Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
The views and opinions expressed in the following programmer those
of the speaker and don't necessarily represent those of the station.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
It's staff management or ownership.
Speaker 3 (00:11):
Good morning, you'll find out Pete and the Poe Cold.
We're on the ear.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
I'm Peter Lennard and I'm the poet Gold and we're.
Speaker 3 (00:17):
On the here with a Leah Felman and Jesse Shurruby
from Family Services. And before we get to Jesse and Leah,
we're going to go right to the Poe Cold for
her weekly poem prayer incantation.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Okay, I'm going to give the audience courage today, a
shift in mind, creating peace amongst the broken pieces, resolute,
leaning into it, fearlessly, becoming your own sun by day,
the stars and moon by night, navigating the darkness, weightless
in the galaxy, freeing yourself from pain, the burden from
(00:50):
carrying heavy locks and chains.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Courage.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
There's no shortage of courage that's required these days. And
if I could include the audience in what I considered
the personal moment there, you know, I always insuced Gold
by saying a weekly poem prayer incantation because I do
think coming together of you know, awe in spirituality and
(01:14):
goals were but I never saw anybody over all these
years both of you automatically close your eyes and went
into a meditative state.
Speaker 4 (01:25):
Nobody else says that when they listening with the vibe.
Speaker 5 (01:32):
Well, I have to say, I appreciate as soon as
you said courage, it definitely put me in a state.
We Jesse and I just left a meeting with some
of the Family Services leadership, and the theme of the
day was courage, because courage is so critical right now,
especially for nonprofits. And we left the meeting and saying
just how proud I am that those of the folks
(01:55):
that work at Family Services have the courage to show
up every day and some really difficult ccumstances. So it
resonated so well, so we both I think went into.
Speaker 6 (02:03):
Our so what I thought it too.
Speaker 4 (02:05):
And then I listened to your words and it's beyond
that one meeting, obviously, you know that's much bigger, but
not that.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
We need it. But a quote were the footnote to
this thing is Aristontle, who we don't talk about that much.
But I've spent more of my life starting Aristotle than
maybe I should have. But Arizona says courage is the
most important virtue because without courage, none any other ones
(02:33):
count the words. Yeah, you need the courage to implement stuff.
And one of the things being implemented is a huge
fifty two mile run by both of these meditative women
to end stigma in the stigma about social the social
(02:54):
stigma against our people with mental health issues. And Leah,
I know this is your third year, is only Jesse's
second year of running fifty miles in one day, well
at one time, which I still don't approve.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
Of the help reasons.
Speaker 3 (03:11):
But if you could explain what the fifty and stigma
is about, I appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (03:16):
So each fall, this is our third fall doing so,
Family Services challenges the community to walk, run, hike, or
bike fifty two miles throughout the month of October. And
that is representative of the fifty two million Americans who
are faced with mental health challenges, less than half of
(03:36):
them receiving the mental health support that they deserve because
of stigma. Right, Stigma is something that often prevents us
from getting the support that we so deserve. And some
of us there's a group of us, six of us
this year who take on the challenge of running our
fifty two miles in one day, and we do that
(03:57):
to stand in solidarity with individuals. It's really representative of
a journey that someone may go through in life, the
ups and downs, the hurdles, and so it's also so
it's an awareness raiser for mental health and also a
fundraiser for family services.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
And really the.
Speaker 5 (04:16):
Message that we have is that just like you have
to train your physical body, right, we wouldn't expect you
to run a marathon without going out for some training runs,
you have to also train your mental wellness. So we
encourage the community to do what we call emotional or
mental push ups right, reps that you can practice daily
(04:40):
to really train and prepare your mental health so that
we can all have what we call mental wealth right,
an abundance of mental wellness in your life.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
So, Jesse, this is your second year. I didn't realize
that you ran last year. I deal with her. What
was that space for you that said I can do this,
I want to do this well.
Speaker 4 (05:00):
I wanted to do it the first year also, but
I was I ran a fifty k that day instead
of fifty miles that day as my way of contributing
to the fifty two end stigma fifty mile run, and
you know, for me, I've wanted to do it all
along right and being well physically, you know, whether that's
(05:24):
the physical fitness, it's eating well, sleeping while taking care
of your body is a really important component of overall
mental physical health. I see ourselves as one body, and
running is something that I can do to It is
something that I can do period, but it's something I
can do in order to show solidarity, in order to
(05:45):
be able to raise money and awareness, and it's something
that I can do to help inspire other people to
be able to take.
Speaker 6 (05:52):
That first step. That is, whatever your fifty two mile
run is.
Speaker 4 (05:56):
You know, whether it might just be it might just
be completing a different goal, a completely different goal, but
it is it all starts with one, one small little step.
And that's kind of what leeh is saying about the
the like the daily practices of mental wellness. It's it's
small steps. It's it's setting a goal, it's it's you know,
(06:19):
taking that step, it's writing that list, it's calling that person,
it's asking for help. It's it's so many there's so
many pieces, and it's different for everyone. But to me,
you know, being a part of this is you know,
it's not just that one day running fifty miles, which
I know I can do, but it's about being a
part of a really important movement and an early important
(06:40):
important statement about overall health and wellness and people's right
to be able to experience and get to a place
of mental health and mental wellness.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
Now are you both runners on a regular basis?
Speaker 5 (06:54):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (06:55):
You are? Okay?
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Yeah, yeah, I'd say.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
Yeah, Chris wasn't.
Speaker 6 (07:01):
Yeah, decided.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
So a very interesting thing happened.
Speaker 5 (07:04):
Right. So the first year, you know, I put this
challenge out, I was going to go out and run
fifty miles.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
People joined me along the way. The next year.
