A Call to Action: Supporting Those in Need

Summary

The Collage Podcast

Episode: A Call to Action: Supporting Those in Need
Date: June 2, 2026
Host: Feed My Sheep (Temple, TX)
Guest: Nancy Glover

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Episode Overview

This episode of The Collage Podcast, produced by Feed My Sheep in Temple, TX, dives deeply into the realities and daily struggles of people experiencing homelessness, mental illness, and life on the margins of society. Through personal stories and honest conversation, the hosts raise urgent questions about systemic shortcomings, the need for genuine human contact, and the importance of simply seeing those who are so often unseen.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. A Glimpse into Daily Realities at Feed My Sheep

• The episode opens with several urgent situations faced that morning—an 18-year-old starting her first job while homeless, individuals discharged from mental health institutions with nowhere to go, and elderly clients enduring compounded neglect and isolation.

  • "It's been a whole lot... already I can't even use the words to describe what all has come through the gates already on this day." [01:20, Host]

• The hosts emphasize that crises and difficult stories are daily occurrences, not exceptions:

  • "That is real stories. Okay. So now we're going to visit with Nancy..." [09:44, Host]

2. The Human Impact of Mental Health System Failures

• The recurring narrative: Individuals with severe mental illness cycle between inadequate short-term care (hospital stays, diversion centers, brief support) and life on the street.

  • "She needs serious mental facility that she could go live. She needs to be in a hospital." [06:52, Host]
  • "She needs to be institutionalized." [06:52, Nancy]

• The impossibility of stable solutions:

  • Limited availability or practical inaccessibility of housing/services.
  • Mental health facilities offer only brief relief; many fall through the cracks in between stays.

3. The Emotional Toll on Helpers and the Systemic Cycle

• Nancy shares her first-hand observation after two weeks working in the nonprofit’s front lines:

  • "It's just a... constant new challenge... I wasn't quite prepared for just, I think, the speed of change from one person to another and the different circumstances that surround them. But they're all basically the same, but different." [12:25, Nancy]

• The hosts note the paradox that proximity to so much need and pain can sometimes make people numb to their own struggles, even as it is otherwise overwhelming.

4. The Role of Jail and the Lack of Long-Term Care

• Jails often function as de facto mental institutions due to the lack of long-term mental health infrastructure.

  • "The single highest institute for mentally ill people is going to be the Bell County Jail." [23:13, Host]

• The podcast details deeply concerning stories of individuals cycling between hospitals, jails, emergency rooms, and the street—always returning to instability and risk.

  • "All of this deinstitutionalization where we're at right now with mental health care is all tied to money... these folks are just discarded." [29:17, Nancy]

5. Stories of Individuals — Making the Invisible Visible

• Several community members' stories illustrate these systemic issues:

  • YR: Discharged from mental health care, rapidly deteriorates, no effective safety net.
  • Rachel/Or: Elderly, neglected, unable to care for herself.
  • Eric: Manages well only briefly after jail stays; cycles through psychosis and self-harm.
  • Kevon: Chronically homeless, heavily reliant on emergency services for basic needs.

• The burden on caregivers, and the futility of calling institutions like Adult Protective Services, is palpable:

  • "They can be covered in feces... 'Hey, do you want us to take care of you?' 'Nope, I'm good.' 'Okay. That's all we can do.'" [30:50, Host]

6. The Call to Action: The Power of Being Seen

• The episode pivots to the importance of recognition, dignity, and simple kindness:

  • "You saw her as a person hurting when no one else has seen her. And she said that—like no one else has seen me. And I don't know you from a can of paint. Those were her words." [34:21, Nancy]
  • "See the people." [35:43, Host]

• A core message repeated is that seeing, listening, and acknowledging those in need is both powerful and rare—often shocking to the recipient.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments (Timestamps)

• On the perpetual cycle and lack of solutions:

  • "As it sits today in this world there is not an acceptable answer for a yr, an or for a Rose, a Brian, a Kevon. All like all kind of mental illness that they cannot take care of themselves." [31:32, Host]

• On the consequences of deinstitutionalization:

  • "All of this deinstitutionalization where we're at right now with mental health care is all tied to money... these folks are just discarded." [29:17, Nancy]

• On simple kindness:

