🎙️ WHAT’S GOING ON with Loraine Ballard Morrill
Episode: Redefining Pain Management, Homeownership, and Remembering a Radio Legend In this episode of What’s Going On, we’re shining a light on health innovation, homeownership, and a heartfelt tribute to one of Philadelphia’s most beloved radio voices.
First, we speak with Dr. Asif M. Ilyas, President of the Rothman Opioid Foundation — an organization advancing research, education, and policy to improve pain management and reduce unnecessary opioid use. Dr. Ilyas is also an Orthopaedic Surgeon at Rothman Orthopaedics and the driving force behind the upcoming symposium Medical Cannabis: What Do We Know & What Do We Not, happening Saturday, November 8th at Sidney Kimmel Medical College.
🌐 Website: www.rothmanopioid.org
📱 Socials: @RothmanOpioid (X) | @rothmanopioidfoundation (Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn)
Then, Abraham Reyes Pardo, Vice President of the Office of Housing and Diversion Services at the Urban League of Greater Philadelphia, shares how their Home Buyers Program helps individuals and families achieve sustainable homeownership through education and financial empowerment.
🌐 Website: www.urbanleaguephila.org/housing
💼 LinkedIn: Urban League of Greater Philadelphia
📘 Facebook: @urbanleaguegphl
And finally, we remember Pierre Robert, the legendary WMMR radio host who passed away this week. Pierre was not only a Philadelphia radio icon but also a kind and generous soul. We’ll share an excerpt from his moving remarks at the AIDS Walk Philly Commemoration — a reminder of his humor, passion, and love for this city and its people.
What’s Going On — stories that inspire, connect, and uplift our community.
Episode: Redefining Pain Management, Homeownership, and Remembering a Radio Legend In this episode of What’s Going On, we’re shining a light on health innovation, homeownership, and a heartfelt tribute to one of Philadelphia’s most beloved radio voices.
First, we speak with Dr. Asif M. Ilyas, President of the Rothman Opioid Foundation — an organization advancing research, education, and policy to improve pain management and reduce unnecessary opioid use. Dr. Ilyas is also an Orthopaedic Surgeon at Rothman Orthopaedics and the driving force behind the upcoming symposium Medical Cannabis: What Do We Know & What Do We Not, happening Saturday, November 8th at Sidney Kimmel Medical College.
🌐 Website: www.rothmanopioid.org
📱 Socials: @RothmanOpioid (X) | @rothmanopioidfoundation (Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn)
Then, Abraham Reyes Pardo, Vice President of the Office of Housing and Diversion Services at the Urban League of Greater Philadelphia, shares how their Home Buyers Program helps individuals and families achieve sustainable homeownership through education and financial empowerment.
🌐 Website: www.urbanleaguephila.org/housing
💼 LinkedIn: Urban League of Greater Philadelphia
📘 Facebook: @urbanleaguegphl
And finally, we remember Pierre Robert, the legendary WMMR radio host who passed away this week. Pierre was not only a Philadelphia radio icon but also a kind and generous soul. We’ll share an excerpt from his moving remarks at the AIDS Walk Philly Commemoration — a reminder of his humor, passion, and love for this city and its people.
What’s Going On — stories that inspire, connect, and uplift our community.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good morning, and welcome to What's going On, a show
about making a difference in our lives and our communities.
I'm Lorraine Baller. Tomorrow today, we're joined by doctor ASF Elias,
President of the Rothmann Opiord Foundation. Doctor Elias is on
a mission to reduce unnecessary opioid use through research, education
and advocacy. He'll share more about the foundation's work and
(00:21):
give us a preview of their upcoming Medical Cannabis Symposium.
