An Army of Normal Folks - Pam Rosener: 33,000 Moms And Sons Serving Together (Pt 2)

Episode Date: August 19, 2025

Pam was a member of National Service League, where moms and daughters do service projects. But she's got 3 sons, so she thought why not start something for moms and sons to do this too?! 24 years later, Young Men’s Service League has 199 chapters with 33,000 moms and sons serving together!Support the show: https://www.normalfolks.us/premiumSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hey, everybody, is Bill Courtney with an army of normal folks. We continue now with part two of our conversation with Pam Rosner, right after these brief messages from our generous sponsors. Hello, I'm John Lithgow. We choose to go to the move. I want to tell you about my new fiction podcast. That's one small step for man. It's about Buzz Aldrin, one of the two pioneers of space. You're a great pilot, Buzz.

As far as I'm concerned, the best I've seen. That's the story you think, you know. This is the story you don't. Predisposition to depression, alcohol abuse, and suicide. We'll see Buzz try to overcome demons. What do you say, Buzz? Another beer? And triumph over addiction.

Who's to you, Buzz Aldrin? Good luck to you. And become a true hero. Buzz and I will proceed into the lunar module. Not because he conquers space, but because he conquers himself. Buzz. We intercepted a Soviet radio transmission. Starring me, John Lithgow.

Can you put it through? Can you translate? On the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 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 BadaWI against Chief. 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 IHeart Radio 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 Inojosa. I dreamt of having a place where voice. 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 these narrative that immigrants are criminals. This is about everyone's. freedom of speech. Nobody expected to popes from the American continent to stories about our cultures and our identities. When you do get a trans character like Imuette 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 IHeart Radio app. Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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 a movie pass, Black founder Stacey Spikes, who was pushed out of Movie Pass the company that he founded. His story is wild that 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 and they're not going to describe someone who looks like. 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 IHurt Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Our IHeart Radio Music Festival, presented by Capital One, is coming back to Las Vegas. Vegas. September 19th and 20th. On your feet. Streaming live only on Hulu.

Ladies and gentlemen. Brian Adams. Ed Shearin. Phyllis. Cholirley Roll. Chon Fogarty. Lil Wayne. L.L. Coulche.

Mariah Carey. Maroon 5. Sammy Hagar, Tate McCrae, the offspring, Tim McRaw. Tickets are on sale now at AXS.com. Get your tickets today. AXS.com. Woo! The Ultimate Gift.

Tell us what that is. Okay, so Jim Stovall wrote a book called The Ultimate Gift. I think it came out in late 90s. He's also done a movie, and Jim Garner was in the movie. So most people know the movie. more than the book because, you know, nobody reads anymore. And so, but somebody had handed me the book. One of my philanthropy partners handed me the book and said, I think you'd really like this. And I read it. I was on a flight somewhere. And I read it. And I sat there from it.

And I was just shut my eyes and I was just like, how can I bring this concept into young men servicely? And so got back, told my board, let's do this. Let's go in. And still, we were relatively isolated in the Dallas area. And I said, let's go in and find a philanthropy that we're going to give them an ultimate gift event and where we can do something for them that they couldn't do for themselves that's been on their dream bucket list of things to do. And so we started really small. The first project we did was just a massive cleanup for City House, which is an organization that helps teens who are homeless in Plano. So we went in and we cleaned up the buildings and did paint and repairs and yard work and all that. It was just a relatively small job, but,

you know, it got the ball rolling. And we started growing with that. And we, first had it centralized in Dallas, and the last time that we did one that was managed by the national organization was 2012. We did 15 projects around the Metroplex and two weekends and coordinated thousands of volunteers. Fifteen different ones. We built a deck for a low-income school that didn't have any kind of performing stage. We built that. We built a playground at a low-income apartment complex. We repainted a shelter. We furnished two full apartments. apartment units that for people coming out of transitioning transition homes our housing and i mean it just went on and on we did major major and we're talking boys and their moms doing this yes

not a dad in sight no now a couple dads helped on the construction cubscouts or something on the construction stuff i love that it's moms and boys yeah yeah we had a we had a little help on some of the construction stuff because we didn't want anybody get hurt i got but still that is so cool. You just don't see that. Well, this is silly stuff that we did. When we did that playground, I actually rented a bobcat and got it and put it on a trailer and drove it to downtown Dallas myself. I had a pickup truck. I don't even know what I was thinking. I mean, I can't imagine the liability that I had with it. I didn't even think about it. And we, you know, and I got it there. You have an attorney for a husband.

