11. Veteran Episode

On this episode, Carl Falconer and Danny Arroyo honor Veterans Day with a special discussion on homeless veterans — exploring the challenges they face, the programs designed to help, and the importance of community in ensuring no veteran is left behind.

They unpack the causes behind veteran homelessness, including mental health struggles and reintegration challenges, and spotlight Pathlight HOME’s No Buddy Left Behind program, which has already helped dozens of veterans find stable housing. The conversation also touches on powerful stories of resilience, the role of teamwork and service, and how military values like brotherhood and compassion translate into the fight to end homelessness.

Plus, the duo highlights inspiring veterans’ initiatives, including Hayden Hurst’s mental health advocacy and Stacia McDonough’s “Keep Them Warm” campaign — while reflecting on the week’s “MVP” and “Fumble” moments in the NFL and in housing advocacy.

Produced by Gigi Ramirez and Jay Falconer. Music and Sound Design by Kwon.

Please send any questions or comments to: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠questions@pathlighthome.org

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:04

Welcome to the Home Team Podcast. I'm Carl Falkener and I'm Danny O'Reilly, and we're tackling homelessness.

SPEAKER_02 0:20

Today in our podcast, we will discuss two of our passions, football and ending homelessness. Please join us through four quarters with our topic this week being homeless veterans. So we have a special episode, right? We're going to talk about homelessness in honor of Veterans Day tomorrow. So I want to thank you for your service first. Absolutely. You were in the Army for what a couple of years? Four years.

SPEAKER_01 0:42

And then in the Army National Guard for four years as well.

SPEAKER_02 0:45

Nice. Well, thank you for your service.

SPEAKER_01 0:47

So all right.

SPEAKER_02 0:48

Well, how was your weekend?

SPEAKER_01 0:49

It was good. My Bears won again. No. How about that? What is going on? We are rolling. Of course, we're not playing the best competition. Yeah. That's true. You beat the people who are in front of you. That's how you do it. I think we're actually tied on top of our division. Depending on how Green Bay does uh on Monday night, we'll, yeah, we might be we might be on top of our division.

SPEAKER_03 1:13

The last couple of weeks, right? I know exactly.

SPEAKER_01 1:16

Pretty good. Yeah, the offense finally coming to life. So that's a good thing. Good for us. How about you? How was your weekend?

SPEAKER_02 1:22

Uh so I celebrated my birthday yesterday. Yeah, happy birthday, man. Turned 21, so very excited.

SPEAKER_01 1:28

Good for you.

SPEAKER_02 1:29

Add 30 more years to that, but okay. Very good. But no, I went to see a show on Saturday, went to see Water for Elephants at Dr. Phillips, which is it was okay.

SPEAKER_03 1:37

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 1:38

Um, and then yesterday uh went to Bella Restaurante, where we just had lunch recently. So I went back. Wonderful. Italian place here in Orlando. It was really, really good. Um, my wife loved it, but yeah, it was a quiet birthday, nothing crazy.

SPEAKER_01 1:50

Okay, yeah, fantastic. Good for you. Yep. All right, Danny. Well, uh, we'll go to the coin toss. Um, Danny, call it in the air.

SPEAKER_02 1:59

Uh, let's do tales.

SPEAKER_01 2:03

It is tails, so you get to start us off today.

SPEAKER_02 2:06

All right, so welcome to our first quarter. I'm going to kick off by defining a topic of the week that we will cover some headlines and announce the results from last week's home team locks of the week. So, as we said, our topic this week is all homeless veterans. Uh, so homeless veterans are former members of the armed forces who lack stable, safe, and adequate housing. This may include living on the streets, in shelters, transitional housing, cars, or temporary accommodation. According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, HUD, a homeless veteran is a person who served in the active military, naval, or air service and was discharged or released under conditions other than dishonorable, and currently does not have a fixed, regular, and adequate night-time residence. Homelessness among veterans can result from a combination of factors such as mental health disorders like PTSD and depression, substance abuse, unemployment or underemployment, lack of affordable housing, isolation, and difficult reintegration into civil civilian life. The Youth Department of Housing and Urban Development, over 33,000 experience homelessness on any given night. That's roughly roughly one in every 10 homeless adults in America.

SPEAKER_01 3:14

Yeah. Yeah. So uh when we talk about homeless veterans, I think the the thing we need to let the community know is that for us in the homeless response system, there are different ways of defining veterans, I guess. I mean, anyone who served was obviously a veteran, but what people are eligible for, and it can be confusing sometimes for uh the community or people who are not involved in the homeless homeless service system because some people are eligible for some programs and some people are eligible for not. Like you said here, uh if it's a HUD program, then they have to be other than dishonorably discharged. Um, there are some programs like our nobody left behind program where we don't have that barrier, we don't have that criteria. We can serve people who have been dishonorably discharged, um, but they might not be eligible for other other services uh or other programs. And so I think that's one of the things to keep in mind is that not every homeless veteran is looked at the same way in our homeless response system.

SPEAKER_02 4:28

Yeah, it varies per per person, but like you said, the nobody left behind, we're a little bit more flexible. Right. We can pretty much serve everyone we want, um, which makes it a little easier for us to get those that can get other funding or any type of income to get them housed. And and they've done a great job this year, this program. We've housed 37 veterans so far.

SPEAKER_01 4:47

That's fantastic.

