Roots

Topsail Insider Intro and What’s Coming Up

Speaker 1 0:03

Welcome to the Topsoil Insider Podcast , where you can hear all about the businesses and events in the beautiful coastal towns of the greater Topsoil area of North Carolina . Coming up , catherine McDowell of Roots tells us about the devastating event that catalyzed the creation of her organization that helps women many with children that find themselves homeless for any number of reasons . Stick around to learn why it's her passion project . Learn about 3D printed homes , success stories and more .

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Speaker 1 0:46

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Introduction to Catherine McDowell and Roots

Speaker 1 1:43

Welcome everyone to the Topsoil Insider podcast . My name is Krista and I am your host . Today I am interviewing Catherine McDowell . She is the executive director of an incredible organization called Roots in the Greater Topsoil Area . Welcome , catherine . Thank you so much for joining me . Oh , thank you for having me . Let's just go ahead and tell everybody what Roots is all about .

Speaker 2 2:07

Absolutely . Roots is an absolute passion for me . Roots started when a dear friend of mine , tanya , did long-term recovery addiction recovery and she had relapsed and gone to treatment up in Raleigh . After leaving treatment she was calling around trying to get some kind of housing somewhere to come home to . She had a three-year-old daughter here in . Surf City and there was nothing . She had called and I was in the midst of putting together a wedding and all this chaos was going on and I just couldn't figure it out . When she had nowhere else to go , she went back to her apartment and her boyfriend shot and killed her . It was at that moment that I just knew something had to happen . We had to do something for the women in our area . We have nothing here , no supportive services . Out of that , the thought for Roots began . We got some girlfriends together , started talking , said what can we do ? I'd come from the yoga world , where I'd done a lot of retreats and go into these different yoga communities . We had these wonderful little tiny house communities . This is all we need . Let's just do this . That's how it started . It was just that idea , that moment , that cataclysmic moment . At this point I look and I go . If she hadn't died , roots wouldn't be here . It has grown so organically . It's just been amazing to me . We now have five acres of land . We have four homes open , we have a building plan that consists of somewhere between 13 and 15 3D concrete printed duplexes .

Speaker 1 3:50

I am so excited to talk about that . You mentioned that in the pre-interview . I am just blown away by and I actually , after speaking with you , came back and looked at what that process looks like . It's so amazing these cement 3D printers .

Not Just About the Housing

Speaker 2 4:07

The unique part about Roots is we're not just housing . That is the first critical thing to getting a woman's feedback under her is safe , affordable housing , and there is nothing we have right now . We are in a housing crisis in this area . That's unimaginable . On top of that , it's not just about putting someone in a house . There are programs out there that'll pay for rent , pay for security , but if a woman doesn't learn how to manage her own finances , get a high school , college education , you cannot afford rent . If your skills only get you a job at Hardee's when you have children and daycare is only open from 8 to 6 , you can't work a second job . These women have no options . Our program and that's really what we are we are a program and we're unique . We haven't found anyone who's doing this . We offer financial literacy courses . We're beginning an initiative called Empower and it's teaching women to start small businesses side hustles . Let's see what else you can make , because you can only work so many hours a day . Parenting skills , life skills , job skills everything a woman would need to get her feedback under her , strengthen her , get her finances straightened out , Provide for herself , Provide for herself . We have a policy of no men on property . Not that we don't like men , but these women have got to learn that the next man is not going to rescue you . We see it over and over again when we've got three or four different baby daddies and whose child belongs where we're raised up and trained that Prince Charming is going to come and rescue us . It's not a reality . It's trying to break that just generational societal vision that you have to have a man beside you , because it really puts women at a disadvantage

Causes for Homeless with Women

Speaker 2 6:06

.

Speaker 1 6:07

If they are in a relationship and the relationship is not healthy and sometimes physically detrimental , then the most important thing that you have to do , especially if you have children , is get out of the way of what's coming at you brutally . If you don't have those recent oftentimes , I think , a woman stays in situations , especially with children , because why would you leave with your children ? I've seen this happen in my own family where , if you're not going to leave because you don't want to put your child in a poverty situation or a homeless situation , you don't have options .

Speaker 2 6:45

There are no options . The number one cause of homelessness for women is domestic violence . Having said that , that's not what's happening in our area . Another huge reason addiction , alcoholism and addiction . Is it caused by the homelessness or did it cause the homelessness ? But I'm going to tell you that is not . The number one reason women are being referred to us . What is it ? The number one reason is stay at home , moms . They don't have an education , they don't have a career , they don't have their own finances . When the husband decides , I don't want to do this anymore and stands up and walks out , she has nothing . Currently , we have two women living at roots , and that is the situation .

Speaker 1 7:31

It doesn't have to . There's any physical abuse or addiction issues . It could just simply be that the husband steps out and walks away and then she has no skills and no abilities .

Speaker 2 7:44

Another big reason . I just had a call yesterday from a woman she had found housing after being homeless , worked through a program , got an apartment . Everything was going really well for her for the last seven months and the landlord sold the house . The new owner gave her eviction papers . There is nowhere for people to go right now . All of the affordable housing has just the prices of skyrocketed .

Speaker 1 8:10

The prices are insane . Rents are insane , rents are insane .

