SignalsAZ.com Prescott News Podcast - Hope Fest 2025 – Building a Community Rooted in Love and Service

Episode Date: August 7, 2025

Send us a text and chime in!In this profoundly moving and energizing episode, we sit down once again with the powerhouse behind Hope Fest, Jaye Lene Long, as she reflects on the growth, evolution, and soul of one of Northern Arizona’s most beloved community events. Now in its 13th year, Hope Fest has blossomed from a small outreach into what Jaye Lene proudly calls "Northern Arizona’s premier community gathering."Check out the CAST11.com Website at: https://CAST11.com Follow the CAST11 Podcast Network on Facebook at: https://Facebook.com/CAST11AZFollow Cast11 Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/cast11_podcast_network

Hey, everybody, welcome back. I am so lucky to be, this is my favorite time of year because I get to see you once a year, sometimes, sometimes other times, but I always know I get to see you in the studio once a year. Jayling Long, the amazing powerhouse behind Help Fest. I know you're going to say you got a team. How big is your team? What are you guys doing? What's happening? How big is my team? It's grown this year. I probably have about 20 different captains and they each have an assistant. And I am not into micromanaging. I'm glad I have a lot of people that are responsible for the areas. They create their own processes. And we get together and see what's going great. We'll see what the challenges are. And go from there. So Hope Fest, this is your 13th?

13th year. We've raised a preteen. Wow. Aw. A little preteen runner. Now you've got a teenager. Yeah. That's it running around.

Oh, my gosh. So tell everybody. a little bit about Hope Fest, what it is, what you do, what's your mission? Hope Fest started as a challenge from Justin Unger, worship pastor over at the Heights Church, to take, celebrate recovery down to the courthouse plaza without an agenda, without hoping to get them into church or anything. Just let them know that we were neighbors, they're loved, they're not alone, and we care. And it just blew up from there. It's still founded in recovery art, I mean, about caring and loving and not alone.

I mean, those are basics for a lot of different types of organizations. But it's the service providers and organizations that have come along with us that spell a healthy community. And for instance, social behavioral mental health, adult services, you know, senior care, youth advocacy, jobs, of course, health and wellness, all those different things that spell a healthy community that if you took one of amount that it would not. We're in trouble. Yeah. So we've got to balance it out by coming down and offering those services. But in the midst of the family resource fair is everything that's going on around the

plaza too, which is there's three streets that are closed on the square for the car and motorcycle show and the family fund zone. And it's just a day of. of gathering. You know, when we landed on Northern Arizona's premier community gathering, that just really spelt it all because it brings everybody together because not everybody's looking for services. Some people are looking, what great organizations don't I know about? Where can I volunteer my time, donate my money?

And so it's a mix, mix just like our community is. Where can I just go and have a really fun day? Yeah, fun day too. Lots of fun. Yeah. So you're going to have some music there this year? There's music, there's speakers, there's dancing, there's entertainment, yeah, on both sides of the plaza, yeah, both steps, the steps of face girly and the steps of

face Goodwin. Nice. Nice. So you've been doing this a while. How has it evolved over the last 13 years? It's evolved in processes and streamlining and with technology advance. making things easier, for instance, signing people up online. And we started off with just a Facebook page.

We didn't even have a website back then. So, you know, we've grown in that. Our website is amazing. And we just try to keep it so visually interesting and show the different aspects of what is going on and what transpires down there. One thing I noticed, and I've seen it over the last few years that we've worked together, is I'm sure the first year. I mean, you're out there knocking on doors and, you know, because it's going to take a village to put on this festival and this. But for you, I see your list gets bigger. Our list gets bigger.

And you and I were talking about this. I think we have a foundation of people that have been with us through the whole thing. I mean, whether it be our sponsors like CASA, which is formerly Lamb, you have a bipolar gas, team challenge to different service organizations. organizations like Matt Force, let's see Yopai County Community Health, Wi-Fact, many more. You know, I would really run into those. But then I love seeing new ones come on board that we've maybe been inviting through the years that finally this year is their time to come. But that is such a testament to what you guys are doing every year and seeing, you know, it's one thing too. I'm to give my money over here this year. I'm going to give my time this year. But then you see it.

