An Army of Normal Folks - An Army of Normal Social Workers (Pt 2)

Episode Date: July 22, 2025

Dr. Rhonda Smith has assigned the podcast to over 400 of her social work students at the University of Southern Mississippi. In this episode we meet 7 of them, who are sure to inspire you about this rising generation! Support the show: https://www.normalfolks.us/premiumSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hey everybody, it's Bill Courtney with An Army of Normal Folks and we continue now with part two of our conversation with Dr. Rhonda Smith's class right after these brief messages from our generous sponsors. Open AI is a financial abomination, a thing that should not be, an aberration, a symbol of rot at the heart of Silicon Valley. And I'm going to tell you why on my show Better Offline, the rudest show in the tech industry, where we're breaking down why OpenAI, along with other AI companies, are dead set on lying to your boss that they can take your job.

I'm also going to be talking with the greatest minds in the industry about all the other ways the rich and powerful are ruining the computer. Listen to Better Offline on the iHot Radio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever you happen to get your podcasts. Check out Behind the Flow, a podcast documentary series following the launch of San Diego Football Club. We go behind the scenes and explore the stories of those involved. San Diego coming to MLS is going to be a game changer because this region has been hungry for a men's professional soccer team. We need veteran players and we need young players. Like, you're building a team from scratch

and so the succession plan of long-term success needs to be defined. We need to embrace this community. When I was 13, my uncle took me to a qualifier, and we watched Paraguay against Chile, pouring rain, just watching the fans jumping up and down. I think that was definitely a watershed moment for me. Not only was that going to be my game, but it was going to be my life. Listen to San Diego FC Behind the Flow, now on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. When I became a journalist, I was the first Latina in the newsrooms where I worked.

I'm Maria Hinojosa. I dreamt of having a place where voices that have been historically sidelined would instead be centered. For over 30 years now, Latino USA has been that place. This is Latino USA, the radio journal of news and cultura. As the longest running Latino news and culture show in the United States, Latino USA delivers the stories that truly matter to all of us.

From sharp and deep analysis of the most pressing news, They're creating this narrative that immigrants are criminals. This is about everyone's freedom of speech. Nobody expected to pokes from the American continent to stories about our cultures and our identities. When you do get a trans character like Ymir Pérez, the trans community is going to push back on that. Colorism, all of these things that exist

in Mexican culture and Latino culture. You'll hear from people like Congresswoman AOC. I don't want to give them my fear. I'm not going to give them my fear. Listen to Latino USA as part of the MyCultura podcast network available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Smokey the bear. podcasts. After 80 years of learning his wildfire prevention tips, Smokey Bear lives within us all.

Learn more at SmokeyBare.com. And remember, only you can prevent wildfires. Brought to you by the USDA Forest Service, your state forester and the Ad Council. Adventure should never come with a pause button. Remember the movie pass era where you could watch all the movies you wanted for just $9? It made zero cents and I could not stop thinking about it. I'm Bridget Todd, host of the Tech podcast There Are No Girls on the Internet. On this new season, I'm talking to the innovators who are left out of the tech headlines, like the visionary behind MoviePass, Black founder Stacey Spikes, who was pushed out of MoviePass, the company that he founded.

His story is wild and it's currently the subject of a juicy new HBO documentary. We dive into how culture connects us. When you go to France or you go to England or you go to Hong Kong, those kids are wearing Jordans, they're wearing Kobe's shirt, they're watching Black Panther. And the challenges of being a Black founder. Close your eyes and tell me what a tech founder looks like. They're not gonna describe someone who looks like me. They're not gonna describe someone who looks like me

and they're not gonna describe someone who looks like you. I created There Are No Girls on the internet because the future belongs to all of us. So listen to There Are No Girls on the internet on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I, another wants to teach survivors of domestic violence how to sew, which is valuable given there's not many seamstresses anymore.