  • "Imagine how much better the world would be if someone like Paradise wasn't shocked..." [35:43, Nancy]

• On the emotional impact and daily reality:

  • "Been a difficult one. It's not even lunchtime." [41:31, Nancy]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [00:54-10:40] — Introduction and urgent stories of the day, background on Feed My Sheep’s mission
• [10:40-16:50] — Nancy’s perspective after two weeks on the “front lines,” overwhelming scale and complexity
• [19:02-21:36] — Mental health awareness, failed systems, the impossibility of daily living for the most vulnerable
• [22:07-27:06] — Individual stories: Eric, Kevon, Rose—how the cycle repeats and the system fails
• [29:17-30:50] — Deinstitutionalization, the role of money, and the futility of institutional interventions
• [34:21-36:09] — The impact of being seen and the need for human connection
• [40:46-43:21] — Final reflections: Living in the in-between, a call to see and value every person

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The Heart of the Episode: See People, Value Dignity

• "See people. It's simply that. Imagine how much better the world would be if someone like Paradise wasn't shocked... as shocked as she was that you just ... you saw her." [35:43, Nancy]
• "There is hurting, hurting people that we make them. They're existing in a gray area that's neither life nor death." [41:02, Host]

The Core Call to Action

• Come see the reality—don't look away.
• See and acknowledge people as individuals with stories, struggles, and dignity.
• Recognize the urgency for systemic change, but remember that everyday kindness matters.

"Caring for people is not that difficult. ... you are a person. And you do have hurts and you do have struggles, but you are not alone. And that you are cared for." [44:57, Host]

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Closing Reflections

This powerful episode is both a lament and a plea—a confrontation with the tragic insufficiency of mental health systems and a hopeful call to see and serve those in need. Feed My Sheep’s work is not about having all the answers but about showing up, seeing, and caring for people whom society too often discards.

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To listeners:
If you can, come meet these neighbors yourself. Listen. See. Engage. Even simple recognition can change everything for someone who feels invisible.

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End of Summary

Transcript

[A]

Foreign. Hey, we want to welcome you to another edition of the Collage podcast. I hope you're having a great day out there. We are coming to you from Feed My Sheep, which is here in Temple, Texas. And we are a little nonprofit that we would say here at Feed My Sheep, we feed those that are hungry physically, spiritually and emotionally. So that's kind of where we're at geographically. I'm here today again with Nancy.

[B]

Good morning.

[A]

Well, good morning, Nancy. Good to see you. And so we are here today and to catch y' all up out there. We've already been in the midst of all kind of discussions. It has been as we are recording this. Doesn't matter when you're listening to this, but as we are recording this, it's about 11 o'. Clock. Amen.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And already I can't even use the words to describe what all has come through the gates already on this day. Okay. And it's been a whole lot. I mean, like, so we've got, let me see one, an 18 year old girl who's on the street still trying to navigate how to help her, who's going to go start a job for the first time.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So wow. You go wow. At 10:30. Oh, she's already 20 minutes in. Yeah. So already there. Hopefully in theory. If she's not, then she is now looking for a new job because she just lost this one on day one. But she will be there. I saw her walking that direction. So we got that one. We got another one that we've talked about in the past called yr, who got released from a mental. Again, this is a familiar story. Got released from a mental institution yesterday morning. Yesterday morning. Picked her up at 10. Yeah, she lasted at her apartment until about 6:30pm okay. So. Yep. And then she went to where?

[B]

Emergency room.

[A]

Okay. So went to the emergency room and. Because she fell and sprained her ankle or something or what?

[B]

No, she felt like she was having an allergic reaction to nicotine initially and then later on it was an allergic reaction she felt to caffeine.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

But really what it was was just a huge panic attack, anxiety attack, probably some sort of. According to the doctor's reaction to the new medicine that she's on. Not really sure, but she was really having a hard time last night and then.

[A]

So like that. So you're with her till whatever, eight or nine last night. She's at the hospital and then she was pretty calm at the hospital or what was that? So what was that like screaming,

[B]

just crying for help, that she was just needing medicine. And it was awful. She couldn't sit still. It was like she was coming out of her skin. She would get up and pace the room or go outside and circle the hallways, and she just couldn't be still and couldn't stop crying and just screaming for help.

