Jey - 00:00:05:
Hello, everybody. Welcome back to the podcast, Creating Next. I'm Jey Yokeley, your host, Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing at TransImpact. Today's episode is going to be a little different. As much as we love talking about our products and our services, today we're going to focus on what's really most important. At TransImpact. And that's our people. And that's how we give back our time, our resources and even more importantly, the other great people and organizations that we get to work with. We look at our company as a platform to give back and we have enjoyed the opportunity to join forces with other individuals and organizations that use their platform to do the same. Let me introduce our wonderful guests that are joining us today. First and foremost, our very own John Howard, Chief Operating Officer at TransImpact. We have Monica, the Executive Director of the Ensora Educational Foundation. And Traci, the executive director of Tree Justice. Everyone, welcome to the podcast. So first and foremost, John, I'm going to turn it over to you. You have been a pioneer and a voice for us. For Impact One. I know you are very passionate about the ways that we give back to your community. For the audience here, give them an overview of Impact One, how it started and what it means for our organization.
John - 00:01:29:
Yeah, so first of all, I want to start by saying that, you know, our mantra has been that every organization has a social responsibility. But it begins at the individual level. And outside of work even before looking at it at a corporate. Vision and viewpoint. You know, people give every day, whether it's through their church, it could be volunteering for their kids, baseball teams. Some people do monetary, some people donate their time, but there's giving that's happening at the individual level every single day. And, you know, we wanted to embrace that at a corporate level and just say, say, you know what, collectively as a group, we can do so much more. And that's where the acronym Impact One came from. And that is improvements made by people acting as one. And that truly is our guiding light for making sure that we are supporting both national endeavors and also community endeavors to help others that are less fortunate or those that are in need in some way. And we just feel it's very important for us to do that. To be able to show that compassion and bring that effort to others in the world who are much less fortunate than we are.
Jey - 00:02:55:
Absolutely. And so. Monica, this is where I'm going to kind of pass the baton over to you. And John, I know you are very passionate about the work that we've done with the Ensoro Foundation. Monica. Um, To the audience. An overview of Ensoro. I would love to hear some stories. I know the audience would too. Give us, in your words, overview and how the partnership with TransImpact has catapulted the mission that we've been trying to accomplish together.
Monica - 00:03:26:
Well, Jay and John, thank you so much for including the Insoro Educational Foundation in your podcast. It's an honor to be with you. And it was Traci. Today. So thank you for your time. The Insoro Educational Foundation was founded in 2005. And we believe that not one young person aging out of our nation's foster care system should have to navigate the world alone. Our mission ensures that our collegians achieve post-secondary credentials. Through a holistic scholarship that shepherds them. To and through college. Optimally positioning them for the day after graduation and the transition into adulthood. Ultimately, we are solving for self-sufficiency. And for the youth that we serve nationwide. You know, the absence of social capital and stable families. You know, the day after graduating from college. Is a challenging one. Face homelessness. You're on your own. So, you know, our organization is not just. In place to ensure that they achieve a post-secondary credential. But that that credential can get them a job. And get them into self-sufficiency and ultimately achieves. Achieve economic mobility. You know, as I heard John describe Impact One, you know, it's absolutely extraordinary. You know, we have 470 college graduates in our organization. TransImpact has helped. 16 of that 470 graduate from college over the last five years with the extraordinary support that we have received from. The leadership at your organization and the incredible. Employees of TransImpact. And with the support that just happened in the last year with Starfish Ball, our annual gala, we have eight more young people that will be going to college with support that has been raised as a result of what we received from the team at TransImpact. So we are immeasurably grateful. You know, we pride ourselves as an organization on our graduation rate being 81% national average, which is 77% higher than their peers. But, you know, ultimately, it's ensuring that young people move from college to career. And so our organization really is in place to help do that through coaching and mentorship and workforce readiness. So that holistic scholarship really helps deliver on that. And thanks to the great. Support from people like TransImpact and we... Ethos that is the company culture. We're able to do that.
Jey - 00:05:57:
So Monica and Sorrell and Sorrell headquartered in Atlanta. Tell us your story. How did you get involved with Insura in the beginning?
Monica - 00:06:04:
Wow. So I came to work for our founder in 2014, Daryl Mays, a humble guy from Beaumont, Texas, with a heart the size of the state, but very committed to ensuring that his legacy extended beyond what he was able to build for his family. He seeded the organization in 2005, and I happened to meet him and his wife in a previous business and moved to Atlanta from Texas and coming to this work from a business background, I don't come to the work of insora with a nonprofit background. I am i come to this work from a business. I was a former human resources executive and passionate about employment and ensuring that, you know, making a difference in the world. You know, this was an unbelievable opportunity to have to work for Daryl on, you know, helping with him as his, I was his business manager and helping him with his private businesses. As I learned more about the work of the foundation, I had said to him, you know, Daryl, I would love an opportunity to move. Closer to the foundation and doing more time, spending more time with the great things that are happening there and really help that organization grow and reach more young people, which is truly his heart's desire. And I will say that sort of as a side note, there are over 30,000 youth that age out of foster care every year. And if it were up to our fearless leader, our founder, we would touch every single one of them. Currently, we serve 300 young people nationwide, but there are so many more and there's so much more to do. But that said, in 2014, I came to work for HMS as business manager. I was very moved by the work and the impact that... We have in the lives of our young people and giving them pathways to. Self-sufficiency and a vision beyond their circumstance. I'm raised my hand and said I'd be very interested if the position were to ever you know, make itself available. And so in 2017, I was appointed as the executive director of the foundation. And we've been growing ever since. It's a real honor and privilege to serve the board of directors that I serve, but also the youth that we serve. They're quite extraordinary.
Jey - 00:08:16:
Well, I can tell you from firsthand experience, you know, we love coming down for the event. Every January. I've been three times myself. I know John has been numerous times. But your passion pours out of all of your words and, you know, you wear it on your sleeve. And we love just surrounding ourselves with the group at Ensora. Everything you guys are doing, we are fully behind. And that's one of the most exciting things for us that we look forward to every year, Monica. So we can't thank you enough for... Letting us be a part of it and continuing to build this together. And we support the mission 100%. So thanks for all you're doing.
Monica - 00:08:51:
Thank you for your extraordinary help. I mean, it has been... Such a, you know, for our young people, it's such a highlight when they, in the scholar dinner that you all attend before the ball. So the event before the ball, when it's just the young people, there's such genuine engagement from the team at Trans Impact. And it's such a beautiful thing to see. On the the culture of a company. Relocate for a weekend. To another state to support a small organization helping young people. Getting inspired by seeing. Things that they've never seen, having conversations that they've never been in, given access, opportunity, exposure, and that genuine connection that happens with. With the leadership and the employees that attend. Absolutely. Extraordinary to behold. And as one who's been so humbled by what I see every year and then hear from the young people, these are our college graduates that we're celebrating every year. January and their feedback from interacting with the team at TransImpact has been. An impression that it's an indelible mark on the hearts of young people, that inspiration and connection. Is palpable.
Jey - 00:09:59:
Well, it means the world to us. I'm going to come back to you, Monica, in a minute here, because I want to hear some maybe one specific story. I've heard John tell me. About a dozen of them, man. It gives me chill bumps every time. But Traci, I want to turn it to you here. I want to talk about true justice. Give us an overview, one, Tracy, about yourself so the audience knows who you are. But also true justice, what you guys are doing, the mission behind it. And how the partnership with TransImpact how we came together and what we're doing to really push the message here.
