> 00:24:33.279
Every now and then we have to call the police because of course if someone comes and it's like making some troubles, we have to call them.
00:24:33.440 --> 00:24:40.640
But they already know Crest in the city, they come and they are very welcoming and slowly try to help us.
00:24:40.960 --> 00:24:59.039
And that's why we partner with them, with hospitals, with shelters, with um psychologists and different people, because at some point, when the time comes, we can start accompanying our friends in the streets to all of these resources.
00:24:59.759 --> 00:25:01.839
It can take some time.
00:25:02.079 --> 00:25:05.119
We have uh another story, another beautiful story.
00:25:05.279 --> 00:25:11.599
We have uh uh uh one of our friends who was homeless for 46 years.
00:25:12.160 --> 00:25:17.279
He ran out of his house uh 12 years old.
00:25:17.680 --> 00:25:20.000
And he as a child, as a child.
00:25:20.319 --> 00:25:25.519
As a child as a child, and of course, so everything nothing worked with him.
00:25:25.680 --> 00:25:29.839
He tried working, he tried caseworkers, he tried everything, nothing worked.
00:25:29.920 --> 00:25:36.240
At some point, he decided, okay, this is my life, and he lived many, many years like that.
00:25:36.480 --> 00:25:41.359
So one day, this group of young people came to his uh tent.
00:25:41.440 --> 00:25:45.759
He was not even a tent, he was living inside a little thing close to the river.
00:25:46.720 --> 00:25:49.599
And uh they, hey, how are you doing?
00:25:49.680 --> 00:25:51.599
And the conversation started.
00:25:51.839 --> 00:26:02.160
And then uh after a while, he started saying, Hey, go away because the police is going to come, and because and they are going to kick me out of my space.
00:26:02.480 --> 00:26:18.400
So then the friendship started to uh develop, and after a while, after probably eight months, finally he decided to overcome his situation.
00:26:18.640 --> 00:26:29.039
He applied for an ID, and he finally now he lives in a very beautiful um apartment because he was able to overcome this with the friendship.
00:26:29.279 --> 00:26:33.759
So it took him about eight months.
00:26:34.000 --> 00:26:35.519
So it takes time.
00:26:35.759 --> 00:26:49.599
Oh that's why the missionaries they spend the whole year and then they when they are moving out, the new class of missionaries come and they overlap and they share the friendship that they have in the streets with a new group.
00:26:49.759 --> 00:26:55.039
Okay, and that's why they are never never abandoned, and we keep the friendship going.
00:26:55.279 --> 00:26:56.799
So there's this continuity.
00:26:57.039 --> 00:27:03.599
So you're talking about the same route, the same people, continuity over time.
00:27:03.920 --> 00:27:04.160
Yes.
00:27:04.400 --> 00:27:10.480
So we're looking, you probably have people that you work with, what, five years, six years, seven years?
00:27:10.880 --> 00:27:25.039
Yes, because of course there is a number of people living in the streets that are not necessarily going to get out of the streets because of their mental struggles, because of many, many different situations.
00:27:25.839 --> 00:27:29.759
That doesn't mean that they can't have a better life.
00:27:30.000 --> 00:27:49.599
They can have a better life even if they keep living in the streets, because there are so many complicated situations and even mental situations, that we we estimate that about 19% of homeless people are going to be chronically homeless.
00:27:49.680 --> 00:27:52.640
Let's say stay in the streets for a number of years.
00:27:52.960 --> 00:27:58.559
Most of homeless people become homeless because something happened and then they recover.
00:27:58.720 --> 00:28:01.519
They find a job, they find someone and they recover.
00:28:01.599 --> 00:28:08.160
But there is this percentage of people that are not going to be able to recover easily or never.
00:28:08.319 --> 00:28:14.799
We don't know exactly how many finally are going to live in the streets, probably for many, many years.
00:28:15.119 --> 00:28:19.839
Those are the people that we usually uh try to help the most.
00:28:20.240 --> 00:28:20.559
Okay.
00:28:21.599 --> 00:28:22.240
All right.
00:28:23.279 --> 00:28:24.640
This is fascinating.
00:28:24.880 --> 00:28:32.160
So at any given time, uh, how many how many volunteers do you have in your program at any given time on average?
00:28:32.880 --> 00:28:37.920
Um, well, we have the the 50 full-time missionaries.
00:28:38.079 --> 00:28:38.480
Yes.
00:28:38.720 --> 00:28:47.599
We have for the summer, we have another just the summer is a three-week program, about I would say 200.
00:28:47.759 --> 00:28:54.079
And then we have a short spring program for college-age students, about 300 more.
00:28:54.799 --> 00:29:07.839
And from these parishes that I was telling you, and schools and different organizations, we train about 1,000 volunteers per year in this way to approach the poor.
00:29:08.079 --> 00:29:26.160
Because not necessarily not everybody can do this ministry and go out to the streets for a year, but everybody can really discover this relational approach to homeless people more than just a transactional approach.
00:29:26.319 --> 00:29:34.720
For example, a very typical question that we get is do we give money to that homeless person in the traffic light or not?
00:29:35.359 --> 00:29:45.119
And it's a tricky question because it's first of all, it's up to every uh each one of us to decide if we give money.
00:29:45.519 --> 00:29:54.000
But I what we recommend, what I do, is first of all acknowledge the person that it's in the in this in the corner in the traffic light.
00:29:54.079 --> 00:29:58.640
And just see at that person and smile and wave if you can.
00:29:59.279 --> 00:30:07.440
That makes a big difference because people in the in the corner with a little sign that says anything help, they become invisible.
00:30:07.680 --> 00:30:09.759
And nobody sees them.
00:30:09.920 --> 00:30:12.640
And of course, we many times we feel uncomfortable.
00:30:12.799 --> 00:30:15.359
Do I see this person is going to come or not?
00:30:15.759 --> 00:30:22.000
So the first step is to acknowledge the person that you see in the traffic light.
00:30:22.160 --> 00:30:23.920
Just say hi.
00:30:24.960 --> 00:30:26.960
That's going to change their day.
00:30:27.119 --> 00:30:30.799
Even if it's just one car throughout the whole day that say, Hey, hi.
00:30:31.359 --> 00:30:33.359
That is very, very significant.
00:30:33.599 --> 00:30:41.039
The next step is to, if if possible, if if if you feel comfortable, just say, How are you doing?
00:30:41.119 --> 00:30:41.759
How is your day going?
00:30:41.920 --> 00:30:42.720
I am Eduardo.
00:30:42.799 --> 00:30:43.759
What's your name?
00:30:44.000 --> 00:30:45.440
And they would say your name.
00:30:45.519 --> 00:30:48.960
And if you can repeat their name, hey Tom, very nice to meet you.
00:30:49.200 --> 00:30:54.720
Because they many times they don't hear their name, never, not in a month or in a week.
00:30:54.880 --> 00:30:56.480
Nobody, nobody knows their name.
00:30:56.720 --> 00:31:04.960
So you're saying the way to deal with a panhandler at an intersection is to get their attention and say hello.
00:31:06.000 --> 00:31:10.480
Um, they're gonna come over and they're gonna ask you for a for a handout.
00:31:10.559 --> 00:31:11.759
How do you handle that?
00:31:12.079 --> 00:31:17.599
What I usually say, hey, I don't have any money right now, but I just wanted to say hi and I'm going to pray for you.
00:31:17.759 --> 00:31:19.119
Have a great day.
00:31:19.440 --> 00:31:24.960
If I feel comfortable, I would even extend my hand and give them a handshake.
00:31:25.119 --> 00:31:26.960
Uh I think that's beautiful.
00:31:27.200 --> 00:31:39.440
Another thing that we is very useful is to have a small bag, we call it the curkey, uh curk kit, with something that is going to be useful for them, but not necessarily money.
00:31:39.680 --> 00:31:49.440
It can be like a pair of socks and a soft granola bar, a bottle of water, uh, an apple or something, something soft in general.
00:31:49.759 --> 00:31:57.519
So that we try to keep in our cars uh something to that is going to be useful more than money.
00:31:57.920 --> 00:32:04.000
I would say in many cases, money is not the most important need that they have.
00:32:04.240 --> 00:32:11.519
The most important need for them is, first of all, to be for them to be acknowledging their dignity.
00:32:11.839 --> 00:32:12.640
I see you.
00:32:12.799 --> 00:32:18.319
You are there, you are suffering, I acknowledge you, I say hi, I offer my name.
00:32:18.640 --> 00:32:29.039
So you're saying um that someone might approach you and ask you for food, but perhaps food isn't what they're really looking for, not fundamentally, correct?
00:32:30.160 --> 00:32:34.240
Well, in that in the intersection, they they are expecting money, of course.
00:32:34.319 --> 00:32:36.480
They are there to get money.
00:32:36.880 --> 00:32:42.480
It's not up to us to judge what they are going to do with their money, because we never know.
00:32:42.640 --> 00:32:47.920
Sometimes they really need the money, sometimes they are going to use the money in the wrong way, of course.
00:32:48.319 --> 00:32:49.119
Drugs and alcohol.
00:32:49.279 --> 00:32:50.559
Yeah, yes.
00:32:51.039 --> 00:32:57.440
So that's why giving money or not, it depends on not on the judgment that we can do.
00:32:57.759 --> 00:33:01.839
I think you're going to use the money whether or not it's it's it's up to us to give money.
00:33:02.000 --> 00:33:07.599
But what we know for sure is they need their dignity to be respected.
00:33:07.759 --> 00:33:12.880
They need attention, they need someone to acknowledge that they are there, they are not invisible.
00:33:13.119 --> 00:33:15.200
That's independent of their situation.
00:33:15.359 --> 00:33:21.359
If they are alcoholics or addicts, whatever, they are still human people, human persons.
00:33:21.599 --> 00:33:25.440
And they they are longing for this connection.
00:33:25.680 --> 00:33:32.480
And that connection can be a 10 seconds, even less, exchange of, hey, how are you doing?
00:33:32.559 --> 00:33:33.279
Have a great day.
00:33:33.359 --> 00:33:34.240
I'm going to pray for you.
00:33:34.400 --> 00:33:35.200
Goodbye.
00:33:35.680 --> 00:33:37.279
That is very significant.