[A]

Okay. And so then they finally gave her some medicine, like 8:30ish, that was going to sedate her, calm her down. And then what happened on that story? You went home to sleep.

[B]

I did.

[A]

You have a life.

[B]

I did. I went home and left my phone number with them to call me in the night if they decided to discharge her.

[A]

And, and the person that they had given. They sedated her.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Okay. She got it.

[B]

Heavy duty medicine. And for whatever reason, I didn't put my phone in sleep mode, but I did have my ringer turned down. So I didn't hear the phone ringing at midnight when they decided to discharge her. And she ended up having to take an Uber to our neck of the woods to a hotel that she's used to staying at because she, she didn't. She couldn't find her keys to her apartment.

[A]

Which she had.

[B]

Which she did have. Yes. And she's just really having a hard time this morning.

[A]

And we're, we're gonna, we're gonna rewind to that one just a bit. So again, to everybody out there, she goes to the hospital for mental breakdown.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Okay. She's been out of psychiatric health for less than 24 hours. She gets to the hospital, receives a large dose of medicine to calm her down at, let's just say roughly 8pm she's discharged by midnight.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Tell me if that math adds up. Good.

[B]

It's awful, awful, awful.

[A]

So then she goes out and like what Nancy said she chose to the place that she's staying, but she thinks she's lost her key. But that was in her purse. Okay. So it wasn't lost. So she can't go there. So she goes to another place, spends a night there. We happen to know the owner who contacts Nancy. So that catches it up to this morning. So then we're now at this morning, and the, the lady is. She's not screaming, but she's not much better. Okay. So she's in that. And having a difficult time understanding reality. And so we're left on that one, and we're just going to leave this one there. That as we sit here, the scenario is, what in the world can we do? Okay. What in the world. Yeah, there is. She needs. I'm not a doctor so if you're a doctor. I'm not. Okay. I'm not claiming to be a doctor. I'm not saying what she needs. It's not a diagnosis. Whatever. She needs serious mental facility that she could go live. She needs to be in a hospital.

[B]

She needs to be institutionalized.

[A]

Institutionalized, period.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Okay. And I don't mean that. And she would relish it.

[B]

Yeah, absolutely.

[A]

She would like it. Safe spot.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Somebody telling her what to do. Here's the medicine. You need to take this. You need to do this. She would do well.

[B]

She would.

[A]

She would do well at it. Okay, so we got that one. So then that's that. So then I go find Nancy and go, hey, we got to go do a podcast. It's now 9:30. Okay, let's go do this. Okay. We got Rachel story. We got old Rachel or. Or we call him. So we got or who similar. Okay. Is not mentally well. 86. Fixing to be 87.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Okay. Physical wear and tear on her body from years of neglect, and she's 87. Okay. So let's just say that. 87. Okay. So then irregardless, if you've taken. She's now at this chapter of life to have some difficult days. So we got that one on the map today as well. And then we just met a young girl that. This is baffling to me. Okay? And then this is where we're going to launch into what we're going to talk about today. But we met a young girl, first time. And simply all we did. All we did. Speak to her. Okay? Speak to her and say, hey, hello. What is your name? You know, and we just spoke. Normal human interaction. It wasn't that complicated. We didn't do that much. Okay. And she's young, young, new woman. You're like, okay, so, hey, what could we do? Like, what could we do to help you? Okay, so Nancy just got there. We just got meeting with her, and she's emotionally upset. Crying, crying, crying. Because she's like, I can't believe you actually asked me if I needed help. Nobody ever sees me and asks if I need help.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And I said to her, well, hold on. I said, well, a. You know, I haven't done anything for you yet. Like, you're all thinking, this is great. And at the reality in my world, I haven't even done a thing. I didn't even give her a glass of water. I didn't give her anything. Didn't promise the moon. Nancy, was it. We didn't even say any promise of Anything.

[B]

Right.

[A]

But he said, I'd love to walk with you and see what we could figure out to give you, help you see options. What could we do to help you look and to see what are some different things that you could maybe do that you maybe aren't able to see right now? Okay. And then we do ask the question of her. Are you staying inside or outside? And she spent last night at the park. Yeah, she's outside. Okay. So all of that, that's the start of the day. That is real stories. Okay. So now we're going to visit with Nancy. So we're going to put her on the spot because she loves pop quizzes. This is her favorite deal. She likes pop quizzes. I'm going to ask her questions, and she's going to get frustrated because the questions are not what she wants to answer. So. Fair enough.

