This week on Insight, we’re focusing on building stronger communities through homeownership, fatherhood, and education.
First, Ernest L. Campbell Sr., Mortgage Retail Sales Senior Manager and Executive Director of Residential Lending at Wells Fargo, along with Abraham Reyes Pardo, Vice President of the Office of Housing and Diversion Services for the Urban League of Greater Philadelphia discuss the upcoming Homebuyer Fair and resources to help families achieve homeownership and build generational wealth. The free event takes place Saturday, June 6, 2026, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Esperanza Arts Center in Philadelphia, with raffles, counseling, and lending resources available. Register at Admission is free, but registration is required. Attendees can enter raffles to win prizes up to $1,000.
Register at Wells Fargo/Urban League of Philadelphia Homebuyer Seminar and Fair
Learn more at Urban League of Greater Philadelphia and Wells Fargo Home Lending.
Follow on Instagram: @urbanleaguephila and @wellsfargo.
We also discuss fatherhood, healing, and reentry with Lori Daisy Goins, Executive Director of FACT Experience; Cameron Brown, Director of Marketing and Promotions; and Muscle, board member for FACT Experience, ahead of the 2026 Fatherhood Symposium on Saturday, June 6, from 1 to 4 p.m. at Vare Recreation Center. Together, they share how reconnecting fathers and families can help break cycles of violence and incarceration while creating spaces for healing and hope.
Learn more about FACT Experience at FACTExperience.com, register at 2026 Fatherhood Symposium Eventbrite Page, and follow @factexperience.
And finally, we talk about the growing teacher retention crisis with Adia Hagans-Paige of Belmont Charter Network, exploring educator burnout, teacher pipeline programs, and strategies schools can use to better support and retain teachers across Philadelphia. Learn more at Belmont Charter Network.
First, Ernest L. Campbell Sr., Mortgage Retail Sales Senior Manager and Executive Director of Residential Lending at Wells Fargo, along with Abraham Reyes Pardo, Vice President of the Office of Housing and Diversion Services for the Urban League of Greater Philadelphia discuss the upcoming Homebuyer Fair and resources to help families achieve homeownership and build generational wealth. The free event takes place Saturday, June 6, 2026, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Esperanza Arts Center in Philadelphia, with raffles, counseling, and lending resources available. Register at Admission is free, but registration is required. Attendees can enter raffles to win prizes up to $1,000.
Register at Wells Fargo/Urban League of Philadelphia Homebuyer Seminar and Fair
Learn more at Urban League of Greater Philadelphia and Wells Fargo Home Lending.
Follow on Instagram: @urbanleaguephila and @wellsfargo.
We also discuss fatherhood, healing, and reentry with Lori Daisy Goins, Executive Director of FACT Experience; Cameron Brown, Director of Marketing and Promotions; and Muscle, board member for FACT Experience, ahead of the 2026 Fatherhood Symposium on Saturday, June 6, from 1 to 4 p.m. at Vare Recreation Center. Together, they share how reconnecting fathers and families can help break cycles of violence and incarceration while creating spaces for healing and hope.
Learn more about FACT Experience at FACTExperience.com, register at 2026 Fatherhood Symposium Eventbrite Page, and follow @factexperience.
And finally, we talk about the growing teacher retention crisis with Adia Hagans-Paige of Belmont Charter Network, exploring educator burnout, teacher pipeline programs, and strategies schools can use to better support and retain teachers across Philadelphia. Learn more at Belmont Charter Network.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good morning. You're listening to Insight, a show about empowering
our community. I'm Lorraine Ballartmorrow, we'll talk about pathways to
homeownership and financial empowerment with the leaders from the Urban
League of Greater Philadelphia and Wells Fargo, the importance of
fatherhood and healing, and communities impacted by violence and incarceration,
and the grown challenge of teacher attention in our schools.
Stay with us. We're talking about building wealth, creating stability,
(00:23):
and making the dream of home ownership a reality. The
Urban League of Greater Philadelphia and Wells Fargo are teaming
up for a free home buyer fair on Saturday, June
sixth at the Esperanza Arts Center in Philadelphia, offering expert advice,
down payment resources, and opportunities to connect with industry professionals.
Joining us are Ernest L. Campbell, Senior Mortgage Retail Sales
(00:46):
Senior Manager and Executive Director of Residential Lending at Wells Fargo,
along with Abraham Rayes Pardo, vice President of the Office
of Housing and Diversion Services for the Urban League of
Greater Philadelphia, to discuss recoale, veruce, financial empowerment, and how
families can take the next step towards home ownership. I'm
going to start with you, Abraham. Why is expanding access
(01:08):
to home ownership such an important part of the Urban
League of Greater Philadelphia's mission.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
Yeah, thank you for having us. It's home ownership is
the easiest way to access generational wealth and create stability
for families. Philadelphia has a long standing tradition of home ownership,
and we want to make sure that future generations get
to benefit from that pressure resource. We're working collectively with
partners like Wells Fargo, with the City of Philadelphia, with
(01:35):
the state to make those opportunities available to them.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
Ernest, what are some of the biggest misconceptions first time
home buyers have about qualifying for a mortgage or purchasing
a home.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
Yeah, and thanks for having me as well. I think
probably the biggest misconception is the twenty percent rule, thinking
that you need twenty percent down to purchase, and then
also just thinking that you have to have perfect credit.
I mean, we've all had issues come up here or there.
I know, I got my first credit card in college.
While they did that, I have no idea and so
I've had some stumbles. But you don't necessarily have to
(02:07):
have perfect credit. You just need to be consulted and
get on the path and you can. You can get
a home for as little as one percent or five
percent down, just depends on program you qualify for. So
I think that this is what we're going to give
the opportunity for the community to listen and to learn
and hear about and find out if it's if they've
gotten to know that doesn't mean no, it just means
(02:29):
not now, and what we can do to help get
them on the path.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
I love that because knowledge is power, and this is
what this fair is all about. Abraham. What kind of
housing counseling and support services does the Urban League provide
to help people prepare for home ownership.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
Yeah, we do group education sessions where we tell people
everything they need to know about is like a housing
one on one everything they need to know about how
the ABC's of buying a home. There is usually a
realtory lender, home inspector, homewns insurance agent, and a housing
counselor bringing all together. Then families who attend those sessions
have the option to receive specialized, personalize one on one
(03:08):
counseling where we talk about their specifics of our situation.
We map their financial profile, credit income assets, so they know,
they take that information and they do whatever they decide
to do with that. In addition to that, we the
urbanly collectively provides other kinds of counseling related to renters
and people who are struggling in other areas.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
Yeah, and Ernest, you talked about some of the misconceptions
that people have that they think that their down payment
is going to be too big, or their credit scores
will tank their ability to buy a home. So let's
talk a little bit about you know, once someone says
I want to buy a home, I want to be
part of that American dream. What are some of the
(03:48):
things that Wells Fargo does to support that, because sometimes,
especially with first time homeowners and home buyers, they may
not have the history or the tradition and their families
of having good financial literacy. Right, So tell us a
little more about you and Wells Fargo does so much
with financial literacy. Tell us more about that.
Speaker 3 (04:09):
Yeah, I mean, most likely for a lot of our customers,
their bank customers of ours, So it's not just about
the mortgage. We try to look at their total financial picture.
