They Showed Up With Everything in a Trash Bag…

WEBVTT

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[SPEAKER_03]: You talked about last time about the plastic bags.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Galen bags.

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[SPEAKER_03]: My shame.

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[SPEAKER_03]: It didn't go out, okay.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Okay.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Welcome to Pact with Purpose, a care package in bound podcast.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Care package in bound is an organization that exists to deliver hope.

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[SPEAKER_01]: And listening to this podcast, you can be part of that hope.

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[SPEAKER_01]: No matter who you are.

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[SPEAKER_03]: Jessica Sully.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Yes, hello on today's episode.

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[SPEAKER_01]: We're excited.

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[SPEAKER_01]: We're going to dive into the essence of the backpack.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Why does it matter?

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[SPEAKER_01]: What are the items?

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[SPEAKER_01]: The intentionality behind it, but just I've got a really important question to kick things off.

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[SPEAKER_03]: Okay, Chris hit me.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Do you scruncher fold?

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[SPEAKER_03]: scruncher fold, scruncher fold.

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[SPEAKER_03]: I'm not sure what that means.

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[SPEAKER_03]: Can you explain the question?

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[SPEAKER_01]: Oh boy.

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[SPEAKER_03]: I'm like, I'm the media, my immediate thought was scrunch for hair, but now I'm like, I don't fold it.

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[SPEAKER_01]: So I'm thinking more toilet paper focus.

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[SPEAKER_03]: Oh, okay, um, both.

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[SPEAKER_03]: But I do this little like roll thing with my thing.

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[SPEAKER_03]: And it's good.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Okay.

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[SPEAKER_03]: Now you know how about you Chris, you have to answer as well.

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[SPEAKER_03]: The people need to know.

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[SPEAKER_01]: I would say I'm not answering that question.

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[SPEAKER_01]: And that was an interesting one.

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[SPEAKER_03]: I have no qualms answering that question.

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[SPEAKER_03]: I'm like, no my secrets.

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[SPEAKER_03]: I don't know.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Well, getting into secrets we want to actually talk through a little bit of the secrets behind care packaging bound today and on today's episode we really want to dive into a little bit more on why it matters to supply backpacks specifically.

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[SPEAKER_01]: So I want to talk first a little bit more about

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[SPEAKER_01]: the reality that we actually have a lot of youth entering into the foster care system with trash bags.

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[SPEAKER_01]: And why trash bags became so common?

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[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

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[SPEAKER_01]: So like why a trash bag versus something else?

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[SPEAKER_01]: Why can't they just grab anything else in the house to be able to like a backpack of their own wire trash bags or something that are more commonly used?

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[SPEAKER_03]: Well, obviously there's the immediate cost-effectiveness of it or efficiency of it, and then you also have the availability of it, but you just point it out, like, why not just grab something else in the house?

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[SPEAKER_03]: And sometimes that does happen, but it's the same problem that you have with a lot of other items in the house is you cannot rely that they're going to be there.

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[SPEAKER_03]: which is one big deal and another problem is you you can get into a house especially a house that has been neglected the child has been neglected which happens a lot of times and you don't want to dig through

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[SPEAKER_03]: a lot of things to try to find things because there is infestations, there's mold, I can't tell you how many times I've heard of foster parents or if their kid does show up with anything, they have to leave those items out on the front porch even in a trash bag because they'll just they'll have roaches and lice and flees and do you name it mold and it's not even usable.

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[SPEAKER_03]: So you compound that with a bag from that area and it's just like gets to the point where it's actually

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[SPEAKER_03]: harder.

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[SPEAKER_03]: Plus, you can spend 10 minutes alone searching for a bag that you might not even find or you can grab a trash bag and you can spend those 10 minutes trying to fill it in.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I would say from also from a convenience standpoint, unfortunately, from a law enforcement officer or from a social worker too, when they're coming to pick up a child, especially out of home,

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[SPEAKER_01]: Right, so sometimes we need to remove from the situation as quickly as possible, but also with the amount of kids that they're dealing with too to go find a backpack and something that would potentially work for this individual, that's going to be a little bit harder than buying a roll of trash bags.

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[SPEAKER_01]: And then just ripping one off and saying, here you go, go pack your stuff.

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[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

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[SPEAKER_03]: And inevitably, you're going to have people that are going to ask, like, why don't the police just carry bags with them?

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[SPEAKER_03]: Why don't the police carry bags with them?

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[SPEAKER_03]: Why don't they keep them in their trunk?

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[SPEAKER_03]: Why don't the social workers do it?

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[SPEAKER_03]: And that's all funding, honestly.

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[SPEAKER_03]: That's a big deal.

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[SPEAKER_03]: But funding and also availability of space.

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[SPEAKER_03]: So if you ever look at a police officer's car, they really do not have a lot of space in their trunk and their storage areas to continue to

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[SPEAKER_03]: so many bags, you know, and same thing like social workers and so on and so forth.

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[SPEAKER_03]: There are some social workers I know that try their best and spend their own money to buy items.

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[SPEAKER_03]: But again, it's not funded by any one source and so it becomes a funding problem.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

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[SPEAKER_01]: And the other part of trash bag that I think is important just for everyone listening, who might not be as familiar with the system and the experiences that these kids go through is what it is unintentionally communicating to a foster child, right?

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[SPEAKER_01]: We're communicating that your or this is disposable, right?

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[SPEAKER_01]: And that is like, I want to talk about pulling on like my heart strings is everybody,

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[SPEAKER_01]: has value.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Everybody matters.

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[SPEAKER_01]: You're not disposable.

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[SPEAKER_01]: And so for a child to not only be in a situation where it's incredibly traumatic and it's just kind of a way of what people just like running in and just like okay grab this and do this and like I don't even know what's happening right now.

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[SPEAKER_01]: There's the trauma of that.

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[SPEAKER_01]: But then you're being communicated that okay all of your belongings everything that you call your own it's all disposable.

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[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, and there's so much of your identification that goes with your stuff.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

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[SPEAKER_03]: And so they're basically saying, and it's like always one back to, right?

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[SPEAKER_03]: And so you take everything that they would identify with their personhood.

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[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

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[SPEAKER_03]: And they put it in a trash bag.

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[SPEAKER_03]: And then that trash bag can't even be brought inside because it's infected and infested and whatever else is going on inside of it.

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[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

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[SPEAKER_03]: And they feel like that is where their worth is as well.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Well, we hear this from.

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[SPEAKER_01]: foster you who have aged out, right, who are much older right now and they identify as oh, I was a trash bag kid.

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[SPEAKER_01]: They carry this identity with them long into adulthood and mint just if we

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[SPEAKER_01]: had the ability to be able to change that.

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[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Right?

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[SPEAKER_03]: That, that, that one beginning, the beginning.

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[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

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[SPEAKER_03]: I mean, I've even heard of cases where kids or adults now that aged out have trauma responses to scented trash bags.

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[SPEAKER_03]: Because there's a very

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[SPEAKER_03]: There's a very distinct scent, and everybody knows about it.

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[SPEAKER_03]: Like when you pull out a trash bag and you're shaking it open to put it in, there's that smell.

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[SPEAKER_03]: And I've heard that they can't handle it.

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[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.

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[SPEAKER_03]: Because it just reminds them, and it brings them back to that moment.

