An Army of Normal Folks - Carrie and Paul Moore: The Couple Who Had A Secret (Pt 2)

Episode Date: August 27, 2024

And the story of how it was revealed in the most beautiful way possible, while serving with Sleep in Heavenly Peace! This couple has led their Gadsden, Alabama chapter to delivering 1,656 beds to kids without them. Support the show: https://www.normalfolks.us/premiumSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hey guys, it's Bill Courtney with An Army of Normal Folks and we continue now with part two of our conversation with Paul and Kerry Moore right after these brief messages from our generous sponsors. For decades, the mafia had New York City in a stranglehold, with law enforcement seemingly powerless to intervene. It uses terror to extort people. But the murder of Carmichael Lonti marked the beginning of the end, sparking a chain of events that would ultimately dismantle

the most powerful crime organization in American history. It sent the message to them that we can prosecute these people. Discover how a group of young prosecutors took on the mafia, and with the help of law enforcement, brought down its most powerful figures. These bosses on the commission had no idea what was coming their way from the federal government. From Wolf Entertainment and iHeart Podcasts, this is Law and Order Criminal Justice System. Listen to Law and Order Criminal Justice System

on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, I'm David Eagleman from the podcast Inner Cosmos, which recently hit the number one science podcast in America. I'm a neuroscientist at Stanford and I've spent my career exploring the three pound universe in our heads. We're looking at a whole new series of episodes this season to understand why and how our lives look the way they do.

Why does your memory drift so much? Why is it so hard to keep a secret? When should you not trust your intuition? Why do brains so easily fall for magic tricks? And why do they love conspiracy theories? I'm hitting these questions and hundreds more because the more we know about what's running under the hood, the better we can steer our lives. Join me weekly to explore the relationship between your brain and your life by digging into unexpected questions.

Listen to Inner Cosmos with David Eagleman on the iHeart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Andrea Gunning, host of the all new podcast, There and Gone. It's a real life story of two people who left a crowded Philadelphia bar, walked to their truck and vanished. Nobody hears anything.

Nobody sees anything. Did they run away? Was it an accident or were they murdered? A truck and two people just don't disappear. The FBI called it murder for hire. It was definitely murder for hire for Danielle, not for Richard. He's your son and in your eyes he's innocent,

but in my eyes he's just some guy my sister was with. In this series, I dig into my own investigation to find answers for the families and get justice for Richard and Danielle. -♪ All that I know... Listen to There and Gone South Street on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

-♪ All that you got... Hello. From Wonder Media Network, I'm Jenni Kaplan, host of Womanica, a daily podcast that introduces you to the fascinating lives of women history has forgotten. This month, we're bringing you the stories of athletes. There's the Italian race car driver who courted danger and became the first woman to compete in Formula One. The sprinter who set a world record and protested racism and discrimination

in the U.S. and around the world in the 1960s, the diver who was barred from swimming clubs due to her race and went on to become the first Asian-American woman to win an Olympic medal. She won gold twice, the mountaineer known in the Chinese press as the tallest woman in the world, and the ancient Greek charioteer who exploited a loophole

to become the first-ever woman to compete at the Olympic Games. Listen to Wamanica on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Our iHeartRadio Music Festival, presented by Capital One. Coming back to Las Vegas. Two nights, September 20th and 21st, on one stage. Stream live only on Hulu, a weekend full of superstar performances,

never seen before collaborations, and once in a lifetime artist moments you'll have to see to believe. Tickets are on sale now at AXS.com. Don't miss Asap Rocky, Big Sean, Camila Cabello, Dogecat, Dua Lipa, Gwen Stefani, Pouzzy, Hosear, Keith Urban, New Kids on the Block, Paramore, Shaboosie, The Black Crows, Shaboozy, the Black Crows, The Weekndpresidents of our chapter with Tommy, they had to ask us because our chapter has grown fairly big.

Now we're rural, so we cover a very large geographic area. Nine counties and 72 zip codes. So we cover a large area. So we split our, our delivery of this one chapter, so we split our delivery, it's one chapter, but we split our delivery areas up into two groups. So Carrie and I head up, I guess it would be the south region of our chapter and they handle the north region. And so we get to go out, when I got to go out with them the first time and I met this

little kid, like I said, it was just something I was unpaired for. And I'm just, I'm not, I just feel something grab my hand and you look down, there's just a little kid. You just had to picture you standing there, little kid just looking up and all his innocence and sincerity and just tells you, thank you for my bed. And he grabs your hand and he's just looking at you and the eye says, thank you for my bed. I was done. I was done. I was just like, this is a feeling.

You know, people, I think I was speaking earlier. People say, you know, we're volunteers, we don't get paid. We do get paid. We get paid more than anything that money could ever buy. Just the gratitude, the sincerity of the children, and most of the time the parents. And again, getting into the parents is, some parents, and I tell our team, we huddle every time. We meet, we got up to 50 volunteers pretty much in our delivery area that meet every Tuesday and every Thursday to deliver beds.

And we always try to do a quick devotional and just a little inspirational, a little encouragement. And I always tell our volunteers, look, when you go out there, first of all, I said, I don't want you to think of nothing that you see other than focused on them kids and the kids while you're there. I said, but here's the thing, these kids when you get there and they may forget what your name is after you leave, they may forget some of the things that you talked about about the bed and, you know, going over what you do and why you do it. I said, but one thing they will never ever

forget is the way you made them feel while he was there. They'll always remember that. And we want to leave there with that kid planting a seed in that kid's heart that there's good people out in this world that do care about them and they're not alone and there's hope. You just got to really just be open to receiving it sometimes. And I know I heard on when Luke was talking about some of the parents and this is just a touchy spot with me because it goes back to what I said earlier, you don't, you've never walked in their shoes. They're that way for a reason and we don't know that reason. You better just be thankful to God that you probably didn't have to go through what they went through. So, you know, we just try to show them love and the mercy

and grace that's been showed to us through our lives. We try to show it to them. I'm gonna say this, I know this isn't, you know, I wasn't here about the preaching, but there's one verse in the Bible that says, you know, Christ died for us when we were yet sinners. So, we wasn't good people when he died for us. He died for us in our sin. So why would I sit there and wait for somebody to become good or get their life together before I go above and beyond to help them? I can't do that. Christ didn't make me clean myself up before he was willing to help me. So anyway, that's kind of my feelings when it comes to that. Don't be judgmental. Try not to be, yeah, I ain't gonna lie, sometimes my feelings get hurt.