Speaker 2 8:15

Housing that was affordable has been plowed over for building bigger and more . There just is nowhere for these women to go to . It's not just women , it's families , it's men . But I'm going to dial back to we are women working with women

Safety at Roots

Speaker 2 8:33

.

Speaker 1 8:33

I'm assuming there are situations where the women and children are leaving abusive home environments or drugs or alcohol . Where that's involved , friends of women is with you on your premises . How do you protect them from someone showing up and finding them and trying to get them back ?

Speaker 2 8:54

No , one knows where we are . Okay , we keep it that way . Good , the women do not have addresses on property . Our administrative offices are separate from the community , so we keep that quiet . Okay , we also have fencing , which helps a great deal Another part of this , too . Someone had said you know security and guards and you know and what's going on and we don't have to worry about it . These women are in safe , comfortable , wonderful living situations . They are fiercely protective of each other .

Speaker 1 9:26

Oh , good yeah . So believe me , these women have it going on .

Speaker 2 9:32

In addition to that , we do have video surveillance set up everywhere , so they are safe and secure .

Special Efforts for the Children

Speaker 1 9:38

Gotcha , we talk about the vulnerabilities of the mothers , but they are coming in there with children . So what kind of special efforts does Roots take to help the children ? Just leaving one environment and going into another , I'm sure it turns their little worlds upside down . So what do you do to help the children out once they arrive ?

Speaker 2 9:58

Well , once a mom and her children arrive , first thing is settling them into comfort . This is your space . What we do currently is if we have a mom with children , she's in her own home . We do not pack people in . We're not putting five families in bedrooms One mom and her children and make it as comfortable for them as possible . If they have any of their own belongings , that's wonderful . If they come with nothing , we make a mad dash . We get out on Facebook Right now . Out on Facebook . We need a booster seat for a seven-year-old . They come to us a lot of times with nothing . One mom just got a job .

Speaker 1 10:38

She needs a uniform , so you post your needs as they come along on Facebook and do you find that that usually solves the problem for you rather quickly ?

Speaker 2 10:48

Our community is amazing . That's wonderful .

Speaker 1 10:49

It's amazing .

Speaker 2 10:50

And we'll go back into that . For sure , I want to brag on that , okay , but there are a lot of other things too . I mean , when women come to us , we're roots of recovery . Everyone's been saying , you know , drug and alcohol addiction recovery ? Well , no recovery . There are so many traumas in life . When these women come to us , they're coming to a homeless shelter . Something has occurred , there is trauma in them , in their life situation that has brought them that trauma is not just the mother If it is domestic violence . The children have watched it , they've heard it . Addiction , they've seen it .

Speaker 1 11:24

That is trauma , just witnessing that across the room , if it's not directly affecting .

Speaker 2 11:31

If it's financial , they saw the sheriff show up with the eviction papers . These little people are affected by this . So also what we find too is they haven't been in stable school situations . So once we get them registered into school right now we have three first graders and it's getting them evaluations , you know . Have their skills been evaluated Through the schools , through the school , through the social workers ? Is there any underlying autism or attention deficit or behavioral issues that have come along with them that need to be addressed ? Many , many times these children are moved from space to space to space and they're never stable in one school long enough to get those evaluations and find those underlying issues . So that's one of the very first things we do . Also , getting moms referred out to counselors , to doctors . Just basic healthcare has been missed . So that is our first and foremost .

Speaker 1 12:31

How do you handle the healthcare ? As far as just financially , well , everything's referred out .

Speaker 2 12:37

Are they eligible for Medicaid food stamps ? What services are out there that they're eligible for and connecting them with those services , I mean .

Speaker 1 12:46

Does it take them to get on those programs ? It seems like that would be a lengthy process .

Speaker 2 12:51

We have just connected with a program called Hop Housing Opportunities and they are amazing and they can very quickly , within a couple of weeks , get a woman established , which is amazing , and they're really . The focus of that program is to improve health outcomes . If you're ill , you're not getting healthy if you're living in your car , so let's get people into housing , let's get them food , let's get them nutrition and then let's get them the medical they need so that we can get a healthy lifestyle going back . Love it , the counseling and the training Counseling .

Speaker 1 13:25

Oh , so much .

Speaker 2 13:26

Financial literacy Number one financial literacy .

Speaker 1 13:29

Such a huge undertaking that you've taken on here .

Catherine’s Personal History

Speaker 1 13:34

It's amazing . So let's talk about you for a minute . Earlier , we spoke about what led you to start this program , and I just wanted to know a little bit about your personal history , with your training in occupational therapy .

Speaker 2 13:47

I am an occupational therapist , but I'm going to dial it back . So I was raised in a typical Brady Bunch middle class family and at 16 , found I was pregnant , oh wow , and was given a high school , basically given a high school diploma . I didn't have enough credits and I didn't realize in that moment how important and valuable that was . I had my son at 16 . And , as life may have , it was just tossed about . You know . I thought , yeah , baby daddy was going to be wonderful . Well , that didn't work out yeah . Then I thought the next man was going to make it wonderful . Well , that didn't work out . But I met a woman and this was the moment she looked at me and she said you can go to college and he was an occupational therapist . And I love this woman . She wore the most incredible clothing with matching jewelry .

Speaker 1 14:40

I thought she was awesome .