Whoops. And he used it and cleared the ground for the playground. Who used it. He used it. I had a guy who was a professional that took apart and built the, you know, the wooden play sets. Yeah, sure. And so he's helped, he's the one who helped make sure we put it together, right? Because somebody had donated it. Did he get on the bobcat too? He did the bobcat too. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I just was hoping it was you. Yeah. That would have been very cool. No, it wasn't me. Still dragging that thing around. Those things are heavy and they make your trailer and you're, what were you in? What kind of pickup truck? Oh, boy.

Yeah, it wasn't mine. Because my partner, she was running the events with us, and we called, affectionately called it Miss Kitty. We were taking Miss Kitty down to that. That's hilarious. Some fond memories I have about, but we've grown the program now. Last year we did 120 ultimate gifts across the country. Across the country.

Tell me about some of them. Oh, there's another group in, let's see, in McKinney who did adaptive sports. And so this was very interesting because for the training part of this, the kids had to come in and learn how to play basketball one-handed or with, you know, not seeing correctly or... What do you mean adaptive? Explain that. I mean, for children who have handicaps that have to play sports differently because they may not have eyesight or coordination of both arms or legs or, you know, whatever. So they adapt to the sport so that they can still play it. And so we went through this training thing and had the boys trying to do all these things, you know, it was the one arm around their back or to teach them what it felt like to be participating in sport with the same kind of restrictions that the people they were serving.

So when they did this big event for them, it was very, very sweet. And the young men just really jumped in and loved on these kids and just really did a nice job. I read a story, or maybe I listened to a TED talk you did. I don't know where this comes from, but I choked up. There was a little boy at a baseball practice. Oh, yeah, I love it. Tell us. Because I want our listeners to understand certainly the effect that you're having on the

people you're serving is profound and important, but I'm not sure that equally important is the perfect that's having on the boys that are doing the service. That's a win-win for sure. You know, I think this was a story. We have something called Angel League in, this is also in Collin County. And so for six weeks at a time, they play a single sport. And so this particular season was baseball. And so our moms and sons show up and they do the games with the kids.

And they show up consistently for six weeks. So this one time this young man showed up, and he happened to be giving his speech as a senior at his banquet, and he shared this story. And he said, I call it just an hour, but it was so much more. And he went on to explain that he showed up, and there was this little boy kind of pouting off to the side. And he went up to him at baseball practice.

And he's like, you know, digging around in the dirt. And he's like, hey, hey, dude, what's up? You know, what's going on? He goes, well, I really don't like baseball. And he said, well, what do you like to play? And he goes, I like soccer. So this kid happened to have a soccer ball. He went and got a soccer ball out of his car and made some goals, right, for the boy.

And he just played with him for the hour while he was there running up and down the field, you know, kicking the ball in between the goals and scoring and having fun with him. And he says, and then I got on in my car, went home, went to school, didn't think about it. The next week when I came, the mom and dad came running up to me and said, thank you so much. And he goes, for what? And they said, they had videotaped the little boy scoring and being excited and high-fiving. And they said, our son came home every day this week and looked at that video after he got home from school. And it made him so happy.

And so the young man was sharing the story, and he said, this is the first time it really impacted me that the hour that I served made a difference in somebody's life. And he said, and it just changed his whole perspective on his time, and how valuable his time was. And I thought it was so great. I've shared it for years because I do just love the story. And it shows what our goal. our goal is honestly you know to what's profound to me about that is that's a lesson learned and then recited by an 18 year old that many 50 year olds never learned yes that's to me is the depth of the work that you guys have created is you're taking boys and putting young men

into society. We feel like we can kind of change the world one guy at a time in the best way. You know, we teach that heart as well as, you know, how to be a leader with that heart, right? We want our young men to grow up to be good leaders and set great examples for their peer groups, make good decisions, and they can do that by leading with the experiences that they have and understanding how to treat people. You know, you treat all people with respect. It doesn't matter what their circumstances are.

And, you know, that can rub off on other people, right? We can rub off on young men who aren't in Young Men's Service League, who they might be playing sports with, who start to taunt somebody or whatever. And one of our guys says, hey, quit it. You know, like there are little tiny ways that it can spread, that the acts can spread across from, you know, person to person. You have to have seen firsthand significant changes in kids' attitudes toward people, situations, places.