Is that person here? No? Tell me about that, Rhonda. So that's Ms. Schick, and she, oh my gosh, her business plan was like so good. She, it was all about teaching people how to sew and how to upcycle like thrift clothing. And it was such a good idea having classes during the week for just individuals. Anybody in the community that wanted to learn how to sew. And that was her way of raising money for the organization was to charge like $20 a week or whatever for the community members that wanted to learn how to sew and then also training the women that wanted to learn how to sew

that might be in the, the abuse shelters so that they could learn a skill. Because as we know seamstresses are going out of like style, like you can't find one these days hardly it seems like. And so also I think another part of her business was like a boutique clothing upcycling, some of the thrift clothing and making a fancy with like all the bling. And like, it was really, really such a cool idea. It was very, very creative.

A resource center that offers low cost to no cost mental health services and a place where folks can use a computer because there's no place around it. Um, Hasburg is that, is you, Mrs. Flutner? Yes, that is me. Tell me about that. So I'm an older student. I went to school and then I went back after it was a good time for me to go to be a social worker.

So in my time, when I went to school and was in high school, we had a lot of after-school programs that I feel like kept the kids off the streets, got them access to computers. And I used to have like people that were interns from USM that would come to our community centers, they would help us with homework.

And a lot of us was just vending to them, basically no therapy services, because it's not believed in in my community a lot. So I wanted to open up a low income counseling service that not only provides counseling services, but also gives you the access to use a computer if you don't have one in your home, and also have a Blue Bank,

so like an all-in-one type of program, because they don't have much there. Like therapy can be very expensive, and a lot of insurances don't cover it in certain expenses. And then if you have Medicaid, they may not cover certain providers. So I wanna find a way to help the community to get healed mentally,

because I feel like a lot of times people are just mentally challenged. When I say that meaning, like they have no mental capacity to understand what they have going on, like food, scarcities, going through CPS situations, and it's just, I feel like it's very expensive for certain people, it's an unheard of thing because they believe, oh I can't afford it, I can't afford it. So in Mississippi, especially in Hattiesburg, we have nothing like that.

And the few places that we do have their wait lists are like five years long. You're five years before you can see a therapist and your insurance doesn't cover it. So I just really feel like being born and raised in Mississippi and Hattiesburg, that this will be very beneficial to the people in my community. Well, what have you done about it, girl?

I actually have had this, Dr. Smith can tell you that I've had this dream since I was an undergrad. That was kind of like when it was time for us to do this program, I already knew what I wanted to do because this is what I want to do. So I still have this plan. This is still like my five to 10 year goal

to open this and process this. I'm going to work and get a little bit of experience. But then I do really want to make this happen and have this work in Mississippiattiesburg, Mississippi. I love that. That is awesome. I wish you the best of luck. Thank you.

Rhonda, when you hear all of these different ideas, and this is just a sampling of the people that you were teaching and working with on a semester by semester basis. And I know you're a fan of the show. So you listen to an army of normal folks all the time within you. When you, when you balance the young, bright, energetic energetic passionate minds that you spend time with in school against the backdrop of so much of what we hear from social media, the news, the end fighting in DC, what seems and feels to be so dysfunctional and so polarized and so debilitating to our culture.

You know, what do you feel when you see and hear these stories against that backdrop on a daily basis? a daily basis? Well, I, I hope that I have encouraged them to ignore that garbage and go for it because that's what we hear in social media and all that it's not always the truth. And I think I've said this many, many times in class, we've got to stop depending on government for what we need and start doing it as communities and taking care of each other, just ourselves. And, you know, that's the only way I think that we can continue to make a difference. We can't put all of our eggs in one basket, you know?

We, you know, a lot of nonprofits and a lot of funding comes from government grants, and so it's hard to depend on that. And so I think I've said that in class a lot. Would y'all agree? I think I said that. Y'all have to find the money somewhere, right? Figure it out. We've got to figure it out.

I don't know. Just sitting here for this hour we've been together as I hear, well, first is I see the smiles and the head nods and listening to the bright ideas and the hope in each of your voices. I find myself encouraged because although this is what each of you do for a living and will be doing for a living in terms of social work and all, these ideas over here really don't have anything to do with making money or living. It's outreach and social impact. What I

would like to hear for just one or two of you. What, why social work? I mean if you've gotten your undergraduate and your graduate degree, clearly you could have gone into economics or accounting or pick another field. Because let's be honest, social work doesn't pay what some of the other fields do, given the requisite time and expense of your education. So why social work? Bailey, why social work? Anybody, why social work? Bailey, why social work? Anybody? Why social work?