[B]

That's true.

[A]

Yes. Okay. So what we talk about here at Feed My Sheep, and this is not a. This is not a good thing. It's not a bad thing. It's not an arrogant thing. It's just about the best thing I could say about this world that we're in. Okay. And what we've said is you can't really understand, and I don't even claim to understand it, and I'm in it like I'm in the water. Okay. So I don't claim to understand it. Okay. I will say this. I would tell anybody, you can't really grasp the magnitude and the scale of things that go on here until you're in the water here.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Would you say we're going to ask Nancy because Nancy was in the world. Close.

[B]

I would say adjacent.

[A]

Yes. Okay. But before these two weeks of working here, you would have said you were in it.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Okay. You were in it. I mean, and she was. I felt like I was 1000% and she was okay. She was in the world. We were. We worked together and that she was on the city side and I was on the nonprofit side. Two, you know, we'd say this one is six and this one is half a dozen. Okay. And so you look at it and you go, they're the same. Just different way of saying the same thing. Okay. Been here two weeks in this world and tell me your observations so far. Now,

[B]

I think the thing that comes to mind is just roller coaster of ups and downs and really not being able to fully recover from. From one hill when you hit the next one. You know, like, it's just a. It's a constant. New challenge. Like, there's always a new person. Or, I mean, I walked yr down to her apartment earlier and was stopped twice on the road by people who, hey, Nancy, I am having trouble with my housing application or, hey, Nancy, have you heard back about the, you know, whatever benefit that we're. We're trying to get for them? So it's not. It's not. I wasn't quite prepared for just, I think the. The speed of change from one person to another and then the different circumstances that surround them. But they're all basically the same, but different. Like, they're all on the same spectrum, but just at different points of the spectrum. And so it's not even like you can say, okay, we're going to engage the process at, you know, step three for you, because you're, you know, you're at that point and it's not even like that. You can't even. There's not a set way to approach any of them. You just basically have to engage and then ride it out and that it's just all going to be. You're going to go where it's going to take you and just, I guess, being prepared for whatever that is, which is never. It's never the same thing twice. Yeah.

[A]

Fair. Okay. And watching from not. Not even afar, slightly outside the circle. Isn't it staggeringly surprising?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

When you get in it and you're like, son of a gun. And you were right there.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Like, you were. You had an office up here. You were. You would be up here. And we did a whole lot of stuff. And working with people. Okay. And then to flip on the other side, when you're walking down the sidewalk. We know. Okay. So just geographically here. Oh. From the cafe to Nancy's office, if I was shooting a bow, I would shoot for 35 yards, 40 yards. So if they say 40 yards is how far the walk is on the sidewalk. Okay. I will promise you, if we walk when we leave the podcast room from here to that office, minimum of one, probably two scenarios are going to unfold.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Okay. And they're legit.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

They're like, so in it. So it's not. It's not like trivial stuff. They're real stuff. Like the one young girl we met today, that's legit.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

She has no. She is going to be sleeping at the park tonight. Okay. She is all alone. Terrible traumatic situation. Terrible. Legit.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Okay. And we're going. We ain't got an option. You can go down the road to the place up the road, and they're Going to tell you they're full and that's your veteran. Then you'll get in because you make money. Okay. Whole other deal. Okay. But you. The entity that could provide housing will not. That's just fact. They're going to be full. Whatever. I'm not saying anything. They're just full. Whatever. That's been that way for since 20. I think they said 10 years, isn't it?

[B]

Yeah, 10 years.

[A]

Okay, so 10 years that probably need a little longer to figure out how to solve that problem. Because 10 years, you sure couldn't do anything as a municipality to realize, man, we don't have enough beds on this. They seem to be full from day one on. Maybe we ought to open up some more beds. Maybe we ought to figure out a better system. But I'm sure that's coming because it's only been 10 years that they've had to navigate this problem.

[B]

Right?