And you see these people continuing to come back and support this because they understand how important this is to our community. Well, you know, the support is two things. The support is the community support of those organizations coming out. It's also the support of the families being willing to come get the services and know that they're safe and they're okay. And then there's the support of the financial part, which we know that no nonprofit can do anything without that. And in this area, we have to be in the black on the day of the event. Because we know the day after the event, everything just goes away until the next year. So we work really hard to make sure we're financially responsible and making sure those invitations are out. And I did come across something that I

really believe. This is that so many change-driven groups are stepping up. Let's unite as a community for an exceptional day of service. It's a perfect chance to connect, give back, and make a positive difference together. And that's the crux of it all. We're doing it together. And when those financial part, the financial piece comes together, it makes Hope Fest possible. It makes it free. And I just challenge your viewers, you know, if anybody's ever been blessed, whether it be they've attended Hope Fest or got services or years later, they see the ripple effects of what they did at Hope Fest. Just think about a donation, if you can. because just like every other nonprofit this year, we're struggling to.

And every little bit helps and it makes it possible that we can do this another year. Well, because how many of us have been down on our luck or something's happened or I don't know how I'm going to pay my electric bill this month or how I'm going to get groceries? And one little thing happens. And it's like, okay, I can do this now. You know, somebody helped, somebody stepped in. somebody assisted. And I remember it was a long time ago. My oldest, I was getting ready to have my third child. So it was 1992, 93, and our car broke down. And that was our only vehicle. And I reached out to social services or welfare back in the day they called it. And they gave me like $850 to fix my car.

And they don't do that. I don't know what they do now. But it's like, I, I was like, wait, I just went down to try to get food stamps or something just to help with, like, I don't know what to do. I can't even work right now because my car. And they gave me the money to fix my car. And they just said, now you can work. Like you don't. And I was like, and I never took a dime from them other than that because that's all I needed. I just needed to be able to get to work. And you never forgot it. No. And at the time, it was just like the biggest thing anybody could do. And you just felt so blessed. Yeah. Just now you can work. And it's like when you're going to be okay. Yeah, we're a family of four with one car.

Yeah. And so, and now it's broken. And they fixed it. And it was just, I'll never forget that because I went just asking for, you know, just help me get groceries. And I'm like, well, let's help you get your car fixed. Well, they also believe that they can teach you how to get the groceries that you'll, you'll have more groceries to come.

We'll teach Amanda Fish sort of thing, huh? But so what are the services if, you know, if you're a family in need or maybe a veteran or somebody, you know, in the community? Well, that's interesting because we do. we do separate the courthouse plaza into different areas. We do have veteran and first responder services. We have family support. We have community service providers.

And there's job services from the Arizona Department of Workforce. There are, you know, if you're trying to get on your own stepping stone agencies, is there. They help with domestic violence. as well as they have a thrift store. And I'm looking here, Yavapai Casa Foundation for Kids. They are so amazing. They step in at the emergency moment. I love.

Those kids are taken from their families and provide those things, those essentials that they need. Well, you know what they did. And I bragged about this on our Facebook page, but it's worth repeating. They cross my desk in my email. because everybody's signing up online. We need three spaces this year. We're going to do information and passing out things with this. And we're going to play games with this one.

But the third one, we want to set up for cutting kids' hair. We've always had the veterans' haircuts. But to sit there and we want to cut kids. Oh, no, I know. And that's why a fact that does that? Yeah. We love Missy over there. That's Costa for Kids.

Oh, Costa for Kids is doing that. Okay. Take it further. That's not their mission. See, they're about getting the things for the kids and giving them to them. Well, they're coming. They thought a little broader, and that's the challenge I have for these service providers. They tell me, well, we can do this and this and this, or what is it you want us to do,

Gaileney? And they said, you're the expert at your field. Yeah. You need to tell me what you can do there. And they thought, they dreamed, and they pursued something. outside of their mission to be a giving service for those kids. And it's just to me, there's stories after stories like that. It's just the sweetness of Hope Fest.

Yeah. And what I was thinking too when you were talking about, you know, some of these organizations that were there stepping stones. Yeah. Sometimes you're in a situation and you don't know how to get out of it. But I bet you could take the kids to a day of fun and then maybe have an opportunity. opportunity to talk to somebody without other people realizing what you're doing. That just happened before. We had a mom with four kids. Didn't know anything, didn't see any of the

advertisements, didn't have a clue what we were doing. She walked through and she got connected with Wi-FAC. He just mentioned them all ago. And the family violence unit. She created a plan because she was in the middle of a domestic violence situation. And again, back to the foundation of why we started was you're not alone, you're loved, we're in the same community. She walked away with logistical specifics of what we could do to help her. And she got haircuts for her kids and they went and had lunch and have fun. So yes, you're right. We can talk about the really serious stuff.

