August 12, 2025 • 54 mins
Thomas Hall’s unexpected path from applying for what he thought was a janitor position to leading as Director of Emergency Shelter and Outreach at Turlock Gospel Mission is a testament to the power of purpose-driven work. In California’s Central Valley, homelessness is fueled by mental health struggles and skyrocketing housing costs. Thomas and his team respond to urgent needs by offering more than beds. They provide food boxes, clothing, hygiene facilities, and storage, all while fostering a culture where “everyone lifts each other up.” His personal growth, from realizing his stern demeanor could intimidate guests to intentionally creating a warmer, safer environment, has transformed the shelter’s atmosphere for families, those fleeing domestic violence, and individuals facing addiction or mental illness.
Beyond emergency relief, Thomas celebrates stories of lasting change, like a former guest now thriving with stable housing and employment. While he acknowledges they often don’t see the final outcomes, he focuses on helping in the moment. To guard against burnout, Thomas leans on prayer, worship, basketball, church, and family time, encouraging his team to practice self-care as well. His message to the community is clear: whether through volunteering, donating, or showing kindness, everyone can help address homelessness. “When you see someone on the street, there’s a long story behind what led them there,” he says. “Some was in their control, some wasn’t. Say a prayer, offer help, and remember—we’re all called to serve the less fortunate.”
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Gracious Heavenly Father, we thank you for this
day and this time to cometogether and to record this
podcast.
Lord, we just thank you for allof the servants across the
globe that are, god, servingyour kingdom, serving the least
of these, and, lord, we'rethankful to have one of those
folks on our podcast today.
Lord, pray your blessing overhim and his ministry and, lord,
just the listeners that willhear this today.
(00:20):
God, that they would beencouraged.
Father, we love you and wepraise your name, amen.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Hello everybody, Thank you for joining us with
another episode of Our Community, Our Mission, a podcast of the
Topeka Rescue Mission.
I'm your host, Barry Feaker.
We're here on August the 12th.
It's a Tuesday of 2025.
This is episode number 279.
I'm here with LamandaCunningham, CEO, and we got a
special guest today.
We're going to go via internetto the West Coast.
(00:54):
Yes so before we do that, beforewe do that here on the Tuesday,
August the 12th, we have tothen honor the hard work of the
Research and developmentdepartment, who has researched
what is so special about thisTuesday in August, or actually
this day in August, the 12th ofevery year?
And so, LaManda, you havesibling right.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
I do.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
You have one or two or three or 10?
.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
I have one biological brother and I have one
stepbrother and two stepsisters.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Where do you fall in that lineup as far as firstborn,
secondborn, thirdborn, lastborn?
Speaker 3 (01:29):
When I look at all of us lumped together, I'm second
from the oldest.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Okay, let me do the math.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
You know I did that intentional so you wouldn't say
I was the middle child.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Well, Amanda, just in case you need to know, today is
National Middle Child Day.
National Middle Child Day Didyou know that existed?
Speaker 3 (01:45):
I did not.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
But I'm Feel better.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
Yeah, sure, although I still am claiming that I'm
closer to the older side.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
That's what middle children always do.
Speaker 3 (01:53):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
They're trying to vie for position.
So in 1986, there was a galnamed Elizabeth Walker and
apparently she was a middlechild.
So she established NationalMiddle Child Day because there
is something called the middlechild syndrome.
If you're out there todaylistening to this and you
wondered why you're strugglingall these years, it's real,
because oftentimes parents don'tgive as much attention to the
(02:15):
middle kid.
And I understand this myself.
I'm a middle child, I'm a firstborn and a last born.
So I'm like Josh down here.
We're special, we're veryspecial.
Our parents said ain't doingthat again.
Uh-huh.
Speaker 3 (02:29):
So you all are the lonely onlys.
So first, second and last.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
I heard that you stop at perfection.
So Well, that's right.
That's right.
I'm sure there is.
Let's make one, josh.
So anyway, national MentalChild Day.
And then why this goes hand inhand with August the 12th of
every year, I don't know, butit's Milkman Day.
Milkman Day, what's a MilkmanDay?
What's a Milkman?
Speaker 3 (02:55):
That was before my time, Barry.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Mine too Okay.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
Is it really?
Speaker 2 (02:59):
Pretty close.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
Anyway.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
Just close, yeah, just close.
Well, it used to be that youcouldn't get your milk at the
grocery store, so it gotdelivered to you on a wagon.
Speaker 3 (03:10):
Yeah, I don't have any recollection of that.
And then a truck with tires.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
And then, yeah, it was like right off the farm.
And today I'm not sure wheremilkmen are, other than the guy
who goes to Dillon's and puts iton the shelf.
I'm not sure.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
Well, I will say that in some of the notes for this
Milkman Day I didn't includethis on here is that there is an
increase in needing a milkmanquote unquote, and that with
COVID deliveries, increased homegrocery deliveries increased.
So the milkman kind of returned.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
So the milkman used to, I think, just deliver milk.
Now the milkman delivers theTwinkies to go in the milk.
Speaker 3 (03:45):
Okay, all right, now I will tell you I did chase the
swan truck.
Do you all remember the swan'struck?
Like the ice cream.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
I have a mental picture of you running down the
road after the swan truck.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
Yes, so my, yeah, my aunt who helped raise me I love
her so much my aunt Jan, shealways did swan's orders and I
remember that was like the bestchicken strips and ice cream and
I always got a treat off of it.
She would order it somehow andshe had this really long
driveway and when I saw itcoming, not only would I run
(04:19):
towards it, but then, when itwould pass me and the man would
wave, I would then chase it backto the house.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
You sound like you were a hungry child.
Speaker 3 (04:25):
I was I was.
I really wanted the chickenstrips.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
I remember.
So my family didn't order that,but I had a neighbor kid that I
hung out with a lot growing up.
His name was Luke and hisgrandparents that he was.
He would go to their house.
They had the Schwann's like icecream, and so their freezer was
always stocked with the littleice cream cups and so I remember
always getting those.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
Yep, so you remember those things?
Oh yeah, because they're veryimpactful and probably best
friend ever, right, mm-hmm?
Yeah, sure enough, sure enough.
Well, one more research anddevelopment important day.
On August, the 12th every year,it's National Julian Fries Day.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
Julianne is that right, julianne, julian, is that
right Julian, julian?
Yeah, julian, I'm sure it'sFrench, so we're saying it wrong
.
It's Julian.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
Yeah, well, of course , right.
So French fries, julian fries.
Okay, so, amanda, did you knowthat it is the national?
Why are we celebrating anational day that's French in
the United States?
Is it global?
No, it's national.
Anyway, it is that day when,yes, we would like to have a
(05:27):
large order of fries.
That's what Julianne read.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
Always.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Bigger Always.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
No, I don't know.
Okay, so anyway, actually it'sjust how they're made.
I guess they're smaller,they're very like thin fries, so
I see how you tied all thesetogether.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
Yeah, sure, tied all these together.
We have National Middle ChildDay, milkman Day and National
Julianne Fries Day.
So if you are depressed todaybecause you're the middle child
and you have a syndrome, you cancry in your milk and go get
some Julianne Fries to make youfeel better.
You got it.
So there we go.
Ok, oh, so glad you all tunedinto this.
And now we're going to get downto some other good things and
we're going to talk to one ofthe CityGate members and LaManda
(06:05):
, tell everybody again what theCityGate Network is and why it's
valuable and why we're goingclear out to California today.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
Yes, so the CityGate Network is an association that
consists of about 300 to 310rescue missions all across the
world, not just the UnitedStates, all across the world,
not just United States and thereis a plethora of information
(06:31):
that we gain from thisassociation networking
opportunities, support, that isall throughout the year.
We also have an annualconference every year that
happens every summer, and tonsof just different cohorts that
we can belong to, depending onour position, depending on kind
of the work that we do, and it'sjust an incredible group to
belong to for a lot of our needsthat we have, but also
(06:55):
networking abilities, not justwithin our area and our own
district, but all across theworld as we learn.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
You know how old the CityGate network is, how long
it's been around.
Speaker 3 (07:06):
No.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
It's over 100 years, is it?
That's right, but I rememberit's had like three or four
names right.
Well, when I came along, in thesame year that they declared
National Middle Child Day, 1986,it was called the International
Union of Gospel Missions, theIGM, i-g-u-m.
(07:28):
I-u-m anyway, so that was toolong, so then they changed it to
the Association of GospelRescue Missions, and so then
here back in about 2018, 2019,it became known as the City Gate
Network, and there's a biblicalreference to that in regards to
in the Old Testament.
A lot of decisions were made atthe CityGate, and this is where
(07:51):
the stranger was invited in.
The wonder, the person who washungry, looking for needs and so
forth is that in thosecommunities, the CityGate is
where the elders were, and thena lot of decisions were made and
a lot of help was found at thecity gate.
So it's a city gate network.
A lot of people didn't knowthat, even sitting around this
table right now, so that's whyit was called that.
(08:11):
So there was a particular awardthat was given out called the
City Gate Network Award, andTopeka Rescue Mission was
blessed to receive that in 2018.
And so we were one of the firstto be able to get that award,
and so that was a great honor,and it's been a great honor to
be a part of an organizationhere at Topeka Rescue Mission
(08:35):
that's over 100 years old and soI believe it started in New
York City.
I believe that Jerry McCauleywas a part of that whole thing
and one of the founders of whatwe call the modern day Rescue
Mission Movement A whole otherstory, but today we're going to
focus on California, a placecalled Turlock, california.
I'm sure you've all heard aboutTurlock, california.
I have now, and there's agospel mission there, and we
(08:56):
have today the director ofemergency shelter and outreach
programs, thomas Hall, joiningus from the Turlock Gospel
Mission.
Welcome to our community, ourmission, thomas.
Thanks for having me.
Yeah, so tell us just a littlebit about Turlock.
You kind of let me know alittle bit more where it was.
I think when we think ofCalifornia Los Angeles, san
(09:18):
Diego, san Francisco you're alittle farther inland from those
areas.
Speaker 5 (09:27):
Francisco.
You're a little farther inlandfrom those areas.
Yeah, so we're located in theCentral Valley, a small town of
about 80,000 people.
This will probably be a betterframe of reference.
We are about an hour and a halfnorth of Fresno and about an
hour south of Sacramento.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
Okay, yeah, I think a lot of people in Kansas have
heard about those places butmaybe never have been there
either.
So anyway, yeah, so you're kindof in the agricultural part of
the state, all those in there,and not terribly far from
Bakersfield.
Another staff member here atTopeka Rescue Mission, marion
Crable, was the director of theUnited Way in Bakersfield at one
(10:04):
time, and so we've learned alot about Bakersfield area.
So, thomas, talk about how longyou've been with the Turlock
Gospel Mission and then talkabout this director of emergency
shelter services and outreach.
What does that mean?
Speaker 5 (10:21):
So I got started with the Turua Gospel Mission in May
of 2021.
I was hired as a shelterattendant.
It was either a shelterattendant or a janitor.
It was going to be one or theother.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
A lot of times in rescue missions.