[A]

Yeah. Because that's about normal, you know. Okay, so we got that. So you're going the things are real with yr. Okay. To let you see. No, we're just giving you a glimpse of. So why are. Again, you have a mother who is 25 miles up the road from us, a family. She has a mother 25 miles up the road. This is their daughter. Okay. And I'm not. I'm not going down whatever, but this is the daughter. And Nancy's getting text after text saying, I need you to go do this for her and do this for her and do this for her and this for her. No, don't do this, make her do this. She's not mentally well. Like, you can't make her do anything. She's in her 30s. And if she has irrational thoughts, which she is having, she's going to follow what her irrational thoughts lead her to do. There's nothing we can do. If I want her to stay in the room that we have. She's got a lease on a place that is decently safe. We've mentioned that in the past. Whether I want her to stay in that place or not, we can talk to her blue in the face at the end of the day, whatever the voices that she's going to hear later when she's all by herself, they're going to dictate what she's going to do. Can't make her do anything. And there's no option. She needs to be institutionalized and there's no place for her to go.

[B]

Right. I think it's also interesting that we're right smack dab in the Middle of mental health awareness month.

[A]

Oh yeah, May is.

[B]

Is that so? From 4:00 clock this morning I've been. Well maybe not Quite straight up 4, but 3:30 early this morning I've been researching online just what is out there for someone like wait yr or. Or for that matter that really can't take care of themselves. Like they, they cannot accomplish their ADL's it's called. I think it's daily living. You know, things that they can't feed themselves, they can't shower, they don't, you know, they're not taking their medicine when they should and they really cannot function on their own. So what is out there for them? And the answer is there's nothing out there for them.

[A]

Jail.

[B]

Jail, yes. Did find a lot of information about jails being a place for them to go and die Most of the time apparently. I know that we have a diversion center here in Bell county that's supposed to be some sort of solution for them but it's a short stay kind of thing. It's two weeks. So we've got short stay at the mental health facility. We have short stay at the diversion center. There's no long term option for these people. And I could, I could say, I don't know, I'll just use Rose because nobody knows who we're talking about. But another example of somebody who I think would, would benefit from residential treatment like residential care, long term inpatient residential care.

[A]

Kind of tell every. So everybody. So that one in like so not in particular but that one, she is inside or outside.

[B]

She is outside all the time.

[A]

Outside. On the sidewalk.

[B]

On the sidewalk. She does not bathe.

[A]

None. Doesn't change clothes.

[B]

Does not change clothes. I don't know that she knows how to use the bathroom.

[A]

Not anymore.

[B]

Appropriately. I don't think she can make rational decisions at all. I don't think you can even have a really detailed conversation with her.

[A]

Really nice.

[B]

Very nice.

[A]

Very nice.

[B]

Very sweet.

[A]

Very sweet. Yes, very sweet. And has. I'm not a doctor but when she's not feeling well, has ticks and, and twitches and makes like machine gun sounds and she's talking to things that aren't there. Okay. So I am not going to diagnose her here, but yes. Yeah, not mentally well. Not able to take medicine. Eric.

[B]

Eric. Same.

[A]

Yeah, Eric. On him we play. So he is another one of our guys right now. Mental health awareness podcast. Okay. He is outside as we are doing this. Okay. And Eric is cognizant enough and like him when he has gone to jail for a little bit. And I'm not advocating. So mind you, if I'm saying that I am not a proponent of we should be arresting these people and putting them in jail. That is not the solution at all. We're just saying that it is statistically the largest. The largest mental institute, they would say, in the state of Texas right now is the Harris County Sheriff's department jail. I think the top five or top four are other jail facilities throughout the state of Texas. Okay, so we're saying it's just fact. Okay. In Bell County, I would bet you. Well, the single highest institute for mentally ill people is going to be the Bell County Jail.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Period. I don't even want to break down what this. But so Eric, when he comes out, he's been on medication. They got him dialed in. Okay. He's good.

[B]

Sweet, Sweet heart.