And finally, we'll take a moment to remember Pierre Robert,
the legendary WMMR radio host and my dear friend who
passed away this week. Will share an excerpt from his
remarks at the Aidswok Philly Commemoration, a powerful reminder of
his voice, his passion, and the deep love he had
(00:42):
for the city. That's all ahead on what's going on,
But first, Owning a home is a major milestone, but
can also feel out of reach without the right support
and guidance. The Urban League of Greater Philadelphia is helping
change that through its Comprehensive Home Buyers Program, which equips
individuals and families with an no knowledge, tools and resources
they need to achieve sustainable homeownership. Joining us right now
(01:05):
is Abraham rey es Pardo, who's vice president of the
Office of Housing and Diversion Services at the Urban League
of Greater Philadelphia. It's going to talk to us about
how this program is opening doors to opportunity across our city.
So tell us about this home buyers program. Who is
eligible and is it just for first time buyers?
Speaker 2 (01:22):
That's an excellent question. Thank you for having me. Yeah,
the program is open to anyone who wants to gain
knowledge about the home buying process. We have a targeted
focus on first time home buyers. In twenty twenty two,
we embark on a special project called Philly five thousand
where we want to bring five thousand families into home ownership.
And with that came special effort to guide more people
(01:46):
into getting the resources that they need to achieve sustainable
home ownership. Someone whose own home can also use our
program to in our classes receive counseling as a pressure.
I mean, some of these processes have changed over time,
including some of the programs at the City of Philadelphia
(02:07):
offers in terms of taxes, probably taxes and other protections
for homeowners, particularly now that the City of Philadelphia is
about to launch the Home Initiative, which I'm sure some
people have heard about, and there's always been synergy between
the housing counseling organizations and the city for the deployment
of some of these programs.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
Well, so what kind of exects services specifically in support
does the Urban League provide to help potential home buyers
get ready to buy a home?
Speaker 2 (02:34):
So we run we have a Saturday morning shows. I
like to call it kindly, but it's an ongoing for
standing for some home bar webinar that runs from ten
am to two pm every Saturday, yes or yes or
the average year we complete around sixty three of those sessions.
So we have our standing Zoom session where we have
(02:56):
a realtor, lender, home inspector, and someone other professionals talking
about what it takes to become a homeowner, including a
housing counselor that's one of those professionals. So we have
those standing sessions happening every Saturday, and then we go
out into the community base mins, community rooms, houses of worship,
you name, it will be to one of those. And
(03:18):
the idea is to go into some of these places
knowing that some people are not technology savvy. The digital
divide is real. Some people are still having a hard
time accessing this information. So we put special attention and
we partner with local members of the community or organizations
who are executing some kind of work to give you
an idea. In West Philadelphia, for example, we have partnered
(03:40):
with long standing real estate organizations that we know are
in service of those communities, and then we go with them,
we organize sessions, and then we follow up. Whereas the
people who attend those sessions across the board have the
option to receive one on one counseling as well. So
we're doing the financial literacy, we're doing housing counseling. During
(04:01):
the one on one counseling, we talk about your financial profile,
what goes into your financial profile, credit, asset, income's income, collateral,
if you already have an idea of what property you're
looking at right and then once we have done one
two like in boxing, then we bring you into the
other option, which is if you are going to make
(04:21):
it to the finish line, we reward you with down
payment and closing costs system.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
Oh wow, that's amazing.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
So one of the things that our program has been
very successful at and what we are getting a reputation
for is because we have been able to take all
of this information programs offered by lenders, by realtors, by
the state, by the City of Philadelphia, and we are
team of hotproof housing counselors can meet with someone and
kind of give them an idea of their situation pairs
(04:50):
with these different programs. So some people are walking into
these transactions with capital stacks of forty six thousand dollars
from different programs that they were able to leverage. That
always makes me happy. I'm not going to say that's
the rule, but a lot of people can qualify for
programs available through the state, through the city, and then
we're always encouraging mortgage lenders and banks to provide that
(05:14):
additional support that a lot of folks need due to
the lack of wealth or generational wealth.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
And sometimes people just don't know what they don't know.
