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Published on:

17th Aug 2023

E47 - Community Warehouse and Partner's in Hope - Special Event Leap of Faith

Community Warehouse and Partners in Hope host special skydiving event - Leap of Faith

Saturday, August 19, 2023, Noon to 6:00 pm

Wisconsin Skydiving Center

N3407 County Road K, Jefferson, WI 53549

Show your support and DONATE:

The Community

Warehouse and Partners In Hope- Milwaukee WI

What's so special? 10 Milwaukee Police Officers and 10 previously incarcerated take a leap of faith together out of a plane. The first-ever event of its kind where two culturally divided groups come together and prove they can form bonds of friendship.

Guest: Nancy Aliota a representative from Partners in Hope talks about the organization and the event.


Show Highlights:

  • Community Warehouse and Partners in Hope - Who they are?
  • What's the mission and purpose?
  • Locations
  • Services offered
  • Who is involved and how to get involved?
  • How did the event Leap of Faith start and what's it all about?
  • Why people are passionate about PIH?


Community Warehouse Locations

  • 521 S. 9th Street Milwaukee, WI 53204
  • 4110 W. Green Tree Road Milwaukee, WI 53209.


Community Warehouse Social Media Links:

Website

The Community

Warehouse and Partners In Hope- Milwaukee WI

Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/thecommunitywarehouse.org

Instagram

The

Community Warehouse (@the.community.warehouse) • Instagram photos and videos

LinkedIn

(8) The

Community Warehouse : Overview | LinkedIn


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Transcript
Speaker:

Leap of Faith It's all about relationships.

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this Saturday, which is August 19th.

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At the Wisconsin Skydiving Center.

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Partner in Hope Is holding an event called Leap of Faith, we are bringing 10 formerly

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incarcerated along with 10 Milwaukee police officers to the skydiving center,

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and these people are going to pair up.

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And

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Tandem skydive together.

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it's in Jefferson, You take 94 West Highway 26 South, it turns into

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Highway K and , it's right there.

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. We have asked people to register in advance, but we

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will not turn anybody away.

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Partner in Hope

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Leap of Faith It's all about relationships.

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Hello everyone.

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This is Mechi Jay, and welcome to a Prisoner's.

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Pardon

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Podcast.

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Today I'm excited to talk about a special

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community organization called Partners in Hope and their special event that's

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happening this Saturday Leap of Faith.

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My guest here is Nancy Aliota.

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She represents Partners in Hope.

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Microphone (2- AT2005USB)-2: Now let's jump into the show.

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Hi Nancy.

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Hey Michi.

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Thanks for having me.

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Thank you and welcome to the show.

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Why don't you tell us what you do at Partners in Hope?

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, I'm just simply a volunteer.

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There's a pretty long story about how I got associated with partners in Hope, but

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I think, people probably need to know.

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Where even partners at Hope got started.

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Back in, , 2005, a gentleman along with a group of people decided to open

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up a store that would provide home building products at affordable prices.

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So that, , people, all kinds of levels could afford these nice new products.

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In addition to that, they wanted to provide employment to those that might

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be challenged in getting work and finding work like the formerly incarcerated.

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Hmm.

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So Community Warehouse, , is the name of that, obviously.

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And.

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They now have two locations , in addition to Community Warehouse, what

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they do is the funds from Community Warehouse supports partners in Hope,

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and Partners in Hope is a nonprofit, faith-based organization that helps

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men and women who are willing, , that come out of incarceration.

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Reintegrate into society.

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So that's their goal and their purpose, their mission is, , to transform

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the lives of those impacted by incarceration through the Lord of Christ.

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I just love this whole concept to, have it almost self-supporting , along

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with also having it be a 5 0 1 C three.

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, I didn't know it started that long ago.

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2005.

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Yeah, yep.

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So pretty successful and obviously doing really great things, , to

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now expand to , two locations.

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For sure.

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So is it only in the Milwaukee area?

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Correct.

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Um, there's one up on the north side off of Greentree, and then

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there's one on the south side.

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And I have to admit, I don't exactly know where it isn't on the south side.

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The partners in Hope is actually located on Third and North

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Avenue, right there in Milwaukee.

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Okay.

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All right.

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Yeah, I do.

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The other location I see here is on 5 21 South ninth Street.

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Is this okay?

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That's it.

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So this is good.

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This is , a good.

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I think organization.

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I've been there, , a few times and I just fell in love with it and I've now

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joined and partner with them somewhat because of , what you all do there.

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So, , what kind of things do they offer the people there at Partners in Hope.

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So, um, basically what happens, the men and women coming

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out of incarceration mm-hmm.

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Are, um, invited to attend what they call a cohort.

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And that is, um, where participants part participate in a one

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week soft skills workshop.

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, it helps equip them for the transition that they're facing ahead of them.

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They do things like, , helping with writing a resume as well

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as, , interviewing skills, they help with time management.

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They help with goal setting.

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They might help with financial literacy.