Traci - 00:10:32:
Yeah. Well, first of all, again, thank you guys for having us on. Monica, it was a real pleasure meeting you. John. Jey, um... So we are just, we're so grateful to TransImpact for the partnership. True Justice, you guys have been partnering with us for several years now, and it's just been great to see that partnership in action. So True Justice is a nonprofit that serves human trafficking survivors. And we serve survivors all across Eastern North Carolina, but also if there are survivors in another state. As of this week, I got a referral from someone from Arizona, from a young girl. So we do take referrals from all over, but most of the clients we serve are all from Eastern North Carolina. Human trafficking is $150 billion industry. It has surpassed drug trafficking and arms trafficking. So it is the fastest growing crime in the world. And so in North Carolina, we find ourselves ranked in the top 10 of reported cases of human trafficking. So it is an issue that's happening. It's happening everywhere, but it's happening locally as well. And we were founded in 2012. We became a 501c3 in 2014. I came on in 2015 as a chief operating officer. I also came from a business background, working in corporate, but my heart has always been serving people that have experienced trauma. And so it was just a no brainer for me when I met the director, the founder of our organization. She asked me to come on as an operations officer. And I did that in 2015. But locally, as I mentioned, we serve the survivors. We have a safe house that is up to two year program. So a lot of people will focus on getting them jobs and working on education or just getting them jobs and then in housing. And when you're working with a survivor of human trafficking, they've experienced trauma. Most of them from a very young age, maybe as young as three and four with some of the girls that I've worked with. And so our goal is not just to get them housing and get them on a job. Our goal is to work with the trauma and to help them overcome so that they can be better adjusted. And additionally, in North Carolina, we see a lot of addiction with the survivors, whether it's something that they had prior to, and then that was how the traffickers were able to coerce them into trafficking, or whether they use the addiction to cover up additional traumas or the trauma from trafficking. And so our home focuses on the trauma and addiction recovery. It is up to two years, but they can stay longer if they need. We have one young lady who has almost been there two years right now. We find the sweet spot, though, is typically about 14 months for graduation. And upon graduation, we provide a complete holistic wraparound services. So we do case management, counseling. They have equine therapy. We work with them on their education. We don't, they're not even eligible to get a job until they're going into the third phase. And again, that's because we want to give them all the life skills and the training. Education is a big piece of that. So a lot of the girls don't even have a high school education that come to us because they've just experienced so much trauma at a young age. So getting their education is, is paramount. So we just had one of the girls just two weeks ago, got her GED. Um, another one last night, uh, she just finished her certifications to become an EKG specialist in the home. And she just took her national certifications last night and she passed with a 95. So she was so excited. So we're really proud of her and proud of all the young girls that are in our program. But we also have an outreach center in Jacksonville, North Carolina. And so we serve clients there as well. Typically, the clients that we see there are maybe still in the life. Or just out of the life, but they have children and they are not in a place where they want to go into a program to help them. So we want to still be able to provide those services to them. And so again, it's case management and life skills and mentoring and assisting them with maybe it might be they need help with deposits for electricity or to pay their electricity a month or maybe their rent. So we help them with those things, job skills. And so we also do outreaches in the community. We do a hotel outreach where actually the hotel that we go to is known for trafficking and drugs. And we have a manager that actually partners with us there who gives us the room numbers. To the girls that are living and working there, which is fantastic. So we go and knock on the doors. We bring bags with full-size toiletries. And I lead the team that does that. And we just knock on the doors and start talking to them. And it's amazing. Sometimes they don't want to talk to you, but when they see you over and over again, they finally learn that, hey, they're going to talk and they appreciate you coming in. And so we've been able to identify many girls that were being trafficked through that outreach and then get them housing and get them set up. And another thing that we provide is we do a strip club outreach. Through that, again, we go, we bring food and gifts and we talk to the girls and we educate them on what trafficking is. And through that, they've identified other girls that were being trafficked. And then we actually have been able to help other girls get out of that situation as well. So it's really rewarding. And I couldn't imagine doing anything else, honestly, at this point in my life. I just love being able to work with them and the partnership of Trends Impact, allowing us to be able to do these outreaches is so important. And one other thing that we do that I think is really important to stress is we do a lot of education in the community. So we work hand in hand with law enforcement. We do a training called the Interdiction for the Protection of Children. And I'm a part of that team of people that's trained and we can actually do it nationwide. And we help law enforcement identify a high-risk threat to children. So after the last training that we did, two days later, a patrol officer pulled somebody over and was able to use the skills they learned to identify a little boy who was being trafficked and to get him back into a safe situation. So partnerships with TransImpact are very important because they allow us to help so many people. Whether it's boys or girls, they're all, you know, they're men and women, boys and girls are trafficked. And so I think that's something to also take into consideration.
Jey - 00:17:23:
Traci, can you give us maybe a sense of the scale of how big this issue really is? You know, I think. Trafficking has become more recognized as a very large issue that needs to be solved. How many people are really impacted by this?
Traci - 00:17:38:
So it's $150 billion industry. If you take all the money the NFL made, all the money that the hockey makes, go Bruins, sorry. So you've got baseball, you've got basketball, all the money that they make, you would have to take the money that they took and times it by five worldwide to get even close to what human trafficking is. There are over 42.5 million people trapped in slavery today, which is more than any time in the history of the world. And so in the United States alone, right now, while we're sitting here talking, there's over 300,000 children being trafficked. And Monica, as you know, children in the foster system are much more likely and much more vulnerable to being trafficked. And so that's what the work that you do has a really soft place in my heart because I love working with our foster students. And it's just it's. It's exponential what's happening right now. The border crisis has even grown it more with people being smuggled over and then trafficked here. We have seen. Huge increases in that. And so trying to combat trafficking is Like walking in the woods and not expecting a mosquito bite in North Carolina. You're going to have it. They're everywhere. It's just doing what we can do, if we can talk to one student and help her understand what trafficking is and maybe prevent her or him from being vulnerable and being in a trafficking situation, then we're happy. I mentioned doing the, just to kind of show prevalence, I mentioned doing the education pieces that we do. We also speak at high schools and with different youth groups and foster schools and when we were at a high school, a local high school, it's been about four years ago now, one of the young girls after our talk said, I think this is what's been happening to me by my boyfriend. Well, she was 14. Said boyfriend was a, I don't even want to call him a Marine. He was somebody who was in the Marine Corps who was being dishonorably discharged. And he was trafficking three young girls. Two of them were 15 and one of them was 14. And that's something local. And I think. You know, we have that all the time. I literally received probably five calls this week about people that were being trafficked. So it is prevalent. It's happening. And it's happening everywhere. And people think, okay, well, it's just happening in the foster system. And yes, foster children are much more vulnerable. The higher the ACE score, the more likely victimization. And so that takes it into effect. But it could be the girl next door with a very loving, open family. I worked with one or I know of one. I met a pastor and his daughter met her boyfriend and he was in college. They hadn't dated very long. And he told her to send him a selfie. So she did. And now this young girl was a very smart student and had open lines of communication, just wonderful family connections. And she took the selfie and he used that against her and told her, if you don't do what I want you to do. I'm going to put this all over social media and you're going to be shamed, your dad's church, everything. And so he was able to traffic this young girl for three months before she actually was able to disclose what was happening to her. And this is someone that would live next door in my neighborhood, like didn't obviously, but could have. And so I think that the perception that people have is sometimes people think, oh, she's just a prostitute or he's just a drug addict. There's a very good likelihood that they're also being trafficked. But it's not just the person that's on drugs. It's the girl next door or the young boy next door that's being trafficked. And it's just it's happening everywhere, right underneath our noses. And we don't know what we don't know. I didn't know how prevalent it was before I started doing this work so.