So I am from a very, very small town in Alabama, in Charleville County. I graduated high school with 24 other people, 23, 24. And my aunt is, she's a social worker. She has a clinical license. So, you know, as I was, you know, like moving through like junior, senior year at high school and everybody was like, Bailey, what are you going to do? Where are you going to go? You know, like, like what, like what's the plan from here on out? And I was like, well, I don't know.

Not real sure. But my aunt and I were super close. Like she lives next door. Just came back from a week long trip with her. We've always been very close and, uh and she worked for CPS for many years. And a lot of times I would just go over to her house, go places with her. And we would just talk. We would talk a lot about the things she did and how she was able to make

changes in people's lives. And I, you know, I thought babysitting when I was in high school and, you know, I loved the kids, you know, I loved being able to be such a huge part of their life. But the kids that I babysat, they had really good life, a simple fact. And then, and like the people that I went to high school with and all of my friends from high school and just the people I knew in around town, like we all had really good lives. Like me personally, like I got a car as soon as I turned 16. I never had to worry about,

you know, if our power bill was going to be able to be paid this month or where my next meal was going to come from. That was just not a thing that I ever really had to think about. Thankfully, I was very blessed to live that kind of life. Still am to this day. And then, so when I went to Southern Miss, you know, started out my freshman year, it was like the fall of 2020. So we were like, you know, kind of in the midst of COVID in the middle of everything, all the craziness. And I just started seeing a lot more that not everybody was as fortunate as I was. Not everyone was able to play sports in high school and have both parents and grandparents there to support them. Not everyone got a car when they turned 16. Something that I would thought was just like a norm.

You know, quickly learned was not and quickly learned just how blessed I have been in my life and that not everybody has that opportunity. blessed I have been in my life and that not everybody has that opportunity. So, you know, I went into Southern Miss, did not have a major declared, did not declare a major until I was, you know, at the end of my middle of my sophomore year of college and my advisor, Sweet Miss Melody Davison, she was like, Bailey, like, we got to do something. And so I was, you know, talking a lot with my aunt, talking to my mom. I was like, you know what?

I'm just going to do social work. I'm just, you know, going to declare that as my major because like there's, like I have nowhere else to go. Like I've taken all the basics, the prereqs for best anything, and I've got to do something. And so in that spring of our sophomore year, we started the social work program, you know, intro social work, all the things, and I started meeting people. So I met people like Ms.

Rachel Lihaske and Dr. Smith. And I was like, this is where I'm supposed to be. Yeah. I met people like Laura and Tara and Sasha. We all did, we were all in undergrad together. I was like, these are, these are my people. Like this is where I'm supposed to be.

And then, you know, just moving through the program, meeting more people, making more connections. And, you know, at the beginning of the social work program, I was like, is this what I'm really supposed to be doing? Like something is just not clicking like it's supposed to, like this doesn't feel right. But then, you know, the more time I spent in the program and in the class, Like something is just not clicking like it's supposed to, like this doesn't feel right. But then, you know, the more time I spent in the program and in the classroom and, you know, with all the people on this meeting right now, it just quickly became solidified to me that, yeah, this, this is it for me.

Like I might get aggravated, you know, with some of the assignments and, you know, I'm gonna have days where I'm discouraged, but I mean, does it everyone. And you know, here we are, five years later, I've got a master's degree, waiting on the state of Mississippi to push my license through so I can go to work. I say Laura over there, waiting on the state of Mississippi and I don't have that feeling of is this right anymore? Because like, I know this is it for me. So I'm kind of long with an explanation, sorry about that.

But yeah. We'll be right back. Open AI is a financial abomination. A thing that should not be. An aberration. A symbol of rot at the heart of Silicon Valley. And I'm going to tell you why on my show Better Offline, the rudest show in the tech industry, where we're breaking down why OpenAI, along with other AI companies, are dead set on lying to your boss that they can take your job.