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[SPEAKER_03]: So what we're trying to do is we try to change that moment.

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[SPEAKER_01]: will smells have such power.

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[SPEAKER_01]: They stick with you.

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[SPEAKER_01]: They bring back so many memories.

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[SPEAKER_01]: You can have a memory of something and you're like, oh, that reminds me of my grandma.

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[SPEAKER_01]: That reminds me of the lake home that reminds me of whatever event might have taken place, right?

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[SPEAKER_01]: Smells trigger those types of things so I can see that.

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[SPEAKER_03]: and trauma even more so than many, I mean trauma responses are visceral and like something that I don't know, like you can't people like to do this thing or they're like okay we'll just get over it and

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[SPEAKER_03]: In some cases, that's possible in most cases, specifically these cases, that's not something you can just get over.

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[SPEAKER_03]: And it becomes such a part of their DNA almost.

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[SPEAKER_03]: And so if we can get into that first-making, that first DNA line, and lessen that trauma, and we found, like, and we'll talk about it later, like all of the different ways that

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[SPEAKER_03]: smooths that transition less in the trauma that we didn't actually set out to do.

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[SPEAKER_03]: We're just getting these amazing positive side effects of providing these bags.

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[SPEAKER_03]: And it's really incredible to see.

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[SPEAKER_01]: And I think that's why the first 48 hours, can I, through this discussion matters so much, right?

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[SPEAKER_01]: It's because Winley are able to in the first 48 hours supply something.

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[SPEAKER_01]: A lot of times these kids and we talked about this even on our last episode, they're going to show up with like nothing potentially.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Like the clothes on their back, right?

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[SPEAKER_01]: So sometimes they don't even show up with a trash bag.

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[SPEAKER_01]: I think that's not even part of the story.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Sometimes it's nothing, so to give them something of their own is so valuable.

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[SPEAKER_01]: And it communicates that you matter, that you belong, that somebody thought about you.

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[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

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[SPEAKER_03]: And I think that that need is so much more prominent than people actually understand, especially in the teenage world, like when it comes to teenagers within foster care, like 75% of the bags we make are for teenagers.

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[SPEAKER_03]: And then we have a person that we talk to this last week.

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[SPEAKER_03]: that her story is incredible.

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[SPEAKER_03]: She was a biological child of these parents that decided to open up a group home.

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[SPEAKER_03]: And this was, you know, how many years ago, like 30, plus years ago, I think.

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[SPEAKER_03]: But what really stuck with me in that story is she said they had over 90 kids, teenagers, come through their home in 10 years.

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[SPEAKER_03]: And she said she didn't remember a single one of them coming with anything.

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[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.

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[SPEAKER_03]: And it's like, yeah, hasn't changed.

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[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

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[SPEAKER_03]: And I think not only providing these bags doing the research because it's something that we're going to talk about is just the research of these bags and making sure that we're understanding to actually help the system instead of hurt it.

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[SPEAKER_03]: But like there's so many times that you can have the best intentions, you're like this is my intention and you try to like either give money towards a place or you're trying to to supply something with something like if you go into a mission field or something and you don't actually do the research behind it, you can actually make the situation worse.

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[SPEAKER_03]: And so when you think that you're making it better, you have the best intentions, but if you don't do the research, you don't study up on what this, what it actually means within the system within whatever mission field you're in, then you can actually hurt worse.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Well, I think because when you don't do the research of it, you're speaking into something that you perceive without being able to actually meet the individual where they are at.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Being able to meet somebody where they're at, I think, has way more power than you just say,

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[SPEAKER_01]: You don't actually know, right?

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[SPEAKER_01]: And I think that being able to supply something, like we're talking about right now, really provide some dignity to the individual.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Now I'd say that dignity doesn't erase trauma, but it can definitely change how a child walks through the next chapter.

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[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

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[SPEAKER_03]: And I mean, so much of what we do right now with this podcast is to educate people.

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[SPEAKER_03]: We want to educate people on the wise and the house of what we're doing, but also the wise and the house of what they can do.

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[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

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[SPEAKER_03]: And it's so important for you to be educated so that you can know the best place to put your funding to put your efforts to put your time.

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[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

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[SPEAKER_01]: And so we

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[SPEAKER_01]: Why backpacks?

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[SPEAKER_01]: Just why don't we choose Duffel bags or why did we choose like suitcase, right?

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[SPEAKER_01]: Like with wheelers, like something, why a backpack?

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[SPEAKER_03]: Well, I mean, as you know, we went through a little bit of a learning curve with that.

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[SPEAKER_03]: You talked about last time about the plastic bags.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Galen bags.

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[SPEAKER_03]: My shame.

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[SPEAKER_03]: That didn't go out, okay.

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[SPEAKER_03]: But we had started off as like, okay, I can get these very, very essential things and I was thinking,

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[SPEAKER_03]: How many can I fit in like maybe the social workers truck or or something like that and even the distribution had to go through trial and error and figuring out the best way to make it work.

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[SPEAKER_03]: And so we thought about Duffel bags as well and that was a possibility but one of the problems with Duffel bags is they're very big on the main basis and they're actually really hard to be able to not only put everything you need in it because obviously you have enough size but

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[SPEAKER_03]: You know and then of course we tried drawstring bags for a minute.

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[SPEAKER_03]: We thought about it.

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[SPEAKER_03]: We never actually did it But it was a concept idea and it was number one two small and When you have that much stuff in a drawstring bag it also hurts your shoulders You know and so really.

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[SPEAKER_03]: Oh, we don't want that we want these kids to you know It's comfortable and then additionally one of the most identical identifiable things in our bags I think is the fact that we don't logo anything

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[SPEAKER_03]: You know, and I think that that's a really important topic that we can talk about, but also with backpacks, they're easy to store.

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[SPEAKER_03]: They're easy to personalize.

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[SPEAKER_03]: They're easy to take with you when you need to go somewhere in a hurry, which happens a lot moving from home to home, and you can also use them for school or whatever else.

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[SPEAKER_03]: They're very multi-purpose.

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[SPEAKER_03]: Yep.

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[SPEAKER_03]: And so we finally came upon if a well-built backpack is used as multi-purpose, but one thing that we do

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[SPEAKER_03]: is we try to change the style of backpack if we can.

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[SPEAKER_03]: We always have a big pocket and a little pocket, but we want to change the style of backpack, because let's just say they care package and bound does take off and we become this well-known resource for foster care.

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[SPEAKER_03]: That would be great.

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[SPEAKER_03]: What we don't want to do is have one type of backpack, and then immediately that is recognizable as a care package and bound bag, and that child is labeled, which brings me back to the fact that we don't put our label on anything in the bag, except for the removable tag.

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[SPEAKER_03]: and that specifically well and a prayer card that we put on the inside.

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[SPEAKER_03]: Those are removable.

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[SPEAKER_03]: They will not label the child.

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[SPEAKER_03]: They can get rid of it if they want to.

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[SPEAKER_03]: And the tag itself is removable upon giving it to the child and it just has an inventory card on the back for the social worker.

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[SPEAKER_03]: But it's intentional because there's other places and other organizations and other nonprofits that they can label their bag and it does not cause any harm.

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[SPEAKER_03]: But when it comes to foster care specifically, children do not want to use something that will identify them as a foster child.

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[SPEAKER_01]: They're branded.