Jey - 00:21:45:
Well, that's exactly why I asked the question. And thank you for sharing that. You know. Hearing real life examples. It makes you kind of take a different set back a perspective on these things because That's why we want to talk about this. The only way to solve these problems is to talk about it and spread the word the right that. People don't know what they don't know. And everybody walks around light, kind of going around their own path. And if you're blind, there are certain things that go on because you've never experienced it yourself or you don't know anybody that's experienced it. You don't know that it exists and, you know, I love your answer. I don't love the answer because of the context that it's in, but I loved your analogy. Of how big of an issue this was. You did a really good job of kind of painting that picture, but. You know, this is part of the mission that we talk about, and that's the purpose of today's episode is. How can we continue to spread the word and drive this mission through? Help these individuals go through sorrow and true justice, overcome the adversity that they face every single day in their lives. But the beauty in it is that these folks triumph through that. And the success stories that we hear. And watching these individuals overcome what they've gone through. It's inspiring for all of us. And I think that's what we love so much about working with the organizations that the two of you continue to pioneer. So speaking of success stories, John, I'm going to come back to you, man. Because I've heard you talk to me about a lot of powerful stories you've heard over the years from the individuals at the InstaWorld Foundation from the event we go to. Pick any of the ones you told me before, man, but... You know, when we go down to Atlanta every year and we hear these young individuals tell their personal stories. It gives me chills, and I know it does the same for you, man. Is there one that sticks out to you over the years that just... Continues to motivate you and and keep us engaged in this mission that we're on.
John - 00:23:45:
Yeah, thanks, Jey. So first of all, before I go into the story that I am most fondly remembering of, you know, what we want to do, all of these kids, doesn't matter if they're coming from true justice or for in sorrow. First of all, they have demonstrated the utmost amount of perseverance throughout their life. They are already winners. They may not know it yet, but they are. And what we want to do is just provide them an opportunity. And so many of them, that's all they want. They've demonstrated their will. They just need that opportunity. And to be able to provide that is profound. And it's really humbling for us as an organization, for me personally. And I'll say that it's been maybe four years ago. I had a gentleman who was actually the speaker for the insoro gala that night and to hear him talk about being in, I believe it was 15 different foster homes moving around constantly. But what what got me the most is, is I believe a sixth grader. If I'm recalling correctly, he was walking to school one day. He got jumped and they knocked out six of his teeth with a brick. And he. He obviously didn't have the means nor his foster parents to try and bring a smile to his face. He was already struggling with life. So a smile was few and far between to begin with. But then to have this and have to go through some very challenging years through junior high and high school, when you have bullying at such high degrees, not being able to smile because you've had your teeth knocked out. You know, and to get to where he was as a graduate starting his own business, that truly was a moment that said, you know what? These kids just need an opportunity. Just give it to them because they already are winners and they're going to be leaders. And that's why I said this is absolutely something that we can do. And I'm just thrilled and honored and proud to be able to support at whatever level we can and to engage our employees to do the same. I think deep down, everyone again has this drive to want to give. And I'm just glad that we can embrace it as an organization and and funnel, you know, the desires of our people to those who need it tremendously.
Jey - 00:26:32:
You know, John, you just said something that I want to. Or maybe piggyback on here is, And this is going to be a question, Tracy, for you and Monica here. I think when... When folks hear about individual that both of your organizations are really trying to provide a platform for the adversity that they're facing. We, the first thing. That comes to mind of how can we help these individuals typically tends to be monetary donation to support what you guys are doing for scholarship for just basic needs. Tracy, like I said, walking around, knocking on doors and handing out. You know, the bags are just the basics that a lot of us take for granted. But outside of of monetary contributions. This is part of our impact one. Initiative is not just profits and financial, it's time. It's, you know, using our hands to go help and give back. And help others. So for the audience, Tracy and... Long ago. What else? Here we do. How can people help? What are things that outside of... You know, being able to write a check if you're, if you're able to do that, which is great. Right. We'll take all we can, but. Well, what else can we do? And Monica, I'll start with you.
Monica - 00:27:47:
So for the Ensora Foundation, I wanted to just comment about John's recollection of the young person who left such a mark on his heart, that was Justin Black. And Justin Black. And I have to just brag a little on Justin. Graduated from Western Michigan University. You know, John, when he was on the way to school that day as a sixth grader, had his teeth knocked out. He was walking. From his a home that they were squatting in. Taking bucket showers of snow in Detroit, Michigan. It was an unbelievable story. Today, Justin Black. Two degrees. He has received an unbelievable distinction, Forbes Next 1000 distinction. He is a homeowner. Three times over because he bought his first house. And then has gone into the business. It's part of his business. He has been buying it. And then refurbishing homes. And Detroit, as you know, is a very repressed market. And renting those and has two rental properties. And now he is a father. And married and happily, you know, just built his own American dream. From bucket showers of snow. With his teeth knocked out. And he did not have his teeth put permanently in his mouth until two weeks before the ball. So to this wonderful question, it leads me to your wonderful question, Jay, about ways to give that are not necessarily a check, but give in ways that make. Um, someone's life. Altogether different. When Justin got up to speak that day, A dentist came over to me after the ball and said, Monica. I am so moved by what I just heard. I want to provide pro bono dental services. For every Ensora scholar in perpetuity. So let's get together after the ball. And let's make this happen. You know, four years later. Dr. Rand at Polish Dental Center, all five of her practices. Are significant supporters of our young people and helping giving them pro bono dental service. To the comment earlier about giving of your time, time is the rarest of all commodities and being able to invest that opportunity in volunteering as a mentor. We need mentors at the Ensora Foundation. Our young people, like I said, we have shepherds. We are a shepherd in their lives. And so our executive level coaches is one facet of the program. But mentorship is another. And so mentorship, that's a volunteer effort. It's a wonderful, very structured, vetted program, but it definitely gives an opportunity for. Anyone who wants to make a difference in someone's life. Is this a wonderful way to do it, is dedicating your time and becoming a mentor. Um, We also have a college care package event that we do three times a year. So imagine arriving on a college campus and... You know, your belongings may be in a trash bag because, you know, you've just come from a group home and you're arriving. Excited to be on a college campus only to realize no one else has trash bags. You know, they've got luggage and... Photographer and mom and dad and everybody there. Helping move in. And you have a gift card to Target or. Walmart. And your belongings in a trash bag. And so we really work very diligently with partners to normalize that arrival on a college campus. And so we fill their dorms with the most incredible, everything that you could imagine and that you need for a dorm kit. Make that possible. And so that is a really fun, exciting exchange. And we work with corporate partners all over the country. Visa Homes is one of our partners that help lead that effort. And so, you know, being part of that college care package piece is very, very important. And then there's also The heart and soul of the organization, our core DNA. Is that scholarship. And so once a year, we... A committee convenes with our board member and it's our scholarship committee. And so if you're interested in learning more about the mission and wanting to help a young person. Change their life with this holistic scholarship consider being a volunteer on our scholarship committee. And that can be done at a distance as well. You don't have to be in Atlanta. And help select. The next cohort of students. And really understand sort of the inner workings on how we this committee selects those students who will be coming sort of scholars. Those are three really powerful ways to immediately make a significant impact in Ensora.