I mean, I guess, I guess I'm saying, I guess I'm asking you, I should be put words in your mouth. What has to been the rewards for you? It's, you know, sometimes I get caught up in all the busyness, right? of just managing people, keeping everybody happy, recruiting, you know, because we have such a huge volunteer base that runs our national organization and trying to inspire the leaders. You know, there's a lot of things that, you know, go on in this little head. And sometimes I have to go back and see and hear and watch the videos and see the impact to remind myself that that's it. That's why I keep going because of that. You know, the,

impact that I see in the young men. And I have people, you know, whose moms will write back 10 years later and say, we love our years in young men's service league. It was some of the most meaningful things we've ever done. And so that, that's what my reward is. You know, I think I just feel really good about, I think, listening to the prod, you know, listening to the whisper. I feel like I listen to God, right? And so he's using my gifts and talents in the best way I think he can to makes the biggest impact. We'll be right back. Hello, I'm John Lithgow.

We choose to go to the moon. I want to tell you about my new fiction podcast. That's one small step for man. It's about Buzz Aldrin, one of the true pioneers of space. You're a great pilot, Buzz. As far as I'm concerned, the best I've seen. That's the story you think you know.

This is the story you don't. Predisposition to depression, alcohol abuse, and suicide. We'll see Buzz try to overcome demons. What do you say, Buzz? Another beer? And triumph over addiction. Here's to you, Buzz Aldrin. Good luck to you. And become

a true hero. Buzz and I will proceed into the lunar module. Not because he conquers space, but because he conquers himself. Buzz. We intercepted a Soviet radio transmission. Starring me, John Lithgow. Can you put it through? Can you translate?

on the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 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 Ottawa 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 IHeart Radio 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 Inojosa. 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,

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 these narrative that immigrants or criminals. This is about everyone's freedom of speech. Nobody expected to popes from the American continent to stories about our cultures and our identities. When you do get a trans character like Imira 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 MyCultura Podcast Network, available on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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 may 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 a movie pass, Black founder Stacey Spikes,

who was pushed out of movie pass 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 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 IHurt Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you your podcasts. Everyone thinks they'd never join a cult. But it happens all the time to people just like you. And people just like us. I'm Lola Blanc. And I'm Megan Elizabeth.

We're the host of Trust Me, a podcast about cults, manipulation, and the psychology of belief. Each week we talk to fellow survivors, former believers, and experts to understand why people get pulled in and how they get out. Trust me. New episodes every Wednesday on Exactly Right. Listen wherever you get your podcasts. I got to believe that the relationships that already exist because, let's be honest,

sons and mamas have that kind of relationship. But doing this work together and going through this together has got to even strengthen that bond as well. That's got to be pretty cool. Because, I mean, honestly, we're talking about stuff that traditionally you would expect. a guy to go do with his dad. Right. And mom is showing up saying, no, I can do this too. I mean, power mom.

That's cool. I mean, I would expect that there's some respect gained by a mom from her son and a relationship that even grows more through this work together. I mean, do you see that? I started to allude to it. call it the ride home you know you drag them by the ear to get up and then you you know and then you get to have the conversation in the car on the way home and and talk through some things and they get to see a different side of you as a mom you know they're so used to hearing you nag them

about everything and you know maybe have a little fun but mostly it's you know we got to do this you got to do that in the crazy life that we all lead and and then you know you can share some funny stories you can share some heart wrenching stories you know what did you think when you saw that house, you know, and how somebody was living and really have an opportunity to share on a different level. And I do think it creates a stronger bond with your kids. I don't know who said it, but I read it or heard it somewhere a long time ago, but what you just said reminds me of it is that it's really important as a father and a husband to let your children see the woman you fell in love with.

not the mom, not the one sitting at the house cooking and cleaning and griping and get out on time and all of that stuff because that's her job and she does it dutifully, selfishly, and honorably. But that children need to see the woman that you fell in love with. They need to have that opportunity and this feels like it provides that. Although I will say sometimes even the men don't know that side. of their wife, right? Isn't that interesting? Yeah, the wife may have come into that as some later point and or in her serving.