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There's all different things that take place during this week.

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It really kind of helps them also identify their negative influences.

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Mm-hmm.

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Um, and you know what, it even goes so far, mechi as.

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Teaching them traffic stop etiquette, you know, it seems like that.

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What is that?

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Well, you know, I guess the goal is, , to build trust and a mutual

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understanding between the law enforcement as well as the former

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incarcerated, so that should they have an encounter, it will end peacefully.

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Oh, okay.

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I get you.

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Now, you know what, at first I thought you were talking about like

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every time they stop at a stoplight, they're supposed to do something, but

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you Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

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Should they unfortunately get pulled over or I bus, you know, stuff like that.

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It's pretty cool.

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, Once they go through the cohort, which is like Monday through Thursday mm-hmm.

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On Friday, they actually, we hold a graduation, and I'll tell you, last

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Friday was the biggest class ever.

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16 people graduated from the cohort.

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Wow.

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So, mm-hmm.

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It just keeps getting bigger and bigger and better and better.

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Yeah.

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So once they graduate mm-hmm.

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Um, partners in Hope then kind of helps them work on their individual success.

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And one of the cool things that they offer is to provide these people with a mentor.

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So there's mentors and there's mentees, and.

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The mentors are people of, , a very diverse background.

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We've got actually law enforcement, we have police officers

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that are serving as mentors.

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We've got faith and business leaders in our communities.

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I mean, just anybody.

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And I like to kind of say godly people.

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Mm-hmm.

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You know, just really, , coming together , it's really neat when we see.

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The mentees accepting a mentor and, that building of trust that allows them

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to simply walk alongside one another.

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And these mentors could help these guys, these men and women, , when they

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transition, you know, to back to the journey home and helps them, , develop.

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Skills to overcome obstacles that they might face.

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Mm-hmm.

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Um, so many different things that, that relationship, it's

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all about relationships, right?

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So it's, mm-hmm.

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It's a neat thing when we see.

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The mentor and the mentee relationship building and growing

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and really coming together.

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So that's one thing that, comes out of p i h.

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Mm-hmm.

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That they're given.

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And then, you know, the coolest part about it is, is as you have said

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yourself, on Wednesday nights we gather together and we have what we call huddle.

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So what huddle is, is we come together, and this is, these are the mentees,

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these are the formerly incarcerated, these are mentors, these are

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volunteers, these are police officers.

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These are all kinds of people.

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People like me that just simply have come and now want to be in the room.

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And what we do is we share, we open with a prayer, we read a devotional.

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And then we share a meal together and that meal is provided to

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anyone attending for free.

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And then the best part about it is after about a 15 minute toolbox

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talk, , it's another informational talk where they can, again, I.

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Put more tools in the toolbox, they gain skills , in something else.

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Say it's, renter's assistance or fraud or again, just we're

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talking about relationships.

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, but the coolest part is, , everyone in the room is given the microphone and

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we go around the room and you get the mic for a minute and a half, and during

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that minute and a half, you are to talk about the highs and lows of your week.

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And you can only imagine.

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The things that we're hearing, you know, the things that people are

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facing, the things that people are going through, and it's, it's people like

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you and me along with those that are formerly incarcerated, just basically

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getting that minute and a half to talk where somebody will simply listen.

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And it's kind of that safe space for a lot of these people.

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Um, you know, they know that this is a place where they feel loved and cared for.

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Um, it's just, it's, it's, I can't explain it to people and, and you

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asked me, you know, what is my role there and my husband, um, we actually

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learned about partners and hope through our pastor at our church.

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Hmm.

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And I love to talk about my husband Dean because I believe he's a godly man and

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he has been blessed with spiritual gifts.

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And, you know, I think those are like, um, word of wisdom, word of knowledge.

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Discernment, you know, and I believe that's discernment

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is one of my spiritual gifts.

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But, um, Dean was approached to, to just come check out Partners in Hope

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and he attended his first huddle and came home and was telling me about it.

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And I could tell that, you know, it really impacted him and it really

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got him thinking and feeling and, you know, probably in a different way.

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And he started attending the huddles.

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Pretty much on a regular basis.

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And then we went to the fundraiser.

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Um, they, they hold an annual fundraiser typically in the fall.

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Mm-hmm.

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And, uh, you know, he asked, do you wanna come along?

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I'm like, absolutely.

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Based on the things that you're telling me, I would love to

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see what this is all about.

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So we are, you know, in this room with it's, you know, all kinds of people and.

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They did a program where, you know, the c e O got up and talked and a

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couple other people got up and talked.

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There was a lovely woman who sang and, but the, the best part was one of the formerly

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incarcerated, his name was Fernando.

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He gave his testimony and Michi, there wasn't a dry eye in the room.

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Oh, wow.

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It was, it was really, really, really interesting and really

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neat to hear his story.

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This is someone who served, I believe, 43 years in prison.

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Wow.

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And , he dropped to his knees in prison and said, God, I can't, I don't like me.