Jey - 00:32:29:
Monica, I could listen to the stories all day. Justin Black was his name. Is that correct? Shout out to Justin Black. I tell you what, that is... That is That story never gets old for me. John's probably told me that story, like I said, a dozen times. And I... Want to hear it every time he tells me because it just It's just a reminder. And, you know, the perspective that it gives you and just it makes you proud and it makes you proud to hear, you know. Of what he's doing, but again, from the platform that Ensora has given him. And he's just one example. He just won. There's so many more. All right, Traci. Same question. Right. And again, the context of what we're trying to give the audience here is how can we do more? Right. Well, what can we do? And, and. And tell us where to start.
Traci - 00:33:20:
Yeah. Great. Well, first of all, Monica, that story, that young man. Wow. Talk about a survivor. He is a survivor and he is having an impact, it sounds like, in the world, which is amazing. It's all I could do not to just choke up and cry, even right now thinking about it. So I love that. And I want to talk because I want to be involved. So, but so, you know, William Wilberforce, who was who helped kind of end the Atlantic slave trade, said that there are things, three things that you could do. Give of your time and your talents and your tithe. Of course, money is always great, but time and talents are really important, too. And of course, your time is valuable. But with the with the people, the students, the survivors that we work with, having people come in and maybe it is someone who wants to be a mentor. So we have trained mentors. We provide all the mentor training, but they do have mentors. And so a mentor is someone who will basically do life with them and check in on them on a weekly basis. If you go to coffee and they don't necessarily have to see them every week, but at least every other week and do life with them and be a sounding board and be somebody who can pour into these young people and help them see that there are people out there that care and that they can come to and maybe get sound advice from. So mentoring is one way. Also with your talent. So everybody has a gift, right? We all have certain things. I don't have a lot of them, but we all have things that we could do and maybe it's taking a girl fishing or a guy fishing. Maybe it's giving like doing a budgeting class or maybe somebody is a great cook. So coming to the house, the safe house, and it doesn't have to be ours, right? If you I know TransImpact is nationwide. So I will give a number where you can a website you can go and you can find out other organizations like ours that you can get involved in. But giving of your time and your talent. So whether it's a budgeting class or a cooking class locally, we have a need for people that will assist with driving. So our girls are they have different classes and programs that they have to do at the house and outside the house. And sometimes we have different girls going different directions at different times and not enough staff to do that. So someone who even just wants to, hey, I'll be available to give a ride to the dentist or something. That's also important. And then we do have the outreaches. So maybe it's maybe it's doing the getting together toiletries and stuff and stuffing the bags that we can use those for the different outreaches that we do. And there's so many different ways that you can get involved. And I always say, think of something that you like to do. What do you like to do? I don't know what your talents are, but you do. And I you know what? I'm not the book of knowledge. So somebody might have a great idea and say, hey, Traci, I would like to do this with the girls and or the guys. And that would be, you know, we're open to hearing what you guys have to. But one thing that we do with every graduate of our program, we set them up in an apartment. And so helping with that, it could be move-in day where we need help moving. Actually, TransImpact just donated us a beautiful dining room table this week that I picked up and took to the safe house. And the girls, when I walked in, I wish I had a video camera to see their faces when they saw that table because the other table was falling apart and chipping, and they were so excited. But one thing I thought was really funny is we've got these guys out there helping put this table into this dirty truck that I borrowed from my son. And there's three or four guys out there. And Berkeley says, there's too many chiefs out here. I'm not one of them. And he leaves. Of course, he's the chief operator. So I thought that was pretty funny. But just the guys loading up the table, I mean, that was a huge help. I couldn't have done that myself. And you should have seen us girls trying to get it out of the truck into the safe house. Took five of us or six of us to get it in there. But we did it. But time and talents, whatever your gifts are, there's so many ways. And also serving on the board. That's another way that somebody might be able to get involved. But I do want to give that number. And you tell me, Jey, when is a good time. But the Polaris Project. Is a good resource for people.
Jey - 00:37:49:
Traci, what we will do is after the podcast ends, we will get any information from you and Monica that we will distribute out to all the listeners in accordance with the podcast. Because we want to spread the message. And I think one thing that I take away from both what you and Monica and John have said here. Is how important and valuable time. And I just mean... In the most simple way. Time is the most precious commodity because once it is gone, you cannot get it back. And I can tell you from firsthand experience when When we've gone down to Atlanta to be a part of the event for Ensora, When I'm just speaking to one of the graduates and one of the individuals that are a part of the foundation, It can become very easy for others or even myself to think that they're probably feeling special for the opportunity to speak with others. That may have not faced the challenges or they may look at us as some somebody who is on a different level, but in reality. It's us that feels special to have the opportunity to speak. And spend time with them. And we're sitting there like a sponge, just soaking up their energy because. It's just so motivating and inspiring. And the perspective that it gives us changes course. And that's what created Impact One in general and Berkeley's vision and John's vision to to drive this whole initiative for us was to go spend time with these folks. And not just true justice in Ensora, all the foundations that John mentioned early on that. We just want to go be around it. And we just want to help build. Any way we can to continue to drive that message in. And make our communities better. And as far and wide as we can spread that, you know, we want to be a part of it. Um, Any last words for the listeners here and anything that we didn't cover? Because this is a platform that we want to maximize and be sure that we didn't miss anything here. Johnny, I'm going to turn it over to you now. For any last comments that you may want to give the audience about Impact Warner. Things that we can do to get involved with the community as we're parting from the episode.
John - 00:40:03:
Yep. So thanks again, Jey. First of all, I want to thank Traci and Monica. The world needs so many more people like yourselves and the lives that you touch is unbelievable. I hear you loud and clear, you need support, but that's what giving is about. And we've talked about it, not just being monetarily, but giving in time and so many other ways. And we know as human beings at TransImpact that we can and we should. And that's why we want to support companies or endeavors such as yours and be able to give these folks that opportunity. As I said, they've already proven that they can persevere. They can lead with the challenges and the hurdles that they face through out their life and we just want to be the catalyst for that opportunity so that they can bring good to the world and feel good about themselves. So we're thrilled to be able to partner with you all. I look forward to the years to come and all the other folks that we can help. And just thank you again for your time today and for what you're doing.
Jey - 00:41:20:
Yeah, I echo that. Traci, Monica, on behalf of myself and John and the entire transimpact families. We can't thank you both enough for all that you're doing. Any way that we can continue to support you know we are all in And we want to spread the message as far as we can. So continue to let us know how we can support and what else we can do because Like we just talked about, there may be things that we think that we're doing all we can, and there may be more that we can do. So we want to know. Not just for us, So for everybody listening. How we can continue to spread that message and and build a platform. Thank you guys. Thank you for joining us today. For everybody listening, as we said, we'll send out information on both true justice. And the Ensora Educational Foundation. And on behalf of TransImpact and the Impact One Foundation, Thank you guys for listening. And until next time, we'll keep driving value and creating next.