It's the same thing, so yeah.
Speaker 5 (10:37):
Depends on what happens, and the interview led
to most likely me being thejanitor and I said, oh God, I
don't want to do this.
And I said, well, I pray forthis to get my foot in the door
of an organization that'sinvolved in ministry, helping
communities.
So I said, all right, this iswhat I got to do, I'll do it.
And then they hired me as alead shelter attendant.
Just over the years, you know,progressing from overseeing the
(11:21):
emergency shelter for the women,our executive director,
christian Kirby, put a lot oftrust in me, a lot of faith in
me, as he coached me up andtrained me to take emergency
shelter and outreach andbasically what that means is any
emergency service anyone cancome and receive at the shelter.
So it's not just a bed for thenight, it's emergency clothing,
it's showers and hygiene usingthe bathroom, our warming center
and our cooling center.
Outside let's see storage.
(11:44):
We offer storage for those inthe community to help the city
keep people's belongings off thestreets.
And then there's outreachOutreaching to our unhoused
community to inform them of ourservices, to inform them where
to find the mission, the besttimes to come when they're
wanting to receive meals, andoutreach to other organizations
(12:06):
and agencies to buildconnections, partnerships,
referral avenues and overall abetter support system for our
organization and thenoutreaching to donors as well.
I'm starting to be moreinvolved in the fundraising
aspect of the organization andthe behind the scenes business
(12:27):
stuff.
So our executive director isactually on sabbatical, so right
now I'm the interim executivedirector and that has just been
fun and enlightening and, um,challenging, but also, uh, very
informative about the the otherstuff that goes on behind the
scenes.
So it's been an incrediblejourney, awesome ride and it's
(12:51):
fun.
I love what I do, I love cominghere, I love our people, I love
saying hi to people when I gethere in the morning, just being
there and seeing a part of theirjourney, part of their story,
being there when they give theirlife to Christ, being there
(13:11):
when they get baptized, whenthey celebrate a year of
sobriety, and they get excitedwhen they get their sobriety
chips.
And you know, I asked them, Isaid come, show up, I want to
see it.
You know, it's been a blessingand I'm so grateful to God that
he's placed me here and Iwouldn't want to be anywhere
else.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
Sounds like God really expanded your territory
based upon what you thoughtmight be a mop and a broom, to
come in to have all thosedifferent things that they have
entrusted you there at thegospel mission.
To be able to do all thosethings and now covering for the
executive director while thatindividual's out, that's a lot
of responsibility and it soundslike.
(13:46):
And of course, LaManda and Iare able to see you via the
Internet, on Zoom Other peoplecan't, but you're smiling the
whole time you're talking.
So some people would say, man,that's a nightmare to have all
that on your plate, but youreally seem like you are
embracing that.
We're talking about ruralCalifornia.
It's an 80,000 populationroughly there in Turlock.
It's not small, but it's nothuge.
(14:09):
A lot of times folks thinkabout homelessness being in
those greater metropolitan areas.
Sometimes people say you reallyeven have homeless in Kansas.
Yeah, we do.
But talk about what the pictureof homelessness looks like in
the Agricultural Belt ofCalifornia.
A lot of people that come tothe shelter and for services
(14:33):
there.
Are they from the Turlock area?
Are they coming in from thecoast because there's no
resources there in those bigger,bigger cities, or what's the
picture?
Speaker 5 (14:42):
So a majority of our guests that come to the shelter
here are from Turlock or justfrom another town within the
county.
There's a lot of small townsthat are nearby.
You won't know them but Ceres,houston Keys, patterson very
(15:03):
small towns nearby, houston Keys, patterson very small towns
nearby, and some will flock here.
Or 20 minutes north to Modesto,where there's the Modesto
Gospel Mission, also a CityGatemember looking for help, not
knowing where they can find it,but just oftentimes grasping at
straws because there's notreally a ton of places for them
(15:25):
to go to for help.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
I'm sorry, go ahead.
Speaker 5 (15:29):
I got a call yesterday of a mom with a
17-year-old special needs sonwhich is just very difficult for
someone in her situation toeven find a place to go for
shelter.
And you know we were workingwith her to try to work
something out for them to beable to stay here.
That's one of the needs that westarted to focus on a couple
(15:53):
years ago with the increase infamilies just being flexible and
adaptive, to not have to turn afamily away when we know
there's no other option for them.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
You know, Amanda, what Thomas is talking about
there is that it's so importantfor people to understand what
Topeka Rescue Mission does,Turlock Gospel Mission does in
regards to how many beds forwomen, how many for men and
children, and so forth, and sothat's the easy part to say.
But that's the whole thing oftrying to meet a need that maybe
(16:23):
you're not prepared to meet andhave to be flexible and that's
kind of common with CityGateMinistries is that the need to
be flexible and to maybe dosomething you really weren't
prepared to do.
But what's the alternative?
Someone on the street, maybenot surviving on the street.
How do you, Lamanda, how do younavigate through that as the
(16:45):
CEO of Topeka Rescue Missionwhen you have that man?
We hadn't done that one before,or we haven't done that in a
long time, or we're really notprepared for that.
What?
Speaker 3 (16:53):
do you do?
Well, I think it depends on thesituation.
What I've learned not to do ispanic as my first reaction and
(17:17):
the reason I kind of joke aboutthat is the first, I don't know
10 to 20 curveballs finally quitsaying it, because I would say,
hey, we were just asked this,or this is a need, and I've
asked a couple of people and noone has experienced this before.
Or I would come to you and Iwould say, hey, I've got this
situation, how would you handlethis?
(17:38):
And you have tons of experience.
Yet there were still so manysituations where you said I
haven't experienced it.
So you helped me switch mythinking from yes, there is
wisdom, and using wise counseland logic and previous
experience.
But you also helped meunderstand Lamanda there is just
(18:00):
never going to be this level ofcomfort and predictability is
just never going to be thislevel of comfort and
predictability and everythingfits in this structured system.
You are constantly going to bethrown situations where you've
never experienced it before,you're not sure what to do, and
sometimes even things thatrequire you to break a rule or
(18:21):
to make exceptions for things,and so I think when I'm thrown,
these things particularly tiedto shelter right.
We just have a rule we do whatwe need to do for kids period,
but then that means that justseven or eight months ago, we
had kids that weren't even in aroom.
(18:43):
They were in the overflow,staying in open areas.
Well, it was because I didn'twant them in the cold.
So you know, I think the firstthing that I do when we're
constantly thrown situationsthat require flexibility and,
yes, critical thinking but a lotof faith, is I try not to panic
.
And two, I try not topersonalize it.
(19:07):
Where, if it's not the bestoption, but it's the option that
we can do in that moment, I trynot to dwell on it and I try to
know like it's the rightdecision for right now and to
know that there's a betteroption coming.
And then, third, I really tryto make sure that I'm making
decisions, when applicable, withthe team, because I've also
(19:30):
found that sometimes this workis is tiring, it can be draining
.
There's tons of stuff that comeat you and if you're always the
one that's making decisions andhaving to like think through
things, that sometimes you endup not seeing some other
possible solutions or ideas thatyour colleagues will see, and
(19:51):
so I think it's really importantto have a team effort in this
work, because the flexibilitythere I'm not joking when I say
this, barry, and you know this,and so you're probably just like
, yep, kid, I know.
Every day, not two to threetimes a week, not a couple of
times a month, every single day,I do this job.
There is something that comesat me that I'm like I do not
(20:15):
know the answer to that, or thatwe're having to problem solve
because it's not common and sojust realizing that and doing it
as a team is crucial with thiswork.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
Sounds familiar, Thomas, to what you're doing out
there in California.
Speaker 5 (20:31):
Absolutely.
I mean, lamanda, you mentionedkids sleeping in overflow open
area.
That's where we're at now.
Unfortunately, our shelter isso full and we're limited to the
amount of beds here in Sherlock.
That that's where we are nowand and we're needing to be
flexible and, uh, that's one ofthe things I'm trying more and
more of is including the team indecisions and even asking them
(20:55):
outright what do you think weshould do?
Um, these people are going tobe here during your shift.
Is this feasible for?
you what do you need to makethis feasible?
Um, and it builds confidenceand, you know, it prevents them
from having to call me on theweekend.
You never get a call on theweekend.
Speaker 2 (21:16):
You never know I do.
Okay.
I was going to say maybe youcould teach lamanda how not to
get a call on the weekend whichain't going to happen yeah but,
but, but, ideally, ideally, youshould prevent them from calling
me on the weekend.
Speaker 5 (21:27):
but you know I love those calls, love hearing from
my team.
Speaker 2 (21:32):
So generally, if the phone rings on a weekend or the
middle of the night, it's notalways the hey, everything's
going great.
It's generally we've got achallenge.
We need your direction on this.
You know there's some differentphilosophies in regards to
leadership in crisis, and one iscentralized command and
decentralized command.
I've been doing a little studyon that myself in regards to
(21:52):
which models work better.
But you can decentralizecommand if you can trust the
people in the field, and that'swhat it sounds like.
What you are doing there inTurlock is that you are
equipping your team to be ableto handle things.
That's what Amanda's done hereand it's essential because
otherwise people that are inthese kind of spaces that you
(22:13):
have they don't last longbecause it's just too much.
So talk about, tell us a littlebit about what's going on in
your area.
You talked about Turlock beinga bit of a catchment area for
some other smaller communitiesaround you within your county.
Why are people homeless?
And actually in Turlock youwere saying before we started
(22:35):
the podcast here that at onetime it was the highest number
of churches per capita in theUnited States, in Turlock,
california.
So we would say, ok, here is agroup of people who have a
biblical understanding of how totake care of the poor and so on
and so forth.
So I'm sure they do.
What is creating homelessnessin Turlock and what is the
(23:00):
response towards the missionthere and what are you guys
doing as a community to addressthis?
So, first of all, what are thereasons for homelessness in this
agriculture area, more ruralcompared to the rest of the
bigger parts of the state?
That is creating a need foreven a homeless shelter in
Turlock.
Speaker 5 (23:22):
There's no one reason .
I'd say the main reasons wouldhave to be mental health, being
unaddressed, beingself-medicated, drug abuse,
chemical dependency.
And I mentioned Modesto, 20minutes north of us,
(23:44):
unfortunately, and it's myhometown, but unfortunately it's
known, as you know, meth-desto.
To many it's it's uh theaccessible, the accessibility to
those substances is, you know,anyone can find it, uh out on
the street and often cases getit for free um so I say mental
(24:07):
health, substance abuse, um theincreasing costs of living.
I mentioned that we've got, youknow, increase in families.
I had a stack of messages leftfor me when I got here yesterday
morning of five familieslooking for shelter.
Yes, and they're losing theirhomes.
Speaker 2 (24:31):
Because of what?
Speaker 5 (24:33):
Because of loss of job, because of, sometimes,
domestic violence.
They're fleeing, but oftencases they can't afford to keep
their place.
We also get a lot of calls thatwe don't unfortunately, we're
not able to help out with this,but a lot of calls about social
assistance and utilityassistance and people are just
(24:55):
struggling.