Speaker 2 14:41

I didn't know what an occupational therapist was , but she showed me how to apply for college . She took me in for an interview . They asked what do you want to be ? I said I want to be an OT , because they wear fabulous clothes .

Speaker 1 14:54

How did you meet this incredible lady this ?

Speaker 2 14:56

well-dressed woman . I met her in a social services office . I was going to have to apply for food stamps and welfare and had no options , and she changed my life . Occupational therapy was an incredible profession . It was just made for me . From there , I was able to build a phenomenal career , bought my own house , had my own cars .

Speaker 1 15:19

Where was this , by the way , this ?

Speaker 2 15:20

was in upstate New York , hudson Valley , and it was wonderful . I was a director of a UCP program , a cerebral palsy program , in New York . I became a professor at Tarot College and taught OT school . I just had this phenomenal career and then , at a certain junction in life , I just said OK , it's time to go to the beach . I had vacationed in Topsill .

Speaker 1 15:43

I hear this story so often .

Speaker 2 15:45

Catherine , I'm done with the snow .

Speaker 1 15:48

Not one more .

Speaker 2 15:51

Then moved down . I met my current husband here and he introduced me . His retirement career was massage and my retirement career was yoga therapy . So the two of us came together and started our own private practice and massage and yoga therapy . And then I think all of that healing arts , my story . I mean 16 years old , living in a pub tent with a one year old , I know what it was to be homeless . Ok , I knew what it was to face addiction and broken relationships , and it was that foundation , it's my story that made this possible to know what the answers were going to be . Once I got that , you know , shoving the back from Tanya to let's do something , thank you Tanya .

Speaker 1 16:41

Yeah , that's such a great story . Thank you for sharing that with us .

Concrete 3D Printer

Speaker 1 16:51

So earlier , you mentioned this cement 3D printer . Tell me a little bit about where are you in the process of attaining that ?

Speaker 2 17:01

Well , this came about . I was introduced to Eden Village in Wilmington when they first started up and were coming together and doing a tiny house community for chronically homeless adults , and I went down and met them and it's really wonderful , but they take no children , it's single adults only . But they were wonderful . They were like you've got to do this . Yes , we wish we could take children . You have to do this . And then the next thing I got a call saying we want to introduce you to this gentleman , nate , who has just created Eden Village Solutions , and what they found was a company called Mudbots , mudbots , and Mudbots has created a 3D concrete printer that will print houses , and it's incredible .

Speaker 1 17:52

It's amazing . I love the text .

Speaker 2 17:53

Absolutely Everybody needs to be googling this . And for half the cost of an individual cottage we can do a duplex which gives us two homes for half the cost of an individual house . So we are in the process of working on our design plan , getting our permitting and all of that . Also , we are kicking off our capital campaign because of course , any venture like this involves a lot of fundraising .

Speaker 1 18:21

Are we allowed to say how much it costs to get this bot to ?

Speaker 2 18:25

get the bot . Unfortunately , with the bot , what's going to happen is it comes from Utah , so we have to be ready to do all 15 units at one time . So , with the installation of our infrastructure , our sewer system , and then the 15 duplexes , we are going to need approximately 2 million , which sometimes it seems like a big number . But I have to tell you , this started with an idea five years ago . We own five acres of land , we have four homes open . 2 million is nothing , it's not it , it's just work . It's reaching out , it's writing grants , it's having events , it's getting the word out to the community that we need this , and people have just been amazing .

Speaker 1 19:15

When you first started out , you had zero . The idea was here , I don't have land , I don't have homes , I don't have anything . And five years later , you have five acres , you've got four homes , and now you're talking about a bot . Is this a rental ? You have to have your sewage .

Speaker 2 19:30

We'll have all the sewer in place , all the plumbing will be laid out , all that infrastructure . They bring this 3D printer in and it starts spitting out concrete to make all the walls . They slap the roof on top . They can do one a day .

Speaker 1 19:44

A day , one a day , oh my gosh . And then , with these new homes that are coming in , they're going to be duplexes 15 duplexes gives us 32 bedroom homes . That's incredible .

The Waitlist

Speaker 1 19:56

So how many women do you have on your wait list ?

Speaker 2 19:59

Because I found Well , I checked this morning , knowing I was coming here Today . We have 191 women on our wait list , and I do not count children . It makes me cry . We have 191 women on our wait list , wow , and there is nowhere . Nowhere for these women to go . Every shelter is fall , everything is fall .

Speaker 1 20:25

So what do these women who are on the wait list do in the meantime ? Eventually , you'll have 30 more homes available , but that's going to be a while . So what do we do with these ?

Speaker 2 20:33

women . Well , I have two women , one's pregnant and one has a two-year-old , two sisters , and they're living in a car . We have families living in the woods . They're all around us . They are living in the woods , holly Shelter and any place they can stay relatively stable . For a moment , there's a grant I went to apply for and they would actually give us money to buy tents . But then my question was well , where can we put tents ? The Department of Health isn't going to let us put up 30 tents without restroom facilities . So it's so challenging because there are some resources out there . There's some good resources out there of the HOP program . They will give rent security furnishings , get your electric on and get someone into a home and get them started . There are no homes to get them into , to get them started and that is our issue .