Hello, everybody. Welcome back to the podcast, Creating Next. I'm Jey Yokeley, your host, Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing at TransImpact. Today's episode is going to be a little different. As much as we love talking about our products and our services, today we're going to focus on what's really most important. At TransImpact. And that's our people. And that's how we give back our time, our resources and even more importantly, the other great people and organizations that we get to work with. We look at our company as a platform to give back and we have enjoyed the opportunity to join forces with other individuals and organizations that use their platform to do the same. Let me introduce our wonderful guests that are joining us today. First and foremost, our very own John Howard, Chief Operating Officer at TransImpact. We have Monica, the Executive Director of the Ensora Educational Foundation. And Traci, the executive director of Tree Justice. Everyone, welcome to the podcast. So first and foremost, John, I'm going to turn it over to you. You have been a pioneer and a voice for us. For Impact One. I know you are very passionate about the ways that we give back to your community. For the audience here, give them an overview of Impact One, how it started and what it means for our organization.
John - 00:01:29:
Yeah, so first of all, I want to start by saying that, you know, our mantra has been that every organization has a social responsibility. But it begins at the individual level. And outside of work even before looking at it at a corporate. Vision and viewpoint. You know, people give every day, whether it's through their church, it could be volunteering for their kids, baseball teams. Some people do monetary, some people donate their time, but there's giving that's happening at the individual level every single day. And, you know, we wanted to embrace that at a corporate level and just say, say, you know what, collectively as a group, we can do so much more. And that's where the acronym Impact One came from. And that is improvements made by people acting as one. And that truly is our guiding light for making sure that we are supporting both national endeavors and also community endeavors to help others that are less fortunate or those that are in need in some way. And we just feel it's very important for us to do that. To be able to show that compassion and bring that effort to others in the world who are much less fortunate than we are.
Jey - 00:02:55:
Absolutely. And so. Monica, this is where I'm going to kind of pass the baton over to you. And John, I know you are very passionate about the work that we've done with the Ensoro Foundation. Monica. Um, To the audience. An overview of Ensoro. I would love to hear some stories. I know the audience would too. Give us, in your words, overview and how the partnership with TransImpact has catapulted the mission that we've been trying to accomplish together.
Monica - 00:03:26:
Well, Jay and John, thank you so much for including the Insoro Educational Foundation in your podcast. It's an honor to be with you. And it was Traci. Today. So thank you for your time. The Insoro Educational Foundation was founded in 2005. And we believe that not one young person aging out of our nation's foster care system should have to navigate the world alone. Our mission ensures that our collegians achieve post-secondary credentials. Through a holistic scholarship that shepherds them. To and through college. Optimally positioning them for the day after graduation and the transition into adulthood. Ultimately, we are solving for self-sufficiency. And for the youth that we serve nationwide. You know, the absence of social capital and stable families. You know, the day after graduating from college. Is a challenging one. Face homelessness. You're on your own. So, you know, our organization is not just. In place to ensure that they achieve a post-secondary credential. But that that credential can get them a job. And get them into self-sufficiency and ultimately achieves. Achieve economic mobility. You know, as I heard John describe Impact One, you know, it's absolutely extraordinary. You know, we have 470 college graduates in our organization. TransImpact has helped. 16 of that 470 graduate from college over the last five years with the extraordinary support that we have received from. The leadership at your organization and the incredible. Employees of TransImpact. And with the support that just happened in the last year with Starfish Ball, our annual gala, we have eight more young people that will be going to college with support that has been raised as a result of what we received from the team at TransImpact. So we are immeasurably grateful. You know, we pride ourselves as an organization on our graduation rate being 81% national average, which is 77% higher than their peers. But, you know, ultimately, it's ensuring that young people move from college to career. And so our organization really is in place to help do that through coaching and mentorship and workforce readiness. So that holistic scholarship really helps deliver on that. And thanks to the great. Support from people like TransImpact and we... Ethos that is the company culture. We're able to do that.
Jey - 00:05:57:
So Monica and Sorrell and Sorrell headquartered in Atlanta. Tell us your story. How did you get involved with Insura in the beginning?
Monica - 00:06:04:
Wow. So I came to work for our founder in 2014, Daryl Mays, a humble guy from Beaumont, Texas, with a heart the size of the state, but very committed to ensuring that his legacy extended beyond what he was able to build for his family. He seeded the organization in 2005, and I happened to meet him and his wife in a previous business and moved to Atlanta from Texas and coming to this work from a business background, I don't come to the work of insora with a nonprofit background. I am i come to this work from a business. I was a former human resources executive and passionate about employment and ensuring that, you know, making a difference in the world. You know, this was an unbelievable opportunity to have to work for Daryl on, you know, helping with him as his, I was his business manager and helping him with his private businesses. As I learned more about the work of the foundation, I had said to him, you know, Daryl, I would love an opportunity to move. Closer to the foundation and doing more time, spending more time with the great things that are happening there and really help that organization grow and reach more young people, which is truly his heart's desire. And I will say that sort of as a side note, there are over 30,000 youth that age out of foster care every year. And if it were up to our fearless leader, our founder, we would touch every single one of them. Currently, we serve 300 young people nationwide, but there are so many more and there's so much more to do. But that said, in 2014, I came to work for HMS as business manager. I was very moved by the work and the impact that... We have in the lives of our young people and giving them pathways to. Self-sufficiency and a vision beyond their circumstance. I'm raised my hand and said I'd be very interested if the position were to ever you know, make itself available. And so in 2017, I was appointed as the executive director of the foundation. And we've been growing ever since. It's a real honor and privilege to serve the board of directors that I serve, but also the youth that we serve. They're quite extraordinary.
Jey - 00:08:16:
Well, I can tell you from firsthand experience, you know, we love coming down for the event. Every January. I've been three times myself. I know John has been numerous times. But your passion pours out of all of your words and, you know, you wear it on your sleeve. And we love just surrounding ourselves with the group at Ensora. Everything you guys are doing, we are fully behind. And that's one of the most exciting things for us that we look forward to every year, Monica. So we can't thank you enough for... Letting us be a part of it and continuing to build this together. And we support the mission 100%. So thanks for all you're doing.
Monica - 00:08:51:
Thank you for your extraordinary help. I mean, it has been... Such a, you know, for our young people, it's such a highlight when they, in the scholar dinner that you all attend before the ball. So the event before the ball, when it's just the young people, there's such genuine engagement from the team at Trans Impact. And it's such a beautiful thing to see. On the the culture of a company. Relocate for a weekend. To another state to support a small organization helping young people. Getting inspired by seeing. Things that they've never seen, having conversations that they've never been in, given access, opportunity, exposure, and that genuine connection that happens with. With the leadership and the employees that attend. Absolutely. Extraordinary to behold. And as one who's been so humbled by what I see every year and then hear from the young people, these are our college graduates that we're celebrating every year. January and their feedback from interacting with the team at TransImpact has been. An impression that it's an indelible mark on the hearts of young people, that inspiration and connection. Is palpable.
Jey - 00:09:59:
Well, it means the world to us. I'm going to come back to you, Monica, in a minute here, because I want to hear some maybe one specific story. I've heard John tell me. About a dozen of them, man. It gives me chill bumps every time. But Traci, I want to turn it to you here. I want to talk about true justice. Give us an overview, one, Tracy, about yourself so the audience knows who you are. But also true justice, what you guys are doing, the mission behind it. And how the partnership with TransImpact how we came together and what we're doing to really push the message here.