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[SPEAKER_03]: They're branded.

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[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, and it becomes a branding scheme instead of a we care scheme or scheme.

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[SPEAKER_03]: We care scheme.

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[SPEAKER_03]: Oh, no.

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[SPEAKER_03]: But still, it becomes

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[SPEAKER_03]: something that it shouldn't be and we've heard stories even when it comes to kids like not wanting to deodorant because if their branded is someone that has to use cheap deodorant, they'd rather stink and it's the same way with our bags is if their branded is a foster child, they'd rather not have the bag.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, you know, and so because you're a lot of time.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Okay, so you're taking out of a familiar environment into somewhere that's that's no longer familiar, right?

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[SPEAKER_01]: That's foreign to you.

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[SPEAKER_01]: So being able to provide something that is has some familiarity to it.

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[SPEAKER_01]: is really big, I think.

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[SPEAKER_01]: But then also, if that's something that has familiarity is branded, it's like you're in a new school potentially, right?

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[SPEAKER_01]: Most likely you are.

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[SPEAKER_01]: When you go to live with a foster family or you're in a group home or where a replacement that you are,

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[SPEAKER_01]: you're potentially in a different school district now.

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[SPEAKER_01]: And if the only thing that you have is something that's branded, that says that you're a foster kid in a new space, we know kids can be mean, unfortunately, it can be really cruel.

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[SPEAKER_01]: And so just giving any kind of fuel to that fire,

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[SPEAKER_01]: can make a situation a really tough situation even harder and we don't want that.

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[SPEAKER_01]: We want to be able to give you a sense of ownership something that you can call like this is mine.

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[SPEAKER_01]: This is something that, again, that's familiar, that's comfortable, but that also gives you some security walking into a space.

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[SPEAKER_01]: It is brand new.

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[SPEAKER_01]: It does look nice, right?

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[SPEAKER_01]: It is a quality backpack.

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[SPEAKER_01]: That you can be proud of and so just a little sense of like we keep saying dignity, but a little sense of that dignity goes a long way

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[SPEAKER_03]: And I think that that goes into what we put in the bag.

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[SPEAKER_03]: And we talked a little bit about the research of what goes in it.

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[SPEAKER_03]: But like I was talking, we have all of this influx of these amazing volunteers.

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[SPEAKER_03]: And one of the positions that we have a volunteer role for that we've just recently filled, but was really hard for me to give up was item securement.

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[SPEAKER_03]: or for curing it, whatever we call it.

16:35.926 --> 16:41.050
[SPEAKER_03]: But I've always been the person that has done the research and gotten the individual items.

16:41.111 --> 16:43.192
[SPEAKER_03]: And I know the dues and the don'ts and the wives.

16:43.953 --> 16:50.819
[SPEAKER_03]: And I didn't realize until we started writing down the dues and the don'ts and the wife how long that list is.

16:51.660 --> 16:53.642
[SPEAKER_03]: Because we have a list of items that go in the bag.

16:53.662 --> 16:57.385
[SPEAKER_03]: And it's pretty substantial because it has to be able to provide for them.

16:57.746 --> 17:02.710
[SPEAKER_03]: But we also with each individual items have a list of why that item.

17:02.690 --> 17:16.075
[SPEAKER_03]: Yes, and why not these other items, you know, and so that's it goes back to that research area and and making sure that you're not accidentally causing harm in trying to help and like

17:16.392 --> 17:19.698
[SPEAKER_03]: I wrote down a couple of those items like one of which is like the hairbrush.

17:20.339 --> 17:23.525
[SPEAKER_03]: So you would a lot of people think, oh, yeah, I'm just going to grab a hairbrush and I'm going to put it in.

17:23.545 --> 17:30.538
[SPEAKER_03]: Well, we put a hairbrush in a comb-in, but even with our hairbrush itself, we wanted to make sure that it would work for all hair types.

17:31.360 --> 17:35.768
[SPEAKER_03]: And I know it works for my hair type, but there is a plethora of different hair types out there.

17:35.748 --> 17:45.598
[SPEAKER_03]: And so luckily we did the research on it and we went to individuals and they told us make sure that it's in one solid piece.

17:45.618 --> 17:49.081
[SPEAKER_03]: You don't have the backing on the back of the brush that can, the tines can get pulled out.

17:49.101 --> 17:54.326
[SPEAKER_03]: Make sure that the balls on the end of the each time isn't too big because that gets stuck in really kinky curly hair.

17:54.887 --> 17:56.669
[SPEAKER_03]: Like even down to the details.

17:56.689 --> 18:02.194
[SPEAKER_01]: We leave it through trial and error on, I remember the brushes itself where we

18:02.174 --> 18:24.587
[SPEAKER_03]: piece that was connected at the bottom and you'd be brushing certain hair types and that rubber piece would just like pull off the whole thing and we're like that's not sustainable especially if you have hair that you need to like really you know brush thoroughly you know or get stuck in or something like that so we're like we number one don't want these children to feel like they're in inconvenience because of a hairbrush.

18:24.567 --> 18:27.392
[SPEAKER_03]: you know, and so we did the research on the hairbrush.

18:27.452 --> 18:44.023
[SPEAKER_03]: Another thing is like books, like we went through comfort items and books, and I can tell you time, like all of these different connected research that goes into all of the different items, but at one point in time, I was like crossword puzzles and word finding puzzles, what's that called?

18:44.584 --> 18:46.407
[SPEAKER_03]: Word search, yeah.

18:46.387 --> 18:47.409
[SPEAKER_01]: We're finding it.

18:47.429 --> 18:47.689
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

18:47.749 --> 18:48.410
[SPEAKER_03]: Anything.

18:48.430 --> 18:48.711
[SPEAKER_01]: Any way.

18:48.791 --> 18:49.873
[SPEAKER_01]: Finding our words along the way.

18:49.973 --> 18:51.535
[SPEAKER_03]: I'm great at that.

18:51.575 --> 18:53.178
[SPEAKER_03]: Anyway, word search puzzles and stuff like that.

18:53.619 --> 18:59.889
[SPEAKER_03]: But then I did more research and I found out that quite a few children in foster care have undiagnosed learning disorders.

19:00.430 --> 19:05.037
[SPEAKER_03]: And so you put a word search puzzle or something like that in these bags.

19:05.017 --> 19:06.879
[SPEAKER_03]: and you're just highlighting that for them.

19:06.899 --> 19:14.987
[SPEAKER_03]: And it goes from a sense of, hey, we want you to feel better and take your mind off it to highlighting their disability without even thinking about it, you know?

19:15.007 --> 19:22.295
[SPEAKER_03]: And so now we put in, we have fidget toys that we have researched with our partners in psychology.

19:22.315 --> 19:23.296
[SPEAKER_01]: And it's very stuff too.

19:23.316 --> 19:27.780
[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, things that really help with stress management and self-harming and stuff like that.

19:27.800 --> 19:30.563
[SPEAKER_03]: So we do fidget toys in there instead of any word problems or books.

19:30.583 --> 19:32.425
[SPEAKER_03]: And then we do include a notebook.

19:32.405 --> 19:37.156
[SPEAKER_03]: but it's just no book that they can either draw on or they can write in.

19:37.176 --> 19:38.118
[SPEAKER_03]: So I want to so forth.

19:38.379 --> 19:39.842
[SPEAKER_03]: So we work with psychology.