And maybe you didn't do that when you were 22, you know. And so there are other, you know, other sides to it. And so I actually think it extends the same impact can extend into the marriage, right? Because, you know, for instance, my husband, he worked his tail off. He was working 14 hours a day most at the time we were raising kids. And so he didn't ever get to go volunteer or, you know, have those kind of time. times. And then for him to see and understand it, now that he's older, his whole approach to humanity is different. And I think it's because he sees the things that we've been involved in and how

we've made impacts. And so I do think that, you know, there's that also. You know, I think, yes, it's important to see who they fell in love with. But it's also important maybe to see them grow to, you know, see the women grow to. Yeah. I mean, I just, as I hear you, I keep thinking, but I mean, the impact on families, the impact on relationships, the impact on young men to learn service, the impact on young men to learn practical lessons, the impact on children to see their mother in a cool light that that woman deserves. And then all of the service hours that you do for all of these people and these philanthropic partners that you have, and we're talking 30,500, 33 something, yeah.

Something. Yeah, we did 750,000 hours last year. And 1909 chapters with around 25 kids in each chapter and 25 moms in each chapter all. That's 100 moms, 100 boys each chapter, 25 per grade level. All? Yeah. From seven of you sitting at lunch one day. Oh, yeah, yeah.

It's the power of action. Right. It is the power of action, but do you pinch yourself a little? Oh, yeah. I also kind of really perked up in my chair. You said, I'm paraphrasing and fix me because I'm going to screw this up. But I think you said something like I was 41 or 42 when this happened, and that's when I found my purpose. Is that what you said?

I really feel like it's my, it's been my purpose, yeah. I really, you know, making money is great. And I actually love real estate. I love selling real estate. I'm successful at doing it. But this is rewarding in such a different way. And I really honestly feel like this is what I'm supposed to be doing. So, you know, I think that.

At 42. Yeah. Well, I didn't know it then. But as I got a little older, I realized. I mean, I felt that the purpose come, but I didn't know it was going to go, you know. Alex and I hear a lot by virtue of the show. I want to get involved so much and the butt is I don't know how I don't know where you know I don't know if I have time you know and we've highlighted people as simple as just taken an hour every month to go get blood or platelets we to emphasize yeah every hour counts The whole person has, all of us have issues at home.

We have money problems. We have frustrations. We have kids doing stupid stuff. We have, we all have, life is messy. Yes. You don't do it because you have a perfect life. You do it despite the difficulties that come along in life. And even if you only have a little time, there's something you do.

So we're constantly talking about that. But we also say, and it's never too late. It had opportunities have never passed. you by and i think you're kind of a gleaming example of a of a person who you know middle-aged i guess is 42 i'm 56 now so i that means i'm old if middle-aged 40 but at that time of your life to just make the decision to go do it yeah bill do you remember a shop talk with matthew kelly you're never too young and you're never too old yeah so i'll go through a couple of these riffs. So Tyre Woods when he was three years old

when he first broke 50. Mortar was eight years old when he wrote his first symphony. Anne Frank was 13 when she began her diary. One of the ones I remember, Mother Teresa was 40 years old when she began her work in Calcutta. Wow.

I never remember some guys like climbed like Kilimanjaro in like their 70s or 80s. Benjamin Franklin was 79 when he invented bifocals. This guy ran a marathon when he was 98. Pam, what are you going to do when you're 98? Oh, I hope I'm sleeping. I don't know.

I think, you know, yeah, I don't know what I'm going to be doing. You know, I am thankful. I'm healthy and, you know, still able to go and do. And, you know, I love to inspire people to try to just start small, you know, with whatever it is you want to do. And I said that in my TED talk, you know, listen to what your prompting is. And even if you start with just a little bit, you know, it can change and roll into something. You may inspire somebody else just by what you've done that can create a momentum going somewhere else. I mean, I love what you're doing with your organization and trying to inspire people to start taking care, you know, and giving that back.

It doesn't have to be like life changing where, you know, you have to give up your whole life. You don't, it's like they say in church sometimes. You don't have to go serve admissions across, you know, in the other side of the world to be able. to help you can help right here you know you can help one hour a month you know if that's all you got that's all you got do you know what percent of people all right first of all if you have cancer and operation something simple throughout your life you're going to need blood at some point yeah right i mean everybody's going to yeah at some point and if if you somehow get through life without without ever needing a little bit of blood,

someone very close to you that you love dearly will need blood. That's 100% right. Do you know what percent of the blood used across our country every day is donated by the public? What percent of the public? I don't know that one. Under three. I was going to say three.

That's so funny. I know it's not much. 90, 100% of us will need blood. And 100% of the blood supply for every American. American is provided by 3% of us. Wow. Now, why can't we at least do that? Yeah.

Yeah. You know, there's service. Right. It's from that all the way to the, so here's a question. Yeah, everybody's like, oh, I'm going to faint. I can't do that. And it's going to make me feel bad, right? My husband is the worst.

