Your Presence is Enough: Building Community Around Mental Health

Send us a text

What happens when mental health support gets stripped to its most essential element—human connection? In this groundbreaking first episode of Project Human's Monthly Community Conversations, founder Adela Hittel takes us on a journey that challenges everything we think we know about mental health advocacy.

Born from Adela's own harrowing experience in 2017 when she found herself alone during a suicidal crisis, Project Human emerges as a powerful peer-to-peer advocacy organization focused on what truly matters—the conversations that save lives. "No one picked up," she shares about that dark moment, "and I cried on the floor for eight hours and begged for death. It's not a place where I want any human to be, because at the end of the day, it's as simple as a conversation—the amount of lives we can save through a conversation."

The episode introduces the organization's core philosophy of the "40 inches back to chest" concept—focusing first on yourself and then on those immediately surrounding you. This revolutionary approach argues that before we can change the world, we must first transform our immediate relationships. When team member Yolanda Curtis shares her moving testimony, we witness this principle in action. Despite years of traditional therapy requiring her to repeatedly relive trauma, Yolanda found healing through simple, authentic conversations that allowed her to process emotions organically—skills she's now teaching her eight-year-old daughter.

• The organization's core values of advocacy, education, and information guide their approach to mental health support
• Project Human emphasizes the "40 inches back to chest" philosophy—focusing on yourself and those immediately around you
• Volunteer coordinator Alicia Kellerman-Alvarez explains that volunteering is both a human responsibility and an opportunity for personal growth
• Yolanda Curtis shares her powerful testimony of finding healing through conversation rather than clinical approaches
• The organization plans a three-day Mental Health Summit for 2026 to hold officials accountable and amplify community voices
• Project Human seeks volunteers for various roles including operations, fundraising, and program coordination
• The team introduces their upcoming "Certified Nuisance" merchandise line launching in July

Join us monthly for community conversations every last Thursday of the month. Visit phinc-ing.org/join-us to become a volunteer or to learn more about upcoming events including our Runway to Resilience fashion fundraiser on September 27th.

Support the show

Listen, follow, subscribe, and share! Join us in spreading the message of creativity and empowerment. Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more inspiring content.
Website: https://www.phinc-ing.org/taw
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/projecthumanincphinc
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/taw_theartistwithin_podcast/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61552201342590


Disclaimer: “The Artist Within Podcast” is for educational and informational purposes only. We are not medical professionals, and the content should not be considered medical advice. For specific medical advice, diagnoses, and treatment, consult your physician or a qualified healthcare provider.

Episode Transcript

Adela (00:00):
Please work, please work, you, you, you, you.

Adela Hittell (02:01):
Hello everybody.
Hi hi, hi, hi, it is 630.
Welcome to our monthlycommunity conversations.
I have to change it.
I changed my own thing and Ihave to remember it's monthly
continued conversations, welcome, welcome.
We're going to give everybody acouple of minutes to join, but
in the meantime I'm going tohave Seth start us off and let

(02:23):
him take over the legal and thefun stuff.

Seth Batchlor (02:27):
Start with the disclaimer.
We are not medicalprofessionals.
If you are in crisis, reach outto your local mental health
resources or dial 911 forimmediate assistance.
For national suicide prevention, dial 988.
We are recording and livestreaming on our YouTube channel
, so please take a moment toturn off your cameras if you do
not wish to be on video.
We'll be using ourconversations to promote and

(02:49):
raise awareness about ourorganization and our mission.
By participating in our Zoommeetings, you give us permission
to use any and all audio videocontent for promotional purposes
, and that's the legaldisclaimer.
You want to give anybody acouple more minutes or you just
want to jump right in?

Adela Hittell (03:08):
We'll give them one more minute and then we'll
jump in and get going, becauseyou know how I like my schedules
.
I am a schedule scheduler,Schedule scheduler.
I hope everybody's doing good.
Thank you all for those of youwho are joining.
Also, thank you to our liveaudience, who are on right now
on our YouTube channel.
Thank you for subscribing.
Thank you for for those of youwho are joining.
Also, thank you to our liveaudience, who are on right now
on our YouTube channel.
Thank you for subscribing.
Thank you for being a follower.
Thank you for becoming soon acertified nuisance advocate.

(03:32):
I had to remember what I wrotetoo.
Gosh y'all, my brain is juststopping me from all of it.
I'm like what did I do?
Certified nuisance.
Are you ready to become acertified nuisance advocate?
Because I am.
You know what I got called byeverybody A certified nuisance.
So now we are, we're acertified nuisance.
I'm gonna make some noise.
We gotta make some noise.
All right, I think we'll getgoing right.
6.33, we're good to go.

(03:54):
Awesome, go ahead, Seth.

Seth Batchlor (03:56):
Good evening everyone.
I'll introduce myself.
My name is Seth and I'm theoperations officer for Project
Human Inc.
And I'll be the moderator fortonight's gathering.
Welcome to our very first 2025monthly community conversation.
This is the launch of anexciting new series where each
month, we'll come together toexplore a meaningful theme,
share what's happening withinthe organization and hear

(04:19):
powerful stories from ourmembers from members of our
community.
Tonight, we're honored to beled by our founder and host,
adela Hittel.
She's joined by AliciaKellerman-Alvarez, who will be
speaking about the vital role ofvolunteering, why it matters
and how it changes lives, andthen we'll hear a heartfelt
testimony from Yolanda Curtisthat brings tonight's theme to

(04:41):
life.
We'll close with a 10 minutequestion and answer, so please
feel free to drop questions inthe chat as we go.
I'll be reading them out loudat the end and I'll be
monitoring those during the call.
So I will hand it over to Adela.

Adela Hittell (04:55):
Perfect, thank you.
And also for those of you whoare on our YouTube channel right
now, if you post any commentson there or any questions,
please do so and Seth will beright on top of that to answer
it for us.
And at the end of our towardsthe end of our session, we'll
take a couple minutes and we'llanswer.
We'll start with our two tothree questions and then, as we
grow and as we build thiscommunity conversation about

(05:16):
mental health and the awarenessof becoming a human, we will
obviously extend it and make itwhatever it is that we decide to
turn it into right, becausethat's what we're doing here.
Anyway, welcome to the first2025 monthly continued
conversation.
Monthly community conversation.
Monthly community Listen.
For eight years it wascontinued conversation.
I had to continue theconversation and just last, like
two days ago, I changed it tocommunity.

(05:37):
So like it's a fresh start forme too, but welcome to our
community conversations.
One of the reasons why Istarted this when I started
Project Human, was so that wehad the opportunity to come
together and share ourgrievances, share our hopes,
share our dreams, share what isgoing on within ourselves as far
as the human goes and theperspective of a human.
In the mental health field, Ihave the privilege of being in

(05:59):
rooms with masters and PhDs andhumans who have all the textbook
check marks to be able todiagnose me, give me the
appropriate pathway to life,only to not understand the
experience of life right, theexperience of the human being.
And that is a difference whenit comes to really understanding
mental health and what it means.

(06:19):
So our whole goal with ourcommunity conversations is for
us to bring this awareness toour officials, to our community
and to the law, especially tothe lawmakers, as we are moving
forward because laws are beingchanged, bills are put into
place, things are happening onbehalf of us and our mental
health and how we're going tothat in.

