May 20, 2025 • 30 mins
In this heartfelt episode of Our Community, Our Mission, we welcome Jenny Falk, Director of MAP Operations, as she reflects on her 11 years of service with TRM and her recent transition to Compassion Strategies. From humble beginnings as a volunteer serving meals with her sons, Jenny’s journey took her through roles in the Thrift Store, Volunteer Services, Operation Food Secure, and ultimately, the Mobile Access Partnership (MAP)—an initiative launched in response to the COVID-19 pandemic to bring services directly to those on the streets.
Along the way, Jenny experienced many moments that shaped her faith and deepened her understanding of community—moments of challenge, growth, and unexpected connection. Her journey is marked by the Lord’s guidance and a growing heart for serving neighbors with humility and compassion.
As she prepares for the 4-year celebration of MAP on May 22nd, Jenny discusses the bittersweet emotions of leaving TRM and her excitement for what’s next.
Join us for a conversation about service without competition, Kingdom-minded expansion, and the faith it takes to step into something new.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you, Lord, for this
day and your blessings, God andLord, just this time to be
together to have thisconversation and, Lord, just
pray your blessing over it andblessings over our listeners.
Father, Bless this time inJesus' name Amen.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Hello everybody, thank you for joining us for our
Community, our Mission.
A podcast of the Topeka RescueMission on a beautiful Tuesday
in May 20th 2025, episode number268.
I'm your host, barry Feeker,here with LaManda Cunningham and
Marion Crable, with a veryspecial guest who's been on the
podcast before, but we'll get toher in a second.
So good morning, lamanda andMarion.
(00:37):
Good morning it is a beautifulday, especially since we dodged
tornadoes and severe weatherlast night.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
We got wonderful rain , yeah, so it is beautiful out.
We dodged tornadoes and severeweather.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Last night we got wonderful rain, yeah yeah.
So it is beautiful out thereright now, so, and we got some
really awesome things we'regoing to talk about.
They're going to happen thisweek, and so we're going to jump
right into it to talk about anevent that's coming up and also
a big transition.
So, lamanda, as CEO of TopekaRescue Mission, you know how
important it is to have staffthat are with you for years,
(01:08):
even though you've only beenhere three.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
That's right it feels , like 30.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
But yeah.
So what does it mean to you tohave known that you've had a
staff member that served 11years at Topeka Rescue Mission?
Speaker 1 (01:22):
You know, I think, anytime you're at the Topeka
Rescue Mission and doing this,the demands and the blessings
right of this job.
It is something that you haveto say yes to, but also say yes
more than once, because it'sfull.
It's full of challenges.
(01:42):
Oftentimes, people that work atthe rescue mission do not just
do one job or wear one hat andyou know, sometimes change is
hard for people and sometimesyou know the constant need to be
flexible because things arejust out of our control, right.
(02:03):
So to me I just appreciate anystaff members we have, but
especially each year thedevotion that they have and the
loyalty to the Lord and thelongevity to me really stands
out, because there's just a lotin this job that requires us to
recommit and recommit to theLord's work, because it's
(02:23):
beautiful but it's not easy.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
Yeah, so that long term.
And then there's also when youhave somebody that you really
value and then, they move on.
That's a big of a challenge aswell.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
Yeah, I don't do that well.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
No, I'm just kidding.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
You know I've said this before.
I can't remember how you posedthe question, but my response,
barry, was recognizing that TRMisn't mine.
My response, barry, wasrecognizing that TRM isn't mine.
It's something that God hasentrusted me to help steward
with an incredible team, andthat's a responsibility I don't
take lightly.
But then he also entrusts me torealize that his vision and
(02:59):
what he sees is so much biggerthan what I can see, and that
sometimes the obedience he'srequiring me, requiring of me,
is to let people go because ofwhat he's either doing in their
lives and our community in abigger way.
I have to know that when peopleare saying yes to something
else and leaving, that alsomeans that God's calling someone
else to say yes to thatposition.
(03:20):
And so really, the Lord justkind of asked me to get out of
the way sometimes and know that,even though I love my people,
he loves them more and that hisplan is bigger than what I could
ever imagine.
And in order to be a goodleader for him, I have to help
know when people need andthey're being led elsewhere by
(03:41):
him.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
We have restricted Lamanda, though, from chains and
padlocks.
Yes, that's right, Because shewill.
She will lock people in there.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
Yes, we're not restricted for putting chains
and padlocks on her.
Okay, okay.
Well then we're fine whensomeone does leave me.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
I may have been known to be a little dramatic and
dress in all black and kind ofhave some time of mourning, um,
but my motto is and it has beenthat way for probably 15 years
if it doesn't hurt when youleave, you didn't do it right.
And I also believe that withothers, if it doesn't hurt when
you lose somebody, they weren'tdoing things right.
And this loss that we're aboutto talk about and I am not going
(04:20):
to cry is also a huge gain forour unsheltered neighbors.
It's a huge gain forpartnerships that need her more.
It's a huge gain for ourcommunity having compassionate
and logistic momentum for movingforward.
And so, absolutely it's a loss.
(04:41):
You know, I feel like I have abig sister that's leaving me
that I have entrusted, but Ialso am so excited for her next
steps because she is a force tobe reckoned with, with her love
for the Lord, her love forpeople, but also her ability and
(05:01):
her skill sets that are sooperational, with the heart of
Christ at the focus of it, andI'm excited to see where that's
going to take her.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
Well, that's a pretty good buildup to who our guest
today is yeah, just don't ask meanything else.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
the rest of the time.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
If anybody knows anything about the Mobile Access
Partnership, they know the name, jenny Falk, and so, jenny,
thank you for joining us heretoday.
You ended your 11-year tenureat Topeka Rescue Mission last
Friday and started your newadventure yesterday with
Compassion Strategies.
So talk about how you got toTopeka Rescue Mission, what it's
(05:37):
meant to you, and then we wantto talk about your next
assignment.
Speaker 4 (05:42):
I don't remember what I shared when I was on here the
first time.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
That's okay, we don't either.
We're at podcast number 268.
Speaker 4 (05:52):
Basically, like most or many staff, I started as a
volunteer helping.
I brought my two little boys.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
When they were little .
Speaker 4 (06:04):
Yeah, volunteering serving meals in the dining hall
.
Sorry, you know, I haven't letmyself get emotional.
And then it happens at the worktime.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
You're around LaManda .
Speaker 3 (06:15):
Same same.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Josh and.
I, we play pretty cool overhere, we just don't listen, just
block it out, block it out.
Speaker 4 (06:23):
That's right, that's awful.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
Hey, we got to do our jobs.
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
If I start crying, I'm going to mess up the sound.
That's right.
Speaker 4 (06:29):
So anyway because of that experience of volunteering
and I was blessed with theopportunity to work from home,
but they had made it very clearthat that job would eventually
end and because of my experiencehere, I just knew that I just
needed to be at the mission whenthat job ended.