As Abraham mentioned, we partner with organizations like Urban League
and other how to approve counseling agencies to do the
education portion of that. But my team the titles home
mortgage consultants, so we're consulting them the entire way through,
(04:32):
just walking them through what their budget can handle, making
sure that we're not only putting them in a situation
to obtain a home, but to sustain home ownership. So
it's a journey, right, and first we start with the
pre approval process, just walking them through what can they afford,
what their monthly payments may look like, what do they
need as far as reserves, How much will they need
(04:53):
to bring to the table for down payment? You know,
what is the time frame on when they make an
offer and they close?
Speaker 4 (04:59):
Think? Think?
Speaker 3 (05:00):
You know, maybe another thing I should have mentioned around misconceptions.
There's a lot of buyers who call their relter first
because that's the fun part of the transaction is going
to look at homes. You know, a lot of realtors
won't let you get in their car though until they
see if you're pre approved. So I would always say
reach out to a home mortgage consultant or mortgage lender
before you start looking at homes, even though you know
(05:21):
that's the fun aspect of the process. But until you
really know what you can qualify for, you're you're probably
wasting someone else's time in your own time to start
looking at properties until you have that number in your
head of you know what your price range should be.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
Abraham. In addition to this fair, this housing fair, I
know that the Urban League provides so many resources to
help people situate themselves so that they're actually able to
purchase a home or whatever become financially stable. Tell us
a little bit about some of the resources that are
available at the Urban League.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
We have a planthor realth programs. The Urban League aspars
to be involved with it. Any conversation that can create
or trigger social mobility. So, in addition to housing counseling,
how to prove housing counseling, as Erin is mentioned, we
offer workforce development. We have an entrepreneurship center, civic engagement
be One of our most recent programs that has been
(06:16):
a tremendous success is our services for Returning Citizens. We've
been doing that very successfully anything that has to do
with individual, family and community development. As part to do that,
we have a little surprise coming up soon where there
is a major milestone happening in the history of the organization.
(06:39):
We're going out to West Philadelphia with a well being
center that will be opening probably earlier twenty twenty seven.
Where we are now. I mean not to say that
the Urban Link is not physically in Philadelphia. We're a
citywide organization, but this one feels special because we're going
to have a place where people can come in and
in addition to this amazing rapper services that I mentioned,
(07:01):
they will be able to do all they're kinds of development.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
Yeah, that's fantastic. Wells Fargo is out there in the community.
I know that you do so many other things. I
was at an event where a whole bunch of people
came in and helped renovate homes in neighborhoods because I think,
as you know, and as we all know, we actually
have a lot of homeowners, but a lot of them
(07:25):
are not able to upkeep their homes in order to
stay in them, to make sure that they're safe and
they're up to grade, and so Wells Fargo has done
some really cool stuff helping out to help people maintain
their homes because it's not enough just to own a
home and to afford a home, but also to be
able to keep it up and afford the repairs and
(07:45):
all the upgrades that are necessary.
Speaker 3 (07:47):
Yeah, for sure. The event you're talking about is rock
the Block. So we've done that my eight years here
in Philadelphia, except maybe during the pandemic. Every year we've
done a couple of those throughout Philadelphia Neighborhoo. We usually
partner with one of the city councilmen, we'll partner with
other nonprofits, and we'll just post it on our internal
social media to invite all of our team members is
(08:10):
what we call our employees, and they all love to
come out and volunteer, so you'll see us all out
and our read Wells Fargo volunteer shirts. We typically have
anywhere from twenty five to fifty different volunteers with other organizations,
and the neighbors are already prepared. We've already done some
pre screening and usually just takes a few neighbors who
agree and raise their hand, and then normally we get
(08:31):
the block to agree. And we've done things from putting
new mailboxes to putting new planners. The last one we
did maybe three or four months ago. We actually put
in some new flooring, did some painting, so you get
to see some of those skill sets of bankers that
you don't get to see at the office. And then
of course for me being six or four, I was
painting all the high places.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
Yes, I feel like I'm in a room with giants
because the two of you are very till Abraham tell
us if people want more and from me about this
housing fair that's happening on June the sixth, where do
they find out more and what are the specifics?
Speaker 2 (09:09):
Once again, Yeah, at June six we're going to be
at this brand's art center from ten am to two pm.
Doors will open at nine point thirty. We want to
see you, we want to feed you, We want to
give you some good information about home ownership. We also
we're going to have some special prices that will be
available for participants. We want people to register, We want
people to show up. All the information is available to
(09:32):
our website Urban leaguefiler dot org. That is Urban League
phil at dot org, or you can look at us
look us up on event right. All of our events
are posted daring, including this fair.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
Absolutely, and you mentioned prizes. There could be folks winning
prizes up to one thousand dollars and the admission is free.
Registration is required, Ernest. If people want to know more
information about Wells Fargo home lending, how do they find
out more?
Speaker 3 (10:00):
Yeah, a good place to start is Wells Fargo Forward
Slash Come Home, which is one of our apps that
allows you to look up properties in different areas and
also see if those properties are eligible for any of
our grant funding. Some properties based on location may qualify
for downpayment assistance. Of course, you can always go to
Wells Fargo dot com or visit one of our Wells
Fargo bank branches and just ask to speak to a
(10:22):
home works consultant. If there's not one in the branch,
they can connect you with one immediately. And we look
forward to seeing everyone at the fair. We'll have at
least ten or fifteen of my team members there to
have one on one conversation, set appointments, and we're looking
forward to putting people on the path of home ownership
so that we have a lot of folks who walk
(10:42):
away maybe with a plan to get a pre approval
and then maybe they want to buy before the end
of the year.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
That would be great. It's helping make the American dream
come true for so many people. If you think the
home ownership is not in your possibility, well these folks
are trying to make it possible for you. The Urban
League of Philadelphia and Wells Fargo teaming up for a
free home buyer fair Saturday, June sixth at the Esperanza
Art Center in Philadelphia, offering expert advice, down payment resources,
(11:10):
and opportunities to connect with industry professionals. Ernest L. Campbell,
Senior Mortgage Retail Senior Manager, Sales Senior Manager and Executive
Director of Residential Landing Lending Rather at Wells Fargo, You've
got quite a long title, a beautiful title. Along with
Abraham yes Pardo, who's Vice president of the Office of
Housing and Diversion Services for the Urban League of Greater Philadelphia.
(11:33):
Thank you both for joining us here today and we
look forward to seeing you all on June sixth. I'm
Lorraine Ballard Morrell. It's been many decades since I started
working with the Fact Experience, Fathers and Children Together, an
extraordinary program that started a greater Herd prison and created
(11:55):
by individuals, many of whom are lifers, to provide a
program that would allow men behind the walls to connect
with their kids in deep and meaningful ways and to
break the cycle of incarceration. And so joining us are
some folks who are going to tell us about a
special fatherhood symposium that's coming up in June that is
(12:16):
sponsored by the Fact Experience. Joining me right now is
Lori Gohen. She is executive director of the Fact Experience.
Laurie's going to tell us a little bit about the
Fact program, but also introducing two of the organizers of
this Fatherhood symposium. Laurie, good to talk to you, tell
us more.