19:40.785 --> 19:42.529
[SPEAKER_03]: We do coloring books for younger ages.

19:43.030 --> 19:47.781
[SPEAKER_03]: So for no books is when we start as like age 10 and up, get a notebook.

19:47.761 --> 20:01.540
[SPEAKER_03]: And even the notebooks themselves, I mean, it's a dark thing, but we can't put spiral bound notebooks in our bags, because there is children, and these are children in the darkest times in their life, and they do not have a light in their future.

20:01.580 --> 20:02.722
[SPEAKER_03]: So what are you gonna do about it?

20:03.102 --> 20:04.264
[SPEAKER_03]: And they wanna feel something.

20:04.344 --> 20:12.756
[SPEAKER_03]: So you have this increase in self-harm, and if you give them a spiral bound notebook, then you are unintentionally giving them something that they can actually self-harm with.

20:12.736 --> 20:14.299
[SPEAKER_03]: And these are just a few examples.

20:14.399 --> 20:23.995
[SPEAKER_03]: I can go on and on like why we use joggers instead of leggings, why we have to use dark pants for girls, why the type of face wipes we use and making sure everything is hyperallergenic.

20:24.496 --> 20:35.335
[SPEAKER_03]: There are details in research in every single item and is intentional throughout the entire thing so that when this child opens up a bag, they can feel it.

20:35.315 --> 20:54.117
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, so let's go through that list actually like we'll kind of intentionally go through the way that we pack this a little bit and some of the items will pull out some of the intentionality there because I just really want those who are listening to to really understand well one how you could get involved.

20:54.367 --> 21:07.302
[SPEAKER_01]: like being able to supply backpacks or supply some of these items, that's really huge, but also for any foster youth that are a listening or foster parents that are a listening, I want you to understand the intentionality behind this.

21:07.342 --> 21:13.409
[SPEAKER_01]: This isn't just a product that we were like dreaming up and decided to just throw one to random stuff together.

21:13.489 --> 21:16.172
[SPEAKER_01]: We right, and no,

21:16.321 --> 21:40.827
[SPEAKER_03]: in all transparency that was part of the beginning of it right is you kind of throw something out the wall and you see like what sticks yeah right but i mean it wasn't even just what sticks like i can i remember when we first started even the research aspect of this which was in 2017 when you came in with the bag yeah and i went to gyak and a couple other of our social networks in the area tiktok actually tiktok is well tiktok was a big one i actually forgot about that one

21:40.807 --> 21:58.579
[SPEAKER_03]: yeah literally did a video where and it was again like we were talking about earlier it's the videos that you spend like two seconds on that go viral you know and so I was in my garage and I was like hey foster former foster children foster children and social workers all of you guys I'm like what is something that you wish you had your first night and care and like

21:58.559 --> 22:04.365
[SPEAKER_03]: We are thousands of thousands of comments of thousands of people, and then they would get thousands.

22:04.385 --> 22:10.832
[SPEAKER_03]: It was just, I don't know, I had sat down and I just went comment by comment by comment and made lists.

22:11.453 --> 22:19.401
[SPEAKER_03]: And then I had to compare those lists to what I already had and then go to social workers and psychologists and doctors and pediatricians.

22:19.802 --> 22:23.065
[SPEAKER_03]: Like this wasn't like, oh my gosh, I just kind of sort of put it together.

22:23.045 --> 22:24.247
[SPEAKER_03]: it's extensive.

22:24.367 --> 22:29.273
[SPEAKER_03]: And I personally read psychology, um, why can't I think of the name of it right now?

22:29.714 --> 22:29.954
[SPEAKER_03]: Books?

22:30.234 --> 22:31.155
[SPEAKER_03]: No, not books.

22:31.195 --> 22:31.876
[SPEAKER_03]: That would be good.

22:32.557 --> 22:33.438
[SPEAKER_03]: Books.

22:34.199 --> 22:35.721
[SPEAKER_03]: No, I'll, I'll study.

22:35.781 --> 22:39.406
[SPEAKER_03]: I'll read psychology studies on like different effects, even within.

22:39.446 --> 22:40.307
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, case studies.

22:40.427 --> 22:41.208
[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, case studies.

22:41.268 --> 22:45.694
[SPEAKER_03]: Like when it comes to children entering care, when it comes to,

22:45.674 --> 22:54.125
[SPEAKER_03]: like obesity and how food is thought of when it comes to lower versus middle and higher class citizens so on and so forth.

22:54.345 --> 23:02.976
[SPEAKER_03]: Like you have all of these different studies that we have to take in effect when it comes to understaining this psychology of these children and then of course we talk to the kids.

23:03.897 --> 23:15.512
[SPEAKER_03]: You know and it's it's important that we come down to the level that we understand exactly what they need and not just impose on what we think they need.

23:15.492 --> 23:16.714
[SPEAKER_01]: Yes, absolutely.

23:16.794 --> 23:17.255
[SPEAKER_01]: So okay.

23:17.275 --> 23:30.818
[SPEAKER_01]: So the backpack I set up where we have obviously the big part, the big zipper, the big pocket of the backpack, but then we always have a front side too, so we can separate items that could

23:30.798 --> 23:37.629
[SPEAKER_01]: potentially spill, um, so like, um, toiletries, for example, right, or the pen of the pen ever explodes.

23:37.649 --> 23:42.296
[SPEAKER_01]: We don't want that ink all over the clothes that are going to be in the big pocket.

23:42.316 --> 23:44.860
[SPEAKER_01]: So we actually intentionally separate those items.

23:45.241 --> 23:49.427
[SPEAKER_01]: So let's start with the small pocket, Jess, and what do we typically pack in the small pocket?

23:49.447 --> 23:51.270
[SPEAKER_01]: What are some of the items that are in the backpack?

23:51.335 --> 23:56.825
[SPEAKER_03]: Well, you mentioned the pen, and we also put it in the small pocket, because who all has lost their pen at the bottom of their back?

23:57.506 --> 23:58.148
[SPEAKER_03]: It's painted by it.

23:58.308 --> 23:58.488
[SPEAKER_03]: Yes.

23:58.669 --> 24:04.159
[SPEAKER_03]: So we want to be able to find it and so yes, besides the fact that the practical means of yes, we don't want it to explode.

24:04.399 --> 24:07.605
[SPEAKER_03]: There's also the fact that we want them to be actually, we don't find it.

24:07.585 --> 24:08.647
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, absolutely.

24:08.667 --> 24:11.332
[SPEAKER_03]: Because inevitably, it'll be of three days later, and they'll have a pin.

24:12.013 --> 24:13.376
[SPEAKER_03]: You know, or something like that in the back.

24:13.396 --> 24:14.157
[SPEAKER_03]: But what's in here?

24:14.177 --> 24:14.438
[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

24:14.478 --> 24:16.822
[SPEAKER_03]: But we also put, you know, toothbrush, toothpaste.

24:17.443 --> 24:19.607
[SPEAKER_03]: We do it a toothbrush holder in it now.

24:20.609 --> 24:26.340
[SPEAKER_03]: We have the comb, the hairbrush, shampoo, conditioner, and body wash. And that's my, am I missing anything?

24:26.380 --> 24:27.602
[SPEAKER_03]: I think that's everything in the front.