Speaker 5 (07:14):
People came forward and said, you know, I want to
do this with you. So people were inspired. People want
to be part of the movement, and you know, Jesse
being one of them. But Jesse's a runner that you know,
we knew she could do it. People signed on that
have legitimately never run more than three or five miles
in their lives. So Chris Ringk who's the battalion chief
for the Arlington Fire District, he you know, I had
(07:36):
not run more than three to five miles in his life,
and he said, I'm going to do this, and sure
enough he did it. He trained and ran fifty two
miles in one day. And he's doing it again this year,
and this year he's brought along three other people in
the similar place, so now this year we have six
people doing it. So, you know, I like to see
(07:59):
that has a movement, a growing movement of people committed
to championing championing mental wellness and being an ambassador to
spread the word.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
I think sometimes, you know, we don't understand what mental
wellness is, and this stigma is real when you're having
conversations with people. I remember having a conversation with someone
of my family and I said, you know, maybe you'd
want to go to therapy instead of speaking to all
your friends and family members, have a more objective, you know,
(08:34):
perspective on what you're going through. And you know, even
though I may consider an individual evolved, the pushback was
I'm not crazy, and that was the statement, I'm not crazy,
and I mean this has nothing to do with that.
You know, mental wellness is integral in living in our
(08:55):
daily lives, just like as if you were going to
go to the gym and lose weight what's your perspective
on the importance of the wellness of people mentally? I
mean it's the work that you do.
Speaker 5 (09:10):
Yeah, well, interesting. So this morning we were in a
visioning session and you know, we like to say it
family services, that everyone has the right to mental health right,
that it is a basic human right to mental health.
Whatever that means for you. Maybe that means positive, you know,
mental wellness, That might mean thriving, that might mean having
access to mental health services. And you know, Jesse said
(09:31):
something very profound. She said, you know, people just have
the right to feel good, right, you have the right
to feel good. So we we know that and when
our mental health is suffering or that sometimes we just
don't feel ourselves and we all have the right to
feel good and feel like ourselves. And that can mean
(09:52):
and that means that you have the right to support
to get there. So you know, to me, I like
to I liked that perspective just he gave me this morning,
and it's so true. You know, I don't know, Jesse
what you think about that.
Speaker 6 (10:05):
I think that, Oh, go ahead, do you have Peter Well,
I was.
Speaker 3 (10:07):
Going to show up to say, uh.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
Oh yes, okay, if you're just tuning in and we'll
get right back to your perspective. Okay, if you're just
tuning in, you're listening to finding out a Pete and
the poet Gold, and I'm the poet Gold and we're
here with Leah Film and the CEO of Family Services
as well as Jesse Sirruby, chief Program Officer of Family Services,
and we're talking about mental health, mental wellness, and Jesse,
(10:31):
it's your turn to speak on your perspective on the
importance of having that in your life.
Speaker 4 (10:39):
As I you know, just piggybacking off of Leah, and
as I said before, you know, I see ourselves as
one body, one mind. So our minds and our bodies
to me are one one being, you know, one one creation,
and so our you know, in the same way, if
you're not feeling well, if you have a you know,
if you have a cult, if you have a flu,
(10:59):
if you're if you're feeling physically ill, nothing is going right.
If you don't get enough sleep, nothing is going right.
But it affects that affects our mental health, affects our
physical health, and so I think it is really important
you were speaking as stigma previously, that we normalize that
we make it common to refer back to how we're
doing emotionally, how we're doing behaviorally, how we're in the
(11:21):
same way that we often do with physical health, right
like no problem talking about my knee hurting today, or.
Speaker 6 (11:26):
Oh I have a headache or whatever. But we really
do struggle.
Speaker 4 (11:29):
With being able to say I'm feeling really low today,
or even I'm having really bad anxiety right now. I
need to be able to step out of the room.
You know, that would be a very vulnerable place for
somebody to be. Our goal is to get to a
place where we can talk about mental health and our
mental well being in the same way we can talk
about it from a physical perspective, and for people to
(11:50):
have similar tools to be able to respond to it,
so we know what we can say to somebody, Oh,
have you talked to your doctor about that? But when
you mentioned to somebody, have you thought about talking to
it the therapist about that? That was very upsetting to
that person. And we'd love it to be a place
where we know how to respond and we're not fearful
of responding. Many people wouldn't say have you thought about
(12:11):
talking to a therapist? Because we still live in a
society of stigma or you're afraid to say that you weren't.
But many people would be right, right because they don't
want to have that reaction, and they don't because it
is a vulnerable place and there's a lot of taboo
around it. That's what stigma is, and it keeps people
from asking for help, right, and it causes a lot
of shame and self doubt. And you know, so yeah,
(12:34):
we want to get past that place, you know.
Speaker 3 (12:36):
And I want to follow up on that. But before
I did that, I want to parenthetically and go back
to the way you were talking about your running before.
And one I would like to wonder out loud whether
your training for running and your experience of running is
also a contemplative kind of exercise for you. You want
(13:01):
to have a perspective which might be no, it doesn't,
but you have a sense of that.
Speaker 6 (13:06):
For me it is.
Speaker 4 (13:07):
I For me, running is an incredibly mental wellness bringing experience.
I run outside, I run on trails. I'm really blessed
to live in a place where I have access to trails.
So recognizing that's not something for everybody, but I find.
Speaker 6 (13:24):
It to be a huge stress.
Speaker 4 (13:28):
It's a it's a great place to find perspective, to
de stress, to zone in and kind of like it's like,
at the same time that you think about everything, for
me at least that I think about everything, I also
think about nothing and that is so valuable. It's very
very meditative, especially when you're surrounded by beauty.
Speaker 2 (13:52):
And think about it.
Speaker 5 (13:53):
You know meditative in that you know the pounding of
your feet on the ground in a rhythm, and then
your breath in and out, in and out zoning and
you know, for what we do you for twelve straight hours, right,
you have no choice but to get into a meditative
state in ultra marathon, you know, anything above twenty six
miles is I would venture to say eighty percent mental
(14:15):
and twenty percent physical because your body will do what
your mind tells it to. If your if your mind
says i'm tired, it's time to shut down, your body
will do that. If you mind says let's keep going,
it'll it'll keep going, you know.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
And goohead, Oh, yes, that's true. Yeah, that's it.
Speaker 5 (14:32):
People people laugh at me because I actually carry post
it notes when I run, you because I get my
best ideas when I'm running.
Speaker 6 (14:40):
It's great.
Speaker 5 (14:41):
So like I should be in the centry and just
jump down on my phone, you know, But it's not
the same.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
I say, I don't know, I get it. I pull
that one out and.