Sometimes I'm like, well, that's not what I was expecting to happen, but that's probably 3 or 4% of the time. I mean, when we go into the homes, there are so many different circumstances that you come across. I remember one particular delivery we went on, the lady lived in a nicer area and when Paul called her to set up the time to come she was just crying and saying, please don't judge me when you see our house we actually have a nicer home but the need is real and I can't believe y'all are going to do this for us. And she was just crying. And he even told me this lady was very emotional when I talked to her.

And as soon as she opened the door, she was crying. But it turns out she was crying because she was just released from the hospital from her 17th hernia surgery. She had a condition. The hernia just kept coming back. And she, she didn't even think she was going to make it home for the holidays. It was right before Christmas. And she had a little nine-year-old daughter, seven-year-old son, and the little girl, I

mean, she was emotionally strong. I mean, she was going to build those beds. She was carrying two headboards in her hands up the stairs, taking his tool bag and he's like, slow down, slow down, you're taking my job and she was giggling and so we built the beds, she built the beds and just had the best time and the whole time one of the other volunteers was speaking with the mom and she was just you know telling her story and thanking us and turns out the house was actually gifted to them by one of her husband's employers and so because otherwise they wouldn't have been able

to afford it so they were medically bankrupt with what their situation was. She couldn't work and he was his work was limited for having to help take care of her. Right so but the little girl know, she was being so strong and we were getting ready to leave and the mom was thanking us again down at the bottom of the staircase. Well, before that, Paul took a break. He sat down and that little girl said,

"'Hey, I have something for you.'" And he said, "'Okay.'" And she left the room and she came back and she had a tissue in her hand and she started dabbing the sweat off of Paul's forehead because she knew he had been working hard and I just thought that was the sweetest thing. So then we are getting ready to leave and the mom is thanking us again and she looks up at her daughter at the top of the stairs and she said, baby it's okay

to cry. And her daughter flew down those stairs and she jumped into my arms and grabbed me and squeezed tight and she whispered in my ear this is going to be the best Christmas ever and it's because they had beds to sleep in. So we never know what we're going to be facing. We can walk into homes that are horrible conditions. There was a delivery where they said they turned the room that looked like a dumpster into a suitable bedroom for these kids to lay down and sleep. But the one thing that I will say is every delivery we've ever been on, these kids have all been happy. Like when we get there, they are full of love and jumping straight into our arms. The very first delivery I went on was-

That's what I was going to ask. I want to hear your first. The very first one we went on, that I went on, and Paul kept telling me, you just wait till you see this. You just wait. They're going to be jumping on the bed. So we get there and knock on the door and a train of seven kids are lined up and they're just hugging us. You bringing our beds?

We couldn't even walk in the door without each one of them hugging us and that was my first step into the house and I was like oh my goodness this is so sweet and one of the ladies had a shirt on that had a cross on it and one of the little boys looked up at her and he said I know what that is she said you do and he said Jesus and I was like, oh my gosh, here we go, my heart. So we get these beds put together and these kids are jumping up and down. It's my bed, it's my bed. And then we had them all piled up on the top bunk

taking pictures and they're just doing all this stuff. And it just, I mean, it melted my heart to know that all these kids that were laying on, not even the carpeted floor Some of more laying in a recliner the couch the floor like I don't even think they had air mattresses or anything at that house, but It just it set me on fire to want to help and that was in 2021 yes, September 7th

I'd been going a little while before that but that was her first time. So since that first of all don't you like construct these beds and then take a minute. You're not really building beds at the house you're assembling them. You've built them off site. We call build days. We have build days. We do generally about two a month. Sometimes if the needs there, we do three a month. But we'll build anywhere from 60 to 100 beds every build day. And that sounds like, yes. Every build day we do, we do a minimum of 60 beds.

Our chapter. Where do you get, first of all, when we say beds, you've got the structure. Yep. But then you also have linens, a mattress, pillows, all that. Is that all part of the deal? All part of it.

So when this kid gets a bed, they're getting a made- Yes. Brand new. Brand new bed. I tell the parents, because they ask those questions all the time. I said, when we leave,

all you gotta do is insert kid. So. He said that. Insert child. ask those questions all the time. I said, when we leave, all you got to do is insert kid. He said that. Open covers insert child. He called a lady one time and she said, do I need to do anything? And he said, no, ma'am, all you have to do is provide the child. And he was trying to be funny and she got really silent and he said, and he said, uh huh. I was playing. So, um, where did the,

how, that's money. It's money. The community. We are a praying chapter. And again, I'm speaking from the heart. I'm not censored. So, you know, I'm not sure. I always want to be in a line

of such a great thing that Sleep in Heavenly Peace is, and listen, I'm not sure. I always want to be in a line of such a great thing that sleeping in heavenly peace is. And listen, I never want to overstep these boundaries, but I'm gonna tell you, for us, we're a praying chapter. God has really blessed us. Our chapter is financially strong. We don't have problems with any funds needed to to build these beds everywhere. We have churches that say, hey, we had a church that wanted to build 100 and how many? It was like 110 because they were celebrating their 110th. Anniversary. So they wanted to build 110 beds.

So that's 110 beds. So if you look at the cost, that's for all the lumber to build the beds, that's the mattresses, that's the covers. They donated enough money for 110 fully equipped beds. And that's just mattresses, that's the covers. They donated enough money for 110 fully equipped beds. And that's just a blessing, but we have churches that come together, smaller churches that can only do 20,

and we'll kind of team them up with other businesses or other things that will make it where we can do 60 beds because it's just, it takes us what? To set up. We set up, we get there two hours before the serve or the build day starts and we set up all our equipment. And then when the volunteers get there, let's just say nine o'clock, they're really packing up and going home about 1130.