Speaker 5 (12:35):
Yes, thanks the rain. So the Fact Experience is father
and Children Together. That we are a I don't want
to say we're an organization. I want to say that
we are a mission of movement that's housed at SCI
Phoenix where we take and reunite their children with their fathers,
their bonus fathers, their grandfathers, and their uncles. And this
has been going on for over a decade and I'm
(12:58):
just elated to be a part of this journey. So
we have coming up our Fatherhood Symposium on June sixth
at their Recreation Center. We are so excited about it, Lorraine.
We have some great, great great partners with this experience
that's going to happen on June sixth, and just the
spotlight the men of Philadelphia and surrounding areas our fathers.
(13:19):
Sometimes they are not given enough credit where credit is
do So we're just really excited to partner with different
organizations and esteeme individuals of Philadelphia and the surrounding areas
to have this event. So with me today, not other
than I want to call home my brother Muscle. Muscle
is not only a board member of Fact, Muscle is
(13:41):
a former participant effect in Muscle also at one time
in the season of his life was incarcerated at Greatest
Thord and at Phoenix, and he helped build up FACT
and he was there from the beginning stages and then
he's still here now he is a board member. He
is home, he has got his wings and he is
flying high. Alongside of Muscle is the esteemed Cameron Brown MS.
(14:05):
Brown is our Marketing and Promotions chairperson. She comes with
a wealth and knowledge, but not only that, she also
has passion for helping these men behind the walls and
the families that are out here in Philadelphia and surrounding
counties to drive the Vision effect forward, So they are
the feet on the ground for this event. They have
been diligently working with our partners, making sure the venue
(14:28):
is in place, making sure our partners are in place,
making sure the panel is in place. So I'm going
to let them have the MC and discuss what they
have been doing and what everyone can look forward to
on June set Muscle.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
Tell us about the symposium. What can we experience when
we walk into the room.
Speaker 6 (14:43):
We want to highlight the importance of fatherhood and the
father's position in the home. It's a fatherhood symposium with
the subtitle being the impact of violence and mass incarceration
on father's families in our neighborhoods. Because the mass incarceration
took the father out of the picture and then we've
(15:04):
seen what happened with that with a lot of our
neighborhoods and fatherless households. We want to have a conversation
about this. We want to pride solutions platforms so people
know there's help out there.
Speaker 1 (15:17):
And you're not by yourself, Cameron, you're one of the
organizers as well. Tell us more about who is going
to be participating in this panel discussion and who are
the people that you hope will attend.
Speaker 7 (15:29):
Absolutely, Thanks Lorraine. So some of the people that will
be on our panel are people who work in the
criminal legal system, those who have first hand knowledge on
the experience that both the incarcerated fathers and their families experience,
so that they can share some solutions in ways that
we can help to break this cycle of incarceration and
(15:52):
the impact of fatherless homes. And we also have people
who experience being in the criminal legal system. Actually have
some kids from previous cohorts of facts that can share
what their experience was like going through it with their
father as well as their mother, and how their experience
was with their father with their child's father being incarcerated.
(16:15):
And as Lari and Muscle express, we really want to
invite anyone who is impacted by the mass incarceration in
Philadelphia and surrounding areas. We want to invite caregivers, mothers, fathers, children.
This is really a community event where we want to
(16:36):
uplift the fathers who have been involved and encourage those
who haven't been involved to get involved and see the
importance of them being involved in their child's life, regardless
of whether they're home or incarcerated.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
I want to turn back to you, Muscle. You actually,
at the very beginning, your son was aged out of
the cohort. It wasn't able to participate directly. But you've
been involved in the organizing of the FACT Experience. You've
observed many cohorts both inside the walls and then of
course people coming out after having experienced FACT program. Tell
(17:08):
us about the impact of this program on you as
someone who's been very involved, but also some of the
people that you've seen who graduated from the program.
Speaker 6 (17:18):
In my case and a lot of cases, growing up
in the city, I was fortunate enough to grow up
with a father and a mother in a household. So
I salute the man and the women and the kids
that didn't grow up with that blessing. How I've seen
the FACT Experience impact is a lot of times we
as fathers think being a provider is enough. It's more
(17:40):
than that. And the biggest issue is quality time by
us being allowed to reconnect incarcerated fathers, grandfathers with their
children and grandchildren. You see some kids that might be
not doing too well in school, all of a sudden,
they start doing well. Then they noticed that I'm not
the only one with an incarcerated relative. Inside prison, they
(18:05):
start to get their self esteem. You get to know
the favorite color of your child or your grandchild. They
get to know your favorite color, what is your favorite movie,
what is their favorite movie? And something as small as.
Speaker 1 (18:19):
What school do they attend.
Speaker 6 (18:20):
A lot of us don't even know that. And just
because we incarcerated, you don't stop being a parent or
a grandparent. You're still gonna make a difference.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
Karon, I wanted to turn to you because not only
are you the marketing and promotions person for the Fact experience,
but you've been involved in the FACT program, and I
wonder you're going to University of Pennsylvania.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
Is that right?
Speaker 7 (18:41):
Actually graduated a few years ago, but that is where
I conducted my studies.
Speaker 1 (18:45):
Okay, well, okay, so you're very accomplished. So I wonder
if you can talk a little bit about what the
impact of the program has been in your life.
Speaker 7 (18:53):
I think, as I shared, I did my studies at
Penn and I majored in criminology, and so I learned
a lot about the system, how it works, the pitfalls
of it, ways that we can reform it, and all
the above. And of course having that type of knowledge
is valuable, but FACT experience really introduced me into the
(19:16):
real life, boots on the ground world of people who
are both incarcerated, because I'm able to talk to the
fathers and the grandfathers in the program, but also connect
with the kids of course that are in the program,
and so I think it really just helped to kind
of bring some real world into what I was learning,
and I think that's an important part in the work
(19:36):
that I want to do to reform the criminal legal system,
that we're not operating based off of what's in the textbooks,
what you're learning on a presentation, but you're actually connecting
with people and seeing what real life things can support them.
That's definitely an insight that I've gained from being part
of Fact Mussel.
Speaker 1 (19:54):
One of the things that I have experienced in working
with the FACT program from really around zero is understanding
and getting to know the men behind the walls, both
at Greaterford and at Phoenix. And you are also behind
the walls at one point, but I know that in
my experience, I get to meet the most incredible men,
(20:15):
men who are smart, men who are leaders, men who've
given the opportunity come back into the community and really
make a huge difference, and I wonder if you have
a message about people's preconceptions about what it is to
be incarcerated and what it really means to understand who
you are and what you can contribute to the world.
Speaker 6 (20:35):
Thank you for that. Yes, it's very important because this
team of men, the FACT Experience, has created this program
from seeing in the visiting room how the children were
being neglected. A lot of times people come on visits
and it's the adults talking one on one the child
(20:56):
is running around. The four or five is of FACTS
saw that and said, how can we make a difference.
So not only make a difference there, but make a
difference in the community as well. And we want to
provide a platform for solutions resources to make a difference
in the families and the communities. And once these men
(21:18):
return back to society, they could continue doing this work
just as well as I am the four Fithers, and
we look forward to that, and we look forward to
making a difference in our communities and taking it as
far as it's going to go.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
I've met many graduates of the FACT program who are
now on the outside, and I've seen the huge difference
that it's made in their lives, helping them become a
better dad, a better community member, and a better contributing
member of society. A FACT program is tremendously powerful. Cameron
once again remind us of when, where, and the time
(21:55):
for this Fact Experience Father's Symposium.