There was no gap in myemployment.
(06:50):
The Lord just made a way and soI initially started in our
former thrift store, which isnow Doughboy's Pizza, Worked
there for three years, left fora year and then came back,
started in volunteer, volunteerservices and then just done many
roles since then.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
So just talk about some of those roles that you
yeah.
Speaker 4 (07:12):
So I came in to help with volunteer services and then
you were launching Freedom Nowand trying to run the rescue
mission and starting that and itwas recognized you would need
an executive assistance, whichyou had not had up until that
time, that's part of your career, right, it was yes, honestly, I
am grateful for those yearsthat we got to work so closely
(07:35):
together with Freedom, now andthen even beyond that.
And so then there was OperationFood Secure.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
During the pandemic?
Yes, yeah.
And what did you do inOperation?
Food Secure During the pandemic?
Yes, yeah.
And what did you do inOperation?
Speaker 4 (07:46):
Food Secure.
I basically did the logisticsyou know inventory scheduling,
the orders, volunteers you knowmanaging inventory to make sure
we had space for what was comingin and what was going out.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
Food that was being provided by the USDA to feed
people during the pandemic,which translated into be over
about 18 months, 10 differentcounties, 120,000 different
people and 4 million pounds offood.
That's a lot of inventory thatyou coordinated back and forth
between the providers and the500 volunteers, so I want people
(08:20):
to get a little bit of an ideaof what you're doing.
So we got through that, throughthe pandemic, and that program
ended and then you didn't returnback to being the executive
assistant for the executivedirector.
At that time you had some otherambitions.
Speaker 4 (08:36):
Yes, because this thing mobile access partnership
was bubbling up and really myduties for you were becoming
less and less because of yourtransition and I had extra time
and I just knew my gifting inorganizing and logistics and I
said, hey, could I help withthat in my extra time?
(08:57):
And I knew that it was going toallow me more engagement with
our neighbors which I hadn't hadin any of my previous roles.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
What was the desire or what do you remember feeling
about going from more of anadministrative role to being in
the streets, to being a part ofoutreach, to being at these
places where people are comingright off the streets and
looking for a shower, lookingfor something to eat?
What do you remember about yourattraction to that or your
calling to that, whatever youwant to term it as.
(09:29):
And then, what has happened inthe time since?
Speaker 4 (09:32):
Yeah, I think part of it was.
I think I understand now thathow God kind of wired me to
fight for the underdog, I guessfor lack of a better word, not
that they're the underdog.
Fight for the underdog, I guess, for lack of a better word, not
that they're the underdog, butalso and this is nothing against
any admin position but I knewthat, I don't know.
I just felt like I would beable to have more impact
(09:59):
hands-on in a position like thatand the Lord was just giving me
a heart for that.
Speaker 2 (10:04):
If people aren't familiar with what we call MAP
or the Mobile Access Partnership.
It was a kind of experimentthat birthed out of the pandemic
times, because Topeka RescueMission had to become smaller in
its population because ofsocial distancing and all those
kind of things.
I think, miriam, back in theday we didn't know if we were
going to live or die right.
Speaker 3 (10:24):
Well, you know, that was a question out there, that's
for sure.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
Remember the training packages that you put together
to train people on.
I remember a wet doorknob is agood doorknob.
You remember that.
Speaker 3 (10:35):
You know I do, I cringe.
Why was a wet?
Speaker 2 (10:37):
doorknob, a good doorknob back in the early days
of the pandemic.
Speaker 3 (10:45):
Because?
Because that means it had beensprayed with some kind of
disinfectant, and it was themost disgusting thing.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
So we had teams go around spraying doorknobs all
day, all night long to keeppeople from getting COVID.
Then we found out that's okay,it doesn't happen that way.
Speaker 4 (10:55):
One thing I like to sorry not to cut in, but one
thing that I like to say aboutMAP specifically is we all know
that COVID was a tragic thingfor our world.
Yeah, but God is so good abouttaking something bad and making
good of it, and I believe that'swhat the mobile access
partnership Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
That's that old Romans 828.
God works all things togetherfor good.
To then love him.
And a call to call to hispurpose and I think that we
begin to see, yes, the tragedyof COVID, the complications of
COVID.
We're still experiencing thosechallenges even today, with
economic issues and whatnot.
But yet, at the same time, goddidn't forget about the nearly
50% of the population of TopekaRescue Mission that could no
(11:35):
longer stay with us and thegrowing number of homeless.
So we had this idea of howcould we take the services
inside Topeka Rescue Mission tothe streets.
Speaker 3 (11:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
And we'd had outreach for a number of years, which
through the rescue mission andpartnerships with other agencies
to reach the unsheltered.
But how about taking a shower?
How about taking a kitchen?
How about taking, eventually,what we would learn to be
extremely importantveterinarians?
Out there with us and settingup kind of a system of a mobile
rescue mission without a placeto stay.
Speaker 4 (12:07):
Well, and if it hadn't been for COVID, vallejo
wouldn't have had a showertrailer, because that was funded
by a COVID grant.
Right, right.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
So I called Vallejo.
Our mental health provider inthe community talked to then CEO
Bill Persinger and I said, hey,could you go out and fund or
find the funding to have amobile shower unit?
And Bill said, yeah, we'll giveit a try, and he was able to do
it.
Then we Merrim you rememberthis pretty well, is that we At
that time, because Topeka RescueMission, previous to COVID, had
(12:36):
not dabbled in governmentfunding, we thought, okay, let's
go for it, there's some moneyout here, let's see if we can
get a mobile kitchen.
You remember what the answer tothat was yes, no.
Speaker 3 (12:45):
I don't remember the answer to that, because it
didn't happen that way.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
The now director of the Lawrence Community Shelter,
who was with the grant funder,said no, no, said no, which he's
a good guy who worked for therescue mission for a while.
Speaker 3 (12:56):
But the Lord provided yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:58):
So we go wow, there's no money for a mobile kitchen.
It'd be really nice if we couldtake out food and not just haul
it around the back of a vehicle.
And so we prayed, and about 48hours later we had a special
donor that came along.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
And we had a donor that gave us the clothing
trailer.
I mean the Lord just providedfor everything that we were
going to need.
Speaker 4 (13:18):
Which that donor was because of Operation Food Secure
here If you remember theyhelped with the food
distribution.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
Yes, absolutely so, these difficult things.
Now we're seeing people cometogether and want to do
something different.
So now we begin to not onlyhave a mobile shower unit, we
have a mobile kitchen, we havethe trucks to pull everything
with, we have the mobile supplyunit.
Then our good friends over atStarmont Vale they were building
a mobile medical unit, and sothis bus that's actually a mini
(13:46):
clinic moves around.
They can do, I think,everything but surgeries on
there.
And then Dr Allison Crowe, whichwe've had on the podcast before
, helped formulate a localstreet dog coalition which is
part of a national organizationconnected with Kansas State
University, shawnee CountyHealth Department, and the list
goes on of these partners.