SPEAKER_02 4:48

Um and the great thing about this program is that we have those veterans that we house go back out with us to volunteer and kind of um show current veterans that are on the street that this program works and and and help them out and give back, which is Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 5:02

And and we're really proud of it because it's really unique in that in that aspect. And again, the idea of nobody left behind, and I'll talk about that a little bit later with some of my experience in the Army. Um but I think that's the thing, that's the one thing that we have to we have to be careful of because just because uh people in the community see a homeless serving or a program that serves homeless veterans, it doesn't mean that they necessarily serve every single veteran or every you know combination of their um so definitely now let's take a look at some of the headlines from the homeless world. Um this one's a bad one, Danny. Yeah, yeah. This one's a really bad one.

SPEAKER_05 5:44

I know.

SPEAKER_01 5:45

Um this week, Dallas Cowboys defensive end Marshawn Neeland was found dead early Thursday morning in Frisco, Texas from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound after crashing his vehicle following a police chase, the Texas Department of Safety said. He was 24. The police in nearby Plano, about 20 miles north of Dallas, confirmed to the athletic that a welfare concern check was conducted at an address associated with Nealan on Wednesday at 1140 p.m. local time. Officers did not find anybody at the residence. The athletic reviewed a Frisco police dispatch recording from around 11.30 p.m. in which an officer said police were talking to Nealan's girlfriend who did not know where he was. She's saying he is armed and has a history of mental illness. And her quote was, he will end it all. The officer said on the recording. Frisco Police Radio said around 11 45 p.m. that members of a group chat Nealan was in received a message from him saying goodbye. Roughly half an hour later, a dispatcher alerted police that family members were receiving goodbye messages as well.

SPEAKER_02 7:04

Yeah, this is this is sad. He he he's been with Dallas for two years. He had a pretty good game the last uh right before this happened. He scored his first touchdown from a uh a fumble. Right. Um, and then yeah, this this happened, but they said he's been struggling with mental illness for a while.

SPEAKER_01 7:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:22

Um, just just sad. He was only 24, so he was young.

SPEAKER_01 7:25

Yeah, absolutely. And again, it just it it spotlights the whole idea of suicide and and mental health issues, and you know, people really, you know, us really trying to get to people and let them know that there's help out there. Um, veterans, certainly, in this episode, uh, we talk a lot about you know, veterans and suicide from veterans coming back, specifically combat veterans and people who have seen, you know, horrific things. Um it's it's letting people know that there are people out here that can help people. You know, in the homeless response system, that's what we're here for, is to try and help as many people as possible and to let people know that this does not have to be an option that you have to put on the table.

SPEAKER_02 8:13

Definitely, definitely.

SPEAKER_01 8:14

You know, let us know. Reach out to your friends, reach out to your family. If you're dealing with any of these kinds of issues or anything like that, we're here to help you with that. There are plenty of you know programs and hotlines and and all kinds of stuff that that is available. If you will just reach out and just let them talk with you and and have a conversation.

SPEAKER_02 8:43

If they did, you know, I'm pretty sure they would have gotten him some help, absolutely would have helped him with with you know whatever he was dealing with. So I mean his his girlfriend knew about it, yeah, um, you know, and some of his family members, but I'm pretty sure if the team knew, I think they would have done more to possibly you know helped him out and then see what other thing they could have done for him. So very sad. Very, very sad.

SPEAKER_01 9:02

It but it also just goes to show that you can have everything in the world. I mean, this guy was an NFL football player and and like you said, had a great game, and you can have everything in the world, and this still can affect you. And so, you know, uh it can be anybody and it can happen to anybody at any time.

SPEAKER_02 9:19

Doesn't matter how much money you have, doesn't matter. It if you have struggling with some mental health, it's it money can fix that. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 9:26

Yeah, so absolutely very sad. All right. Uh and now let's see how our cowboys and bears did this week, Danny. Well, we did great because we had a buy. So we were safe. We were very safe.

SPEAKER_03 9:38

So yeah, we we yeah, we had to lose if our mental state we were good too. So we had a week to you know kind of just calm down, but yeah, we had a bye.

SPEAKER_02 9:48

Um but next week we play uh the Raiders at home. So uh we'll see what that looks like. Yeah, okay, great.

SPEAKER_03 9:55

Right now I don't have much to give you. We'll just see what happens. We'll see what happens.

SPEAKER_01 10:00

My Bears, they won again. The Bears beat the Giants 24 to 20. Wow. That makes us six and three. Now, if you had told me at the beginning of the year that the Bears would be six and three after 10 weeks, uh I would have been very happy with that. And I am very happy with that. I think again, like I told you before, I thought about week eight or so was when our offense would start coming around based off of what I was seeing, and it looks like we're right on target with that.

SPEAKER_02 10:31

This this was another game that came to the end, right? That's right.

SPEAKER_01 10:34

Yeah, but the offense had to pull it out, and they did. The defense did their job. They they got the ball, you know, they they did what they needed to do, and but our offense showed up and there was some snow coming down, right?

SPEAKER_03 10:47

It was snow, a little bit of snow, yes. I see. Yes, it's the form there, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:54

That's the way it's supposed to be, absolutely. So next week, though, we start a little tougher schedule. Uh, we have the Vikings at Minnesota. Uh, that's gonna be a tough game. That's a division game, it's a big game, and uh, we really need to uh we need to come up with something on that one.

SPEAKER_02 11:12

If you guys are playing the way you're playing, might be might be a good game. Might be a good game.

SPEAKER_01 11:16

Might be a good game. I hope so. Anyway.