He does not like to give blood. He'd be mad at me for saying that, but it's true. You know, some people do have a phobia about it, but it's not, yeah. The point is. Let's get it up to 20. There's a 9,000 things we can do. But here's the question. There's moms listening to us right now who are like, you mean I get a whole packet and it's kind of hand-fed to me how to do it.

All I got to do is get a few moms and kids together and she'll teach me everything and walk me through it through organization. The answer is yes, how do they find it? So if they go to YMSL.org. YMSL. Uh-huh. Short for young men's. Not mans, men's, servicely.org. You can scroll down and it says, find a chapter.

And if there isn't a chapter in their location, then there's a link to, we do webinars and they should be starting about two weeks where we do one every other week on a Tuesday night at seven central time and you can log in and hear our presentation. And then from there, if you're interested, the next step is you gather a group of moms, you bring them back on a call or we'll schedule a separate call and then we'll take it off and running. So we start new chapters in the spring. Right now is our little bit of our slow time. And then we start new chapters, you know, we'll start working with you now, but they won't launch until May 1 of next year for this next calendar year. And so that gives us lots of time to

teach you leadership and get your membership in place and really, you know, get you ramped up and ready to go. The one thing we hadn't talked about is money. And I know I've read that you said we don't like give a lot of money, but it does cost money to buy paint, build boards and rent a bobcat driving across town. Those things cost money. So how does that work inside your deal? So most of our philanthropies, when we do work, if we have to provide supplies, the chapters can have a little bit of a budget for that out of their dues. So all the members pay dues to be part of our organization. And the chapter runs off of what they raise for dues. They can have part of their budget allocated for materials. But generally, the stuff we do is not heavy in the supply

needs. Sometimes when we do these ultimate gift projects, we may bring in partners from the community to help underwrite, you know, not underwrite, but, you know, give in kind materials that we need. This year, we're very excited because we'll be 25 years old. We're going to start kicking that off in March of next year, we're going to do a major non-profit organization or philanthropy event with Sleep and Heavenly Peace. Are you really? And so we are going to be raising funds specifically for that because we'd like to build beds in every city for one weekend in September in 2026.

And so we're going to be doing some specific fundraising for that because it's about $300 a bed, I think, for them to come in and help us with that. So we, you know, we are working on that. And then we are just kicking off this year some fundraising for the national organization so that we can gather resources for our chapters to come to and say, hey, we have this opportunity, but we don't have the funds. Can National give, you know, something from out of this budget that we're going to start building for events like that so that we can do bigger, more impactful things? Because if you bring 400 volunteers into something, a lot can happen over three days, you know? And we have, you know, we can do that times 200. So we could do some major, major things.

So I'd love to build 5,000 beds or something in Dallas, Fort Worth in September of 26. We'll see. That's so cool. But it's awesome. And I get it. And it makes sense. But the point is, if you're thinking about this and wondering about the chapter and then the dreaded fundraising thing comes in your mind. You're not doing that.

It's against the bylaws. You're actually. Oh, is it? It's even against the, not only do you have to, you can't. Right. But the point is you, sons and moms, getting together and providing themselves for service. And it's not a bunch of fundraising. It's partnering with other philanthropies to fill needs with your time and your effort.

Yeah. So each chapter has about 20 philanthropy partners. They go out and identify them themselves and set up their schedules. We have an app. So you can actually go on the app and schedule your time with your son whenever it's convenient for you. And it's so much easier than calling 20 different places to find, you know, if you can volunteer for an hour.

So the chapter will set up all of that. There are the dues per member, which is just the mom, run about $200, $2.30 a year for the members in each chapter. And that's the only expense that you have. And you will not be asked to go raise funds. I was a mom of four. I didn't want to sell popcorn, gift wrap, any of that. I ran booster clubs.

I said, no, we're not doing that to our moms. They're going to just give their service and their time, and we're going to keep it simple. We'll be right back. Hello, I'm John Lithgow. We choose to go to the moon. I want to tell you about my new fiction podcast. That's one small step for man.

It's about Buzz Aldrin, one of the true pioneers of space. You're a great pilot, Buzz. as far as I'm concerned the best I've seen. That's the story you think, you know. This is the story you don't. Predisposition to depression, alcohol abuse, and suicide. We'll see Buzz try to overcome demons. What do you say, Buzz? Another beer?