And we started moving around.
But we needed somebody toorganize all this, and so it
(14:08):
really didn't have a home atthat time.
It was a rescue mission inVallejo and so forth, and so we
said, okay, what can be theumbrella organization?
And so Miriam and I had achance, on the front end of this
, to start something calledCompassion Strategies, which
exists today.
And so today, compassionStrategies is a nonprofit
organization.
Its primary focus is MAP,mobile Access Partnership, and
(14:31):
then also this campaign to endchronic homelessness became this
, homelessness became this andwe needed somebody to organize,
coordinate not justadministratively, but what I
kind of refer to you, jenny, asyou're kind of like an air
traffic controller.
We've got all these differentaircraft coming in, we've got
(14:51):
cargo planes, passenger planes,we've taken off, but you have to
organize that well, and that'swhat you became now, about four
years ago, is the director ofmap operations.
Speaker 4 (14:59):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:59):
So what's that been like for you?
You got out of the streets.
You're still kind of doing someadministrative things, but you
are actually boots on the ground.
Speaker 4 (15:05):
Yeah, I didn't initially set out to be the
director of the program.
Remember, I was willing to helpRight right.
The Lord had other plans, and soit has definitely been a
learning process and, honestly,as much as I wanted to be able
to engage with our neighbors, Iwas very intimidated by them,
(15:27):
and so MAP just provided greatopportunities.
I remember early on we happenedto have a cornhole game on site
and one of the individuals whoI was very afraid of went over
there and started playingcornhole and I really felt like
the Lord was telling me go playcornhole with him and completely
(15:48):
shifted my perspective of himand all of them, you know, and
we had a great time.
I beat him.
I still give him a hard timeabout that, uh, but yeah, I, I
just honestly, sometimes I, justI I'm figuring out as I go, I,
I, um, yeah, sometimes I don'tfeel equipped to do this work,
(16:10):
but the Lord continues to use me, so I just show up.
Speaker 2 (16:15):
And I think that's where we all start, because we
have to be willing to go whereGod calls us to go.
And I know one of the firstthings that I began to realize
as MAP was what we call in fulloperation Now you're director of
operations is that thereweren't too many people walked
up that you didn't know theirname and they knew your name and
your volunteers.
Knowing people's names is hugeand also their special needs.
(16:37):
There was one gentleman onetime that I remember the
location that we were at GracePoint, and you came up to me and
said we just learned somethingabout him.
We have potato chips here forpeople today and he's not eating
any potato chips.
He loves potato chips, but he'snot eating until he realized he
had no teeth.
And so you all mashed up thepotato chips so he could then be
(17:00):
able to consume the potatochips, just those special things
.
What a difference that made forthat particular individual.
Well, part of the journey isthat until last Friday was your
last day you were an employee ofTopeka Rescue Mission, which
you also in conjunction withMobile Access Partnership
Mission, which you, also inconjunction with Mobile Access
Partnership, thanks to TRM andLaManda, gave you an opportunity
(17:21):
to do that under the umbrellaof Topeka Rescue Mission, as
well as be part of the outreachteam of Topeka Rescue Mission.
So you're out in the streetswith that team working and
systems and the different thingsthere.
Lamanda partnership is a lot ofwhat Topeka Rescue Mission is
about.
Although Topeka Rescue Missionleads in so many areas, talk
(17:43):
about your, from your view, thevalue and importance of having
kind of given the platform forJenny to be able to go to where
she's going now.
That's an investment of TopekaRescue Commission, investment of
donors that were giving TopekaRescue Commission on that, which
has now shifted.
Why is that important?
(18:04):
To invest in things that maybeleave TRM to go do the next
thing?
Mm-hmm.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
You know what we do inside TRM and outside TRM is
not TRMs, and I feel like a kindof a broken record right now.
Miriam is probably tired ofhearing me say it because she's
had a lot of functions with meand meetings.
But when I say that our thingswhether it's our buildings or
(18:31):
our resources, our people, ourpeople it's not ours.
We feel very strongly that theLord created 70 something years
ago for the Topeka RescueMission to bring his light, his
healing, his hope to people.
(18:51):
Period.
And so there's a lot of goodthat happens within our walls.
There's a lot of good thathappens outside the walls
because of the people in ourdepartments and things.
But our mission is so muchbigger than TRM operations.
It's so much bigger than justour volunteers, just our staff.
What we see God do is bringeverybody here but then do his
(19:15):
work which surpasses any of ourown abilities.
And so when I think aboutwhether it's Jenny or we could
say this for a lot of people,right, we could say people that
are Misty, who has left TRM andnow she's doing incredible
things in Lawrence.
We could say the same thingabout James.
We could say the same thingwhen people move out of state,
(19:36):
marissa, who was instrumental inOperation Food Secure.
The list goes on and on.
Right those partnerships, orbeing able to see things bigger
than just what we're doingwithin TRM, is important in my
opinion, because that means weare staying anchored to the
heart of the Lord and anytime webecome selfish, whether that's
(19:58):
with money, whether that's withfood, personnel, procedures, not
wanting to share policies,whatever the case may be, that
is so far from the Lord's heart,and so I know it sounds cliche
and I know I've had a couple ofpeople and I appreciated them
coming up to me.
But would you really share thatwith us?
(20:20):
Like if we started our ownshelter, you would really help
us with the operations that youhave?
Yes, we would.
If you feel like that's whatGod's calling you to do, or you
feel like it's in the best nameof humanity and you want to do
this, we're here to help.
Trm is not just wanting to sithere and build some big empire
based on homelessness and so-.
Speaker 2 (20:41):
There's plenty of customers out here.
There's plenty of customers.
Speaker 1 (20:44):
And when I look at people serving people, that's
not a competition.
People serving people is forthe betterment of people and so
in this particular thing, thisis probably a topic we could do
a whole podcast on, honestly,especially right now with what
nonprofits are facing.
But I will continue to do thebest that I can to stay anchored
(21:06):
to the Lord's heart, even whenit seems scary Jenny leaving our
street reach team it is scary.
She's got incrediblerelationships.
She's got impeccable knowledgeof homeless encampments.
Her intuition is incrediblelike none other, and I could go
on and on about her.
(21:27):
Having Jenny leave TRM is a lossperiod If I'm looking at it
only from the lens of our ownoperations.
If I continue to view Jenny asa woman of Christ on a mission,
there is no loss, there is anexpansion.
She has continued her work forthe Lord from TRM and the Lord
(21:53):
used her in a season for TRM,built her for her next season.
That he needs to use her and Ihave got to let her go just as
beautifully as I would havewelcomed her.
And in my time here I didn'tbring Jenny on, but she moved a
couple of different areas whileI was here Right and supervision
and not supervision all that.
I needed to do those things.
Just as beautiful, as I'm goingto let her go.
(22:14):
Beautiful Because when I'mlooking at the brokenness and
the challenges and all of thejust struggles that our
community is facing, I cannotlook at TRM being one entity in
it.