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I can't be this way anymore.

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, if you're the God you say you are, help me change me.

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And it was in prison where he found Christ.

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And that's what changed Fernando and um, , it was just, like I said, he,

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he obtained, um, I believe his M B A through Marquette while in prison.

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Mm-hmm.

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I think he actually has another degree, , and I, I, it was just

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amazing to me to hear the story.

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So when we left, Dean and I were walking through the parking lot and

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I'm like, so and so, what do you think?

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Because, , they were encouraging Dean to become a mentor.

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He is like, oh, I don't know.

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I think I really need to pray about it.

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He's like, what do you think?

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And I'm like, are kidding me?

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Fantastic in this role.

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Mm-hmm.

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, I'm like, I believe you have so much to offer, and just think of what it

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will do for you yourself as well.

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, the relationships that you can gain from it, , in addition to maybe making

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a, , a change in somebody else's life to give, be given that opportunity.

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Why wouldn't you, ? So we, , talked about it obviously, and this was a Thursday.

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That Saturday, we went downtown to a Christian concert.

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We went to see Mercy me and downtown was a blurry of people.

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It was the bucks opener, it was the admirals opener.

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There was all kinds of things happening downtown in addition to this concert.

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So we park in the parking structure, we walk out and as we are crossing

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the street, who do we see?

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Who Fernando.

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Wow.

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And it's like Fernando, , and, um, we hug each other, we get off the

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side, , the middle of the road and walk over to the, curb and sidewalk

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and we end up talking for 10 minutes.

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And it's , we've been friends forever.

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And here we just met at.

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, the fundraiser.

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Mm-hmm.

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So it was just really, I'm like, okay, God, look at you.

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? So he does answer does he does answer.

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Absolutely.

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, so we, so then, now Dean and I walk away.

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I'm like, okay, so now what do you think?

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He's like, well, I don't know.

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I really don't know who that was for, or what that was all about.

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I'm like, I, you kidding me?

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You know, again, I was just like, wow.

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Um, and I was like, You know, I really think this is supposed to happen, Dean.

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, we're supposed to get involved with partners in Hope so.

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, Dean went and sure enough, he became a mentor, and I attended my first huddle

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on December 21st of last year, which happened to be my mom's birthday.

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And I had lost my mom that last February.

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Wow.

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Mm-hmm.

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So for me it was like, Yeah, let's go do this.

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This is something I wanna do tonight.

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And I can say that when I walked down the stairs and what I

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witnessed that night, like so many other people say, I never left.

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I wanna keep coming back.

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Mm-hmm.

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Um, you walk down the stairs at Partners in Hope, Ji and I, I

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hope you have felt this as well.

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Mm-hmm.

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But it's totally come as you are.

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There is no, nobody caress what you're wearing.

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Nobody caress where you come from.

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Nobody cares what you've done.

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Nobody cares how much money you make.

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Nobody cares how much wake up you're wearing that none of that matters.

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You know, it's just, it's real.

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It's raw, it's vulnerable, it's authentic.

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And again, it's just, it's that Matt Mars song in the room.

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I just wanna be in the room.

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I love to hear the people talk.

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Everybody's got their story.

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I.

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You know, but the coolest thing that I'm finding about Partners at Hope is that

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everybody there is simply there to, like I said before, walk alongside one another.

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Simply listen, we are there in the struggles.

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We celebrate the victories.

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Mm-hmm.

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But we as Christians, you know, we are called to come with compassion and out

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of love and respect to serve one another.

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And that's why I wanna be there.

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I just absolutely love.

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Everything about partners and Hope I'm their biggest cheerleader.

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I love any chance I get to talk about it.

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And what's cool is I get to talk about it because people are

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like, so whatcha up to Nancy?

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And I'm like, well, lemme tell you.

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You know?

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And, and it's because I see the successes.

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Yes.

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And that, you know, even going back to Fernando, he still struggles.

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He definitely still struggles, but yet he knows now that he has this.

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Family, you know, and for a lot of them, they've had to realize coming out

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of prison, sometimes you've gotta walk away from family because that negative

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environment that you think , you might go back to, that's not a good choice.

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And sometimes that's a difficult choice.

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And we all, you know, anybody sometimes has to make that choice.

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But we recognize that, you know what?

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Those Wednesday night huddles, those people, they're now your family.

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They're your family.

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And we are there for one another.

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And that's, I just, I love, that's what I love about it, mm-hmm.

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I think, , like, , Nancy was just mentioning these huddles.

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It kind of reminds me of like when Jesus was in the upper room Yeah.

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With his disciples and it's.

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It's that type of a feeling, not that I was in that room with Jesus Black.

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I've been there and it's the same thing, but I, you know what I can really imagine

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that is similar to , the atmosphere there.

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And you're right, it's no.

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Kind of competitiveness or, , trying to be proud or

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anything like that in this place.

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, it's like you said, it's a safe place.

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You don't know who's who.