24:27.582 --> 24:27.843
[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

24:27.863 --> 24:28.885
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, the other end.

24:29.406 --> 24:34.377
[SPEAKER_01]: And so sometimes what they do at our impact, sometimes it's wipes versus actually like sticks.

24:34.898 --> 24:43.778
[SPEAKER_01]: Um, so I'm going for the while that that might have to go the other end like pack might have to go in the bigger pocket from a space standpoint.

24:44.059 --> 24:47.346
[SPEAKER_01]: But we try to keep all of that in the front as much as possible.

24:47.326 --> 25:06.773
[SPEAKER_03]: Well, in an example of like a trial and error that we went through is we had someone donating all of these aerosol deodorants to us at one point in time and luckily I don't think we had any explode in the bag, but we had enough explode in storage that we were like we can't use these so okay, so before Okay, so we went through trial and error.

25:06.793 --> 25:10.819
[SPEAKER_01]: We're just gonna show the story just because it is interesting I always go and

25:10.799 --> 25:13.965
[SPEAKER_01]: we started off with some items in your garage.

25:14.486 --> 25:21.660
[SPEAKER_01]: Then we moved a lot of items to my garage and then eventually we moved to a lot of items in my basement.

25:21.680 --> 25:29.314
[SPEAKER_01]: We had some items in your basement and now we actually have a space where like we store items such as the big and controlled blessing.

25:29.294 --> 25:44.485
[SPEAKER_01]: But depending on where you live the harsh winters of Kansas, we had a lot of deodorant that froze and then cracked and then exploded like a lot because winter was in my garage

25:44.465 --> 25:49.910
[SPEAKER_03]: I am really glad that we knew about it because when we donate our bags, we give them to our frontline workers.

25:49.930 --> 25:57.217
[SPEAKER_03]: So we give them to our police and our social services and to Casa and all I can name on and on and on, we have 25 distribution points right now.

25:57.638 --> 26:12.312
[SPEAKER_03]: We do not always know where their storage is and so we have to make sure like longevity of the bag and to make sure like however it's stored that it's able to keep those

26:12.292 --> 26:30.570
[SPEAKER_01]: But that also seems like something that you wouldn't have to say, but it's there, but yeah, that's the that's the front pocket right so we've got a lot of those essential toiletries, but also front pocket is nice because those are going to be items that they might actually need right away because when you're stressed your body typically

26:30.550 --> 26:31.953
[SPEAKER_01]: Perspretates, right?

26:32.053 --> 26:35.099
[SPEAKER_01]: So you might actually mean deodorant at that point.

26:35.119 --> 26:49.268
[SPEAKER_01]: You might not be thinking through that But just the comfort of being able to grab in and use something Brush your teeth or whatever it might be or comb your hair, but then we move to the bigger section of it So let's walk through the items that are going to be in the bigger pack

26:49.383 --> 26:54.270
[SPEAKER_03]: Well, and also in the front pocket before we forget, we also for girls specifically for our team girls.

26:54.370 --> 26:55.252
[SPEAKER_03]: Oh, yeah.

26:55.272 --> 27:02.061
[SPEAKER_03]: We try not to be too over zealous on making sure that the genders are separated too much.

27:02.082 --> 27:06.548
[SPEAKER_03]: But at the same time, there's different plumbing that happens and there's different needs that happens within that.

27:06.528 --> 27:15.319
[SPEAKER_03]: And so, especially for our teenage girls, we need to make sure that we are able to provide for their monthly needs without being too pushy about it, basically.

27:15.359 --> 27:16.541
[SPEAKER_03]: And it's embarrassing.

27:17.001 --> 27:20.105
[SPEAKER_03]: And so, we were able to find these little packs that are really cool.

27:20.145 --> 27:24.431
[SPEAKER_03]: And they come with like two small pads, a big pad, feminine wipes, and instructions.

27:25.072 --> 27:28.095
[SPEAKER_03]: And so, what's so important about that is they don't have to ask anybody about it.

27:28.756 --> 27:36.366
[SPEAKER_03]: And we had a story about a girl that came into care, and I guess, I mean, I don't know if everyone on the internet wants to hear about it,

27:36.346 --> 27:44.155
[SPEAKER_03]: She got picked up from school to go in to care the same day that she started her period for the very first time and blood through her pants.

27:45.036 --> 27:49.241
[SPEAKER_03]: And she's sitting in a waiting room, embarrassed, humiliated, hormonal.

27:49.862 --> 27:51.604
[SPEAKER_03]: You have all of these things when you're supposed to do.

27:51.644 --> 27:58.152
[SPEAKER_03]: And like that's a worst nightmare on any day scenario, let alone for this girl.

27:58.132 --> 28:09.445
[SPEAKER_03]: and they were able to give her one of our bags and not only did it have everything to clean herself up, but also make sure that she was taking care of without having to ask another person and be embarrassed about it.

28:10.286 --> 28:12.989
[SPEAKER_03]: And so that's awesome and important part of what we put in the bag.

28:13.230 --> 28:13.670
[SPEAKER_01]: That's huge.

28:13.810 --> 28:19.617
[SPEAKER_03]: It's funny because it's an amazing how many of us are uncomfortable about talking about that subject, but it's something that needs to be talked about.

28:19.597 --> 28:24.305
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I have five sisters so I don't know that it's bringing it on yeah.

28:24.345 --> 28:30.957
[SPEAKER_01]: Okay, so going to the bigger bag then so we've got the toiletries and thank you for filling that and I think that's a really crucial part.

28:31.759 --> 28:35.445
[SPEAKER_01]: Now we get to pajamas.

28:35.425 --> 28:43.055
[SPEAKER_01]: Right, we get to a change of clothes for the next day and we're going to walk through some intentional thinking through those as well.

28:43.876 --> 28:50.665
[SPEAKER_01]: We've got a blanket, which is really big, right, so from a comfort standpoint, and then what else?

28:50.846 --> 28:52.227
[SPEAKER_01]: What else is going to be in the big one?

28:52.328 --> 28:55.712
[SPEAKER_03]: Say, if two pairs of socks, you have two pairs of underwear.

28:55.692 --> 28:58.636
[SPEAKER_03]: And like we also layer this in a specific fashion.

28:58.696 --> 28:59.497
[SPEAKER_03]: So I'm going to go with that.

28:59.557 --> 29:01.280
[SPEAKER_03]: So I'm the very bottom of the bag.

29:01.320 --> 29:03.763
[SPEAKER_03]: You're actually going to have your change of clothes for the next day.

29:04.344 --> 29:08.791
[SPEAKER_03]: Because when you think of a kid coming into care, you're like, what are they going to need first, you know?

29:08.911 --> 29:10.513
[SPEAKER_03]: And they're actually going to need their pajamas first.

29:10.553 --> 29:14.479
[SPEAKER_03]: So the things that they're going to need first, we put on the very top and then we kind of go down.

29:14.839 --> 29:17.823
[SPEAKER_03]: So you're going to find your joggers on the bottom.

29:18.585 --> 29:25.294
[SPEAKER_03]: And we try to make joggers that aren't like, we don't want to like get a piece of clothing

29:25.274 --> 29:26.617
[SPEAKER_03]: let's say it's tied eye joggers.

29:27.499 --> 29:30.987
[SPEAKER_03]: This is the only thing that this kid has to change into.