And triumph over addiction. Who's to you, Buzz Aldrin? Good luck to you. And become a true hero. Buzz and I will proceed into the lunar module. Not because he conquers space, but because he conquers himself. Buzz. We intercepted a Soviet radio transmission starring me, John Lithgow.

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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 Ottawa 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 IHeart Radio 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 Inojosa. 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... in 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 or criminals. This is about everyone's freedom of speech. Nobody expected two popes from the American continent to stories about our cultures and our identities. When you do get a trans character

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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 a movie pass, Black founder Stacey Spikes, who was pushed out of Movie Pass 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 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 IHartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Our IHeart Radio Music Festival, presented by Capital One, is coming back to Las Vegas. Vegas. September 19th and 20th. On your feet.

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Tickets are on sale. Now at AXS.com. Get your tickets today. AXS.com. I'm really embarrassed that I've never even heard of this before I heard of you. That's what I said. I need to get out and do this more yet. And the second thing is I hope some Memphis moms are hearing this and decide to reach out.

Me too. We've got listeners. I get after it. What's that? We've got listeners everywhere. Yeah, everywhere. It has to be a town that will have at least 5,000 hours of service a year. That's our restriction.

We are actually almost tapped out in Dallas and Austin because there's just not enough service hours anymore with all the competing organizations. But we're wide open in so many places. And so we do have sometimes some small towns that reach out and they're so excited. And then we realize they have like 200 volunteer hours and we're like, we can't support, you know, we can't. We can't support that. Well, and the reason I say Memphis is because Memphis has got plenty of hours, I'm sure. I'm a proud Memphis person, but obviously it's a show going out all over the country. And there's, do you know any, do you have target, any target cities that you're not in that you're like, we really need to be there?

Have y'all done that? Because Memphis is one. Yeah, Memphis is one. We've just started moving kind of to East Coast. So we just started Carolinas and Virginia, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania. All up the East Coast. We don't have anything in Alabama yet. We don't have...

Birmingham. Yeah, we don't have anything in Birmingham. Yeah, we don't have anything. We have a bunch of chapters in Nashville, but we don't have... Knoxville. Knoxville. We don't have. We need chapters in Arizona.

We need chapters in Southern California. We are, let's see, we have... What about Phoenix? No, we don't have anything in any Arizona. Oh, my gosh, you're going to triple after this call, after this thing. There are going to be people calling from all over-catchez. I haven't called now. Don't shake in your head.

Don't over-promise. Don't listen. Is there a limit? I mean, how big do you want to get? Or go as big as it needs to be. I love that. So you're still ready to roll with that. Ready to roll.

Yeah. Somebody is like, well, are you going international? I's like, well, we haven't thought about that. That presents a whole other slew. I said, let's take care of the U.S. first. And then if we, you know, we still have a lot of time, we can. venture to Canada or across the pond, does they say? You literally have an army of moms and teenage boys.

Yes. That is phenomenal. The army of normal folks that we want to build and talk about you've done with moms and teenage boys. You know, I want to say before the end of the show, I am the leader, but I am definitely not the one who's done everything. You know, I try to tell everybody that I have 130 people on my own. my leadership team right now. Wow. And probably only 12 of those may have a little, a little salary, not much, not even salary, consulting fee. Everybody else is a volunteer and they work their tails off. And I've been surrounded by incredibly gifted, passionate, intelligent

women who have helped me rise to the next level every step of the way. And I cannot take the credit for this organization because it has been such a team and we have such a unique culture in our leadership that it would be a disservice to them. I honestly can tell you that there is just the greatest group of people that I work with. And I'm very blessed every day with them. Yeah. A lot of us end up the face or mouthpiece of an organization, but we're never there without lots and lots of help. So I appreciate you mentioned that. I'm sure your people do too. Alex, you got anything on this? I love them. I think one thing with your TED talk, like the nudges that people get and the three different types of responses if you can bring people through that.