I think that's the problem. You know, there are lots
of programs out there, but if you don't know what
they are, then you can't take advantage. So you kind
of are the one stop shop to help you corral
all that benefit and money.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
There's a lot of misinformation and we continue to fight
with that sometimes people coming to the program, they tell
you how my program runs, and I'm like, well, yes,
there's some truth to that, but here are the steps
one to three. We're not rigid, but we organize. We'll
help them organize some of those ideas so they can
achieve their goal of sustainable homeownership.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
I wonder if you can give us an example of
a homeowner or someone who was a potential homeowner that
was able to cross that finish line.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
Yeah. Lately, I've been talking about a lot about the
twenty year olds who are coming to a program. People
who are younger and are just have been had employment history,
have been really good at that may perhaps saving some
money or getting assistance from a member of the family,
(06:24):
and then we connect them with resources as well. So
I don't know where you were a twenty years old,
but at by twenty years old, I was definitely not
thinking about buying the house exactly. So one of them
actually came to us when he was nineteen and he
(06:44):
turned twenty as if he had already purchased his first home. Wow,
so young folks, Just because there's a lot of talk
these days about younger people not being able to access homeownership.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
We know.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
Let me just say that, we know that in Philadelphia
things are changing, right just like in everywhere every other market.
That's part of the reason why things are changing in
Philadelphia because the surrounding markets are taking notice about Philadelphia.
But one of the things that pre builds in Philadelphia
is home ownership is still relatively accessible, Whereas with two
(07:23):
two hundred and fifty thousand dollars in places like New
York or DC, you're definitely not buying a house, and
in Philadelphia is still a reality for a lot of folks.
And the tradition of Philadelphia is homeownership. This has been
historically a place of homeowners and we are helping people
preserve and communities preserve that well.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
Abraham tell us, how can listeners register or get more
information about the program?
Speaker 2 (07:50):
That's a very good question. We're everywhere. We have a beautiful,
recently reimagined website that can give you all of information
about how to join our program. We're also event bright
where people can find us, and we have a solid
following of around three thousand people that are consistently watching
what we do, and that includes a lot of people
(08:13):
in the lending and realtor community. So anyone who googles
to Urban League event bright will be able to find
you find us. Urban League philow dot org is one
of our avenues. Everything gets disseminated through a different social
media channels linkeding x, Instagram, Facebook, We try.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
And is there a phone number for those people who
aren't so tech savvy exactly?
Speaker 2 (08:37):
Yes, two one five ninety five three two two zero
two one five nine eight five three two two zero.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
Well, the dream of home ownership seems so far away
for so many people, but the Urban League of Philadelphia
of Greater Philadelphia is really helping make those dreams come true.
And I'm very delighted to hear that young people like
nineteen and twenty are thinking about home ownership and are
actually getting there a home because, as we know, that's
really the start of building generational wealth, right.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
Building generational wealth, that's something that is extremely important for
their own league. We've heard what is happening with Tangled
titles in Philadelphia. I mean a PU Charitable Trusts published
that article now four years ago, so that is something
that we're also helping address. I mean ten thousand families
being in that sort of lay Mow Gray area very
(09:28):
specialized but also expensive work to untangle those titles. So
once we have brought people into home ownership, we also
talk about estate planning with them.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
That's fantastic. So you really create an opportunity in a
platform for people to stabilize their finances, to build wealth,
and to go from you know, from zero to having
something that can pass on to their next generation.
Speaker 3 (09:57):
Right.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
Yeah, And I love it when we have our sixty
to ninety people in the class every Saturday, and then
we have a lot of what comes out of the
mouths of our constituents, of our clients is I want
to buy a house because they want to live something
for my kids beautiful.
Speaker 1 (10:14):
I love that and that is a major milestone for
so many people. It's really what they used to call
the American dream. And you know, the Philadelphia the Urban
League of Greater Philadelphia is helping to make that happen
through their Comprehensive Home Buyers Program, which helps individuals and
families with knowledge, tools and resources they need to achieve
(10:35):
sustainable home ownership and so much more. Thank you so much.