I have to look at it as we'reall on a purpose from the Lord,
(22:35):
and that includes when personnelhave a different purpose that
steps outside the boundaries ofTRM.
She's still doing kingdom work,so who am I to not want to
support that?
Speaker 2 (22:46):
It flies in the face of the people who say we have
silos in this work, whichthey're just informed because
this is not silos.
This is actually workingtogether, people going to the
best place they fit.
Map is a good example of that.
It's a big rescue mission andother agencies that have been
doing this now for four years,and so we are coming up on that
celebration this Thursday, whichis the 22nd Okay, thank you,
(23:11):
the 22nd of May and so we'rehaving a special 10 am to 1 pm
at the Topeka First UnitedMethodist, which is 6th, and
Topeka Boulevard, which is oneof those sites that we go to.
It'll be a regular map day,jenny, where the unsheltered
neighbors will be coming upgetting their services, but also
(23:33):
people are invited to come from10 to 1.
And there's going to be a pressconference at 1030.
And you've been organizing thatand who are some of the
speakers that are going to be atthat that come to the top of
your mind?
It's not going to be a longpress conference, so don't worry
, but who are some of thosefolks and what agencies are
going to be represented?
Speaker 4 (23:51):
Pastor Brad is going to lead us off, carla Hedquist
from at the Stormont Vale, amyKapasti with Vallejo, brett
Martin with United Way and AhodKerry Higgins with the city and
Impact Avenues.
There's another, I don't wantto name.
Right next to you.
Speaker 3 (24:12):
Amanda.
Speaker 2 (24:13):
Rowe, it's okay, we just roll with it.
She's too close to you and wehave a volunteer.
A volunteer is going to speak.
Yes, we have a volunteer MoniaSchmidt.
And you and me, yes, yeah, andyou and I get to kind of I think
there's probably others.
I get to keep everybody rollingon two-minute time limits, so
yeah.
Speaker 3 (24:32):
Yeah, I can't oh go ahead.
Well, that was a lot from.
Speaker 2 (24:34):
Jenny, you know, get her done.
Time to wrap it up.
Speaker 3 (24:37):
Let's get to rolling here, Because you know you
respect those time limits sowell.
Speaker 2 (24:42):
Well, it doesn't apply to everybody, but anyway.
So there will be refreshmentsthere, our neighbors will be
there, it should be a beautifulday, like it is today, and to be
able to really see what this isall about.
And then there's going to be avery special announcement.
We're not going to tell you onthis podcast what it is.
You'll have to come and findout but it's a really special
announcement that I think isgoing to be a part of this whole
(25:06):
concept.
We've been talking about thecampaign to end chronic
homelessness, and so we'll talkabout that at the end, what the
next step is in that.
So, jenny, we've already talkedabout your last day at TRM.
You talked about how you gothere, what's your thoughts about
going forward, because themobile access partnership is
going to be doing more than whatit's doing.
(25:28):
We'll talk more about that comeThursday.
But now your CompassionStrategies, and that's a fairly
new organization.
The good news I get to workwith you full time again.
And what excites you about this?
What scares you about this?
Speaker 4 (25:47):
Oh yeah, I have both.
I'm excited because right now Ibelieve the program is at its
capacity in its current model.
I can't without saying too much.
I am excited because I dobelieve we are going to be able
to grow the program in servicesthat we offer and then hopefully
(26:08):
eventually expand hours ofoperation, days of operation,
that kind of thing.
What scares me is how it's allgoing to come together.
Hopefully we can baby step itout, like we did the mobile
model.
Speaker 2 (26:25):
So, for those who would like to know about how
Jenny gets scared, she getsscared with faith, which
motivates her.
So, when we were addressinghuman trafficking issues, we
started back in, I think, 2014or something, and here it is
2018.
And we really felt like we weresupposed to go to the Kansas
legislature and try to get themto that was in January of 2018,
(26:49):
the beginning of the year and tosee if they would sign on to
declare war on human trafficking.
And so we chose February 1st tobe the date of 2019 to do that,
because that would give us ayear plus to help the
legislature to understandFebruary 1st, which was the same
day that Abraham Lincoln signedthe paper's 13th Amendment to
abolish slavery in the UnitedStates.
So let's use that date toabolish human trafficking.
(27:12):
And so that was a prettydaunting task to get everybody
in the legislature, includingthe governor's office, to jump
on board with that, and we weregoing to take a year to do it.
And you, Jenny, said well, whynot this year, Because it can't
happen that fast.
There's no way it will happen,and I don't remember the exact
words is well, if we trust God,let's see.
(27:32):
Sure enough, three weeks later,both House and the Senate
signed on to that and thegovernor's office did too, which
was historic.
Nothing ever done that fast atthe Kansas State legislature
level.
So when you were scared butalso walking in faith, same
thing happened off recent foodsecure.
I remember you were thisdaunting task.
This is never going to happen.
Come back on it later.
(27:53):
500 volunteers, 20 or 10counties, 200, 120,000 people.
It was a five, yeah, and 4million pounds of food.
So here you are four yearslater and 4 million pounds of
food.
So here you are four yearslater MAP operations.
And I think, Jenny, I think weall understand that there's
nobody better to do this thanyou.
(28:15):
And so we are grateful You'renot leaving TRM.
In regards to intersection withTRM, we're going to continue
doing that, because TRM is avital role in this effort, and
will be going forward.
So, jenny, thank you for sayingyes.
Anything else you would like toshare with us today?
Speaker 4 (28:34):
Well, I do just want to say I am so grateful to TRM,
to everybody, To TRM, toeverybody.
(28:55):
Like you all have been sosupportive and patient and
gracious and allowing me tolearn and grow into this role.
Gosh, you know what a blessing,because I know that that's not
the case in all organizationsand, yeah, it's definitely not a
goodbye.
We're going to still be seeingeach other Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (29:13):
Yeah, Don't ask me anything.
Jenny gets to say that and thenexpect us to talk.
That's right.
And then Barry's looking at youand Josh and I go.
Well, this is the coolest aboutit.
Speaker 2 (29:21):
So, anyway, jenny, thank you, lamanda, miriam,
everybody who supported Jennyand her role at Topeka Rescue
Mission for 11 years and nowstepping up to support Jenny in
her next big assignment withCompassion Strategies and the
Mobile Access Partnership, whichwill be moving forward and
growing and partnering with evenmore folks in the future.
(29:44):
Again, this Thursday, whichwill be the 22nd of May,
starting at 10 o'clock in themorning, going until 1, you can
come by for tours.
All the different agencies, Ibelieve, will be there.
We also have our unshelteredneighbors who will be there.
Special press conference at1030 with some different people
who will be talking about theirexperience with MAP, as well as
(30:05):
a very special announcement thatwe're going to make.
That is this Thursday, the 22ndof May, at 10 to 11,.
First, united Methodist Church,6th and Topeka.