SPEAKER_02 11:18

All right. Well, that wraps up the first quarter. We will be back after this break. Hello, I'm Daniel Royo, Vice President of Programs at Pathlight Home. If you're new to our mission, welcome. We're dedicated to changing the lives of those experiencing homelessness and hardship through housing, support services, and career training. What began as one dream for a compassionate solution to homelessness has become a reality. Since our funding, we've provided housing for more than 8,000 people, offering shelter, opportunity, and hope. This month, as we honor National Homeless Awareness Month, we are also kicking off our end-of-year campaign, a time to come together and give back. Every contribution, whether monetary or in kind, directly supports our residents and the community we serve. No gift is too small to make a difference. As we celebrate our journey from dream to reality, thank you for being part of this mission. Together we can make the dream of ending homelessness a reality in our community.

SPEAKER_01 12:28

This is the second quarter. We're getting a little deeper into a homelessness topic with something we call offense versus defense. We will each take turns discussing some opposing viewpoints of our topic this week. The statement that we will discuss this week is should veterans be prioritized for services over other people who are homeless. Please remember we are trying to show both sides of the issue. These do not necessarily reflect our individual stances on these positions. Um, so I don't know how it worked out this week, Danny, but I get the offense this week as a veteran. I appreciate that. Um I think you know you did me a little favor there. But uh uh so I have the offense or the pros. Um, so should veterans be prioritized for services over other people who are homeless? And I say yes. Um, and here are some of the reasons why. Uh, number one, we have a moral obligation and social contract. Veterans have served and risked their lives for the country. Society arguably has a duty to ensure that they are not left homeless as a result of that service. This reflects a collective gratitude and repayment for sacrifices made. Service-related causes of homelessness. Many veterans experience homelessness due to issues directly linked to their military service, such as PTSD, physical disabilities, or difficulties reintegrating into civilian life. Prioritizing them addresses a form of structural responsibility, society's role in causing or exacerbating the problem. Public support and political feasibility. Programs for veterans often have strong bipartisan and public backing, which can help secure funding for homelessness initiatives more broadly. Prioritizing veterans may make homelessness programs more politically sustainable. The existing infrastructure, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, or the VA and community partners already have specialized services. HUD VASH, which is a form of voucher, basically, specifically for veterans. SSVF, which is supportive services for veterans' families, and they have very specific funding set aside for veterans, are tailored to veterans' needs. Prioritization can leverage these resources efficiently. And finally, demonstrated success. Targeted veteran homelessness programs have shown measurable success, with some cities achieving functional zero. We've talked about functional zero before. Functional zero for veteran homelessness, suggesting prioritization can be effective.

SPEAKER_02 15:17

All right, Danny, on to the So these are my uh defense and my cons. Uh fairness concerns. Other groups, such as families with children, youth, survivors of domestic violence, may be equally vulnerable or in greater need. Prioritizing one group could unintentionally delay aid for others facing life-threatening conditions. Risk of deservingness, hierarchies. Emphasizing veterans might reinforce a notion that some people are more deserving of help than others, which can stigmatize non-veterans or civilians experiencing homelessness. Systematic root causes not addressed. Focusing on veterans may divert attention or funding from broader structural issues like lack of affordable housing, poverty, or mental health services that cause homelessness across population. Next is resource competition. Dedicated veteran programs may pull funding or service capacity away from general homeless populations, especially in resource-scarce communities. And finally, diversity with veteran populations. Not all veterans face the same barriers. Overgeneralizing can lead to inefficient use of resources or overlook subgroups such as women veterans, LGBTQ plus veterans, who face unique challenges. So both are pretty good. I think that agencies that focus on certain, let's say they focus on veterans. I mean, their priority is veteran funding. They want everything for them, you know. Absolutely. And I think everything else is secondary to those type of agencies. We serve everyone. That's right. We certainly doesn't matter. Every single population we serve. So we want to help everybody and get funding for everybody, right? It doesn't matter who. But um I think the the VA, the the existing infrastructure of HUD and SSVF, and we work very closely with some other agencies that have SSVF funding, which really helps us to to have other options to help the mine. We always go through kind of SSVF first and make it work. But I think, yeah, I think some of these are are they're valid on on your side.

SPEAKER_01 17:18

And again, I think I think your point is uh particularly about the VA and SSVF is the scalability of the services. Is veterans aren't the largest uh subpopulation of the homeless population, but they are getting a a significant amount of resources and funding uh to them. And again, it could be because of the public support, it could be because of political backing, it could be because of the infrastructure that's there. Any of those things are reasons why they're getting more resources specifically for veterans, but because they're able to scale that up, it definitely gives them an advantage because we've talked about that a lot on this uh on this show, is scaling is one of the biggest things, and that's how we're gonna end homelessness is by being able to scale up the resources in terms of the cons. Um these are some of the things I I I agree with. Some of these things is that certainly equity and fairness, and this is a hard one that we always run into in the homeless service field is who should we serve first and how should we determine who we serve first? And there's lots of ways that we do that. We do assessments with people, we you know um have prioritization mechanisms set up and all those different types of things, but it's really, really difficult and it's challenging for us to be able to figure out who to serve first, because like you said, we want to serve everybody. Right. Um, and then of course, uh the systemic root cause is not addressed. You know, this is one that that I really do agree with is is even though even while we're serving veterans, and because the veterans have the resources, we've got to remember that there are systemic issues at work here that could help everybody. And if we can solve the housing problem, the lack of affordable housing problem for veterans, we should be able to solve the lack of affordable housing for everybody. For everybody, yeah. You know, I think it's and and so I mean, obviously when there aren't enough resources, that that's gonna this is always gonna be a topic is which population should you serve first and why should you serve that population over another population? And and so it comes back to that screen.