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It doesn't matter.

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No, no.

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You just, how are you doing?

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, everyone just welcomes you and , when you see a new face and then people walk

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up to you and say hi, , and it's, , just that going around the room and people

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just, Talking about they're weak.

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It's like you get to know them and you look forward to hearing

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from them and, praying for them.

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Right.

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And it's just incredible.

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I, I have never experienced anything like it, so that's why I'm still hooked.

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You know, there, 'cause I went there, I was like, oh, I'll check it out.

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And, , maybe, I'll do some speaking stuff there, but I'm like, I'm learning so much.

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Mm-hmm.

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I, I, mm-hmm.

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It's like gold.

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Um, yeah.

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Being in that room because you get more than you ever give out.

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I feel like I'm just being greedy here.

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And just you, and you meet so many like nifty people.

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And you're able to, , talk about things even, show your

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vulnerability and everybody has stuff.

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Absolutely.

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It's so wonderful that we can share it and people just give you the encouraging

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words and just let you know that you're just not alone in that situation.

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That it really speaks to your whole name, calling it Partners

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in Hope, because that's exactly what happens during this huddle.

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It is, , it's providing that path to hope and redemption.

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I wanna add too that, , although we are faith-based mm-hmm.

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We are not to push our faith.

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Mm-hmm.

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Because we have people, all kinds of people in the room.

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Mm-hmm.

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, we have nonbelievers, we have Muslims, we have.

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Christians, we have Catholics.

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There are all kinds of people, so we don't push our faith on anybody, but

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we're given an opportunity to talk about our faith and how it impacts us, and

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hopefully that is, , planting that seed.

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Mm-hmm.

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Perhaps somebody is hearing that and they may then realize, wow,

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maybe that relationship with God is something I need and.

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You know that, that's bonus, right?

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Mm-hmm.

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It's, and yeah, it really is.

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And I really love that approach and of not pushing the faith,

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and I don't like that myself.

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When people push the faith, because it should be something that they're

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attracted to and they want to come to, , themselves, it's no,

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you're not gonna just bombard them.

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You know, this is what you gotta do, and things like that.

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It's definitely not.

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The place.

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If you, if you're thinking that that happens, it definitely does not

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happen at Partners and hope for sure.

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So, and again.

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Mm-hmm.

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I, I, I don't mean to interrupt you, but it's no go.

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It's, there's that saying, , be the only Jesus someone may see and display

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his character through your character, , and people , will figure that out,

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mm-hmm.

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So again, it's just, It's that openness, that honesty, that communication.

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And it's just, , fostering the relationships that are, , rooted in faith.

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You know, we, we build community.

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We're providing opportunities.

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, we're empowering people to make good decisions, supporting them in their

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choices, and really, really trying to, to help foster good choices.

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, I heard, I think I've heard this right?

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It's not just for people that's, , been incarcerated, it's

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just anybody who wants to Yeah.

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Yeah.

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Okay.

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Yeah, and I mean, there's, there's people in there that, , suffer from

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addictions that found out about it and that are coming and, and you

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know, I think too, other people end up inviting people despite.

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They're not formally incarcerated, but they might get something out of

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this, just come and sure enough, you know, they walk away forever changed.

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Mm-hmm.

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It's really, really neat.

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For sure.

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So going back to your original question, it's like mm-hmm.

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How did I get involved and, you know, that's how I got involved.

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Mm-hmm.

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So, um, you know, just started attending huddles on a regular basis

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and, um, you know, it's through our.

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, c e o.

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, he's, , a head of the board.

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He's a member at our church too.

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And when this event, they started talking about this event, it was

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like, Hey, would you like to help?

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And I was like, you bet.

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I'm all over it.

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So, and what event is this?

- AT:

So this Saturday, which is August 19th.

- AT:

Mm-hmm.

- AT:

Um, out at the Wisconsin Skydiving Center.

- AT:

Partner in Hope is holding an event called Leap of Faith, and what we're doing is

- AT:

we are bringing 10 formerly incarcerated along with 10 Milwaukee police officers

- AT:

out to the skydiving center, and these people are going to pair up.

- AT:

Tandem skydive together.

- AT:

Isn't that incredible?

- AT:

Oh, for sure.

- AT:

That you got 10 people, 20 people saying, are you gonna jump?

- AT:

But again, it's the formerly incarcerated with the 10 Milwaukee police officers, and

- AT:

people are like, how did this even happen?

- AT:

I know.

- AT:

So we have, you know, Lieutenant Michael Dix, who works with the

- AT:

Milwaukee Police Department.

- AT:

Mm-hmm.

- AT:

He serves on the board and partners in hope.

- AT:

He serves as a mentor.

- AT:

He attends huddles on regular basis, and he's a huge skydiving fan.

- AT:

Mm-hmm.

- AT:

He loves to skydive.

- AT:

So this was kind of his little, you know, Um, whatever dream to do this.

- AT:

And he, it's been on his heart for about two years, I think.