Speaker 5 (14:52):
I like papers, I plug that oh yeah, man, And
then sometimes I can't understand it when I get back.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
But at least it was very.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
Right, right right, Yeah, definitely. You know, a friend of
mine runs all the time, and when he doesn't run,
and like most of it's sort of like when I
like to walk. But when you don't do it, you
do have a physical pushback on the body. The body
lets you know that you need to be doing something,
you need, you need to be moving.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
Yeah, you know, by the way, I'm fascinated by all
the connections you're making between you know, personal wellness and
spirituality and the projects you have. But I think that
so far, at least from my perspective, would be more
(15:38):
harmless than we have to be. Stigma is not just
something that might prevent you from getting therapy. Stigma is
something that exists in our society every day, and it's
not neutral. It's an oppressive thing that makes people with
mental health issues not only less long for you to see,
(16:00):
but because they're doing something socially perceived are socially aberrant,
they're being condemned silently or mostly silently, and so you know,
it's a place I experienced it most clearly in my life.
I have a forty four year old son, Kevin, who
has developmental disabilities, and yeah, he's got autism and uh,
(16:21):
he's got your range and he's an outgoing, personable person
who for me, is the best part of his disability
is he's unaware of the stigma against them, you know,
because the hardest part, the most damaging part of having
developmental disabilities or useful mental retardation or what is the
(16:46):
prejudice against you? So not being able to do arithmetics,
There is nothing so bad about that, you know, And
developments of disabilities were a mental health challenges are human variations.
But when the society comes at you stigmas like the
nails in the hands, and it's harmful. And it's the
(17:10):
last part of my soliloquy here is we participate in that.
In other words, our social attitudes we need to be
changed also so that you run for mental for social
awareness is also social education, moral improvement, valid society.
Speaker 5 (17:33):
And a lot of what we do is normalize the
language around mental health, right, Normalize that it's okay to
not be okay. Normalize that it's okay to ask for help.
Normalize that it's okay to take a step and breathe.
Normal you know, normalize all these things because we believe
that as we normalize these practices and behaviors, we will
(17:54):
work to reduce stigma.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
Absolutely. And if you're just tuning in, you're listening to
finding out what Pete in the poet Gold. I'm Peter
Leonard and I'm the poet Gold. We're here with Leah Feldman,
the CEO of Family Services, and Jesse Serrubi, who is
the program director chief program director and Family Services.
Speaker 3 (18:12):
And so I reguise too, you know, catch your perspectives
on the harm that uh, stigma does not just just
like a mile through preventative thing, but social attitudes can
be really harmful or they can be upluffing. Anybody who's
(18:33):
been on the good side of a social attitude of
for instance, rich people for no through no faults of
their own or rich and when and it perceived it
is like really cool and they really think that yeah
that way.
Speaker 6 (18:50):
Right, Yeah, yeah, it can.
Speaker 4 (18:53):
I mean there's a tremendous amount of I mean, I'm
sure there's there's so many emotions, but shame is a
huge component of stigma, which is very damaging, right emotionally, psychologically,
and it's internalized. And there's so many different types of stigma.
We're just talking about mental health stigma, but any negative
stigma can have this effect on people where it's not
(19:15):
just what other people think about me, but it's also
what I think about myself. Because it's been ingrained from
deep societal training from the time of my awakening, you know,
it would just becoming and so it's so deeply ingrained
that the feelings, the negative attitudes, the negative feelings, the
negative thoughts are a part of the can become a
(19:37):
part of the person, right, And so they have.
Speaker 6 (19:39):
These negative feelings.
Speaker 4 (19:41):
They might not even recognize they have a mental health
condition due to stigma and the fact that we don't
talk about it and not recognize what symptoms are, and therefore, yeah,
they don't get help, but also don't get better. And
that's hard, right, because it means that they might be
living in a really hard place and you know, and
just not able to get through it because society has
(20:05):
kind of put them there.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
I was when I was younger, I had these assisted
assist of devices strapped to me to help me walk.
And one day, coming from a vocal class, I went
to get some salad and one of the hooks on
this crutch, so to speak, got caught onto a lady's glasses,
(20:30):
an older woman's glasses, as she was reaching over to
get food. And she turned me and I said, oh,
I'm sorry, and she turned me and said, people like you.
We kept in a room, and my friends who were
with me immediately went to the people like you. Thinking
from a black and white perspective, I understood what she
was saying based upon her age and and and just
(20:54):
her how she presented herself.
Speaker 5 (20:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (20:58):
Language is so critical.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
Right, Yeah. And I remember turning to and I said, well,
we're in a different time now, and I'm out, it's
gonna be okay, ma'am. And that's what I said, It's
gonna be okay, ma'am.
Speaker 6 (21:15):
You know, and you're amazing you get your food.
Speaker 2 (21:19):
That's courage. Yeah, that's courage.
Speaker 4 (21:20):
But that language, of those subtle things are what stigma
does to somebody, you know, And it can be you know,
just using the term you know someone was crazy. You know,
we don't even think of that as being something that
creates a stigma, but it does. I mean, that's really
powerful what you heard. I mean, that was really quite
(21:41):
a demeaning, terrible thing to say to somebody. I'm so sorry,
but you know, but you are both and amazing.
Speaker 1 (21:47):
But you know, but but you know, giving her you know,
her age and her history, that's what happened, right, you know,
it's did give.
Speaker 3 (22:00):
You of old salad go words, old salad salag go.
That accounts for But I did want to I sort
of brushed by it accidentally. But uh, you know, when
I go to a stigma before, it's a sad a
nail And not everybody has had the same Catholic education
(22:23):
that I've had.
Speaker 1 (22:24):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
And the reason that's relevant now the words stigma uh
also refers to what we call old fishing Catholicism stigma la,
which are the holes in Jesus' hands from getting nailed
to the cross. And you know, and you know, in
(22:45):
the old day, Saint Francis of Assi, he was so
good in the world that God gave him a gift
of a stigma. In other words, supposedly San Francis that
holes on his hands because you know, God rewarded him
for being so good. You know, God has the strange ways.