It takes us about two and a half hours to fully build about 60 beds. How can that happen? It's assembly line. build about 60 beds. How can that happen? It is. The first time I ever went, I was blown away because, you know, they've got the wood that Lowe's drops off and then they've got the saws, they're cutting them. Does Lowe's give you a discount? They are a huge sponsor. Yes, we get a discount through Lowe's and also they provide us funds throughout the year for tools. And Lowe's is amazing.

So everybody listens to us. Yeah, I'm a Lowe's fan. We love Lowe's even besides that. We loved Lowe's before that, but it's like an assembly line though. You know, they're cutting the wood and then it goes to all the sanding stations and then the tap and the drill and the... Okay. What about the covers and the pillows?

So the funds that's donated from the churches, we take that and Sleeping in Heavenly Peace basically does all the hard work on mattresses. We have our funds for our chapter and then we'll put an order through our main chapter, or I guess it's for myself, through our corporate office and saying, hey, I need 124 mattresses shipped to this location. And then we pay for those to our corporate out of that, but they warehouse and get all that stuff up for us. We even have our own branded mattresses.

So the mattresses actually have a little banner that goes across one of the corners that says SHP, Sleep in Heavenly Peace. And it's made especially for us. little banner that goes across one of the corners says SHP, Sleep in Heavenly Peace. No kidding. Yeah. It's made especially for us. And they're inner spring mattresses. They're very nice mattresses.

They're in a box. So I like to kid with the kids when we get there because they're in a box. I say, here's your mattress. Do you think you can fit on it? Because it's a small, I mean, it's crazy. They always look at it like that's the mattress, but then when it opens and it fills up, they just get all excited about that.

We'll be right back. For decades, the mafia had New York City in a stranglehold with law enforcement seemingly powerless to intervene. It uses terror to extort people. But the murder of Carmichael Lonti marked the beginning of the end, sparking a chain of events that would ultimately dismantle the most powerful crime organization in American history. It sent the message to them that we can prosecute these people.

Discover how a group of young prosecutors took on the mafia, and with the help of law enforcement, brought down its most powerful figures. These bosses on the commission had no idea what was coming their way from the federal government. From Wolf Entertainment and iHeart Podcasts, this is Law and Order, Criminal Justice System. Listen to Law and Order, Criminal Justice System on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, I'm David Eagleman from the podcast, Inner Cosmos, which recently hit the number one science podcast in America. I'm a neuroscientist at Stanford and I've spent my career exploring the three-pound universe in our heads. We're looking at a whole new series of episodes this season to understand why and how our lives look the way they do. Why does your memory drift so much? Why is it so hard to keep a secret? When should you not trust your intuition? Why do brains so easily fall for magic tricks?

And why do they love conspiracy theories? I'm hitting these questions and hundreds more, because the more we know about what's running under the hood, the better we can steer our lives. Join me weekly to explore the relationship between your brain and your life by digging into unexpected questions. Listen to Inner Cosmos with David Eagleman on the iHeart radio app, Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Andrea Gunning, host of the all new podcast There and Gone.

It's a real life story of two people who left a crowded Philadelphia bar Gunning, host of the all new podcast, There and Gone. It's a real life story of two people who left a crowded Philadelphia bar, walked to their truck and vanished. Nobody hears anything. Nobody sees anything. Did they run away? Was it an accident or were they murdered? A truck and two people just don't disappear. The FBI called it murder for hire.

It was definitely murder for hire for Danielle, not for Richard. He's your son, and in your eyes he's innocent, but in my eyes he's just some guy my sister was with. In this series, I dig into my own investigation to find answers for the families and get justice for Richard and Danielle. Listen to There and Gone South Street on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

Hello, from Wonder Media Network, I'm Jenni Kaplan, host of Womanica, a daily podcast that introduces you to the fascinating lives of women history has forgotten. This month, we're bringing you the stories of athletes. There's the Italian race car driver who courted danger and became the first woman to compete in Formula One. The sprinter who set a world record and protested racism and discrimination in the U.S. and around the world in the 1960s.

The diver who was barred from swimming clubs due to her race and went on to become the first Asian-American woman to win an Olympic medal. She won gold twice. The mountaineer known in the Chinese press as the tallest woman in the world. And the ancient Greek charioteer who exploited a loophole to become the first ever woman to compete at the Olympic Games. Listen to Wamanica on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcastth and 21st, on one stage. Stream live only on Hulu,

a weekend full of superstar performances, never seen before collaborations, and once in a lifetime artist moments you'll have to see to believe. Tickets are on sale now at AXS.com. Don't miss Asap Rocky, Big Sean, Kamila Cabello, Dogecat, Dua Lipa, Gwen Stefani, Palsy, Hoseyre, Keith Urban, New Kids on the Block, Paramore, Shaboosie, The Black Crows, The Weeknd, Thomas Redd, Victoria Monet, a special performance by Coldplay's Chris Martin and more.

Get your tickets to be there now at AXS.com. How many in the last three years beds do you think you guys have delivered? So for our half, we got specific numbers. We keep up with everything. Of course, I'm an engineer and a project manager, so spreadsheets is my thing. So we keep everything to a T. Our whole chapter including the Gadsden Delivery Teams Plus Us has delivered 4,369 beds and they started in 2017 or 2019. Since 2019, 4,369 beds and then our since we started on September 7th of 21 we have delivered Yeah

1656 beds this Unbelievable one that you've made that many, but there's that much need with a 500 person backlog you just told me. So the biggest thing is that's what, that was one of my questions when I started. Well, how many kids need bed and what we're going to do when we get them out of bed? Yeah, that's my thought. I mean, He did, he's like, should we advertise? And they're like, mm, you'll see.

But the thing I didn't think through is there's turnover. You know, three to 17, that's who you're serving. So there's always kids turning three. There's also kids that didn't know about us, it's four, five, six, that's just now learning about us. There's kids growing out of those beds too, but those beds don't come back to us. That's theirs forever, that's that child's bed.