[A]

Sweet as can be. He's good. Like, he's. He's functioning like you. You'd go, man, okay, like, nice dude. Like you could. You could figure that out within short order. The big bag of medicine, they give him like a month's worth of medicine or what. I don't even know what number. But it's. It's a large. Whether it's a month or two month or whatever, but he gets a large chunk of medicine in a white bag or clear bag. That's ccs, gives him clear bag, all his medicine he's supposed to take from day to day. And you can watch within two days, he doesn't remember if he took his medicine or not because he can't remember which day it is. So by day two, he's probably skipped a day or doubled up on a day or whatever. And then by day four, I don't know what medicine he's on. So I don't know why it would be attractive he would say this, that somebody in our world will take his medicine or he sells it to them. I don't know. But whatever medicine disappears. So today you're at. He's out on the street, and when he is not well, he sees people. I guess we'll say people. He sees beans around him. And so he's constantly talking to these beings that he sees. And he's trying to shoot him with a machine gun to get him away. Okay? So he's making machine gun sounds. Rose makes the same sounds. Okay. And so he's trying to shoot them. And then his other pattern, which I don't understand completely, is. And I don't mean this lightly, I didn't even think it was possible, but it is. He starts hitting himself with his fist in the face. He'll start beating himself up.

[B]

Yeah. Like black and blue.

[A]

Like black and blue on the face. And hitting himself. And he spirals down this path. He will, in short order, within a week, he will turn to self medicating. Meth is easier to get than trying to get back into the facility that gets prescriptions to you because they'll go, nope, you can't get a prescription. You already have your month's medicine and so you're done.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

So he will self medicate within another two weeks after that, generally. Okay. And this is negative on the police. He will get arrested.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And he'll go back in and will repeat the cycle again and over. Okay, we've got another one. Let's just say Kevon across the street. Kevon gets medical, medical benefits or disability type. He gets money, enough to pay for a hotel room across the way. So he's got a place to stay. Kiva will forever. He's not mentally well, has a hard time communicating. Okay. We get along just fine. Yeah, Plenty nice.

[B]

He's sweet.

[A]

Sweet as can be. So not anything negative. He will spend all day walking in a circle right across from us underneath the trees, just walking around, walking around, talking to the things that he sees. And he will go. I don't know. I've lost track. I've heard crazy numbers of like, last year he got taken to the emergency room at Scott and White, some absurd number, like 500 times.

[B]

Yeah. I think right now he may have like six medical bracelets on.

[A]

He goes all the time. And he goes to the hospital and it's because he says his stomach hurts.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

But an ambulance picks him up and takes him there. Kevon is mentally ill. I have known Kevon. He used to stay on east of our location at a place called the Rose Garden. I bet you he has lived in this condition on the street for 30 years at least. Mental health awareness month. Okay. This is occurring. We can go down the line and we could go. Okay, not every person. I'm not. And I'm not a doctor. Okay. So I'm. I could be completely wrong. I would love. Okay, if you're a psychiatrist out there or a psychologist out there, come prove me wrong. Come diagnose these names that we've mentioned. I'd love for you to come meet any of them and tell me, no, they're not mentally ill or, yeah, they

[B]

can take care of themselves and oh, yeah, they're doing great. Like what?

[A]

Agreed. Come show me these things and show me that I'm incorrect, and I'll be glad I go, you're right. You know what? Or is just fine, you know, doesn't know how to use the bathroom in the house. Doesn't. God speaks to her. All kind of God. I'm not saying. And now she's hoarding trash from other neighbors. Dumpsters.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

And then. So you go, okay, what? And then doesn't go to the bathroom in the toilet. Doesn't shower. Okay. We don't know how to do these stuff. Won't go to a doctor.

[B]

Absolutely not.

[A]

Absolutely not. Because. So show me. Somebody tell me that, yes, she's fine. Come somebody watch Kevon for a day and tell me that's fine.

[B]

I think the sad thing that I found this morning in my online research is that all of this deinstitutionalization where we're at right now with. With mental health care is all tied to money.

[A]

Well, yeah, they don't make money.

[B]

No money to be made. And so therefore, these folks are just discarded.

[A]

Yeah. But still alive.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

That's. What's that like? Not. I'm not saying that in the negative. So that's here. So forever, like, out there. I get it. I mean, this month I'm supposed to wear a green leprechaun. Deal. And I'm like, whatever. I mean, I'm like, well, okay. And I get it. Oh, we got people. And I'm not discounting anything, but, like, we make the topic matter. There's some. Some people that are really struggling with depression on the west side of Temple and whatever. And I'm not discounting that. Okay. So we're not saying there's people that need counselor. Great. Counselors are great. Psychologists are great. Psychiatrists are great. Okay. The help they're trying to do great. We're just pointing out in our world there is a place that you can reach in mental illness that it seems to me there is no avenues of help.