One of the things that we'vepushed to the forefront in the
last year is that our assistancewith food.
We give out food boxes on aweekly basis.
Anyone can come here, registerwith us and start receiving food
boxes weekly.
We have a food giveaway everymonth and we're just working as
(25:20):
hard as we can to helpindividuals to, you know,
eliminate one cost so that wayyou know, oftentimes it's a,
it's a choice am I going to payrent or am I going to buy food?
If they're going to buy food,then oftentimes you know, not
too much down the road they'regoing to need to come here.
So we try to provide them withthe food, even if they need to
(25:43):
come for meals every day, hotmeals every day, just to help
them.
You know that could free upeven a couple hundred dollars
for them a month.
Speaker 2 (25:54):
Sounds like you are experiencing there in Turlock
what's very common around thecountry in many different
aspects.
It's economy, people fallingout of the ability to stay where
they are due to loss of job orproperty tax increases, and
their rent goes up, theirhousing goes up.
I've learned in Fresno, meetingsome folks out there years ago,
(26:15):
that there was a high level ofstreet drugs that were going on
in the Fresno area, and so itsounds like that this is one of
the bigger issues the mentalhealth, the complexities of
addiction and so forth, and someeting those emergency needs
where they are.
But yet you have a family who'scoming in who maybe hasn't
(26:36):
experienced any of that.
How do you then help the personwho's coming in who is
struggling with severe mentalhealth breakdown, substance
abuse issues, and you got thisfamily who just maybe today
found out that they have toleave their home and there's
nowhere else to go.
Speaker 5 (26:55):
How do you, how do you bring those populations
together safely and help peopleto navigate through that so it's
not like, oh, one trauma toanother trauma well, we take uh,
we take the safety of ourguests very seriously, and even
in my few years here, I'veworked very hard to establish a
(27:17):
culture here that it's everyonelifting each other up Anyone
that's coming for, let's say,even just for a shelter bed for
the night or just for a mealoutside.
You know they, they know whenthey're here they're going to be
respectful, but they alsounderstand that everyone here is
here to get help, just likethey are, and so when I first
(27:41):
got hired, there was lots offights outside, fights inside,
theft, and we've worked reallyhard to make this a place that
you know when a mom comes herefleeing domestic violence with
her children, she's going to becomfortable staying here.
Speaker 2 (27:59):
How do you do that?
Thomas?
People coming from wherethey've been maybe they've been
living on the streets for anextended period of time there's
a culture there, or there's aculture in the domestic abuse
arena, human trafficking arena.
The person who maybe has neverreally experienced any of that,
it's just an economic issue.
How do you bring those diversepopulations together that have
(28:22):
some diversity, to say the least, in culture and understanding,
and bring them into a place tohelp them to assimilate into a
culture where each other islifting each other up?
What have you done to try toget from where they've been to
creating that kind of culture?
This really sounds like it'shelped significantly.
Speaker 5 (28:43):
Well, number one we communicate the message of the
gospel, the love of Christ.
We're here to love others,serve others, help others.
And oftentimes, when we, youknow we have people coming into
our program, they stay in thesame building but in a dorm area
, a separate dorm area, but theyall eat together during
(29:04):
mealtime.
And oftentimes, those peoplethat join our program, we've
done the work beforehand inbuilding the relationship, the
outreach to get them so reachingthem where they are in their
homelessness and then invitingthem into the culture, okay,
makes sense absolutely.
And then with the, the familiesthat come in with the children,
(29:25):
um, it's, it's a, it's verydifficult, it's very difficult
and oftentimes it takes multipleinteractions to build trust,
even with the staff.
Oftentimes I have to recognizeright away OK, I need to get a
female staff member to talk tothis mother Because, you know,
(29:48):
for various reasons, you know, Idon't know their story, but,
like in many occasions, oh, thiswoman, it seems like she's a
little not so comfortabletalking to me or opening up to
me.
Let me go find a female so thatwe can help her out, we can
hear her out, we can find outwhat it is she needs.
And you know, I've been toldthat I don't know where this
(30:09):
comes from, but I've been toldthat I I'm a little bit
intimidating and I don't seethat when I'm looking at this
guy, it's surprising to me.
But, uh, I guess I have a,oftentimes a, a, a plain serious
looking face.
Even so, I had to, um, look inthe mirror and say hey, dude,
(30:30):
what are you doing?
Smile more.
You know, and you mentionedearlier smiling.
That's something I had to workon too, just to make the area
more welcoming, and we even haveour participants in our program
participate in making theenvironment welcoming to those
that come in for any service.
Speaker 2 (30:50):
Amanda, I know you're very connected with CityGate
Network and the Emerging LeadersProgram which Thomas is a part
of.
You've been helping to leadthat.
While you're leading in theCityGate arena and you've been
here about as long as Thomas hasbeen, there is his ministry in
the four-year range.
What do you hear here?
(31:11):
When you hear somebody that'stalking about what they're doing
there, how's that helpful toTopeka?
Speaker 3 (31:17):
Man.
I think it's helpful on a lotof levels.
One, it's just incredible tosee the true humbleness of other
leaders in their sharing ofinformation, whether it's about
their ministry, their sharing ofinformation, whether it's about
their ministry, their ownpersonal journey, what they're
trying to improve on.
(31:38):
It is a reminder that we needto continue to be vulnerable,
transparent, ask for help whenwe are facing something that is
hard or there's uncertainty.
It's also exciting to me Thomasis one of the first people with
Emerging Leaders that I got tomeet a couple of years ago and
so just to continue thatfriendship and see his growth, I
(32:05):
remember some of the firstthings that he shared in the
open group as I was standingthis is embarrassing, but I was
too short to see everybodythere's like 60 people in the
room, I know and so I stood on acouch and I think that was the
first time that everybody waslike well, she says she's an
executive director, but thatprevious principal and teacher
(32:25):
is coming out in her Right.
But just to, thomas was reallyeager to meet people and he came
out of his comfort zone in thatfirst time in the large group
and opened up with some of thethings he was struggling with as
this aspiring leader, and so Ilove being able to stay
(32:46):
connected to him, not only withministry changes and all of that
, but him himself, because I'mjust like this big sister who
loves him and is really proud ofhim.
But because he's been such anhonest leader and transparent
and open, I've been able to seethat change.
Because then other people walkalongside him, give him ideas.
(33:08):
Then he shares ideas of stuffhe's doing, and so to me that is
important to me as a person,just as someone that's leading
going.
What I'm helping co lead withemerging leaders is important.
Relationships are important.
But the other side of it iswhen I have these conversations
with Thomas on the monthly calls, the annual conference,
(33:29):
wherever it is that I'm engagingwith him, I'm able to take back
stuff to what we're doing inTopeka.
Like it's just incredible thathe's sitting here going.
He had to look in the mirrorbecause of feedback he got and
had to say man, what are youdoing?
I need to make sure that I'mdoing that same thing.
And so to me the experiencewith CityGate, but also just the
(33:51):
friendships, the colleagues,all of that it's so neat because
it's iron, sharpening iron withleaders.
But then there is also so manyneat ideas we get when we hear
from other people in other areasthat we take back to TRM.
Speaker 2 (34:07):
Yeah, thomas, I'm impressed with your transparency
on that as well, of saying Ihad to look in the mirror.
I'm impressed with yourtransparency on that as well, of
saying I had to look in themirror.
And I think that's what all ofus do when we're looking at our
relationships with others,especially people who may be
vulnerable and hurting.
How are they perceiving us?
And I think that that's a hugepart of the culture, whether
it's just the leader of theorganization, whether it's a
(34:29):
department head, like you are,and covering for the leader,
while they're gone all the waydown to the person who's got the
mop in the broom to do that.
Unlike Lamanda, my frame is alittle bit bigger and I used to
train mental healthprofessionals, especially nurses
, on safety issues and mentalhealth work and had a nurse came
(34:52):
up to me after I'd been doing afew training sessions and said
they're not hearing a wordyou're saying.
And I said why?
I mean, I know my stuff and uhand uh, they're all scared of
you.
And I said scared of me why?
Because you're talking aboutsafety issues and you're talking
about violence and how to stayalive and those kinds of things,
but you are towering over themwhile they're sitting down, so
(35:14):
could you just sit down and talkto them next time?
It was that simple and Ilearned to try to be the guy
that sits down rather thantowering over somebody, and so
learning what how othersperceive us is an essential,
whether you're doing outreach inthe streets or whether you are
working in the shelters, and Ithink that's a very valuable
insight for CityGate members toanalyze.
(35:36):
You've been there, you'veanalyzed it yourself, you've
shared it here, but also peoplewho are listening today, maybe
in our own families or into ourneighbors or volunteers who come
into these places.
How do people perceive us andhow can we help them feel more
comfortable?
So, thomas, how well is TurlockGospel Mission supported by the
community?
(35:57):
Is it a struggle?
There's a lot of economicissues for nonprofits today and
ministries.
Are you guys in pretty goodshape?
Is that a continual battle?
You mentioned that you're outon the outreach to donor
component of this.
Talk a little bit about theculture there in Turlock in
regards to supporting the workof a gospel mission.
Speaker 5 (36:18):
Well, we receive a tremendous amount of support
Again the amount of churcheshere in Turlock.
Many of them have beensupporting us for years and
years, a lot of them since thebeginning.
This organization began in 2007, and it was a traveling shelter
.
Speaker 2 (36:37):
Traveling shelter.
Speaker 5 (36:39):
Yeah, one week a church would host beds and
provide dinner.
Another week it would beanother church host the beds,
provide the dinner, and then itwent on like that until they
were able to obtain their ownbuilding, and since then it's
just grown into um, to what itis now we.
(37:00):
So we receive a lot of supportfrom the churches, um, from
businesses, local businesses,restaurants, um, uh, thrift
stores, you name it like otheragencies.
A lot of support from thecounty Office of Education.
We now have a daycare providedhere on site for those in our
(37:22):
program, and that's provided bythe Office of Education and we
don't pay anything for it.
Speaker 2 (37:29):
So you're networking then with others to help you do
the work you're doing there, notjust support.
So 2007 is when it starteddoing outreach.
Was there not a shelter for thehomeless there in Turlock at
the time?
Speaker 5 (37:43):
I believe there was, but it was just a men's shelter.
So, there's another shelter twoblocks down the street.
They only shelter men.
Speaker 2 (37:50):
How do you intersect with them?
Are they gospel mission?
Speaker 5 (38:01):
Are they not?
Are they non-faith mission orshelter?
How do you intersect with them?
So they're not a gospel mission.
I don't know if they're afaith-based organization I
haven't seen or maybe they justdon't advertise it, um, but they
uh bring their men in in theevening.
(38:22):
they check out in the morningand so oftentimes we're seeing
them for lunch, we're seeingthem for dinner, um, over the
years I've gotten to know a lotof these guys and, um the they,
a lot of them, will work hard,flying jobs, that men's shelter
will work around their schedule.