29:31.989 --> 29:38.363
[SPEAKER_03]: So we want, we don't want to give them something that they might not like, that they don't have an option to not have.

29:38.443 --> 29:41.730
[SPEAKER_03]: So we go over like, okay, we need to make kind of cool joggers.

29:41.710 --> 29:45.375
[SPEAKER_03]: You know, so we we definitely do our research on that alone.

29:45.816 --> 30:03.702
[SPEAKER_03]: So joggers on the bottom and then we have a gender neutral T-shirt and we don't we we struggle for a little bit about even like what type of clothing to put in because we had to think of we may give these kids or give these distribution points these bags in the spring and they might not use one of them until winter.

30:03.682 --> 30:07.386
[SPEAKER_03]: or summer or something like that so the clothes that we put in have to work for all seasons.

30:08.087 --> 30:11.150
[SPEAKER_03]: So we finally came to joggers in a t-shirt, right?

30:11.590 --> 30:32.592
[SPEAKER_03]: And then in between that we put a change of underwear, two changes of underwear and socks, and then we have a flannel pajama vada and another gender neutral t-shirt because I think everybody's seen the teenagers walking around and just a t-shirt and pajama vadams and I think it's supposed to be cool right

30:32.572 --> 30:38.201
[SPEAKER_03]: Go with what they're doing but it's just it also gives an option to be able to use that as well.

30:38.401 --> 30:38.942
[SPEAKER_01]: Absolutely.

30:39.002 --> 30:49.298
[SPEAKER_03]: And then we have our more comfort items so we put the fidget and then we put the blanket and we put the note pad all in the top areas of that.

30:49.278 --> 30:52.902
[SPEAKER_01]: So in a stuffy, if you're aged, right, you tend to.

30:52.962 --> 30:56.325
[SPEAKER_03]: So from nine down, we do a stuffy, right?

30:56.345 --> 30:59.388
[SPEAKER_03]: And we only make bags down to age five right now.

30:59.708 --> 31:11.200
[SPEAKER_03]: But like this, to give you an idea on the research aspect of this, I've just started research along with Children's Mercy on trying to figure out what we can put in a bag for an infant through age four.

31:11.760 --> 31:16.125
[SPEAKER_03]: And like my first initial thought was like, I'm going to go ahead and what would I want in a bag?

31:16.185 --> 31:18.407
[SPEAKER_03]: I'm like a stuffy blanket.

31:18.387 --> 31:24.875
[SPEAKER_03]: like four footy pyjama bottoms because 24 hours for a baby, you can go through a lot of clothes.

31:25.276 --> 31:30.322
[SPEAKER_03]: And so like, all of these, like, how many of these things can I put together my list?

31:30.342 --> 31:32.224
[SPEAKER_03]: And I said, it's one of some more Santa like, what do you think?

31:32.785 --> 31:39.854
[SPEAKER_03]: And they're like, so you can't put a stuffy in, you can't put a blanket in, because of safe sleep practices and stuff like that.

31:40.274 --> 31:43.198
[SPEAKER_03]: So right now we put a stuffy in from age nine all the way down.

31:43.258 --> 31:47.263
[SPEAKER_03]: I think we'll probably put it to age three.

31:47.243 --> 31:48.645
[SPEAKER_03]: like comfort items.

31:48.685 --> 31:51.690
[SPEAKER_03]: We try to make sure that it's the right thing for the right age.

31:51.710 --> 31:55.936
[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, and then if they really like stuffed animals in their older than Get them stuffed animal, guys.

31:56.557 --> 31:57.118
[SPEAKER_01]: Absolutely.

31:57.178 --> 32:06.131
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, so that is a lot of intentionality and items that are in the bag And I think that that's communicating a lot of incredible things right.

32:06.151 --> 32:09.977
[SPEAKER_01]: We've heard stories from social workers of

32:09.957 --> 32:20.465
[SPEAKER_01]: kids like getting a bag and being like oh my gosh is like is this really mine like is this like truly for me like actually being able to take some ownership of it.

32:21.026 --> 32:26.380
[SPEAKER_01]: There's an interesting kind of dynamic that we actually hadn't thought of that.

32:26.360 --> 32:37.335
[SPEAKER_01]: You and I were talking about earlier that I think would be really fascinating for anyone listening to it to kind of understand and and that's really a little bit more of the psyche behind now that we understand the items that are in the backpack.

32:37.756 --> 32:44.545
[SPEAKER_01]: The intentionality of it when they receive the backpack, it actually matters who they receive it from.

32:44.565 --> 32:45.587
[SPEAKER_01]: It does.

32:46.208 --> 32:49.733
[SPEAKER_01]: Because a lot of times they're going to think like, oh, do I have to pay this back?

32:49.773 --> 32:51.916
[SPEAKER_01]: Do I owe you something for this?

32:51.936 --> 32:55.000
[SPEAKER_01]: I want to dive into a little bit more of the psyche behind that.

32:54.980 --> 33:05.776
[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, I think that's a really good idea, and it's like, as you said, it's something that we hadn't thought of, and we were already building these bags, and it was brought to my attention like last week.

33:06.717 --> 33:14.929
[SPEAKER_03]: And individual said that with some places, like, and not that these places aren't amazing, but if you have to request a bag and the foster parent gets that bag.

33:15.169 --> 33:15.570
[SPEAKER_02]: Yes.

33:15.550 --> 33:21.278
[SPEAKER_03]: and then they get it for a couple days and then the foster parent is the one giving them that bag initially on the first meeting.

33:21.318 --> 33:27.507
[SPEAKER_03]: Then what's going to happen is that child who in a trauma response is going to think, I now owe them.

33:27.988 --> 33:28.168
[SPEAKER_03]: Yes.

33:28.448 --> 33:30.271
[SPEAKER_03]: You know, and so they're like, I owe this person.

33:30.331 --> 33:34.757
[SPEAKER_03]: And this is not to discourage foster parents from giving these children what they need.

33:34.737 --> 33:35.258
[SPEAKER_01]: Please don't.

33:36.420 --> 33:42.772
[SPEAKER_03]: Obviously, but I think it is wise for a foster parent to understand that these kids do go into a very given take society.

33:43.233 --> 33:50.907
[SPEAKER_03]: And so when they get something, they are probably most likely going to have that, now I owe them, now I have to pay them back response.

33:50.887 --> 34:01.935
[SPEAKER_03]: And so even though, like, with us, we're giving this as, like, kind of a non-descript person giving on this bag, we're able to be the thing that they can't pay back.

34:02.055 --> 34:06.627
[SPEAKER_03]: So they don't have that response of, now I owe them, it's just, okay, this is mine.

34:07.309 --> 34:08.271
[SPEAKER_03]: But...

34:08.251 --> 34:18.887
[SPEAKER_03]: It's good for our foster parents to think about this when they're also giving their kids so that they can have it in their mind and they can reassure them, know you don't only either for this, this is yours forever, so on and so forth or that.

34:19.148 --> 34:30.345
[SPEAKER_03]: But for our back specifically, when they first initially get in, what you want is you want this kid to get to a placement that you don't have to worry about running around and getting the items they need.

34:30.365 --> 34:34.070
[SPEAKER_03]: The foster parents running around trying to get the items, the social workers trying to get the item.

34:34.150 --> 34:35.793
[SPEAKER_03]: The child, that's not even on their radar.