Abraham Rayes Pardo, Vice President of the Office of Housing
and Diversion Services at the Urban League of Greater Philadelphia.
Thanks for sharing all that information.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
I appreciate you. Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (10:51):
You're listening to what's going on today. We're joined by
doctor Asif m Ilias, President of the Rothmann opiord Foundation,
an organization dedicated to advancing research, education, and policy to
improve pain management and reduce unnecessary opioid use. Doctor Elias
is also an orthopedic surgeon at Rothman Orthopedics and is
(11:13):
the driving force behind the upcoming Medical Cannabis Symposium at
the Sydney Kimmel Medical College on November eighth. Thank you
so much for joining us here today. And pain is
an issue that so many Americans face, especially when it
comes to our backs and next and there's been such
a tremendous issue with the use of O prioids and
(11:36):
the eventual misuse of OI pioids to address the pain.
So tell us about the mission, first of all, of
the Rothman Opioid Foundation and what inspired you to create it.
Speaker 4 (11:47):
Sure well, First of all, Lauren, thanks for having me
on and discussing pain and our foundation and the work
that we're doing. So as you mentioned, pain is an
important thing that we all deal with in various capacities
and something that we can often struggle with and it
can also become problematic. And we learned as practicing physicians
in the Greater Philadelphy area, as members of rothn Orthopedic extent,
(12:09):
we were seeing increased problems around pain management and opioid addiction.
So we created a foundation dedicated around solving this problem.
So we call it the Wrothman Opioid Foundation, and the
foundation has a threefold mission. First is educating the public
and prescribers on safe opioid use and prescribing. The second
(12:35):
part is performing and or supporting research around pain management
that emphasizes opioid sparing or opiate alternative pain management strategies.
And third is around advocacy, serving as a think tank
with our policy makers to support evidence based strategies when
they're looking at different laws and policies to put forth
(12:57):
for society.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
You've been a leader voice in redefining pain management. What
are some of the biggest misconceptions about opioid use and
pain treatment right now?
Speaker 5 (13:08):
Well, in many misconceptions.
Speaker 4 (13:09):
Firstly, pain, like I mentioned, is unfortunately a ubiquitous problem.
We see pain in lots of ways. It can be
after an injury. It can be from aging and degenerate
changes in our body. It can be from conditions such
as cancer, so we have to treat them that. We
have to treat the different pains in different ways. Our
concern about pain management is the overreliance on opioids, and
(13:32):
one of the common misconceptions. Firstly, I'll say is that,
first of all, not all opioids are bad.
Speaker 5 (13:36):
We rely on opioids.
Speaker 4 (13:38):
Routinely to manage patients and the public's pain predicting in
a surgical space. Wheneveryone has surgery, there's some amount of
opiods being used that facilitates surgery. But the key is
to use opioids safely and whenever possible, to use alternative
pain management strategies. So not use opioids as our first
line of treatment, but rather use it as a one
(14:00):
of the tools, but one of the late tools that
we will go to after first exhausting the safer pay
managements options.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
How does medical cannabis fit into a larger evidence based
approach to pain management, especially for orthopedic patients.
Speaker 4 (14:18):
Indeed, medical cannabis is a very new phenomenon that has
become public, has become legal in many parts of the country,
not every part of the country. I would say that
a far majority of believe around forty states out of
fifty have legalized the use of medical cannabis. In some
cases it's medically only, like in our state of Pennsylvania
(14:40):
and other states, is for both medical and recreational uses,
and medical cannabis has become a useful additional tool in
our ability to manage pain. Particularly where we're finding most
value with medical cannabis is in the chronic pain space
and in the cancer pain space. Whenever you get deale
with a chronic pain condition. Opioids are less effective because
(15:03):
you need more and more opioids to maintain the same
level of pain relief, and that is part of the
reason why people develop addiction and the need for more
opioids in order to achieve the same effect. Medical cannabis
is serving a nice role in managing patients with chronic
pain because it does not need that increasing requirement and
is relatively safer from a side effect profile compared to opioids.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
There is medical marijuana here in Pennsylvania and in New Jersey,
and I think in Delaware this recreational use. So people
have fairly ready access to cannabis. How do you distinguish
the use of cannabis that between medically prescribed cannabis and
(15:49):
what people might do on their own taking advantage of
the accessibility of cannabis.