00:33:37.359 --> 00:33:40.160
That really changes the lives of them.
00:33:40.319 --> 00:33:45.759
We have missionaries that have been standing in the corner with them in the intersection.
00:33:46.319 --> 00:33:53.599
And they were stuck and they were really shocked to see how many people don't see them.
00:33:53.759 --> 00:33:55.359
So they are really invisible.
00:33:55.599 --> 00:34:01.519
And at the at the beginning, it was surprising, but then it became, they became shocked.
00:34:02.480 --> 00:34:03.200
We are here.
00:34:07.119 --> 00:34:08.639
So that's that's what I would say.
00:34:08.960 --> 00:34:16.960
I think the natural inclination is to is to avert your eyes, um is to avoid making eye contact.
00:34:17.119 --> 00:34:20.880
Um this person will come over and they'll want something from you.
00:34:21.039 --> 00:34:22.480
How do you handle that?
00:34:22.719 --> 00:34:28.320
Um Eduardo, when I was growing up, um my father had a rule.
00:34:28.719 --> 00:34:32.079
Um, is what I've sort of come to look for.
00:34:32.960 --> 00:34:38.000
He would never give anyone money, but he would offer them a meal.
00:34:38.719 --> 00:34:49.920
And if they took him up on it, he would go out of his way to take them to a restaurant or someplace with or a sandwich shop, wherever, where they can get a meal.
00:34:50.239 --> 00:34:51.599
Now, I have done that.
00:34:51.679 --> 00:35:04.079
I've done that when I was in younger, and then in college when I was in Pittsburgh once when this uh was a busy day, right downtown, um, you know, busy, you know, business people everywhere.
00:35:04.320 --> 00:35:06.559
And this man approaches me.
00:35:06.719 --> 00:35:13.679
Um, he didn't look homeless, but he approached me and asked me for money for food or something.
00:35:14.239 --> 00:35:18.000
I forgot what the story it was he gave me, but it sounded plausible at the time.
00:35:18.159 --> 00:35:22.159
And I said, Well, I won't give you money, but I'll give you food.
00:35:22.320 --> 00:35:23.280
He said, Sure.
00:35:23.519 --> 00:35:25.760
So we went to a local sandwich shop.
00:35:25.920 --> 00:35:31.280
I went to the cashier, I gave the cashier enough money that he could buy pretty much what he wanted.
00:35:31.519 --> 00:35:38.639
And then I then I and I think as I think back on that, you see, I was in a rush to get out of there, go back to the office.
00:35:38.880 --> 00:35:44.719
I think it would have probably been better for me to just sit with him while he had his meal, correct?
00:35:45.920 --> 00:36:01.519
If you could, yes, it's I would I wouldn't say there is a one way, because of course if you are busy or if you don't feel safe or uh it's not the right time, you can do as much as you can, and that's I think that's fine.
00:36:01.760 --> 00:36:09.039
Especially for women, for example, they yeah, it's a different for a woman, and it's a different because they it could be dangerous.
00:36:09.199 --> 00:36:25.760
So that's why I always say if you feel safe, um even if you just say this was in the middle of the day, in the middle of the week on a busy street, and he went into a sandwich shop with me, people sitting there eating, and I ordered for him.
00:36:25.920 --> 00:36:28.239
Well, no, I gave her the money and she and he ordered.
00:36:28.400 --> 00:36:32.159
So in that case, I could have sat there and and and had lunch with him.
00:36:32.239 --> 00:36:37.360
It was this wasn't in the middle of the night or a shady street or uh something else, you know.
00:36:37.440 --> 00:36:43.360
And um, but I can understand if it's if it's a if it's a female, there's a whole different set of problems, issues there.
00:36:43.599 --> 00:36:45.760
Um, and I can see that, yeah.
00:36:45.920 --> 00:37:09.280
Um I would say in general would be to uh in it, even if the in the biggest uh sense, we it's easy to give something in terms of it can be food, it can be money, it can be medical attention, it could we and the and the city and the state and the organizations can give a lot of things, which is and that is needed.
00:37:09.519 --> 00:37:19.519
Of course, they need those things that are provided, but something is still missing, which is this relational approach, this encounter, this contact.
00:37:19.599 --> 00:37:22.559
And this contact can have many different expressions.
00:37:22.800 --> 00:37:26.320
Like in our case, is we go out and sit with them in the streets.
00:37:26.559 --> 00:37:32.719
Volunteers, they come come to a lunch with at the park in an open space and they share a meal with them.
00:37:32.960 --> 00:37:37.599
It can be at the traffic light, it can be even beyond homelessness.
00:37:37.760 --> 00:37:45.679
It can be, let's say, if we have uh a grandmother that is we know she's lonely and far away and she's grumpy.
00:37:46.239 --> 00:38:15.199
I can call her, I can call her, and I can I can I can take upon me the uncomfortable moment of talking to my grumpy uncle or or friend because I want to I want to offer an encounter, I want to offer this friendship that and I think that that's why the approach is not necessarily to homeless people, but people in need that many times are around us.
00:38:15.679 --> 00:38:23.519
Who in my family, in my group of friends, in my community, in my neighborhood, needs accompaniment.
00:38:23.679 --> 00:38:27.840
They need this relational approach, this encounter.
00:38:28.079 --> 00:38:33.039
That's something I can give, and I can face rejection.
00:38:33.199 --> 00:38:35.760
Of course, in the streets, we face rejection many times.
00:38:35.920 --> 00:38:36.960
Yeah, no, I don't want.
00:38:37.199 --> 00:38:38.239
Well, goodbye.
00:38:38.480 --> 00:38:39.199
That's fine.
00:38:39.360 --> 00:38:41.519
That's part of the that's part of charity.
00:38:41.599 --> 00:38:46.559
That's part of we know that we are doing this for their own good.
00:38:46.800 --> 00:38:50.079
In our case, we do this for our faith as well.
00:38:50.239 --> 00:38:57.679
So we take upon ourselves the rejection and the uncomfortable moment of starting an awkward conversation.
00:38:58.159 --> 00:39:09.440
But everybody in our lives, we can take upon ourselves the awkward conversation with this person that it's annoying but needs help.
00:39:10.159 --> 00:39:11.119
And I can do it.
00:39:11.360 --> 00:39:12.400
I love when you said that.
00:39:12.559 --> 00:39:17.280
That's annoying because you know, you just feel that, oh, I really want to do this.
00:39:17.360 --> 00:39:19.280
I mean, do you really want to get involved with this?
00:39:19.519 --> 00:39:20.880
And there's that, yeah.
00:39:21.039 --> 00:39:30.320
And then the other thing I was thinking of when you were describing this is when Jesus says, um, when you do it to the least of these, you've done it to me.
00:39:30.559 --> 00:39:33.760
And he talks about that, what that really means.
00:39:33.920 --> 00:39:37.199
Um, and he's talking about a relationship of some kind.
00:39:37.519 --> 00:39:40.239
Uh, he's not talking about just a handout.
00:39:40.400 --> 00:39:42.079
I mean, it's easy to hand money to people.
00:39:42.159 --> 00:39:48.480
Well, we live in a very wealthy society where giving money or giving things is actually the easiest thing you can do.
00:39:48.719 --> 00:39:51.039
It's the most effortless thing you can do.
00:39:51.119 --> 00:39:52.159
It's always there.
00:39:52.400 --> 00:40:00.639
But to give them time, uh, which is uh that's the key thing, is giving them time, that that contact.
00:40:00.719 --> 00:40:02.800
You know, I never thought of it that way, Eduardo.
00:40:02.880 --> 00:40:08.800
I mean, this isn't something that is really a very occurrent subject of the homeless.
00:40:08.960 --> 00:40:14.320
And yeah, and these people are in some way disenfranchised.
00:40:14.880 --> 00:40:19.760
They might be hungry, they may not be hungry, but they are disenfranchised.
00:40:20.320 --> 00:40:24.480
And how you manage to make that reconnection.
00:40:24.639 --> 00:40:31.840
Um, either you're you you're not just feeding them or saving their soul or whatever it is that your your goal is.
00:40:31.920 --> 00:40:37.440
Uh, and it for Christ in the city, the goal is to make that contact and to make that friendship.
00:40:37.599 --> 00:40:40.000
And from wherever that leads, it leads.
00:40:40.159 --> 00:40:47.519
Um, for example, now we we have so many volunteers that we can bring them, all of them, to the lunch in the park.
00:40:47.599 --> 00:40:50.239
So this not the missionaries, but the volunteers.
00:40:50.320 --> 00:41:07.760
So we now we have opened our night ministries and we go to jails, we go to nursing houses, we go to um uh shelters as well, to places where people are just being alone and in need because, or they don't have other people.
00:41:07.920 --> 00:41:20.880
Of course, many times they they suffer some kind of poverty or or challenge, but we bring this connection, this friendship, which is come in our case, it comes out of the love of Christ.
00:41:21.199 --> 00:41:24.639
And I would say the transformation, it's amazing.
00:41:24.800 --> 00:41:40.960
It's it's it's very beautiful to see how people light up when they see these people coming and just to talk to me, just to encounter and have a conversation, a 30-minute conversation that we all have throughout the day all the time.
00:41:41.199 --> 00:41:42.079
They don't.
00:41:42.320 --> 00:41:50.719
They don't have that 30-minute conversation with someone that is really caring about me, sharing about soccer or football or something.
00:41:50.880 --> 00:41:53.440
They they they are longing for this.
00:41:54.320 --> 00:42:04.800
And it's amazing to see how these small connections become the missing piece for them to recover, to start a new life.
00:42:05.039 --> 00:42:11.039
And that is very difficult to quantify and to explain because you see how long it takes me to explain to you.
00:42:11.599 --> 00:42:20.320
Well, actually, it's pretty easy, but what you're dealing with is a lot of preconceptions that you're having to get beyond.
00:42:20.559 --> 00:42:27.039
Now, I want to move to uh this, of course, is a you're an independent lay ministry, correct?
00:42:27.199 --> 00:42:27.519
Yes.
00:42:27.679 --> 00:42:28.000
Uh-huh.
00:42:28.159 --> 00:42:31.199
It's a normal 54163, a nonprofit organization.
00:42:31.519 --> 00:42:37.440
So is this you're supported 100% by uh charity, by individual donations?