Speaker 7 (22:00):
That symposium will be at the Very Recreation Center in
South Philadelphia on June sixth. Our doors will open at one,
the event will end at four o'clock and you can
go to our Instagram at Fact Underscore, Underscore Experience to register.
Speaker 1 (22:16):
Fantastic and Laurie, I'm going to give you the last word.
If people want to know more about the Fact Experience
in general, where do they go for that?
Speaker 5 (22:25):
Yes, they can go to our website Feexperience dot com.
On there they will find the contact information for myself,
the executive director, Ka which is our president, Darlene which
is our vice president. Our emails are listed there. You
can send us an email also the Fact Experience Gmail accountants.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
There.
Speaker 5 (22:45):
You can send a message to that email and one
of our volunteers or one of the board members will
get back to you.
Speaker 1 (22:52):
Fantastic, We thank you, We thank you for everything that
you're all doing to uplift the experience of men and
to encourage the positive fatherhood that the Fact Experience provides.
The Fact Experience is hosting the Fatherhood Symposium on June sixth, Saturday,
at the ver Recreation Center, twenty six oh one More Street.
(23:13):
Thank you all for joining us here today. Lourie Daisy Gowens,
who is executive director of the Fact Experience, Cameron Brown,
whose Fact Experience is marketing and promotions director and Muscle
Fact Experience Cohart originator, and someone who's not only have
I discovered that not only were you a dad, you're
(23:35):
a grandfather and a great granddad. Yes, and you're such
a young person. I can't believe it. That's pretty awesome.
But the Fact Experience certainly made a difference in your.
Speaker 6 (23:44):
Life, right, Yes, you did, big difference.
Speaker 1 (23:47):
Big difference. Thank you so much so, Lorraine, Lorraine.
Speaker 5 (23:50):
Yes, we just want to thank you on behalf of
magic Ali, the entire internal board of that, right there
is the external board of that right there. It's all
the children, all the mothers, the guardians of their fathers.
We just want to thank you for always supporting us
a lot of things that we do. You always hop
on board and you're right there. You're part of the
Fact movement too, You're like a honorary board member. So
(24:13):
thank you, thank you, Thank you on behalf of Magic
Ali in the Eternal Fay Well, I love Marians and Internal.
Speaker 1 (24:19):
Love you guys and look forward to helping to m
see this event which is again happening on June sixth,
the Fact Experience Fatherhood Symposium. Thank you all, thank you,
thank you. Today we're talking about one of the biggest
challenges facing schools across Philadelphia and the country, teacher retention.
(24:43):
Joining us is Adia Higgins Page, Managing director of Human
Resources for Belmont Charter Network. With more than a decade
of experience in human resources and education leadership, Adia is
helping create innovative pathways for aspiring educators while supporting and
retaining the teachers already serving students and families every day.
We'll talk about why keeping great teachers matters, and the
(25:06):
challenges educators face, and the solutions schools can implement to
build stronger, more sustainable learning communities. Well Ada, thank you
so much for joining us here today. Teacher retention has
become a major issue nationwide. What are some of the
biggest reasons educators are leaving the profession today.
Speaker 4 (25:24):
Oh thank you for having me today. I think one
of the biggest reasons educators are leaving a profession is
simply because they don't have the support behind it. There
are laws that are put in place for certification purposes,
things that they need to do, and it's financial right.
So if there's some of the lower paid professions and
they need to pay all this money to be able
to get it and they don't have the support, why
would I stay in a profession when I can make
(25:44):
more money doing something else. So the goal is to
keep them there. How do we keep them there?
Speaker 2 (25:48):
Right?
Speaker 1 (25:49):
That's a very important goal.
Speaker 4 (25:50):
Now.
Speaker 1 (25:51):
Beilbun Charter Network has focused on building strong teacher pipelines
and support systems. What are some of the strategies that
have been most effective in helping teachers support it and
to stay in the classroom.
Speaker 4 (26:02):
I think two of our biggest things is that we
have PD every day after school. So what that allows
our teachers to do is they can find time to
study because it's built into your school day. There's also
an opportunity for them to be able to go to
what we call our teacher pipeline where they come in
as maybe as a teacher assistant and a teacher resident
with a lower paid salary, But what they're doing is
they're building their in person skill set. We all know
booksmarts is one thing, but having that interpersonal connection and
(26:23):
actually doing the work is the thing that helps them
strive to be better in their role.
Speaker 1 (26:27):
Burnout is a real issue and concern for a lot
of educators. It's tough out there.
Speaker 4 (26:33):
It's part of the reason why we shifted. We had
no choice, like we really had. We heard them. What
they said is, we're educating for seven eight hours a day.
Then you want me to go home and not be
with my families to get the certification or other things,
or to plan lessons or do other things. It's just
wasn't fair. So we needed to come up with a
medium that still educated our students, but also put us
in a place where we were above a little bit
and making sure that our staff was getting certified.
Speaker 1 (26:53):
Now, you've helped expand opportunities for second career educators, So
there are folks out there who might have another whole
career and education. So why is it important to create
alternative pathways to teaching and how can those educators strengthen
school communities.
Speaker 4 (27:08):
Oh, I think real life experience is the best experience, right.
So if you get someone who has been maybe in
a corporate office, but maybe they were operations person at
the corporate office, the school is going to be an
operation system for them where they're going to run it
in a way where they feel good about it. Also,
what it does is it gives people who haven't thought
about being educators an opportunity to teach their craft. So
in our high school we have win more flexibility, We
(27:29):
have co op programs, opportunities for kids to be able
to learn how to like I think one of the
ones we did to share was barbershop, so the kids
were able to learn how to cut here while they're
still in school. But that's someone who's going to come
in teach the kids who's been cutting here for twenty
five years, never thought he was going to be an educator.
So creating those pathways and opportunities is the best way
for us to sustain the students in school and prevent
the burnout because these are people who are used to
(27:50):
working vigorous hours and have other opportunities that they can
they can do outside of work.
Speaker 1 (27:54):
Retaining teachers is more than about salaries. So a lot
of times teachers are there because that's their own their
mission in life. So what role do mendership, professional development,
and school culture play in keeping talented educators engaged in
the long term?
Speaker 4 (28:10):
Yeah, I mean, the reality is is that you want
to make sure that they want to come to work.
I think there's a space where it's like, I go
to work because I have to, But do I.
Speaker 2 (28:17):
Want to go there?
Speaker 4 (28:18):
Do I want to go to a community that feels
like they care about me and my wellbeing? Something as
simple as a maternity leave plan, it's something that keeps
educators coming back. I should be able to have a
family and know that I'm going to come back to
a job that is going to support me. So when
you think about things like that, the world is changing
so much, we have to be flexible. It's not the
old school nineteen eighty teaching that you know I went through. Unfortunately,
(28:39):
it's different now. So the reality is that we have
to change our practices in order to keep up with
the new world.
Speaker 1 (28:44):
For educators currently looking for positions or thinking about entering
the profession, what advice would you give them about finding
the right school community and building a successful career in education.
Speaker 4 (28:54):
I would say, make sure the school wants you like,
not that you just want to be there. Ask them
about their community, Ask them how they do deal with
teacher burnout, X them how they handle mental health, what
services can they offer you outside of salary, and how long.