There was a gentleman who justrecently found a place to live
and he came here for years formeals, and something I want to
(38:47):
share is that a few months backI played basketball a lot on the
weekends, and a few months backI basketball a lot, uh, on the
weekends.
And a few months back I went toa nearby town.
I was playing at this church.
There's this guy there.
He comes up to me, thomas, andI'm like, hey, what's up, man?
And he's all.
You don't remember me, he goes.
(39:08):
I used to come to the missionfor meals every day while I was
staying at weekend and I waslike, oh my gosh, I didn't
recognize that he cut his hair,he's clean shaven, he's nice,
clean clothes, he was doing good, he's working, he's got a place
and you know, he's playingpickup basketball, you know, on
(39:29):
the free time, and it was justamazing to see that.
You know, we, we see a lot ofpeople come and go for meals and
it's hard to put a face andconnect with all of them.
But just knowing that thisorganization, you know, played
some small role in helping themgave them at least one resource
that they needed to help them ontheir journey.
(39:50):
And that's part that's ourmission, you know, to provide
restorative services throughChrist's love and you know we
oftentimes we don't see the endresult but we don't need to see
the end result.
We just need to do what we canto help others there in the
moment.
Speaker 2 (40:08):
Pretty cool and you do get to see something that
happened later and somebodycomes up to you and says hey,
remember me.
Speaker 5 (40:14):
And they're doing well.
That's why I smile.
It feels me with joy.
Speaker 2 (40:18):
Yeah, for sure, for sure.
Well, amanda, you have made ita point with the podcast here to
occasionally reach out todifferent CityGate members
around the country, which Ithink is a great thing that
we've been able to do.
Do you have any questions oranything else you'd like to say
about Thomas or Turlock,california?
Speaker 3 (40:38):
Thomas, can you talk to us a little bit about just
challenges that you feel likeyou and your staff just
sometimes have to navigate, andI think you know there's some
big ones.
That we're always talking aboutis just, you know the needs are
growing and you mentioned themental illness, the addiction,
(41:00):
those kinds of things, but whatare some things that maybe you
haven't mentioned that arereally challenging for the work
that you and your team do?
Speaker 5 (41:21):
um, for me, uh, when I first met lamanda, it was
self-care.
The work we do is very draining, uh, emotionally, spiritually,
um, it self-care is veryimportant, and I've been trying
to instill that on our team,because where years back I was
getting burnt out, I'm seeing itin our team and they're
starting to get burnt out, andthen that leads to
(41:42):
miscommunication, that leads toyou know stuff falling through
the cracks and then all the waydown the line and it leads to us
not supporting a guest as bestthat we could.
And so that's one of thechallenges is just leading a
team, leading a team, but alsohelping the team with what it is
(42:02):
.
They're struggling, because ifwe can't take care of ourselves,
we're not gonna be able to helpothers and it's gonna show in
our demeanor, our attitude, ourface, and so that's one
challenge.
Another challenge is, uh, Imean as much support as we get
(42:25):
from the community.
Um, there's equal parts thatdon't support, and so I'm sure
you guys experienced that too,and oftentimes I'm having to
tell our team members to stayfrom going on social media
reading comments about this orthat.
That's another struggle.
(42:49):
And when it comes to our guests,a few years ago I think it was
one of the first staff meetingsI attended I had made a comment
about you know, they come hereand they know what we do, but
they don't know who we are.
And that really stuck to ourexecutive director, christian
Kirby, and from then on, he madeit a focus of like, what is our
(43:14):
guest services look like, whatdoes that interaction look like,
what does that experience looklike?
And so, being able to changethat from just you know, I need
(43:36):
help showing up here, changingit into an experience, an
experience where they feelwelcome, they feel loved, they
feel helped, they feel heard,and allowing our team and
equipping them to be able to dothat.
And it's great to see thegrowth in our team members as
well.
And you mentioned Amanda.
(43:56):
Like you know, we're a bigsister.
I feel like a big brother yes,out of our, a lot of our team
members, even those that areolder than me.
Yes, it's weird.
You know there's um uh, acouple people on our team now.
They graduated from our program.
You know, they call me fatherbecause, they.
(44:16):
They say that you know, I wasthe first real, you know stern
male figure to kind of correctthem.
And then I say that correctionfirst I had to do for myself and
the one who led me in thatcorrection was our father you
know, he had to.
(44:36):
He had to give me a kick in thebutt, you know to get on, and so
there are challenges, a lot ofchallenges we deal with, but
it's it's so rewarding the workthat we do For as hard as our
work is.
When we do see the payoff, it'sjust phenomenal, it's amazing.
Speaker 2 (45:01):
Sounds like again being transparent about burnout,
worn out, but getting to seethe people that you help is one
of the reasons you stay in thegame.
The people that you help is oneof the reasons you stay in the
game, and, um, so that caringfor others as a leader, uh,
within the, uh, the Sherlockgospel mission, is extremely
(45:22):
important, because if you don'tcare well for those who are on
the front lines, then you haveno front lines except yourself,
and so, and so how do you takecare of yourself?
Um, you look for the Lord,obviously, in all of this.
How do you then stay refreshedand how can you be culturally
sound so that you can thencreate the culture that you have
(45:45):
created?
Speaker 5 (45:47):
Well, how do I take care of myself?
I stay in the Word.
I listen to worship musicconstantly.
Mm-hmm worship music constantly.
It's never not on when I'm inthe car.
I play it at home.
I go to church.
I serve on the usher team at mychurch and I serve on the young
adult ministry at my church andit's just fun.
(46:12):
It's serving, but it's fun andI enjoy it and I enjoy the group
of people I get to hang outwith.
I play basketball, sophysically that keeps me strong.
But also, since eight years old, it's been an outlet for me to
release frustration, you know,and clear my head.
And so I play basketball.
I play with my nephew, who'sthree years old and crazy right
(46:33):
now, but I love him, love him todeath and he's uh, uh,
oftentimes, you know, I'll, I'llget home from work and it'll be
a, it'll be an exhausting day,and then I go to him and then he
runs up and he's trying to showme each one.
I just pick them up and we'lljust playing and then, you know,
that just cancels outeverything.
(46:54):
But also I, I, I pray, I pray.
You know, prayer is verypowerful and I pray for this
organization.
I pray to god, to you know, forhis will to be done.
(47:15):
Pray for him to give mestrength.
I pray for the people here.
Um, you know, one of thegreatest prayers ever is the
jokes.
Just god help you know.
Quick, simple, to the point,but prayer is one of the best
resources for taking care ofmyself and, um you.
We regularly get uh emails fromcity gate of the.
Uh, what is it called?
(47:36):
Daily bread refresh orsomething?
Like that.
I sent those out to the team.
I send other things out to theteam and I encourage them to do
the same.
You know?
Uh, get back to the old hobby.
You know, on your time off orum, hey, you are accruing PTO.
Don't be a dum-dum like me andmax out because you're not
(48:01):
taking care of yourself.
I don't say that, but you know,in my head I was a dum-dum.
So I encourage others, you knowto.
You know, take some time offevery once in a while.
Yes, Get recharged.
Go do something every once in awhile.
Yes, get recharged.
Speaker 2 (48:16):
Go do something Sounds like you have.
Definitely are right in themiddle of the front lines of
service, helping others and alsoknowing the importance of
taking care of yourself so youcan show up every day.
So, thomas, anything else you'dlike to share with the folks
here in Topeka and whereverthey're listening to this
podcast?
Speaker 5 (48:35):
What I'd like to share is that you know, the work
we do is difficult, but it'swhat we're called to do, it's
our mission and we couldn't doit without the community and,
you know, I want to thank ourcommunity.
I'm going to have themlistening to this and I want to
(48:55):
thank them.
I want them to hear thatthey're appreciated and even
thankful to the community thathelps support you guys, you know
, so that you're able to dothings like this podcast, able
to serve those in your area.
I just encourage those thatanyone listening to get involved
, get involved, serve, volunteer, volunteer any area you can.
(49:17):
Um, it's very important.
It's very important, it's veryhelpful to organizations like to
our gospel mission, like topico rescue mission.
And then, you know, maybe set,maybe think from a different
perspective.
When you see someone on thestreet, you know there's a long
story behind what led them thereand there's some bad stuff that
(49:42):
you know was in their control,but there's also some stuff that
wasn't in their control.
Um, and say a prayer for them.
You know, we're called to helpothers.
We're called to help others,we're called to help the less
fortunate, and I would encourageothers to be the same.
Speaker 2 (50:04):
Well, thank you for that.
I mean you obviously have yourhands full there and also
encouraging the people in Topeka, Kansas, to be able to join in
what we're doing here.
Amanda, anything else you'dlike to say while we have Thomas
?
Speaker 3 (50:16):
No, thomas, it's just a joy to know you and to call
you friend, and I'm alsothankful because you know, at
this level it's just different.
It's different leading anorganization, and so sometimes
you don't have as many peoplethat you can just call on or
(50:37):
trust, and even with personalthings and you have been that
you've been an encourager.
I also know that you havepicked up on struggles that I've
been trying to processprofessionally and personally,
and I know that sometimes, evenwhen you haven't reached out
that, you've thought about me,you've prayed for me, and so I
(50:59):
just I think the world of you.
It's been exciting to see thechange that I've even seen in
you, and I'm so excited to justhave a front row seat at what
all the Lord's doing in you, andI know for a fact that the
kingdom is different because ofyour work, and that's incredible
to be able to just be a smallpart of seeing that.
(51:21):
So thank you for saying yes andnot giving up when you've had a
lot of opportunities to do so,and I'm always in your corner as
much as I can.
Speaker 2 (51:31):
Thomas, thank you, yes, go ahead.
Speaker 5 (51:34):
Lamanda, that means a lot, and I just have to say
that I'm thankful for you aswell.
You know your leadershipalongside Jordan, with Emerging
Leaders something for us to stayconnected throughout the year
is invaluable.
It's so important and it helpsus to see that we're not alone
(51:56):
in that.
You know we're all in the samework, the bigness of this.
We don't forget, fromconference to conference, that
this is nationwide, worldwide,whatever happens in our lives
(52:38):
whatever happens in your lives.
you're still here, you're stilla leader and you push through.
And one of I said I have to dothat too.
I have to do that too, and soI'm so appreciative of you.
I'm I'm glad God is, is isplaced you and given you a
purpose and and put you in aplace that you're able to do his
work, and because I can't thinkof anyone else that would be
(53:03):
greater in your role with yourteam.
You're an amazing leader andI'm so thankful for that.
Speaker 2 (53:11):
Thanks.
Well, thank you for that, andthank you for joining us today
on our podcast here in Topeka,and thank you for what you're
doing there in Turlock and toall the people who are listening
to this here on the 12th ofAugust of 2025, we're going to
be listening later to this Thankyou for what you're doing to
help support the Turlock GospelMission.
I think what we've heard heretoday is just one more reminder.
(53:32):
It's not this place or thatplace, but it's all the place
that people are in need in ourcountry and around the world,
and we have unique opportunitiesin different parts of the world
and in the United States,whether California or Kansas, to
be able to come together and torealize that we're all in the
same boat.