00:42:38.000 --> 00:42:38.400
Yes.
00:42:38.719 --> 00:42:54.880
So about 25% of our fundraising is done by the missionaries, which they they um reach out to their friends and family to pay for a quarter of their participation uh cost.
00:42:55.440 --> 00:42:57.840
And we fundraise the other 75%.
00:42:58.320 --> 00:43:05.280
So we do events, we have one-on-one encounters of uh ask for donors to support us.
00:43:09.360 --> 00:43:10.079
I like that.
00:43:10.239 --> 00:43:18.559
Um so um are you the head executive and the head fundraiser, or do you have somebody else that does that, or how is it set up?
00:43:19.119 --> 00:43:28.480
We have uh a development director in Denver, which is our senior development director, and another we just hired a new development director in Philadelphia.
00:43:28.559 --> 00:43:34.800
So they are they have the development and fundraising as their main goal.
00:43:35.039 --> 00:43:46.320
Of course, I have to help as many as everybody in the nonprofit world, all the the executive director, the CEO have to be very involved in the fundraising part.
00:43:46.559 --> 00:43:49.440
But we have a we have a team that is helping us with that.
00:43:50.880 --> 00:43:56.239
I like what you just said that executive directors have to have a part.
00:43:56.480 --> 00:43:59.760
There are plenty of executive directors in this world at Wardale that.
00:44:00.159 --> 00:44:02.079
Think fundraising is not their job.
00:44:02.320 --> 00:44:03.920
And it is their job.
00:44:04.239 --> 00:44:08.480
And because fundraising, you're gonna you're gonna appreciate this.
00:44:08.719 --> 00:44:24.079
As you know, the most effective fundraising is really building relationships with those who are your benefactors, your patrons, as opposed to executing a transaction of writing me a check or doing a stock transfer or whatever it is it might be.
00:44:24.239 --> 00:44:27.119
You are very much relational, and that's where you're focused.
00:44:27.199 --> 00:44:27.679
I love it.
00:44:27.920 --> 00:44:34.639
So then you are both the executive director for the one in Philadelphia and Denver at the same time?
00:44:34.960 --> 00:44:35.599
Yes, yes.
00:44:35.760 --> 00:44:35.920
Okay.
00:44:36.320 --> 00:44:39.280
So your but your residence is actually in Colorado?
00:44:39.599 --> 00:44:40.719
It's in Denver, yes.
00:44:40.800 --> 00:44:41.039
Uh-huh.
00:44:41.280 --> 00:44:41.599
Okay.
00:44:41.760 --> 00:44:42.079
Okay.
00:44:42.480 --> 00:44:45.840
Um, how often do you get out to to Pennsylvania?
00:44:46.159 --> 00:44:53.119
I try to go, it depends on the year, but I usually three or four times I try to go to Philadelphia.
00:44:53.280 --> 00:45:18.400
And I think that going back to the development part, at the very beginning, when we were starting, one of our benefactors told us that one of the things he it was tough to him because he was helping many organizations, is that many nonprofits um approach him like if he was an ATM, just giving money away.
00:45:19.119 --> 00:45:26.960
And that's that really make uh that really shocked me because yes, he's not an ATM, he's a friend of mine.
00:45:27.119 --> 00:45:31.760
He's a friend of mine, and what we want to do is come and join our mission.
00:45:31.920 --> 00:45:42.000
You can't go into the streets every day, but you can join our mission with what you can, which is your financial support, your prayers, your company, your friendship.
00:45:42.159 --> 00:46:02.719
So I think that's and for that, the the leader, the executive director or CEO has this um broad picture of the organization that it's it's important for them to welcome benefactors into joining the mission, which is what we are trying to do.
00:46:03.039 --> 00:46:07.119
Well, of course, Eduardo, you are the poster boy for this.
00:46:07.199 --> 00:46:08.159
Let me tell you.
00:46:08.320 --> 00:46:17.920
Um that uh I hate I have to admit to you, however, though, that your point of view is not at all common.
00:46:18.079 --> 00:46:27.280
Uh, more common is the transactional world, the uh uh the um I need money, I've got a good uh mission, give me money.
00:46:27.760 --> 00:46:39.679
And then um, you see, you've already mastered the fact that your patrons are people, and your patrons have a flesh and blood interest in what you do.
00:46:40.000 --> 00:46:42.800
It's just not, let me give you a check and move on.
00:46:42.960 --> 00:46:52.320
Now, I mean, I'm sure there are a few people like that, but that's not the way you approach them, and you give them the opportunity to really be a part of whatever level they want to be a part.
00:46:53.039 --> 00:46:57.039
Um, so this is I've I've really enjoyed this, Eduardo.
00:46:57.119 --> 00:46:59.199
I've gotten to know you so much better at what you do.
00:46:59.280 --> 00:47:03.119
Uh I mean I mean, I thought I knew, and now I really know.
00:47:03.440 --> 00:47:11.440
Um, so now and you said all of your missionaries each are responsible for wage raising a portion of their own personal support.
00:47:12.000 --> 00:47:18.880
Yes, they do it through Christ in the seed, of course, because that that comes to help them do the year.
00:47:19.039 --> 00:47:19.280
Right.
00:47:19.920 --> 00:47:33.039
Um, and then we do the rest of the of the fundraising because we don't want them to have to fundraise everything because then the money would become a limitation for who can apply.
00:47:33.440 --> 00:47:33.760
Oh, absolutely.
00:47:33.920 --> 00:47:40.559
And we don't want to limit the applications to the ones who have a big connection of friends or a lot of money.
00:47:40.719 --> 00:47:44.000
So that's perfect the way you do this.
00:47:44.239 --> 00:47:45.760
I really like this a lot.
00:47:45.920 --> 00:47:50.239
I want to thank you for taking your time to do this.
00:47:50.400 --> 00:47:55.280
I'm so glad that I introduced myself to you when we were in Solana Beach.
00:47:55.440 --> 00:47:56.480
That was so much fun.
00:47:56.559 --> 00:47:58.480
And I think we're gonna do this again.
00:47:58.719 --> 00:48:02.480
Um, but um um God bless you, Eduardo.
00:48:02.559 --> 00:48:03.679
You're gonna write a book soon?
00:48:03.920 --> 00:48:05.360
You're gonna write a book soon?
00:48:06.159 --> 00:48:08.079
Not yet, but maybe at some point.
00:48:08.320 --> 00:48:09.519
I think you should.
00:48:09.760 --> 00:48:10.719
I really do.
00:48:10.960 --> 00:48:16.159
Um, you know, uh, ladies and gentlemen, we've been really enjoying just getting to know Eduardo today.
00:48:16.239 --> 00:48:18.239
I have for sure, in the work that he's doing.
00:48:18.400 --> 00:48:21.199
And we're probably gonna speak to him again at some point.
00:48:21.280 --> 00:48:24.320
And I just want to thank him again for his time.
00:48:24.559 --> 00:48:28.480
And I want to thank you for taking your time to listen today.
00:48:28.639 --> 00:48:29.440
Thank you.
00:48:30.159 --> 00:48:31.440
Thank you, Larry.
00:48:33.599 --> 00:48:35.599
Thank you for listening today.
00:48:35.840 --> 00:48:41.280
Join us for our next episode when I'll have another thought provoking leader as my guest.
00:48:41.519 --> 00:48:44.079
Guest comments and opinions are their own.
00:48:44.239 --> 00:48:48.880
The recording is copyright by the eight principles, all rights reserved.
00:00:01.919 --> 00:00:04.400
Welcome to Eight Principles Voices.
00:00:04.719 --> 00:00:07.519
Conversations with those who are making a difference.
00:00:07.679 --> 00:00:11.919
I'm your host, Larry Johnson, founder of the Eight Principles.
00:00:12.160 --> 00:00:18.559
Now join me as I welcome this week's guest, as they invite us to come along on their journey.
00:00:18.879 --> 00:00:19.679
Hi, everybody.
00:00:19.760 --> 00:00:25.920
It's Larry Johnson, your host for Eight Principles Voices, and you're going to enjoy, really enjoy our guest today.
00:00:26.000 --> 00:00:27.600
It's someone I met just recently.
00:00:27.760 --> 00:00:30.000
You know, you just never know when you're going to meet people you really like.
00:00:30.160 --> 00:00:34.399
If you just keep your eyes open, you meet people and you just learn so much.
00:00:34.560 --> 00:00:40.719
And so I met Eduardo at a donor event, I guess it was in California not too long ago.
00:00:40.880 --> 00:00:43.600
And I was just really taken with his story and what he does.
00:00:43.679 --> 00:00:47.520
And so I wanted to bring him on the show, Eduardo Regal.
00:00:47.759 --> 00:00:58.719
And he is the CEO or the executive director of Christ in the City, which is an urban ministry that has several locations, and he's in Denver.
00:00:58.880 --> 00:01:01.200
So I'll let him tell you a little bit about himself.
00:01:01.359 --> 00:01:03.280
But uh welcome, Eduardo.
00:01:03.600 --> 00:01:04.560
Thank you, Larry.
00:01:04.640 --> 00:01:06.799
Hi, thank you for having me on your podcast.
00:01:06.959 --> 00:01:08.640
This is a it's a blessing for me.
00:01:08.959 --> 00:01:10.079
Well, it's a blessing for me.
00:01:10.159 --> 00:01:11.280
That makes two of us.
00:01:11.439 --> 00:01:14.400
Um now, and you're Peruvian, correct?
00:01:14.719 --> 00:01:15.920
Yes, I'm Peruvian.
00:01:16.000 --> 00:01:17.920
I was born in Lima in Peru.
00:01:18.319 --> 00:01:22.640
I moved to the US in 2011.
00:01:22.799 --> 00:01:25.920
So I've been living here 2014, excuse me.
00:01:26.079 --> 00:01:29.840
So I've been in the US for 11 years already.
00:01:30.000 --> 00:01:30.560
Yeah.
00:01:31.040 --> 00:01:34.400
So tell me a little bit about Christ in the city.
00:01:35.200 --> 00:01:44.159
Christ in the City, it's uh it's a very unique organization because it has like three very different goals.
00:01:44.319 --> 00:01:47.599
The first, which that are combined all together.
00:01:47.840 --> 00:01:55.680
The first one is the spiritual growth and formation of young people, young Catholic men and women.