Speaker 2 (29:05):
Have they been around.
Speaker 4 (29:06):
If you see people that's been staying at an organization
for years, they're not just staying for the money, They're
staying for the community. So think about the community before
you join any organization.
Speaker 1 (29:14):
Of course, Bellmont Charter is a network, is looking for teachers,
So how do they get in touch with you?
Speaker 4 (29:19):
Yes, so all of our social media is bow my
Charter network LinkedIn every social media platform you can think about,
it's on there. And we'll be having an open house
over the summer to get some educators. Right now, we
partner with other organizations, but we're always looking for talents
and educators that come and join our family.
Speaker 1 (29:33):
Well, you know, it's interesting when you talk about second careers.
I think there are a lot of folks out there
who are thinking, all right, I've done this long enough,
Maybe let me try something a little bit different, Or
maybe they're in a profession that doesn't give them the
support and the benefits that they deserve. So to think
about it, you know, teaching, that's something that I consider
doing at one point in my life, and then of
course life been life and and here I am. But teaching,
(29:56):
I think, is one of the most important professions there is,
and there are ortunities out there. Check it out. Belmont
Charter Network. Adiya Higgins Page, Managing director of Human Resources
for Belmont Charter Network, thank you so much. You can
listen to all of today's interviews by going to our
station website and typing in keyword community. You can also
listen on the iHeartRadio app they Words Philadelphia Community Podcast.
(30:20):
Follow me on Twitter and Instagram at Lorraine Ballard. I'm
Lorraine Ballard MOREL and I stand for service to our
community and media that empowers. What will you stand for?
You've been listening to Insight and thank you
Good morning. You're listening to Insight, a show about empowering
our community. I'm Lorraine Ballartmorrow, we'll talk about pathways to
homeownership and financial empowerment with the leaders from the Urban
League of Greater Philadelphia and Wells Fargo, the importance of
fatherhood and healing, and communities impacted by violence and incarceration,
and the grown challenge of teacher attention in our schools.
Stay with us. We're talking about building wealth, creating stability,
(00:23):
and making the dream of home ownership a reality. The
Urban League of Greater Philadelphia and Wells Fargo are teaming
up for a free home buyer fair on Saturday, June
sixth at the Esperanza Arts Center in Philadelphia, offering expert advice,
down payment resources, and opportunities to connect with industry professionals.
Joining us are Ernest L. Campbell, Senior Mortgage Retail Sales
(00:46):
Senior Manager and Executive Director of Residential Lending at Wells Fargo,
along with Abraham Rayes Pardo, vice President of the Office
of Housing and Diversion Services for the Urban League of
Greater Philadelphia, to discuss recoale, veruce, financial empowerment, and how
families can take the next step towards home ownership. I'm
going to start with you, Abraham. Why is expanding access
(01:08):
to home ownership such an important part of the Urban
League of Greater Philadelphia's mission.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
Yeah, thank you for having us. It's home ownership is
the easiest way to access generational wealth and create stability
for families. Philadelphia has a long standing tradition of home ownership,
and we want to make sure that future generations get
to benefit from that pressure resource. We're working collectively with
partners like Wells Fargo, with the City of Philadelphia, with
(01:35):
the state to make those opportunities available to them.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
Ernest, what are some of the biggest misconceptions first time
home buyers have about qualifying for a mortgage or purchasing
a home.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
Yeah, and thanks for having me as well. I think
probably the biggest misconception is the twenty percent rule, thinking
that you need twenty percent down to purchase, and then
also just thinking that you have to have perfect credit.
I mean, we've all had issues come up here or there.
I know, I got my first credit card in college.
While they did that, I have no idea and so
I've had some stumbles. But you don't necessarily have to
(02:07):
have perfect credit. You just need to be consulted and
get on the path and you can. You can get
a home for as little as one percent or five
percent down, just depends on program you qualify for. So
I think that this is what we're going to give
the opportunity for the community to listen and to learn
and hear about and find out if it's if they've
gotten to know that doesn't mean no, it just means
(02:29):
not now, and what we can do to help get
them on the path.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
I love that because knowledge is power, and this is
what this fair is all about. Abraham. What kind of
housing counseling and support services does the Urban League provide
to help people prepare for home ownership.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
Yeah, we do group education sessions where we tell people
everything they need to know about is like a housing
one on one everything they need to know about how
the ABC's of buying a home. There is usually a
realtory lender, home inspector, homewns insurance agent, and a housing
counselor bringing all together. Then families who attend those sessions
have the option to receive specialized, personalize one on one
(03:08):
counseling where we talk about their specifics of our situation.
We map their financial profile, credit income assets, so they know,
they take that information and they do whatever they decide
to do with that. In addition to that, we the
urbanly collectively provides other kinds of counseling related to renters
and people who are struggling in other areas.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
Yeah, and Ernest, you talked about some of the misconceptions
that people have that they think that their down payment
is going to be too big, or their credit scores
will tank their ability to buy a home. So let's
talk a little bit about you know, once someone says
I want to buy a home, I want to be
part of that American dream. What are some of the
(03:48):
things that Wells Fargo does to support that, because sometimes,
especially with first time homeowners and home buyers, they may
not have the history or the tradition and their families
of having good financial literacy. Right, So tell us a
little more about you and Wells Fargo does so much
with financial literacy. Tell us more about that.
Speaker 3 (04:09):
Yeah, I mean, most likely for a lot of our customers,
their bank customers of ours, So it's not just about
the mortgage. We try to look at their total financial picture.
As Abraham mentioned, we partner with organizations like Urban League
and other how to approve counseling agencies to do the
education portion of that. But my team the titles home
mortgage consultants, so we're consulting them the entire way through,
(04:32):
just walking them through what their budget can handle, making
sure that we're not only putting them in a situation
to obtain a home, but to sustain home ownership. So
it's a journey, right, and first we start with the
pre approval process, just walking them through what can they afford,
what their monthly payments may look like, what do they
need as far as reserves, How much will they need
(04:53):
to bring to the table for down payment? You know,
what is the time frame on when they make an
offer and they close?
Speaker 4 (04:59):
Think? Think?
Speaker 3 (05:00):
You know, maybe another thing I should have mentioned around misconceptions.
There's a lot of buyers who call their relter first
because that's the fun part of the transaction is going
to look at homes. You know, a lot of realtors
won't let you get in their car though until they
see if you're pre approved. So I would always say
reach out to a home mortgage consultant or mortgage lender
before you start looking at homes, even though you know
(05:21):
that's the fun aspect of the process. But until you
really know what you can qualify for, you're you're probably
wasting someone else's time in your own time to start
looking at properties until you have that number in your
head of you know what your price range should be.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
Abraham. In addition to this fair, this housing fair, I
know that the Urban League provides so many resources to
help people situate themselves so that they're actually able to
purchase a home or whatever become financially stable. Tell us
a little bit about some of the resources that are
available at the Urban League.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
We have a planthor realth programs. The Urban League aspars
to be involved with it. Any conversation that can create
or trigger social mobility. So, in addition to housing counseling,
how to prove housing counseling, as Erin is mentioned, we
offer workforce development. We have an entrepreneurship center, civic engagement
be One of our most recent programs that has been
(06:16):
a tremendous success is our services for Returning Citizens. We've
been doing that very successfully anything that has to do
with individual, family and community development. As part to do that,
we have a little surprise coming up soon where there
is a major milestone happening in the history of the organization.