Speaker 1 21:34

It's sad . It's making me so sad just thinking about Well , let me shift you off a sad Okay , because this is what I have to focus on .

Speaker 2 21:43

At Roots of Recovery we have had two women finish their associates degree . One has gone on to nursing school . At UNCW we have five women who have started their own small businesses , one of them successfully enough that it's all she does is her small business . We have a mom that was reunited . Her child , her one-year-old son , came out of foster care and was reunited with a mom . We have two women who are starting community college in January this is making me happy . Everyone is now employed and it seems to come in waves . And we brought in three new women in the last three weeks with their children and in that time they've all gotten a job , all the kids have gotten registered to school , all the moms

How Long Can They Stay at Roots?

Speaker 2 22:35

now have jobs .

Speaker 1 22:36

How long do they normally stay with you ?

Speaker 2 22:39

Our policy is until they're ready to go . My personal goal for every woman is that she not leave until she has the keys to her own house . I mean , I want you to stay there , get an education , live affordably , save , save , save and get enough money to go buy your own house . Might be unrealistic in a lot of ways .

Speaker 1 23:02

But it takes forever .

Speaker 2 23:05

We have had . The average day is about six months . We do have one young woman who's been there for a year and a half now , but she's going to school and she's doing wonderfully . Her background her mother was a drug addict and abandoned her with her siblings At 19, . She could have made the decision to not deal with this , but she is stepping up and she's learning to become a mom , Getting her needs met . She has a wonderful job and she's going to start school in January . If this young woman decides she wants to be a neurosurgeon when she grows up and is going to take her 10 years to get her education , we'll keep her for those 10 years . One of the problems with what we have going on is a drug and alcohol rehab , seven days to detox , 30 days rehab . What if the person needs 35 days , or two months or six months ? These arbitrary numbers don't work . Each woman is individual . Each family is individual . They have different needs . So , as long as you're moving forward in fact , we're going to put a banner on the wall that says either you're moving forward or moving out . As long as you're moving forward , we don't want you going anywhere .

Speaker 1 24:21

What happens if they're not moving forward ?

Speaker 2 24:24

So one of our policies is either you're moving forward or you're moving out . We have had women who , unfortunately , have relapsed on drugs and alcohol . If the situation is I was at work at the restaurant and I accident oh my goodness , I had a glass of wine . I don't know what I was thinking . Well , that's a relapse . Let's get you back on your program . Are you doing your 12 steps ? Have you talked to your sponsor ? How can we work on this ? Unfortunately , we've had women who have just chosen that drugs were the priority . They had brought substances onto the property and that is an absolute no go when they were immediately removed . So it's devastating , especially , you know , fortunately in this situation there were not children involved . But the truth is , if there are children involved , I would have made the same call . I would have called social services . If you are actively using drugs , you are not taking care of your children . Your children need to be removed . But if we can keep you know , if you can work a program and stay clean and build a life , those children need their moms . And again , individual situations . There isn't one blanket answer for everyone .

Speaker 1 25:42

I did notice on your website that you did talk about emergency housing .

Speaker 2 25:47

We always try to keep one bedroom open . So if we get that middle of the night phone call , that emergency situation , the family's got to be moved right away . We always try to keep one bedroom open for that situation .

Speaker 1 25:59

Okay ,

Education, Job Training, Life Skills

Speaker 1 26:00

let's talk about the education and the job training and the life skills programs that you offer at Roots . You just mentioned that it's all individual . You know each person comes in with their own story and their own needs . So who assesses the needs of each individual , or even each child ? Who's responsible for that and how does that program work ? We're all peer support counselors .

Speaker 2 26:24

Peer support counselor trained , certified who's all ? One that's involved . Myself , rose Stevens is our peer support counselor . She's our senior peer support counselor , many of our board of directors , our peer support counselors , and , within things being specialized , where we're doing the peer support directly , there are also global issues . Okay , if you're coming to us , your finances are a mess because you can't afford something else . So on Thursday nights we have a community dinner . We all have dinner together . We have an amazing volunteer . Her name is Gay and she is retired and she just loves to cook dinner for us .

Speaker 1 27:07

That sounds amazing .

Speaker 2 27:08

She makes a big dinner for us and we all come together as a community . We share what's going on with ourselves . What are the community needs ? How can we help each other ? We just have a good time . And then , following dinner , we have an amazing array of volunteers and speakers who come in and lead groups . We have a woman right now who's doing our financial literacy program . She's amazing . It's a six-week course and then we always blend in different topics that come up . I mean everyone needs to learn how to market themselves . Everyone needs to work on improving their resume . Everyone needs to work on how to set goals . What are your dreams ? What are your aspirations ? Then we just do some fun things . We have our therapists come in and do collage one night . Sometimes we just want to kick back and have a good time and we'll light a bonfire in the fire pit and toast marshmallows .

Speaker 1 28:04

That sounds wonderful and share time together . And you said this is open to anyone .

Speaker 2 28:10

Women , women , women , women with children , any woman In the building plan , believe me , the back row of cottages I'm calling them old lady row and we're all going to move in . Oh , that's funny .

Speaker 1 28:25

I love that . Someone helping them choose if they wanted to go to Cape Fear Community College . Is there someone there that's going to help them pick their classes and their coursework and that kind of thing .