- AT:

And he, he tells me, he's like, Nancy, I just kept praying about it and I kept

- AT:

praying about it and every time God opened the doors, he just opened the

- AT:

doors and he basically told Michael, We're gonna do this, and you just

- AT:

watch me see what I can do through you.

- AT:

And you know, it took him getting approval from the board.

- AT:

It took him getting approval through the police department and he made it happen.

- AT:

So, this day is obviously a very, , extraordinary day.

- AT:

I mean, for these two parties to come together.

- AT:

Mm-hmm.

- AT:

We're gonna hopefully build some trust and show the community that two unseemingly,

- AT:

you know, parties can actually, you know, like I said, come together and unite and.

- AT:

Show the community that not only can we get along, but

- AT:

we can have a blast doing it.

- AT:

You know, so in addition to the skydiving, we're holding a day of celebration.

- AT:

We are providing, um, a free lunch for those that attend along with beverages.

- AT:

There's gonna be games with a chance to win prizes.

- AT:

We have raffle items.

- AT:

Um, a silent auction.

- AT:

And the coolest thing about it all Michi is mm-hmm.

- AT:

That due to the uni, the unique partnership between the police

- AT:

officers and the formerly incarcerated, we are filming a documentary Wow.

- AT:

On the whole thing.

- AT:

Wow, this is like, this is incredible.

- AT:

I was wondering how did it all get started and where is the

- AT:

Wisconsin Skydiving Center at?

- AT:

Where is that at?

- AT:

It's, it's in Jefferson, you know, so it's a good hour from Milwaukee.

- AT:

And again, these people wanna do this.

- AT:

These people are so excited about doing this and the stories that

- AT:

we're hearing that are coming out of all of this is just remarkable.

- AT:

And I can't wait for people to.

- AT:

To hear about it.

- AT:

So yeah, it's Jefferson, it's um, you know, you, you help 94 West.

- AT:

You take Highway 26 South, it turns into Highway K and , it's right there.

- AT:

. Okay.

- AT:

And even, the owner of the skydiving center has got an incredible story

- AT:

and it's just all gonna come together.

- AT:

And I'm just so super excited about it.

- AT:

It's a lot of work.

- AT:

It's a lot, a lot of work.

- AT:

But I know that day is gonna come and it is gonna be, so I

- AT:

know it is, it's, it sounds like.

- AT:

Very awesome.

- AT:

And I'm just, ooh, I'm just trying to see how I can get there.

- AT:

At the same time, I have an event the same day that was already booked,

- AT:

so I was like, so super like down when I heard it's the same day, like, no.

- AT:

Yeah.

- AT:

So I would try, well, you'll get to watch the documentary and you'll

- AT:

feel like you were part of it.

- AT:

Same.

- AT:

I wanna be there too.

- AT:

I wanna do both.

- AT:

, I'll check the timings on things.

- AT:

Maybe I can still get a little bit, in, on a celebration.

- AT:

I'll check those times.

- AT:

So , what are the times again?

- AT:

We have asked people to register in advance, but clearly we

- AT:

will not turn anybody away.

- AT:

, so registration and check-in starts at noon.

- AT:

, the jumpers will actually start.

- AT:

We're gonna have two different classes.

- AT:

One starting at one and one starting at three.

- AT:

We've got the lunch being provided at one o'clock.

- AT:

The silent auction and the raffle and the games are probably from

- AT:

like about one to three 30.

- AT:

We'll announce winners at four o'clock, so it's all day, you know.

- AT:

Wow.

- AT:

It's, oh wow.

- AT:

It's gonna be an all day event.

- AT:

I would say approximately 12 to five.

- AT:

12 to six.

- AT:

Oh, I can come.

- AT:

I can come.

- AT:

Then I'll, oh, there you go.

- AT:

You know, I didn't know it was gonna be run that later.

- AT:

So I'll, I'll do my other thing and come and make sure I, I'm there as well, so.

- AT:

Fantastic.

- AT:

Yeah.

- AT:

Yeah.

- AT:

So this is wonderful.

- AT:

So I saw, so what is.

- AT:

With them jumping, do you know the process, what you know of them jumping?

- AT:

What do they have to do?

- AT:

, I believe well, they're all gonna meet, early in the morning and, um, pray.

- AT:

No, go ahead.

- AT:

Yeah, exactly.

- AT:

We actually we're, we're kicking off the day with a prayer, that's for sure.

- AT:

They are gonna go through like a little workshop again.

- AT:

They'll be.

- AT:

They'll, I, I believe it's some sort of class that shows them

- AT:

exactly what to expect and what to happen and what transpires.

- AT:

, and again, only five people can go up at a time.

- AT:

So it's one police officer, one formerly incarcerated along with

- AT:

their, , tandem professional and then the videographer, , so they're

- AT:

gonna really be able to capture.

- AT:

Just everything that's taking place throughout the day.

- AT:

Well, that's good because I wanna hear everything.