I'm also going to be talking with the greatest minds in the industry about all the other ways the rich and powerful are ruining the computer. Listen to Better Offline on the iHot Radio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever you happen to get your podcasts. Check out Behind the Flow, a podcast documentary series following the launch of San Diego Football Club. We go behind the scenes and explore the stories of those involved. San Diego coming to MLS is going to be a game changer because this region has been hungry for a men's professional soccer team.

We need veteran players and we need young players. Like, you're building a team from scratch, and so the succession plan of long-term success needs to be defined. We need to embrace this community. When I was 13, my uncle took me to a qualifier and we watched Paraguay against Chile pouring rain. Just watching the fans jumping up and down, I think that was definitely a watershed moment for me. Not only was that going to be my game, but it was going to be my life. Listen to San Diego FC Behind the Flow, now on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts. When I became a journalist, I was the first Latina in the newsrooms where I worked. I'm Maria Hinojosa. I dreamt of having a place where voices that have been historically sidelined would instead be centered. For over 30 years now, Latino USA has been that place.

This is Latino USA, the radio journal of news and cultura. As the longest running Latino news and culture show in the United States, Latino USA delivers the stories that truly matter to all of us. From sharp and deep analysis of the most pressing news, They're creating this narrative that immigrants are criminals. This is about everyone's freedom of speech. Nobody expected to hopes from the American continent to stories about our cultures and our identities.

When you do get a trans character like Ymiraperez, the trans community is going to push back on that. Colorism, all of these things exist in Mexican culture and Latino culture. You'll hear from people like Congresswoman AOC. I don't want to give them my fear. I'm not going to give them my fear. Listen to Latino USA as part of the My Cultura podcast network, available on the iHeart radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. through alternative routes rather than a bachelor's degree. It's time for skills to speak for themselves. Find resources for breaking through barriers at tearthepapersceiling.org,

brought to you by Opportunity at Work and the Ad Council. Adventure should never come with a pause button. Remember the movie pass era, where you could watch all the movies you wanted for just $9? It made zero sense and I could not stop thinking about it. I'm Bridget Todd, host of the Tech Podcast, There Are No Girls on the Internet.

On this new season, I'm talking to the innovators who are left out of the tech headlines, like the visionary behind MoviePass, Black founder, Stacey Spikes, who was pushed out of MoviePass, the company that he founded. His story is wild and it's currently the subject of a juicy new HBO documentary. We dive into how culture connects us.

When you go to France or you go to England or you go to Hong Kong, those kids are wearing Jordans, they're wearing Kobe's shirt, they're watching Black Panther. And the challenges of being a Black founder. Close your eyes and tell me what a tech founder looks like. They're not going to describe someone who looks like me. They're not going to describe someone who looks like me and they're not going to describe someone who looks like you. I created There Are No Girls on the internet because the future belongs to all of us.

So listen to There Are No Girls on the internet on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Dr. Schmill, you know, to hear all of this and to know that our little show has played a small part in the curriculum that you assign to all of your students and that they, it feels like they all have a heart to serve their community. Obviously, they're going to be those living, but it's a calling as much as a job. What is it that you want our listeners to know about this generation of folks,

these weird aged young people who don't know anything, you know, like people from my generation may say, but what is it you, what is it you would like our listeners know about this generation of people you're putting out into, into society? I would say we need not worry. We're in good hands. Fear not, huh? Fear not, we're in good hands. Fear not, huh? Fear not, we're in good hands because they do have the heart.

There is no doubt about that. They may look at their phones a hundred times a day, but it's okay because they have the heart. They have the smart, like they are very, very intelligent, they're driven, just to see how hard that they have worked to attain their goals. Man, it gives me goosebumps to think, like every time I go to graduation and hooting and pitting ceremonies, like I can't help but cry just because of the, see the culmination of all the work that they have put in to just to meet the goals

that they set for themselves. And then what I love most of all is to see what happens after graduation. But, but hold on. Everybody tells me this generation is spoiled and wants to instant gratification because they've grown up with cell phones and they're aloof. They don't know how to have interpersonal conversations because everything's been done on a pewter screen and you know, what a bunch of, what a bunch of goof balls is what I'm told about these folks.