00:01:55.920 --> 00:02:04.239
And at the same time, it's a service to the poor, which is this combination that it's it's uh, I would say not very common in in the church.
00:02:04.400 --> 00:02:05.040
No, no, that is.
00:02:05.359 --> 00:02:14.159
And we have a third goal, which is the let's say, the transformation or evangelization of the culture with the approach that we have.
00:02:14.639 --> 00:02:20.960
So a good way to uh understanding this unique combination is how it started.
00:02:21.120 --> 00:02:45.680
So maybe I can start sharing with you that uh Jonathan Reyes, uh, who in Denver, he was living in Denver, he had the uh idea of this kind of program because he was helping organizations to start and to run, and those organizations were basically about the formation of the youth.
00:02:45.840 --> 00:02:59.759
He was helping focus, he was helping the Augustine Institute, and it those organizations were about evangelization, catechesis, sharing the word of God, learning the Catholic teaching for young people.
00:03:00.080 --> 00:03:10.800
And then later he became the CEO of Catholic charities in Denver, who was an organization dedicated to serve the poor, reach out to those who were in most need.
00:03:11.520 --> 00:03:22.479
And having these experiences of these two worlds, he saw that many times these two aspects in the church are not very well connected.
00:03:22.719 --> 00:03:28.159
So he had this idea: why don't we do something that connects these two aspects?
00:03:28.240 --> 00:03:31.919
So a formation program for the youth that are growing.
00:03:32.000 --> 00:03:35.120
They are going to be the future of the church and of the world.
00:03:35.199 --> 00:03:42.639
They are going to be the future professionals, um, husbands and fathers and mothers.
00:03:42.960 --> 00:03:56.639
So, and at the same time, he said there are there is poverty in our country and in the world, and we can address that poverty with these young people that really want to serve.
00:03:56.879 --> 00:04:14.080
He saw that in the past there there was a huge division between these two worlds, but nowadays there is a new generation of young people, especially Catholics, that don't see this difference between having a good formation and spiritual life and serving the poor.
00:04:14.159 --> 00:04:15.840
So they want to serve the poor.
00:04:16.000 --> 00:04:30.639
So that's how Christ in the City became the program that we are right now, which is helping young adults to grow in their faith, to learn about the Catholic Church, to learn to be prepared for the future.
00:04:30.800 --> 00:04:41.519
And at the same time, every day we go out into the streets to reach out to those who are suffering the most, people that are living in the streets and homeless.
00:04:42.000 --> 00:04:46.560
So another interesting question.
00:04:46.720 --> 00:04:48.959
So let me ask you, let me ask you a question.
00:04:49.199 --> 00:04:50.959
How do the young people come to you?
00:04:51.120 --> 00:04:52.560
How are they recruited?
00:04:53.279 --> 00:04:57.040
Basically, word of mouth and social media, I would say.
00:04:57.279 --> 00:05:22.639
So they they share with their friends what they are doing, and they share the joy that they have found in serving for a year because our volunteers, we call them missionaries, and they give one year of their lives to do this, to have this experience in community with other young people like themselves, and to reach out to the poor every day.
00:05:22.879 --> 00:05:30.160
In Denver, we have 30 missionaries, 30 full-time volunteers, and in Philadelphia, we have 20.
00:05:30.480 --> 00:05:40.879
So they form a very beautiful community of young men and women, and they grow together and they go out to the streets together.
00:05:41.120 --> 00:05:56.560
So they enjoy being part of this group of um people that want to have the same goals, the same uh desires to grow in their faith, and at the same time to reach out to the poor and help them.
00:05:56.879 --> 00:06:03.040
So these are young people that come to you who are pretty much self-identified based on what you've said.
00:06:03.199 --> 00:06:05.920
They identify themselves, they want to be a part of this.
00:06:06.240 --> 00:06:14.240
And then um they are used um in a um in a ministry to the poor.
00:06:14.560 --> 00:06:18.720
Um, and there was something there's another thing, I was gonna say something else about that.
00:06:18.959 --> 00:06:21.920
Um, that these are what college-age kids?
00:06:22.000 --> 00:06:24.319
Are they high school, uh older?
00:06:25.360 --> 00:06:31.680
It's it's so the requirement would be 18 through 27.
00:06:32.160 --> 00:06:50.959
Most of them are, I would say between 22 to 25, usually, usually when they finish college before starting to work or doing a master's degree or something, that's when they take this gap year to volunteer.
00:06:51.439 --> 00:06:53.920
This is a street ministry, is what it is then.
00:06:54.000 --> 00:06:56.800
You're you you go down right to the streets.
00:06:57.199 --> 00:07:00.480
Um, and uh, do these people get any training?
00:07:00.560 --> 00:07:03.120
Are there what kind of supervision do they get?
00:07:03.199 --> 00:07:05.360
I'm just kind of curious is this organic?
00:07:05.439 --> 00:07:06.319
How does it work?
00:07:06.720 --> 00:07:13.439
Yes, at the beginning of the year, we have like almost three weeks to a full month of training.
00:07:14.000 --> 00:07:22.240
The training begins with building the community of friends, because that is going to be key.
00:07:22.399 --> 00:07:31.360
It's a it's a it's a part that we can't miss because once they start going out to the streets, they are going to see very tough situations.
00:07:32.079 --> 00:07:36.879
So the support that they need is what we build at the beginning.
00:07:37.040 --> 00:07:41.199
This is 30 people or 20 people coming from different states, different walks of life.
00:07:41.439 --> 00:07:44.959
And they we we emphasize a lot the friendship.
00:07:45.040 --> 00:07:54.240
So they create a beautiful community that is going to become the support throughout the year for them to be able to go to the streets.
00:07:54.560 --> 00:08:00.000
We divide the community, let's say we have 30 missionaries in Philadelphia, in Denver.
00:08:00.240 --> 00:08:07.680
We divide the community in small groups, and that group becomes a team, a street team.
00:08:07.920 --> 00:08:12.639
So the same group walks the same route the whole year.
00:08:12.959 --> 00:08:15.839
So that has many uh advantages.
00:08:16.079 --> 00:08:37.600
One is that it's a small group that they really get to know each other, they really get to help each other, they walk the street together, and they meet the people living in the streets on those routes because homeless people usually live in the same area, even in the same street.
00:08:37.840 --> 00:08:41.679
So that's what that's important for us, the consistency.
00:08:41.919 --> 00:08:59.200
I'm going, we're going to share how we do our ministry later, but that that consistency of the same small community of people reaching out to a single person living in the streets every day, every month, and every year, it's very important for them.
00:08:59.759 --> 00:09:04.480
So um, these people walk the same routes, they meet a lot of the same people.
00:09:04.720 --> 00:09:07.120
Is the goal simply to befriend these people?
00:09:07.279 --> 00:09:09.519
Do they provide some sort of services?
00:09:09.600 --> 00:09:12.399
Do they find out what they need and direct them in the right way?
00:09:12.639 --> 00:09:14.240
Do they invite them to church?
00:09:14.399 --> 00:09:16.720
What's the parameters of the ministry?
00:09:17.039 --> 00:09:26.320
Yes, that's when it comes the to the interesting part because Mother Teresa had a very profound saying.
00:09:26.720 --> 00:09:34.159
She said, Many people talk about the poor, but very few people talk to the poor.
00:09:35.759 --> 00:09:36.720
Let's say that again.
00:09:36.960 --> 00:09:40.960
Repeat that very many people talk about the poor.
00:09:41.600 --> 00:09:44.559
Very few talk to the poor exactly.
00:09:44.799 --> 00:09:46.080
That's a very big difference.
00:09:46.639 --> 00:09:47.200
It is.
00:09:47.440 --> 00:09:55.279
And after walking the streets for these 12 years or so, we have found something that is important.
00:09:57.440 --> 00:10:02.559
At the root of homelessness, there are always broken relationships.
00:10:02.879 --> 00:10:10.159
There are there is crime, addictions, financial struggles, mental issues, everything.
00:10:10.399 --> 00:10:14.399
But there is one common denominator, broken relationships.
00:10:14.639 --> 00:10:26.159
Something happened at some point in the in their lives, and it could be one of the of the previous crime, it can be addiction or something, but at the end, there are broken relationships.
00:10:26.320 --> 00:10:32.960
These people that really don't have anybody in the world, anybody to reach out to.
00:10:33.519 --> 00:10:39.840
And because of that, that's why we can understand that there are many resources.
00:10:40.000 --> 00:10:45.519
There is food, there is medicine, there are shelters, there is money, there are houses.
00:10:46.159 --> 00:10:49.039
But at the same time, there are many people living in the streets.
00:10:49.120 --> 00:10:59.039
So why people living in the streets don't reach out to the many resources and money that is being offered to them in different ways?
00:10:59.600 --> 00:11:13.279
Because for many of them, I wouldn't say everybody, but for many of them, they don't have this someone or some people with them to help them to overcome their situation.
00:11:13.519 --> 00:11:20.320
So what we provide, uh, when we see this broken relationship, we provide healthy relationships.
00:11:20.399 --> 00:11:22.480
We provide friendship in Christ.
00:11:22.720 --> 00:11:26.879
We we reach out to them to get to know them.
00:11:27.039 --> 00:11:33.519
We don't offer food, we don't offer anything, we just offer friendship.
00:11:33.840 --> 00:11:42.159
You know, and uh let's talk about that because this you know, homelessness is in in some places an epidemic.
00:11:42.480 --> 00:11:48.320
Um, and uh there's all this hand-wringing about what it is and what causes it.
00:11:48.559 --> 00:12:00.159
And generally speaking, the uh the public or uh our government answer, the civil answer is to throw money at it, either through facilities or or drug rehab programs or something.
00:12:00.399 --> 00:12:08.399
But what you're saying is at the root of all of this is a lack of a relationship, the lack of human contact.
00:12:08.720 --> 00:12:15.600
And so there's no amount of material or social programming that's gonna make up the difference for that.
00:12:15.759 --> 00:12:17.039
That's not gonna compensate.
00:12:17.200 --> 00:12:30.559
So you're you what you say is that you are providing that, and as you're providing it within a Christian setting, so you're offering them the love of Christ, which enables them to connect, to reach out.