[B]

Right. There's no way out of it.

[A]

So then in it, we would go, hey, what? You ought to call adult protective services. I'm about.04. I don't know. This is nothing negative on them. I'm about 04. I don't know. 30. Yeah, same over 30 on that phone call. They can be covered in feces. They can be doing this and that and whatever and. Hey, do you want us to take care of you? Nope, I'm good. Okay. That's all we could do. See you, Jeff. Oh, okay. Man, I. I couldn't figure out how to done that. Wow.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So you're like wow. So all of this. I'd love to we reach the end here to go. And here's the answer as it sits today in this world there is not an acceptable answer for a yr, an or for a Rose, a Brian, a Kevon. All like all kind of mental illness that they cannot take care of themselves. And they need Eric.

[B]

Carolyn.

[A]

Carolyn.

[B]

And she's housed.

[A]

Agreed.

[B]

Like I mean we haven't even touched that part.

[A]

No, agreed.

[B]

Hordes people living in isolation and horrible conditions that are completely mentally ill. Yeah.

[A]

So mine all that we made a full circle to come to out there. The topic at hand is maybe even more severe than what you could imagine and more tragic. Like even Nancy would admit you can't really see it. You get a glimpse. I mean like you know, you got Horus out there who's talking to who knows what. He has not made a rational sentence in I don't even know how many years. And what all he sees. Yeah. Christmas day. Who I hadn't seen her in a bit. She gonna. You don't even know which way is up and gonna whatever is in a dumpster. They ain't no telling what she's gonna eat today.

[B]

I would tell you this in my short time here so far and what I. What I would hope that everyone would pull away from this conversation is paradise. The girl that we were talking about earlier, you saw her as a person. You saw her. You didn't make any assumptions. You didn't pass judgment. You didn't. There was no questioning her prior to you saying how can I help you? There was no prerequisite for your attention. You saw her as a person hurting when no one else has seen her. And she said that like no one else has seen me. And I don't know you from a can of paint. Those were her words.

[A]

Yep. And I said, yeah, we're complete strangers,

[B]

but you saw her.

[A]

And so you and I were having that discussion.

[B]

Yeah. People need to see Rose.

[A]

They do. That's it. Are we the salute See her, they need see her.

[B]

See Rachel, they need to see.

[A]

Put your green ribbon on and walk down here and meet people.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

If not even here. It's everywhere. It's baffling to me that we get so caught up and it's about impossible here I would say to get so caught up in your own problems that you can't see others problems because it's just so overwhelming. Matter of fact, the other occurs here maybe in an unhealthy way is that it is so over consuming of how many imperative problems that are occurring in others that it makes it easy to look away from those that are occurring within yourself. So maybe the other occurs here as well. But we say it over and over. See the people.

[B]

Yeah. It's simply that imagine how much better the world would be if someone like paradise wasn't shocked.

[A]

What?

[B]

As shocked as she was that you just.

[A]

We saw her and we did.

[B]

And you stopped and you talked and you engaged with her. She was dumbfounded.

[A]

Yeah. I don't understand.

[B]

Brought to tears.

[A]

I don't understand.

[B]

Because it was just so amazing that someone would take the time.

[A]

Yeah. And she's still in a mess. We're not so like here. We're saying it. Feed my sheep in this world. Okay. I'm not saying there's. In the mental health aspect of it, whatever. There's not some magic pill that cures all the stuff. I'm not saying that. I'm not saying everybody needs to be institutionalized. I'm not saying some. It would help. Some would help case for. Like I'm saying if you're wearing one of those pretty green ribbons today, realize the magnitude of how many people are true. Not even just they don't have to be homeless. So let's don't even lump it into that. How many people are hurting in this world and they just want to be seen. Just want to be seen. And then what gets difficult for us and for everybody is makes it harder to ignore a person once you acknowledge they are a person, once they become a person, once they have a name, it makes it a little bit more difficult to not even notice them. You know them.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Like tomorrow, if I meet that young lady straight socially, the cues do I have a. It is unacceptable to walk by her and not even look at her. Why? Because I know her name. We shared a moment together. That's all we did. I didn't give her the magic lottery ticket of life. She's not. We're going to. We. We will try to do what we can do. Okay. She ain't walking into a place today. She's not going to be mentally well. Her problems have not gone away.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