(06:42):
And we'll bring in our NorthFlorida, the NAMI, north Florida
Advocacy Mental Health Group,who we are, we work and advocate
on behalf of.
Like the bills, we kind offigure out what's going on,
what's happening in that.
So we'll be bringing that toyou guys so that you are aware
as well and we want you toparticipate.
So this is what this wholemeeting is about.
I am going to start it off andshare with you a presentation

(07:06):
Now, my Zoom people here.
You won't really see it,because Zoom won't let us live
stream it to the thing to wherewe need to do.
But on YouTube you guys willsee the full presentation.
You will receive thepresentation in your email.
You'll receive a full recap ofthe notes and everything, and
then, of course, you'll be ableto watch it on our YouTube
channel as well.
So for anybody that's missedanything, you will not miss it.
We try to give you all theinformation that you need.
So let's get going into thisright now.

(07:30):
Bear with me, as I am my ownproducer here too, so I have to
ensure that I do my right thinginto where we're at All right.
Project Human.
Here we go, and presentation onboom.
Our core mission and values areto advocate, inform and educate.
Becoming an advocate forproject human, or becoming an

(07:50):
advocate for yourself, of yourown humanity, is one of the most
important things that I havehad to learn how to do in order
to be able to come to you tohave the conversation.
Advocating for yourself is on awhole different level when you
don't have all the information,when you don't understand how
things are work or how oursystem is run, and when you're
really afraid and feel alone andisolated in the world when you
don't have all the information,when you don't understand how
things are work or how oursystem is run, and when you're
really afraid and feel alone andisolated in the world when you
come to especially medicalprofessionals to share your

(08:11):
grievances, to share your space,and they dismiss it.
So, in order for us not to bedismissed, we have to become an
advocate of our own self.
We have to understand thatwe're so important, that our own
being is so important that wewill advocate and stand up for
ourselves.
And then we want to inform youas an organization.
We want to continue to informyou again about what's going on

(08:33):
in our legal system as far aswhat bills are being passed,
what's going on with that, andwe'll give you those resources
as well so you can start joiningand knowing that A lot of this
is accountability andresponsibility of the self in
order to become that, becauseyou cannot advocate for yourself
, you cannot inform anyone, norcan you educate anyone unless
you become what you say you are,and that is what we really want
to emphasize on how we teachthat, how we're walking the path

(08:55):
and we're pushing that.
That is our core objective onany level that we're doing, if
we're not advocating forhumanity, if we're not informing
about humanity and we're noteducating about humanity, our
conversations we don't have,because that's really where
we're at right now humanconversations, all right, um,
let's see this.
All right.
Next, slide into that.
That's our logo.
There, you guys, for those ofyou who are watching us, and

(09:17):
once I'm able to put this up,we've already said our
disclaimer that we'repeer-to-peer advocacy group and
we are not medical professionals.
But repeat that again, over andover again we are not medical
professionals.
We are peer-to-peer advocacygroup and we are not medical
professionals.
But repeat that again, over andover again we are not medical
professionals, we arepeer-to-peer advocacy group.
We are also certified inACT-ACT training, which is now I
forgot it.
It's trauma-informed trainingfor adoption families and

(09:41):
adoption therapies and so thatwe have the ability to connect
with humans and with, especiallywith children in the adoption
space, because they don't havethe resources that we do.
So I am certified.
We took a 40-hour course inthis last year.
We have about 60 hours ofcertifications in
trauma-informed training so thatwe have the ability as an
organization to come in and helpthose in need the most.
And again, our whole mission isto help, 40 inches back to chest

(10:03):
, our people around us that wesee every day, that we talk to
every day.
If we can't change our everydaylives, for the humans that we
care about the most, the worlddoesn't matter, because we
cannot impact the world, wecannot change it if we don't
change those around us.
So we really want you to knowthat.
And again, if you needimmediate assistance, please
dial 901-988 if you need it, orsend us a message and I promise
you I will, or one of my teammembers will contact you to have

(10:26):
a conversation, because that'sliterally the number one
priority of us is to ensure thatyou know that you're worth a
conversation.
So please take that moment toyou know, to know that, uh, what
we're going to cover is just alittle bit of introduction.
I won't talk too much aboutmyself, because y'all can go
listen to all of that, becausethat's great, I'm great and all
that.
But we're going to talk aboutthat.
I'm going to share with you ouraccomplishments of project
human, what we've done.

(10:46):
This is a presentation we did alittle earlier this year and um
, so a few things have have beenupdated, which is great.
That means we're meeting ourgoals.
We're moving forward and wewant to share that with you
because we need help to achievethis next level of goals.
We want to do.
Our biggest project coming upis a three-day mental health
summit in 2026, and we want toshow our city that we, the

(11:08):
people, can unite to bridge thegap in this conversation, when
everyone in the city, everyonearound us, is telling us it's
impossible to do.
I promise you.
I've sat around the team ofroom full of people, of CEOs,
officials and everyone told meAdela, you are crazy, it's
impossible to do.
What you're trying to achieveis too much, it's too ambitious.

(11:31):
Adela, you're a nuisance, so Ibecame a certified nuisance, so
hence why we're doing what we'redoing and we're asking your
help, because we need to uniteto do that.
A little bit about me.
Literally take a like a fivesecond thing on there.
The reason I started ProjectHuman is because in 2017, I was
on my last leg of life and in2017, I decided that I wanted to

(11:51):
take my own life.
That was a decision I didn'thave control over.
That was a decision that wastaken and forced out of my own
hands because I didn't haveconscious control over my own
mind, body and soul and thank sograciously, thankful to God, to
, and then to my son, because ifit wasn't for that for me
giving that over, I wouldn't behere to have the conversation, I
wouldn't be able to walk thispath that I'm walking and I

(12:13):
promise as we have thedocumentary coming out when you
see Adela's transition throughthat to here, it's it's night
and day and that's what it'sabout Redefining your own
narrative, re-figuring out andfiguring out what human means.
So that's what we're here to do.
That's why I do Project Human.
Project Human only works if we,the human, work and not work for

(12:34):
Project Human, not work forsomeone else, but become our own
self, for ourselves.
We work for ourselves, we comein with the light and we say
we're worth the life, we're forourselves.
We come in with the light andwe say we're worth the light,
we're worth the fight, we'reworth the work, and we put in
that work and we do that andthen we're able to help everyone
else.
That's the only way we work.
That's the only way we functionis that we focus on you, the
human.
So I decided that because in mycall, when I call my friends,

(12:57):
when I call my people to say Ineed help on my last leg.
No one picked up.
No one picked up and I cried onthe floor for eight hours and I
begged for death.
And it's not a place where Iwant any human to be in, because
, at the end of the day, it's assimple as a conversation the
amount of lives we can savethrough a conversation.

(13:18):
Now, is that a heavy load forus to pick up?
Is that a weight for us tocarry?
Yes, that means that we, as ahuman, have to have our own
capacity and understanding to beable to do that, which is what
we do.
We teach you to have that.
We teach you to push throughthat too, so you're able to
serve your community and do that.
So that's why I'm driven,that's why I do that.
Transparency, honesty andabsolute faith is what we run on

(13:41):
, and we are on action basedcompletely.
We have a bunch of projects andeverything is human purpose
driven.
If the conversation is not tothe human, we don't do it.
We don't do it at all.
So that's who we are as aproject, um, as an organization,
and me, because it's theessence of me.
Uh, our whole mission is tobridge that through your mental
and emotional health.
So you become, become a wholehuman being, because that's what

(14:03):
that is.
What our system is lacking isthe focus on the whole being.
We focus on all little piecesof individual and try to put a
puzzle piece together in 17different places that no one
communicates with, and thenwe're left lost.
We're left completely in adissociation state of our own
life and can't connect to thisworld because no one understands
, no one hears, and you'retalked to a thousand of people

(14:24):
but no one listened to you, andwe wanna change that.
We're finding our principles ofempowerment, transparency,
inclusivity and again,inclusivity means human.
If you're human, you'reincluded.
If you're, if you decide you'renot a human being like and
you're going to be a rock, okay,cool, we just we would like to
talk to humans and we have a,you know, find rocks, but I just

(14:45):
want to talk to humans.
Um, if you decide that, youknow you want to be a cup, be a
cup.
I just want to talk to a human.
You're a human to me and that'swhat we're I, I don't care, but
a human being because, at theend of the day, we feel, we
think and we understand trauma.
We understand, like, the levelof this existence, once we talk
on the same level.
We're all struggling, we're alllooking for a purpose.