(06:39):
We're going out to West Philadelphia with a well being
center that will be opening probably earlier twenty twenty seven.
Where we are now. I mean not to say that
the Urban Link is not physically in Philadelphia. We're a
citywide organization, but this one feels special because we're going
to have a place where people can come in and
in addition to this amazing rapper services that I mentioned,
(07:01):
they will be able to do all they're kinds of development.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
Yeah, that's fantastic. Wells Fargo is out there in the community.
I know that you do so many other things. I
was at an event where a whole bunch of people
came in and helped renovate homes in neighborhoods because I think,
as you know, and as we all know, we actually
have a lot of homeowners, but a lot of them
(07:25):
are not able to upkeep their homes in order to
stay in them, to make sure that they're safe and
they're up to grade, and so Wells Fargo has done
some really cool stuff helping out to help people maintain
their homes because it's not enough just to own a
home and to afford a home, but also to be
able to keep it up and afford the repairs and
(07:45):
all the upgrades that are necessary.
Speaker 3 (07:47):
Yeah, for sure. The event you're talking about is rock
the Block. So we've done that my eight years here
in Philadelphia, except maybe during the pandemic. Every year we've
done a couple of those throughout Philadelphia Neighborhoo. We usually
partner with one of the city councilmen, we'll partner with
other nonprofits, and we'll just post it on our internal
social media to invite all of our team members is
(08:10):
what we call our employees, and they all love to
come out and volunteer, so you'll see us all out
and our read Wells Fargo volunteer shirts. We typically have
anywhere from twenty five to fifty different volunteers with other organizations,
and the neighbors are already prepared. We've already done some
pre screening and usually just takes a few neighbors who
agree and raise their hand, and then normally we get
(08:31):
the block to agree. And we've done things from putting
new mailboxes to putting new planners. The last one we
did maybe three or four months ago. We actually put
in some new flooring, did some painting, so you get
to see some of those skill sets of bankers that
you don't get to see at the office. And then
of course for me being six or four, I was
painting all the high places.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
Yes, I feel like I'm in a room with giants
because the two of you are very till Abraham tell
us if people want more and from me about this
housing fair that's happening on June the sixth, where do
they find out more and what are the specifics?
Speaker 2 (09:09):
Once again, Yeah, at June six we're going to be
at this brand's art center from ten am to two pm.
Doors will open at nine point thirty. We want to
see you, we want to feed you, We want to
give you some good information about home ownership. We also
we're going to have some special prices that will be
available for participants. We want people to register, We want
people to show up. All the information is available to
(09:32):
our website Urban leaguefiler dot org. That is Urban League
phil at dot org, or you can look at us
look us up on event right. All of our events
are posted daring, including this fair.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
Absolutely, and you mentioned prizes. There could be folks winning
prizes up to one thousand dollars and the admission is free.
Registration is required, Ernest. If people want to know more
information about Wells Fargo home lending, how do they find
out more?
Speaker 3 (10:00):
Yeah, a good place to start is Wells Fargo Forward
Slash Come Home, which is one of our apps that
allows you to look up properties in different areas and
also see if those properties are eligible for any of
our grant funding. Some properties based on location may qualify
for downpayment assistance. Of course, you can always go to
Wells Fargo dot com or visit one of our Wells
Fargo bank branches and just ask to speak to a
(10:22):
home works consultant. If there's not one in the branch,
they can connect you with one immediately. And we look
forward to seeing everyone at the fair. We'll have at
least ten or fifteen of my team members there to
have one on one conversation, set appointments, and we're looking
forward to putting people on the path of home ownership
so that we have a lot of folks who walk
(10:42):
away maybe with a plan to get a pre approval
and then maybe they want to buy before the end
of the year.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
That would be great. It's helping make the American dream
come true for so many people. If you think the
home ownership is not in your possibility, well these folks
are trying to make it possible for you. The Urban
League of Philadelphia and Wells Fargo teaming up for a
free home buyer fair Saturday, June sixth at the Esperanza
Art Center in Philadelphia, offering expert advice, down payment resources,
(11:10):
and opportunities to connect with industry professionals. Ernest L. Campbell,
Senior Mortgage Retail Senior Manager, Sales Senior Manager and Executive
Director of Residential Landing Lending Rather at Wells Fargo, You've
got quite a long title, a beautiful title. Along with
Abraham yes Pardo, who's Vice president of the Office of
Housing and Diversion Services for the Urban League of Greater Philadelphia.
(11:33):
Thank you both for joining us here today and we
look forward to seeing you all on June sixth. I'm
Lorraine Ballard Morrell. It's been many decades since I started
working with the Fact Experience, Fathers and Children Together, an
extraordinary program that started a greater Herd prison and created
(11:55):
by individuals, many of whom are lifers, to provide a
program that would allow men behind the walls to connect
with their kids in deep and meaningful ways and to
break the cycle of incarceration. And so joining us are
some folks who are going to tell us about a
special fatherhood symposium that's coming up in June that is
(12:16):
sponsored by the Fact Experience. Joining me right now is
Lori Gohen. She is executive director of the Fact Experience.
Laurie's going to tell us a little bit about the
Fact program, but also introducing two of the organizers of
this Fatherhood symposium. Laurie, good to talk to you, tell
us more.
Speaker 5 (12:35):
Yes, thanks the rain. So the Fact Experience is father
and Children Together. That we are a I don't want
to say we're an organization. I want to say that
we are a mission of movement that's housed at SCI
Phoenix where we take and reunite their children with their fathers,
their bonus fathers, their grandfathers, and their uncles. And this
has been going on for over a decade and I'm
(12:58):
just elated to be a part of this journey. So
we have coming up our Fatherhood Symposium on June sixth
at their Recreation Center. We are so excited about it, Lorraine.
We have some great, great great partners with this experience
that's going to happen on June sixth, and just the
spotlight the men of Philadelphia and surrounding areas our fathers.
(13:19):
Sometimes they are not given enough credit where credit is
do So we're just really excited to partner with different
organizations and esteeme individuals of Philadelphia and the surrounding areas
to have this event. So with me today, not other
than I want to call home my brother Muscle. Muscle
is not only a board member of Fact, Muscle is
(13:41):
a former participant effect in Muscle also at one time
in the season of his life was incarcerated at Greatest
Thord and at Phoenix, and he helped build up FACT
and he was there from the beginning stages and then
he's still here now he is a board member. He
is home, he has got his wings and he is
flying high. Alongside of Muscle is the esteemed Cameron Brown MS.
(14:05):
Brown is our Marketing and Promotions chairperson. She comes with
a wealth and knowledge, but not only that, she also
has passion for helping these men behind the walls and
the families that are out here in Philadelphia and surrounding
counties to drive the Vision effect forward, So they are
the feet on the ground for this event. They have
been diligently working with our partners, making sure the venue
(14:28):
is in place, making sure our partners are in place,
making sure the panel is in place. So I'm going
to let them have the MC and discuss what they
have been doing and what everyone can look forward to
on June set Muscle.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
Tell us about the symposium. What can we experience when
we walk into the room.