Well, I mean, I just heard some really good conversation just in the last hour. Yeah, me too. Yeah. And I've spent a lot of hours. Well, for those of you, if those of you want to go dig deep into the shop talks, I did one at the very beginning with about seven quotes of what a generation said about the previous generation and how screwed up and awful they were. And the first quote was from Plato.

So this generational fear of these young people coming up behind us will never be as good as our generation only started about 3 000 years ago so i think we're gonna be okay we've managed and you were from the hippie generation weren't you me i don't know i was born I was that kind of guy. Um, yeah. Yeah. And I'm sure that, um, the generation in front of me, when we were running around with Walkmans on our head and, uh, and playing video games with our quarters and, and all of that, we were the last of humanity, I'm just working on it. Oh yeah, that rock and roll almost got us. Yeah, rock and roll, that was bad too.

Guys, thank you so much for sharing your stories. Thank you so much for giving us a little insight as to what Little Itty Bitty Park may be an episode or two of Shop Talk on Army and Normal Folks, where one of our guests has done to maybe inspire, but help at least shape some of your future. Before we go, I want to throw it out to y'all. If anybody has a question for me, I've asked all the questions. If anybody has a question for me about any of our guests, about Shop Talk, about Army and our guests, about shop talk,

about army and normal folks. I want to throw it out to you and I don't do this very often. So God knows you may ask me something I don't want to answer, but if anybody does have any questions before we end, it's an open mic, go for it. I have one. Yeah, go for it. Well, you've, you've interviewed a lot of people and people that have made a small change and big change in people's lives. What do you think the common denominator is in those individuals that like pushes

them forward and, you know, they like make their dreams come true and, you know, do things for others? Like, what is that common denominator in people that you have spoken with? I love that question. And I think there's actually two. One is certainly a passion. There's, I have an interview to single guests that hadn't had a genuine, deep seated passion about what they were involved in.

And I think the lesson there is, if you're engaged in something that doesn't really feel like work, you're probably going to be pretty good at it. And whether that's what you do for a living or what you do in your community or your relationships, you know, I think all of us have had relationships before that felt like work. And those are probably not the most healthy things. But all of our guests about the work that they were doing found passion.

And now many times that passion was because they were doing, found passion. And now many times that passion was because they were maybe be overcoming some dysfunction in their own lives. Sometimes that passion is just because they possess an order amount of empathy toward a particular group of people or situation. Some because they just see a need and felt called to fill it. But for whatever reason, I think every single guest has passion about what they're interested in, really deep-seated, this matters to me passion.

And the second and maybe the more difficult is they all overcame a fear of failure. I think one of the greatest barriers to success is the fear to fail. And I think we need to remember that I think Abraham Lincoln ran for 14 offices, but he only won one race. He literally won one. He was one for 14 in political races and he changed our country. I think the fear of failure manifests itself in a couple of different ways. One is, you know, if I'm going to start a business and I'm going to take all of the

money I have and I'm going to mortgage my house, if my business fails, I'm going to take all of the money I have and I'm going to mortgage my house. If my business fails, I'm going to lose everything. And that's a real fear. And if the fear of that prohibits you from ever trying to reach a goal, then that fear of failure is the greatest barrier to success because you can never start. You can never find success if you don't try. Another piece of fear of failure is societal fear. For instance, what if you do start that garden in town and nobody shows up to help. And yeah, oh look, you just large covered lips went, oh my gosh, I mean, what if nobody shows up to help?