But the thing that's relevant now is a stigmata is
(23:08):
a rough thing to have. And when you're already suffering,
to have suffering compounds rather than relieve is really especially cruel.
And so you joint efforts, not only the two oru,
but the whole initiative is to have people suffer less.
That counts.
Speaker 6 (23:29):
That was really profound.
Speaker 4 (23:30):
Thank you for painting that picture there, giving that perspective.
Speaker 3 (23:35):
Yeah, Catholicism comes in handy sometimes it has a lot
of other shadow but give a sense of when the
event happens late in October and what people can do
to join in to support it in various ways.
Speaker 5 (23:55):
Yes, so I would encourage everyone to check out our website.
It's fifty two end stigma dot org. That's fifty the
number two enstigma dot org and that website has a
plethora of information. You can sign up to be part
of the October challenge. You can donate, you can a sponsor,
(24:15):
you can sign up to spread the word. Anyone who
signs up will be given regular messages that they can
spread among their family and friends about mental health and
so on October twenty fifth is our Day of Action
where we will be running our fifty two miles in
one day. We're going to start in Palling and we're
going to run to Kingston and the run is going
(24:38):
to culminate at a event that will be at the
WMC Healthy Village, which is on Broadway in Kingston where
we will be having our inaugural thrive Fest. So thrive
Fest will be from one to five on October twenty
fifth on Broadway at the WMC Health Alliance campus. It's
(24:58):
going to be a health and wellness fair, so there'll
be a number of different providers. You can get free screenings,
access to information resources about your physical and mental wellness.
And it's our first year doing it, so we're really
excited to see how how we do. It's really been
part of our vision for this event to build and build,
so we hope people will join us.
Speaker 1 (25:19):
That's now you said at the start people can sign
up for the challenge. Does that mean that folks can
sign up to run with you as well?
Speaker 2 (25:29):
The challenge?
Speaker 5 (25:30):
The overall challenge is to get in fifty two miles
throughout the month of October. So it's one Yeah, it
works out to one and change miles a day, So
we are running it in one day, but folks can
run it over the month that You can walk, you
can hike, you can bike unless you're someone paddle boarded
(25:50):
fifty two miles. So yeah, there's a lot of ways
to get it in. But really we just want you
to get out there and get moving. And our tagline
for the event is move, Talk Thrive. So move, get out,
move your body, talk, talk about mental wellness, grab a friend,
go on a walk, ask someone how they're doing. And
we believe if we do that together, we as a
(26:11):
region will thrive. So the best thing I can say
about this month of October is grab a friend and
go on a walk. I guarantee it'll make you feel better.
Speaker 6 (26:22):
Or go roller skating, whatever it is.
Speaker 3 (26:24):
You know, there's a lot of freedom built into.
Speaker 2 (26:27):
Yeah freedom, yes, ice, skating, anything.
Speaker 4 (26:30):
We like to say you are the best expert in
your own life and goals.
Speaker 6 (26:33):
Yeah, we just have that discussion.
Speaker 3 (26:35):
Oh, I would love it if that was true of myself.
But one of the things I think the listeners can
pick up and I think it's emblematic of Family Services
and the wide range of people you deal with. It's
easy to like Family Services. In other words, even people
hearing you for the first time today. I mean, nobody's
(26:58):
on the other end of the radio saying hues not
know though. I think the reason that's more than idiosyncratic.
The same attitude of being open and likable and attentive
to people with all hons and needs is what Family
(27:18):
Services does, not only individually, but institutionally. And maybe you
could give a sense of what some of the other
services are at Family Services. It's a complex.
Speaker 6 (27:29):
Organization, sure that you do it.
Speaker 3 (27:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (27:32):
So at Family Services we'd like to say we exist
to support everyone's right to thrive. The work we do
is really about supporting basic human rights, the right to
safety and your home, the right to safety in your community,
the right to mental health, the rights opportunities to grow
and to thrive, the right to knowledge. So we do
that through seven different program areas. Our largest program area
(27:53):
are our mental health services. We have twenty four hour,
seven day week services for victims of crime. We have
prevention We do prevention work. We do community safety programs,
youth programming. We own and operate the Family Partnership Center,
which is a collaborative of organizations coming together to create
access for the community, and we do family programs as well.
(28:18):
So we do that in Duchess, Ulster and Orange Counties
and we support around twenty thousand children, adults and families
every year.
Speaker 4 (28:27):
She did it.
Speaker 2 (28:27):
Yeah, that was the fastest. That fastest I've ever done it.
Speaker 1 (28:32):
And so your role as chief program officer tell us
a good about that.
Speaker 6 (28:37):
I get to be a part of all those.
Speaker 4 (28:40):
Yes, I have a great job, and I get to
be a part of every single one of those programs. Lee,
I was talking about, you know, when I get to
come out and do podcasts and this, you know, and
be out in the community spreading the good word about
Family Services and you know, and finding partners within the
community to be able to magnet to by the impact
(29:00):
of our work by working together. That that in a
skinny you know, I guess I just you know, I
get to be senior oversight to the various programs we
have and you know, help us to achieve great things
every day and to support the staff who we're doing it.
Speaker 3 (29:18):
And you know, from my perspective, doing those things the
Family Services have been doing for over one hundred years
is more more important there than it has ever been
because there's a lot of public negativity. I mean there's
even you know some let's blame people for being poor,
let's blame people for being mentally disabled in terms of
(29:43):
developmental disability or mental health. There's a blaming attitude a
foot and for you people to be combating that running
your little legs off.
Speaker 1 (29:53):
Give us one more time the day of the event.
Speaker 5 (29:56):
October twenty fifth, check us out at fifty to end
Stigma dot org f I F T Y the number
two and Stigma dot Org.
Speaker 1 (30:03):
Thank you so much to both of you for being
here today Leah and Jesse, and to our listeners, thank
you once again for tuning into finding out with Pete
and the poet Goal. We appreciate you
The views and opinions expressed in the following programmer those
of the speaker and don't necessarily represent those of the station.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
It's staff management or ownership.
Speaker 3 (00:11):
Good morning, you'll find out Pete and the Poe Cold.