Speaker 2 28:35

We link as much as we can with different programs . The community college has programs set up , so let's plug you into what's already established , but we don't have to reinvent the wheel .

Speaker 1 28:44

Right , most of the stuff is out there .

Speaker 2 28:47

The problem is connecting to it . Number one we have no transportation here . Zero , yeah , zero . If you're homeless , how are you paying for that car ? If you have a car and the transmission goes , research I've shown $400 is the difference between being middle class and making it and slipping into poverty and homelessness . $400 . That's the transmission on your car . So without transportation you're out of luck . So what we try to do is target into these different programs . How can we carpool ? How can we get rides ? What can we

Help from the Community

Speaker 2 29:25

do online ? We have gotten a couple of wonderful grants . Novant Health was fantastic . Truist Bank oh , how they came through Really Providing computers , and really they were . The foundation of our financial literacy program was truest . Novant has given us a grant for education . That helps us absolutely get these women . We're going to have two women registered in January for community college . That's a direct result of Novant . Right now , every woman and by the end of the week all four women will have their own vehicles . Two of the vehicles were donated . We have a couple of women whose husbands had passed away and they donated their cars the husband's car how ?

Speaker 1 30:08

wonderful is that .

Speaker 2 30:10

That was . That's a miracle .

Speaker 1 30:12

Yes , that's an absolute miracle .

Speaker 2 30:13

Truly , you can't just get to work , get to school , get to the grocery store and get to the doctors . My heart's melting . That is tremendous . I mean , it's things like that . That's where I said roots wouldn't be roots if it wasn't for this community . The local churches come and sheet rock and do gardening , and Rotary Club and Kiwanis Club , and there's a vegetable garden because of the civic organizations Sheet rock , paint flooring , you name it . All of this has been done by volunteers out of the community , churches coming together . All these organizations are just unbelievable , a big part of my job . Someone asked me how did I spend my day and it starts at 4 am by waking up and having my quiet time , followed by a couple , followed by a couple of really good , solid hours of grant writing . Oh my gosh , you write grants constantly . It were a nonprofit , in fact . When this started , a gentleman had asked me so what is it you're doing ? And I did my whole little fancy spiel about homeless women and cottages and he cut me off and he looked at me and said oh , you're a fundraiser . I didn't realize he was right .

Speaker 1 31:31

Oh we are I was getting mad . I'm like how dare you ? I'm telling you about my passion and Okay , I guess I am . It's about funding .

Speaker 2 31:38

It's . You know , I didn't understand and that was one of the best statements ever made to me because it is true , we don't have four houses if we don't have grant writing , we don't have their utilities covered if we don't do an event . So we have a comedy club coming up in November . So all of these events , everything big , everything small , when we put out a plea on Facebook , it's because we desperately need this help . Everything , everything counts . We do cow pie bingo .

Speaker 1 32:12

That's- . I saw that I was a little confused by it . I didn't A local .

Speaker 2 32:17

How do you play that Cow pie bingo ? You pick a number and when the cow- .

Speaker 1 32:22

Relieves himself , relieves a pie .

Speaker 2 32:26

We mark out the field and then the cow goes . The farmer , if you pick the square , confirms . And if you pick the right square , oh my gosh .

Speaker 1 32:34

You win .

Speaker 2 32:35

That's funny . So we had done it in August . It was great fun , and so we've been . Now that people have caught onto what cow pie bingo is , they want us to do it again , so we're gonna do it in November . In November , in November , okay . So we try to have a lot of fun with this too , and we've been . I'm amazed it always comes together . We always manage to get through and get by . But we are definitely at a place now where it's time to step up the game . We need to get these cottages built , we need to take this organization into that next realm of financial stability , and we have a sustainability plan . It's time to get there . It's time to build that over the next year to 18

Community Service

Speaker 2 33:19

months .

Speaker 1 33:19

On your website also . I saw it mentioned community service . How do you incorporate that into Roots ?

Speaker 2 33:27

There is a lot of community service that goes on , a lot of court order and people scramble . They got a DWI . We've heard trespassing , but just a whole array of reasons . You come before a judge and the judge says 24 hours community service . Okay , originally , when we started this plan , really what we wanted to see was were the women who were getting DWIs ? Come to us , where you're working with women , help us work with these other women and let's get your story . Oh , you got a DWI because you were at a barbecue and you were attacked and you got in your car and you ran . Well , there's a little more to that DWI than just drinking Right ? What is the background ? What is the story ? What created the situation ? The shoplifting I had no food for my kids , oh gotcha . So that was really our intention with the community service . Send us your women and let us do the community service with them and find out what else is going on , cause we're all sitting there painting a room . We're telling stories . We get a lot more information Okay .

Speaker 1 34:43

So even though they're doing something that they have to do and they're doing their community service , they're helping your community , which actually does really need to help . They're also helping themselves by having those female to female connections and sharing of stories and whatnot . It's a wonderful idea .

Speaker 2 34:59

One of the things I've learned in my journey . I had a spiritual teacher and one of her premises was that , like , whatever hell it is you're going through right now , whatever this issue is , whatever you're all tied up about , the fastest way out of that is service to others . Wow , go find someone to work with . Go find , give someone a ride . Give her a ride to the grocery store . Now help her get her kids to the doctor's office . If you start looking outside of yourself , at what you can do around you , it's amazing how quickly that issue just evaporates .