(15:06):
We're all trying to find aconnection in this world that
makes us feel something biggerthan we are.
We have to have that connectionas a human together, but you
also have to have it withinyourself and, again, I don't
care what anybody believes, butfor me it's Christ and that's
where we're at.
So if you don't have thatconnection, you can't lead and

(15:27):
you can't leave your way foryourself.
So that's where we're at andwhat we're founded on.
Again, our core values areadvocacy, education and
informing.
We've done a lot of that.
A couple of core projects wehave we have a creative project
initiative that hosts amultitude of things, which is
one of these.
Our monthly communityconversation.
Y'all got to my team.
Y'all better slap me with thisafter this.

(15:48):
Okay, that's one of our listson Fix.
It's the communityconversations.
We also have the artists withinpodcasts, which we're almost at
a year in and we took a littlebreak because it was a car
accident.
A lot of stuff happened theselast two months, so we'll be
back next week, so look out forthat.
We have our quarterly mentalhealth days, where we meet with
the community to haveconversations in person and

(16:09):
connect with nature, withourselves, with everyone around
us, and to just be one-on-onewith this world and not
everything else.
We have that coming up inSeptember.
And then we have educationalcourses and workshops that we're
going to be launching at theend of beginning of October and
move it on to next year.
We have the care model workshopcoming up.
We have the healing, thecreative healing toolkit

(16:30):
workshop coming up, and then wealso have the human existence
workshop that we have taught inthe past and we will be doing a
session in one of our communityconversations about that,
because it's a really importantI think it's a really important
understanding of how to breakdown the human existence, just
the process of where we're atand understanding where we're at
.
So we teach a lot of that stuff, and then, of course, we

(16:51):
provide you with the resourcesthat you need to succeed this
way, and we talk about the need,the requirement and the want,
and there's a huge differencebetween all of those and the way
you do that.
So, um, in that.
Oh, and also our biggest thingthat we have coming up and we
haven't launched fully yet, butwe will be launching in the next
week is our runway toresilience fashion fundraiser
show.
We just filmed, uh with ascentaviation at hurlong airport.

(17:14):
Thank you, guys so much.
Go check them out.
We have a lot of stuff,information, coming up with them
, but they let us use theirspace in the airport to be able
to film an amazing marketingvideo for the Runway to
Resilience, because it's Runwayto Resilience, we are running
the runway to resilience to flyhigh and soar, because that's
who we are we're soaring to theheavens.

(17:34):
So that's coming up on the 27thof september.
So, please, we're gonna need alot of help with that.
Um, reflecting on our progress,so quota one of last of this
year, or 2024.
Last year we launched a bunch ofstuff.
This year we launched a lot ofthis, a lot of uh the podcast
releases or documentary we'refinishing up and uh, we've been
featured in local news.
We've hosted some classes andalso we've been at our events as

(17:58):
well.
We've had a couple of eventsthat we've done and then we've
been invited and participated inthe local film and television
Awards and the behind-the-scenescommunity as well on a lot of
that.
So there's a lot of stuff thatwe've done and we've updated on
a bunch of things in here, too,that we'll be talking in there.
Where are we headed?
To Greatness, because whereelse are we going to go?
Nowhere else, but high up here,to the top, our 2025 and 2026

(18:22):
objectives is, of course, ourfinancial stability, which we
are looking for people to helpus in grant writing.
So if anybody is interested andwant to help us in grant
writing or sales because we arein the sales this is an
organization, it's a business,and we need to sell ourselves.
So who wants to help us getmoney?
Be our salesperson too.
That's what that is.
We need people to help us inall the ways.
I'm not ashamed at all to letyou know what we need to the

(18:44):
core level, because we are on ahuge trajectory for a win and
we've created an infrastructurein our organization that can
sustain what is about to come,but it'll only work and win with
the help of our community andthe help of our volunteers.
It really will, because it's apretty epic thing.
Our Mental Health Summit is ourbiggest goal we're doing, which

(19:04):
all these little things areleading up to that Mental Health
Summit.
It's a three-day event forinformation, education and
celebration.
We're gonna inform and educateour community on our first
two-day events with full-onvendors and our whole community
coming together.
So it's a full-on.
I can't think now because mybrain just froze.

(19:26):
Full-on thing because I gotinto the art.
The third part is my favoritepart the celebration.
And as an artist and community,we're coming together to create
an entertaining event for youso that you can see what
Jacksonville is made of, you cansee what our artists are made
of and you can see what humanitycan do when we come together to
create in light and unite to dosomething for the community.
So we're going to be doing alot of that over the next couple

(19:47):
of um, obviously for till theend, but it is going to be our
biannual event.
So we'll be doing this everyother year because we believe
it's important, and the otherreason we're doing it next year
is because it's election year.
One of the big things is we'renot here to get political in any
shape or form.
However, we are here to holdaccountable and responsible all
of our officials and all ofourselves in what we're saying,

(20:08):
that we're putting into and ifwe don't agree with things or we
don't want laws passed or wedon't want to be on the on the
cutting blocks for mental health, because our budgets have been
cut by 70 percent this year onthe mental health all across the
boards.
Arts have been cut by 85percent this year and I'm
probably a little bit up on mynumber, but I'm taking it across
the board for the arts.
We've cut everything out.

(20:28):
So the question then comes inif all the funding has been cut
and nobody's willing to helpfrom the levels of our local and
state government and federalgovernment, what are we as a
community doing?
How are we stepping up as acommunity to take charge and
take lead and say that enough isenough?
Art is important.
The conversation about mentalhealth is important.
The correlation between the twois one of the most important

(20:48):
things that we can ever have anadvocate for.
Why are we not putting that inthere?
So this is why we're doing that, because then every two years,
we have the opportunity to holdour representatives accountable
for what we're doing and we as acommunity get a say.
We as a community get a say.
This is why this is soimportant to me on the mental
health summit level, because ifwe're not going to have
something where we're having theactual conversation, I do not

(21:11):
want to walk into another roomwhere our city is hosting a
mental health summit.
By the way, that was exactlywhat it was.
I won't say the name of thecompany, but the mental health
summit.
It's on the page.
You walk in and it's alldoctors, all nurses, all PhDs
and masters, and Adela's inthere with her.
Think that's it, that's all inthere.
And I have a mom I talk to,who's there as a last resource,

(21:35):
to talk to these people to askthem how she's going to save her
child from killing herself, andthe conversation that they have
there is how the system isgoing to take 20 years for her
to have that conversation.
That's what we had as a mentalhealth summit and that pissed me
off because she walked overthere, walked away, contacting
every little local, every localresource we had, contacting

(21:59):
everybody, put on mailing lists,all of that.
But she needed immediate help,immediate help and as a
community, in that space, as I'msitting there and I'm listening
, the question became what arewe doing and why are we not
stepping up as a community toactually force the hand, to say
you need to be accountable forthis, and so that's what we're

(22:19):
here for.
That's what the big mission isfor me.
You guys, I take this veryseriously.
So if you're going to become anadvocate, you want to become a
volunteer.
Understand we are here to speakon behalf of a human experience
.
And how do we change the humanexperience for us to work in our
favor?
Because we are humans who areliving this life, not in this
construct that society hascreated that we should be.
We're not made for that thatway.