We're on the ear.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
I'm Peter Lennard and I'm the poet Gold and we're.
Speaker 3 (00:17):
On the here with a Leah Felman and Jesse Shurruby
from Family Services. And before we get to Jesse and Leah,
we're going to go right to the Poe Cold for
her weekly poem prayer incantation.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Okay, I'm going to give the audience courage today, a
shift in mind, creating peace amongst the broken pieces, resolute,
leaning into it, fearlessly, becoming your own sun by day,
the stars and moon by night, navigating the darkness, weightless
in the galaxy, freeing yourself from pain, the burden from
(00:50):
carrying heavy locks and chains.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Courage.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
There's no shortage of courage that's required these days. And
if I could include the audience in what I considered
the personal moment there, you know, I always insuced Gold
by saying a weekly poem prayer incantation because I do
think coming together of you know, awe in spirituality and
(01:14):
goals were but I never saw anybody over all these
years both of you automatically close your eyes and went
into a meditative state.
Speaker 4 (01:25):
Nobody else says that when they listening with the vibe.
Speaker 5 (01:32):
Well, I have to say, I appreciate as soon as
you said courage, it definitely put me in a state.
We Jesse and I just left a meeting with some
of the Family Services leadership, and the theme of the
day was courage, because courage is so critical right now,
especially for nonprofits. And we left the meeting and saying
just how proud I am that those of the folks
(01:55):
that work at Family Services have the courage to show
up every day and some really difficult ccumstances. So it
resonated so well, so we both I think went into.
Speaker 6 (02:03):
Our so what I thought it too.
Speaker 4 (02:05):
And then I listened to your words and it's beyond
that one meeting, obviously, you know that's much bigger, but
not that.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
We need it. But a quote were the footnote to
this thing is Aristontle, who we don't talk about that much.
But I've spent more of my life starting Aristotle than
maybe I should have. But Arizona says courage is the
most important virtue because without courage, none any other ones
(02:33):
count the words. Yeah, you need the courage to implement stuff.
And one of the things being implemented is a huge
fifty two mile run by both of these meditative women
to end stigma in the stigma about social the social
(02:54):
stigma against our people with mental health issues. And Leah,
I know this is your third year, is only Jesse's
second year of running fifty miles in one day, well
at one time, which I still don't approve.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
Of the help reasons.
Speaker 3 (03:11):
But if you could explain what the fifty and stigma
is about, I appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (03:16):
So each fall, this is our third fall doing so,
Family Services challenges the community to walk, run, hike, or
bike fifty two miles throughout the month of October. And
that is representative of the fifty two million Americans who
are faced with mental health challenges, less than half of
(03:36):
them receiving the mental health support that they deserve because
of stigma. Right, Stigma is something that often prevents us
from getting the support that we so deserve. And some
of us there's a group of us, six of us
this year who take on the challenge of running our
fifty two miles in one day, and we do that
(03:57):
to stand in solidarity with individuals. It's really representative of
a journey that someone may go through in life, the
ups and downs, the hurdles, and so it's also so
it's an awareness raiser for mental health and also a
fundraiser for family services.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
And really the.
Speaker 5 (04:16):
Message that we have is that just like you have
to train your physical body, right, we wouldn't expect you
to run a marathon without going out for some training runs,
you have to also train your mental wellness. So we
encourage the community to do what we call emotional or
mental push ups right, reps that you can practice daily
(04:40):
to really train and prepare your mental health so that
we can all have what we call mental wealth right,
an abundance of mental wellness in your life.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
So, Jesse, this is your second year. I didn't realize
that you ran last year. I deal with her. What
was that space for you that said I can do this,
I want to do this well.
Speaker 4 (05:00):
I wanted to do it the first year also, but
I was I ran a fifty k that day instead
of fifty miles that day as my way of contributing
to the fifty two end stigma fifty mile run, and
you know, for me, I've wanted to do it all
along right and being well physically, you know, whether that's
(05:24):
the physical fitness, it's eating well, sleeping while taking care
of your body is a really important component of overall
mental physical health. I see ourselves as one body, and
running is something that I can do to It is
something that I can do period, but it's something I
can do in order to show solidarity, in order to
(05:45):
be able to raise money and awareness, and it's something
that I can do to help inspire other people to
be able to take.
Speaker 6 (05:52):
That first step. That is, whatever your fifty two mile
run is.
Speaker 4 (05:56):
You know, whether it might just be it might just
be completing a different goal, a completely different goal, but
it is it all starts with one, one small little step.
And that's kind of what leeh is saying about the
the like the daily practices of mental wellness. It's it's
small steps. It's it's setting a goal, it's it's you know,
(06:19):
taking that step, it's writing that list, it's calling that person,
it's asking for help. It's it's so many there's so
many pieces, and it's different for everyone. But to me,
you know, being a part of this is you know,
it's not just that one day running fifty miles, which
I know I can do, but it's about being a
part of a really important movement and an early important
(06:40):
important statement about overall health and wellness and people's right
to be able to experience and get to a place
of mental health and mental wellness.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
Now are you both runners on a regular basis?
Speaker 5 (06:54):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (06:55):
You are? Okay?
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Yeah, yeah, I'd say.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
Yeah, Chris wasn't.
Speaker 6 (07:01):
Yeah, decided.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
So a very interesting thing happened.
Speaker 5 (07:04):
Right. So the first year, you know, I put this
challenge out, I was going to go out and run
fifty miles.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
People joined me along the way. The next year.
Speaker 5 (07:14):
People came forward and said, you know, I want to
do this with you. So people were inspired. People want
to be part of the movement, and you know, Jesse
being one of them. But Jesse's a runner that you know,
we knew she could do it. People signed on that
have legitimately never run more than three or five miles
in their lives. So Chris Ringk who's the battalion chief
for the Arlington Fire District, he you know, I had
(07:36):
not run more than three to five miles in his life,
and he said, I'm going to do this, and sure
enough he did it. He trained and ran fifty two
miles in one day. And he's doing it again this year,
and this year he's brought along three other people in
the similar place, so now this year we have six
people doing it. So, you know, I like to see
(07:59):
that has a movement, a growing movement of people committed
to championing championing mental wellness and being an ambassador to
spread the word.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
I think sometimes, you know, we don't understand what mental
wellness is, and this stigma is real when you're having
conversations with people. I remember having a conversation with someone
of my family and I said, you know, maybe you'd
want to go to therapy instead of speaking to all
your friends and family members, have a more objective, you know,
(08:34):
perspective on what you're going through. And you know, even
though I may consider an individual evolved, the pushback was
I'm not crazy, and that was the statement, I'm not crazy,
and I mean this has nothing to do with that.