Speaker 1 35:35

Wow , now I'm gonna have to apply that to my life .

Speaker 2 35:39

It's that theory of you're complaining about your shoes until you see the man with no leg .

Speaker 1 35:45

Right , okay .

Speaker 2 35:45

And we all say that , we all know that saying . But really what it is is about service . When you get into action and into movement and helping someone else , whatever it is , just dissipates

Peer Support

Speaker 2 35:58

.

Speaker 1 36:00

On your website . You talked a lot about peer-supported growth .

Speaker 2 36:03

Our premise is not only peer support counselors , not only peer support specialists , but peer to peer . We have a woman who's just come to us and she was telling me some of the stories about some of the decisions she's made . And there were times where she was very up in her life and career and things going good , and then she bought a $40,000 car , Like dinner said well , who helped me make that decision ? Well , no one . And where's that car now Gone ? You know she had made a sudden move from one state to another because if I leave this mess here in this state and I move to North Carolina , it'll all be better . And then she got here and all got a lot worse . So part of peer support is having people around you who know those situations , who have been there , who have made bad choices and have learned to make better choices , and they're able to say . One of the things I said to her was well , why did you leave that state ? And she said because I was alone . Why ? This is the question , why were you alone ? Where were the women in your life ? Why hadn't you cultivated the relationships in your life ? Number one because we're not taught to , but it's in cultivating those relationships , and that's why , when I say community , I'm talking community . Everyone is up in everybody else's business .

Speaker 1 37:28

And they need to be .

Speaker 2 37:30

Because and we're all on the same level I'm not a moment above any woman living there . We are all on the same plane , we are all sitting at the same dinner table and anyone can tell me that they can question my behavior , but this way we're able to if we have something in our lives going on , you know , do you think I should take that job ? Well , let's look at it together . Let's look at it as a community . Why are you taking a job that's three hours away ? That's silly . Hey , look , I've heard of a job right over here . Come take this job . When we work as a community together , we make better decisions , and if we make a decision that fails , it's okay , because the women around you are there to pick you back up and say let's go , what's the next step ? Where are we going from here ? So this whole , you know we've gotten to be just such a society of Singleness and oneness and you know who's helping you make your decisions up in your head all by yourself , yeah , and we laugh sometimes and we say you know , when I'm up in my head all by myself , that's called being up in the hood . You don't want to be up in the hood by yourself , in the dark , all alone bad place . So we really need to have sounding boards and we need to have people who really have our best interest at heart , and that's the other women around you in a community . Yeah , because either we all lift each other up or we're all going down .

Speaker 1 38:59

Are there any times that you know , even just when I'm at work and sitting around the conference table ? We don't always agree and we sometimes get really red in the face and really try to control our Disagreements at that dinner table on Thursday nights Does it ever get heated ?

Speaker 2 39:19

We are . A big part of our program is the 12 steps . Okay , there's a , a , na , ca , alan on . There are 12 steps and and we really know that you know , everybody needs some 12 steps and One of the steps , step 10 , says that when I'm , when I make a mistake , when when I when I'm wrong , I promptly admit it . Part of what we do is we have a 10th step intervention . If I step on your toes , you can pull out a piece of paper , write down what it was I did and walk over to me and say we need to talk about this . You know , you , you stepped on my toe when you hurt me , and then I have to look at it and either admit that I was being selfish and self-centered , or I was being oblivious to your needs , or I was angry at you and I wanted to step on your toe . But this way we can talk it out and we can come to some resolution and we can grow through it . Everything is out on the table . Let's fix it , let's clear it up , let's figure it out beautiful .

Board Members and Partnerships

Speaker 1 40:27

So let's talk a little bit about your fabulous board members , because you did say it's all women , so I just want to hear a little bit about that .

Speaker 2 40:37

in your team , we have an amazing board of director . Yes , all women . This evolved over time . We have women who are UNCW professors , real estate companies , you know women who have I call them masters of the universe . They have taken themselves from all the issues and Built lives for themselves , whether they were single mothers , whether there was addiction involved , homelessness , and they have built lives that are just amazing . One of our board members has just . She's one of the Amazon , huge Amazon seller . She has created this business all on her own , being a single mother with four kids . Wow , and it's just amazing . So our board , whenever we get together , it is always about you know their hearts and their passion is how are we helping these women ? What do we do for these women ? Our our hierarchy . When you look at our structure , typically in an organization , the board of directors is at the top , and then the staff , and then , whatever your mission is and Ritz is completely opposite of that the residents , the women , the children there at the top oh cool . The board and the staff . Everything we do is to serve those women , court them . Okay , so they are number one on the chart . And then the board . And you know it also keeps us humble . It reminds us of why we're doing this and what we need to be doing . Yeah , and they are just amazing at every turn and it's more than just you know . We have relationships . We have relationships with each other and the fact that they are such an example to these women that they can show up on property and say I was where you were and this is where we're gonna get you . And If you want to put it in what we always say , you know you bring whatever effort you bring into this . We are gonna meet you in equal measure and they do .