Yeah. But it doesn't have to be the end of the day. Yeah. It doesn't have to be it. You can still have your kids, have fun. And, you know, my thought is just it's kind of, If you don't know, maybe you don't know. And, you know, you're allowed to kind of go into these situations.

And maybe there's, that's your opportunity to see what's in front of you. But also, just like you said, a fun day for the kids, a fun day for families. You were talking about lawn games and just so much stuff going on. Chante Underwood manages that area back there. And she just does an amazing over-the-top job. Love it on those kids and creating a really fun environment. Now, how much does this cost? Cost?

Yeah. A person to come or cost me to put on it on? Yeah. No, how much is it cost to come and bring the whole family out for the day? Oh, it costs zero. Zero. That's why I was saying, if anybody's ever been blessed, please think about, or if we've gone to a concert, we're going to have a headliner later on. And, of course, we're doing music throughout today.

Yeah, if anybody's been blessed by any of that before, think about a little donation, but it is free. We always accept donations, but it's a free admission. Free for these kids and free for these families. And, you know, like, I just wanted people to understand it is not a low-income event. This is a big event. This isn't a, oh, well, you know, only this is for everybody. It is a great event. And it is, you know, it's fun for the whole family and, you know, help out if you can.

I know you're looking for vendors, you're looking for donations, sponsors. how if somebody is wanting to help, maybe they can't help financially, but they can help maybe as a volunteer. Yeah. How do they get a hold of you? What do they do? Volunteering is big. Hopefestazee.com.

And it's right on the front page, many ways to get involved, which are what you just listed, volunteering, being a service vendor, being a sponsor, being a donor. I did want to mention, we were talking about different organizations that are coming. I have to mention that the area. Arizona military vehicle collectors club. It took me a long time to get that one down. They are coming and bringing wartime vehicles that are been restored. And it'll bring the history memorabilia with it too.

And I sought them out. I saw them at NASCAR two times. And I could get anybody to answer me. And finally, I said that one of my emails, can somebody please? Please help me. And they got back with me and we've got a plan. now. Oh, that's awesome.

Yeah. Another group that I have been trying for most of the 13 years to bring in to Hope Fest, veterans for child rescue. Oh. These are the special op guys to go and rescue kids from trafficking. I have heard about these guys. They've been on CBS and they've had documentaries made about them. They're recorded in Tucson.

Oh, you can me goosebumps. I want them to meet our military and first responders. And not be afraid. Yeah, not being afraid of these, you know, awesome. That is so I just, my favorite event, I'm so excited that you're doing this. I'm so excited that you're able to continue to put this on. And obviously, like we said, it's because of donations and sponsors and people that are volunteering. And, oh, one thing you said to me, because as a vendor, because we go to different events, tell me about the cart system.

Because this to me, I'm like, if I go to one event as a vendor, this is the one I'm going to and this is why. And all the other events when we get together, we have a meeting with the county, and they bring all the events together because we, that way they can tell us the new rules and regulations for the year altogether. But I've come to find out that Hope Fest has the, what do you call it? They, they're not jealous. They're just looking at our system. Everybody wants to know what's working and what's, yeah. So they drive down Union Street. We have Cortez closed off.

Our vendor team, they unload the vehicles of the stuff for their setup. They put them on carts and they run them over to the vendor location, the space, while the participant, the vendor's service provider goes apart because we work our butts off to keep any vehicles from going on. on the courthouse plaza because that reduces our fines and all that kind of thing. But know that it's, it's, yeah, they, they like that. You make it so easy for that. Yes, because I've, that's the dreaded. Yes. The pack in, the pack out.

And it's always like, I've got to get rid of everything. So I don't want to get all this stuff back to my car. But that is, I mean, so you guys just learned. You've dialed it in. I'm jealous. They admire. They admire. They admire.