You know, mental wellness is integral in living in our
(08:55):
daily lives, just like as if you were going to
go to the gym and lose weight what's your perspective
on the importance of the wellness of people mentally? I
mean it's the work that you do.
Speaker 5 (09:10):
Yeah, well, interesting. So this morning we were in a
visioning session and you know, we like to say it
family services, that everyone has the right to mental health right,
that it is a basic human right to mental health.
Whatever that means for you. Maybe that means positive, you know,
mental wellness, That might mean thriving, that might mean having
access to mental health services. And you know, Jesse said
(09:31):
something very profound. She said, you know, people just have
the right to feel good, right, you have the right
to feel good. So we we know that and when
our mental health is suffering or that sometimes we just
don't feel ourselves and we all have the right to
feel good and feel like ourselves. And that can mean
(09:52):
and that means that you have the right to support
to get there. So you know, to me, I like
to I liked that perspective just he gave me this morning,
and it's so true. You know, I don't know, Jesse
what you think about that.
Speaker 6 (10:05):
I think that, Oh, go ahead, do you have Peter Well,
I was.
Speaker 3 (10:07):
Going to show up to say, uh.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
Oh yes, okay, if you're just tuning in and we'll
get right back to your perspective. Okay, if you're just
tuning in, you're listening to finding out a Pete and
the poet Gold, and I'm the poet Gold and we're
here with Leah Film and the CEO of Family Services
as well as Jesse Sirruby, chief Program Officer of Family Services,
and we're talking about mental health, mental wellness, and Jesse,
(10:31):
it's your turn to speak on your perspective on the
importance of having that in your life.
Speaker 4 (10:39):
As I you know, just piggybacking off of Leah, and
as I said before, you know, I see ourselves as
one body, one mind. So our minds and our bodies
to me are one one being, you know, one one creation,
and so our you know, in the same way, if
you're not feeling well, if you have a you know,
if you have a cult, if you have a flu,
(10:59):
if you're if you're feeling physically ill, nothing is going right.
If you don't get enough sleep, nothing is going right.
But it affects that affects our mental health, affects our
physical health, and so I think it is really important
you were speaking as stigma previously, that we normalize that
we make it common to refer back to how we're
doing emotionally, how we're doing behaviorally, how we're in the
(11:21):
same way that we often do with physical health, right
like no problem talking about my knee hurting today, or.
Speaker 6 (11:26):
Oh I have a headache or whatever. But we really
do struggle.
Speaker 4 (11:29):
With being able to say I'm feeling really low today,
or even I'm having really bad anxiety right now. I
need to be able to step out of the room.
You know, that would be a very vulnerable place for
somebody to be. Our goal is to get to a
place where we can talk about mental health and our
mental well being in the same way we can talk
about it from a physical perspective, and for people to
(11:50):
have similar tools to be able to respond to it,
so we know what we can say to somebody, Oh,
have you talked to your doctor about that? But when
you mentioned to somebody, have you thought about talking to
it the therapist about that? That was very upsetting to
that person. And we'd love it to be a place
where we know how to respond and we're not fearful
of responding. Many people wouldn't say have you thought about
(12:11):
talking to a therapist? Because we still live in a
society of stigma or you're afraid to say that you weren't.
But many people would be right, right because they don't
want to have that reaction, and they don't because it
is a vulnerable place and there's a lot of taboo
around it. That's what stigma is, and it keeps people
from asking for help, right, and it causes a lot
of shame and self doubt. And you know, so yeah,
(12:34):
we want to get past that place, you know.
Speaker 3 (12:36):
And I want to follow up on that. But before
I did that, I want to parenthetically and go back
to the way you were talking about your running before.
And one I would like to wonder out loud whether
your training for running and your experience of running is
also a contemplative kind of exercise for you. You want
(13:01):
to have a perspective which might be no, it doesn't,
but you have a sense of that.
Speaker 6 (13:06):
For me it is.
Speaker 4 (13:07):
I For me, running is an incredibly mental wellness bringing experience.
I run outside, I run on trails. I'm really blessed
to live in a place where I have access to trails.
So recognizing that's not something for everybody, but I find.
Speaker 6 (13:24):
It to be a huge stress.
Speaker 4 (13:28):
It's a it's a great place to find perspective, to
de stress, to zone in and kind of like it's like,
at the same time that you think about everything, for
me at least that I think about everything, I also
think about nothing and that is so valuable. It's very
very meditative, especially when you're surrounded by beauty.
Speaker 2 (13:52):
And think about it.
Speaker 5 (13:53):
You know meditative in that you know the pounding of
your feet on the ground in a rhythm, and then
your breath in and out, in and out zoning and
you know, for what we do you for twelve straight hours, right,
you have no choice but to get into a meditative
state in ultra marathon, you know, anything above twenty six
miles is I would venture to say eighty percent mental
(14:15):
and twenty percent physical because your body will do what
your mind tells it to. If your if your mind
says i'm tired, it's time to shut down, your body
will do that. If you mind says let's keep going,
it'll it'll keep going, you know.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
And goohead, Oh, yes, that's true. Yeah, that's it.
Speaker 5 (14:32):
People people laugh at me because I actually carry post
it notes when I run, you because I get my
best ideas when I'm running.
Speaker 6 (14:40):
It's great.
Speaker 5 (14:41):
So like I should be in the centry and just
jump down on my phone, you know, But it's not
the same.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
I say, I don't know, I get it. I pull
that one out and.