Oh, yeah. So I started it by saying, you know, everybody has a moment, I think, you know, where you have, you're in quiet and you get an idea or something comes into your mind about a need that you see or whatever. And there's three kinds of responses to it. It's the person who takes action, you know, and says, yes, I'm going to go, I'm going to take it. I'm going to do it. just let me find the way. Then there's a person who sits there and they're like, oh, I can't do that. I, you know, the doubt, I said, I called it the devil sitting on your shoulder saying, you know, you're not smart enough. You're not, you know, you don't have enough money. You don't have enough time. You don't know how to do that. You don't have a clue. And then they

never do anything with it. And it just nags at them a little bit that they never did anything. And then there's the other person who really never hears. And it's because they aren't attuned to, you know, sometimes we can get so busy in our day-to-day life that we don't have time to just process and go, oh, you know, maybe there is something I could do here. And so they don't ever hear. I say they're deaf to the whisper, you know. And I think those three things, those three people are what we have in the world with so many things and so many great ideas are the people who take action and um and and some probably so many lost ideas that haven't ever happened because they didn't take action and outside of that and the whole point is act yes wait one more thing

you also did it on a very personal level too can you talk about garrett sure um my son had a friend in high school when they were ninth grade who he came home and said mom can i have some money for i want to put some money in my friend's lunch account. And I was like, okay, sure, tell me a little bit about him, you know, what's going on. And he's like, well, he's just, you know, trouble. He needs money. He can't eat. And, you know, if we can do that, that would be great. And I was like, okay. And so I did that. And then I did that for a while. And then I went and met Garrett and met this person that he was living with and talked to them a little bit and said, hey, I can help out with some groceries, you know, tell me more about this. So we got involved in Garrett's life

a little bit. And then Garrett left the school and went to what's called special programs in Plano, where kids who are struggling in school go. And one day the principal called me up and said, hey, I have Garrett here sitting at my table. And I don't think he's going to make it. And I mean, and I'm like, so what do you mean he's? Well, first of all, he called me? And she goes, yeah, he told me to call you and I said that's phenomenal that that's who this kid needed to call yeah that speaks to the absence in his life oh not that you aren't wonderful but the point is call his buddy's mom who gave him a little little lunch money where's his family yeah well that's turned out to be a story so I went she she I said well what do I need to do and she goes I think

she'd come pick him up and I was like oh okay so I'd hang up the phone and I'm like and I just you know again go I said go I jumped in the car go over there pick him up and I said where are you living and he says well I'll show you where you're living what does I'm going to lose Garrett mean I think he was suicidal he says the principal said that to you in front of Garrett are you kidding me okay so you go pick them up yeah so I sit there with this teen boy who's you know he's big boy six foot something

and big boy and just tears sitting at my kitchen table and I start talking to him and I was like well you know in my mind I thought oh I will I will go and help him for a week or two I'll try to see if he can go into city house I didn't really ever think it was going to be

anything permanent And my husband comes home for dinner that night. And I was like, look who's here for dinner. Who's this? I'm nice to meet you. And then afterwards, he's like, so why? How long is he here? And I was like, I'm not sure, but we're just going to.

We'll work it out. I'll work it out. And so I took him to City House and he walked out. He goes, I'm not doing that. What is a house for teen? Like a homeless team? Halfway home or whatever. I'm not doing that.

I'm like, well. How old was scared? It's 16. I was like, okay. What does that mean? And so he ended up living with us. We got him through high school. He didn't have a driver's license for anything.

I got him a driver's license. He's got him enrolled in school, got him a job. And then I found out it was along the way, his history. And, you know, I don't want to reveal too much because I don't want to embarrass him. But he had grown up in a family, very abusive family. He was rescued. from his family at age 12 had lived in a half-buried school bus somewhere out in the wilderness and kind of sofa surfed for a while, lived with a family member for a little while, that didn't

work out. And then, you know, a lot of things came into play. You know, he had a lot of wounds. He had a lot of pain. He had trauma. Trauma. He had some, you know, some substance abuse issues that I didn't know about and we went on a journey i need to write another book about it was quite a journey and he ended up graduating high school and which was a miraculous event because he didn't even start school till he was 12 so he graduated high school he abandoned us for off and on a couple times came back very broken um i don't know probably around 2021 did he abandoned you because you held him accountable to some semblance of rules and he just revolted against it he just He would almost feel more comfortable sometimes living with other homeless people still.

He would go in and out. And some of it had to do with the substance stuff. And one day he came back. He said, can I come back? And I was like, sure, you can always come back. You know, we love you. And my middle boy was living at home at the time. I didn't share this on the TED Talk.

But, and he had just graduated away to college. He was trying to be a professional golfer. And he's very faithful. And he and Garrett spent a lot of time upstairs talking, and they went one day to it. They had a young adult church thing at our church, and Grant took him there. And he had a lot of spiritual wounds and still does to this day. But at that day, he walked up and decided to give his life to Christ with my son. He gave up alcohol.