And, fortunately, we have agood captain His name is Jesus
(53:55):
to be able to sail the ship, andwe have faithful people like
you guys, as well as many othersand people who are listening to
these podcasts, whether you'rein California or whether you're
in Kansas, or, as we oftentimessay, the Research and
Development Department Are we atthe International Space Station
yet?
And they have not confirmed yesor no Still working on that.
So, still working on that.
Still working on that.
So thank you again, thomas, forjoining us today.
(54:18):
Thank you all for listening toour community, our mission.
If you'd like more informationabout the Topeka Rescue Mission,
you can go to trmonlineorg.
That's trmonlineorg.
Thanks for listening, thank you.
Gracious Heavenly Father, we thank you for this
day and this time to cometogether and to record this
podcast.
Lord, we just thank you for allof the servants across the
globe that are, god, servingyour kingdom, serving the least
of these, and, lord, we'rethankful to have one of those
folks on our podcast today.
Lord, pray your blessing overhim and his ministry and, lord,
just the listeners that willhear this today.
(00:20):
God, that they would beencouraged.
Father, we love you and wepraise your name, amen.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Hello everybody, Thank you for joining us with
another episode of Our Community, Our Mission, a podcast of the
Topeka Rescue Mission.
I'm your host, Barry Feaker.
We're here on August the 12th.
It's a Tuesday of 2025.
This is episode number 279.
I'm here with LamandaCunningham, CEO, and we got a
special guest today.
We're going to go via internetto the West Coast.
(00:54):
Yes so before we do that, beforewe do that here on the Tuesday,
August the 12th, we have tothen honor the hard work of the
Research and developmentdepartment, who has researched
what is so special about thisTuesday in August, or actually
this day in August, the 12th ofevery year?
And so, LaManda, you havesibling right.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
I do.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
You have one or two or three or 10?
.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
I have one biological brother and I have one
stepbrother and two stepsisters.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Where do you fall in that lineup as far as firstborn,
secondborn, thirdborn, lastborn?
Speaker 3 (01:29):
When I look at all of us lumped together, I'm second
from the oldest.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Okay, let me do the math.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
You know I did that intentional so you wouldn't say
I was the middle child.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Well, Amanda, just in case you need to know, today is
National Middle Child Day.
National Middle Child Day Didyou know that existed?
Speaker 3 (01:45):
I did not.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
But I'm Feel better.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
Yeah, sure, although I still am claiming that I'm
closer to the older side.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
That's what middle children always do.
Speaker 3 (01:53):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
They're trying to vie for position.
So in 1986, there was a galnamed Elizabeth Walker and
apparently she was a middlechild.
So she established NationalMiddle Child Day because there
is something called the middlechild syndrome.
If you're out there todaylistening to this and you
wondered why you're strugglingall these years, it's real,
because oftentimes parents don'tgive as much attention to the
(02:15):
middle kid.
And I understand this myself.
I'm a middle child, I'm a firstborn and a last born.
So I'm like Josh down here.
We're special, we're veryspecial.
Our parents said ain't doingthat again.
Uh-huh.
Speaker 3 (02:29):
So you all are the lonely onlys.
So first, second and last.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
I heard that you stop at perfection.
So Well, that's right.
That's right.
I'm sure there is.
Let's make one, josh.
So anyway, national MentalChild Day.
And then why this goes hand inhand with August the 12th of
every year, I don't know, butit's Milkman Day.
Milkman Day, what's a MilkmanDay?
What's a Milkman?
Speaker 3 (02:55):
That was before my time, Barry.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Mine too Okay.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
Is it really?
Speaker 2 (02:59):
Pretty close.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
Anyway.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
Just close, yeah, just close.
Well, it used to be that youcouldn't get your milk at the
grocery store, so it gotdelivered to you on a wagon.
Speaker 3 (03:10):
Yeah, I don't have any recollection of that.
And then a truck with tires.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
And then, yeah, it was like right off the farm.
And today I'm not sure wheremilkmen are, other than the guy
who goes to Dillon's and puts iton the shelf.
I'm not sure.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
Well, I will say that in some of the notes for this
Milkman Day I didn't includethis on here is that there is an
increase in needing a milkmanquote unquote, and that with
COVID deliveries, increased homegrocery deliveries increased.
So the milkman kind of returned.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
So the milkman used to, I think, just deliver milk.
Now the milkman delivers theTwinkies to go in the milk.
Speaker 3 (03:45):
Okay, all right, now I will tell you I did chase the
swan truck.
Do you all remember the swan'struck?
Like the ice cream.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
I have a mental picture of you running down the
road after the swan truck.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
Yes, so my, yeah, my aunt who helped raise me I love
her so much my aunt Jan, shealways did swan's orders and I
remember that was like the bestchicken strips and ice cream and
I always got a treat off of it.
She would order it somehow andshe had this really long
driveway and when I saw itcoming, not only would I run
(04:19):
towards it, but then, when itwould pass me and the man would
wave, I would then chase it backto the house.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
You sound like you were a hungry child.
Speaker 3 (04:25):
I was I was.
I really wanted the chickenstrips.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
I remember.
So my family didn't order that,but I had a neighbor kid that I
hung out with a lot growing up.
His name was Luke and hisgrandparents that he was.
He would go to their house.
They had the Schwann's like icecream, and so their freezer was
always stocked with the littleice cream cups and so I remember
always getting those.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
Yep, so you remember those things?
Oh yeah, because they're veryimpactful and probably best
friend ever, right, mm-hmm?
Yeah, sure enough, sure enough.
Well, one more research anddevelopment important day.
On August, the 12th every year,it's National Julian Fries Day.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
Julianne is that right, julianne, julian, is that
right Julian, julian?
Yeah, julian, I'm sure it'sFrench, so we're saying it wrong
.
It's Julian.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
Yeah, well, of course , right.
So French fries, julian fries.
Okay, so, amanda, did you knowthat it is the national?
Why are we celebrating anational day that's French in
the United States?
Is it global?
No, it's national.
Anyway, it is that day when,yes, we would like to have a
(05:27):
large order of fries.
That's what Julianne read.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
Always.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Bigger Always.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
No, I don't know.
Okay, so anyway, actually it'sjust how they're made.
I guess they're smaller,they're very like thin fries, so
I see how you tied all thesetogether.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
Yeah, sure, tied all these together.
We have National Middle ChildDay, milkman Day and National
Julianne Fries Day.
So if you are depressed todaybecause you're the middle child
and you have a syndrome, you cancry in your milk and go get
some Julianne Fries to make youfeel better.
You got it.
So there we go.
Ok, oh, so glad you all tunedinto this.
And now we're going to get downto some other good things and
we're going to talk to one ofthe CityGate members and LaManda
(06:05):
, tell everybody again what theCityGate Network is and why it's
valuable and why we're goingclear out to California today.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
Yes, so the CityGate Network is an association that
consists of about 300 to 310rescue missions all across the
world, not just the UnitedStates, all across the world,
not just United States and thereis a plethora of information
(06:31):
that we gain from thisassociation networking
opportunities, support, that isall throughout the year.
We also have an annualconference every year that
happens every summer, and tonsof just different cohorts that
we can belong to, depending onour position, depending on kind
of the work that we do, and it'sjust an incredible group to
belong to for a lot of our needsthat we have, but also
(06:55):
networking abilities, not justwithin our area and our own
district, but all across theworld as we learn.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
You know how old the CityGate network is, how long
it's been around.
Speaker 3 (07:06):
No.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
It's over 100 years, is it?
That's right, but I rememberit's had like three or four
names right.
Well, when I came along, in thesame year that they declared
National Middle Child Day, 1986,it was called the International
Union of Gospel Missions, theIGM, i-g-u-m.
(07:28):
I-u-m anyway, so that was toolong, so then they changed it to
the Association of GospelRescue Missions, and so then
here back in about 2018, 2019,it became known as the City Gate
Network, and there's a biblicalreference to that in regards to
in the Old Testament.
A lot of decisions were made atthe CityGate, and this is where
(07:51):
the stranger was invited in.
The wonder, the person who washungry, looking for needs and so
forth is that in thosecommunities, the CityGate is
where the elders were, and thena lot of decisions were made and
a lot of help was found at thecity gate.
So it's a city gate network.
A lot of people didn't knowthat, even sitting around this
table right now, so that's whyit was called that.
(08:11):
So there was a particular awardthat was given out called the
City Gate Network Award, andTopeka Rescue Mission was
blessed to receive that in 2018.
And so we were one of the firstto be able to get that award,
and so that was a great honor,and it's been a great honor to
be a part of an organizationhere at Topeka Rescue Mission
(08:35):
that's over 100 years old and soI believe it started in New
York City.
I believe that Jerry McCauleywas a part of that whole thing
and one of the founders of whatwe call the modern day Rescue
Mission Movement A whole otherstory, but today we're going to
focus on California, a placecalled Turlock, california.
I'm sure you've all heard aboutTurlock, california.
I have now, and there's agospel mission there, and we
(08:56):
have today the director ofemergency shelter and outreach
programs, thomas Hall, joiningus from the Turlock Gospel
Mission.
Welcome to our community, ourmission, thomas.
Thanks for having me.
Yeah, so tell us just a littlebit about Turlock.
You kind of let me know alittle bit more where it was.
I think when we think ofCalifornia Los Angeles, san
(09:18):
Diego, san Francisco you're alittle farther inland from those
areas.
Speaker 5 (09:27):
Francisco.
You're a little farther inlandfrom those areas.
Yeah, so we're located in theCentral Valley, a small town of
about 80,000 people.
This will probably be a betterframe of reference.
We are about an hour and a halfnorth of Fresno and about an
hour south of Sacramento.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
Okay, yeah, I think a lot of people in Kansas have
heard about those places butmaybe never have been there
either.
So anyway, yeah, so you're kindof in the agricultural part of
the state, all those in there,and not terribly far from
Bakersfield.
Another staff member here atTopeka Rescue Mission, marion
Crable, was the director of theUnited Way in Bakersfield at one
(10:04):
time, and so we've learned alot about Bakersfield area.
So, thomas, talk about how longyou've been with the Turlock
Gospel Mission and then talkabout this director of emergency
shelter services and outreach.
What does that mean?
Speaker 5 (10:21):
So I got started with the Turua Gospel Mission in May
of 2021.
I was hired as a shelterattendant.
It was either a shelterattendant or a janitor.
It was going to be one or theother.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
A lot of times in rescue missions.
It's the same thing, so yeah.
Speaker 5 (10:37):
Depends on what happens, and the interview led
to most likely me being thejanitor and I said, oh God, I
don't want to do this.
And I said, well, I pray forthis to get my foot in the door
of an organization that'sinvolved in ministry, helping
communities.
So I said, all right, this iswhat I got to do, I'll do it.
And then they hired me as alead shelter attendant.
Just over the years, you know,progressing from overseeing the
(11:21):
emergency shelter for the women,our executive director,
christian Kirby, put a lot oftrust in me, a lot of faith in
me, as he coached me up andtrained me to take emergency
shelter and outreach andbasically what that means is any
emergency service anyone cancome and receive at the shelter.