- AT:

I wanna hear all the sounds.

- AT:

I wanna hear somebody scream.

- AT:

I mean, these people are, I, I'm like, talk about, be bold and be courageous.

- AT:

The Lord is, Lord, our God is with you wherever you go.

- AT:

I mean, it's.

- AT:

This is really, really neat.

- AT:

A lot of these people have never even been in a plane before.

- AT:

I mean, some of these people have never even been outside of

- AT:

Milwaukee and they're jumping.

- AT:

So come out to Jefferson and they wanna come.

- AT:

We've actually got over 150 people registered to attend.

- AT:

Wow.

- AT:

So it's, it's really neat.

- AT:

And again, it's just to show the community that, you know, anybody

- AT:

in this world can come together and make our community a safer place.

- AT:

I just really love this.

- AT:

, , I could just imagine this is gonna be an annual event.

- AT:

I can't imagine it stopping.

- AT:

I bet you it's gonna take off everywhere We sure are hoping.

- AT:

So, and you know, , it's not about the money that we're raising,

- AT:

it's more about our mission.

- AT:

And it's, again, it's that, it's the, the relationships that

- AT:

are being built , and helping.

- AT:

Change the stigmas.

- AT:

I mean, there's so much out there that is pushing that these people can't get along

- AT:

and we prove it every Wednesday night.

- AT:

You know, in addition to the police officers that serve as mentors, we

- AT:

typically have anywhere between, I'd say five and 10 individuals that are

- AT:

currently in the police academy that are coming to our huddles as well.

- AT:

You know, God bless these people for wanting to do this job, wanting to serve

- AT:

and protect our communities despite what is happening in our world today.

- AT:

Mm-hmm.

- AT:

I, we're hoping we can make it an annual event, but we're really hoping

- AT:

that this documentary is shown, you know, across the country and perhaps

- AT:

other cities will adopt this program.

- AT:

I know they will.

- AT:

Their communities.

- AT:

Yeah, I know they will.

- AT:

, I just can't see how it's not just gonna travel like wildfire through

- AT:

the country because I just know God is gonna bless this event and

- AT:

'cause it's like a leap of faith.

- AT:

This is literally a leap of faith.

- AT:

Yep.

- AT:

So I, I, I just, I, I gotta see that documentary.

- AT:

I wanna see everything.

- AT:

Like what do you know them going through the class, what, you know, asking

- AT:

questions, their eyes getting big and Yep.

- AT:

You know, I wanna see all that.

- AT:

So how do, how do people donate, um, if they go to the community warehouse.org?

- AT:

I'll have it, I'll have it in a show notes.

- AT:

Sorry to interrupt, but go ahead.

- AT:

Okay.

- AT:

We are actually going through the We Raise Foundation.

- AT:

Okay.

- AT:

Um, but if they go to the community warehouse.org,

- AT:

that's kind of the easiest way.

- AT:

Um, they can click, you know, donate and that'll take 'em right

- AT:

to the We raise site as well.

- AT:

And, um, that's where they can donate and every little bit helps.

- AT:

I can guarantee you it'll make a difference.

- AT:

They're making a difference.

- AT:

Every little bit helps for sure, because, you know, some people think

- AT:

it's, you know, gifts are too small.

- AT:

Don't think that, just go ahead and give so that we just show

- AT:

that support and just show that.

- AT:

This is real, you know?

- AT:

Right.

- AT:

That you are actually are participating and not just talking

- AT:

that you actually participate.

- AT:

Right.

- AT:

And that's, you know, we have Adam Purcell, who his, he's kind of our

- AT:

director at Partners in Hope I.

- AT:

He, um, his saying is, nothing changes.

- AT:

If nothing changes.

- AT:

How simple is that?

- AT:

Right.

- AT:

That's how you know what, it's just humans.

- AT:

We don't wanna complicate stuff.

- AT:

It's not that complicated.

- AT:

It may be hard, but not complicated.

- AT:

So, and you know, and we as Christians know, it's not always

- AT:

easy to do the right thing.

- AT:

Mm-hmm.

- AT:

But another simple thing to say is, love God.

- AT:

Love people.

- AT:

It's that easy.

- AT:

That's true.

- AT:

And it's, it's really happening at Partners and Hope.

- AT:

Mm-hmm.

- AT:

I just know it's going to take off.

- AT:

I love partners and hope I talk about it, , talk about the organization all the time.

- AT:

I love the analogies of, about building up relationships and people using.

- AT:

You have building materials, you have building warehouses, you have,

- AT:

right, talking about building trust.

- AT:

I like how you have the toolbox, , and just giving people tools.

- AT:

It's all relating and it helps people to understand what's going on there.

- AT:

It's about restoration, restoring people and bringing them up to,

- AT:

you know what they were created.

- AT:

To be.

- AT:

So this is, so we are gonna have a documentary coming out from this.

- AT:

Do you have any idea when it will be available?