34:35.853 --> 34:37.195
[SPEAKER_03]: They're still trying to

34:37.175 --> 34:44.032
[SPEAKER_03]: Like recover from the flash bang of the day that they just had, you know, and they're still hearing ringing and these people are running around.

34:44.714 --> 34:53.175
[SPEAKER_03]: And because we're so focused on these items that they need, they're not able to focus on their psychological and emotional needs.

34:53.155 --> 34:56.902
[SPEAKER_03]: And so this bag does a couple of different purposes.

34:56.962 --> 35:02.231
[SPEAKER_03]: It's number one, they give those items so that the social workers and the foster parents can relax a little bit.

35:02.792 --> 35:05.637
[SPEAKER_03]: But then they're able to focus on that emotional need of the child.

35:05.958 --> 35:13.211
[SPEAKER_03]: And then it gives the child belonging and it gives the child worth to give them hope back.

35:13.231 --> 35:17.458
[SPEAKER_03]: But it also gives them hope back without feeling like they owe anybody for it.

35:17.438 --> 35:27.027
[SPEAKER_03]: And it's like these multi-purpose really amazing thing and we just set out more like we need to put items in a bag for these kids and it's become this

35:27.715 --> 35:30.600
[SPEAKER_03]: amazing thing that God has done, and I just I love it.

35:30.740 --> 35:36.770
[SPEAKER_01]: I think that that's what's cool when you stay open and you hold things kind of open hand in Lee.

35:37.791 --> 35:40.115
[SPEAKER_01]: It can morph into what it needs to be.

35:40.756 --> 35:50.432
[SPEAKER_01]: When you hold something so close like this is the way it must be, you can kind of put yourself in a box where you can't see anything else outside of that.

35:50.412 --> 36:00.969
[SPEAKER_01]: And we've held this so open-handedly that it's been able to morph and mold and become what it is actually still becoming by the way.

36:01.229 --> 36:02.471
[SPEAKER_01]: We're not like we have it.

36:02.491 --> 36:04.455
[SPEAKER_03]: We can never not evolve.

36:04.695 --> 36:06.278
[SPEAKER_01]: No, it will continue to evolve.

36:06.298 --> 36:07.780
[SPEAKER_03]: I think that that's important.

36:08.772 --> 36:12.459
[SPEAKER_03]: knowing how foster care changes and how we want to change foster care.

36:12.479 --> 36:12.579
[SPEAKER_03]: Yes.

36:12.840 --> 36:14.823
[SPEAKER_03]: How we're setting out to try to make a difference.

36:15.505 --> 36:15.585
[SPEAKER_03]: Yep.

36:15.605 --> 36:23.800
[SPEAKER_03]: And we need to make sure that we keep an open handed open mind approach to things going, okay, this didn't work for this reason that we didn't think of.

36:24.221 --> 36:26.545
[SPEAKER_03]: And understanding that we don't know everything.

36:26.795 --> 36:27.897
[SPEAKER_03]: you know, and that very little.

36:27.957 --> 36:28.578
[SPEAKER_03]: Very little.

36:28.678 --> 36:32.143
[SPEAKER_03]: And I, who was it that said, I understand enough that I don't know everything.

36:32.183 --> 36:33.345
[SPEAKER_03]: It was some Greek philosopher.

36:33.365 --> 36:34.286
[SPEAKER_03]: I don't remember.

36:34.747 --> 36:36.830
[SPEAKER_03]: But or I understand enough that I know nothing.

36:36.930 --> 36:38.353
[SPEAKER_03]: That's what the, the same was.

36:39.134 --> 36:41.557
[SPEAKER_03]: Um, things that I saw or T's or something like that.

36:41.878 --> 36:42.198
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know.

36:42.519 --> 36:42.960
[SPEAKER_03]: Who knows.

36:43.200 --> 36:43.961
[SPEAKER_03]: It's a person.

36:45.123 --> 36:50.010
[SPEAKER_03]: But yeah, it's, it's good to keep with that mindset of, I didn't think about that.

36:50.291 --> 36:52.414
[SPEAKER_03]: And it's

36:52.394 --> 37:16.343
[SPEAKER_03]: down on your being like we're we don't go oh no we suck we go okay we'll adjust yes you know and I think that that's good just in day to day life honestly I try my best either sometimes I do get a little prickly when it comes to correction but one thing I just want to jump back to just really briefly that I think is is important to understand and I think really sets us apart to is you actually

37:17.403 --> 37:39.310
[SPEAKER_01]: many organizations and you mentioned this many organizations are set up that you have to request a backpack and then it is sent to you and it can take a couple of days to be able to get to you where ours we intentionally set it up to be on the front line so it can be in the first 48 hours game within hopefully the first two

37:39.290 --> 37:49.359
[SPEAKER_01]: Hopefully the first two and then last you, I should say it's up to the next 48 hours to be there for what you need for the next couple of days is opposed to waiting a couple of days to be able to get it.

37:49.599 --> 37:54.784
[SPEAKER_01]: And in fact, if you do request one of our backs, we can't easily just actually like send you a bit.

37:54.804 --> 37:55.905
[SPEAKER_03]: No, it's not really easy.

37:55.925 --> 38:09.297
[SPEAKER_03]: The way that we work is through working with the front line workers and also getting feedback through those front line workers.

38:09.277 --> 38:21.704
[SPEAKER_03]: And like they like it's outstanding and it becomes like this horrible day for this child that You know, they may know why they're getting taken because I mean let's be honest these kids are survivors.

38:22.064 --> 38:29.901
[SPEAKER_03]: They're smart You know and all of a sudden they're like not only am I getting things, but I'm getting nice things

38:29.881 --> 38:44.424
[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, you know, and so it's really cool when we work with these front line workers and they they'll tell you all the stories of what they've heard of before and these kids that What it's like when they don't get it back versus when they do and how they act and how it's different, how it changes the dynamic of the moment.

38:45.245 --> 38:48.210
[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, and it just like for us it's always that okay cool.

38:48.290 --> 38:56.142
[SPEAKER_03]: Another five years down for inspiration, you know, like we just bear down and we've said this like you and I amongst ourselves and

38:56.122 --> 39:01.328
[SPEAKER_03]: I've had to repeat it to myself in a really hard times is if it makes a difference in one kid.

39:01.929 --> 39:02.369
[SPEAKER_01]: It's worth it.

39:02.409 --> 39:03.050
[SPEAKER_03]: Then it's worth it.

39:03.070 --> 39:04.312
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, so much so.

39:04.632 --> 39:07.736
[SPEAKER_03]: And like, there's times where I'm not going to kid with everybody.

39:08.036 --> 39:09.638
[SPEAKER_03]: It's hard, it's hard.

39:10.018 --> 39:17.106
[SPEAKER_03]: People get burnt out, life gets tough, things happen in life, and you get to the point where you're like, maybe I can't anymore.

39:17.167 --> 39:18.989
[SPEAKER_03]: And you just want to quit.

39:20.350 --> 39:23.614
[SPEAKER_03]: But then, one kid, dude, one kid.

39:23.915 --> 39:24.876
[SPEAKER_03]: and they matter.

39:25.257 --> 39:31.504
[SPEAKER_03]: And I think that's important is when I see these backpacks, I don't see backpacks anymore.