They choose to donate it to somebody else, whatever they wanna do, if they don't need anymore, that's up to them. But there's just always that turnover, and people coming in to your cities, people leaving your cities, and you know, beds come and go, and kids come in, and you know, beds come and go and kids come in and you know, it's just a never ending thing. It's just always,

there's always going to be kids that need beds, just like there's always going to be kids that need food and things that they can't get for themselves. And we're not talking about Memphis or Birmingham or Phoenix, whether it's millions of people. We're talking about a population area of what, a couple hundred thousand maybe? Yeah. I actually had the populations for all of them that wrote down one time.

I can't be specific. Oh, yeah. Yeah, it's probably a couple hundred thousand for our whole area. So if there's that need there, what kind of need is there in Detroit and Chicago and Philly and Memphis? So I had, I think it was Tommy, Tommy Goodman, our chapter president that had told me one time that like us, we're liable to travel an hour to deliver a bed in our area because that's how remote. Seven counties or whatever you said. Nine counties. So we may travel over an hour we traveled about an hour and ten

minutes to one a couple weeks ago so that's there and then I want ten minutes back there's chapters that never get outside a ten mile radius of their central location and still never run out of need yeah and that need is so great because you got intercity like Chicago or somewhere like that, that it's just like that's such a dense population. I guarantee you in this town, you could set up not leave a 10 mile radius and never run out of need. So when are you going to start a chapter?

Well, he's doing his part right now. I'm trying to find somebody on this thing that can start a chapter in 12 different cities. That would be awesome. So we deal with a lot of poverty stricken areas. Do you want to share the first time we went into other on Elm Street? Yeah, well, we have our areas just like every city. It don't matter big or small. Actually at one time Oxford and Anniston, Alabama are just together. You never know when you're in one out the

other. The line's kind of crazy. You could be in Oxford, pass into Anniston and be right back into Oxford. But there's a lot of apartment complexes over there, housing authority areas, that all my life is like you stay away from that area. You stay away from that area. Don't go over there. You know, it's just, and Anniston at one time- It's a place you don't wanna have the flat tire. Yes. Exactly. And West Anniston at one time,

it actually was one of the most dangerous cities in America, per capita. And, but anyway, there's a couple of apartments. I'm not gonna call out the apartments because I don't want anybody that might hear, be embarrassed or think bad about that area. But we was told, you know, well, you have to be careful if you go over there.

So we actually had a bed request and it was in those apartments. And so first time I went, it was me, Carrie, and one other lady. And we was delivering, I think two beds. and I pulled up and this is in the winter time I get up off work at 5. Well, it's dark when I get off work So it's dark when we get over there and I pull up and these apartments are number crazy It don't go in order that you would think so. I don't I can't find the apartment

I mean, I mean logic would say this is one two, three four. No, it was not It was just kind of random numbers. So I tell them, I said, I'm gonna get out, yeah, lock the door, and I'm gonna walk through here because the road didn't, there was like three sets of big project buildings and there's no road in between. It like would dead end.

Roads are on the end. So you have to walk into the middle ones and see. So we're on this end. So I'm walking down. Well, as soon as I walk around this corner There's probably about a group of about 12 to 15 young men standing there and they're just eyeballing me as soon as I walk around I'm corner So they're looking at me and I'm just like oh my goodness. I need to say something So I said hey, I'm looking for a apartment 3A. I don't know if it was 3A, I'm just using it for,

I'm looking for apartment 3A. I said, here to deliver some beds for some kids. I said, do you know where 3A is? And one of the guys you could tell he was probably the leader of the group. He says, no, man, no, I don't know nothing. And I'm just like, okay, so I'm just about my business. I'm walking, I can't find it.

I'm walking back and I have to pass right back by and the same guy stops me and he says hey What would you say you was here to do and I said well, I'm with sleep in heavenly peace I said we're an organization that delivers bears the kids who don't have a bed I said so if there's a kid over here don't have a bed. It's our mission to get them a bed He says man, that's all right. He said Two buildings now third door on the left. And I says, thank you. So anyway, I went and got them, we delivered a bed.

From that time on, not only was we accepted there, find out these are the guys that run that whole project complex. Everything goes through them. And that's what we was told. We don't know nothing for a fact, of course. But anyway, so from that point on, we was not only, like I said, accepted.

It was almost like, hey, excited that we're there. And we'll have people coming out. We had a man that his son, he was so happy, he shared the story with us. Now we didn't deliver him a bed, he's just over there. And he said, hey, my son plays for Aniston, he just got a scholarship for Alabama. We're so excited. So he was an Aniston football player, he got a scholarship to go play football for

Alabama under Dick Saban a couple years ago. And we would get stories from all the different people that are coming to us and just talking want to help us talk the stuff in Family's house and it's just like we're a part of that amazing. So how Service can break down so many societal notions, yes, and how quickly our humanity can shine through absolutely we are where we come from When people really see your heart for what it is, things change. It's like you said, bears just fall. You can say it to your blue in the face, but it's not saying it. It's living it and proving it by your actions.

And we always say this, it's like, it's easy to serve people that's had something to give you back. But that's not service. True service is when you go and do something for somebody has nothing to give you except love, appreciation, gratitude. There was a time in the middle of all this where Carrie revealed something to you that you didn't even know. Yes. Which ties up a whole lot in this story and when I read it Carrie, I paused. Because if there's such a thing as a God thing, this is it. You want to share the story with us?

Sure. Tommy and Val Goodman had asked us if we would be the co-presidents. We said that we would and we had to go to Utah for some training. Which is Luke Mickelson's very, very beginning. Yes, correct. Bend Dakota, now East. But that's where it all started. It is where it all started. In his garage with his kids because he didn't like them playing game boy. That's right. That's right. So they still do the, if you wanted to start a chapter they bring you to Utah and teach you the daily. Yes. So y'all were there. Correct. Got it. So we're there and next thing you know, Tommy comes and gets us and says, hey, they want

to talk to y'all upstairs. And we're at a police station doing this, by the way. And we're thinking, what did we do? Why are we having to go upstairs? So we go up there and they have a little production set up, lights, camera, action, and we're like, wait a minute, what's going on here? And they just wanted to talk to us about why we wanted to be involved and they were interviewing multiple people. But in that moment when they were talking to us, they asked what it meant to me. And so the

video that they were producing was our why, know why we do this and when they said that it hit me like a ton of bricks and it was something that I had never shared with Paul or really anybody when things happen to you in your younger life that are not favorable, it's not something you usually go around talking about. So I never really mentioned it, but when they asked my why, it's because growing up with my mom, who was a single parent my dad left when I was two years old. And then my mom turned to alcohol when I was about seven and times were tough, very tough. I didn't have a bed. And so that's my why.