- AT:

, it's gonna take some time, obviously.

- AT:

Um, they'll do some post-event stuff as well, , some post-event interviews.

- AT:

Mm-hmm.

- AT:

Um, for sure.

- AT:

And then, , with the editing , and all of that, Eric is doing the documentary

- AT:

for us, and I asked him that question.

- AT:

I said, where do you hope to show this?

- AT:

Yeah, well, you know, it'll, and I'm like, okay.

- AT:

What about like, Milwaukee Film festival or you know, whatever.

- AT:

He is like, yeah, I definitely really need to explore my

- AT:

options once it's said and done.

- AT:

You know, where can we take this?

- AT:

And again, we all know God will provide, he will provide and mm-hmm.

- AT:

You know, sometimes we, we just don't know.

- AT:

Where, what God is doing at that particular time.

- AT:

But just to even get this far and you, like you said, get these approvals,

- AT:

going through the red tape I call it.

- AT:

And making sure, , you get all the approvals and you have 'em all.

- AT:

And just, I think it's awesome, , growing up in the community myself

- AT:

we didn't have this when I was growing up where you had, the police

- AT:

working with the community and other leadership, and this is what it's going

- AT:

to take to make our neighborhoods safe and for people to get involved.

- AT:

And, I talked soon, , a couple of episodes away, if you

- AT:

didn't hear that with Eddie.

- AT:

Yeah, , Eddie Moore talking about.

- AT:

Community service is very important that we understand how important community

- AT:

service is, , for our community.

- AT:

Right, right.

- AT:

And you know, I'm, I'm gonna go on and, and say my husband Dean mm-hmm.

- AT:

Is Eddie's mentor.

- AT:

Yes, Eddie.

- AT:

Eddie was Dean's first mentee.

- AT:

Dean now has three mentees, but Eddie , was Dean's first mentee.

- AT:

Wow.

- AT:

And you know, Eddie unfortunately went through a lot this past year.

- AT:

He lost his daughter.

- AT:

Hmm.

- AT:

And you know, having been in prison, in and out of prison his entire life, he

- AT:

didn't know how to plan a funeral and.

- AT:

By the grace of God, Dean was able to walk alongside him, and

- AT:

together he and I made it happen.

- AT:

We explained the importance of honoring your daughter and

- AT:

we really need to do this.

- AT:

Let's do this.

- AT:

Mm-hmm.

- AT:

You know, we have Reverend Ana, um, Who serves at our graduations.

- AT:

He's got a church, um, Bethany Luther, I believe it's um, right

- AT:

there, right around partners in hope.

- AT:

He was kind enough to hold the service, you know, for Eddie.

- AT:

Mm-hmm.

- AT:

And you know, this just goes back to what I was talking about

- AT:

before, you know who attended who.

- AT:

About 10 people from Partners in Hope.

- AT:

See, that's Eddie's family now, that's Eddie's family.

- AT:

And what a blessing it was that we could all come together and do this for him

- AT:

and his daughter and his other daughter,

- AT:

again, it's all about relationships.

- AT:

And I think another thing to point out that I am recognizing

- AT:

through partners in Hope.

- AT:

Mm-hmm.

- AT:

And I should point out the success of Partners in Hope in the last

- AT:

five years, um, usually men and women coming out of incarceration,

- AT:

only 37% do not return to prison.

- AT:

This is a, this is a fact.

- AT:

Mm-hmm.

- AT:

Through the success of the cohort, those that attend the cohort at Partners

- AT:

in Hope, we have a 94% success rate.

- AT:

That's awesome.

- AT:

And you know, I think it just goes to show too, that by attending these

- AT:

huddles, what a lot of people are hearing and seeing is resonating.

- AT:

And for a lot of.

- AT:

Those that dropped to their knees in prison, they recognized what was more

- AT:

important was a spiritual transformation rather than just behavior modification.

- AT:

That's what makes the difference.

- AT:

Yes.

- AT:

That's what makes the difference.

- AT:

It's an that's an incredible difference.

- AT:

And it's, , one of the things I like to talk about too is just like, and

- AT:

what I do here with, , prison's.

- AT:

Pardon?

- AT:

Because it's about a reconciliation with God, which is, it's not just a legal

- AT:

issue, it's a spiritual issue, and those things need to be, Taken care of with

- AT:

it, which is an inner transformation.

- AT:

And it's not a reform, it's a transformation.

- AT:

. Yes.

- AT:

When you have a transformation, the, , success rate is a hundred percent.

- AT:

You're wasting right your time and resources , when there's no interchange,

- AT:

don't waste your time and money because if that doesn't change, you can't

- AT:

do anything with those resources.

- AT:

, it's not gonna stick.

- AT:

Right.

- AT:

Yeah, I love this event.

- AT:

Leap of Faith.

- AT:

I'm love that I can go now for sure.

- AT:

I didn't wanna, I didn't wanna talk about it, so I'm like, I can't go.

- AT:

I don't wanna hear about this.