(22:40):
We are connection-based, we arefibers, we are life.
We are just the greatest thingever there.
So please keep in mind that'swhat that is and that's why
we're here and that's why we'rethere.
We're also going to be oursecondary, our quarterly mental
health day, so we need help withthat.
And then our fashion fundraiser.
So a couple other things in oureducational classes, for our,
by the way, for our mentalhealth summit, we have the

(23:01):
parachute goddess project comingin and we're going to do living
art installations of parachutesas a little big runway and it's
so exciting.
Anyway, just really had toshare that because that's really
exciting for me.
So, priority roles for 2025,2026, or any of them is really
our operations managers, ourfundraising lead.
We have a marketing coordinatornow, ms Alicia.
We also have our uh, well, wehave an operations officer.

(23:21):
I'm sorry, I just missed.
I was like we had an operation.
Sorry, Seth, you came and tookthat role and I just so this was
from that but operationsofficer.
But we need help in operationsanyway.
So please, please, do that.
Program coordinator.
So for all of our like communityconversations, our workshops,
all of that, we need helpcoordinating that as well.
And our volunteer coordinator.
We've got a lot of people comeinto the conversation, which is

(23:43):
great, and a lot of um, a lot ofwe're being seen in a lot of
ways, but we also need to.
We need the labor force on ourend and it is what it is.
We are a labor force and aservice force and I'm very
honest about what this is.
I'm not pretending like this isgoing to be the greatest thing
ever, like we do work, but we dotry to make sure that as we
work, we work according to yourschedule, your capacity and your

(24:05):
understanding and your needs,and we do not push and we'll
have our you know, similarpeople who validate on that.
We do not push, but we want toensure that you are doing what
you need to do and that we arewinning anyway.
That's where we're at and areyou ready?
There's that.
So, really quick, any questionsbefore we move on to any other
segment that anybody else has,because I be talking all right,

(24:28):
miss alicia, take it away.

Alisha Alverez (24:30):
Yeah, um, I definitely want to point out
that obviously, adela is thebrains and the heart behind this
organization, so she knowseverything.
But what we need are some handsand feet to be on the grounds,
and we don't want anything to beoverwhelming.
We want everyone to come asthey are.
You know we're currently allover the place, so you know

(24:50):
whether, wherever your locationis, that don't let that hinder
you.
We just really need support foreverything.
So I'm going to just go giveyou like an outline of what we
consider like the roots behindour volunteering.
We have six little like little.
I call them the roots becauseall of our logo and everything
go up into like the roots,because we're starting at the
root of the health and themental health, and then from

(25:13):
there, you there.
I just want you guys to thinkabout, even if you don't know
what it is that you want to do.
Atela's great at finding aplace for you, so just tell her
what your passions might be.
If there's not even anythingspecific that calls to you, but
you're thinking, hey, this issomething that's really
important to me, please don'thesitate, don't be nervous about

(25:34):
reaching out.
Just say like hey, this issomething that's really
important to me.
Please don't hesitate, don't benervous about reaching out.
Just say like hey, I wanna helpbut I am limited on time.
Or hey, I wanna help but Idon't know where to start.
All of these are greatconversations and we love all of
them.
So the first route that we haveis we consider volunteering as
a human responsibility.
I know that everybody doesn'tnecessarily take it that way,

(26:00):
but for us it's really not onlyan act of kindness, but it's a
sacred responsibility to us,because these are things that
are important to us.
So we believe that healingstarts when one human chooses to
show up for another, and that'sreally the base of our whole
organization is that it's moreof like a one-on-one rather than
just like a let's like.
Adele was saying like oh, in 20years we'll do this.
We're really starting at thecommunity level so that that way

(26:21):
we can reach everybody.
So your time and presencereally helps somebody else's
hope move forward, and it helpssomebody else's life more than
you'll know.
And in addition to that, thethe benefit of this is Adele has
already built this greatfoundation, so you can become a
part of something that's alreadybigger than you.

(26:42):
Mental health is something thateverybody's concerned about.
It's something on top ofeverybody's mind, especially
these days we have such adisconnected world.
But this isn't just anorganization, it's a movement,
and that's really how we'retrying to redefine how everybody
sees mental health.
So by volunteering, you reallybecome a collective heart, part
of a collective heartbeat andworking to shift culture,

(27:04):
dismantle stigma and raise thenext generation of advocates.
Experience is powerful.
So whether you've walkedthrough trauma, grief, healing
yourself, or you've walked alongbeside somebody, whatever, that
is your story matters, and sowe don't get in strange cars.

(27:24):
Did somebody say something?

Adela Hittell (27:26):
I'm sorry, somebody did, and I'm not sure.

Alisha Alverez (27:29):
No, okay, if anybody has anything, please
feel free to interrupt me, but Imissed that so I apologize.
But we just want to say thatyour experience is really
powerful.
So we believe that yourexperience can really light the
way for anybody else, and so wewant you to help share that and

(27:49):
help you share that if you needhelp with that.
The next thing is skill sharingand soul growth.
So we have a lot of differentopportunities, like Adela
explained.
So we have, you know, outreach,art therapy, digital support.
We even need some help withevent planning if that's really
your forte.
But we really offer theopportunity to really like

(28:10):
either share strengths that youalready have or also learn new
ones.
So it's not just you givinghere, but you also get to grow
here, and it's something that wereally like to help everybody
grow, because then everybodybecomes better Um, and then they
become the roots for the nextum generation too.
Um, like I discussed before, um,these days everybody's really

(28:31):
disconnected.
So one of the things that wefind a little heart here is that
we connect in this world ofisolation.
Like I said, we're all over theplace.
Right now, I'm in umgainesville, florida.
Seth is in south carolina, sowe're all very far apart from
each other, but we'revolunteering with this authentic
connection and it's reallyhelping us build community
circles, advocacy programs, andyou'll find a place that you can

(28:53):
belong, be seen, stand besideothers and really commit to
restoring humanity, which I knowwe all feel we need these days,
and it helps anybody.
So any way that we can connect,that's, I think, one of our big
pillars.
And then the final thing is youreally create the change.
So every campaign, everyresource, every event that we

(29:16):
produce is possible because ofvolunteers.
Like I said, adele is thiswonderful force and she's a got
this wonderful genius mind, butwe really need the volunteers
and so you're not just helpingfrom the sidelines, you're
actively co-creating.
She's a wonderful person andaccepting ideas and wonderful
things.
So, like, although she'll comeup with these great ideas, if
you contribute something, she'llshe'll take it and run with it.

(29:38):
You know, like, like she wassaying, we did this marketing
thing for the runway toresilience and there were so
many people contributing and itjust made it so much better.
So everybody was a co creatorin that and it really just helps
this be like a morecompassionate and inclusive
world.
So we really hope that you areinspired by this and if you have

(29:59):
any questions or, you know, ifthere's any inkling of something
that you might be sparked here,then we really hope that you'll
reach out and join us thank you, love.