What if the people that can pay don't? And now you've got a garden out there with some people working in it for the free produce, but where's the money gonna come from? Wow, it's a lot of work because weeds grow in gardens and you got to have the space and then you got to have tools and then you got to have water and you're going to probably have to have some fertilizer and if nobody shows up then it's on you to pick it and I mean if you think about it my gosh what an awesome responsibility and what an enormous amount of work. Gosh, it's a great idea, but man, all that stuff,

I just don't know when we want to begin in the first place. Well, I can guarantee you this. There's never gonna be an urban garden in Hattiesburg if there's fear of failure, won't happen. So when you match passion with fear of failure, it won't happen. So when you match passion with fear of failure, the question is, is your passion greater than your fear? And if your passion is greater than your fear, then things can happen,

and certainly there's going to be failures along the way, but the successes far, the good that comes from the successes for this, the good that comes from the success is far outweigh the failure, but if our passion is not greater than if you're a failure, that's prohibiting us from even trying in the first place, well then where's the growth? So I think all of our guests who we highlight have both a passion and have had the courage

and the temerity to put aside their fear of failure and forge ahead anyway. And in doing so, each of the episodes will highlight all of the many lives they've affected as a result of their passion and their willingness to overcome their failure. We'll be right back. OpenAI is a financial abomination, a thing that should not be, an aberration, a symbol of rot at the heart of Silicon Valley. And I'm going to tell you why on my show Better Offline, the rudest show in the tech industry, where we're breaking down why open AI along with other AI companies are

dead set on lying to your boss that they can take your job. I'm also going to be talking with the greatest minds in the industry about all the other ways the rich and powerful are ruining the computer. Listen to Better Offline on the iHot Radio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever you happen to get your podcasts. Check out Behind the Flow, a podcast documentary series following the launch of San Diego Football Club. We go behind the scenes and explore the stories of those involved. San Diego coming to MLS is going to be a game changer because this region has been hungry for a men's professional soccer team.

We need veteran players and we need young players. Like, you're building a team from scratch, and so the succession plan of long-term success needs to be defined. We need to embrace this community. When I was 13, my uncle took me to a qualifier, and we watched Paraguay against Chile, pouring rain, just watching the fans jumping up and down. I think that was definitely a watershed moment for me. Not only was that going to be my game, but it was going to be my life.

Listen to San Diego FC Behind the Flow, now on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. When I became a journalist, I was the first Latina in the newsrooms where I worked. I'm Maria Hinojosa. I dreamt of having a place where voices that have been historically sidelined would instead be centered. For over 30 years now, Latino USA has been that place.

This is Latino USA, the radio journal of news and cultura. As the longest running Latino news and culture show in the United States, Latino USA delivers the stories that truly matter to all of us. From sharp and deep analysis of the most pressing news. They're creating this narrative that immigrants are criminals. This is about everyone's freedom of speech. Nobody expected to hopes from the American continent to stories about our cultures and our identities.

When you do get a trans character like Imre Perez, the trans community is going to push back on that. Colorism, all of these things that exist in Mexican culture and Latino culture. You'll hear from people like Congresswoman AOC. I don't want to give them my fear. I'm not going to give them my fear. Listen to Latino USA as part of the My Cultura podcast network, available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

How serious is youth vaping? Irreversible lung damage serious. One in 10 kids vape serious, which warrants a serious conversation from a serious parental figure like yourself. Not the seriously know-it-all sports dad, or the seriously smart podcaster. It requires a serious conversation that is best had by you. No, seriously, the best person to talk to your child about vaping is you. To start the conversation, visit TalkAboutVaping.org, brought to you by the American Lung Association

and the Ad Council. Adventure should never come with a pause button. Remember the movie pass era, where you could watch all the movies you wanted for just $9? It made zero sense and I could not stop thinking about it. I'm Bridget Todd, host of the Tech Podcast, There Are No Girls on the Internet. On this new season, I'm talking to the innovators who are left out of the tech headlines, like the visionary behind MoviePass,

Black founder Stacey Spikes, who was pushed out of MoviePass, the company that he founded. His story is wild, and it's currently the subject of a juicy new HBO documentary. We dive into how culture connects us. When you go to France or you go to England or you go to Hong Kong, those kids are wearing Jordans, they're

wearing Kobe's shirt, they're watching Black Panther. And the challenges of being a Black founder. Close your eyes and tell me what a tech founder looks like. They're not gonna describe someone who looks like me and they're not gonna describe someone who looks like you. I created There Are No Girls on the internet because the future belongs to all of us. So listen to There Are No Girls on the internet on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Anybody else? Any other questions? What here? I know this this is gonna be a hard question But if you had to recommend like one episode you someone could only listen to one episode of your podcast

What episode would it be? That is not a fair question because I love them all and all of our guests are great, but I will tell you and Incandidly it's like It's like that's like asking asking me what's my favorite movie, because my favorite horror movie is absolutely The Shining, right? But The Shining's not even better than Step Brothers. It's just Step Brothers is my favorite comedy, right?