So it's not just a bed for thenight, it's emergency clothing,
it's showers and hygiene usingthe bathroom, our warming center
and our cooling center.
Outside let's see storage.
(11:44):
We offer storage for those inthe community to help the city
keep people's belongings off thestreets.
And then there's outreachOutreaching to our unhoused
community to inform them of ourservices, to inform them where
to find the mission, the besttimes to come when they're
wanting to receive meals, andoutreach to other organizations
(12:06):
and agencies to buildconnections, partnerships,
referral avenues and overall abetter support system for our
organization and thenoutreaching to donors as well.
I'm starting to be moreinvolved in the fundraising
aspect of the organization andthe behind the scenes business
(12:27):
stuff.
So our executive director isactually on sabbatical, so right
now I'm the interim executivedirector and that has just been
fun and enlightening and, um,challenging, but also, uh, very
informative about the the otherstuff that goes on behind the
scenes.
So it's been an incrediblejourney, awesome ride and it's
(12:51):
fun.
I love what I do, I love cominghere, I love our people, I love
saying hi to people when I gethere in the morning, just being
there and seeing a part of theirjourney, part of their story,
being there when they give theirlife to Christ, being there
(13:11):
when they get baptized, whenthey celebrate a year of
sobriety, and they get excitedwhen they get their sobriety
chips.
And you know, I asked them, Isaid come, show up, I want to
see it.
You know, it's been a blessingand I'm so grateful to God that
he's placed me here and Iwouldn't want to be anywhere
else.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
Sounds like God really expanded your territory
based upon what you thoughtmight be a mop and a broom, to
come in to have all thosedifferent things that they have
entrusted you there at thegospel mission.
To be able to do all thosethings and now covering for the
executive director while thatindividual's out, that's a lot
of responsibility and it soundslike.
(13:46):
And of course, LaManda and Iare able to see you via the
Internet, on Zoom Other peoplecan't, but you're smiling the
whole time you're talking.
So some people would say, man,that's a nightmare to have all
that on your plate, but youreally seem like you are
embracing that.
We're talking about ruralCalifornia.
It's an 80,000 populationroughly there in Turlock.
It's not small, but it's nothuge.
(14:09):
A lot of times folks thinkabout homelessness being in
those greater metropolitan areas.
Sometimes people say you reallyeven have homeless in Kansas.
Yeah, we do.
But talk about what the pictureof homelessness looks like in
the Agricultural Belt ofCalifornia.
A lot of people that come tothe shelter and for services
(14:33):
there.
Are they from the Turlock area?
Are they coming in from thecoast because there's no
resources there in those bigger,bigger cities, or what's the
picture?
Speaker 5 (14:42):
So a majority of our guests that come to the shelter
here are from Turlock or justfrom another town within the
county.
There's a lot of small townsthat are nearby.
You won't know them but Ceres,houston Keys, patterson very
(15:03):
small towns nearby, houston Keys, patterson very small towns
nearby, and some will flock here.
Or 20 minutes north to Modesto,where there's the Modesto
Gospel Mission, also a CityGatemember looking for help, not
knowing where they can find it,but just oftentimes grasping at
straws because there's notreally a ton of places for them
(15:25):
to go to for help.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
I'm sorry, go ahead.
Speaker 5 (15:29):
I got a call yesterday of a mom with a
17-year-old special needs sonwhich is just very difficult for
someone in her situation toeven find a place to go for
shelter.
And you know we were workingwith her to try to work
something out for them to beable to stay here.
That's one of the needs that westarted to focus on a couple
(15:53):
years ago with the increase infamilies just being flexible and
adaptive, to not have to turn afamily away when we know
there's no other option for them.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
You know, Amanda, what Thomas is talking about
there is that it's so importantfor people to understand what
Topeka Rescue Mission does,Turlock Gospel Mission does in
regards to how many beds forwomen, how many for men and
children, and so forth, and sothat's the easy part to say.
But that's the whole thing oftrying to meet a need that maybe
(16:23):
you're not prepared to meet andhave to be flexible and that's
kind of common with CityGateMinistries is that the need to
be flexible and to maybe dosomething you really weren't
prepared to do.
But what's the alternative?
Someone on the street, maybenot surviving on the street.
How do you, Lamanda, how do younavigate through that as the
(16:45):
CEO of Topeka Rescue Missionwhen you have that man?
We hadn't done that one before,or we haven't done that in a
long time, or we're really notprepared for that.
What?
Speaker 3 (16:53):
do you do?
Well, I think it depends on thesituation.
What I've learned not to do ispanic as my first reaction and
(17:17):
the reason I kind of joke aboutthat is the first, I don't know
10 to 20 curveballs finally quitsaying it, because I would say,
hey, we were just asked this,or this is a need, and I've
asked a couple of people and noone has experienced this before.
Or I would come to you and Iwould say, hey, I've got this
situation, how would you handlethis?
(17:38):
And you have tons of experience.
Yet there were still so manysituations where you said I
haven't experienced it.
So you helped me switch mythinking from yes, there is
wisdom, and using wise counseland logic and previous
experience.
But you also helped meunderstand Lamanda there is just
(18:00):
never going to be this level ofcomfort and predictability is
just never going to be thislevel of comfort and
predictability and everythingfits in this structured system.
You are constantly going to bethrown situations where you've
never experienced it before,you're not sure what to do, and
sometimes even things thatrequire you to break a rule or
(18:21):
to make exceptions for things,and so I think when I'm thrown,
these things particularly tiedto shelter right.
We just have a rule we do whatwe need to do for kids period,
but then that means that justseven or eight months ago, we
had kids that weren't even in aroom.
(18:43):
They were in the overflow,staying in open areas.
Well, it was because I didn'twant them in the cold.
So you know, I think the firstthing that I do when we're
constantly thrown situationsthat require flexibility and,
yes, critical thinking but a lotof faith, is I try not to panic
.
And two, I try not topersonalize it.
(19:07):
Where, if it's not the bestoption, but it's the option that
we can do in that moment, I trynot to dwell on it and I try to
know like it's the rightdecision for right now and to
know that there's a betteroption coming.
And then, third, I really tryto make sure that I'm making
decisions, when applicable, withthe team, because I've also
(19:30):
found that sometimes this workis is tiring, it can be draining
.
There's tons of stuff that comeat you and if you're always the
one that's making decisions andhaving to like think through
things, that sometimes you endup not seeing some other
possible solutions or ideas thatyour colleagues will see, and
(19:51):
so I think it's really importantto have a team effort in this
work, because the flexibilitythere I'm not joking when I say
this, barry, and you know this,and so you're probably just like
, yep, kid, I know.
Every day, not two to threetimes a week, not a couple of
times a month, every single day,I do this job.
There is something that comesat me that I'm like I do not
(20:15):
know the answer to that, or thatwe're having to problem solve
because it's not common and sojust realizing that and doing it
as a team is crucial with thiswork.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
Sounds familiar, Thomas, to what you're doing out
there in California.
Speaker 5 (20:31):
Absolutely.
I mean, lamanda, you mentionedkids sleeping in overflow open
area.
That's where we're at now.
Unfortunately, our shelter isso full and we're limited to the
amount of beds here in Sherlock.
That that's where we are nowand and we're needing to be
flexible and, uh, that's one ofthe things I'm trying more and
more of is including the team indecisions and even asking them
(20:55):
outright what do you think weshould do?
Um, these people are going tobe here during your shift.
Is this feasible for?
you what do you need to makethis feasible?
Um, and it builds confidenceand, you know, it prevents them
from having to call me on theweekend.
You never get a call on theweekend.
Speaker 2 (21:16):
You never know I do.
Okay.
I was going to say maybe youcould teach lamanda how not to
get a call on the weekend whichain't going to happen yeah but,
but, but, ideally, ideally, youshould prevent them from calling
me on the weekend.
Speaker 5 (21:27):
but you know I love those calls, love hearing from
my team.
Speaker 2 (21:32):
So generally, if the phone rings on a weekend or the
middle of the night, it's notalways the hey, everything's
going great.
It's generally we've got achallenge.
We need your direction on this.
You know there's some differentphilosophies in regards to
leadership in crisis, and one iscentralized command and
decentralized command.
I've been doing a little studyon that myself in regards to
(21:52):
which models work better.
But you can decentralizecommand if you can trust the
people in the field, and that'swhat it sounds like.
What you are doing there inTurlock is that you are
equipping your team to be ableto handle things.
That's what Amanda's done hereand it's essential because
otherwise people that are inthese kind of spaces that you
(22:13):
have they don't last longbecause it's just too much.
So talk about, tell us a littlebit about what's going on in
your area.
You talked about Turlock beinga bit of a catchment area for
some other smaller communitiesaround you within your county.
Why are people homeless?
And actually in Turlock youwere saying before we started
(22:35):
the podcast here that at onetime it was the highest number
of churches per capita in theUnited States, in Turlock,
california.
So we would say, ok, here is agroup of people who have a
biblical understanding of how totake care of the poor and so on
and so forth.
So I'm sure they do.
What is creating homelessnessin Turlock and what is the
(23:00):
response towards the missionthere and what are you guys
doing as a community to addressthis?
So, first of all, what are thereasons for homelessness in this
agriculture area, more ruralcompared to the rest of the
bigger parts of the state?
That is creating a need foreven a homeless shelter in
Turlock.
Speaker 5 (23:22):
There's no one reason .
I'd say the main reasons wouldhave to be mental health, being
unaddressed, beingself-medicated, drug abuse,
chemical dependency.
And I mentioned Modesto, 20minutes north of us,
(23:44):
unfortunately, and it's myhometown, but unfortunately it's
known, as you know, meth-desto.
To many it's it's uh theaccessible, the accessibility to
those substances is, you know,anyone can find it, uh out on
the street and often cases getit for free um so I say mental
(24:07):
health, substance abuse, um theincreasing costs of living.
I mentioned that we've got, youknow, increase in families.
I had a stack of messages leftfor me when I got here yesterday
morning of five familieslooking for shelter.
Yes, and they're losing theirhomes.
Speaker 2 (24:31):
Because of what?
Speaker 5 (24:33):
Because of loss of job, because of, sometimes,
domestic violence.
They're fleeing, but oftencases they can't afford to keep
their place.
We also get a lot of calls thatwe don't unfortunately, we're
not able to help out with this,but a lot of calls about social
assistance and utilityassistance and people are just
(24:55):
struggling.
One of the things that we'vepushed to the forefront in the
last year is that our assistancewith food.
We give out food boxes on aweekly basis.
Anyone can come here, registerwith us and start receiving food
boxes weekly.
We have a food giveaway everymonth and we're just working as
(25:20):
hard as we can to helpindividuals to, you know,
eliminate one cost so that wayyou know, oftentimes it's a,
it's a choice am I going to payrent or am I going to buy food?
If they're going to buy food,then oftentimes you know, not
too much down the road they'regoing to need to come here.
So we try to provide them withthe food, even if they need to
(25:43):
come for meals every day, hotmeals every day, just to help
them.