Traci - 00:10:32:
Yeah. Well, first of all, again, thank you guys for having us on. Monica, it was a real pleasure meeting you. John. Jey, um... So we are just, we're so grateful to TransImpact for the partnership. True Justice, you guys have been partnering with us for several years now, and it's just been great to see that partnership in action. So True Justice is a nonprofit that serves human trafficking survivors. And we serve survivors all across Eastern North Carolina, but also if there are survivors in another state. As of this week, I got a referral from someone from Arizona, from a young girl. So we do take referrals from all over, but most of the clients we serve are all from Eastern North Carolina. Human trafficking is $150 billion industry. It has surpassed drug trafficking and arms trafficking. So it is the fastest growing crime in the world. And so in North Carolina, we find ourselves ranked in the top 10 of reported cases of human trafficking. So it is an issue that's happening. It's happening everywhere, but it's happening locally as well. And we were founded in 2012. We became a 501c3 in 2014. I came on in 2015 as a chief operating officer. I also came from a business background, working in corporate, but my heart has always been serving people that have experienced trauma. And so it was just a no brainer for me when I met the director, the founder of our organization. She asked me to come on as an operations officer. And I did that in 2015. But locally, as I mentioned, we serve the survivors. We have a safe house that is up to two year program. So a lot of people will focus on getting them jobs and working on education or just getting them jobs and then in housing. And when you're working with a survivor of human trafficking, they've experienced trauma. Most of them from a very young age, maybe as young as three and four with some of the girls that I've worked with. And so our goal is not just to get them housing and get them on a job. Our goal is to work with the trauma and to help them overcome so that they can be better adjusted. And additionally, in North Carolina, we see a lot of addiction with the survivors, whether it's something that they had prior to, and then that was how the traffickers were able to coerce them into trafficking, or whether they use the addiction to cover up additional traumas or the trauma from trafficking. And so our home focuses on the trauma and addiction recovery. It is up to two years, but they can stay longer if they need. We have one young lady who has almost been there two years right now. We find the sweet spot, though, is typically about 14 months for graduation. And upon graduation, we provide a complete holistic wraparound services. So we do case management, counseling. They have equine therapy. We work with them on their education. We don't, they're not even eligible to get a job until they're going into the third phase. And again, that's because we want to give them all the life skills and the training. Education is a big piece of that. So a lot of the girls don't even have a high school education that come to us because they've just experienced so much trauma at a young age. So getting their education is, is paramount. So we just had one of the girls just two weeks ago, got her GED. Um, another one last night, uh, she just finished her certifications to become an EKG specialist in the home. And she just took her national certifications last night and she passed with a 95. So she was so excited. So we're really proud of her and proud of all the young girls that are in our program. But we also have an outreach center in Jacksonville, North Carolina. And so we serve clients there as well. Typically, the clients that we see there are maybe still in the life. Or just out of the life, but they have children and they are not in a place where they want to go into a program to help them. So we want to still be able to provide those services to them. And so again, it's case management and life skills and mentoring and assisting them with maybe it might be they need help with deposits for electricity or to pay their electricity a month or maybe their rent. So we help them with those things, job skills. And so we also do outreaches in the community. We do a hotel outreach where actually the hotel that we go to is known for trafficking and drugs. And we have a manager that actually partners with us there who gives us the room numbers. To the girls that are living and working there, which is fantastic. So we go and knock on the doors. We bring bags with full-size toiletries. And I lead the team that does that. And we just knock on the doors and start talking to them. And it's amazing. Sometimes they don't want to talk to you, but when they see you over and over again, they finally learn that, hey, they're going to talk and they appreciate you coming in. And so we've been able to identify many girls that were being trafficked through that outreach and then get them housing and get them set up. And another thing that we provide is we do a strip club outreach. Through that, again, we go, we bring food and gifts and we talk to the girls and we educate them on what trafficking is. And through that, they've identified other girls that were being trafficked. And then we actually have been able to help other girls get out of that situation as well. So it's really rewarding. And I couldn't imagine doing anything else, honestly, at this point in my life. I just love being able to work with them and the partnership of Trends Impact, allowing us to be able to do these outreaches is so important. And one other thing that we do that I think is really important to stress is we do a lot of education in the community. So we work hand in hand with law enforcement. We do a training called the Interdiction for the Protection of Children. And I'm a part of that team of people that's trained and we can actually do it nationwide. And we help law enforcement identify a high-risk threat to children. So after the last training that we did, two days later, a patrol officer pulled somebody over and was able to use the skills they learned to identify a little boy who was being trafficked and to get him back into a safe situation. So partnerships with TransImpact are very important because they allow us to help so many people. Whether it's boys or girls, they're all, you know, they're men and women, boys and girls are trafficked. And so I think that's something to also take into consideration.
Jey - 00:17:23:
Traci, can you give us maybe a sense of the scale of how big this issue really is? You know, I think. Trafficking has become more recognized as a very large issue that needs to be solved. How many people are really impacted by this?
Traci - 00:17:38:
So it's $150 billion industry. If you take all the money the NFL made, all the money that the hockey makes, go Bruins, sorry. So you've got baseball, you've got basketball, all the money that they make, you would have to take the money that they took and times it by five worldwide to get even close to what human trafficking is. There are over 42.5 million people trapped in slavery today, which is more than any time in the history of the world. And so in the United States alone, right now, while we're sitting here talking, there's over 300,000 children being trafficked. And Monica, as you know, children in the foster system are much more likely and much more vulnerable to being trafficked. And so that's what the work that you do has a really soft place in my heart because I love working with our foster students. And it's just it's. It's exponential what's happening right now. The border crisis has even grown it more with people being smuggled over and then trafficked here. We have seen. Huge increases in that. And so trying to combat trafficking is Like walking in the woods and not expecting a mosquito bite in North Carolina. You're going to have it. They're everywhere. It's just doing what we can do, if we can talk to one student and help her understand what trafficking is and maybe prevent her or him from being vulnerable and being in a trafficking situation, then we're happy. I mentioned doing the, just to kind of show prevalence, I mentioned doing the education pieces that we do. We also speak at high schools and with different youth groups and foster schools and when we were at a high school, a local high school, it's been about four years ago now, one of the young girls after our talk said, I think this is what's been happening to me by my boyfriend. Well, she was 14. Said boyfriend was a, I don't even want to call him a Marine. He was somebody who was in the Marine Corps who was being dishonorably discharged. And he was trafficking three young girls. Two of them were 15 and one of them was 14. And that's something local. And I think. You know, we have that all the time. I literally received probably five calls this week about people that were being trafficked. So it is prevalent. It's happening. And it's happening everywhere. And people think, okay, well, it's just happening in the foster system. And yes, foster children are much more vulnerable. The higher the ACE score, the more likely victimization. And so that takes it into effect. But it could be the girl next door with a very loving, open family. I worked with one or I know of one. I met a pastor and his daughter met her boyfriend and he was in college. They hadn't dated very long. And he told her to send him a selfie. So she did. And now this young girl was a very smart student and had open lines of communication, just wonderful family connections. And she took the selfie and he used that against her and told her, if you don't do what I want you to do. I'm going to put this all over social media and you're going to be shamed, your dad's church, everything. And so he was able to traffic this young girl for three months before she actually was able to disclose what was happening to her. And this is someone that would live next door in my neighborhood, like didn't obviously, but could have. And so I think that the perception that people have is sometimes people think, oh, she's just a prostitute or he's just a drug addict. There's a very good likelihood that they're also being trafficked. But it's not just the person that's on drugs. It's the girl next door or the young boy next door that's being trafficked. And it's just it's happening everywhere, right underneath our noses. And we don't know what we don't know. I didn't know how prevalent it was before I started doing this work so.