I wanna make sure kids have a bed. I grew up in very poor circumstances. Not only did I not have a bed, I didn't have clothes, I barely had food to eat. I slept on that pile of clothes that I wore the next day to school. And not only that, my mom was an animal lover, which I am too, but I even had feces on the floor beside me that I was sleeping next to. It was really hard going to school. Dirty. No sleep. Trying to focus. And kids are mean. I had a kid in class one time that said do you wear those jeans every single day and I said no and they took their pencil their pen and they wrote on it and they said we'll see tomorrow. So I had to search

for something else to wear the next day and then on top of it, I was a really tall kid. So all my pants were high waters. And so I didn't even look good in the few clothes that I did have and so it was just really really hard. My mom was a great person, but the alcohol just kind of had a strong hold on her life. And it was difficult, very difficult. So it's, it is my personal mission to make sure kids have a bed to sleep and they can feel safe. Did you feel unsafe? I did.

feel safe. Did you feel unsafe? I did. I didn't feel safe at all. There were lots of things that happened during my childhood. So when you go on a bed delivery... I see my circumstances a lot. Oh gosh. And you feel what those kids feel? I do. What would somebody have meant to you showing up in your life with a bed back in those days? Oh my gosh. If my mom would have been able to find something like this to provide me a bed, I would have felt like I was on top of the world I could have slept on the couch but it was itchy that old woven yes even the checkered look one you know so I just How long did you live like that? Until I was 15.

You went to high school with this stuff going on? Yeah. Thus. Not so good marriages to start because you're looking for any way out. Yeah, I actually left home at 15. That's the only reason I ended up with a bed. Wow, Carrie. I look back now and I think, you know, my youngest son is getting ready to be 21. But I look back at when he was 15 and thinking to myself, I could never imagine him leaving and living on his own at that age.

And that was what I did. Because in my mind it was a better choice than my current living situation. It still was a tough situation. It was. It wasn't much better. I mean, I moved in with an older man that it didn't turn out well. He ended up being abusive. And, um, I won't even get into that story because that's a whole nother thing. Um, and I had to go back to my mom's after that, when I was 17, I had to go back to my mom's after that when I was 17. I had to go back

It is not at all lost on me That That is your reality and you come full circle Find your faith Find a purpose and are filling the void for children that you yourself experienced all Because Your husband happened to be driving down the road one day and heard something about build a bunk

It's called yes. I Don't know about visions, but that's a god thing it sure is It doesn't make you feel like When you heard that because you didn't know when you're her husband and I said I saw come I didn't know this it had to afford you and she said the same thing she said well it's not something I'm proud of and not something I really wanted people to know but it's a story that needs to be told so I'm glad she did tell it I'm glad after all those years that come out because not only

does it say, hey, this can happen to anybody, it also says, look, there's hope. I mean, she's came a long ways, even before I met her. So I was really excited when I met her because I went through some bad dating experiences. But Carrie was a self-sufficient woman when I met her. She didn't need a man.

Any woman that can be single and handle five boys is strong, strong. She was doing good for herself as far as what I could see anyway. And that was very attractive to me as well that she didn't need me. She wanted me. So that was something. I had a lot of trust issues through my life from previous marriages. And anyway, like I said, when I gave my life back to God and he started working my life

and I saw how in love with God she was, that trust issues went away. Not because I used to base our relationship on me. How much do you love me? Well, I'm a human, I'm a man. I'm gonna do stupid things and I'm gonna let people down. And that always gives that other partner a chance like, well, she gonna stick with me when I do stupid things.

But I quit viewing things like that and saw how much she loved God. God will never let her down. And she loves God so much, she's not gonna do the wrong thing when it comes to our marriage. So that's what got rid of my trust issues is really the relationship I had with God,

but more so seeing how much she loved God, and I wanted that. And anyway, that's kind of goes back to what we was talking about earlier, but just to hear that story and know where she came from and know that all these kids we go visit, again, it goes back to what we said earlier. We don't know where they've been.

We don't know, we've not been in their shoes, and that goes for the parents too. It goes for everybody. It's easy to make a preconceived notion on you and something from your point of view, but you just don't know. And that's, and God's laid that on my heart that I don't know, so I'm not there to judge.

I'm there just to love on people and say, hey, there's hope. We're gonna help you how we can help you. There's other people out there just like us that want to help as well. Keep praying. You keep doing the right thing. We encourage people, hey, to find a local church. Find you a church family. You know, for nothing else, for the mental support they can offer you. To know someone cares about you, to offer advice and different things like that.

to know someone cares about you, to offer advice and different things like that. We'll be right back. For decades, the mafia had New York City in a stranglehold, with law enforcement seemingly powerless to intervene. It uses terror to extort people. But the murder of Carmichael Lonti marked the beginning of the end, sparking a chain of events that would ultimately dismantle the most powerful crime organization in American history.

It sent the message to them that we can prosecute these people. Discover how a group of young prosecutors took on the mafia, and with the help of law enforcement, brought down its most powerful figures. These bosses on the commission had no idea what was coming their way from the federal government. From Wolf Entertainment and iHeart Podcasts, this is Law and Order Criminal Justice System.

Listen to Law and Order Criminal Justice System on Listen to Law and Order Criminal Justice System on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, I'm David Eagleman from the podcast, Inner Cosmos, which recently hit the number one science podcast in America. I'm a neuroscientist at Stanford, and I've spent my career exploring the three-pound

universe in our heads. We're looking at a whole new series of episodes this season to understand why and how our lives look the way they do. Why does your memory drift so much? Why is it so hard to keep a secret? When should you not trust your intuition? Why do brains so easily fall for magic tricks? And why do they love conspiracy theories? I'm hitting these

questions and hundreds more because the more we know about what's running under the hood, the better we can steer our lives. Join me weekly to explore the relationship between your brain and your life by digging into unexpected questions. Listen to Inner Cosmos with David Eagleman on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Andrea Gunning, host of the all-new podcast There and Gone.