SPEAKER_02 19:38

And I I think something we've done well here is that we've gotten funding for different programs to focus on that program, on that person, and nobody left behind is one of those. We got some funding for veterans, and now we're focusing primarily on those groups with that funding, and it just helps us a little more to process things faster with that funding to get people through. But I think the other thing about what you said on your first one was the moral obligation is you hear a lot, you know, these people served our country, they were you know putting their life on the line. Why aren't they at the top of that's right that priority for people? So it it's it's kind of a back and forth on that.

SPEAKER_01 20:13

So yeah, absolutely. And look, as a veteran, I I agree with that. I I think the country does have a moral obligation, but the reality is is that the moral ablu obligation can't extend just to serving veterans after they become homeless. Right. Let's stop them from becoming homeless. That's the moral obligation, that's a social contract. Is why are they becoming homeless in the first place? That's just ridiculous. Yeah. That somebody who served in the military and and like you said, put their service online, put their risk their life possibly uh out there, that they're becoming homeless. That's the moral obligation.

SPEAKER_02 20:50

Especially if you went through some traumatic experience while you're serving, and I mean, what is it that they're doing for them as they're leaving to kind of provide services so they don't end up back on the street or or address their PTSD or their depression or whatever it is.

SPEAKER_01 21:06

That's right. And for a long time, we've had issues uh in this country with the VA in terms of medical, uh being able to get medical uh help and things like that, mental health help and things like that. I think you know, a lot of these programs that are coming online now for veterans to help them once they're discharged are new programs. And we should have been doing more of this all along for veterans. Uh again, trying to make sure that they don't ever become homeless. Yep. That's where the real, again, social contract should come in is that we should make sure that nobody ever becomes homeless after having served as a veteran.

SPEAKER_02 21:43

Yeah, 100%.

SPEAKER_01 21:45

Absolutely. So uh Pathlight Homes position is we believe that everyone should have a home. But right now, the veteran subpopulation of homelessness has more resources than most of our other subpopulations. And if we can end veteran Veteran homelessness, we can use this as a model to end homelessness for everyone. So it's really about picking one subpopulation, trying to solve it for them, and then being able to relay that to other populations. And my hope is that we will end veteran homelessness. And once we do, we can shift those resources to other populations of individuals who are experiencing homelessness.

SPEAKER_02 22:27

So all right, we've made it to the halfway point, and during halftime, we want to take a moment for fan interaction and highlight an inspired quote related to housing and homelessness. So let's start by hearing from our listeners. So the first question, Carl, comes from Samantha. What programs really help homeless veterans get back on their feet?

SPEAKER_01 22:50

Wow, there's a lot of programs for veterans. Um we talked about HUD Vash. Uh the HUD Vash basically is a voucher program, specifically, it's it's um through the Housing and Urban Development Department. And um that's a really great program because it it gives vouchers, uh, basically subsidies for rent to veterans to be able to move into housing. Uh, we also talked about the supportive services for veterans families, which has a whole host of things, and they've really tried to go broad on their types of programs. They have prevention programs, they have rapid rehousing programs, they have outreach programs. I mean, they have all kinds of different services that they have available for veterans. So there really are a lot of veteran services out here to be able to help in the homeless response system. And almost every jurisdiction has some version of these things. I know when I was in North Carolina for a little while providing service there, and one of the things that was interesting about that is because we didn't have as many veterans in our area, we were actually helping veterans throughout the entire state of North Carolina because there were so many resources coming in that we had more resources than we had veterans, which meant that we could serve more veterans outside of our local geographic area.

SPEAKER_02 24:13

Yeah, well, we noticed with this with our little buddy left behind when we started working with other partners and working with the VA about SSVF was all the resources they had with SSVF. And and what we found was or what we've seen is those veterans that we're talking to out on the street don't even know that those that all that's available to them. Right. You know, and it's it's it's great that we are actually bringing them to the VA and trying to get them all all this um all these dollars and support that they deserve and need. So yeah, so it's it's a good idea.

SPEAKER_01 24:44

Yeah, and and again, I think the biggest issue with the programs is not that there aren't enough programs or there aren't enough resources for veterans. It's again those those uh it's sometimes the criteria that goes along with those programs. That's the other in trying to match the programs with the veteran who's eligible for which program. And it's uh, you know, it's a bureaucratic nightmare in some cases, which is why we have great case managers, great outreach workers who know the system, understand the different types of programs, and can get people matched up with exactly the program they're gonna be.

SPEAKER_02 25:20

Exactly for that. All right, our next question comes from Anthony. How big of a role does PTSD play in homelessness among veterans?

SPEAKER_01 25:30

Um, I would say it plays a pretty big role. Um and I also think though that I think one of the ways that we try to uh try to combat this or or you know help people with PTSD is really by employing veterans uh who have been through that veteran experience. And I'm sure it's the same with different subpopulations of people, but there's something about being a veteran, talking to a veteran, and it just opens people up. I know whenever I talk with a veteran, it just it I understand that they've had a similar experience to something that I've had. Look, whether we've been in combat or whether where we've been stationed or what our job was makes no difference. We all know that there's some similarity there, and I think that makes a huge difference, particularly when it comes to things like mental health and PTSD and things like that, is having a veteran working with another veteran. And I know in our Nobody Left Behind program, we do. We have uh Michael, who does a fantastic job, and he's an army veteran like myself, and he goes out on the streets, and that's the first thing that he says is I'm a veteran. And I'm here to help you as a veteran. And it it breaks a lot of those barriers down, and again, particularly with that PTSD, because PTSD is can have all kinds of you know uh effects on people, and it can really make people paranoid, it can really make people depressed. I mean, it can really there's a lot of different things that go into PTSD. Sorry, um uh psychosomatic, traumatic, uh stress disorder. Sorry. Um exactly.