Jey - 00:21:45:
Well, that's exactly why I asked the question. And thank you for sharing that. You know. Hearing real life examples. It makes you kind of take a different set back a perspective on these things because That's why we want to talk about this. The only way to solve these problems is to talk about it and spread the word the right that. People don't know what they don't know. And everybody walks around light, kind of going around their own path. And if you're blind, there are certain things that go on because you've never experienced it yourself or you don't know anybody that's experienced it. You don't know that it exists and, you know, I love your answer. I don't love the answer because of the context that it's in, but I loved your analogy. Of how big of an issue this was. You did a really good job of kind of painting that picture, but. You know, this is part of the mission that we talk about, and that's the purpose of today's episode is. How can we continue to spread the word and drive this mission through? Help these individuals go through sorrow and true justice, overcome the adversity that they face every single day in their lives. But the beauty in it is that these folks triumph through that. And the success stories that we hear. And watching these individuals overcome what they've gone through. It's inspiring for all of us. And I think that's what we love so much about working with the organizations that the two of you continue to pioneer. So speaking of success stories, John, I'm going to come back to you, man. Because I've heard you talk to me about a lot of powerful stories you've heard over the years from the individuals at the InstaWorld Foundation from the event we go to. Pick any of the ones you told me before, man, but... You know, when we go down to Atlanta every year and we hear these young individuals tell their personal stories. It gives me chills, and I know it does the same for you, man. Is there one that sticks out to you over the years that just... Continues to motivate you and and keep us engaged in this mission that we're on.
John - 00:23:45:
Yeah, thanks, Jey. So first of all, before I go into the story that I am most fondly remembering of, you know, what we want to do, all of these kids, doesn't matter if they're coming from true justice or for in sorrow. First of all, they have demonstrated the utmost amount of perseverance throughout their life. They are already winners. They may not know it yet, but they are. And what we want to do is just provide them an opportunity. And so many of them, that's all they want. They've demonstrated their will. They just need that opportunity. And to be able to provide that is profound. And it's really humbling for us as an organization, for me personally. And I'll say that it's been maybe four years ago. I had a gentleman who was actually the speaker for the insoro gala that night and to hear him talk about being in, I believe it was 15 different foster homes moving around constantly. But what what got me the most is, is I believe a sixth grader. If I'm recalling correctly, he was walking to school one day. He got jumped and they knocked out six of his teeth with a brick. And he. He obviously didn't have the means nor his foster parents to try and bring a smile to his face. He was already struggling with life. So a smile was few and far between to begin with. But then to have this and have to go through some very challenging years through junior high and high school, when you have bullying at such high degrees, not being able to smile because you've had your teeth knocked out. You know, and to get to where he was as a graduate starting his own business, that truly was a moment that said, you know what? These kids just need an opportunity. Just give it to them because they already are winners and they're going to be leaders. And that's why I said this is absolutely something that we can do. And I'm just thrilled and honored and proud to be able to support at whatever level we can and to engage our employees to do the same. I think deep down, everyone again has this drive to want to give. And I'm just glad that we can embrace it as an organization and and funnel, you know, the desires of our people to those who need it tremendously.
Jey - 00:26:32:
You know, John, you just said something that I want to. Or maybe piggyback on here is, And this is going to be a question, Tracy, for you and Monica here. I think when... When folks hear about individual that both of your organizations are really trying to provide a platform for the adversity that they're facing. We, the first thing. That comes to mind of how can we help these individuals typically tends to be monetary donation to support what you guys are doing for scholarship for just basic needs. Tracy, like I said, walking around, knocking on doors and handing out. You know, the bags are just the basics that a lot of us take for granted. But outside of of monetary contributions. This is part of our impact one. Initiative is not just profits and financial, it's time. It's, you know, using our hands to go help and give back. And help others. So for the audience, Tracy and... Long ago. What else? Here we do. How can people help? What are things that outside of... You know, being able to write a check if you're, if you're able to do that, which is great. Right. We'll take all we can, but. Well, what else can we do? And Monica, I'll start with you.
Monica - 00:27:47:
So for the Ensora Foundation, I wanted to just comment about John's recollection of the young person who left such a mark on his heart, that was Justin Black. And Justin Black. And I have to just brag a little on Justin. Graduated from Western Michigan University. You know, John, when he was on the way to school that day as a sixth grader, had his teeth knocked out. He was walking. From his a home that they were squatting in. Taking bucket showers of snow in Detroit, Michigan. It was an unbelievable story. Today, Justin Black. Two degrees. He has received an unbelievable distinction, Forbes Next 1000 distinction. He is a homeowner. Three times over because he bought his first house. And then has gone into the business. It's part of his business. He has been buying it. And then refurbishing homes. And Detroit, as you know, is a very repressed market. And renting those and has two rental properties. And now he is a father. And married and happily, you know, just built his own American dream. From bucket showers of snow. With his teeth knocked out. And he did not have his teeth put permanently in his mouth until two weeks before the ball. So to this wonderful question, it leads me to your wonderful question, Jay, about ways to give that are not necessarily a check, but give in ways that make. Um, someone's life. Altogether different. When Justin got up to speak that day, A dentist came over to me after the ball and said, Monica. I am so moved by what I just heard. I want to provide pro bono dental services. For every Ensora scholar in perpetuity. So let's get together after the ball. And let's make this happen. You know, four years later. Dr. Rand at Polish Dental Center, all five of her practices. Are significant supporters of our young people and helping giving them pro bono dental service. To the comment earlier about giving of your time, time is the rarest of all commodities and being able to invest that opportunity in volunteering as a mentor. We need mentors at the Ensora Foundation. Our young people, like I said, we have shepherds. We are a shepherd in their lives. And so our executive level coaches is one facet of the program. But mentorship is another. And so mentorship, that's a volunteer effort. It's a wonderful, very structured, vetted program, but it definitely gives an opportunity for. Anyone who wants to make a difference in someone's life. Is this a wonderful way to do it, is dedicating your time and becoming a mentor. Um, We also have a college care package event that we do three times a year. So imagine arriving on a college campus and... You know, your belongings may be in a trash bag because, you know, you've just come from a group home and you're arriving. Excited to be on a college campus only to realize no one else has trash bags. You know, they've got luggage and... Photographer and mom and dad and everybody there. Helping move in. And you have a gift card to Target or. Walmart. And your belongings in a trash bag. And so we really work very diligently with partners to normalize that arrival on a college campus. And so we fill their dorms with the most incredible, everything that you could imagine and that you need for a dorm kit. Make that possible. And so that is a really fun, exciting exchange. And we work with corporate partners all over the country. Visa Homes is one of our partners that help lead that effort. And so, you know, being part of that college care package piece is very, very important. And then there's also The heart and soul of the organization, our core DNA. Is that scholarship. And so once a year, we... A committee convenes with our board member and it's our scholarship committee. And so if you're interested in learning more about the mission and wanting to help a young person. Change their life with this holistic scholarship consider being a volunteer on our scholarship committee. And that can be done at a distance as well. You don't have to be in Atlanta. And help select. The next cohort of students. And really understand sort of the inner workings on how we this committee selects those students who will be coming sort of scholars. Those are three really powerful ways to immediately make a significant impact in Ensora.