It's a real-life story of two people who left a crowded Philadelphia bar, walked to their truck, and vanished. Nobody hears anything. Nobody sees anything. Did they run away? Was it an accident, or were they murdered? A truck and two people just don't disappear.

The FBI called it murder for hire. It was definitely murder for hire for Danielle, not for Richard. He's your son, and in your eyes he's innocent, but in my eyes he's just some guy my sister was with. In this series, I dig into my own investigation to find answers for the families and get justice for Richard and Danielle. All that they know. Listen to There and Gone South Street on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts. Hello, from Wonder Media Network, I'm Jenny Kaplan, host of Womanica, a daily podcast that introduces you to the fascinating lives of women history has forgotten. This month we're bringing you the stories of athletes. There's the Italian race car driver who courted danger and became the first woman to compete in Formula One.

The sprinter who set a world record and protested racism and discrimination in the U.S. and around the world in the 1960s. The diver who was barred from swimming clubs due to her race and went on to become the first Asian American woman to win an Olympic medal. She won gold twice. The mountaineer known in the Chinese press as the tallest woman in the world.

And the ancient Greek charioteer who exploited a loophole to become the first ever woman to compete at the Olympic Games. Listen to Wamanica on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. stage. Stream live only on Hulu. A weekend full of superstar performances, never seen before collaborations, and once in a lifetime artist moments you'll have to see to believe. Tickets are on sale now at AXS.com. Don't miss Asap Rocky, Big Sean, Camila Cabello, Dogecat, Dua Lipa, Gwen Stefani, The Cat, Dua Lipa, Gwen Stefani, Halsey, Hoseyar, Keith Urban, New Kids on the Block,

Paramore, Shaboosie, The Black Crows, The Weeknd, Thomas Redd, Victoria Monet, a special performance by Coldplay's Chris Martin, and more. Get your tickets to be there now at AXS.com. So when I was 11 years old, it was the day after Christmas. And my mom had gotten a new car. So it was my first ride in our new car. And I always fell asleep on car rides. I guess maybe it was more comfortable than sleeping

on the floor. I don't know. But I really did. I still do. But anyhow, we were driving down the road and we ended up getting hit by a drunk driver. And it was on the side my head was on. He hit the door where my head was laying when I was sleeping. And I had a, my skull was cracked halfway around. I had a blood clot on my brain and when they opened the back door,

my nose was laying flat on my chest. All the blood rushed through the front of my face so there was blood coming out of my eyes, my nose, my mouth, my ears and they initially thought my neck was broke because I mean imagine if you just try to bend even just bend it's hard to get your chin to touch. So they took me to the hospital, believe it or not my neck was not broken, the doctor said I was so relaxed because of sleeping that it did not break it. But what I remember the most about that accident that, you know, growing up through life, I

would tell people about the car accident, you know, how I was in the car accident, how bad it was, and everything that went along with the accident. But what I never told them, because again, it's one of those things you don't talk about, was that I was in the hospital for two weeks, intensive care for one week and then a regular room for the second week. And I had a bed to sleep in for those two weeks that I was in the hospital. So that was the best part about the whole accident was being able to get some rest. To think that you can go through a near-death experience and somehow it'd be better than home.

It's traumatic. Mm-hmm. It's traumatic. I was ready to go though. I mean I was doing cartwheels down the hallway and they were telling me to stop. Oh I'm sure you're ready to get out but the point is... Yes. You're sitting there with your head cracked open and you're thinking, hmm this is comfortable. Yeah.

Wow. So tell me about your most recent one. Okay. We went, we had some new volunteers with us for the very first time, but we were going to a home and we were delivering three beds and she did mention that she had a special needs child. I didn't know what it was but she said that she already had a bed but the other three children needed a bed.

We get there and it's just like the majority of them. You open the door. Those kids have been sitting there waiting all day long for you to bring a bed. Their mom is probably telling them, y'all be good now. They're bringing your beds. We got to clean the room up and all of this. But open the door and they're squealing and jumping up and down and running up to us and hugging us.

And then her one little girl, which you can tell by looking at her that she walked a little different and bent over a little different. Really didn't know what it was, but the brightest, cutest smile. She comes up and hugs me and she's hugging everybody. I said, well, what is your name? She said, Heaven. No kid. I said, aww.

We're getting all the kids' names. For some reason, all the rest of them started with a J. I can't remember them all, but I just know they all started with a J. But anyhow, we are putting the beds together and we're talking and it turns out the little girl has Luke Walker's disease. And the mom starts sharing with us

that the doctors told her, get rid of the baby. You don't need to have this baby. It won't make it 10 minutes outside of the womb. And she refused. And so little heaven is seven years old now and she's had a few surgeries on her hamstring. She's had brain surgery, several different surgeries, but when we were all done, we were getting ready to leave, we asked the mom if there was anything that we could pray for her about, and she became extremely emotional, and she said, please pray for my heaven because she's about to have to have back surgery now and some upcoming things with her health issues she said but the other thing is we had we had to sell one of our cars so that we can make

ends meet and get the other one yeah we had to sell one car to fix the other car and there her husband was out cutting grass while we were there and said to tell us thank you but he was trying to make some extra money. But she's like, we don't even know how we're going to get by day by day through this. It was everything in me to not lose it right there, and I do my best because there are deliveries that just stay with me for weeks when we leave. As soon as we walked out of the door and in the driveway and we're meeting with the delivery team that it was their first time and talking about it, my eyes just filled with tears just standing there.

I didn't say anything and I know they were looking at me, but I just had to let some of it out. I had to release some of it because I can't even imagine how hard it has to be for her and the pain that she is going through seeing her baby having to go through all of this, but happy with the decision she made at the end of the day and the fact that she is going to be taken care of. And now her kids have beds, her other three children, and it was just a beautiful thing.

When you have a family like that, and I remember thinking this back when we talked to Luke Mickelson, but when you have a family like that, the man's out trying to provide, he's cutting grass. The mom clearly loves her children because they are going through enormous hardship, but made the decision to love their children no matter what, regardless of what God gave them.