SPEAKER_02 27:10

Yeah, I I think that Mike uh Michael um he has that lived experience. Yeah. So when he's going out there to talk to people, they're it's an understanding, you know. I know what you're going through, I know what you've been through, you know. It's that that bond that you have with that other person who's been like you said, whether whether in combat or not, they still served. And it's you know the lingo, right?

SPEAKER_01 27:31

That's right, exactly.

SPEAKER_02 27:32

The different type of places you've been and what you do there, and you know, so it's yeah.

SPEAKER_01 27:36

Well, I think also, and I'm gonna get into this in a minute here, but um, and sorry, I meant post-traumatic stress disorder. Um, the but one of the things about that I think is that we understood when we went into uh the service that once we got there, that everybody there was on the same team, that we were all together. And and I think that's something that's that when you say you're a veteran to another veteran, they know that you automatically have their back, regardless of any any other differences between you or anything that's going on. It because it's just a code that we had that we agreed to when we went into service. Um, so absolutely. All right. Well, it's time to get inspired by our quote of the week. A hero, uh sorry, this one comes from Joseph Campbell, an American professor, writer, and mythologist. A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself. We must ensure those heroes have a place to live that life. I think this is a good quote. Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 28:49

Um yeah, it's I mean, you you're like we said earlier, you you were giving your life for the country, for you know, for everyone. Um, and then like we said, you come out of the service and why are you homeless? Like why wasn't anyone supporting you or helping you through the process of avoiding that side and getting all these all the help you might need to get back out?

SPEAKER_01 29:10

So and so my story for this one is about uh a kid from South Dakota, uh myself, who went into the army. And what I want to tell the story of this time is basically just what I learned as an army veteran. Um, I went into the army directly out of high school, and uh what I want to do is I want to talk about the values and some of the characteristics that I learned while I was in the army that have transferred over to the homeless service system because I think this really helped set me up to be a better homeless service provider. Um, things like teamwork. Teamwork was a huge thing there. Um, you know, and I've got plenty of army stories. I won't try and, you know, bore y'all with all of those because it would take way too long. But needless to say, teamwork was was drilled into us from the very beginning of basic training and everything that we went through is realizing that we were stronger together than we were apart or individually, and also realizing that the weakest of us was the weakest of our team, and making sure that anyone who was, you know, had some deficiency or had some disability or had had something that they were missing, we needed to address that thing. And I think in homelessness, that's the way that I look at it is the people that are out on the streets are our neighbors. This is our community, and if we want our community to be better, then we need to help the people who are out on the streets to be better.

SPEAKER_05 30:49

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 30:49

Um diversity. Uh look, where I grew up, there were not there was not a lot of diversity. It was a whole bunch of white people, um, some Native American uh individuals, but mostly it was just white people. And when I went into the army, it was really it was really eye-opening the diversity that was there. We had people, you know, from all over the country and spoke all different languages and had all different cultural experiences, and it really taught me that we can work together. And it was interesting because some of the people there came from the same place and had completely different cultural backgrounds, and in fact believed that the that their other cultures were not as you know tolerant of each other. But in the army, when we were there, they realized that they were different people. And I hope they took that back to their to their cities or their their places to realize, you know what, these people are not as different as I thought of them. Or to their families. Absolutely, or to their families, no, no doubt. And then uh appreciation is let me tell you, after sleeping out in a foxhole at night in the cold Virginia mountains or going to the swamp and staying out 30 days in the swamp without any of the creature comforts, no TV, no blankets, no, you know, things like that, it definitely makes me appreciate everything. I appreciate everything in my life so much more from that perspective. And it also makes me, you know, sympathize or empathize with people who are out on the streets and realizing look, we got to get them back to those creature comforts, we got to get them back to that safety, security, you know, even the ability, like I said, to watch TV or to be warm at night or to be cool at night, depending on what temperature it is outside. Those are huge things. And it's the basics that you really appreciate a whole lot more. And then finally, service is realizing that you can put your whole heart, your whole mind, your whole body into the service of something. And you know, I really started to get that feeling when I was when I was in the army. And you know, it it didn't matter what we were doing, or it didn't matter where we were going, or what training we were doing, or or who we were interacting with. We all understood that we were there to serve, that we were there to to, as we said, give our lives to something bigger, something better, something, you know, more broad than ourselves. And I think that's that's what homeless the homeless response system is about, too, is the people who come here to work at Pathlight Home or at any homeless service system have to realize that this is about service and it's about making sure that the people that we're serving get the best experience they possibly can and trying to get them back into the community and back into to whatever.

SPEAKER_02 33:54

I think it's a bond that you form with those people in your unit, right? You become brothers, you become, you know, it's it's and it's kind of like our homeless community when they're out in an encampment, they're very protective of each other. That's exactly they look out for each other, they make sure they're taken care of. It's that bond that they build, just living in that situation.

SPEAKER_01 34:12

Well, and the and the best homeless service providers have that same feeling inside their organization at Pathlight Home. We have that feeling of family, we have that feeling of we're looking out for each other, we've got each other's backs, and the best homeless service systems do that because they realize that it's hard, that this is hard work to try and get people where we need them to be.

SPEAKER_02 34:36

And so it's but but for the team as well, our team is it's a hard job what they do, whether you're doing outreach case management, but we support each other, we talk to each other, and kind of teamwork makes it a whole lot easier.

SPEAKER_01 34:49

We're working as a team instead of individually. Definitely.