Adela Hittell (30:11):
I appreciate it.
With that quickness too, beforewe get to our testimony, we'll
send you guys a link also to andfor those of you who are here
on our meeting and for those ofyou who submit your information.
We'll send you the link whereyou can submit a form instantly,
like a direct form link, so youcan submit your link in there
and answer all the questions.
Or you can go to our website onphinc-ingorg slash join us and

(30:37):
you can fill out the informationthere as well.
It's already up on there.
Or if you just go to our homepage and then go to a little bit
to the right, we're redoing allof our website, you guys, so
please bear with us.
We're redoing so much inpreparation for a massive launch
on the 27th or 26th of July, sothere's a lot of things that
are coming in and going in there, but in there you'll find it
and click on it.
See all the, all the thingsthat we need, and we need you.

(30:59):
If you think you cannotcontribute, I promise you your
presence enough.
I promise you your presenceenough does contribute.
You have no idea how much yourpresence changes the way
something happens, some, the waysomeone else feels the way
someone else feels, the waysomeone else moves something.
Literally, it comes back to theexistence of you and if you

(31:19):
exist, you have value.
And if you exist, you cancontribute.
If you exist, you have thecapacity to change someone's
life and you, if you exist, youabsolutely have the capacity and
control to change yours.
And that's what we want to, andyou know, push you and inspire
you to do with us in there, allright, sorry, had to put that in
there to you guys.
Know that too, yolanda, take itaway, my love.

Yolanda Curtis (31:44):
Hi, I'm Yolanda Curtis.
With full transparency, I havebeen twitching this entire time
because I don't like sittingstill and this is just going to
come from.
You know my brain.
I don't like sitting still andthis is just gonna come from.
You know my brain.
I don't have things writtendown or anything.
I don't.
I don't really, I don't rollthat way.
So, basically, when we talkabout Project Human a project

(32:10):
see, everyone's different.
Everyone says thingsdifferently.
Like this is what Project Humanmeans to me and this is
whatever Like for me.
When I got entangled with it Iguess it's because of Adela,
like 100%.
She was just somebody I kind ofwas like let me hang out, let

(32:30):
me help out, let me see wherethis is going, and she was
telling me things and doingstuff and, um, I wasn't really
sure at the time be honest.

Adela Hittell (32:45):
Say that you were a stubborn mule.
Just be honest like this is thehonesty thing let's know we
don't have to pretend like it'sa be honest you be honest.

Yolanda Curtis (32:53):
Um, yeah, so when I her, she called me her
soul sister and I thought shewas crazy and I was like, where
is this heifer coming from?
And a couple years later we metagain and ever since we I don't
there hasn't been many daysthat we go by that we don't talk
or see each other.
Something you know text,something quick, you know funny

(33:15):
meme, whatever.
But I think and that was what Ineeded in my life.
A big thing with Project Humanis we're really big on
connection with other humanbeings.
Right, and I've lived my wholelife.
I'll be 43 next week, yay, andI sit there and I never found my
tribe of people.
I just never did.

(33:35):
I didn't connect well with a lotof women.
I didn't connect well with alot of men per se, like, I'm
also a gamer, I like you knowanime and things like that,
things that a lot of women myage are not you know doing, and
so, and I have three adultchildren and one little child
and, um, so life was just justlife.

(33:59):
I was just going through themotions being a mom, being a
wife, um, slowly but surely, whoI was then got pushed to the
side and everybody else becamefirst.
My kids became first, myhusband became first.
You know, even even everythingbecame first.
My job became first.
My husband became first.
You know, even even everythingbecame first.
My job became first, justeverything.

(34:20):
Um, to the point where I almostdidn't exist.
And I tell Adela, I feel like Iwas like running just just on
autopilot, like I just I kind ofdidn't exist anymore and uh, it
was really lonely.
It was lonely being in a roomfull of people who say they love
you and you just still feltlonely Because you didn't see

(34:41):
you anymore, you didn't, youknow.
And so, years go on, I, you know, obviously I meet Adela and we
have these conversations andshe's telling me you know, if
you do this and this and thisand this, I'm like, yeah, okay,
cracker Jack, I don't know whatyou're talking about.
Like, why are you telling methis stuff?
Like, and it took, it took acouple of years for me to start

(35:02):
seeing results, not just me butin other people to where I was
like, okay, maybe this isn'tjust some, you know, spiritual
self-help mumbo jumbo type ofthing, spiritual self-help mumbo
jumbo type of thing, you know.
And so we really got into theseconversations, like she, she
called me every day for likemonths just to make sure I was

(35:24):
out of bed, make sure I brushedmy teeth, make sure I did
something, because I had gottento the point that I didn't want
to do anything and I didn't knowhow to pull myself out of it.
Like I had lived my whole life,you know, being a chef, being a
photographer, being a makeupartist, doing hair, doing all
these things and being creative.
But the expectations that Iallowed to be put on myself from

(35:49):
the rest of the world were just, it was just too heavy.
It was too heavy and I scurriedinto a corner and I just
enjoyed being in the shadow atthat point.
I just enjoyed being alone.
I just enjoyed.
Not enjoy, I didn't enjoy.
I felt comfort.
I found comfort in it.
That's what I did.
I found comfort in the solitudebecause it was better than

(36:12):
having people pretending likethey cared.
But she called every day.
She showed up to give me a hugand I thought she was so crazy.
I'm like why are you touchingme?
I don't like people touching me.
Why are you touching me?
Um, but she, she would show up,um, and then you know, we have
the things that we do, um,projects, and I'd show up to
projects, I'd bring my kidssometimes and help out, and I'm

(36:33):
very multifaceted with arts, soI pretty much do whatever she
needs me to do, you know, and Istarted slowly but surely
finding joy in who I was again,like figuring out who I was.
And here we are, like four years, close to five years, down the
road and I know how tocommunicate with everyone now.

(36:58):
Like it's not just Adela, likeit's complete strangers, it's my
children, it's my husband, likeeven our marriage has gotten
better because I learned tocommunicate properly which I
wish we would learn that in highschool.
Like I learned to communicatein a way that my feelings
weren't invalid.

(37:20):
I was also able to get to apoint where I am now where I can
break down in my own mind whereall of those feelings are
coming from.
I use feelings now as a pausebutton, whether it's a good
feeling, whether it's a badfeeling.
I pause, I think about why I'mfeeling that way and I process

(37:40):
it, and I've done that now forso many years that it's like
second nature.
Respond it the way that theycommunicate, the way, so you
just kind of see it fromeverybody else and you don't
even realize it's happeninguntil it happens.
And then you're like whoa.

(38:01):
And so when I think about stufflike that and we were me and
Adele were just talking aboutthis the other day I had gone
through, you know, tons oftherapists and trauma stuff and
just a lot of different thingsand I learned great coping
skills Don't get it twisted.
I learned some coping skillsand things like that, but they

(38:22):
always wanted me to reliveeverything and so if you went to
a new one, you were repeatingyourself over and over and over
again.
It just felt like you justnever got rid of it.
And when we would talk, wewould just talk about stupid
stuff, like stupid stuff, likefart jokes, I don't know, just
whatever.
Just stupid, stupid things.
And all of a sudden, out ofnowhere, I'd be like oh yeah,
when I was 12, blah, blah, blah,blah, blah, and then we would

(38:43):
just go right back to somethingelse.
But it gave my brain asoundboard of kind of a thing
you know, and I find that Iprocess information I didn't
even know I was ready to processin just a moment, and it's not
a huge deal anymore where at onepoint in time it would have
been a huge deal.
You know, because I live forlike the time that I'm in now

(39:05):
versus like my past or living ina future or whatever.
I'm just kind of where I'm atand so I laugh because I'm like,
are you serious?
It just took us having this.
It just took us having aconversation, like I was like
you know how much better therapywould be if we could walk in
and we just had conversation.