So come on by if you just havea chance to drop by and check in
.
We would love to see you thereand watch for what's going to
happen next.
Speaker 1 (30:22):
Jenny Falk, thank you for being here and thank you
for our next great assignmentahead.
Speaker 2 (30:26):
Thank you for listening to Our Community, Our
Mission, a podcast of the TopekaRescue Mission.
If you'd like more informationabout TRM, you can go to
trmonlineorg.
That's trmonlineorg.
Thank you for being a part ofour community and our mission.
Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you, Lord, for this
day and your blessings, God andLord, just this time to be
together to have thisconversation and, Lord, just
pray your blessing over it andblessings over our listeners.
Father, Bless this time inJesus' name Amen.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Hello everybody, thank you for joining us for our
Community, our Mission.
A podcast of the Topeka RescueMission on a beautiful Tuesday
in May 20th 2025, episode number268.
I'm your host, barry Feeker,here with LaManda Cunningham and
Marion Crable, with a veryspecial guest who's been on the
podcast before, but we'll get toher in a second.
So good morning, lamanda andMarion.
(00:37):
Good morning it is a beautifulday, especially since we dodged
tornadoes and severe weatherlast night.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
We got wonderful rain , yeah, so it is beautiful out.
We dodged tornadoes and severeweather.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Last night we got wonderful rain, yeah yeah.
So it is beautiful out thereright now, so, and we got some
really awesome things we'regoing to talk about.
They're going to happen thisweek, and so we're going to jump
right into it to talk about anevent that's coming up and also
a big transition.
So, lamanda, as CEO of TopekaRescue Mission, you know how
important it is to have staffthat are with you for years,
(01:08):
even though you've only beenhere three.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
That's right it feels , like 30.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
But yeah.
So what does it mean to you tohave known that you've had a
staff member that served 11years at Topeka Rescue Mission?
Speaker 1 (01:22):
You know, I think, anytime you're at the Topeka
Rescue Mission and doing this,the demands and the blessings
right of this job.
It is something that you haveto say yes to, but also say yes
more than once, because it'sfull.
It's full of challenges.
(01:42):
Oftentimes, people that work atthe rescue mission do not just
do one job or wear one hat andyou know, sometimes change is
hard for people and sometimesyou know the constant need to be
flexible because things arejust out of our control, right.
(02:03):
So to me I just appreciate anystaff members we have, but
especially each year thedevotion that they have and the
loyalty to the Lord and thelongevity to me really stands
out, because there's just a lotin this job that requires us to
recommit and recommit to theLord's work, because it's
(02:23):
beautiful but it's not easy.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
Yeah, so that long term.
And then there's also when youhave somebody that you really
value and then, they move on.
That's a big of a challenge aswell.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
Yeah, I don't do that well.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
No, I'm just kidding.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
You know I've said this before.
I can't remember how you posedthe question, but my response,
barry, was recognizing that TRMisn't mine.
My response, barry, wasrecognizing that TRM isn't mine.
It's something that God hasentrusted me to help steward
with an incredible team, andthat's a responsibility I don't
take lightly.
But then he also entrusts me torealize that his vision and
(02:59):
what he sees is so much biggerthan what I can see, and that
sometimes the obedience he'srequiring me, requiring of me,
is to let people go because ofwhat he's either doing in their
lives and our community in abigger way.
I have to know that when peopleare saying yes to something
else and leaving, that alsomeans that God's calling someone
else to say yes to thatposition.
(03:20):
And so really, the Lord justkind of asked me to get out of
the way sometimes and know that,even though I love my people,
he loves them more and that hisplan is bigger than what I could
ever imagine.
And in order to be a goodleader for him, I have to help
know when people need andthey're being led elsewhere by
(03:41):
him.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
We have restricted Lamanda, though, from chains and
padlocks.
Yes, that's right, Because shewill.
She will lock people in there.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
Yes, we're not restricted for putting chains
and padlocks on her.
Okay, okay.
Well then we're fine whensomeone does leave me.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
I may have been known to be a little dramatic and
dress in all black and kind ofhave some time of mourning, um,
but my motto is and it has beenthat way for probably 15 years
if it doesn't hurt when youleave, you didn't do it right.
And I also believe that withothers, if it doesn't hurt when
you lose somebody, they weren'tdoing things right.
And this loss that we're aboutto talk about and I am not going
(04:20):
to cry is also a huge gain forour unsheltered neighbors.
It's a huge gain forpartnerships that need her more.
It's a huge gain for ourcommunity having compassionate
and logistic momentum for movingforward.
And so, absolutely it's a loss.
(04:41):
You know, I feel like I have abig sister that's leaving me
that I have entrusted, but Ialso am so excited for her next
steps because she is a force tobe reckoned with, with her love
for the Lord, her love forpeople, but also her ability and
(05:01):
her skill sets that are sooperational, with the heart of
Christ at the focus of it, andI'm excited to see where that's
going to take her.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
Well, that's a pretty good buildup to who our guest
today is yeah, just don't ask meanything else.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
the rest of the time.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
If anybody knows anything about the Mobile Access
Partnership, they know the name, jenny Falk, and so, jenny,
thank you for joining us heretoday.
You ended your 11-year tenureat Topeka Rescue Mission last
Friday and started your newadventure yesterday with
Compassion Strategies.
So talk about how you got toTopeka Rescue Mission, what it's
(05:37):
meant to you, and then we wantto talk about your next
assignment.
Speaker 4 (05:42):
I don't remember what I shared when I was on here the
first time.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
That's okay, we don't either.
We're at podcast number 268.
Speaker 4 (05:52):
Basically, like most or many staff, I started as a
volunteer helping.
I brought my two little boys.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
When they were little .
Speaker 4 (06:04):
Yeah, volunteering serving meals in the dining hall
.
Sorry, you know, I haven't letmyself get emotional.
And then it happens at the worktime.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
You're around LaManda .
Speaker 3 (06:15):
Same same.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Josh and.
I, we play pretty cool overhere, we just don't listen, just
block it out, block it out.
Speaker 4 (06:23):
That's right, that's awful.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
Hey, we got to do our jobs.
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
If I start crying, I'm going to mess up the sound.
That's right.
Speaker 4 (06:29):
So anyway because of that experience of volunteering
and I was blessed with theopportunity to work from home,
but they had made it very clearthat that job would eventually
end and because of my experiencehere, I just knew that I just
needed to be at the mission whenthat job ended.
There was no gap in myemployment.
(06:50):
The Lord just made a way and soI initially started in our
former thrift store, which isnow Doughboy's Pizza, Worked
there for three years, left fora year and then came back,
started in volunteer, volunteerservices and then just done many
roles since then.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
So just talk about some of those roles that you
yeah.
Speaker 4 (07:12):
So I came in to help with volunteer services and then
you were launching Freedom Nowand trying to run the rescue
mission and starting that and itwas recognized you would need
an executive assistance, whichyou had not had up until that
time, that's part of your career, right, it was yes, honestly, I
am grateful for those yearsthat we got to work so closely
(07:35):
together with Freedom, now andthen even beyond that.