Speaker 5 (14:52):
I like papers, I plug that oh yeah, man, And
then sometimes I can't understand it when I get back.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
But at least it was very.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
Right, right right, Yeah, definitely. You know, a friend of
mine runs all the time, and when he doesn't run,
and like most of it's sort of like when I
like to walk. But when you don't do it, you
do have a physical pushback on the body. The body
lets you know that you need to be doing something,
you need, you need to be moving.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
Yeah, you know, by the way, I'm fascinated by all
the connections you're making between you know, personal wellness and
spirituality and the projects you have. But I think that
so far, at least from my perspective, would be more
(15:38):
harmless than we have to be. Stigma is not just
something that might prevent you from getting therapy. Stigma is
something that exists in our society every day, and it's
not neutral. It's an oppressive thing that makes people with
mental health issues not only less long for you to see,
(16:00):
but because they're doing something socially perceived are socially aberrant,
they're being condemned silently or mostly silently, and so you know,
it's a place I experienced it most clearly in my life.
I have a forty four year old son, Kevin, who
has developmental disabilities, and yeah, he's got autism and uh,
(16:21):
he's got your range and he's an outgoing, personable person
who for me, is the best part of his disability
is he's unaware of the stigma against them, you know,
because the hardest part, the most damaging part of having
developmental disabilities or useful mental retardation or what is the
(16:46):
prejudice against you? So not being able to do arithmetics,
There is nothing so bad about that, you know, And
developments of disabilities were a mental health challenges are human variations.
But when the society comes at you stigmas like the
nails in the hands, and it's harmful. And it's the
(17:10):
last part of my soliloquy here is we participate in that.
In other words, our social attitudes we need to be
changed also so that you run for mental for social
awareness is also social education, moral improvement, valid society.
Speaker 5 (17:33):
And a lot of what we do is normalize the
language around mental health, right, Normalize that it's okay to
not be okay. Normalize that it's okay to ask for help.
Normalize that it's okay to take a step and breathe.
Normal you know, normalize all these things because we believe
that as we normalize these practices and behaviors, we will
(17:54):
work to reduce stigma.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
Absolutely. And if you're just tuning in, you're listening to
finding out what Pete in the poet Gold. I'm Peter
Leonard and I'm the poet Gold. We're here with Leah Feldman,
the CEO of Family Services, and Jesse Serrubi, who is
the program director chief program director and Family Services.
Speaker 3 (18:12):
And so I reguise too, you know, catch your perspectives
on the harm that uh, stigma does not just just
like a mile through preventative thing, but social attitudes can
be really harmful or they can be upluffing. Anybody who's
(18:33):
been on the good side of a social attitude of
for instance, rich people for no through no faults of
their own or rich and when and it perceived it
is like really cool and they really think that yeah
that way.
Speaker 6 (18:50):
Right, Yeah, yeah, it can.
Speaker 4 (18:53):
I mean there's a tremendous amount of I mean, I'm
sure there's there's so many emotions, but shame is a
huge component of stigma, which is very damaging, right emotionally, psychologically,
and it's internalized. And there's so many different types of stigma.
We're just talking about mental health stigma, but any negative
stigma can have this effect on people where it's not
(19:15):
just what other people think about me, but it's also
what I think about myself. Because it's been ingrained from
deep societal training from the time of my awakening, you know,
it would just becoming and so it's so deeply ingrained
that the feelings, the negative attitudes, the negative feelings, the
negative thoughts are a part of the can become a
(19:37):
part of the person, right, And so they have.
Speaker 6 (19:39):
These negative feelings.
Speaker 4 (19:41):
They might not even recognize they have a mental health
condition due to stigma and the fact that we don't
talk about it and not recognize what symptoms are, and therefore, yeah,
they don't get help, but also don't get better. And
that's hard, right, because it means that they might be
living in a really hard place and you know, and
just not able to get through it because society has
(20:05):
kind of put them there.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
I was when I was younger, I had these assisted
assist of devices strapped to me to help me walk.
And one day, coming from a vocal class, I went
to get some salad and one of the hooks on
this crutch, so to speak, got caught onto a lady's glasses,
(20:30):
an older woman's glasses, as she was reaching over to
get food. And she turned me and I said, oh,
I'm sorry, and she turned me and said, people like you.
We kept in a room, and my friends who were
with me immediately went to the people like you. Thinking
from a black and white perspective, I understood what she
was saying based upon her age and and and just
(20:54):
her how she presented herself.
Speaker 5 (20:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (20:58):
Language is so critical.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
Right, Yeah. And I remember turning to and I said, well,
we're in a different time now, and I'm out, it's
gonna be okay, ma'am. And that's what I said, It's
gonna be okay, ma'am.
Speaker 6 (21:15):
You know, and you're amazing you get your food.
Speaker 2 (21:19):
That's courage. Yeah, that's courage.
Speaker 4 (21:20):
But that language, of those subtle things are what stigma
does to somebody, you know, And it can be you know,
just using the term you know someone was crazy. You know,
we don't even think of that as being something that
creates a stigma, but it does. I mean, that's really
powerful what you heard. I mean, that was really quite
(21:41):
a demeaning, terrible thing to say to somebody. I'm so sorry,
but you know, but you are both and amazing.
Speaker 1 (21:47):
But you know, but but you know, giving her you know,
her age and her history, that's what happened, right, you know,
it's did give.
Speaker 3 (22:00):
You of old salad go words, old salad salag go.
That accounts for But I did want to I sort
of brushed by it accidentally. But uh, you know, when
I go to a stigma before, it's a sad a
nail And not everybody has had the same Catholic education
(22:23):
that I've had.
Speaker 1 (22:24):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
And the reason that's relevant now the words stigma uh
also refers to what we call old fishing Catholicism stigma la,
which are the holes in Jesus' hands from getting nailed
to the cross. And you know, and you know, in
(22:45):
the old day, Saint Francis of Assi, he was so
good in the world that God gave him a gift
of a stigma. In other words, supposedly San Francis that
holes on his hands because you know, God rewarded him
for being so good. You know, God has the strange ways.
But the thing that's relevant now is a stigmata is
(23:08):
a rough thing to have. And when you're already suffering,
to have suffering compounds rather than relieve is really especially cruel.
And so you joint efforts, not only the two oru,
but the whole initiative is to have people suffer less.
That counts.