Can you imagine the guilt they must feel knowing their children are sleeping on the floor? Yeah. Oh yeah. She was so appreciative. I mean, she said a hundred times, thank y'all for doing this. Thank you. And the little boy, he couldn't, he could barely wait to get on the bed. He had the hammer. Well, it's not a hammer. It's a little mallet, you know, if there's anything tight. He was so proud to be carrying that around and we needed it.

And I said, hey, where is that? And he said, my mama took it. She said he walked in there with a hammer like this and she was like, oh no, give me that. She said he walked in there with a hammer like this and she was like, oh no, give me that. Guys, do you know about the Haitian story? So, a pastor in Florida was listening to an army of normal folks and heard the Luke Mickelson story. This church in Florida supports and is friends with the founder of an orphanage in Haiti.

Oh, wow. This orphanage in Haiti has been built from a man's dream over 20 years who we had on the show, believe it or not. And the orphanage is situated for, I think, 90 kids and it's got a school and then they wanted to teach kids applied abilities so they put in a seamstress stop and all kinds of things. Then a few years ago, they built a woodworking shop. The founder of the orphanage was connected to Sleep in Heavenly Peace through the pastor

in Florida who was listening to Luke Mickelson's story and now the orphans and the orphanage with their woodshop are making beds for non-orphan children in Haiti. Oh, that's crazy. That's a beautiful thing. That's what y'all are part of. That's the fabric of the organization you're part of. And there was a reason with the you're the only story that we've done that's connected twice, because Alex and I believe so deeply in the power of what this is. It's not about just making beds. It's not about improving lives. And it's about

reaching badly. And it's about having kids have a day to feel good. And it's about reading parents who are under enormous financial stress, usually to at least read one piece of guilt and anxiety from their life on behalf of their children. I can't think of a better thing than sleep in heavenly peace. Well, there's something that is wired in me that I believe is a gift from God that I am

like drawn to people that are hurting, where a lot of people would turn from that. They don't want to get involved with somebody, somebody else's problems, pains or hurts. I am like physically, mentally, and I mean drawn to them. If I see somebody hurting, I want to help them. Even if it's nothing to do with the bed, I just, I don't know what it is, but I'm always... When we first started, we first started this. We'd go to liver bed and then I'd have a laundry list of other things we needed to provide that family. Yes, right.

Not from them. They need curtains. They wouldn't ask you for it because they need a recliner. And they didn't have any furniture in their living room. So we started another thing that kind of run we used to sleep in heavenly peace was our data collection agency, I guess, at the time, because we go deliver beds and see the other needs they had and we called it our Connected Dot Ministry. We always had people trying to give us stuff because they knew we was out helping the community. So when someone said, hey, I have a dresser or hey,

I have an ORA cloud. You happen to know 20 different places that can be used. Every single time that happens, it was the delivery we just went to within the last week or so, where we saw the exact need. Baby cribs. One of them was a lady was seven months, or she was eight months pregnant. We delivered beds and we went back.

I don't even know. Oh, we went back to take some recliners to her and somebody had given us some recliners, a mattress, and they were like, we don't know if you can use this, but here's a crib mattress. And so she is about to give birth and I said, do you have everything, you all good? You got everything set up?

And she said, yes, I have the crib set up. She said, but I went to order a mattress and I couldn't afford it. And it was with us and I said are you serious and I said baby go get it and she just started crying she just started crying because at that moment she knew I know I mean normal folks is about a lot of things but the thing that I've said the most is this. When you can employ your passion and your discipline, when I mean discipline, I don't

mean being disciplined to do the right thing, your abilities. You employ your passion and your discipline at a place of opportunity, phenomenal earth changing, life changing things can happen. And that's what you guys have done. You have a passion for serving, you have an ability to do this, and you saw an opportunity and you fill it. And in doing so, not only are the parents and children lives that you serve changed, but I think so are your own and those of your volunteers.

Definitely. Well, speaking of volunteers, we have a great group of people that are very passionate about what they do too. And so it makes it easy for us to be able to identify team leaders, you know, someone who has a truck that's willing to lead a team theirself, that way we're able to reach more kids because this past Tuesday night we had 32 volunteers show up on a Tuesday night after work to build beds. To go build beds and we were able to deliver them in the homes. Oh, Tuesday's delivery day? Yes. Thursday's delivery day. Thursday's build day. What's build built? That's always on Saturdays. Saturday build day, Tuesday delivery. She had 32 show up to deliver beds.

To deliver beds. So we were able to get 18 kids off of the floor on Tuesday night. Nobody in my town, no child in my town sleeps on the floor and not the moniker. No kid sleeps on the floor in our town. No kid sleeps on the floor in our town. No kid sleeps on the floor in our town. I am praying that there are a handful of people listening to us that think, okay, enough's enough. I've heard these stories. This is something I can do that I see changes

lives, but they just need that extra little bit of encouragement, push over the edge. I gotta believe you would take any calls from anybody that wanted to hear about it. Absolutely. How do any listeners, hearing now, being moved by your story, how do they reach you? What's the best way to get in touch if they want to understand more, learn more, and maybe hopefully start a chapter in a city that doesn't have one. I mean we have our phone numbers and we have our email addresses. What's your email address to reach out to?

The main one is shpbeds dot org. And then Paul's is the same, paul dot more at shpbeds dot org. And I bet if people reach out to you from Topeka and say, I heard it, I want to do it, walk me through it. We would be honored to. We would love to tell them how so much for us. You know, the thing is, a lot of people may be coming and saying, look, you know, we've done this, we've done that.

Our story is more about what it's done for us. Right. So I got to tell you something, Paul. Do you know every single person we interview, and we've been doing this now for a year, all say the same thing? You get exponentially more out of it than you put into it. You do. Yeah, that's the truth. It's the payoff. Yes. It's fuel that keeps you going. And people like you are the fuel that keeps me and Alex telling these stories. It's absolutely true.