Speaker 6 (14:43):
We want to highlight the importance of fatherhood and the
father's position in the home. It's a fatherhood symposium with
the subtitle being the impact of violence and mass incarceration
on father's families in our neighborhoods. Because the mass incarceration
took the father out of the picture and then we've
(15:04):
seen what happened with that with a lot of our
neighborhoods and fatherless households. We want to have a conversation
about this. We want to pride solutions platforms so people
know there's help out there.
Speaker 1 (15:17):
And you're not by yourself, Cameron, you're one of the
organizers as well. Tell us more about who is going
to be participating in this panel discussion and who are
the people that you hope will attend.
Speaker 7 (15:29):
Absolutely, Thanks Lorraine. So some of the people that will
be on our panel are people who work in the
criminal legal system, those who have first hand knowledge on
the experience that both the incarcerated fathers and their families experience,
so that they can share some solutions in ways that
we can help to break this cycle of incarceration and
(15:52):
the impact of fatherless homes. And we also have people
who experience being in the criminal legal system. Actually have
some kids from previous cohorts of facts that can share
what their experience was like going through it with their
father as well as their mother, and how their experience
was with their father with their child's father being incarcerated.
(16:15):
And as Lari and Muscle express, we really want to
invite anyone who is impacted by the mass incarceration in
Philadelphia and surrounding areas. We want to invite caregivers, mothers, fathers, children.
This is really a community event where we want to
(16:36):
uplift the fathers who have been involved and encourage those
who haven't been involved to get involved and see the
importance of them being involved in their child's life, regardless
of whether they're home or incarcerated.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
I want to turn back to you, Muscle. You actually,
at the very beginning, your son was aged out of
the cohort. It wasn't able to participate directly. But you've
been involved in the organizing of the FACT Experience. You've
observed many cohorts both inside the walls and then of
course people coming out after having experienced FACT program. Tell
(17:08):
us about the impact of this program on you as
someone who's been very involved, but also some of the
people that you've seen who graduated from the program.
Speaker 6 (17:18):
In my case and a lot of cases, growing up
in the city, I was fortunate enough to grow up
with a father and a mother in a household. So
I salute the man and the women and the kids
that didn't grow up with that blessing. How I've seen
the FACT Experience impact is a lot of times we
as fathers think being a provider is enough. It's more
(17:40):
than that. And the biggest issue is quality time by
us being allowed to reconnect incarcerated fathers, grandfathers with their
children and grandchildren. You see some kids that might be
not doing too well in school, all of a sudden,
they start doing well. Then they noticed that I'm not
the only one with an incarcerated relative. Inside prison, they
(18:05):
start to get their self esteem. You get to know
the favorite color of your child or your grandchild. They
get to know your favorite color, what is your favorite movie,
what is their favorite movie? And something as small as.
Speaker 1 (18:19):
What school do they attend.
Speaker 6 (18:20):
A lot of us don't even know that. And just
because we incarcerated, you don't stop being a parent or
a grandparent. You're still gonna make a difference.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
Karon, I wanted to turn to you because not only
are you the marketing and promotions person for the Fact experience,
but you've been involved in the FACT program, and I
wonder you're going to University of Pennsylvania.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
Is that right?
Speaker 7 (18:41):
Actually graduated a few years ago, but that is where
I conducted my studies.
Speaker 1 (18:45):
Okay, well, okay, so you're very accomplished. So I wonder
if you can talk a little bit about what the
impact of the program has been in your life.
Speaker 7 (18:53):
I think, as I shared, I did my studies at
Penn and I majored in criminology, and so I learned
a lot about the system, how it works, the pitfalls
of it, ways that we can reform it, and all
the above. And of course having that type of knowledge
is valuable, but FACT experience really introduced me into the
(19:16):
real life, boots on the ground world of people who
are both incarcerated, because I'm able to talk to the
fathers and the grandfathers in the program, but also connect
with the kids of course that are in the program,
and so I think it really just helped to kind
of bring some real world into what I was learning,
and I think that's an important part in the work
(19:36):
that I want to do to reform the criminal legal system,
that we're not operating based off of what's in the textbooks,
what you're learning on a presentation, but you're actually connecting
with people and seeing what real life things can support them.
That's definitely an insight that I've gained from being part
of Fact Mussel.
Speaker 1 (19:54):
One of the things that I have experienced in working
with the FACT program from really around zero is understanding
and getting to know the men behind the walls, both
at Greaterford and at Phoenix. And you are also behind
the walls at one point, but I know that in
my experience, I get to meet the most incredible men,
(20:15):
men who are smart, men who are leaders, men who've
given the opportunity come back into the community and really
make a huge difference, and I wonder if you have
a message about people's preconceptions about what it is to
be incarcerated and what it really means to understand who
you are and what you can contribute to the world.
Speaker 6 (20:35):
Thank you for that. Yes, it's very important because this
team of men, the FACT Experience, has created this program
from seeing in the visiting room how the children were
being neglected. A lot of times people come on visits
and it's the adults talking one on one the child
(20:56):
is running around. The four or five is of FACTS
saw that and said, how can we make a difference.
So not only make a difference there, but make a
difference in the community as well. And we want to
provide a platform for solutions resources to make a difference
in the families and the communities. And once these men
(21:18):
return back to society, they could continue doing this work
just as well as I am the four Fithers, and
we look forward to that, and we look forward to
making a difference in our communities and taking it as
far as it's going to go.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
I've met many graduates of the FACT program who are
now on the outside, and I've seen the huge difference
that it's made in their lives, helping them become a
better dad, a better community member, and a better contributing
member of society. A FACT program is tremendously powerful. Cameron
once again remind us of when, where, and the time
(21:55):
for this Fact Experience Father's Symposium.
Speaker 7 (22:00):
That symposium will be at the Very Recreation Center in
South Philadelphia on June sixth. Our doors will open at one,
the event will end at four o'clock and you can
go to our Instagram at Fact Underscore, Underscore Experience to register.
Speaker 1 (22:16):
Fantastic and Laurie, I'm going to give you the last word.
If people want to know more about the Fact Experience
in general, where do they go for that?
Speaker 5 (22:25):
Yes, they can go to our website Feexperience dot com.
On there they will find the contact information for myself,
the executive director, Ka which is our president, Darlene which
is our vice president. Our emails are listed there. You
can send us an email also the Fact Experience Gmail accountants.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
There.
Speaker 5 (22:45):
You can send a message to that email and one
of our volunteers or one of the board members will
get back to you.
Speaker 1 (22:52):
Fantastic, We thank you, We thank you for everything that
you're all doing to uplift the experience of men and
to encourage the positive fatherhood that the Fact Experience provides.
The Fact Experience is hosting the Fatherhood Symposium on June sixth, Saturday,
at the ver Recreation Center, twenty six oh one More Street.
(23:13):
Thank you all for joining us here today. Lourie Daisy Gowens,
who is executive director of the Fact Experience, Cameron Brown,
whose Fact Experience is marketing and promotions director and Muscle
Fact Experience Cohart originator, and someone who's not only have
I discovered that not only were you a dad, you're
(23:35):
a grandfather and a great granddad. Yes, and you're such
a young person. I can't believe it. That's pretty awesome.
But the Fact Experience certainly made a difference in your.