Speaker 6 (23:29):
That was really profound.
Speaker 4 (23:30):
Thank you for painting that picture there, giving that perspective.
Speaker 3 (23:35):
Yeah, Catholicism comes in handy sometimes it has a lot
of other shadow but give a sense of when the
event happens late in October and what people can do
to join in to support it in various ways.
Speaker 5 (23:55):
Yes, so I would encourage everyone to check out our website.
It's fifty two end stigma dot org. That's fifty the
number two enstigma dot org and that website has a
plethora of information. You can sign up to be part
of the October challenge. You can donate, you can a sponsor,
(24:15):
you can sign up to spread the word. Anyone who
signs up will be given regular messages that they can
spread among their family and friends about mental health and
so on October twenty fifth is our Day of Action
where we will be running our fifty two miles in
one day. We're going to start in Palling and we're
going to run to Kingston and the run is going
(24:38):
to culminate at a event that will be at the
WMC Healthy Village, which is on Broadway in Kingston where
we will be having our inaugural thrive Fest. So thrive
Fest will be from one to five on October twenty
fifth on Broadway at the WMC Health Alliance campus. It's
(24:58):
going to be a health and wellness fair, so there'll
be a number of different providers. You can get free screenings,
access to information resources about your physical and mental wellness.
And it's our first year doing it, so we're really
excited to see how how we do. It's really been
part of our vision for this event to build and build,
so we hope people will join us.
Speaker 1 (25:19):
That's now you said at the start people can sign
up for the challenge. Does that mean that folks can
sign up to run with you as well?
Speaker 2 (25:29):
The challenge?
Speaker 5 (25:30):
The overall challenge is to get in fifty two miles
throughout the month of October. So it's one Yeah, it
works out to one and change miles a day, So
we are running it in one day, but folks can
run it over the month that You can walk, you
can hike, you can bike unless you're someone paddle boarded
(25:50):
fifty two miles. So yeah, there's a lot of ways
to get it in. But really we just want you
to get out there and get moving. And our tagline
for the event is move, Talk Thrive. So move, get out,
move your body, talk, talk about mental wellness, grab a friend,
go on a walk, ask someone how they're doing. And
we believe if we do that together, we as a
(26:11):
region will thrive. So the best thing I can say
about this month of October is grab a friend and
go on a walk. I guarantee it'll make you feel better.
Speaker 6 (26:22):
Or go roller skating, whatever it is.
Speaker 3 (26:24):
You know, there's a lot of freedom built into.
Speaker 2 (26:27):
Yeah freedom, yes, ice, skating, anything.
Speaker 4 (26:30):
We like to say you are the best expert in
your own life and goals.
Speaker 6 (26:33):
Yeah, we just have that discussion.
Speaker 3 (26:35):
Oh, I would love it if that was true of myself.
But one of the things I think the listeners can
pick up and I think it's emblematic of Family Services
and the wide range of people you deal with. It's
easy to like Family Services. In other words, even people
hearing you for the first time today. I mean, nobody's
(26:58):
on the other end of the radio saying hues not
know though. I think the reason that's more than idiosyncratic.
The same attitude of being open and likable and attentive
to people with all hons and needs is what Family
(27:18):
Services does, not only individually, but institutionally. And maybe you
could give a sense of what some of the other
services are at Family Services. It's a complex.
Speaker 6 (27:29):
Organization, sure that you do it.
Speaker 3 (27:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (27:32):
So at Family Services we'd like to say we exist
to support everyone's right to thrive. The work we do
is really about supporting basic human rights, the right to
safety and your home, the right to safety in your community,
the right to mental health, the rights opportunities to grow
and to thrive, the right to knowledge. So we do
that through seven different program areas. Our largest program area
(27:53):
are our mental health services. We have twenty four hour,
seven day week services for victims of crime. We have
prevention We do prevention work. We do community safety programs,
youth programming. We own and operate the Family Partnership Center,
which is a collaborative of organizations coming together to create
access for the community, and we do family programs as well.
(28:18):
So we do that in Duchess, Ulster and Orange Counties
and we support around twenty thousand children, adults and families
every year.
Speaker 4 (28:27):
She did it.
Speaker 2 (28:27):
Yeah, that was the fastest. That fastest I've ever done it.
Speaker 1 (28:32):
And so your role as chief program officer tell us
a good about that.
Speaker 6 (28:37):
I get to be a part of all those.
Speaker 4 (28:40):
Yes, I have a great job, and I get to
be a part of every single one of those programs. Lee,
I was talking about, you know, when I get to
come out and do podcasts and this, you know, and
be out in the community spreading the good word about
Family Services and you know, and finding partners within the
community to be able to magnet to by the impact
(29:00):
of our work by working together. That that in a
skinny you know, I guess I just you know, I
get to be senior oversight to the various programs we
have and you know, help us to achieve great things
every day and to support the staff who we're doing it.
Speaker 3 (29:18):
And you know, from my perspective, doing those things the
Family Services have been doing for over one hundred years
is more more important there than it has ever been
because there's a lot of public negativity. I mean there's
even you know some let's blame people for being poor,
let's blame people for being mentally disabled in terms of
(29:43):
developmental disability or mental health. There's a blaming attitude a
foot and for you people to be combating that running
your little legs off.
Speaker 1 (29:53):
Give us one more time the day of the event.
Speaker 5 (29:56):
October twenty fifth, check us out at fifty to end
Stigma dot org f I F T Y the number
two and Stigma dot Org.
Speaker 1 (30:03):
Thank you so much to both of you for being
here today Leah and Jesse, and to our listeners, thank
you once again for tuning into finding out with Pete
and the poet Goal. We appreciate you
Popular Podcasts
CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist
It’s 1996 in rural North Carolina, and an oddball crew makes history when they pull off America’s third largest cash heist. But it’s all downhill from there. Join host Johnny Knoxville as he unspools a wild and woolly tale about a group of regular ‘ol folks who risked it all for a chance at a better life. CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist answers the question: what would you do with 17.3 million dollars? The answer includes diamond rings, mansions, velvet Elvis paintings, plus a run for the border, murder-for-hire-plots, and FBI busts.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.