We appreciate what you're doing and getting the word out there, not just for sleeping here in peace, but all the other things that's so encouraging and brings hope to people. Because you'll hear it and you'll say like, that's me, you know, and then you all of a sudden you see a ray of hope that you didn't see before. So we believe that the people in DC and the pundits on Fox and CNN are never going to fix anything. It's going to take an army of normal folks and I cannot think of a better example of what that looks like than a divorced father of three and a divorced mother of five living in mid-world Alabama who find a love affair over a lie about a hammer. And then decide together as a couple, you're going to do some good for your community and

army and normal folk, changing lives. Where passion and discipline meets opportunity and you guys are the quintessential story that we tell. Even though the avenues are always different and the discipline is always different and the area served is always different, the end story is all the same, which is the rewards you get from it is exponentially better. Our society and culture can improve with more and more folks like you. I would like to say

anybody that's thinking about something that they could do to help others this it's easy it's not a difficult thing to get involved with at all. It's very very easy the fundraising part you, once you get the word out there people want to help. They really do. And they clearly train you. I mean they have a whole system designed. They do. They show you how to build the beds, all of it. So I'll leave us with one last story and this is one that Tommy shared with us after he came back from a recent training. Tommy Brown Good, because I was going to say, sign us

off with one last, I know you can't say a favorite because there are so many favorites. Sign us off with one that will leave it on our hearts and heads. KaNin Reese Okay, well this will do it. They were at a training in Utah and they were going around the room and asking people why what their why was like Why are you wanting to get involved with your wife what you revealed right? well, they came to one man man, and I don't even know what area he was from because they bring them from all around and He started getting very emotional and they said what is your your why? And he said, well, I, me and my wife are, we work for EMS and we got a phone call where a family had four children that were sleeping on an air

mattress. And sometime through the night, the air mattress lost its air and one of the children suffocated. And when they found out he was suffocating, they were the EMS crew that went out to this house. And the little boy was revived but now has brain damage and People don't realize how serious the need is but he literally got to see it firsthand that here we are trying to help a child live because they didn't have a bed to sleep on and imagine the family The guilt. Yeah He said he made a vow

Exactly what sweeping heaven feast for, that no child in his town is going to be without a bed. So it's his mission from that experience of seeing the devastation of a family now the child lived, which is a huge blessing, but it's fairly brain damage and it's a lot of complications going to be with that child the rest of his life because parents could not get the child to bed. They didn't apparently know about sleep and heaven peace or there was no sleep and heavenly peace in their area.

So that guy. And the EMS guy. And so he's gonna start the chapter. Not a rich guy, hard working EMS guy. Says. Normal person. I'm gonna do something about this. I think like you were saying with Luke,

you know, crossing over the bridge, looking down, he stopped, he stopped because he saw someone in need. So it's just a big, big shout out to him and I don't even know him. So hope he listens. I hope he's encouraged. I hope he's listened to. God bless you guys.

Thank you so much for coming to Memphis and telling the story. It is gut-riching at times, but ultimately uplifting. Thank you for being so transparent with us. And I gotta believe there's people listening to us right now that are saying, I can do this. And if they wanna hear more, just reach out to you. Thank you.

Alice, anytime. Thank you. I want to say thank you to Sleep in Heaven and Peace and Luke and his whole team for providing us and having you to be able to serve and to help others. So, just want to... And a shout out to Tommy and Val Goodman, our chapter presidents who lead so well. That's awesome. Guys, thanks so much. Thank you. Thank you. And thank you for joining us this week.

If Paul and Carrie or other guests have inspired you in general, or better yet, inspired you to take action by volunteering with Sleep in Heavenly Peace, donating to them, starting a chapter in your own community, or something else entirely, please let me know. I'd love to hear about it.

You can write me anytime at billatnormalfolks.us, and I promise you, I will respond. Guys, if you enjoyed this episode please share it with friends and on social subscribe to the podcast take the time to subscribe to the podcast rate and review it join the army at normal folks dot us consider becoming a premium member there all of these things that will help us grow. An army of normal folks. Thanks to our producer, Ironlight Labs,

I'm Bill Courtney. I'll see you next week. For decades, the mafia had New York City in a stranglehold, with law enforcement seemingly powerless to intervene. It uses terror to extort people. But the murder of Carmichael Lonti marked the beginning of the end. It sent the message that we can prosecute these people. Listen to Law and Order Criminal Justice System on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, I'm David Eagleman from the podcast, Inner Cosmos, which recently hit the number one science podcast in America. I'm a neuroscientist at Stanford and I've spent my career exploring the three pound universe in our heads. Join me weekly to explore the relationship between your brain and your life because the more we know about what's running under the hood, the better we can steer our lives. Listen to Inner Cosmos with David Eagleman on the iHeart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or

wherever you get your podcasts. Hello. From Wonder Media Network, I'm Jenny Kaplan, host of Womanica, a daily podcast that introduces you to the fascinating lives of women history has forgotten. Who doesn't love a sports story? The rivalries, the feats of strength and stamina. But these tales go beyond the podium. There's the teen table tennis champ,

the ice skater who earned a medal and a medical degree, and the sprinter fighting for Aboriginal rights. Listen to a manica on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey guys, I'm Andrei Gunning, host of There and Gone South Street. In this series, we follow the case of Richard Patrone and Daniel Imbo, two people who went missing in Philadelphia

nearly two decades ago and have never been found. Unlike most cases, there is not a single piece of physical evidence connected to this crime. But the FBI knows there was foul play. I'm excited to share that you can now get access to all new episodes of there and gone South Street 100% ad free and one week early with an I heart true crime plus subscription available exclusively on Apple podcasts So don't wait head to Apple podcasts search for I heart true crime plus and subscribe today Our I heart radio music Festival presented by Capital One. Coming back to Las Vegas.

September 20th and 21st. A weekend full of superstar performances. A$AP Rocky. Big Sean. Camila Cabello. Doja Cat. Dua Lipa. Gwen Stefani.

Halsey. Hozier. Keith Urban. New Kids on the Block. Paramore. Shaboosie. The Black Crows. The Weeknd. Thomas Rhett. Victoria Monet, Coldplay's Chris Martin,

and more. Stream live only on Hulu. And get tickets to be there at AXS.com.