SPEAKER_02 34:52

Well, thank you for sharing that call.

SPEAKER_01 34:53

That's cool. Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 34:55

All right, uh, and that concludes our halftime. Please stay with us after this short message.

SPEAKER_00 35:02

Hello, I'm Gigi Ramirez, the Senior Director of Fundraising and Engagement here at Pathlight Home. For over 30 years, we've helped more than 8,000 people transition from homelessness to hope. But when someone moves from the streets to their own home, they often have nothing. That's why we provide immediate essentials, everything from bedding and food to soap and cookware to help them truly feel at home. Beyond housing, PathLite offers career training and supportive services, like our 12-week culinary program, helping residents gain skills, find jobs, and rebuild independence. You can be part of the story, volunteer your time, donate essential goods, or become a monthly PathLite hero, ensuring every neighbor has a chance to thrive. Visit pathlighthome.org to donate today.

SPEAKER_02 36:09

Looking at how our local teams fared and announcing our NFL home team locks of the week. So our NFL player spotlight of the week goes to Hayden Hurst, who is a professional football tight end who plays for the Los Angeles Chargers and has become a national voice of veteran mental health awareness and suicide prevention through his work with the Hayden First Family Foundation. The foundation supports a program for both youth and military veterans, including funding service drug training for veterans with PTSD and partnering with organizations like the Top Dog K9 Foundation and the Face the Fight. Hayden Hurt's Advocacy and Foundation veteran focused initiatives. The Hayden Hurst Family Foundation supports mental health initiatives for veterans which are overlooked. So he has service service dogs. The foundation has funded the training of service dogs for veterans with mental health challenges, recognizing the significance positive impact these dogs can have. Partnering with other organizations. Hearst has partnered, like I said earlier, with other organizations such as Top Dog K9 Foundation to provide support and raise awareness. He has Face to Fight and other partnerships. Hearst has also collaborated with Face to Fight, which aims to increase support for veterans facing mental health challenges and then a personal connection. Hearst's own experience with mental health has made him a strong advocate for others, emphasizing that it's okay not to be okay, and that there is someone out there who cares. So he he gives a lot back to veterans, which is really, really good. And homeless veterans at that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 37:41

Absolutely. And again, we talk about PTSD, we talked about mental health, we talk about a lot of those issues. I love the service dogs. That's fantastic. I mean, I don't know who came up with this idea or who figured out that that dogs and you know canines and pets and things like that could really be emotional support for people, but it is so absolutely true.

SPEAKER_02 38:04

I attended a conference, I can't remember which one it was this year, but they had top dog canine on it.

SPEAKER_01 38:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 38:09

Um, and it was really it was one of the seminars with about veterans, and they had them speaking and they did a whole presentation. Yeah, really, really cool. And they're great.

SPEAKER_01 38:17

I mean, I mean, look at our animals, right? You know, I have a I have a grandpuppy who, you know, I love to death. And yeah, I know you have a couple of dogs yourself, and I mean, it they're just fantastic emotional.

SPEAKER_02 38:31

On a rough day, you get home and all that flies out the window when they're wagging their tail and kissing you, and so that yeah, they have to be able to do that.

SPEAKER_01 38:36

Absolutely, it makes a huge difference. Right.

SPEAKER_02 38:38

All right, so Mr. Call, your fantasy football player pick of the week.

SPEAKER_01 38:42

I'm back at it, Danny. Here we go. Uh, last week I picked Sam Laporta, tight end for the Detroit Lions. Uh, Detroit was playing at Washington. Sam was expected to get seven points and of course got five points. So uh seven points.

SPEAKER_03 39:00

You were off by two.

SPEAKER_01 39:01

I know, I know. Didn't do as well as he should have. Um, this week uh I'm picking Derrick Henry, running back for the Baltimore Ravens. Uh Baltimore's playing at Cleveland. He's expected to get 12 points. Uh Derrick Henry is otherwise known uh in uh NFL circles as the Yeti sometimes. Uh what they say is once the snow falls, that's when Derrick Henry really gets running. So I'm hoping now that it's getting a little cooler, getting a little colder. For snowstorms. It's time for it's time for the Yeti to step up and uh get more of a And he's playing, they're playing Cleveland, so they might he might be okay. No, Cleveland's got a really good defense, though, and it is a division team, but that's why he's got to step up. I think Baltimore's getting healthy. They're getting back into it. I know they won this last weekend, and so you know, I'm I'm hoping that he'll be able to score more than 12 points. Uh my fantasy flashback goes back to 2012. Uh Doug Martin, a running back with Tampa Bay Buccaneers at the time, rushed for 235 yards and four touchdowns in a dominant week 11 performance against the Philadelphia Eagles. Wow. So yeah, 235 yards and four touchdowns. That's a lot. That's huge. That's a lot.

SPEAKER_02 40:23

That's huge. I think I think out of football, as much as I love everything of football, rushing to me is the most the greatest position just because of when when you see that hole and you just I mean, it's just oh, it's it's it's it's exhilarating when they're running. I mean, all the way, it's just great.

SPEAKER_01 40:38

I love seeing running backs running. Absolutely, it really is. Yeah. But if you had Doug Martin back in 2012 in week 11, there's a good chance that you won your fantasy football week that week.

SPEAKER_02 40:50

That was a good game for Tows Council.