(39:25):
Just who knows what it's about,just have it, not having to dig
into my darkest crevices.
You know what I mean Of mymental illnesses.
You know and I'm not sayingthat that's not a thing, but it
wasn know what I mean Of of mymental illnesses you know and
I'm not saying that that's not athing, but it wasn't what I
needed at the time.
And I didn't even know cause.
I didn't know what I needed atthe time.
I just I think I needed whateverybody else needs.

(39:46):
I think I just needed to beheard, I needed to be seen and I
needed to be cared about.
I'm more of a surfaced,tangible level.
At first.
You know what I mean.
Like you know.
You see, it's like you know.
And you're on the side of theroad, you see a piece of trash
and sort of walk about.
You just pick it up and oh,you're welcome world, you're
cleaner, you know, kind of thatsame kind of weird thing.

(40:07):
And so for me, when I talkabout that, like I process
things, so as far as like Ican't say I don't get anxious
anymore.
I still get anxious becausewe're human beings and if things
are out of control, we getanxious about it.
That's just what we do.
When I, when I think about myhow emotionally I've been

(40:31):
affected, it's it's a lot,because I grew up in a very
stagnant household.
Emotions weren't really allowed.
You were kind of just happy, oryou were content, you weren't
allowed to do anything else, orit was just not good, you know,
when I got through life anddealing with emotions that I

(40:53):
didn't understand and all that.
Now that I'm more understandingof those things, I go.
They don't matter, like I meanthey matter, don't get it
twisted but like they don'tregulate my thought processes
any longer.
Where it used to be like hey,here's an emotion and here's how
I'm going to react to saidemotion, I don't do anymore.

(41:15):
I pause because that emotion isbringing up something and I'm
not sure what it is.
I don't, I don't let thatground me in reality, if that
makes sense, like I I'm.
I'm very much more likecautious about any anything that
could potentially lead meastray from where I kind of want
to go.
You know, in life now and then,as far as, like again, my

(41:44):
relationships and things likethat, like with my kids and
stuff, has got better, I'm okay.
I'm okay with not having atribe anymore.
I have like a couple of people.
Obviously we have our team andthings like that, but like
quality over quantity for sure.
That doesn't mean that I don'treach out to people.
That doesn't mean I don't talkto strangers every day.
That doesn't mean if I see akid crying on the street, I'm
not going to go.
Hey, what's wrong?
You need a hug.

(42:04):
And I don't even like touchingpeople and offer them hugs.
My kids are like in there.
My three oldest are all in,they're about to be all in their
20s, all in, they're about tobe all in their 20s and
unfortunately they've had todeal with loss like friends and
um, I don't think that I canwalk past a teenager or a young

(42:27):
adult any longer.
That was just in pain, justbecause they're a stranger.
I don't, I don't think I coulddo that anymore, like I'm just
not that person.
And see, now I'm gettingemotional because I think about
it.
I think about the people welose because they didn't have
someone just to talk to for asecond, like just to try to
understand them.
Cause sometimes it's just I am.

(42:51):
I was like Adela.
At one point in my life I gotin a really dark place and it
was like that switch justflipped and I tried to do
something that was just not good, to take my own life, and I had
young children at the time andI had seen them after and it was
like my brain kind of kickedback in, like what are you doing

(43:11):
?
Like you have kids, like youhave family and I am.
That was in my early 20s and Iknow how quick that switch can
kind of just go off.
And it was just I had no one Ihad.
I hadn't none of my family wasaround, I didn't have friends,
you know.
I had a lot of responsibility.
I was overwhelmed.

(43:34):
Honestly, a talk from a strangeras much as that sounds stupid
that would have really helped meat the time.
So I just I just I don't carewhat people think anymore.
Like I'm just going to be meand say the things that I need
to say and be raw and real withpeople.
I mean, don't lie, because it'sjust it takes too much mental

(43:57):
effort.
I don't know how people can doall that.
Like it's just exhausting, like, um, and I think that just in
the long run Fink has it's.
Honestly, it's just.
I don't even want to say it'schanged my life.
I don't think it's changed mylife.
I think it's opened my brain upto the idea that I just needed

(44:22):
to know things that I didn'tknow yet.
You know, I just I just neededinformation, I just needed some
help, um, sometimes guidance,but not really most of the time
it was just really goodconversation.
Like I said, sometimes they'rea great conversation, sometimes
they're just dumb conversation.
It was just the fact thatsomebody cared enough to show up

(44:45):
.
That's really what it is, andit's the same thing with our
volunteering up.
It's because you never knowwho's going to show up.
Everybody there has somethingthat they've gone through.
Um, no thing is worse orgreater than anything else, and
teaching people new skills orfostering their creativity, um

(45:09):
could mean the world to them,and you don't.
You don't, you would have neverknown without giving them the
opportunity to have a voice andbe a part of that conversation.
Yeah, so I'm Yolanda, that's.
I think that's my testimony,unless you have questions Like I
.
I'm not the best at this, butI'm trying.

Adela Hittell (45:31):
Thank you, yolanda and I go way back's a
stubborn mule.
She's one of my hardestadvocates, if you will, for real
, every it's a no, foreverything it's a.
So if you think you're likethis, I promise challenge
accepted.
She's the challenge accepted.
I'm down with it.
Challenge accepted, I don'tbecause I don't believe anything
at big valley because of whatshe just said she's not willing

(45:52):
to walk past a stranger nowwithout seeing and seeing them
as a human, and ultimately,that's what.
That is right.
If we don't have that, youdon't know, you don't know whose
life you can save.
Um, if you guys haven't readthe book called um, uh, oh, my
goodness, perspective, I can'tthink of it now.

(46:14):
I'll remember it by now.
It's about perspective.
His name is Mr Jones and it'sall about perspective and he
just walks by, talks tostrangers, has a conversation,
leaves and changes lives.
It's a conversation, literally,and it's not the superficial
one, it's the in-depth lifephilosophy, struggle, love, joy,
all of it in 10 minutes withsomeone that you don't even know

(46:37):
.
That changes how they viewtheir world and how you leave
them impacted.
So that's.
I really appreciate you guyssharing your testimony.
And also I want to say thankyou to my team, because I forgot
to say that in the beginningand I should have said that in
the beginning.
My team this year has been anamazing team and without them,
none of this would be bepossible and without them
supporting me in these nextlevels of ideas, none of this
will be possible.

(46:58):
We would not be here.
So my team is the reason why Iam where I'm at right now.
So I thank you guys for showingup on that.
So big round of applause to myteam.

Alisha Alverez (47:08):
Okay, seth, your turn and those that aren't
here right now too.
Yes, we have a big team behindus too.
Yes, so we have a big teambehind us too.

Seth Batchlor (47:14):
Yes, so, I don't see that we have any questions
in the chat.
Okay, let me double checkYouTube.
Perfect, but if anybody has,anything that they'd like to
throw in there real quick.
The floor is wide open.

Adela Hittell (47:32):
Well, since we have one Zoom caller who's
joined us in here that I see wehave two I think Brittany's on
there too If anybody on our Zoomwould like to pop in, we have
about 10 minutes left.
If you'd like to share anythingabout why you're here or what
made you brought you interestedhere, or if you just want to
share your testimony ofexistence, we have the
opportunity.
I would appreciate that as well, because we'd love to hear your

(47:54):
voice.
You never know what someone canhear, even listening through
our live.
Who could hear something thatyou may say?
Literally, one word can changesomeone's life.
It's that simple.
It's that simple.
So I want to say hi to Ari.
Ari, we go way back too.
We went to hair school togetherand we've been in bits and
pieces and some projects, and soI was so, so pleasantly

(48:16):
surprised to see you pop ontonight.
Welcome, thank you for comingHi.
The last time I saw you was ata photo shoot and that was like
six years ago.
So like hello.