Speaker 5 (15:55):
That's a great question.
Speaker 4 (15:56):
So there's obviously there's been cannabis around for forever.
Speaker 5 (16:00):
Essentially now it's legal.
Speaker 4 (16:02):
As you mentioned, the states you mentioned all have medical
access and some have recreational access. Generally, let's focus on
the medical cannabis side and we'll focus on the Pennsylvanian perspective.
In Pennsylvania, for you to access medical cannabis, you have
to see a physician who is trained in certifying you
for medical cannabis. So they assess you, they do a
(16:25):
history and examine, they assess you and see do you
meet the criteria to receive medical cannabis. That a doctor
then fills out a form that goes to the state,
and then you get a license. It kind of almost
looks like a driver's license that says you're able to
get medical cannabis, and then at that point you can
go to a dispensary and then access medical cannabis.
Speaker 5 (16:43):
What's really different.
Speaker 4 (16:45):
Though, in terms of a medical cannabis compared to prescription
medication is that your physicians can certify you for cannabis,
but they can't prescribe cannabis, so you still simply go
to a dispensary and get what you want. That's an
issue that money of us are having with the current
model in terms of patients getting medical cannabis. We can
advise and suggest what you should take, but really you're
(17:08):
taking it. You're making those decisions at the dispensary. In
contrast to most prescription medications, where the physicians and prescribers
will write out the medication, the dosage is the frequency,
the duration, the refills, et cetera. That is not the
case with medical cannabis. So it is a different dynamic
that patients have to be aware of. The Other thing
that's important to be aware of it it's not covered
(17:29):
by insurance, so it can be quite costly. Currently there's
no insurance support for the use of medical cannabis.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
Well, you have an upcoming event the Foundation is sponsoring
medical Cannabis. What we Know and What We Do Not Know,
which explores cannabis as part of a pain management regimen.
Tell us what participants can expect from the symposium. Who
should attend as well.
Speaker 4 (17:53):
Of course, thank you for asking the question, And just
as a background, one of the things that we do
at the Foundation is we try to tackle we of
things obviously, but we try to tackle a big question
in an annual symposium where we bring together clinicians, researchers,
policy makers, and different key stakeholders together and have a discussion.
(18:13):
And so this year we're hosting a symposium like you mentioned,
around medical cannabis. It's scheduled for Saturday, November eighth on
the Jefferson Campus and in this symposia, we're going to
discuss what we what are our updated knowledge about medical
cannabis in terms of its efficacy, indications, outcomes. We're also
going to have a policy session where we're going to
(18:33):
have multiple legislators president who are going to discuss some
of the challenges around medical cannabis from a society and
a policy perspective. And then we're going to have a
session on some of the controversies around medical cannabis in
terms of different types of cannabis, legalizate sorry certification for cannabis,
driving while utilizing cannabis, et cetera.
Speaker 5 (18:53):
So it's going to be a far reaching symposium.
Speaker 4 (18:55):
We're also going to have a guest speaker in Todd
Harriman's who's a former Philadelphia and an advocate for cannabis
use for chronic pain as well. So we have a
fairly robust program kind of tackling all the different aspects
of cannabis and really focusing on what we know and
what we don't know, as the title goes, and also
kind of focusing on some of the controversies.
Speaker 1 (19:13):
If people would like more information about this symposium, which
is happening on November eighth, give us the details of
the symposium and also the location, the time, and how
people can find out more about that, and also about
the Rothman Opioid Foundation.