She was seen. We'll see her again tomorrow and Nancy will see her again and we'll see her. Why are. Okay, maybe somebody out there is the answer for her. But I'm telling you, a system that just throws you out on the street. And then the other thing is. Well, hey, I don't know. I don't know. Why I would have an incentive to lie. But whatever. I don't make any money off of this. And the system, the hospital will tell me over and over and over that what I see every day does not occur. That we never drop people off over there, we never do this, we never do that. Somehow I'm magically seeing it every day, and they do. And so the world we live in is not supposed to be like this. But I would tell you this. Like Rose, there is not one time that when I stop and ask how she did and whether she was safe last night and did she stay dry, she doesn't look up. She's happy. She's. She will engage in conversation. I know it's trivial. Whatever. I'm not, you know, but. And then always. Well, well, how was your night? You doing good? Yeah, I'm doing good. I'm doing good today. See people.

[B]

Yeah. Okay.

[A]

I'm not a counselor. Over simple. But out there mental health awareness podcast. It's real. There's got to be. There's got to be changes in this structurally, in the world of how this thing functions, period. This cannot keep going exactly like it is. It is that simple. Wish I was smarter and wish I knew what the answer was. I just know it can't be this.

[B]

Absolutely not.

[A]

There is hurting, hurting people that we make them. They're existing in a gray area that's neither life nor death.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

It's the in between here of they're not dead, they ain't living. It's gray area right in between the two, you know, so there you go. Anything else on that topic, Nancy Glover. It's been difficult day. Yeah.

[B]

Yeah. Been a difficult one. It's not even lunchtime.

[A]

Not even lunch. Not even lunch. We'll take. And that's busyness will occur. And as we've sat here, I've gotten seven texts. I'm not even going to look at those of because generally they're not of the best. But I'm not a good multitasker like Nancy is. She's able to answer her text while we're doing this podcast. Casey. Multitask. But all of y' all out there, you can do this. Okay? Come. Come see.

[B]

Come see.

[A]

Just come see. Put your feet in the water and see the beautiful things. So these all the ones we mentioned. They're beautiful. Beautiful people trapped in a very, very difficult, sad place.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Okay. Come see and love on people. See them for their worth and their dignity. End this world that we live in where people are shocked.

[B]

Mm.

[A]

Because somebody actually Cared about them. Just in word.

[B]

Yeah. Shocked.

[A]

Shocked. It's a sickening world and I'm asking you to come. I'd love to. Hey, come up, Jeff. I'd love to meet yr. I've heard a whole lot about her story. And be sick of going, how can we let a young girl like that exist like that?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So enough of that. Not enough of that, but happy. I don't know how you celebrate mental health awareness day, week, month, month. Got a whole month. Maybe if they had donut day and mental health wellness in the same month, that'd be like, knock it out of the park. Okay, so I'm sure I just said something inappropriate about eating or this or that or whatever, but. Okay, that's it on this. I hope you have a great day and I hope that you feel seen and that people do see your hurt and they see and care about what is going on in your world. That's all we're asking, to see and be seen. It's a world we're trying to work towards because we're pretty dumb. I don't have all the answers, but I know I can see a person. I know we can be kind to a person. I know we can try to help people navigate this crazy thing called life. Not the answers. But caring for people is not that difficult. So I hope you would understand that if you're listening to this, you are a person. And you do have hurts and you do have struggles, but you are not alone. And that you are cared for. And the world may not show it, the world may not act like it, but God himself deems it so. And it says this, that he loved you so much that he gave his only begotten son that you may have life and life abundantly. He came to free the earth, not to prosecute it, not to condemn it.

[B]

Yeah,

[A]

he came to set us free. And that's everybody. So we live in that truth today. And I rely on that truth because my eyes are showing me other things that do not point me in that direction. Not from him, but from the world that we live in. His truth doesn't change our reality of how we choose to live in that truth does. So enough of that. We will get on it. Appreciate everybody out there. Thank you, Nancy Glover. And I look forward to what in the world Blindside is going to hit us next week. Before we walk into here, all of you out there, be praying for the the names we lifted up, please. That's it. Have a great day.