00:12:30.720 --> 00:12:37.440
Um, and then uh if if they need some sort of quote unquote services, you can direct them to the right place.
00:12:37.600 --> 00:12:39.519
But that's not what you really you're providing.
00:12:39.600 --> 00:12:42.000
You're providing friendship to these people, correct?
00:12:42.320 --> 00:12:52.960
Yes, that's that's exactly because I would say many people living in the streets, they have lost the desire to overcome their situation.
00:12:53.200 --> 00:13:00.159
They they have already assumed that they're going to be living like that and die like that.
00:13:00.399 --> 00:13:01.840
Nothing is going to change.
00:13:02.159 --> 00:13:08.080
So they've come to they've come to accept their situation, they've become passive in their situation.
00:13:09.120 --> 00:13:15.200
So even if there are if there are resources, I don't need them, I don't want them, I can't.
00:13:15.360 --> 00:13:16.639
It's very difficult.
00:13:16.879 --> 00:13:19.039
So why is that happening?
00:13:19.360 --> 00:13:25.519
Because they they see themselves, they don't want to see themselves as a problem to be fixed.
00:13:25.679 --> 00:13:33.919
What we what we say, one of our mottoes is a homeless person is not a problem to be fixed, it's a person to be loved.
00:13:34.399 --> 00:13:46.960
So once they we respect their dignity, we see them as they are, where they are at, where we see them in the in the in the uh streets and start talking to them.
00:13:47.200 --> 00:13:47.679
Yes.
00:13:47.919 --> 00:13:48.720
How are you doing?
00:13:48.799 --> 00:13:49.840
How is your day going?
00:13:50.000 --> 00:13:52.559
Tell me about your family, what are your desires?
00:13:52.799 --> 00:13:58.240
And we can at the beginning, of course, they are like a little bit uh surprised.
00:13:58.399 --> 00:13:59.919
And why are you coming?
00:14:00.080 --> 00:14:00.799
Why are you here?
00:14:01.120 --> 00:14:07.039
Okay, there's no there's a degree of suspicion, there's a degree of being closed.
00:14:07.200 --> 00:14:12.639
Um, they're afraid of being either uh hurt or to be uh what's the word?
00:14:12.799 --> 00:14:21.200
Um taking advantage of, sort of taking advantage of, um, either materially or spiritually, either one or both.
00:14:21.440 --> 00:14:25.200
Um that you know that explains a lot, Eduardo.
00:14:25.600 --> 00:14:26.879
That explains a lot.
00:14:27.519 --> 00:14:40.480
We see now that you bring the the faith aspect, one of the things that they reject very soon is people that come and want to fix their situation.
00:14:40.720 --> 00:14:50.159
That's why many case workers don't have much success because they come with a mentality, let me fix you, let me let me fix your problem, let me solve your problem.
00:14:50.480 --> 00:14:51.360
Let me fix you.
00:14:51.440 --> 00:14:52.000
I love it.
00:14:52.159 --> 00:14:53.279
Let me fix you.
00:14:53.440 --> 00:14:54.639
You know, I will solve this.
00:14:54.720 --> 00:14:56.480
You know, I'll just let me fix you.
00:14:57.039 --> 00:15:02.559
And on the other side, they they need many what they say preachers.
00:15:02.639 --> 00:15:12.320
So they don't want to be preached because they feel that it's it's another form of trying to fix me because I have I have something that is broken.
00:15:12.639 --> 00:15:16.159
It's either fix me materially or save me spiritually.
00:15:16.480 --> 00:15:17.039
Exactly.
00:15:17.279 --> 00:15:18.159
That's what they're saying.
00:15:19.039 --> 00:15:26.320
So when we approach them, we just approach as friends, as opening our friendship to them.
00:15:26.559 --> 00:15:34.480
Of course, the conversation about our faith, beginning with the name of our organization, they have their t-shirts, it says Christ in the city.
00:15:34.720 --> 00:15:43.279
The conversation about faith and God and Christ and what that comes up naturally, probably in the first, in the first conversation.
00:15:43.440 --> 00:15:46.240
That's very natural, but we don't come with that mentality.
00:15:46.320 --> 00:15:48.159
We just explain what we do.
00:15:48.559 --> 00:15:58.080
What we try to be, Christ in the city, the name is beautiful because we we aspire, we we want to be Christ, walk in the streets.
00:15:58.480 --> 00:16:01.840
We want them to see Christ in our missionaries, in us.
00:16:02.000 --> 00:16:07.679
We want them to see Christ extending their hand to them, smiling to them.
00:16:07.919 --> 00:16:12.639
But at the same time, we see Christ in the suffering.
00:16:12.799 --> 00:16:17.840
We see Christ in them that are in our friends in the streets, that's how we call them.
00:16:18.080 --> 00:16:19.440
We see Christ suffering.
00:16:19.600 --> 00:16:28.639
So we it's an encounter in which they see Christ coming to them, and we see Christ in them waiting for us to come to him.
00:16:29.519 --> 00:16:40.000
And and that's why that's why the name Christ in the city, Christ is walking the city, and we encounter Christ in the people suffering in the city.
00:16:40.480 --> 00:16:57.519
Now, um, do these um do you have um uh well I'm sure they are, but I'd be I'm I'm sure that they're invited to formal worship services at some point, uh, invited to sit to to uh either take the can the elements or whatever is needed there.
00:16:57.679 --> 00:17:03.840
Um is there a particular parish they're invited to, or is it in the street, or how is it all set up?
00:17:04.480 --> 00:17:16.960
What we usually do is we have a beautiful story of one of our friends in the streets that he was not Catholic or Christian or anything, but he got to know the a group of missionaries.
00:17:17.200 --> 00:17:23.599
And at some point, the missionaries told him that, okay, goodbye, we are going to Mass at the cathedral.
00:17:23.759 --> 00:17:25.680
And he said, Well, what's the cathedral?
00:17:25.920 --> 00:17:29.039
Well, the cathedral is this beautiful church, it's big.
00:17:29.200 --> 00:17:30.720
Okay, can I come with you?
00:17:30.880 --> 00:17:31.759
Sure, come with us.
00:17:31.920 --> 00:17:34.960
And they and he and he came to Mass with them.
00:17:35.200 --> 00:17:43.200
And the cathedral in Denver, it's beautiful because it has these amazing stain glasses that are beautiful.
00:17:43.440 --> 00:17:46.880
So he came into the cathedral and just saw this.
00:17:47.039 --> 00:17:48.559
He had never been inside.
00:17:49.039 --> 00:18:05.920
He was in awe, contemplating the beauty of the stain glasses, and then the missionary started explaining to him what were the stain glasses about, the story behind, and that was a very natural process to him to get closer to the church.
00:18:06.079 --> 00:18:07.680
Finally, he became Catholic.
00:18:07.759 --> 00:18:22.160
He came into the Catholic Church, but as this natural process, it was not an indoctrination process, it was just sharing the beauty of the faith that the missionaries uh live.
00:18:22.799 --> 00:18:24.480
And that's how he became.
00:18:24.559 --> 00:18:31.279
So we don't have um, we don't try to bring them to a service or to a mass or to an event.
00:18:31.440 --> 00:18:34.240
If it happens naturally, that's going to happen.
00:18:34.400 --> 00:18:43.200
Another beautiful story, one of our friends, uh Roy, he became sick, very, very, very sick.
00:18:43.359 --> 00:18:47.519
He was living in the streets uh because he had some alcohol issues.
00:18:47.759 --> 00:18:50.240
And one day he was about to die.
00:18:50.400 --> 00:18:57.039
And he he was admitted into the hospital, and the doctors asked him, okay, let me call your family, your friends.
00:18:57.279 --> 00:18:59.119
Probably you're not going to make it.
00:18:59.519 --> 00:19:04.079
And he said, Well, my only friends are the Christian city missionaries.
00:19:04.319 --> 00:19:13.920
So the the hospital called the missionaries and they came and they prayed with him, and they prayed for him throughout the night, the whole night.
00:19:14.000 --> 00:19:24.480
And Roy says that he was almost unconscious, and he felt the prayer of this group of young people praying for him.
00:19:24.559 --> 00:19:32.720
And he asked God, he suddenly had this desire to pray, and he prayed, God, give me one more chance.
00:19:32.880 --> 00:19:36.640
And if I make it through the night, I'm really going to recover.
00:19:37.039 --> 00:19:39.200
So he prayed with them.
00:19:39.359 --> 00:19:41.279
They prayed with him, and he prayed.
00:19:41.440 --> 00:19:44.079
Finally, he recovered, thanks be to God.
00:19:44.400 --> 00:19:49.440
And that began his process of coming out of the streets.
00:19:49.599 --> 00:19:55.759
He reconnected with his daughters, uh, and he finally had that desire.
00:19:55.920 --> 00:20:00.319
That's what I was telling you, that desire to overcome his situation.
00:20:00.960 --> 00:20:11.119
Because with friendship, one of the things that happened is once you start you become friend with someone, then you start trusting someone.
00:20:11.279 --> 00:20:12.799
So trust appears.
00:20:13.119 --> 00:20:18.400
And with trust, you become like, okay, I trust in you.
00:20:18.640 --> 00:20:24.480
If you think that I can recover and you help me, I will do it.
00:20:24.640 --> 00:20:25.839
I I can do it.
00:20:26.079 --> 00:20:30.000
And that's when the missionaries start, accompany them.
00:20:30.160 --> 00:20:41.440
Sometimes it's a very practical step, like getting an ID, because many people in the streets have have lost their documents, IDs, and social security many years ago.
00:20:41.680 --> 00:20:57.279
So start recovering the ID, going into a detox session or a court hearing, whatever they need, that's when the missionaries start accompanying these people to in the process, even housing, of course.
00:20:57.440 --> 00:21:19.200
So I think it's beautiful to see that uh friendship uh becomes into trust, and trust becomes into this desire to break the shell that is covering them, that it's not allowing them to recover uh and start the path to recover.
00:21:19.599 --> 00:21:27.440
You know, um I'm sitting here listening to this, and this is very sincere, it's very serious.
00:21:27.680 --> 00:21:30.079
That kind of thing takes time, Eduardo.
00:21:30.480 --> 00:21:32.799
So what is the tenure of these people?
00:21:32.960 --> 00:21:35.200
Are they a year, two years, three years?