So in fairness to my favorite shows there's certainly genres of our shows right there's there's there's people who started stuff there's people you know so it's it's all different but in general I will tell you one of my favorites and I really hope you will all go listen to it one of my favorites, and I really hope you will all go listen to it, one of my favorites, and maybe because it was one of my first, but also because I went there and witnessed what was going on was John Ponder in Las Vegas, who was a four or five times looser who finally got arrested for Robin Banks. And the FBI agent that arrested him and sent him to the federal penitentiary prayed for him by name daily. And John Sentence, which should have been in the 30s of years, got to be seven.

And he spent his seven years in prison figuring out how to create a reentry program that would work. And now in Las Vegas where the recidivism rate is typically 70% 75% he runs a reentry program with the recidivism rate is less than 6% and the secret behind his sauce is he matches up returning citizens from jail with mentors who walk with them to get them reintroduced society. But the mentors are volunteers from the show, from the Las Vegas sheriff's department, Las Vegas FBI, the Las Vegas. So what he's doing is he is coupling up on a one-on-one basis,

law enforcement with returning prisoners, returning to society. And what's happened is as a side benefit of keeping people from going back to jail is law enforcement are starting to see parolees and convicts as human beings. And these human beings are starting to see people who happen to be in law enforcement as a job beyond the badge as human beings. And all of a sudden they're having a lot less poor interactions between law enforcement and folks who interact with law enforcement. It's incredible story. Additionally, you know, Russell Butler, the dancing UPS guy is awesome.

It's a UPS guy and he has dealt with depression and he happens to be an incredible dancer, like ice ice baby dance, not ballroom dance, but dancing. And this guy, when he see, when he delivers packages and sees somebody that looks like they're daubers in the dirt or maybe a little bit down, he puts some music on and just dances for them. And now he's got over a million followers on TikTok and all those social media things. And he came and visited for us and danced for us. His story's phenomenal. social media things and he came and visited for us and danced for us. His story's phenomenal. It's just a guy who's passionate about dancing, sees an occasional need with somebody who's a little unhappy or depressed, employs that ability where his passion is for people and just dances and puts smiles on

people's faces. And how simple is that? You know, it costs nothing, but a little bit of time and effort. I love that guy. And then I think of, you know, god, people like Ann Malam. Ann Malam was struggling with bulimia and didn't know where life was going to take her. And her father had gambled away everything and her therapy was running. And she was running through the streets of Philadelphia one day and ran past a homeless shelter every day. And one day the guys on the porch screamed down, hey, is all you do all day is run around here? And Anne's a little edgy and she just screamed right back at him

as all you do is sit on your ass on the porch all day, and she ran by. But she thought about it, and she thought, you know, my dad, who gambled away all of our savings, that could be him on that homeless shelter. So the next day, she went on the homeless shelter and said, hey, I'd like to start a running club. And they're like, the only time homeless people run is when it's from the police. Nobody starts running. Hom homeless don't jog. So she said, just give me a shot. She held him accountable. And she said, you know, I just figured if the one thing you can't cheat is running, you have to keep your feet right in front of the other. If I can teach these guys to get up every morning at 630 and be committed to running and run five

miles, no matter what, if they can learn that skill set, maybe they can learn how to not be homeless anymore. And this kid running from her own problems started a thing called Back on My Feet that has served homeless people all over the country and I think as recently as a year ago had been directly responsible for 7800 previously homeless people now having jobs and all as a result of running. Here that's Anne Malam's story. There's just countless stories over and over. The last one I'll tell you is child bedlessness. Whoever knew there was a thing. And so a guy starts making bunk beds on Christmas break and he makes his kids get off the couch