Speaker 4 (19:29):
Of course, so the second question first. To learn more
about the foundation, you can go to www Dot Rothmanopioid
dot org or you can also go to our Instagram
or Facebook or LinkedIn sites for Instagram at simply Rothman
Opioid at Rothminfopiod one word. At both sides, both the
website www Dot Rothmanopioi dot org or our social media
(19:50):
sites like Instagram at Rothmanopioid, you'll see the information about
the symposium which will be on Saturday, November eighth, at
the Jefferson Campus in Center City, Philadelphia in the Blumely
Life Science Building. It'll run from a thirty to twelve thirty.
This symposium is free. There is no cost to attend,
and if you're a healthcare provider, there'll be free seeing
(20:11):
me or continuing medical education credit available to you as well.
All professionals are invited to attend.
Speaker 1 (20:15):
Great Thank you so much, doctor Asif m Ilias, President
of the Rothman Opioid Foundation, an organization dedicated to advancing research, education,
and policy to improve pay management and reduce unnecessary opioid use.
Thank you so much.
Speaker 5 (20:31):
Thank you, Lauren, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (20:34):
And finally, we lost a radio legend and a good friend.
Wmmr's Pier Robert passed away this week. I was lucky
enough to see him a couple of weeks ago when
he spoke at the AIDS Walk retrospective. I'd like to
share his inspiring words marking the end of this important
event which for decades raised money and awareness for HIV
and AIDS.
Speaker 4 (20:55):
Next up, we have another one of our great friends
from the media, Pierre Robert, at the Pierre M.
Speaker 6 (21:01):
Seed Many Walks. I don't know if it was all overcome,
but the majority of that okay, And I'm so glad
that you're here today. Welcome Pierre, Thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (21:14):
You know, I was thinking as I was driving in
about three words compassion and action and transition. And when
I left San Francisco in nineteen eighty one, it was
just starting. And what age became I referred to as
an out of control forest fire.
Speaker 6 (21:37):
If you know, as Lorraine.
Speaker 3 (21:39):
Mentioned in the earlier days, if you were diagnosed, the
chances of you living.
Speaker 6 (21:43):
Were not good. So the and you know, these hotspots
all around the country.
Speaker 3 (21:49):
And then the great also transitioned from grid because I
remember when they called it grid in the very beginning,
which was not correct. And look at Africa where it
was atter, actual people being infected and dying left and right.
But the transition there into the word AIDS and now
we referred to it as HIV and a's. But the
(22:11):
compassion is the most important part, because the late Jane
Goodall said, if you can't do something large, do something,
take action, do something.
Speaker 6 (22:22):
So what were friends to do? In the beginning, we
didn't even know.
Speaker 3 (22:26):
People were afraid to even stand next to someone with
AIDS as we learned more as years went by, learned
that we didn't have to be afraid of people. And
even before that, even if they didn't know, friends started
gathering and taking care of their brothers and sisters who
were dying rapidly of this illness. And so they would
(22:49):
come up with the most unique ways of caring that
were nationwide and also right here in Philadelphia, for example,
Action Aids.
Speaker 6 (22:58):
My former boyfriend Mike, now very good friend, was a.
Speaker 3 (23:02):
Buddy and so if you can't, you know, fix it,
maybe you could volunteer time to be a companion to
someone who was affected by this disease. And if you
did sign up in those days, the chances of you
carrying that friendship on were.
Speaker 6 (23:20):
Not good because most likely that person was going to die.
Speaker 3 (23:23):
But what an impact you could have one on one
with that person. I think of people that needed food
and Manna sprung up this wonderful organization to deliver nutritious
meals to people who couldn't get them. I think of
I don't know what pause I guess it was that
(23:44):
started to take care of people's pets, you know, and
anytime there was a need. In other words, compassionate friends
came together and stood up and took the action. And
most personified to me when I went to Washington on
a couple of different occasions, when they spread out the
AIDS quilt. Seeing patches of it at the Age Walk
(24:05):
every year is still emotional to me. But imagine the
entire mall, you know, from Lincoln Memorial to the Washington Monument.