You know that could free upeven a couple hundred dollars
for them a month.
Speaker 2 (25:54):
Sounds like you are experiencing there in Turlock
what's very common around thecountry in many different
aspects.
It's economy, people fallingout of the ability to stay where
they are due to loss of job orproperty tax increases, and
their rent goes up, theirhousing goes up.
I've learned in Fresno, meetingsome folks out there years ago,
(26:15):
that there was a high level ofstreet drugs that were going on
in the Fresno area, and so itsounds like that this is one of
the bigger issues the mentalhealth, the complexities of
addiction and so forth, and someeting those emergency needs
where they are.
But yet you have a family who'scoming in who maybe hasn't
(26:36):
experienced any of that.
How do you then help the personwho's coming in who is
struggling with severe mentalhealth breakdown, substance
abuse issues, and you got thisfamily who just maybe today
found out that they have toleave their home and there's
nowhere else to go.
Speaker 5 (26:55):
How do you, how do you bring those populations
together safely and help peopleto navigate through that so it's
not like, oh, one trauma toanother trauma well, we take uh,
we take the safety of ourguests very seriously, and even
in my few years here, I'veworked very hard to establish a
(27:17):
culture here that it's everyonelifting each other up Anyone
that's coming for, let's say,even just for a shelter bed for
the night or just for a mealoutside.
You know they, they know whenthey're here they're going to be
respectful, but they alsounderstand that everyone here is
here to get help, just likethey are, and so when I first
(27:41):
got hired, there was lots offights outside, fights inside,
theft, and we've worked reallyhard to make this a place that
you know when a mom comes herefleeing domestic violence with
her children, she's going to becomfortable staying here.
Speaker 2 (27:59):
How do you do that?
Thomas?
People coming from wherethey've been maybe they've been
living on the streets for anextended period of time there's
a culture there, or there's aculture in the domestic abuse
arena, human trafficking arena.
The person who maybe has neverreally experienced any of that,
it's just an economic issue.
How do you bring those diversepopulations together that have
(28:22):
some diversity, to say the least, in culture and understanding,
and bring them into a place tohelp them to assimilate into a
culture where each other islifting each other up?
What have you done to try toget from where they've been to
creating that kind of culture?
This really sounds like it'shelped significantly.
Speaker 5 (28:43):
Well, number one we communicate the message of the
gospel, the love of Christ.
We're here to love others,serve others, help others.
And oftentimes, when we, youknow we have people coming into
our program, they stay in thesame building but in a dorm area
, a separate dorm area, but theyall eat together during
(29:04):
mealtime.
And oftentimes, those peoplethat join our program, we've
done the work beforehand inbuilding the relationship, the
outreach to get them so reachingthem where they are in their
homelessness and then invitingthem into the culture, okay,
makes sense absolutely.
And then with the, the familiesthat come in with the children,
(29:25):
um, it's, it's a, it's verydifficult, it's very difficult
and oftentimes it takes multipleinteractions to build trust,
even with the staff.
Oftentimes I have to recognizeright away OK, I need to get a
female staff member to talk tothis mother Because, you know,
(29:48):
for various reasons, you know, Idon't know their story, but,
like in many occasions, oh, thiswoman, it seems like she's a
little not so comfortabletalking to me or opening up to
me.
Let me go find a female so thatwe can help her out, we can
hear her out, we can find outwhat it is she needs.
And you know, I've been toldthat I don't know where this
(30:09):
comes from, but I've been toldthat I I'm a little bit
intimidating and I don't seethat when I'm looking at this
guy, it's surprising to me.
But, uh, I guess I have a,oftentimes a, a, a plain serious
looking face.
Even so, I had to, um, look inthe mirror and say hey, dude,
(30:30):
what are you doing?
Smile more.
You know, and you mentionedearlier smiling.
That's something I had to workon too, just to make the area
more welcoming, and we even haveour participants in our program
participate in making theenvironment welcoming to those
that come in for any service.
Speaker 2 (30:50):
Amanda, I know you're very connected with CityGate
Network and the Emerging LeadersProgram which Thomas is a part
of.
You've been helping to leadthat.
While you're leading in theCityGate arena and you've been
here about as long as Thomas hasbeen, there is his ministry in
the four-year range.
What do you hear here?
(31:11):
When you hear somebody that'stalking about what they're doing
there, how's that helpful toTopeka?
Speaker 3 (31:17):
Man.
I think it's helpful on a lotof levels.
One, it's just incredible tosee the true humbleness of other
leaders in their sharing ofinformation, whether it's about
their ministry, their sharing ofinformation, whether it's about
their ministry, their ownpersonal journey, what they're
trying to improve on.
(31:38):
It is a reminder that we needto continue to be vulnerable,
transparent, ask for help whenwe are facing something that is
hard or there's uncertainty.
It's also exciting to me Thomasis one of the first people with
Emerging Leaders that I got tomeet a couple of years ago and
so just to continue thatfriendship and see his growth, I
(32:05):
remember some of the firstthings that he shared in the
open group as I was standingthis is embarrassing, but I was
too short to see everybodythere's like 60 people in the
room, I know and so I stood on acouch and I think that was the
first time that everybody waslike well, she says she's an
executive director, but thatprevious principal and teacher
(32:25):
is coming out in her Right.
But just to, thomas was reallyeager to meet people and he came
out of his comfort zone in thatfirst time in the large group
and opened up with some of thethings he was struggling with as
this aspiring leader, and so Ilove being able to stay
(32:46):
connected to him, not only withministry changes and all of that
, but him himself, because I'mjust like this big sister who
loves him and is really proud ofhim.
But because he's been such anhonest leader and transparent
and open, I've been able to seethat change.
Because then other people walkalongside him, give him ideas.
(33:08):
Then he shares ideas of stuffhe's doing, and so to me that is
important to me as a person,just as someone that's leading
going.
What I'm helping co lead withemerging leaders is important.
Relationships are important.
But the other side of it iswhen I have these conversations
with Thomas on the monthly calls, the annual conference,
(33:29):
wherever it is that I'm engagingwith him, I'm able to take back
stuff to what we're doing inTopeka.
Like it's just incredible thathe's sitting here going.
He had to look in the mirrorbecause of feedback he got and
had to say man, what are youdoing?
I need to make sure that I'mdoing that same thing.
And so to me the experiencewith CityGate, but also just the
(33:51):
friendships, the colleagues,all of that it's so neat because
it's iron, sharpening iron withleaders.
But then there is also so manyneat ideas we get when we hear
from other people in other areasthat we take back to TRM.
Speaker 2 (34:07):
Yeah, thomas, I'm impressed with your transparency
on that as well, of saying Ihad to look in the mirror.
I'm impressed with yourtransparency on that as well, of
saying I had to look in themirror.
And I think that's what all ofus do when we're looking at our
relationships with others,especially people who may be
vulnerable and hurting.
How are they perceiving us?
And I think that that's a hugepart of the culture, whether
it's just the leader of theorganization, whether it's a
(34:29):
department head, like you are,and covering for the leader,
while they're gone all the waydown to the person who's got the
mop in the broom to do that.
Unlike Lamanda, my frame is alittle bit bigger and I used to
train mental healthprofessionals, especially nurses
, on safety issues and mentalhealth work and had a nurse came
(34:52):
up to me after I'd been doing afew training sessions and said
they're not hearing a wordyou're saying.
And I said why?
I mean, I know my stuff and uhand uh, they're all scared of
you.
And I said scared of me why?
Because you're talking aboutsafety issues and you're talking
about violence and how to stayalive and those kinds of things,
but you are towering over themwhile they're sitting down, so
(35:14):
could you just sit down and talkto them next time?
It was that simple and Ilearned to try to be the guy
that sits down rather thantowering over somebody, and so
learning what how othersperceive us is an essential,
whether you're doing outreach inthe streets or whether you are
working in the shelters, and Ithink that's a very valuable
insight for CityGate members toanalyze.
(35:36):
You've been there, you'veanalyzed it yourself, you've
shared it here, but also peoplewho are listening today, maybe
in our own families or into ourneighbors or volunteers who come
into these places.
How do people perceive us andhow can we help them feel more
comfortable?
So, thomas, how well is TurlockGospel Mission supported by the
community?
(35:57):
Is it a struggle?
There's a lot of economicissues for nonprofits today and
ministries.
Are you guys in pretty goodshape?
Is that a continual battle?
You mentioned that you're outon the outreach to donor
component of this.
Talk a little bit about theculture there in Turlock in
regards to supporting the workof a gospel mission.
Speaker 5 (36:18):
Well, we receive a tremendous amount of support
Again the amount of churcheshere in Turlock.
Many of them have beensupporting us for years and
years, a lot of them since thebeginning.
This organization began in 2007, and it was a traveling shelter
.
Speaker 2 (36:37):
Traveling shelter.
Speaker 5 (36:39):
Yeah, one week a church would host beds and
provide dinner.
Another week it would beanother church host the beds,
provide the dinner, and then itwent on like that until they
were able to obtain their ownbuilding, and since then it's
just grown into um, to what itis now we.
(37:00):
So we receive a lot of supportfrom the churches, um, from
businesses, local businesses,restaurants, um, uh, thrift
stores, you name it like otheragencies.
A lot of support from thecounty Office of Education.
We now have a daycare providedhere on site for those in our
(37:22):
program, and that's provided bythe Office of Education and we
don't pay anything for it.
Speaker 2 (37:29):
So you're networking then with others to help you do
the work you're doing there, notjust support.
So 2007 is when it starteddoing outreach.
Was there not a shelter for thehomeless there in Turlock at
the time?
Speaker 5 (37:43):
I believe there was, but it was just a men's shelter.
So, there's another shelter twoblocks down the street.
They only shelter men.
Speaker 2 (37:50):
How do you intersect with them?
Are they gospel mission?
Speaker 5 (38:01):
Are they not?
Are they non-faith mission orshelter?
How do you intersect with them?
So they're not a gospel mission.
I don't know if they're afaith-based organization I
haven't seen or maybe they justdon't advertise it, um, but they
uh bring their men in in theevening.
(38:22):
they check out in the morningand so oftentimes we're seeing
them for lunch, we're seeingthem for dinner, um, over the
years I've gotten to know a lotof these guys and, um the they,
a lot of them, will work hard,flying jobs, that men's shelter
will work around their schedule.
There was a gentleman who justrecently found a place to live
and he came here for years formeals, and something I want to
(38:47):
share is that a few months backI played basketball a lot on the
weekends, and a few months backI basketball a lot, uh, on the
weekends.
And a few months back I went toa nearby town.
I was playing at this church.
There's this guy there.
He comes up to me, thomas, andI'm like, hey, what's up, man?
And he's all.
You don't remember me, he goes.
(39:08):
I used to come to the missionfor meals every day while I was
staying at weekend and I waslike, oh my gosh, I didn't
recognize that he cut his hair,he's clean shaven, he's nice,
clean clothes, he was doing good, he's working, he's got a place
and you know, he's playingpickup basketball, you know, on
(39:29):
the free time, and it was justamazing to see that.