00:21:35.359 --> 00:21:36.640
What sort of tenure do they have?
00:21:36.799 --> 00:21:38.640
Your your your field staff?
00:21:39.200 --> 00:21:55.599
The missionaries they do one year, which is 11 months, and if they desire, which is about 50 percent desire to do a second year, one more year, after that they have to just move on and do something else.
00:21:55.839 --> 00:21:56.079
Okay.
00:21:56.400 --> 00:22:11.920
We think that one year is or two years, it's It's a perfect time for them to grow personally and then to be able to do this very demanding ministry because it is difficult.
00:22:12.079 --> 00:22:13.440
It is it is very difficult.
00:22:13.839 --> 00:22:28.799
I can only imagine because um now do you I presume that you have relationships with um uh medical providers, with law enforcement, uh, with these kinds of things where it becomes necessary to involve these people, correct?
00:22:29.519 --> 00:22:30.160
Yes, yes.
00:22:30.240 --> 00:22:37.359
We have partnerships and connections with all kinds of organizations, beginning with law enforcement, of course.
00:22:37.599 --> 00:22:54.319
Uh we organize, so our ministry is about going into the streets, but once a week we open, um we invite them to come to a lunch that we organize in a Central Park uh in Denver and Philadelphia and downtown.
00:22:54.720 --> 00:23:00.160
So we we bring them to have a meal, and it's not a food line.
00:23:00.319 --> 00:23:07.599
Of course, there is a food line for them to get their food, but then we have chairs and tables and we sit at the park.
00:23:08.079 --> 00:23:27.039
And that's when uh we invite the bigger community, the bigger Catholic community to come and join us in this lunch, which is that's when we connect to the third goal of President City, which is about sharing what we are doing with as many people as possible.
00:23:27.200 --> 00:23:38.160
So every Wednesday when we do the lunch in the park, a different parish organizes the meal, they prepare the meal, and they come with their volunteers from each parish.
00:23:38.240 --> 00:23:48.319
Okay, and the missionaries who we already know, our homeless friends, that we we introduce them to our homeless friends to have a meal with them.
00:23:48.799 --> 00:23:53.839
Because, of course, it is intimidating to talk to a homeless person just like that.
00:23:54.640 --> 00:23:55.279
It's difficult.
00:23:55.839 --> 00:23:59.920
So, and are these held outside, inside the park, the church?
00:24:00.240 --> 00:24:09.680
Okay, outside, yes, and I'm sure that's on purpose so that there's the uh the homeless person doesn't feel threatened or maybe they're being herded into a building or whatever.
00:24:10.160 --> 00:24:15.119
Yes, many many of them feel uncomfortable in a closed space.
00:24:15.279 --> 00:24:15.680
Uh-huh.
00:24:17.039 --> 00:24:23.759
So that's why I was I was saying that um I was connecting up through law enforcement.
00:24:23.839 --> 00:24:33.279
Every now and then we have to call the police because of course if someone comes and it's like making some troubles, we have to call them.
00:24:33.440 --> 00:24:40.640
But they already know Crest in the city, they come and they are very welcoming and slowly try to help us.
00:24:40.960 --> 00:24:59.039
And that's why we partner with them, with hospitals, with shelters, with um psychologists and different people, because at some point, when the time comes, we can start accompanying our friends in the streets to all of these resources.
00:24:59.759 --> 00:25:01.839
It can take some time.
00:25:02.079 --> 00:25:05.119
We have uh another story, another beautiful story.
00:25:05.279 --> 00:25:11.599
We have uh uh uh one of our friends who was homeless for 46 years.
00:25:12.160 --> 00:25:17.279
He ran out of his house uh 12 years old.
00:25:17.680 --> 00:25:20.000
And he as a child, as a child.
00:25:20.319 --> 00:25:25.519
As a child as a child, and of course, so everything nothing worked with him.
00:25:25.680 --> 00:25:29.839
He tried working, he tried caseworkers, he tried everything, nothing worked.
00:25:29.920 --> 00:25:36.240
At some point, he decided, okay, this is my life, and he lived many, many years like that.
00:25:36.480 --> 00:25:41.359
So one day, this group of young people came to his uh tent.
00:25:41.440 --> 00:25:45.759
He was not even a tent, he was living inside a little thing close to the river.
00:25:46.720 --> 00:25:49.599
And uh they, hey, how are you doing?
00:25:49.680 --> 00:25:51.599
And the conversation started.
00:25:51.839 --> 00:26:02.160
And then uh after a while, he started saying, Hey, go away because the police is going to come, and because and they are going to kick me out of my space.
00:26:02.480 --> 00:26:18.400
So then the friendship started to uh develop, and after a while, after probably eight months, finally he decided to overcome his situation.
00:26:18.640 --> 00:26:29.039
He applied for an ID, and he finally now he lives in a very beautiful um apartment because he was able to overcome this with the friendship.
00:26:29.279 --> 00:26:33.759
So it took him about eight months.
00:26:34.000 --> 00:26:35.519
So it takes time.
00:26:35.759 --> 00:26:49.599
Oh that's why the missionaries they spend the whole year and then they when they are moving out, the new class of missionaries come and they overlap and they share the friendship that they have in the streets with a new group.
00:26:49.759 --> 00:26:55.039
Okay, and that's why they are never never abandoned, and we keep the friendship going.
00:26:55.279 --> 00:26:56.799
So there's this continuity.
00:26:57.039 --> 00:27:03.599
So you're talking about the same route, the same people, continuity over time.
00:27:03.920 --> 00:27:04.160
Yes.
00:27:04.400 --> 00:27:10.480
So we're looking, you probably have people that you work with, what, five years, six years, seven years?
00:27:10.880 --> 00:27:25.039
Yes, because of course there is a number of people living in the streets that are not necessarily going to get out of the streets because of their mental struggles, because of many, many different situations.
00:27:25.839 --> 00:27:29.759
That doesn't mean that they can't have a better life.
00:27:30.000 --> 00:27:49.599
They can have a better life even if they keep living in the streets, because there are so many complicated situations and even mental situations, that we we estimate that about 19% of homeless people are going to be chronically homeless.
00:27:49.680 --> 00:27:52.640
Let's say stay in the streets for a number of years.
00:27:52.960 --> 00:27:58.559
Most of homeless people become homeless because something happened and then they recover.
00:27:58.720 --> 00:28:01.519
They find a job, they find someone and they recover.
00:28:01.599 --> 00:28:08.160
But there is this percentage of people that are not going to be able to recover easily or never.
00:28:08.319 --> 00:28:14.799
We don't know exactly how many finally are going to live in the streets, probably for many, many years.
00:28:15.119 --> 00:28:19.839
Those are the people that we usually uh try to help the most.
00:28:20.240 --> 00:28:20.559
Okay.
00:28:21.599 --> 00:28:22.240
All right.
00:28:23.279 --> 00:28:24.640
This is fascinating.
00:28:24.880 --> 00:28:32.160
So at any given time, uh, how many how many volunteers do you have in your program at any given time on average?
00:28:32.880 --> 00:28:37.920
Um, well, we have the the 50 full-time missionaries.
00:28:38.079 --> 00:28:38.480
Yes.
00:28:38.720 --> 00:28:47.599
We have for the summer, we have another just the summer is a three-week program, about I would say 200.
00:28:47.759 --> 00:28:54.079
And then we have a short spring program for college-age students, about 300 more.
00:28:54.799 --> 00:29:07.839
And from these parishes that I was telling you, and schools and different organizations, we train about 1,000 volunteers per year in this way to approach the poor.
00:29:08.079 --> 00:29:26.160
Because not necessarily not everybody can do this ministry and go out to the streets for a year, but everybody can really discover this relational approach to homeless people more than just a transactional approach.
00:29:26.319 --> 00:29:34.720
For example, a very typical question that we get is do we give money to that homeless person in the traffic light or not?
00:29:35.359 --> 00:29:45.119
And it's a tricky question because it's first of all, it's up to every uh each one of us to decide if we give money.
00:29:45.519 --> 00:29:54.000
But I what we recommend, what I do, is first of all acknowledge the person that it's in the in this in the corner in the traffic light.
00:29:54.079 --> 00:29:58.640
And just see at that person and smile and wave if you can.
00:29:59.279 --> 00:30:07.440
That makes a big difference because people in the in the corner with a little sign that says anything help, they become invisible.
00:30:07.680 --> 00:30:09.759
And nobody sees them.
00:30:09.920 --> 00:30:12.640
And of course, we many times we feel uncomfortable.
00:30:12.799 --> 00:30:15.359
Do I see this person is going to come or not?
00:30:15.759 --> 00:30:22.000
So the first step is to acknowledge the person that you see in the traffic light.
00:30:22.160 --> 00:30:23.920
Just say hi.
00:30:24.960 --> 00:30:26.960
That's going to change their day.
00:30:27.119 --> 00:30:30.799
Even if it's just one car throughout the whole day that say, Hey, hi.
00:30:31.359 --> 00:30:33.359
That is very, very significant.
00:30:33.599 --> 00:30:41.039
The next step is to, if if possible, if if if you feel comfortable, just say, How are you doing?
00:30:41.119 --> 00:30:41.759
How is your day going?
00:30:41.920 --> 00:30:42.720
I am Eduardo.
00:30:42.799 --> 00:30:43.759
What's your name?
00:30:44.000 --> 00:30:45.440
And they would say your name.
00:30:45.519 --> 00:30:48.960
And if you can repeat their name, hey Tom, very nice to meet you.
00:30:49.200 --> 00:30:54.720
Because they many times they don't hear their name, never, not in a month or in a week.
00:30:54.880 --> 00:30:56.480
Nobody, nobody knows their name.
00:30:56.720 --> 00:31:04.960
So you're saying the way to deal with a panhandler at an intersection is to get their attention and say hello.
00:31:06.000 --> 00:31:10.480
Um, they're gonna come over and they're gonna ask you for a for a handout.
00:31:10.559 --> 00:31:11.759
How do you handle that?
00:31:12.079 --> 00:31:17.599
What I usually say, hey, I don't have any money right now, but I just wanted to say hi and I'm going to pray for you.
00:31:17.759 --> 00:31:19.119
Have a great day.