And so then there was OperationFood Secure.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
During the pandemic?
Yes, yeah.
And what did you do inOperation?
Food Secure During the pandemic?
Yes, yeah.
And what did you do inOperation?
Speaker 4 (07:46):
Food Secure.
I basically did the logisticsyou know inventory scheduling,
the orders, volunteers you knowmanaging inventory to make sure
we had space for what was comingin and what was going out.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
Food that was being provided by the USDA to feed
people during the pandemic,which translated into be over
about 18 months, 10 differentcounties, 120,000 different
people and 4 million pounds offood.
That's a lot of inventory thatyou coordinated back and forth
between the providers and the500 volunteers, so I want people
(08:20):
to get a little bit of an ideaof what you're doing.
So we got through that, throughthe pandemic, and that program
ended and then you didn't returnback to being the executive
assistant for the executivedirector.
At that time you had some otherambitions.
Speaker 4 (08:36):
Yes, because this thing mobile access partnership
was bubbling up and really myduties for you were becoming
less and less because of yourtransition and I had extra time
and I just knew my gifting inorganizing and logistics and I
said, hey, could I help withthat in my extra time?
(08:57):
And I knew that it was going toallow me more engagement with
our neighbors which I hadn't hadin any of my previous roles.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
What was the desire or what do you remember feeling
about going from more of anadministrative role to being in
the streets, to being a part ofoutreach, to being at these
places where people are comingright off the streets and
looking for a shower, lookingfor something to eat?
What do you remember about yourattraction to that or your
calling to that, whatever youwant to term it as.
(09:29):
And then, what has happened inthe time since?
Speaker 4 (09:32):
Yeah, I think part of it was.
I think I understand now thathow God kind of wired me to
fight for the underdog, I guessfor lack of a better word, not
that they're the underdog.
Fight for the underdog, I guess, for lack of a better word, not
that they're the underdog, butalso and this is nothing against
any admin position but I knewthat, I don't know.
I just felt like I would beable to have more impact
(09:59):
hands-on in a position like thatand the Lord was just giving me
a heart for that.
Speaker 2 (10:04):
If people aren't familiar with what we call MAP
or the Mobile Access Partnership.
It was a kind of experimentthat birthed out of the pandemic
times, because Topeka RescueMission had to become smaller in
its population because ofsocial distancing and all those
kind of things.
I think, miriam, back in theday we didn't know if we were
going to live or die right.
Speaker 3 (10:24):
Well, you know, that was a question out there, that's
for sure.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
Remember the training packages that you put together
to train people on.
I remember a wet doorknob is agood doorknob.
You remember that.
Speaker 3 (10:35):
You know I do, I cringe.
Why was a wet?
Speaker 2 (10:37):
doorknob, a good doorknob back in the early days
of the pandemic.
Speaker 3 (10:45):
Because?
Because that means it had beensprayed with some kind of
disinfectant, and it was themost disgusting thing.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
So we had teams go around spraying doorknobs all
day, all night long to keeppeople from getting COVID.
Then we found out that's okay,it doesn't happen that way.
Speaker 4 (10:55):
One thing I like to sorry not to cut in, but one
thing that I like to say aboutMAP specifically is we all know
that COVID was a tragic thingfor our world.
Yeah, but God is so good abouttaking something bad and making
good of it, and I believe that'swhat the mobile access
partnership Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
That's that old Romans 828.
God works all things togetherfor good.
To then love him.
And a call to call to hispurpose and I think that we
begin to see, yes, the tragedyof COVID, the complications of
COVID.
We're still experiencing thosechallenges even today, with
economic issues and whatnot.
But yet, at the same time, goddidn't forget about the nearly
50% of the population of TopekaRescue Mission that could no
(11:35):
longer stay with us and thegrowing number of homeless.
So we had this idea of howcould we take the services
inside Topeka Rescue Mission tothe streets.
Speaker 3 (11:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
And we'd had outreach for a number of years, which
through the rescue mission andpartnerships with other agencies
to reach the unsheltered.
But how about taking a shower?
How about taking a kitchen?
How about taking, eventually,what we would learn to be
extremely importantveterinarians?
Out there with us and settingup kind of a system of a mobile
rescue mission without a placeto stay.
Speaker 4 (12:07):
Well, and if it hadn't been for COVID, vallejo
wouldn't have had a showertrailer, because that was funded
by a COVID grant.
Right, right.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
So I called Vallejo.
Our mental health provider inthe community talked to then CEO
Bill Persinger and I said, hey,could you go out and fund or
find the funding to have amobile shower unit?
And Bill said, yeah, we'll giveit a try, and he was able to do
it.
Then we Merrim you rememberthis pretty well, is that we At
that time, because Topeka RescueMission, previous to COVID, had
(12:36):
not dabbled in governmentfunding, we thought, okay, let's
go for it, there's some moneyout here, let's see if we can
get a mobile kitchen.
You remember what the answer tothat was yes, no.
Speaker 3 (12:45):
I don't remember the answer to that, because it
didn't happen that way.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
The now director of the Lawrence Community Shelter,
who was with the grant funder,said no, no, said no, which he's
a good guy who worked for therescue mission for a while.
Speaker 3 (12:56):
But the Lord provided yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:58):
So we go wow, there's no money for a mobile kitchen.
It'd be really nice if we couldtake out food and not just haul
it around the back of a vehicle.
And so we prayed, and about 48hours later we had a special
donor that came along.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
And we had a donor that gave us the clothing
trailer.
I mean the Lord just providedfor everything that we were
going to need.
Speaker 4 (13:18):
Which that donor was because of Operation Food Secure
here If you remember theyhelped with the food
distribution.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
Yes, absolutely so, these difficult things.
Now we're seeing people cometogether and want to do
something different.
So now we begin to not onlyhave a mobile shower unit, we
have a mobile kitchen, we havethe trucks to pull everything
with, we have the mobile supplyunit.
Then our good friends over atStarmont Vale they were building
a mobile medical unit, and sothis bus that's actually a mini
(13:46):
clinic moves around.
They can do, I think,everything but surgeries on
there.
And then Dr Allison Crowe, whichwe've had on the podcast before
, helped formulate a localstreet dog coalition which is
part of a national organizationconnected with Kansas State
University, shawnee CountyHealth Department, and the list
goes on of these partners.
And we started moving around.
But we needed somebody toorganize all this, and so it
(14:08):
really didn't have a home atthat time.
It was a rescue mission inVallejo and so forth, and so we
said, okay, what can be theumbrella organization?
And so Miriam and I had achance, on the front end of this
, to start something calledCompassion Strategies, which
exists today.
And so today, compassionStrategies is a nonprofit
organization.