You know, we, we see a lot ofpeople come and go for meals and
it's hard to put a face andconnect with all of them.
But just knowing that thisorganization, you know, played
some small role in helping themgave them at least one resource
that they needed to help them ontheir journey.
(39:50):
And that's part that's ourmission, you know, to provide
restorative services throughChrist's love and you know we
oftentimes we don't see the endresult but we don't need to see
the end result.
We just need to do what we canto help others there in the
moment.
Speaker 2 (40:08):
Pretty cool and you do get to see something that
happened later and somebodycomes up to you and says hey,
remember me.
Speaker 5 (40:14):
And they're doing well.
That's why I smile.
It feels me with joy.
Speaker 2 (40:18):
Yeah, for sure, for sure.
Well, amanda, you have made ita point with the podcast here to
occasionally reach out todifferent CityGate members
around the country, which Ithink is a great thing that
we've been able to do.
Do you have any questions oranything else you'd like to say
about Thomas or Turlock,california?
Speaker 3 (40:38):
Thomas, can you talk to us a little bit about just
challenges that you feel likeyou and your staff just
sometimes have to navigate, andI think you know there's some
big ones.
That we're always talking aboutis just, you know the needs are
growing and you mentioned themental illness, the addiction,
(41:00):
those kinds of things, but whatare some things that maybe you
haven't mentioned that arereally challenging for the work
that you and your team do?
Speaker 5 (41:21):
um, for me, uh, when I first met lamanda, it was
self-care.
The work we do is very draining, uh, emotionally, spiritually,
um, it self-care is veryimportant, and I've been trying
to instill that on our team,because where years back I was
getting burnt out, I'm seeing itin our team and they're
starting to get burnt out, andthen that leads to
(41:42):
miscommunication, that leads toyou know stuff falling through
the cracks and then all the waydown the line and it leads to us
not supporting a guest as bestthat we could.
And so that's one of thechallenges is just leading a
team, leading a team, but alsohelping the team with what it is
(42:02):
.
They're struggling, because ifwe can't take care of ourselves,
we're not gonna be able to helpothers and it's gonna show in
our demeanor, our attitude, ourface, and so that's one
challenge.
Another challenge is, uh, Imean as much support as we get
(42:25):
from the community.
Um, there's equal parts thatdon't support, and so I'm sure
you guys experienced that too,and oftentimes I'm having to
tell our team members to stayfrom going on social media
reading comments about this orthat.
That's another struggle.
(42:49):
And when it comes to our guests,a few years ago I think it was
one of the first staff meetingsI attended I had made a comment
about you know, they come hereand they know what we do, but
they don't know who we are.
And that really stuck to ourexecutive director, christian
Kirby, and from then on, he madeit a focus of like, what is our
(43:14):
guest services look like, whatdoes that interaction look like,
what does that experience looklike?
And so, being able to changethat from just you know, I need
(43:36):
help showing up here, changingit into an experience, an
experience where they feelwelcome, they feel loved, they
feel helped, they feel heard,and allowing our team and
equipping them to be able to dothat.
And it's great to see thegrowth in our team members as
well.
And you mentioned Amanda.
(43:56):
Like you know, we're a bigsister.
I feel like a big brother yes,out of our, a lot of our team
members, even those that areolder than me.
Yes, it's weird.
You know there's um uh, acouple people on our team now.
They graduated from our program.
You know, they call me fatherbecause, they.
(44:16):
They say that you know, I wasthe first real, you know stern
male figure to kind of correctthem.
And then I say that correctionfirst I had to do for myself and
the one who led me in thatcorrection was our father you
know, he had to.
(44:36):
He had to give me a kick in thebutt, you know to get on, and so
there are challenges, a lot ofchallenges we deal with, but
it's it's so rewarding the workthat we do For as hard as our
work is.
When we do see the payoff, it'sjust phenomenal, it's amazing.
Speaker 2 (45:01):
Sounds like again being transparent about burnout,
worn out, but getting to seethe people that you help is one
of the reasons you stay in thegame.
The people that you help is oneof the reasons you stay in the
game, and, um, so that caringfor others as a leader, uh,
within the, uh, the Sherlockgospel mission, is extremely
(45:22):
important, because if you don'tcare well for those who are on
the front lines, then you haveno front lines except yourself,
and so, and so how do you takecare of yourself?
Um, you look for the Lord,obviously, in all of this.
How do you then stay refreshedand how can you be culturally
sound so that you can thencreate the culture that you have
(45:45):
created?
Speaker 5 (45:47):
Well, how do I take care of myself?
I stay in the Word.
I listen to worship musicconstantly.
Mm-hmm worship music constantly.
It's never not on when I'm inthe car.
I play it at home.
I go to church.
I serve on the usher team at mychurch and I serve on the young
adult ministry at my church andit's just fun.
(46:12):
It's serving, but it's fun andI enjoy it and I enjoy the group
of people I get to hang outwith.
I play basketball, sophysically that keeps me strong.
But also, since eight years old, it's been an outlet for me to
release frustration, you know,and clear my head.
And so I play basketball.
I play with my nephew, who'sthree years old and crazy right
(46:33):
now, but I love him, love him todeath and he's uh, uh,
oftentimes, you know, I'll, I'llget home from work and it'll be
a, it'll be an exhausting day,and then I go to him and then he
runs up and he's trying to showme each one.
I just pick them up and we'lljust playing and then, you know,
that just cancels outeverything.
(46:54):
But also I, I, I pray, I pray.
You know, prayer is verypowerful and I pray for this
organization.
I pray to god, to you know, forhis will to be done.
(47:15):
Pray for him to give mestrength.
I pray for the people here.
Um, you know, one of thegreatest prayers ever is the
jokes.
Just god help you know.
Quick, simple, to the point,but prayer is one of the best
resources for taking care ofmyself and, um you.
We regularly get uh emails fromcity gate of the.
Uh, what is it called?
(47:36):
Daily bread refresh orsomething?
Like that.
I sent those out to the team.
I send other things out to theteam and I encourage them to do
the same.
You know?
Uh, get back to the old hobby.
You know, on your time off orum, hey, you are accruing PTO.
Don't be a dum-dum like me andmax out because you're not
(48:01):
taking care of yourself.
I don't say that, but you know,in my head I was a dum-dum.
So I encourage others, you knowto.
You know, take some time offevery once in a while.
Yes, Get recharged.
Go do something every once in awhile.
Yes, get recharged.
Speaker 2 (48:16):
Go do something Sounds like you have.
Definitely are right in themiddle of the front lines of
service, helping others and alsoknowing the importance of
taking care of yourself so youcan show up every day.
So, thomas, anything else you'dlike to share with the folks
here in Topeka and whereverthey're listening to this
podcast?
Speaker 5 (48:35):
What I'd like to share is that you know, the work
we do is difficult, but it'swhat we're called to do, it's
our mission and we couldn't doit without the community and,
you know, I want to thank ourcommunity.
I'm going to have themlistening to this and I want to
(48:55):
thank them.
I want them to hear thatthey're appreciated and even
thankful to the community thathelps support you guys, you know
, so that you're able to dothings like this podcast, able
to serve those in your area.
I just encourage those thatanyone listening to get involved
, get involved, serve, volunteer, volunteer any area you can.
(49:17):
Um, it's very important.
It's very important, it's veryhelpful to organizations like to
our gospel mission, like topico rescue mission.
And then, you know, maybe set,maybe think from a different
perspective.
When you see someone on thestreet, you know there's a long
story behind what led them thereand there's some bad stuff that
(49:42):
you know was in their control,but there's also some stuff that
wasn't in their control.
Um, and say a prayer for them.
You know, we're called to helpothers.
We're called to help others,we're called to help the less
fortunate, and I would encourageothers to be the same.
Speaker 2 (50:04):
Well, thank you for that.
I mean you obviously have yourhands full there and also
encouraging the people in Topeka, Kansas, to be able to join in
what we're doing here.
Amanda, anything else you'dlike to say while we have Thomas
?
Speaker 3 (50:16):
No, thomas, it's just a joy to know you and to call
you friend, and I'm alsothankful because you know, at
this level it's just different.
It's different leading anorganization, and so sometimes
you don't have as many peoplethat you can just call on or
(50:37):
trust, and even with personalthings and you have been that
you've been an encourager.
I also know that you havepicked up on struggles that I've
been trying to processprofessionally and personally,
and I know that sometimes, evenwhen you haven't reached out
that, you've thought about me,you've prayed for me, and so I
(50:59):
just I think the world of you.
It's been exciting to see thechange that I've even seen in
you, and I'm so excited to justhave a front row seat at what
all the Lord's doing in you, andI know for a fact that the
kingdom is different because ofyour work, and that's incredible
to be able to just be a smallpart of seeing that.
(51:21):
So thank you for saying yes andnot giving up when you've had a
lot of opportunities to do so,and I'm always in your corner as
much as I can.
Speaker 2 (51:31):
Thomas, thank you, yes, go ahead.
Speaker 5 (51:34):
Lamanda, that means a lot, and I just have to say
that I'm thankful for you aswell.
You know your leadershipalongside Jordan, with Emerging
Leaders something for us to stayconnected throughout the year
is invaluable.
It's so important and it helpsus to see that we're not alone
(51:56):
in that.
You know we're all in the samework, the bigness of this.
We don't forget, fromconference to conference, that
this is nationwide, worldwide,whatever happens in our lives
(52:38):
whatever happens in your lives.
you're still here, you're stilla leader and you push through.
And one of I said I have to dothat too.
I have to do that too, and soI'm so appreciative of you.
I'm I'm glad God is, is isplaced you and given you a
purpose and and put you in aplace that you're able to do his
work, and because I can't thinkof anyone else that would be
(53:03):
greater in your role with yourteam.
You're an amazing leader andI'm so thankful for that.
Speaker 2 (53:11):
Thanks.
Well, thank you for that, andthank you for joining us today
on our podcast here in Topeka,and thank you for what you're
doing there in Turlock and toall the people who are listening
to this here on the 12th ofAugust of 2025, we're going to
be listening later to this Thankyou for what you're doing to
help support the Turlock GospelMission.
I think what we've heard heretoday is just one more reminder.
(53:32):
It's not this place or thatplace, but it's all the place
that people are in need in ourcountry and around the world,
and we have unique opportunitiesin different parts of the world
and in the United States,whether California or Kansas, to
be able to come together and torealize that we're all in the
same boat.
And, fortunately, we have agood captain His name is Jesus
(53:55):
to be able to sail the ship, andwe have faithful people like
you guys, as well as many othersand people who are listening to
these podcasts, whether you'rein California or whether you're
in Kansas, or, as we oftentimessay, the Research and
Development Department Are we atthe International Space Station
yet?
And they have not confirmed yesor no Still working on that.
So, still working on that.
Still working on that.
So thank you again, thomas, forjoining us today.
(54:18):
Thank you all for listening toour community, our mission.
If you'd like more informationabout the Topeka Rescue Mission,
you can go to trmonlineorg.
That's trmonlineorg.
Thanks for listening, thank you.
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