00:31:19.440 --> 00:31:24.960
If I feel comfortable, I would even extend my hand and give them a handshake.
00:31:25.119 --> 00:31:26.960
Uh I think that's beautiful.
00:31:27.200 --> 00:31:39.440
Another thing that we is very useful is to have a small bag, we call it the curkey, uh curk kit, with something that is going to be useful for them, but not necessarily money.
00:31:39.680 --> 00:31:49.440
It can be like a pair of socks and a soft granola bar, a bottle of water, uh, an apple or something, something soft in general.
00:31:49.759 --> 00:31:57.519
So that we try to keep in our cars uh something to that is going to be useful more than money.
00:31:57.920 --> 00:32:04.000
I would say in many cases, money is not the most important need that they have.
00:32:04.240 --> 00:32:11.519
The most important need for them is, first of all, to be for them to be acknowledging their dignity.
00:32:11.839 --> 00:32:12.640
I see you.
00:32:12.799 --> 00:32:18.319
You are there, you are suffering, I acknowledge you, I say hi, I offer my name.
00:32:18.640 --> 00:32:29.039
So you're saying um that someone might approach you and ask you for food, but perhaps food isn't what they're really looking for, not fundamentally, correct?
00:32:30.160 --> 00:32:34.240
Well, in that in the intersection, they they are expecting money, of course.
00:32:34.319 --> 00:32:36.480
They are there to get money.
00:32:36.880 --> 00:32:42.480
It's not up to us to judge what they are going to do with their money, because we never know.
00:32:42.640 --> 00:32:47.920
Sometimes they really need the money, sometimes they are going to use the money in the wrong way, of course.
00:32:48.319 --> 00:32:49.119
Drugs and alcohol.
00:32:49.279 --> 00:32:50.559
Yeah, yes.
00:32:51.039 --> 00:32:57.440
So that's why giving money or not, it depends on not on the judgment that we can do.
00:32:57.759 --> 00:33:01.839
I think you're going to use the money whether or not it's it's it's up to us to give money.
00:33:02.000 --> 00:33:07.599
But what we know for sure is they need their dignity to be respected.
00:33:07.759 --> 00:33:12.880
They need attention, they need someone to acknowledge that they are there, they are not invisible.
00:33:13.119 --> 00:33:15.200
That's independent of their situation.
00:33:15.359 --> 00:33:21.359
If they are alcoholics or addicts, whatever, they are still human people, human persons.
00:33:21.599 --> 00:33:25.440
And they they are longing for this connection.
00:33:25.680 --> 00:33:32.480
And that connection can be a 10 seconds, even less, exchange of, hey, how are you doing?
00:33:32.559 --> 00:33:33.279
Have a great day.
00:33:33.359 --> 00:33:34.240
I'm going to pray for you.
00:33:34.400 --> 00:33:35.200
Goodbye.
00:33:35.680 --> 00:33:37.279
That is very significant.
00:33:37.359 --> 00:33:40.160
That really changes the lives of them.
00:33:40.319 --> 00:33:45.759
We have missionaries that have been standing in the corner with them in the intersection.
00:33:46.319 --> 00:33:53.599
And they were stuck and they were really shocked to see how many people don't see them.
00:33:53.759 --> 00:33:55.359
So they are really invisible.
00:33:55.599 --> 00:34:01.519
And at the at the beginning, it was surprising, but then it became, they became shocked.
00:34:02.480 --> 00:34:03.200
We are here.
00:34:07.119 --> 00:34:08.639
So that's that's what I would say.
00:34:08.960 --> 00:34:16.960
I think the natural inclination is to is to avert your eyes, um is to avoid making eye contact.
00:34:17.119 --> 00:34:20.880
Um this person will come over and they'll want something from you.
00:34:21.039 --> 00:34:22.480
How do you handle that?
00:34:22.719 --> 00:34:28.320
Um Eduardo, when I was growing up, um my father had a rule.
00:34:28.719 --> 00:34:32.079
Um, is what I've sort of come to look for.
00:34:32.960 --> 00:34:38.000
He would never give anyone money, but he would offer them a meal.
00:34:38.719 --> 00:34:49.920
And if they took him up on it, he would go out of his way to take them to a restaurant or someplace with or a sandwich shop, wherever, where they can get a meal.
00:34:50.239 --> 00:34:51.599
Now, I have done that.
00:34:51.679 --> 00:35:04.079
I've done that when I was in younger, and then in college when I was in Pittsburgh once when this uh was a busy day, right downtown, um, you know, busy, you know, business people everywhere.
00:35:04.320 --> 00:35:06.559
And this man approaches me.
00:35:06.719 --> 00:35:13.679
Um, he didn't look homeless, but he approached me and asked me for money for food or something.
00:35:14.239 --> 00:35:18.000
I forgot what the story it was he gave me, but it sounded plausible at the time.
00:35:18.159 --> 00:35:22.159
And I said, Well, I won't give you money, but I'll give you food.
00:35:22.320 --> 00:35:23.280
He said, Sure.
00:35:23.519 --> 00:35:25.760
So we went to a local sandwich shop.
00:35:25.920 --> 00:35:31.280
I went to the cashier, I gave the cashier enough money that he could buy pretty much what he wanted.
00:35:31.519 --> 00:35:38.639
And then I then I and I think as I think back on that, you see, I was in a rush to get out of there, go back to the office.
00:35:38.880 --> 00:35:44.719
I think it would have probably been better for me to just sit with him while he had his meal, correct?
00:35:45.920 --> 00:36:01.519
If you could, yes, it's I would I wouldn't say there is a one way, because of course if you are busy or if you don't feel safe or uh it's not the right time, you can do as much as you can, and that's I think that's fine.
00:36:01.760 --> 00:36:09.039
Especially for women, for example, they yeah, it's a different for a woman, and it's a different because they it could be dangerous.
00:36:09.199 --> 00:36:25.760
So that's why I always say if you feel safe, um even if you just say this was in the middle of the day, in the middle of the week on a busy street, and he went into a sandwich shop with me, people sitting there eating, and I ordered for him.
00:36:25.920 --> 00:36:28.239
Well, no, I gave her the money and she and he ordered.
00:36:28.400 --> 00:36:32.159
So in that case, I could have sat there and and and had lunch with him.
00:36:32.239 --> 00:36:37.360
It was this wasn't in the middle of the night or a shady street or uh something else, you know.
00:36:37.440 --> 00:36:43.360
And um, but I can understand if it's if it's a if it's a female, there's a whole different set of problems, issues there.
00:36:43.599 --> 00:36:45.760
Um, and I can see that, yeah.
00:36:45.920 --> 00:37:09.280
Um I would say in general would be to uh in it, even if the in the biggest uh sense, we it's easy to give something in terms of it can be food, it can be money, it can be medical attention, it could we and the and the city and the state and the organizations can give a lot of things, which is and that is needed.
00:37:09.519 --> 00:37:19.519
Of course, they need those things that are provided, but something is still missing, which is this relational approach, this encounter, this contact.
00:37:19.599 --> 00:37:22.559
And this contact can have many different expressions.
00:37:22.800 --> 00:37:26.320
Like in our case, is we go out and sit with them in the streets.
00:37:26.559 --> 00:37:32.719
Volunteers, they come come to a lunch with at the park in an open space and they share a meal with them.
00:37:32.960 --> 00:37:37.599
It can be at the traffic light, it can be even beyond homelessness.
00:37:37.760 --> 00:37:45.679
It can be, let's say, if we have uh a grandmother that is we know she's lonely and far away and she's grumpy.
00:37:46.239 --> 00:38:15.199
I can call her, I can call her, and I can I can I can take upon me the uncomfortable moment of talking to my grumpy uncle or or friend because I want to I want to offer an encounter, I want to offer this friendship that and I think that that's why the approach is not necessarily to homeless people, but people in need that many times are around us.
00:38:15.679 --> 00:38:23.519
Who in my family, in my group of friends, in my community, in my neighborhood, needs accompaniment.
00:38:23.679 --> 00:38:27.840
They need this relational approach, this encounter.
00:38:28.079 --> 00:38:33.039
That's something I can give, and I can face rejection.
00:38:33.199 --> 00:38:35.760
Of course, in the streets, we face rejection many times.
00:38:35.920 --> 00:38:36.960
Yeah, no, I don't want.
00:38:37.199 --> 00:38:38.239
Well, goodbye.
00:38:38.480 --> 00:38:39.199
That's fine.
00:38:39.360 --> 00:38:41.519
That's part of the that's part of charity.
00:38:41.599 --> 00:38:46.559
That's part of we know that we are doing this for their own good.
00:38:46.800 --> 00:38:50.079
In our case, we do this for our faith as well.
00:38:50.239 --> 00:38:57.679
So we take upon ourselves the rejection and the uncomfortable moment of starting an awkward conversation.
00:38:58.159 --> 00:39:09.440
But everybody in our lives, we can take upon ourselves the awkward conversation with this person that it's annoying but needs help.
00:39:10.159 --> 00:39:11.119
And I can do it.
00:39:11.360 --> 00:39:12.400
I love when you said that.
00:39:12.559 --> 00:39:17.280
That's annoying because you know, you just feel that, oh, I really want to do this.
00:39:17.360 --> 00:39:19.280
I mean, do you really want to get involved with this?
00:39:19.519 --> 00:39:20.880
And there's that, yeah.
00:39:21.039 --> 00:39:30.320
And then the other thing I was thinking of when you were describing this is when Jesus says, um, when you do it to the least of these, you've done it to me.
00:39:30.559 --> 00:39:33.760
And he talks about that, what that really means.
00:39:33.920 --> 00:39:37.199
Um, and he's talking about a relationship of some kind.
00:39:37.519 --> 00:39:40.239
Uh, he's not talking about just a handout.
00:39:40.400 --> 00:39:42.079
I mean, it's easy to hand money to people.
00:39:42.159 --> 00:39:48.480
Well, we live in a very wealthy society where giving money or giving things is actually the easiest thing you can do.
00:39:48.719 --> 00:39:51.039
It's the most effortless thing you can do.
00:39:51.119 --> 00:39:52.159
It's always there.
00:39:52.400 --> 00:40:00.639
But to give them time, uh, which is uh that's the key thing, is giving them time, that that contact.