Adela (48:27):
I've been getting your emails over the years.
I've just been in grad schoolso I you know like I've been in
laser focus.
So I got this email for themeeting.
I was like I got to check in onmy girl.
I got to see where this wholething has gone because I knew it
was going somewhere, becauseyou're just such a determined

(48:48):
human with an incredible storyand people with stories should
share because, like you said,you never know who's listening
and who might need to hear it.
I have a dog that's gonna bark,so I'm gonna put my airpods
back in um probably cut it off.
Can you hear?

Adela Hittell (49:08):
me, we could still hear you.
Okay, he has his, that's okaywe love dogs, we love pets, we
love interrupt.
We love pets, we loveinterruptions, we love children,
anything this is, this is whatit's for the real, like the real
, raw thing.

Adela (49:23):
Good, I'm glad you're here for the real cause.
My AirPods aren't working, sobut yeah, I'm also a therapist
now, so I'm I'm wanting toconnect with community.
I started my journey into theworld of therapy.

Adela Hittell (49:44):
You just went out a little bit.

Adela (49:47):
We could just have conversations, because that's
what I wish to find.

Adela Hittell (49:51):
Hey, love, I'm so sorry to interrupt you, but
you're going in and out.
Can you hear me?
You're going in and out.
We can't hear your audio.
Believe me, that's me too.
Just give up on it.
Just keep going.

Adela (50:06):
I know where I cut out but I was just saying I loved
Yolanda's perspective and sayingthat she wished that she could
just like have a conversation.
And I started in my journey asan embodiment practitioner that
connecting the body and the mindand that practice is really

(50:27):
based in human connection firstand it's allowed me to move into
my therapeutic practice withthat human connection first
because it is so important andit does allow people to feel
that felt sense of safety whichis the key that opens the lock
to healing in all of its forms.
And I absolutely love your logoand the roots because that's

(50:51):
like I'm a plant girly, so Ivery much resonate with that.
My therapy practice is called10 Bloom, 10 to yourself and see
what blooms.
So I love the connection there.

Adela Hittell (51:06):
So you're going to be part of the mental health
summit, right?
I'm already calling out.

Adela (51:09):
Yeah, I'm very excited, all right, and also let's go
ahead and get it on record.

Adela Hittell (51:13):
and the mental health day coming up, so we just
need to go ahead and starttalking about it because we need
it.
That's what we're doing.
I know you'll plug me in.
Plug me in wherever you need me.
Alicia Seth, get that.
Make sure we get that.

Seth Batchlor (51:25):
Are you in Jacksonville?

Adela (51:27):
I'm in Jacksonville, yep.

Seth Batchlor (51:28):
Right on.

Adela Hittell (51:33):
Nice to meet you all.
Thank you.
Well, thank you for sharing andcoming on.
And then I want to say thankyou to all of our other guests
who've shown on to our call Idon't want to call you guys by
names, because you've chosen notto have your photos on or for
our meetings and stuff like thattoo, but I really, really want
to appreciate you for the amountof guests that we have had on
and participants we hope thatyou have found value in it.

(51:53):
And participants we hope thatyou have found value in it.
We hope that you are thinkingand considering about
volunteering with us and seeingwhat you can gain.
As Yolanda and Seth and Aliciawill attest to, my first and
foremost question when you comein is to ask you what do you
want to gain out of this?
I know what I need, right, likeI know what I need, but I want

(52:16):
to know what you want to gainout of this.
That way, what we're doing iswe're guiding you towards that,
and if that's not where you endup going, because you figured
out that's not what you want,okay, great, you come back and
go.
Adela, change my mind aboutbeing an operations officer,
cause I don't like anything inthe backend.
I want to go do the front end.
Okay, great, let's put you intothis and we'll start with this.

(52:36):
But what that's going to do foryou is it's going to give you
the opportunity to learn newskills in that process.
Our system is all about theprocess, and how do we get you
to be a functioning human beingfor yourself in everyday,
day-to-day existence?
So, as Yolanda mentioned, howdo we get you to brush your
teeth?
How do we get you to take ashower?
How?
So, as Yolanda mentioned, howdo we get you to brush your
teeth?
How do we get you to take ashower?

(52:56):
How do we get you to getdressed?
How do we get you to make yourbed?
How do we get you to put awayyour dishes and your laundry?
How do we get you to fall inlove with your life?
And if you can't do that foryourself, obviously, then the
part we're not doing our job atProject Human, because then
we're not teaching you, becausethe people, like Yolanda said,

(53:20):
you impact, the ones who see theinstant results, are the ones
around you.
You're 40 inches the peoplethat you see every day, that you
speak to every day, that youthink about every day.
If you can't change your lifewith them, the world you want
will never be possible, becausethey impact you every day.
You impact them every day yourthoughts, your, your feelings,
your processes.
And if you don't understandyours and you can't guide others
to that same level, the processtogether is going to be very,

(53:43):
very wonky.
Go ahead, yolanda.
I see you raising your hand.

Yolanda Curtis (53:48):
I don't know, I don't know why.
I don't know why.
It's not that I forgot you knowthis.
I don't know why, it's not thatI forgot you know this, but,
like so, my youngest, my fourthchild, she's eight.
I love her.
We're the same.
She has.
She has ADHD and ADHD.
Adhd, yeah, I have ADHD.
I have not been diagnosed withautism or anything like that.

(54:10):
I'm a little too old for thatnow.
It would be hella expensive.
I'm not going to do it.
Too old for that now.
It would be hella expensive.
I'm not gonna do it.
However, through this process,um, I like to, um, teach all of
my kids the things that I likeI'm learning right, and so one
of the things was is like, whenI process something new mentally

(54:30):
, um, an emotion, um, a, a newway of thinking, if you will, on
certain things, I'll talk toher about it, and she has gotten
to the point now, at eightyears old, where she will have
an emotion.
She will pause, she mightexplode a little bit, because
that happens, like you know, bea little loud or something, and

(54:53):
I'm like, hey, let's go to aroom we're going to, we're going
to reset, go reset, and she'llgo.
She might scream in a pillow.
She might hit a pillow, shemight do whatever she does.
She'll come out and we willhave a conversation because she
just has to get it out and thenshe just needs.
Sometimes she needs a hug.
Sometimes she doesn't want youto touch her, sometimes it's
just all over the place.
But the self-regulation that Isee in my eight-year-old took me

(55:16):
almost 40 years to get and Ifind that outstanding.
So when we talk about our 40inches, she's eight and she's
where I'm at now.
And so when we talk about thehope for our future, that's the
kind of things that I like tothink about.

(55:38):
Like, my process might not workfor everybody who listens or
watches, but if it works for one, then it helps that one.
You know what I mean, and soit's like as long as you have
listen, you have a voice andwith that you can have a
conversation.
And your conversations, nomatter how small and how

(56:00):
insignificant you think they are, they matter.
It doesn't matter if it's abouta movie, if it's about music,
if it's about whatever.
If you're making a connectionwith another human being and
you're developing yourrelationship skills, I mean
that's what matters, becauseultimately that's what everybody
wants.
They want that connection.
They want that human connectionin one way or another, and a

(56:23):
good relationship skill is goingto help you with a marriage,
with a relationship with yourparents, with your siblings,
with your children, with yourjob, with co-workers, with
literally anybody else who'shuman.
So I just I forgot, I didn'tforget about Aslan, but you know
Well, it's a work in progressand that's well, that's another

(56:45):
thing is like it's a work inprogress.