Speaker 6 (23:44):
Life, right, Yes, you did, big difference.
Speaker 1 (23:47):
Big difference. Thank you so much so, Lorraine, Lorraine.
Speaker 5 (23:50):
Yes, we just want to thank you on behalf of
magic Ali, the entire internal board of that, right there
is the external board of that right there. It's all
the children, all the mothers, the guardians of their fathers.
We just want to thank you for always supporting us
a lot of things that we do. You always hop
on board and you're right there. You're part of the
Fact movement too, You're like a honorary board member. So
(24:13):
thank you, thank you, Thank you on behalf of Magic
Ali in the Eternal Fay Well, I love Marians and Internal.
Speaker 1 (24:19):
Love you guys and look forward to helping to m
see this event which is again happening on June sixth,
the Fact Experience Fatherhood Symposium. Thank you all, thank you,
thank you. Today we're talking about one of the biggest
challenges facing schools across Philadelphia and the country, teacher retention.
(24:43):
Joining us is Adia Higgins Page, Managing director of Human
Resources for Belmont Charter Network. With more than a decade
of experience in human resources and education leadership, Adia is
helping create innovative pathways for aspiring educators while supporting and
retaining the teachers already serving students and families every day.
We'll talk about why keeping great teachers matters, and the
(25:06):
challenges educators face, and the solutions schools can implement to
build stronger, more sustainable learning communities. Well Ada, thank you
so much for joining us here today. Teacher retention has
become a major issue nationwide. What are some of the
biggest reasons educators are leaving the profession today.
Speaker 4 (25:24):
Oh thank you for having me today. I think one
of the biggest reasons educators are leaving a profession is
simply because they don't have the support behind it. There
are laws that are put in place for certification purposes,
things that they need to do, and it's financial right.
So if there's some of the lower paid professions and
they need to pay all this money to be able
to get it and they don't have the support, why
would I stay in a profession when I can make
(25:44):
more money doing something else. So the goal is to
keep them there. How do we keep them there?
Speaker 2 (25:48):
Right?
Speaker 1 (25:49):
That's a very important goal.
Speaker 4 (25:50):
Now.
Speaker 1 (25:51):
Beilbun Charter Network has focused on building strong teacher pipelines
and support systems. What are some of the strategies that
have been most effective in helping teachers support it and
to stay in the classroom.
Speaker 4 (26:02):
I think two of our biggest things is that we
have PD every day after school. So what that allows
our teachers to do is they can find time to
study because it's built into your school day. There's also
an opportunity for them to be able to go to
what we call our teacher pipeline where they come in
as maybe as a teacher assistant and a teacher resident
with a lower paid salary, But what they're doing is
they're building their in person skill set. We all know
booksmarts is one thing, but having that interpersonal connection and
(26:23):
actually doing the work is the thing that helps them
strive to be better in their role.
Speaker 1 (26:27):
Burnout is a real issue and concern for a lot
of educators. It's tough out there.
Speaker 4 (26:33):
It's part of the reason why we shifted. We had
no choice, like we really had. We heard them. What
they said is, we're educating for seven eight hours a day.
Then you want me to go home and not be
with my families to get the certification or other things,
or to plan lessons or do other things. It's just
wasn't fair. So we needed to come up with a
medium that still educated our students, but also put us
in a place where we were above a little bit
and making sure that our staff was getting certified.
Speaker 1 (26:53):
Now, you've helped expand opportunities for second career educators, So
there are folks out there who might have another whole
career and education. So why is it important to create
alternative pathways to teaching and how can those educators strengthen
school communities.
Speaker 4 (27:08):
Oh, I think real life experience is the best experience, right.
So if you get someone who has been maybe in
a corporate office, but maybe they were operations person at
the corporate office, the school is going to be an
operation system for them where they're going to run it
in a way where they feel good about it. Also,
what it does is it gives people who haven't thought
about being educators an opportunity to teach their craft. So
in our high school we have win more flexibility, We
(27:29):
have co op programs, opportunities for kids to be able
to learn how to like I think one of the
ones we did to share was barbershop, so the kids
were able to learn how to cut here while they're
still in school. But that's someone who's going to come
in teach the kids who's been cutting here for twenty
five years, never thought he was going to be an educator.
So creating those pathways and opportunities is the best way
for us to sustain the students in school and prevent
the burnout because these are people who are used to
(27:50):
working vigorous hours and have other opportunities that they can
they can do outside of work.
Speaker 1 (27:54):
Retaining teachers is more than about salaries. So a lot
of times teachers are there because that's their own their
mission in life. So what role do mendership, professional development,
and school culture play in keeping talented educators engaged in
the long term?
Speaker 4 (28:10):
Yeah, I mean, the reality is is that you want
to make sure that they want to come to work.
I think there's a space where it's like, I go
to work because I have to, But do I.
Speaker 2 (28:17):
Want to go there?
Speaker 4 (28:18):
Do I want to go to a community that feels
like they care about me and my wellbeing? Something as
simple as a maternity leave plan, it's something that keeps
educators coming back. I should be able to have a
family and know that I'm going to come back to
a job that is going to support me. So when
you think about things like that, the world is changing
so much, we have to be flexible. It's not the
old school nineteen eighty teaching that you know I went through. Unfortunately,
(28:39):
it's different now. So the reality is that we have
to change our practices in order to keep up with
the new world.
Speaker 1 (28:44):
For educators currently looking for positions or thinking about entering
the profession, what advice would you give them about finding
the right school community and building a successful career in education.
Speaker 4 (28:54):
I would say, make sure the school wants you like,
not that you just want to be there. Ask them
about their community, Ask them how they do deal with
teacher burnout, X them how they handle mental health, what
services can they offer you outside of salary, and how long.
Speaker 2 (29:05):
Have they been around.
Speaker 4 (29:06):
If you see people that's been staying at an organization
for years, they're not just staying for the money, They're
staying for the community. So think about the community before
you join any organization.
Speaker 1 (29:14):
Of course, Bellmont Charter is a network, is looking for teachers,
So how do they get in touch with you?
Speaker 4 (29:19):
Yes, so all of our social media is bow my
Charter network LinkedIn every social media platform you can think about,
it's on there. And we'll be having an open house
over the summer to get some educators. Right now, we
partner with other organizations, but we're always looking for talents
and educators that come and join our family.
Speaker 1 (29:33):
Well, you know, it's interesting when you talk about second careers.
I think there are a lot of folks out there
who are thinking, all right, I've done this long enough,
Maybe let me try something a little bit different, Or
maybe they're in a profession that doesn't give them the
support and the benefits that they deserve. So to think
about it, you know, teaching, that's something that I consider
doing at one point in my life, and then of
course life been life and and here I am. But teaching,
(29:56):
I think, is one of the most important professions there is,
and there are ortunities out there. Check it out. Belmont
Charter Network. Adiya Higgins Page, Managing director of Human Resources
for Belmont Charter Network, thank you so much. You can
listen to all of today's interviews by going to our
station website and typing in keyword community. You can also
listen on the iHeartRadio app they Words Philadelphia Community Podcast.
(30:20):
Follow me on Twitter and Instagram at Lorraine Ballard. I'm
Lorraine Ballard MOREL and I stand for service to our
community and media that empowers. What will you stand for?
You've been listening to Insight and thank you
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