He gave up all his drugs. He completely cleaned himself up. started his own business, then decided that was too much. It went into the military, got out of the Army, is now working with one of the big aircraft companies in Saudi Arabia and is thriving and doing well. Still has a few demons and things he's dealing with, but he's doing very well and very proud of him. And, you know, you were saying earlier, we all have life struggles.

We've been through some ups and downs with my own kids, with him. You know, it's not easy. It's not an easy path. But it was definitely life-saving for him. The yes was life-saving. Which started with your son. With my son. Want to drop some money in this kid's lunch account.

You never know what little act of service might do. And quite literally, if he was suicidal, that act and your family's act, very likely saved his life. lots and lots of different ways, you know. And my husband was not a fan all the time. And it impacted our family. I mean, I'm bringing a teenager in with all of these things. It was a challenge. But my husband has grown to respect him and he respects him.

My husband and is almost more like him than me. It's kind of funny. And they have a great relationship now. And he's overcome so much to get where he is. It's a beautiful story. Yeah. The story itself is beautiful. The moral to it, again, I think, is ties right back to what can I do.

Well, you can see somebody that's hungry and put money in their lunch account. That's a little thing, yeah. I mean, there are so many kids, teenagers who are doing that exact same thing. Sofa surfing from one friend's house. The only reason I knew about it was because of my involvement with City House in Plano to start with. If I hadn't had that exposure, I would not have even understood what that meant because I didn't think there were homeless teens, you know. A lot of life from a mom sitting at a lunch.

Yeah. Pretty amazing and still growing strong. Everybody, it is called National, excuse me, young men's service league. And Pam is the national president. And I would say founder, but I guess you're going to say co-founder or you're My sister-in-law co-founded with me. She was involved for the first eight years or so, and then she stopped to step down. So Pam Rosner from Plano, Texas, what an amazing story.

Thank you. Oh, thank you for having me. This has been fun. And I am praying that people from all over the city, all over the country, call and start chapters with you. But come on, Memphis, this is something that would be good for the city, good for boys, their moms, everything. Then this is... We can start four chapters, five chapters. You guys just let us know how many.

I love it. I'm sitting there thinking one, you're already to five. Oh, yeah, no, no. We like at least in a city this big. We probably need at least four or five just to start with. Sure, absolutely. Because it's all, you know, the high schools are all spread out. That's right.

Yeah, we can do it. Yeah, we can do it. Pam Rosner, everybody. Thank you. Thank you. This is great. And thank you for joining us this week. If Pam Rosner has inspired you in general, or better yet, to take action by joining one of the 199 chapters of Young's Men's Service League, or starting your own in your own community, or something else entirely, let me know. I want to hear about it.

Write me anytime at bill at normalfolks. us. If you enjoyed this episode, share it with friends and on social. subscribe to the podcast rate and review it join the army at normalfolks. Us guys the more of you the more impact we have so any and all of these things that help us grow an army and normal folks is vital I'm Bill Courtney until next time do what you can about my new fiction podcast. That's one small step for man. About Buzz Aldrin, one of the two pioneers of space.

You're a great pilot, Buzz. That's the story you think you know. This is the story you don't. Buzz, starring me, John Lithgow. On the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Our IHeart Radio Music Festival, presented by Capital One,

Coming back to Las Vegas, September 19th and 20th. On your feet. Streaming live only on Hulu. Ladies and gentlemen. Brian Adams. Ed Sheeran. Fade. Glorilla.

Jelly Roll. John Fogarty. Lil Wayne. L.L. Cool J. Mariah. Maroon 5. Sammy Hagar. Tate McCray.

The offspring. Tim McRaw. Tickets are on sale now at AXS.com. Get your tickets today. AXS.com. Everyone thinks they'd never join. a cult. But it happens all the time to people just like you. And people just like us. I'm Lola Blanc. And I'm Megan Elizabeth. We're the host of Trust Me, a podcast about cults, manipulation,

and the psychology of belief. Each week we talk to fellow survivors, former believers, and experts to understand why people get pulled in and how they get out. Trust me, new episodes every Wednesday on exactly right. Listen wherever you get your podcasts. A podcast documentary series following the launch of San Diego Football Club. 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 to embrace this community. Listen to San Diego FC behind the flow on the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. When I became a journalist, I was the first.

Latina in the newsrooms where I work. I'm Maria Inojosa. I spent my career creating journalism that centers voices who have been historically sidelined. From the most pressing news stories to deep cultural explorations, Latino USA is journalism with heart. Listen to Latino USA,

the longest running Latino news and culture show in the United States. Hear it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart. Podcasts.