Adela Hittell (56:47):
These are the conversations we have on this.
This is the type of thing.
This is when we have ourmeetings, when we do our monthly
meetings and our conversations,we bring these up.
Hey, this month I didn'tunderstand how to regulate
myself or regulate my thing, andwe blew up.
Okay, well, let's talk aboutthe regulation.
Let's like, actually just talkabout that.
Let's break that down, let'sbreak the concept down and let's
see where that was.
And the thing that I do andthey'll vouch for this is I

(57:09):
literally will force you to faceyour truth, like there's no ifs
, ands or buts about that.
Like I will face.
I will force you to face yourtruth because if you cannot see
you, I don't care who you are, Ican't see you.
Like I, like I can't see you, Ican't know you.
If you can't see yourself andno matter what you come to tell
me, there's something about methat I know.

(57:30):
I have this innate ability toto know when someone's being a
human and when they're not.
And when you're a person withme, I can tell, because I don't
like you and when I don't likepeople, there's a character.
I'm being honest.
There's a character that isthere, that is pretending to be
something that they're not.
There's a lie that's being told, whether about you or an idea
or something, and I can'tconnect.

(57:51):
Because if you're an honesthuman being, when you look at
someone, you won't need words toconnect.
You will not need words toconnect.
You will know for a fact thatthat human just needs a hug,
needs that moment.
They're human and they're astruggle and they're just.
Or you share the joy, or, likeyolanda said, she walked on
across the room at somebody theother day and they were just so
joyful that she had to give thema hug.

(58:11):
Oh, just the full joy of ahuman, because, because a human
was just so joyful, it doesn'thave to be a struggle.
But that's the point about thedepth of our connection and the
capacity of our existence isthat we do not need these words.
However, the word that we speak, the word that we speak, has
the power to change the way weview, the way we feel, the way

(58:31):
we move, and that comes withinwith us.
So it's very important.
Um, and I want to touch basewith, uh, one thing that miss
ari asked about the 40 inchesback to back to chest.
I actually have a class, um, soI'd love to get with you and
share that with you, ari.
So let's make a meeting andI'll share with you the concept
of it.
But we will be teaching thatclass coming up soon too as our
honor on there.
But the concept is this youneed to zero in on you, zero in.

(58:53):
So the concept is this you needto zero in on you, zero in.
So the zero is you.
You're the starting point.
Okay, anything.
And this is based on myexperience from military, from
learning from COVID, learningfrom everybody else's.
Okay, so there's always goodout of something.
That's how I look at it.
So the six feet portion camegood out of COVID because it
taught me something in that.
So this is the concept you zeroin on yourself because you're

(59:14):
the zero.
You're zero patient.
You're everything.
Everything is affected by youin the zero process.
When you spread your wings likethis, forward, backward, that's
your 40 inches back to chest,side to side.
That's what the militaryexpression is.
That means that is the mostimportant thing next to you, in
front of you, around you.
That is it.
If you can't focus on thatoutside of that, which is your

(59:35):
six feet, outside that door, youwill not.
That's your job, that's theextended family, that's your
friendships, that's youranything outside of your door
you don't have the capacity tobring in, to connect.
You don't have it.
So you think we can take on theworld with instagram and social
of.
We can't process that becausewe've literally negated the zero

(59:57):
and the 40 and decided thatwe're going to jump into the
ocean with no life vest, no boat, no food, nothing, and said
let's go on a cruise with nocruise and we can't do that.
So and I don't do cruises, guys, that's why I'm saying that
Never catch me on a cruise, butit's the same concept.
So the idea is that how do we gofrom the world?

(01:00:18):
And COVID taught us six feet,which it gave us, that
separation which put us backinto our own home to look at our
own home.
That goes back into thefunctionality.
How do you function on your 40inches back to chest every day?
Who are you here to have thatconversation and impact with?
Who's the most importantconnection?
When you solidify that, Ipromise.

(01:00:40):
I promise the six feet in theworld are nothing.
They are.
They are literally just anotherthing for you to go on and do
and have fun with.
It's nothing in the, theanxiety we feel is because we
have no control of our own being, of our own, zero.
We have no understanding ofwhat is happening in our 40
inches and all we're doing isthinking about what the six feet

(01:01:03):
outside that door is thinking,feeling, doing.
And the world is thinking,feeling, doing, not even caring
about what I'm thinking, feeling, doing, with my husband, my son
, my wife, my present, like thepeople next to me, are thinking
and feeling and doing because wehave lost that connection.
So that's what we're doing.
We're doing that, we'rebridging that, and the only way

(01:01:23):
to do that is by literally aconversation.
So we invite you to startconversations with us and become
a certified nuisance, withproject human.
By the way, that is our linedropping on July 27 or 26.
So please look out for that.
We have a full merch linecoming out called Certified
Nuisance.
Because why we are certified.

(01:01:44):
You are certified.
Here's what I'm going to tellyou.
This about the advocacy.
This is the most thing and thething you have a certification
in existing as a human being.
Anybody outside of that thattells you with a PhD, with a
master's, with anything, thatcomes in and says you don't know
how to live as a human, they'rewrong.
You are a human being.
First you know you're human andif you don't know, that's the

(01:02:08):
disconnection If you do notunderstand that you know your
humanity, that you know yourself, how will you advocate when and
I say this as I just amliterally about to have to do a
you guys, in the next couplemonths, you're about to hear
negative things from me,negative in the medical field,
because I got a case and I'm mad.
They tried me, they took 16kand they tried me and they lied

(01:02:30):
to me.
And I'm not playing.
Let me tell you.
But how do you advocate whenyou're fighting the insurance,
when you're fighting theinsurance, when you're fighting
the health field, when you'refighting everything and you're
already an emotional mess?
How do you advocate?
What grounds you?
What puts you together?
How do you stand up foryourself?
When they're pushingmedications for you and you say
no and they charge you still forit?
How do you push for this?
And then you say no and theystill do this?
Who do you call?

(01:02:50):
What do you do when you'realready in a mess and know what?
Like you're already there andthat's just the worst case
scenario of somebody goingthrough.
That's not an everyday thingfor someone that they're feeling
that.
So, when we look at that andwhen we think about that, to
become something strong, youhave to advocate for yourself.
In order to advocate foryourself, you have to inform and
educate yourself.

(01:03:11):
In order to do that, you haveto show up.
So we're asking you to show up,and there's my passionate
speech because we're over time.
Anyway, any questions, concernsor anything like that, because
this is how our communityconversations are going.
Nope, we're good.
Okay, well, I thank you guys somuch for joining.

(01:03:34):
For those of you who did not getto see this, you'll watch this.
For those of you who missed ourmeeting last Thursday of every
month, on our website, in thefront page, on the calendar on
our homepage, you can click, youcan join, you can sign up,
pre-sign up, reserve your spots,get yourself scheduled.
We have a full year scheduled,no-transcript, and we would love

(01:04:03):
to have you be a part of thatcreation for something bigger
that we have planned with thesecontinued conversations in the
community, for us to be able tounderstand ourselves.
And again, how are we as acommunity, as an independent
human being, going to stand upfor ourselves when the system is
designed to set you up forfailure.
That's just what it is.
It starts with us comingtogether and having the

(01:04:25):
conversation and then making aplan and then moving forward,
and the way the plan works isthat when you work for yourself
and you decide you're worth theeffort, you win.
Period All right until nexttime.
I thank you guys so much and wewill see you.