Speaker 1 42:42

If a woman says like I really admire what you do , catherine , can you mentor me ? Can I , can I just shadow you , can I be with you and learn from you , is there a lot of mentorship that happens . That's totally what it is .

Speaker 2 42:56

That's absolutely what it is . Okay . All I can do is show you . All I can do is show you the road I took to change my life and to create . You know what I have and where I am and where I go , what , what my vision and goals are , and if you want that , come on , follow me , and if you don't , let's find someone who has what you do want .

Speaker 1 43:16

Yeah , yeah , let's talk about the collaborative efforts . You already mentioned a lot of the community , the churches that reach out and help you when you need the help . Are there any that you want to highlight ?

Speaker 2 43:30

We have . We have a number of partnerships . One of them , of course , service agencies , pender , safe haven they . We are constantly in contact with them , whether we're referring to them or they're referring to us . There , the table , yeah , is instrumental in providing food for our women . They're just amazing . Faith Harbor Church in surf city Yay , my husband is very happy . The day they said we have an office for you because it got to move off . The kitchen table yeah , so they've been very supportive about Hosting

A Car is Not a Home Fundraiser

Speaker 2 44:07

events . We just had an event there . It was a car is not a home , and we Invited people to come sleep in their car .

Speaker 1 44:16

We had a fabulous time , catherine , like that . Who came up with that idea ?

Speaker 2 44:21

Well it was . It was a collaborative effort , but our board president started it . She was the first one who said oh , let's sleep at our car . Of course I said you've got to be kidding me . No way , I'm not doing that again .

Speaker 1 44:32

I think it's so brilliant . I'm sorry I did . Don't use that . Go , go back . I just love this so much . I'm glad you brought it up . Tell me again about what that night involved .

Speaker 2 44:41

We had . So we invited everyone to come sleep in their cars . At Faith Harbor we had the big parking lot . But we made it a lot of fun . We had a clown for the kids and the playground . We had kettle , corn and Music . We did karaoke , we had games . We just had a wonderful fun evening . The kids loved it . It was $20 per car and then around 10 o'clock we quieted the kids down with some stories and then everybody tucked them in to sleep in our cars . Then we'll . When we woke up in the morning , one of the church groups had cooked breakfast for us and I have to tell you we have a local farm in Hampstead called pharmacy . I've heard of them as well and they are down Hoover Road and the owner is a woman , mary Lee . She donated the eggs , and shingleton farm also donated eggs . But so we had this amazing farm fresh , fresh eggs , fresh farm sausage , all organic . The coolest . We had the most beautiful breakfast in the morning . It was wonderful . So we are going , we are . We are setting the intention to do that every year now .

Speaker 1 45:53

I would love to do that , and with my kids too , just to give them an idea about what is happening in the world that they need to be aware of even at a young age , so that they develop empathy . I thought what a great idea to raise money and just really elevate that level of empathy . Human needs to feel like if you do it , if you sleep in the car and like , well , I got woke up with my back a little Stiff , like , does it feel good ? Well , think about that .

Speaker 2 46:18

If you have to do it every night because out of necessity , and and not only if you have to do it every night , but I mean , we rolled out sleeping bags and air mattresses yeah , those , and you should have seen some of these setups . But the fact is , if you are living in your car , you don't have a lot of room because all of your belongings are in there in the car and you don't wake up to fresh breakfast . Whatever , yeah , we're gonna provide the fresh eggs and sausage . So

Hot Bowls & Toilet Rolls

Speaker 2 46:42

that was wonderful . Our next event Let me tell you about is gonna be November 4th at the Hampstead women's club . Okay , and we have a wonderful gentleman , mike Bush tri-polar comedy club .

Speaker 1 46:55

Oh , that sounds fine .

Speaker 2 46:55

They are gonna be . They are bringing comedians in from Raleigh Durham area . Okay , and professional comedians ? These guys are hysterical , so is that ?

Speaker 1 47:06

how do we get tickets to ?

Speaker 2 47:07

that ready for this way ? Let me . I gotta give you that . I gotta build up . Okay . So here's the build up . It is called hot bowls and toilet rolls , Hot bowls , hot bowls . So we're gonna be serving hot bowls of chili .

Speaker 1 47:22

Oh okay , bowls of what ?

Speaker 2 47:28

And it's to raise money for our sewer system , hot bowls and toilet rolls . That's funny and so , yeah , we're gonna have fun , but we're gonna do two shows . So the first show is $30 for dinner and the comedy club okay , and that starts at six o'clock , and then at nine o'clock we're gonna do a second show . The first show is G rated I got green light , mm-hmm and the second show will be a little racier , okay , and we'll have snacks and there will be beer and wine available .

Speaker 1 47:58

Okay , so that's November 4 , fun November 4th . How do we get tickets ?

Speaker 2 48:03

You can call or text 910-508-6923 and we'll get tickets right out to you .

Speaker 1 48:12

Are you putting this out on Facebook at all ? It is all over Facebook .

Speaker 2 48:16

We're putting up posters . We're walking around with tickets . We want to fill both shows . It's going to be a great time .

Speaker 1 48:22

How many are you able to fit in there for per show ? 125 .

Speaker 2 48:27

Okay , that's a good that's a limit of the room , but it's gonna be fantastic , awesome .

Speaker 1 48:31

That sounds like a lot of fun . I really want to go to that .