Its primary focus is MAP,mobile Access Partnership, and
(14:31):
then also this campaign to endchronic homelessness became this
, homelessness became this andwe needed somebody to organize,
coordinate not justadministratively, but what I
kind of refer to you, jenny, asyou're kind of like an air
traffic controller.
We've got all these differentaircraft coming in, we've got
(14:51):
cargo planes, passenger planes,we've taken off, but you have to
organize that well, and that'swhat you became now, about four
years ago, is the director ofmap operations.
Speaker 4 (14:59):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:59):
So what's that been like for you?
You got out of the streets.
You're still kind of doing someadministrative things, but you
are actually boots on the ground.
Speaker 4 (15:05):
Yeah, I didn't initially set out to be the
director of the program.
Remember, I was willing to helpRight right.
The Lord had other plans, and soit has definitely been a
learning process and, honestly,as much as I wanted to be able
to engage with our neighbors, Iwas very intimidated by them,
(15:27):
and so MAP just provided greatopportunities.
I remember early on we happenedto have a cornhole game on site
and one of the individuals whoI was very afraid of went over
there and started playingcornhole and I really felt like
the Lord was telling me go playcornhole with him and completely
(15:48):
shifted my perspective of himand all of them, you know, and
we had a great time.
I beat him.
I still give him a hard timeabout that, uh, but yeah, I, I
just honestly, sometimes I, justI I'm figuring out as I go, I,
I, um, yeah, sometimes I don'tfeel equipped to do this work,
(16:10):
but the Lord continues to use me, so I just show up.
Speaker 2 (16:15):
And I think that's where we all start, because we
have to be willing to go whereGod calls us to go.
And I know one of the firstthings that I began to realize
as MAP was what we call in fulloperation Now you're director of
operations is that thereweren't too many people walked
up that you didn't know theirname and they knew your name and
your volunteers.
Knowing people's names is hugeand also their special needs.
(16:37):
There was one gentleman onetime that I remember the
location that we were at GracePoint, and you came up to me and
said we just learned somethingabout him.
We have potato chips here forpeople today and he's not eating
any potato chips.
He loves potato chips, but he'snot eating until he realized he
had no teeth.
And so you all mashed up thepotato chips so he could then be
(17:00):
able to consume the potatochips, just those special things
.
What a difference that made forthat particular individual.
Well, part of the journey isthat until last Friday was your
last day you were an employee ofTopeka Rescue Mission, which
you also in conjunction withMobile Access Partnership
Mission, which you, also inconjunction with Mobile Access
Partnership, thanks to TRM andLaManda, gave you an opportunity
(17:21):
to do that under the umbrellaof Topeka Rescue Mission, as
well as be part of the outreachteam of Topeka Rescue Mission.
So you're out in the streetswith that team working and
systems and the different thingsthere.
Lamanda partnership is a lot ofwhat Topeka Rescue Mission is
about.
Although Topeka Rescue Missionleads in so many areas, talk
(17:43):
about your, from your view, thevalue and importance of having
kind of given the platform forJenny to be able to go to where
she's going now.
That's an investment of TopekaRescue Commission, investment of
donors that were giving TopekaRescue Commission on that, which
has now shifted.
Why is that important?
(18:04):
To invest in things that maybeleave TRM to go do the next
thing?
Mm-hmm.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
You know what we do inside TRM and outside TRM is
not TRMs, and I feel like a kindof a broken record right now.
Miriam is probably tired ofhearing me say it because she's
had a lot of functions with meand meetings.
But when I say that our thingswhether it's our buildings or
(18:31):
our resources, our people, ourpeople it's not ours.
We feel very strongly that theLord created 70 something years
ago for the Topeka RescueMission to bring his light, his
healing, his hope to people.
(18:51):
Period.
And so there's a lot of goodthat happens within our walls.
There's a lot of good thathappens outside the walls
because of the people in ourdepartments and things.
But our mission is so muchbigger than TRM operations.
It's so much bigger than justour volunteers, just our staff.
What we see God do is bringeverybody here but then do his
(19:15):
work which surpasses any of ourown abilities.
And so when I think aboutwhether it's Jenny or we could
say this for a lot of people,right, we could say people that
are Misty, who has left TRM andnow she's doing incredible
things in Lawrence.
We could say the same thingabout James.
We could say the same thingwhen people move out of state,
(19:36):
marissa, who was instrumental inOperation Food Secure.
The list goes on and on.
Right those partnerships, orbeing able to see things bigger
than just what we're doingwithin TRM, is important in my
opinion, because that means weare staying anchored to the
heart of the Lord and anytime webecome selfish, whether that's
(19:58):
with money, whether that's withfood, personnel, procedures, not
wanting to share policies,whatever the case may be, that
is so far from the Lord's heart,and so I know it sounds cliche
and I know I've had a couple ofpeople and I appreciated them
coming up to me.
But would you really share thatwith us?
(20:20):
Like if we started our ownshelter, you would really help
us with the operations that youhave?
Yes, we would.
If you feel like that's whatGod's calling you to do, or you
feel like it's in the best nameof humanity and you want to do
this, we're here to help.
Trm is not just wanting to sithere and build some big empire
based on homelessness and so-.
Speaker 2 (20:41):
There's plenty of customers out here.
There's plenty of customers.
Speaker 1 (20:44):
And when I look at people serving people, that's
not a competition.
People serving people is forthe betterment of people and so
in this particular thing, thisis probably a topic we could do
a whole podcast on, honestly,especially right now with what
nonprofits are facing.
But I will continue to do thebest that I can to stay anchored
(21:06):
to the Lord's heart, even whenit seems scary Jenny leaving our
street reach team it is scary.
She's got incrediblerelationships.
She's got impeccable knowledgeof homeless encampments.
Her intuition is incrediblelike none other, and I could go
on and on about her.
(21:27):
Having Jenny leave TRM is a lossperiod If I'm looking at it
only from the lens of our ownoperations.
If I continue to view Jenny asa woman of Christ on a mission,
there is no loss, there is anexpansion.
She has continued her work forthe Lord from TRM and the Lord
(21:53):
used her in a season for TRM,built her for her next season.
That he needs to use her and Ihave got to let her go just as
beautifully as I would havewelcomed her.
And in my time here I didn'tbring Jenny on, but she moved a
couple of different areas whileI was here Right and supervision
and not supervision all that.
I needed to do those things.
Just as beautiful, as I'm goingto let her go.
(22:14):
Beautiful Because when I'mlooking at the brokenness and
the challenges and all of thejust struggles that our
community is facing, I cannotlook at TRM being one entity in
it.
I have to look at it as we'reall on a purpose from the Lord,
(22:35):
and that includes when personnelhave a different purpose that
steps outside the boundaries ofTRM.
She's still doing kingdom work,so who am I to not want to
support that?
Speaker 2 (22:46):
It flies in the face of the people who say we have
silos in this work, whichthey're just informed because
this is not silos.
This is actually workingtogether, people going to the
best place they fit.
Map is a good example of that.