39:31.945 --> 39:32.826
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, you see kids.

39:33.026 --> 39:33.867
[SPEAKER_03]: I see kids.

39:33.887 --> 39:34.328
[SPEAKER_01]: Absolutely.

39:34.668 --> 39:35.169
[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

39:35.189 --> 39:35.870
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

39:35.890 --> 39:36.911
[SPEAKER_01]: You don't have to be.

39:36.951 --> 39:44.100
[SPEAKER_01]: And we've said this a lot just and I'm just going to speak to the audience for a second is you do not have to be

39:44.080 --> 39:46.603
[SPEAKER_01]: in foster care to care about foster care.

39:47.444 --> 39:50.849
[SPEAKER_01]: These are kids that are in your school, right?

39:51.269 --> 39:55.295
[SPEAKER_01]: So you don't even need to be an adult to make a difference.

39:56.156 --> 40:04.907
[SPEAKER_01]: You actually have an opportunity at a young age to be able to see another child and still love on that child.

40:04.927 --> 40:05.548
[SPEAKER_01]: These are

40:05.528 --> 40:07.391
[SPEAKER_01]: These are your neighbors.

40:07.572 --> 40:09.034
[SPEAKER_01]: These are your classmates.

40:09.976 --> 40:12.441
[SPEAKER_01]: These are individuals in your community.

40:12.501 --> 40:16.989
[SPEAKER_01]: And you have an opportunity to impact your community.

40:17.009 --> 40:19.373
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't want to use sit on that for a second.

40:19.573 --> 40:27.047
[SPEAKER_01]: And like just realize that this is not just something I can listen to and learn about.

40:27.027 --> 40:28.651
[SPEAKER_01]: but you can take action.

40:29.233 --> 40:37.675
[SPEAKER_01]: And that's my challenge to the audience is through this podcast is we want to embolden you to take action.

40:38.156 --> 40:43.129
[SPEAKER_01]: We, Jess and I are not meant to do this alone at all.

40:43.109 --> 40:45.032
[SPEAKER_03]: And there's no way we could do it alone.

40:45.232 --> 40:45.472
[SPEAKER_01]: No.

40:45.633 --> 40:47.055
[SPEAKER_03]: And I'm going to interject one thing.

40:47.075 --> 40:53.063
[SPEAKER_03]: And I've said this a couple of different speaking things and just to myself as well is something that I struggle with.

40:53.143 --> 40:59.172
[SPEAKER_03]: And I still struggle with today and I think everybody struggles with is you see something horrible that's going on in life or see something that should be done.

40:59.733 --> 41:02.677
[SPEAKER_03]: And we go, man, somebody should do something about that.

41:03.017 --> 41:09.066
[SPEAKER_03]: You know, somebody, I want to remind everybody that you are somebody.

41:09.670 --> 41:14.060
[SPEAKER_03]: And you may think, I'm not qualified enough for anybody but me, not me.

41:14.120 --> 41:17.708
[SPEAKER_03]: It's not me that needs to do that because someone else could do it and they could do it better.

41:17.728 --> 41:20.995
[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, but you're being called in that moment to do it.

41:21.737 --> 41:21.837
[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

41:21.857 --> 41:29.434
[SPEAKER_03]: So remember, if somebody needs to do something about it, that you are somebody, and that's important.

41:29.515 --> 41:30.516
[SPEAKER_01]: as so important.

41:30.837 --> 41:37.865
[SPEAKER_01]: Look, the reality is, is we can't fix everything, but we can change the beginning.

41:38.726 --> 41:40.629
[SPEAKER_01]: And that's what we're trying to do here, right?

41:40.749 --> 41:44.514
[SPEAKER_01]: So we're not trying to solve all issues in foster care.

41:45.034 --> 41:47.978
[SPEAKER_01]: Actually, our heart is to potentially solve all issues.

41:48.238 --> 41:49.680
[SPEAKER_03]: It'd be nice, yeah.

41:49.700 --> 41:59.472
[SPEAKER_01]: Ultimately, but hey, you know, we can at least look at the beginning and change how how that story might

41:59.992 --> 42:02.315
[SPEAKER_01]: If you're like, okay, Chris, how do I get involved?

42:02.395 --> 42:04.497
[SPEAKER_01]: What can I do in this moment?

42:04.517 --> 42:06.259
[SPEAKER_01]: What are some practical steps that I can take?

42:06.319 --> 42:10.304
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, okay, first of all, we need a lot of items to be donated.

42:10.324 --> 42:13.728
[SPEAKER_01]: We have specific items so you can email us to be able to get that list.

42:13.748 --> 42:22.438
[SPEAKER_01]: And we can send you links to certain items that your community, whether that's neighborhood or a small group, a church, a

42:22.418 --> 42:26.765
[SPEAKER_01]: business, a school, you can donate certain items.

42:27.466 --> 42:31.933
[SPEAKER_01]: If you want to donate funds for a packing event, that's a way that you can do that too.

42:32.133 --> 42:34.597
[SPEAKER_01]: And we love that from a team building standpoint.

42:35.098 --> 42:38.163
[SPEAKER_01]: You can volunteer at a public packing event if you're local.

42:38.564 --> 42:40.146
[SPEAKER_01]: And then we have those every once in a while.

42:40.226 --> 42:40.627
[SPEAKER_01]: A lot of times.

42:40.647 --> 42:41.288
[SPEAKER_03]: We get the funding.

42:41.769 --> 42:42.570
[SPEAKER_01]: If we get the funding.

42:42.550 --> 42:42.831
[SPEAKER_01]: Right.

42:42.971 --> 42:48.301
[SPEAKER_01]: A lot of times it's going to be through a business is usually a big connection for that.

42:49.122 --> 42:54.011
[SPEAKER_01]: But you can partner speaking to business as you can partner as a business and organization to be able to help us out.

42:54.352 --> 42:56.235
[SPEAKER_01]: You can share these episodes.

42:56.896 --> 43:00.002
[SPEAKER_01]: And if you know somebody also.

43:00.151 --> 43:20.275
[SPEAKER_01]: If you are an individual that has a story and experience in this space, and you feel like you would like to share that, go to our website and fill out a form, and we would love to connect with you, and maybe bring you on or bring somebody that you know on to these episodes to be able to, again, emboldened people.

43:20.436 --> 43:28.766
[SPEAKER_01]: But every backpack tells a story just, and I guess I'm just really looking forward to seeing how this can rewrite chapters for individuals.

43:29.146 --> 43:29.787
[SPEAKER_01]: So yeah.

43:29.767 --> 43:31.432
[SPEAKER_01]: Really, really great conversation today.

43:31.492 --> 43:32.936
[SPEAKER_01]: I think it was exciting.

43:32.957 --> 43:33.879
[SPEAKER_03]: I stayed on topic.

43:34.521 --> 43:37.330
[SPEAKER_03]: I'm really proud of myself.

43:37.350 --> 43:37.791
[SPEAKER_01]: So thank you.

43:37.891 --> 43:39.255
[SPEAKER_01]: You guys really appreciate it.

43:39.616 --> 43:45.233
[SPEAKER_01]: We're going to be diving into a lot more detail on other episodes and hearing a lot more stories and so I can't wait.

43:46.216 --> 43:50.830
[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you so much for joining us on today's episode and I look forward to a conversation in the future.