They admire. Our process. Yeah. Well, and that's what, you know, any good, you know, person that's putting on an event or running a business, you get together as business owners and figure out what is better. What do we do? What can we help each other with? So that's me. And improve every year. And that's what I love about our captains. They own their area. They, they're pretty protective of it, too. And but they're improving upon it every single year because they want the user experience to be good. If you're happy coming, you're happy being there because it is not the easiest thing to go set out for one day. One day. Well, I'm parking and just trying to, yeah, it's a mess.

So we try our hardest to make it a good experience. And I challenge our service providers that they're having an issue. Please let us know because sometimes I'm not finding things out for a couple of years later and like going, well, if I'd know on that day, I could have done something. Yeah. Oh, we can't do that anymore because, but you'll fix it. Talk to me about your bands because I know you've got some that you're excited about. I am excited about the bands. Opening up right after the opening ceremony will be Jamie Smith.

She's a worship pastor, recording artists with integrity that is out of Oklahoma City. He's been doing it for 30 years. And she happens to be my favorite. She was on the radio for quite a while with salt and light and several other songs. And I used to sing a lot of her songs. There's a whole story about that. We can go in a minute. She's pulling you up on stage.

She wanted to do a couple of duets together. But as you hear, my voices changed this year. And my doctor changed my medicine, which has also affected my singing voice. So that's not going to happen. I mean, that was a bucket listing. And then we have Abby Walker. She's connected with the Ellis Cooper Teen Center. And she's an amazing young artist up and coming.

And she's got a story to tell. And it all has to do with some of her own personal testimony of breaking through depression. And she had a brain injury. And I don't know much about my recovery story, but I've had TBI and had to get past that and the depression that goes with it. So to hear her turn that into music that can relate to other people that they can maybe catch that and see that there's hope because that's what we're about Hope Fest, right? Okay.

And then we have Anthony Santana. He's often a friend of Brian Head Welch, and he was with us last year. We're excited about having him back. And then Pastor Ronnie James. Girl, I was at the Rangler's game a few weeks ago. And I see Ronnie there. You know, you can't miss him. Yeah.

And all of a sudden, I see him out on the field because I had my cheerleaders out there. We were doing the tunnel for the players and stuff. And I was like, what is Ronny there? he doing. And of course, National Anthem on the electric guitar, coolest moment ever. That was, I was so happy to be there and witness that. He was thrilled. He was thrilled about it. And then our headliner, we are so excited to bring in a contemporary Christian artist, Lincoln Brewster. And this is the first time I'm announcing it is right here. Probably coming out on Monday as well. But he first played with Journey.

He is a guitar prodigy. You know, so this was at 19, he was playing with Journey. Okay. And he had also become a Christian, and he did a couple of years with them, and he said, you know what, I really want to go off on my own thing and do my own discovery. He did. And he became a major contender in the Christian music industry. And he's now a worship pastor out in California.

And him and his band and believe me, the people that are coming will be. Oh, that's awesome. It's going to be amazing because I think I told you the story about when he was seven, he would play on the corner for money. And he'd take the people's money. And then he goes, okay, give me another dollar and I'll play the same thing behind my back. Well, that's a nice hook, isn't it? Yeah.

So who wouldn't pull up like five bucks. I'm super excited about that. And then seven. Part of the opening ceremony, I want to make sure and mention this at, I think it's around 1130 is when our, yes, 1130 is our opening ceremony. We will be part of that ceremony. We will be honoring because, you know, we're about honoring first responders and our military. And we will be doing a ceremony for Sergeant Richard Lopez. Yes, he will be, Kim will be receiving the honor and sacrifice flag, which is a fallen first responders.

And the honor member flag is going to go to first sergeant Samuel R. Robles. Is that how he said? You did it. Robles. Yeah. And his wife, Stephanie. And, um. Oh, it'll be special.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Nice. I think you've thought of everything. Everything, as always, as always. If you want to get involved, reach out to it's a HopefestayZ.com. Volunteer, give some money.

And like you said, anything helps. Everything helps. Everything helps. Become a vendor. Don't have to even load your own stuff in. It was the best day ever. You still have to set up. Wow.

All right. So, but keep doing what you guys are doing. Like I said, just love having you guys in here. I love what you do for the community. And just thanks so much, Jay. We love our community. So doing nothing's not an option. We're about passion and action.

That's us. Passion and action. I love it. Well, thank you so much. You guys get out to Hope Fest, September 20th this year, which I love that date. It's a perfect date. Hopefestasey.com, Jeline Long. Thank you so much.

Thanks for us.