Jey - 00:32:29:
Monica, I could listen to the stories all day. Justin Black was his name. Is that correct? Shout out to Justin Black. I tell you what, that is... That is That story never gets old for me. John's probably told me that story, like I said, a dozen times. And I... Want to hear it every time he tells me because it just It's just a reminder. And, you know, the perspective that it gives you and just it makes you proud and it makes you proud to hear, you know. Of what he's doing, but again, from the platform that Ensora has given him. And he's just one example. He just won. There's so many more. All right, Traci. Same question. Right. And again, the context of what we're trying to give the audience here is how can we do more? Right. Well, what can we do? And, and. And tell us where to start.
Traci - 00:33:20:
Yeah. Great. Well, first of all, Monica, that story, that young man. Wow. Talk about a survivor. He is a survivor and he is having an impact, it sounds like, in the world, which is amazing. It's all I could do not to just choke up and cry, even right now thinking about it. So I love that. And I want to talk because I want to be involved. So, but so, you know, William Wilberforce, who was who helped kind of end the Atlantic slave trade, said that there are things, three things that you could do. Give of your time and your talents and your tithe. Of course, money is always great, but time and talents are really important, too. And of course, your time is valuable. But with the with the people, the students, the survivors that we work with, having people come in and maybe it is someone who wants to be a mentor. So we have trained mentors. We provide all the mentor training, but they do have mentors. And so a mentor is someone who will basically do life with them and check in on them on a weekly basis. If you go to coffee and they don't necessarily have to see them every week, but at least every other week and do life with them and be a sounding board and be somebody who can pour into these young people and help them see that there are people out there that care and that they can come to and maybe get sound advice from. So mentoring is one way. Also with your talent. So everybody has a gift, right? We all have certain things. I don't have a lot of them, but we all have things that we could do and maybe it's taking a girl fishing or a guy fishing. Maybe it's giving like doing a budgeting class or maybe somebody is a great cook. So coming to the house, the safe house, and it doesn't have to be ours, right? If you I know TransImpact is nationwide. So I will give a number where you can a website you can go and you can find out other organizations like ours that you can get involved in. But giving of your time and your talent. So whether it's a budgeting class or a cooking class locally, we have a need for people that will assist with driving. So our girls are they have different classes and programs that they have to do at the house and outside the house. And sometimes we have different girls going different directions at different times and not enough staff to do that. So someone who even just wants to, hey, I'll be available to give a ride to the dentist or something. That's also important. And then we do have the outreaches. So maybe it's maybe it's doing the getting together toiletries and stuff and stuffing the bags that we can use those for the different outreaches that we do. And there's so many different ways that you can get involved. And I always say, think of something that you like to do. What do you like to do? I don't know what your talents are, but you do. And I you know what? I'm not the book of knowledge. So somebody might have a great idea and say, hey, Traci, I would like to do this with the girls and or the guys. And that would be, you know, we're open to hearing what you guys have to. But one thing that we do with every graduate of our program, we set them up in an apartment. And so helping with that, it could be move-in day where we need help moving. Actually, TransImpact just donated us a beautiful dining room table this week that I picked up and took to the safe house. And the girls, when I walked in, I wish I had a video camera to see their faces when they saw that table because the other table was falling apart and chipping, and they were so excited. But one thing I thought was really funny is we've got these guys out there helping put this table into this dirty truck that I borrowed from my son. And there's three or four guys out there. And Berkeley says, there's too many chiefs out here. I'm not one of them. And he leaves. Of course, he's the chief operator. So I thought that was pretty funny. But just the guys loading up the table, I mean, that was a huge help. I couldn't have done that myself. And you should have seen us girls trying to get it out of the truck into the safe house. Took five of us or six of us to get it in there. But we did it. But time and talents, whatever your gifts are, there's so many ways. And also serving on the board. That's another way that somebody might be able to get involved. But I do want to give that number. And you tell me, Jey, when is a good time. But the Polaris Project. Is a good resource for people.
Jey - 00:37:49:
Traci, what we will do is after the podcast ends, we will get any information from you and Monica that we will distribute out to all the listeners in accordance with the podcast. Because we want to spread the message. And I think one thing that I take away from both what you and Monica and John have said here. Is how important and valuable time. And I just mean... In the most simple way. Time is the most precious commodity because once it is gone, you cannot get it back. And I can tell you from firsthand experience when When we've gone down to Atlanta to be a part of the event for Ensora, When I'm just speaking to one of the graduates and one of the individuals that are a part of the foundation, It can become very easy for others or even myself to think that they're probably feeling special for the opportunity to speak with others. That may have not faced the challenges or they may look at us as some somebody who is on a different level, but in reality. It's us that feels special to have the opportunity to speak. And spend time with them. And we're sitting there like a sponge, just soaking up their energy because. It's just so motivating and inspiring. And the perspective that it gives us changes course. And that's what created Impact One in general and Berkeley's vision and John's vision to to drive this whole initiative for us was to go spend time with these folks. And not just true justice in Ensora, all the foundations that John mentioned early on that. We just want to go be around it. And we just want to help build. Any way we can to continue to drive that message in. And make our communities better. And as far and wide as we can spread that, you know, we want to be a part of it. Um, Any last words for the listeners here and anything that we didn't cover? Because this is a platform that we want to maximize and be sure that we didn't miss anything here. Johnny, I'm going to turn it over to you now. For any last comments that you may want to give the audience about Impact Warner. Things that we can do to get involved with the community as we're parting from the episode.
John - 00:40:03:
Yep. So thanks again, Jey. First of all, I want to thank Traci and Monica. The world needs so many more people like yourselves and the lives that you touch is unbelievable. I hear you loud and clear, you need support, but that's what giving is about. And we've talked about it, not just being monetarily, but giving in time and so many other ways. And we know as human beings at TransImpact that we can and we should. And that's why we want to support companies or endeavors such as yours and be able to give these folks that opportunity. As I said, they've already proven that they can persevere. They can lead with the challenges and the hurdles that they face through out their life and we just want to be the catalyst for that opportunity so that they can bring good to the world and feel good about themselves. So we're thrilled to be able to partner with you all. I look forward to the years to come and all the other folks that we can help. And just thank you again for your time today and for what you're doing.
Jey - 00:41:20:
Yeah, I echo that. Traci, Monica, on behalf of myself and John and the entire transimpact families. We can't thank you both enough for all that you're doing. Any way that we can continue to support you know we are all in And we want to spread the message as far as we can. So continue to let us know how we can support and what else we can do because Like we just talked about, there may be things that we think that we're doing all we can, and there may be more that we can do. So we want to know. Not just for us, So for everybody listening. How we can continue to spread that message and and build a platform. Thank you guys. Thank you for joining us today. For everybody listening, as we said, we'll send out information on both true justice. And the Ensora Educational Foundation. And on behalf of TransImpact and the Impact One Foundation, Thank you guys for listening. And until next time, we'll keep driving value and creating next.