SPEAKER_01 40:52

Absolutely. And now we go on to our local football teams to watch. All right, Danny, it's time for the playoffs. Playoffs. It's playoffs. Yep, exactly. So we we both we both have games this week. We both have games. We're in the playoffs. All right, so uh Jones High School uh is playing Deltona. Uh Jones right now is 8-2, and Deltona is five and five. We are playing for the 4-A 2025 Football State Championship. Uh, this is our first playoff game. We're the number one seed in our uh, I guess it would be set. Uh there are 32 teams in our in the playoffs, um, at least in the 4A level. And so, yeah, so we're the number one. Dalton is number eight in our our uh our set, and so hopefully we'll be able to get a victory this week.

SPEAKER_02 41:43

Yep. So Boone, same as same thing. We are in the playoffs as well, same um uh 4A we in. Uh it's uh Boone is record is nine and one. We are actually playing Winter Park, who is six and four. Yeah, so I'm excited. I'm excited. This is gonna be good. Absolutely. They're both gonna be good games.

SPEAKER_01 42:02

Yep. All right, now we go on to our locks of the week. Yes. All right, predicting the home team that will win each week. Uh last week I didn't do so well. Uh I predicted that Tampa Bay at home would beat New England. It was a good game. It was close. They were right there, but Tampa ended up not winning. Uh New England got the victory 28 to 23 over Tampa, and so that drops me to four and six. Danny, I'm going the wrong way at this thing.

SPEAKER_03 42:34

You are.

SPEAKER_01 42:34

I our gap is is kind of getting wider. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 42:37

Uh so New York Giants uh played your Bears. So I picked your team. Yeah. Um, and they won 24 to 20. So again, yeah, all the way at the end. But yeah, they beat the Bears. Um, and my record is six and four right now.

SPEAKER_01 42:50

There you go. You must have seen that it was gonna snow in Chicago. That that gave you the advantage.

SPEAKER_03 42:55

When it's the Giants or the Jets, I'm not really bad. Sorry, dive fast.

SPEAKER_01 43:01

Exactly. Hold on now. You just got rid of a whole host of listeners. I don't know. Listen, maybe.

SPEAKER_03 43:07

All right, who do you have next week, Carl?

SPEAKER_01 43:09

Uh this week, uh this week I am picking the Buffalo Bills. They've been on kind of a bad streak lately. Um they got blown out by the by the Miami Dolphins this weekend. And um so they're hurting a little bit. And Tampa Bay, who I just picked last week, is going to Buffalo. So I'm hoping maybe the cold weather. Hopefully, there'll be some snow there. And then I think Buffalo can right their ship a little bit because they're on a they're on a skid right now.

SPEAKER_03 43:38

It's hard for those teams that are in hot weather when they go to Green Bay and Chicago's and it's yet.

SPEAKER_01 43:44

Although Baker Mayfield played for Cleveland for quite a few years, so he's used to kind of the cold weather. But you know, Buffalo again, I think, will have a home field advantage. So hopefully they'll get it done.

SPEAKER_02 43:55

So I have the commanders against the Dolphins, um, and I'm going

SPEAKER_01 44:00

With the dolphins for the sound of the dolphins at home and they just came off a big victory. So let's see if they keep it going. Absolutely. All right. Well, stay tuned for our wrap-up after this message. Hello, everyone. I'm Carl Falconer, the president and CEO of Pathlight Home. And I'm often asked by many in the community, what can I do to help end homelessness? I would like to invite you to join PathLight Home's efforts. Pathlight Home is a 501c3 nonprofit organization in Central Florida. We currently have 560 units of housing that we provide to individuals experiencing homelessness. But we also provide additional support through employment resource centers and mental health services. We have a drop-in day center where people can come in from the heat, do laundry, get meals, all in preparation to get them into housing eventually and off the streets. Community involvement is key to the success of our efforts, and we love when community members want to get involved with Pathlight Home. There are three things we invite you to do to help. Number one, consider supporting us with funding. No donation is too small, and every dollar has an impact on our community. You can go to pathlighthome.org and click our donate button to contribute anytime. Number two is volunteering. We love to have volunteers come in and help us with any of our projects. We have ongoing projects and needs, but are also open to individuals and groups sharing specific talents in ways that build up our residence. Number three is take a tour with us. Come here to our facility and see what we do for yourself. It's the best way to get an inside look at what we're doing at Pathlight Home each day. We think it's important to understand the work it takes to fight homelessness and love the opportunity to meet community members who are passionate about the issue. We love our Central Florida community and are grateful every day for the continued support. And again, to get involved, go to pathlighthome.org. Thank you.

SPEAKER_02 46:13

Welcome to the fourth quarter where we will wind down this episode by reflecting on a homelessness MVP and fumble of the week before wrapping up with our key takeaway. So, call you have the MVP of the week.

SPEAKER_01 46:25

Absolutely. Let's start with that MVP of the week. In honor of Veterans Day and the upcoming holiday season, Gold Star wife Stacia McDonough and her award-winning nonprofit organization, Independence for Veterans, have launched their 14th annual holiday drive. They kept us safe. Let's keep them warm. The initiative, which runs from November 1st, 2025, through January 1st, collects new winter clothing, bedding, toiletries, and gift cards for homeless and disabled veterans living in transitional housing facilities across New Jersey. The campaign holds deep personal meaning for McDonough, who founded it in loving memory of her late husband, Sergeant John E. McDonough, a decorated U.S. Air Force veteran who served with the 21st Tactical Air Support Quadron during the Vietnam War. The annual collection is officially dedicated in memory of John E. McDonough. Since January 2025, Independence for Veterans has donated more than $81,000 worth of essential items to veteran shelters throughout New Jersey and Pennsylvania. As Americans, we must keep our veterans in the forefront, said McDonough, for their service, bravery, and unimaginable sacrifices. These noble warriors should be revered and never forgotten. All donations are personally hand delivered by McDonough and her team of volunteers to approximately 300 former servicemen and women residing in three major veteran shelters across the state. That's fantastic. That is great. I love the name.