It's a big rescue mission andother agencies that have been
doing this now for four years,and so we are coming up on that
celebration this Thursday, whichis the 22nd Okay, thank you,
(23:11):
the 22nd of May and so we'rehaving a special 10 am to 1 pm
at the Topeka First UnitedMethodist, which is 6th, and
Topeka Boulevard, which is oneof those sites that we go to.
It'll be a regular map day,jenny, where the unsheltered
neighbors will be coming upgetting their services, but also
(23:33):
people are invited to come from10 to 1.
And there's going to be a pressconference at 1030.
And you've been organizing thatand who are some of the
speakers that are going to be atthat that come to the top of
your mind?
It's not going to be a longpress conference, so don't worry
, but who are some of thosefolks and what agencies are
going to be represented?
Speaker 4 (23:51):
Pastor Brad is going to lead us off, carla Hedquist
from at the Stormont Vale, amyKapasti with Vallejo, brett
Martin with United Way and AhodKerry Higgins with the city and
Impact Avenues.
There's another, I don't wantto name.
Right next to you.
Speaker 3 (24:12):
Amanda.
Speaker 2 (24:13):
Rowe, it's okay, we just roll with it.
She's too close to you and wehave a volunteer.
A volunteer is going to speak.
Yes, we have a volunteer MoniaSchmidt.
And you and me, yes, yeah, andyou and I get to kind of I think
there's probably others.
I get to keep everybody rollingon two-minute time limits, so
yeah.
Speaker 3 (24:32):
Yeah, I can't oh go ahead.
Well, that was a lot from.
Speaker 2 (24:34):
Jenny, you know, get her done.
Time to wrap it up.
Speaker 3 (24:37):
Let's get to rolling here, Because you know you
respect those time limits sowell.
Speaker 2 (24:42):
Well, it doesn't apply to everybody, but anyway.
So there will be refreshmentsthere, our neighbors will be
there, it should be a beautifulday, like it is today, and to be
able to really see what this isall about.
And then there's going to be avery special announcement.
We're not going to tell you onthis podcast what it is.
You'll have to come and findout but it's a really special
announcement that I think isgoing to be a part of this whole
(25:06):
concept.
We've been talking about thecampaign to end chronic
homelessness, and so we'll talkabout that at the end, what the
next step is in that.
So, jenny, we've already talkedabout your last day at TRM.
You talked about how you gothere, what's your thoughts about
going forward, because themobile access partnership is
going to be doing more than whatit's doing.
(25:28):
We'll talk more about that comeThursday.
But now your CompassionStrategies, and that's a fairly
new organization.
The good news I get to workwith you full time again.
And what excites you about this?
What scares you about this?
Speaker 4 (25:47):
Oh yeah, I have both.
I'm excited because right now Ibelieve the program is at its
capacity in its current model.
I can't without saying too much.
I am excited because I dobelieve we are going to be able
to grow the program in servicesthat we offer and then hopefully
(26:08):
eventually expand hours ofoperation, days of operation,
that kind of thing.
What scares me is how it's allgoing to come together.
Hopefully we can baby step itout, like we did the mobile
model.
Speaker 2 (26:25):
So, for those who would like to know about how
Jenny gets scared, she getsscared with faith, which
motivates her.
So, when we were addressinghuman trafficking issues, we
started back in, I think, 2014or something, and here it is
2018.
And we really felt like we weresupposed to go to the Kansas
legislature and try to get themto that was in January of 2018,
(26:49):
the beginning of the year and tosee if they would sign on to
declare war on human trafficking.
And so we chose February 1st tobe the date of 2019 to do that,
because that would give us ayear plus to help the
legislature to understandFebruary 1st, which was the same
day that Abraham Lincoln signedthe paper's 13th Amendment to
abolish slavery in the UnitedStates.
So let's use that date toabolish human trafficking.
(27:12):
And so that was a prettydaunting task to get everybody
in the legislature, includingthe governor's office, to jump
on board with that, and we weregoing to take a year to do it.
And you, Jenny, said well, whynot this year, Because it can't
happen that fast.
There's no way it will happen,and I don't remember the exact
words is well, if we trust God,let's see.
(27:32):
Sure enough, three weeks later,both House and the Senate
signed on to that and thegovernor's office did too, which
was historic.
Nothing ever done that fast atthe Kansas State legislature
level.
So when you were scared butalso walking in faith, same
thing happened off recent foodsecure.
I remember you were thisdaunting task.
This is never going to happen.
Come back on it later.
(27:53):
500 volunteers, 20 or 10counties, 200, 120,000 people.
It was a five, yeah, and 4million pounds of food.
So here you are four yearslater and 4 million pounds of
food.
So here you are four yearslater MAP operations.
And I think, Jenny, I think weall understand that there's
nobody better to do this thanyou.
(28:15):
And so we are grateful You'renot leaving TRM.
In regards to intersection withTRM, we're going to continue
doing that, because TRM is avital role in this effort, and
will be going forward.
So, jenny, thank you for sayingyes.
Anything else you would like toshare with us today?
Speaker 4 (28:34):
Well, I do just want to say I am so grateful to TRM,
to everybody, To TRM, toeverybody.
(28:55):
Like you all have been sosupportive and patient and
gracious and allowing me tolearn and grow into this role.
Gosh, you know what a blessing,because I know that that's not
the case in all organizationsand, yeah, it's definitely not a
goodbye.
We're going to still be seeingeach other Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (29:13):
Yeah, Don't ask me anything.
Jenny gets to say that and thenexpect us to talk.
That's right.
And then Barry's looking at youand Josh and I go.
Well, this is the coolest aboutit.
Speaker 2 (29:21):
So, anyway, jenny, thank you, lamanda, miriam,
everybody who supported Jennyand her role at Topeka Rescue
Mission for 11 years and nowstepping up to support Jenny in
her next big assignment withCompassion Strategies and the
Mobile Access Partnership, whichwill be moving forward and
growing and partnering with evenmore folks in the future.
(29:44):
Again, this Thursday, whichwill be the 22nd of May,
starting at 10 o'clock in themorning, going until 1, you can
come by for tours.
All the different agencies, Ibelieve, will be there.
We also have our unshelteredneighbors who will be there.
Special press conference at1030 with some different people
who will be talking about theirexperience with MAP, as well as
(30:05):
a very special announcement thatwe're going to make.
That is this Thursday, the 22ndof May, at 10 to 11,.
First, united Methodist Church,6th and Topeka.
So come on by if you just havea chance to drop by and check in
.
We would love to see you thereand watch for what's going to
happen next.
Speaker 1 (30:22):
Jenny Falk, thank you for being here and thank you
for our next great assignmentahead.
Speaker 2 (30:26):
Thank you for listening to Our Community, Our
Mission, a podcast of the TopekaRescue Mission.
If you'd like more informationabout TRM, you can go to
trmonlineorg.
That's trmonlineorg.
Thank you for being a part ofour community and our mission.
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