00:40:00.719 --> 00:40:02.800
You know, I never thought of it that way, Eduardo.
00:40:02.880 --> 00:40:08.800
I mean, this isn't something that is really a very occurrent subject of the homeless.
00:40:08.960 --> 00:40:14.320
And yeah, and these people are in some way disenfranchised.
00:40:14.880 --> 00:40:19.760
They might be hungry, they may not be hungry, but they are disenfranchised.
00:40:20.320 --> 00:40:24.480
And how you manage to make that reconnection.
00:40:24.639 --> 00:40:31.840
Um, either you're you you're not just feeding them or saving their soul or whatever it is that your your goal is.
00:40:31.920 --> 00:40:37.440
Uh, and it for Christ in the city, the goal is to make that contact and to make that friendship.
00:40:37.599 --> 00:40:40.000
And from wherever that leads, it leads.
00:40:40.159 --> 00:40:47.519
Um, for example, now we we have so many volunteers that we can bring them, all of them, to the lunch in the park.
00:40:47.599 --> 00:40:50.239
So this not the missionaries, but the volunteers.
00:40:50.320 --> 00:41:07.760
So we now we have opened our night ministries and we go to jails, we go to nursing houses, we go to um uh shelters as well, to places where people are just being alone and in need because, or they don't have other people.
00:41:07.920 --> 00:41:20.880
Of course, many times they they suffer some kind of poverty or or challenge, but we bring this connection, this friendship, which is come in our case, it comes out of the love of Christ.
00:41:21.199 --> 00:41:24.639
And I would say the transformation, it's amazing.
00:41:24.800 --> 00:41:40.960
It's it's it's very beautiful to see how people light up when they see these people coming and just to talk to me, just to encounter and have a conversation, a 30-minute conversation that we all have throughout the day all the time.
00:41:41.199 --> 00:41:42.079
They don't.
00:41:42.320 --> 00:41:50.719
They don't have that 30-minute conversation with someone that is really caring about me, sharing about soccer or football or something.
00:41:50.880 --> 00:41:53.440
They they they are longing for this.
00:41:54.320 --> 00:42:04.800
And it's amazing to see how these small connections become the missing piece for them to recover, to start a new life.
00:42:05.039 --> 00:42:11.039
And that is very difficult to quantify and to explain because you see how long it takes me to explain to you.
00:42:11.599 --> 00:42:20.320
Well, actually, it's pretty easy, but what you're dealing with is a lot of preconceptions that you're having to get beyond.
00:42:20.559 --> 00:42:27.039
Now, I want to move to uh this, of course, is a you're an independent lay ministry, correct?
00:42:27.199 --> 00:42:27.519
Yes.
00:42:27.679 --> 00:42:28.000
Uh-huh.
00:42:28.159 --> 00:42:31.199
It's a normal 54163, a nonprofit organization.
00:42:31.519 --> 00:42:37.440
So is this you're supported 100% by uh charity, by individual donations?
00:42:38.000 --> 00:42:38.400
Yes.
00:42:38.719 --> 00:42:54.880
So about 25% of our fundraising is done by the missionaries, which they they um reach out to their friends and family to pay for a quarter of their participation uh cost.
00:42:55.440 --> 00:42:57.840
And we fundraise the other 75%.
00:42:58.320 --> 00:43:05.280
So we do events, we have one-on-one encounters of uh ask for donors to support us.
00:43:09.360 --> 00:43:10.079
I like that.
00:43:10.239 --> 00:43:18.559
Um so um are you the head executive and the head fundraiser, or do you have somebody else that does that, or how is it set up?
00:43:19.119 --> 00:43:28.480
We have uh a development director in Denver, which is our senior development director, and another we just hired a new development director in Philadelphia.
00:43:28.559 --> 00:43:34.800
So they are they have the development and fundraising as their main goal.
00:43:35.039 --> 00:43:46.320
Of course, I have to help as many as everybody in the nonprofit world, all the the executive director, the CEO have to be very involved in the fundraising part.
00:43:46.559 --> 00:43:49.440
But we have a we have a team that is helping us with that.
00:43:50.880 --> 00:43:56.239
I like what you just said that executive directors have to have a part.
00:43:56.480 --> 00:43:59.760
There are plenty of executive directors in this world at Wardale that.
00:44:00.159 --> 00:44:02.079
Think fundraising is not their job.
00:44:02.320 --> 00:44:03.920
And it is their job.
00:44:04.239 --> 00:44:08.480
And because fundraising, you're gonna you're gonna appreciate this.
00:44:08.719 --> 00:44:24.079
As you know, the most effective fundraising is really building relationships with those who are your benefactors, your patrons, as opposed to executing a transaction of writing me a check or doing a stock transfer or whatever it is it might be.
00:44:24.239 --> 00:44:27.119
You are very much relational, and that's where you're focused.
00:44:27.199 --> 00:44:27.679
I love it.
00:44:27.920 --> 00:44:34.639
So then you are both the executive director for the one in Philadelphia and Denver at the same time?
00:44:34.960 --> 00:44:35.599
Yes, yes.
00:44:35.760 --> 00:44:35.920
Okay.
00:44:36.320 --> 00:44:39.280
So your but your residence is actually in Colorado?
00:44:39.599 --> 00:44:40.719
It's in Denver, yes.
00:44:40.800 --> 00:44:41.039
Uh-huh.
00:44:41.280 --> 00:44:41.599
Okay.
00:44:41.760 --> 00:44:42.079
Okay.
00:44:42.480 --> 00:44:45.840
Um, how often do you get out to to Pennsylvania?
00:44:46.159 --> 00:44:53.119
I try to go, it depends on the year, but I usually three or four times I try to go to Philadelphia.
00:44:53.280 --> 00:45:18.400
And I think that going back to the development part, at the very beginning, when we were starting, one of our benefactors told us that one of the things he it was tough to him because he was helping many organizations, is that many nonprofits um approach him like if he was an ATM, just giving money away.
00:45:19.119 --> 00:45:26.960
And that's that really make uh that really shocked me because yes, he's not an ATM, he's a friend of mine.
00:45:27.119 --> 00:45:31.760
He's a friend of mine, and what we want to do is come and join our mission.
00:45:31.920 --> 00:45:42.000
You can't go into the streets every day, but you can join our mission with what you can, which is your financial support, your prayers, your company, your friendship.
00:45:42.159 --> 00:46:02.719
So I think that's and for that, the the leader, the executive director or CEO has this um broad picture of the organization that it's it's important for them to welcome benefactors into joining the mission, which is what we are trying to do.
00:46:03.039 --> 00:46:07.119
Well, of course, Eduardo, you are the poster boy for this.
00:46:07.199 --> 00:46:08.159
Let me tell you.
00:46:08.320 --> 00:46:17.920
Um that uh I hate I have to admit to you, however, though, that your point of view is not at all common.
00:46:18.079 --> 00:46:27.280
Uh, more common is the transactional world, the uh uh the um I need money, I've got a good uh mission, give me money.
00:46:27.760 --> 00:46:39.679
And then um, you see, you've already mastered the fact that your patrons are people, and your patrons have a flesh and blood interest in what you do.
00:46:40.000 --> 00:46:42.800
It's just not, let me give you a check and move on.
00:46:42.960 --> 00:46:52.320
Now, I mean, I'm sure there are a few people like that, but that's not the way you approach them, and you give them the opportunity to really be a part of whatever level they want to be a part.
00:46:53.039 --> 00:46:57.039
Um, so this is I've I've really enjoyed this, Eduardo.
00:46:57.119 --> 00:46:59.199
I've gotten to know you so much better at what you do.
00:46:59.280 --> 00:47:03.119
Uh I mean I mean, I thought I knew, and now I really know.
00:47:03.440 --> 00:47:11.440
Um, so now and you said all of your missionaries each are responsible for wage raising a portion of their own personal support.
00:47:12.000 --> 00:47:18.880
Yes, they do it through Christ in the seed, of course, because that that comes to help them do the year.
00:47:19.039 --> 00:47:19.280
Right.
00:47:19.920 --> 00:47:33.039
Um, and then we do the rest of the of the fundraising because we don't want them to have to fundraise everything because then the money would become a limitation for who can apply.
00:47:33.440 --> 00:47:33.760
Oh, absolutely.
00:47:33.920 --> 00:47:40.559
And we don't want to limit the applications to the ones who have a big connection of friends or a lot of money.
00:47:40.719 --> 00:47:44.000
So that's perfect the way you do this.
00:47:44.239 --> 00:47:45.760
I really like this a lot.
00:47:45.920 --> 00:47:50.239
I want to thank you for taking your time to do this.
00:47:50.400 --> 00:47:55.280
I'm so glad that I introduced myself to you when we were in Solana Beach.
00:47:55.440 --> 00:47:56.480
That was so much fun.
00:47:56.559 --> 00:47:58.480
And I think we're gonna do this again.
00:47:58.719 --> 00:48:02.480
Um, but um um God bless you, Eduardo.
00:48:02.559 --> 00:48:03.679
You're gonna write a book soon?
00:48:03.920 --> 00:48:05.360
You're gonna write a book soon?
00:48:06.159 --> 00:48:08.079
Not yet, but maybe at some point.
00:48:08.320 --> 00:48:09.519
I think you should.
00:48:09.760 --> 00:48:10.719
I really do.
00:48:10.960 --> 00:48:16.159
Um, you know, uh, ladies and gentlemen, we've been really enjoying just getting to know Eduardo today.
00:48:16.239 --> 00:48:18.239
I have for sure, in the work that he's doing.
00:48:18.400 --> 00:48:21.199
And we're probably gonna speak to him again at some point.
00:48:21.280 --> 00:48:24.320
And I just want to thank him again for his time.
00:48:24.559 --> 00:48:28.480
And I want to thank you for taking your time to listen today.
00:48:28.639 --> 00:48:29.440
Thank you.
00:48:30.159 --> 00:48:31.440
Thank you, Larry.
00:48:33.599 --> 00:48:35.599
Thank you for listening today.
00:48:35.840 --> 00:48:41.280
Join us for our next episode when I'll have another thought provoking leader as my guest.
00:48:41.519 --> 00:48:44.079
Guest comments and opinions are their own.
00:48:44.239 --> 00:48:48.880
The recording is copyright by the eight principles, all rights reserved.