because he started watching play video games and they build a bunk bed in his garage. That's it. Put it on Facebook. They don't have anything else to do with it. And immediately it goes and he finds out all of these people in his hometown that have children without beds. And so over the course of Chris Sprake and his kids build five or six more bump beds and give them away. It makes it makes them feel great. And he starts sleeping in heavenly peace with the motto, no kid in my town sleeps on the floor. He doesn't think that children should put on their school clothes and then use them as their mattress every day. And this thing has grown to have chapters all over the country and they built 270,000

beds for children in the United States that don't have beds. But the coolest thing is our episode is airing and a preacher who supports an orphanage in Haiti down, a preacher in Florida who supports an orphanage in Haiti listens to the thing and calls orphanage in Haiti and says, have you heard this? And the guy that runs orphanage in Haiti said, oh my gosh, this is amazing. He starts crying. We ended up meeting him. We bring him on to talk about his orphanage in Haiti, and his orphanage in Haiti is on the few places that has running water and a wood shop, because they teach children. And so now this orphanage

in Haiti with their wood shop has joined Sleep in Heavenly Peace, and they are now making beds. That orphanage in Haiti is making beds for non-orphan children in Haiti who don't have beds as a result of an argument. So I could keep going, but there's story after story after story that show that passion and unwillingness to succumb to fear of failure, empathy and a heart changes lives.

And there's thousands of those stories across our country and we don't hear about them enough. And our goal is to bring those stories to you guys, not only to entertain you, but hopefully inspire you to not be afraid to start your garden in Hattiesburg for those who need fresh produce or to start your your

Facility where a kid who doesn't have a computer can have a computer to go to or to start can have a computer to go to or to start therapy with horses or all of the other amazing ideas you guys have come up with in Dr. Smith's office to actually act on them and to to not only go to work and social work and do the good work you do but also to change your community and culture with the very bright ideas that you all have. Be passionate about it. don't be afraid to fail because, uh, that fear of failure would keep any of those things forever happening and that would be a shame. Anybody else? Dr.

Smith, you want to finish this up? I just want to tell everyone how extremely proud, I guess I don't know if I've told them enough how extremely proud I am of them for all the things that they are doing and are going to do in their careers going forward. I know Amy graduated last year and so she's been doing for a year now. So she's got a headstart. Will, I, he didn't get a chance to tell, but he's going on to law school. Wow.

So he, he wants to change things on a bigger level. So yeah. That's awesome. Guys, I'm glad we had the time together and Like I said, just talking to y'all and having this chat encourages me. I think Dr. Smith put it best. Sure not. We've got a good group of young folks coming up that are working hard. If we could ignore all the stupid stuff out of DC and New York and social media and everything

else and remember our humanity. I think we're all going to be fine. Thanks for involving an army of normal folks in your education, your lives. And, uh, now thanks for being a part of it with us. I don't know when this episode is gonna, gonna go, but, um, I hope you'll share it with all your friends and help us grow this group of people who hopefully will become a movement in our country to continue to better our culture and our society.

So, Dr. Smith and former students and young people getting out there and making a difference, I really appreciate you joining me today. Thank you so much for having us. Thank you. Bye everybody. Bye. Thank you. And thank you for joining us this week. If Dr. Rhonda Smith has inspired you in general, or better yet, to take action by using the podcast with your service club or classroom, sharing it with teachers and schools that you know or something

else entirely, please let me know. I'd love to hear about it. If you write me, I will respond. Bill at normalfolks.us. And we may even do an episode with your classroom. Who knows? Give it a shot. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with friends and on social. Subscribe to the podcast, rate review it join the army at normal folks dot us Consider becoming a premium member there any and all of these things that will help us grow an army of normal folks Because the more folks we got the more impact we have I'm Bill Courtney until next time Do what you can. and insider analysis, our shows have connected fans with the heart of women's sports. In just one year, the network has launched 15 shows and built a community united by passion.

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