- AT:

And then you go and it's getting better and better.

- AT:

You having documentaries, I'm like, oh yeah, they're having a documentary now.

- AT:

I can't even go.

- AT:

So yeah.

- AT:

That'll make the documentary that much more impactful.

- AT:

You know, look at all the people that are here.

- AT:

Look at the people that wanna come, that wanna be involved.

- AT:

Mm-hmm.

- AT:

That are definitely a part of this.

- AT:

And it's just, again, it's, it's so meaningful.

- AT:

It's, it's, it's just a really beautiful thing that's happening.

- AT:

And I.

- AT:

Again, we give God the glory.

- AT:

We're doing it for him, we're doing it for him.

- AT:

I'm gonna have to pick up some balloons or something and, , just be able to let go of

- AT:

some balloons out there as they, because I'm like, you jump for me because, , I

- AT:

don't do heights, like, wow, I cannot believe that you guys are doing that.

- AT:

But that leap of faith, I love how it says leap of faith and you're

- AT:

actually leaping out on a plane.

- AT:

When you go by faith, it does feel like that, I would think.

- AT:

Mm-hmm.

- AT:

You know, because you're not in control anymore.

- AT:

Nope.

- AT:

Right.

- AT:

And, and you fail and you have to trust.

- AT:

Trust God and we have to, allow yourself to trust other people because

- AT:

it's not, you can't do it alone.

- AT:

That's why I love partners.

- AT:

Hope Who picked this name right?

- AT:

This, that was, uh, this, that's an awesome name.

- AT:

Every, everything that you're doing is catchy Phrases.

- AT:

Somebody is like Leap of faith partners in hope, , toolbox.

- AT:

You know, huddles a love, all of it.

- AT:

It is just really talking about.

- AT:

, everyone coming together and sharing burdens and because, it's so easy

- AT:

just to think that you're alone.

- AT:

Yeah.

- AT:

And that's just it.

- AT:

I mean, that's, that's like I said, and, and there's no judgment.

- AT:

There's no, there's none of that.

- AT:

It's just come as you are and you know, again, we are there to just

- AT:

love one another, serve one another.

- AT:

It's just, it's just a, it's a really neat thing and that's why

- AT:

I just love being a part of it.

- AT:

I'm, it's a privilege to be a part of it.

- AT:

Oh, is there anything else you wanna add that people should know about

- AT:

Partners and Hope leap of Faith yourself and, uh, what you, uh,

- AT:

do there for as community service?

- AT:

I think we, we about said it all and it's a.

- AT:

It's a diamond.

- AT:

I think this is a diamond here in the city of Milwaukee.

- AT:

I'm grateful for the opportunity.

- AT:

Like I said, I love to talk about partners in hope and just to spread

- AT:

the word and it's, it's the good word.

- AT:

And you know it's truth.

- AT:

That's what, that's what we follow and.

- AT:

It's just, thank you so much for this opportunity and I really hope

- AT:

that people are excited and, you know, wanna know more about it.

- AT:

And if they can't come, you know, we'll maybe we can, I can come back and we

- AT:

can talk about when the documentary's gonna take place, or Oh, for sure

- AT:

where they can find it or what actually happened or somebody else from the

- AT:

event can talk and, and again, just.

- AT:

Thank you so much for the opportunity, Michi.

- AT:

Yeah, it's, it really means thank you.

- AT:

Thank you.

- AT:

And yeah, maybe I could have a few of them on to talk about their

- AT:

experience, like, did you cry?

- AT:

Did your life change?

- AT:

Did you, did you walk differently once you got back on the ground?

- AT:

You know, things like that.

- AT:

So That's awesome.

- AT:

Thank you for coming so well, that's all we are gonna be doing today.

- AT:

Everything that we did talk about, I will have it in the show notes, for instance.

- AT:

Um, the time, the place where the leap of faith event will be, um, how to donate.

- AT:

So I have the website and a lot of your other social

- AT:

media links in the show notes.

- AT:

Well, that's it for today folks.

- AT:

Thank you for listening.

- AT:

Anyway, you have a week filled with blessings.

Show artwork for Prisoner's Pardon

About the Podcast

Prisoner's Pardon
Prisoner's Pardon Trailer
A Prisoner’s Pardon, through storytelling, describes how prisoners are set free from physical and/or spiritual prisons (ex. Domestic & Drug Abuse) only via a pardon and not a reform program.

About your host

Profile picture for Michi - J

Michi - J

Michi J is a Chicago native who now lives in the Milwaukee area. By day, she works as an energy-industry analyst; she spends her remaining hours pursuing her lifelong passion of exploring and proclaiming the coming Kingdom of Christ. Her fiction and non-fiction writing explores, through storytelling, the parallel existence of physical and spiritual laws. Her favorite authors include Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Charles Spurgeon, C.S. Lewis, A.W.Tozer, Dr. Tony Evans, Erwin Raphael McManus, and Kitty Foth-Regner.