SPEAKER_02 48:15

They kept us saved us even more.

SPEAKER_01 48:17

That's right. It's a great absolutely fantastic.

SPEAKER_02 48:19

But she's been doing it for 14 years. So absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 48:23

It's it's yeah, it's absolutely fantastic. That's great. And again, it doesn't have to be a huge thing that people do. It's any kind of service, any kind of community volunteering. Anything you can do to give back to our homeless response system and to our veterans is is what we ask. We just need everybody in the community to be part of it.

SPEAKER_02 48:46

Yeah. Anything simple as toiletries, you know, a gift card, like they said, they're beginning. Absolutely. Something small, clothing, especially now with the change of weather. That's all those things, blankets. It makes a huge difference. Absolutely. Yep. All right. So I have the fumble of the week. Uh so uh so I'm doing the defense and I'm doing the fumble this week. So wow, I'm I'm on a positive. I've been there. I know. I know. All right. So lawmakers and advocates characterize the government shutdown and the partisan political feeling it as disastrous for retired and active duty service members, who they say rely on food, assistance, and medical coverage provisions at risk amid the funding laps. The shutdown, the shutdown is really disastrous for our current military, and it's just not because of the financial worry, which is very high, Kathy Roth Duquette, co-founder and CEO of Blue Star Families, told the news nation's Washington uh Bureau Chief Mike Vicera on Thursday at the Hills Veteran Voice Summit. Uh though veterans' issues enjoy uh broad bipartisan support, lawmakers and advocates said the Trump administration's funding cuts and the shutdown disappropriately impacted service members. We can't keep shooting ourselves in the foot of this on this kind of stuff, said rep uh Representative Chrissy Hoolihan, a former Air Force officer. We have to take care of our veterans and cannot be partisan about this. About 1.2 million veterans in the U.S. live in households that participate in the supplemental nutrition assistance program, SNAP, which we've talked about in the last uh two episodes, which provides uh food assistance to low-income families. Roth Duquette said the number of military members turning to food banks during the shutdown was surging because many members have spouses who are federal government workers, meaning their household income was down one paycheck during the shutdown. But more importantly, we are so vital in the military to our civilian leadership, and when our civilian leadership doesn't seem like they can do their basic job, it undermines our confidence in serving, she said. She said some veterans no longer wanted to recommend military service to others do the political tummy. Just horrible.

SPEAKER_01 51:00

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, and again, it comes down to this, you know, infighting and partisanship and and just everything that's going on at the federal level where people just cannot agree or cannot work together. And again, we talked about teamwork and we talked about people being more alike than they are different, and yet we still have these people at the federal level who are arguing with each other and just you know sticking their head in the sand as to what's happening with regular people out on the streets and people who need help and support.

SPEAKER_02 51:36

Yeah, and not that they I don't think they fully grasp the the effect it's having on not just veterans, but all homeless and all people with low income and people just snap, they they need that money. Absolutely. And these food pantries, we're gonna see an increase. I think for, you know, it it it's it's insane that they're just not addressing it as they should.

SPEAKER_01 51:55

And again, we go back to that whole idea that the veterans, first of all, shouldn't be in these positions where they need these type this type of assistance. But secondly, once they are, then we need to be able to provide resources and support to them. Um, and again, it goes back to that sacrifice, and this is not, I could tell you, as an army veteran myself, I could tell you this is not what veterans signed up for, and that's not why they joined. That's not why they joined and what they were fighting for or what they believed in when they were giving their life toward whatever their service was. So, and finally, here's our key takeaway for this episode. Homeless veterans remind us that the fight for freedom doesn't end on the battlefield, it continues at home, where we must ensure every hero has a place to rest, recover, and rebuild. Absolutely. I mean, it's it's ridiculous that we even use the term homeless and veteran together.

SPEAKER_02 52:56

Together, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 52:57

It shouldn't go. It shouldn't even there shouldn't even be an issue about this. Um, you know, veterans should never become homeless. But again, in our mind, there shouldn't be anybody who becomes homeless. Our systems, we have the resources, we have the we have everything we need, except we don't have the will to be able to actually make these things possible. And I think that's really where what it comes down to is if we were working together as a community and we were bringing all our resources together as a community, we would be able to solve these problems.

SPEAKER_02 53:31

But like you just said, it's it's nobody's going into the service thinking this is what's gonna happen to them after they come out. Absolutely. You know, and and like the the other story I just finished saying, that the end was that there's veterans who are no longer recommending military service to others. That's absolutely right. Because now it's it's this it doesn't mean anything. Right. What's gonna happen after I leave? Am I gonna be thrown on the street and nobody cares?

SPEAKER_01 53:52

And because they're thinking to themselves, is this what I signed up to defend? Right. Is this what I signed up to be a part of? Yeah, you know, um, and absolutely. Um, and so the only thing I want to add to this is Go Army. That's the only thing we're gonna add to this.

SPEAKER_02 54:07

There you go.

SPEAKER_01 54:07

Thank you.

SPEAKER_02 54:08

All right. So that concludes our episode for the week. Remember, if you have any questions or comments for us, please email us at questions at pathlighthome.org. And as always, we leave the last words for our beloved co founder, the Leverend, the late Reverend Fred Maxwell. I'm still dreaming.

SPEAKER_04 54:27

I'm still dreaming that we will become uh able and sufficient to increase uh the housing of homeless. This is merely a beginning.