What and How to Donate

Speaker 1 48:34

What other events do you have coming up that you want to mention while we're here ?

Speaker 2 48:38

Oh , we will be starting our Giving . Tuesday , of course , is coming up in November . Okay , and that is always a good to online end of the season . When you're , when you're figuring out your end of the year Finances , getting ready for your accountant , that's a good time to think about roots of recovery . Okay , that you'll see out online too . Okay , some promotions like that . And then we are getting creative with some of our upcoming ideas on what we're gonna do to get our capital campaign kicked off , so you'll hear more about that and what about gifts for the children at Christmas ?

Speaker 1 49:12

Can we donate to that as well ?

Speaker 2 49:14

Absolutely . We are gonna be starting a drive right now . Our critical need is Cleaning supplies toilet paper , paper , towel , all of those household supplies . Our shelves have gotten barren . You'll see that on Facebook and Instagram . The pictures will start coming out . Please help . Then , coming to Christmas time , we're working now on getting the kids to get all their lists and what the needs are , and one thing I had to say is I Absolutely love the person who says every child needs a bicycle . I love that person . They want to get a bicycle for every child . Women who are living in cars with children do not need bicycles , they need homes . They need homes . So you know , a coloring book and crayons is good . If you could fund housing , that would make all the difference . A mom living in her car with her kids has nowhere to put a bicycle right . So we really need to think about what the needs are , and the need is housing . So we're back full circle . We need this capital campaign . We need the funding to build houses . Help us build houses . If we can get these moms and these children out of cars into homes , then that's . That's the time to start talking about bicycle . Got until then , it's survival needs . Okay , that makes sense .

Final Thoughts - Change your Vision of What Homelessness Is

Speaker 1 50:39

What do you want the listeners to know about roots ? Or it could just be about you , catherine , like . What is it that you need us to know ?

Speaker 2 50:47

really . What I need you to know is you need to change your vision of what homelessness is . Homelessness is not bums under bridges with paper bags in their hands . We are talking . The woman who lives next door to you Tomorrow can be homeless with her children Children in Topsoll elementary school , in Topsoll high school , coastal elementary school . Our communities , surf city , hamstead , holly Ridge we have this huge wealth at the beach and we have homelessness here . We have women and children with no homes , and it's not their fault . That's the other thing . You know . Let me blame it on Fill in the blank , because it makes me feel better about me . If I can blame her being homeless on drugs . Well , I'm safe , I'm good , that's not gonna touch my life , it's not dirty , my life is pretty . But it's not the truth . Any one of us , in the blink of an eye , could be homeless , and so that's really what I need listeners to understand . These , these women are not ignorant , they're not scamming the system , they're you and I . You know , I have a woman who said she has a college education , she had an amazing career , she lost her job , she lost her home . I mean , it just starts to spiral out of control and you can't get your feedback under you . So and , like I said , it's $400 . Is the difference between making it and not for 80% of this country ? So when , when you're thinking about what's going on , really step back and understand that these women did not ask for the Situation and they're doing the best they can within it and all they need is a little help , a little , just a safe Foundation . Help them get their feet under them , help them to understand it's gonna be okay , and then Let them go and they do it . I mean they're amazing . These women are amazing . My hat's off to them every day .

Speaker 1 53:08

It must . When you see someone leave the nest and succeed , it must feel really amazing .

Speaker 2 53:15

It breaks our hearts . I cry , we laugh , we celebrate and they go on their way and it is Absolutely amazing . And then it makes room for the next woman to come in and we get start all over again , and that's the best part of this .

Speaker 1 53:29

Thank you so much for coming in and sharing your story , sharing your passion . It's so evident to me and I'm sure anyone listening to this , that this , the whole thing , is coming from your heart , and I admire you and what you're doing and your team , and I just wish you the best of luck and if there's ever any way that I could help , let me know . I'm here for you .

Contact Information

Speaker 1 53:51

Okay , so let's go ahead and give out the the contact information and the location information . You want to take care of that .

Speaker 2 53:58

Sure , absolutely . You can find us on Facebook , roots of recovery . Also on Instagram it's roots dot of dot recovery . Our website is roots of recovery org . Email address info at roots of recovery org and Our phone number 910 508 , 6 , 9 , 2 , 3 , for it's a cell phone , so you can text us even and the office address is 14201 C50 surf city to 8445 . Very good .

Speaker 1 54:32

Well , thank you , listeners , for joining us today . Thank you again , catherine . I just want to say I appreciate you coming and doing this podcast with me . It's been such a pleasure . You're welcome back on Topso Insider anytime you want to get the word out about any future Devers . Thank you so much for having me my pleasure .

Topsail Insider Closing

Speaker 1 54:50

Hey , thank you for joining me today on Topso Insider . If you liked today's episode , please hit the follow or subscribe button so that you can get the Topso Insider podcast Delivered automatically to whichever podcast platform you're listening on . And if you're a business owner and you wish to set up a pre-interview or you want to advertise , please email me at Topso Insider at gmailcom . Please also find and like the Topso Insider Facebook page . I provide links to the new podcast there each week , as well as providing photos of the businesses that I'm Highlighting along with any of their upcoming events . So , hey , let's do this again next week . I'll see you around Topso .