Speaker 6 (24:14):
Covered with these quilts. It was devastating.
Speaker 3 (24:19):
You've got the whole global picture of it, but you
also got the individual each panel, you got the story
of that person's life.
Speaker 6 (24:27):
Almost overwhelming and yet so beautiful.
Speaker 3 (24:31):
So in other words, out of compassion, all these things
sprung up, including a walk, and I'm told there were
thirty eight walks, and I think I hosted many of them.
I broadcast live, as did Lorraine from many of them,
and it was so inspiring, and in the height of it,
(24:53):
it was such a community event. Thousands and thousands of
people would gather to do this walk. I do remember
when they raised I think a million dollars in one walk,
you know, and thirty thousand people, and it just got
It was so inspiring to see that compassion and that action,
and then we started to get the illness under control,
(25:16):
and almost at a similar timeline, the amount of people
lessened that would come and lessened each year.
Speaker 6 (25:25):
The amount of money that was made each year declined.
Speaker 3 (25:29):
And God was Rob Reker, who's out doing the walk
right now by the way, and the Dukes of Destiny
who played every single age walk at the end, the
great Jazz Ben. But all the people who worked on that,
including Rob, in the last number of years that it
was around, Rob would get so sad that the amount
of money was declining, and it was sad, and it
(25:50):
was sad to see less and less people. But that
brings us to the transition part, because I remember in California,
I joined an environmental group that was trying to save
a huge piece of land in Alaska, and I only contributed.
I only had five dollars, but I said, and they
would send me to these regular updates, and finally they
(26:13):
sent one said we're closing down. We saved the piece
of property. We did what we were tasked with doing,
Thank you and goodbye. In other words, the idea of
any charity is to put itself out.
Speaker 6 (26:27):
Of business, you know. Can you imagine the.
Speaker 3 (26:30):
American Cancer Society announcing we're done we fixed this and
going away. It didn't happen in my mother's lifetime when
she had cancer.
Speaker 6 (26:39):
It will not happen in my lifetime.
Speaker 3 (26:41):
It will not happen in many people's lifetime in terms
of cancer. But in this particular case, through all this compassion,
through all this action and pressure on Washington, and all
the things that needed to happen to push science to
the place where it is now, we were able to
start making transitions. So while it is sad that the
AIDS Walk has gone away, it put itself out of business,
(27:04):
think about that it did what.
Speaker 6 (27:07):
It needed to do.
Speaker 3 (27:08):
Yes, the disease is still with us, HIV is still
with us, illness is still with us, and people still
need services. But that fund did what it needed to do.
It concluded its mission and so it transitioned, you know, action.
AIDS transitioned into action and wellness and still does all
kinds of wonderful work Manna transition from just serving people
(27:31):
with HIV into serving all kinds of people with illnesses.
So the compassion, the action, and if you're successful the transition,
what are you going to do now? And that's where
we find ourselves today. So I salute everybody who was
involved at any point in any way over the years.
It was inspiring, but the work goes on in different ways,
(27:55):
and as Jane Goodall said, if you don't, if this
is not your passion, find something that is and to action.
Do anything for anyone in any way, and you'll feel
better so fast.
Speaker 6 (28:07):
Sure.
Speaker 1 (28:13):
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 Keywords Philadelphia Community Podcast.
Follow me on Twitter and Instagram at Lorraine Ballard. I'm
Lorraine Ballard Morrow, and I stand for service to our
community and media that empowers.
Speaker 2 (28:33):
What will you stand for?
Speaker 1 (28:35):
You've been listening to what's going on, and thank you
Good morning, and welcome to What's going On, a show
about making a difference in our lives and our communities.
I'm Lorraine Baller. Tomorrow today, we're joined by doctor ASF Elias,
President of the Rothmann Opiord Foundation. Doctor Elias is on
a mission to reduce unnecessary opioid use through research, education
and advocacy. He'll share more about the foundation's work and
(00:21):
give us a preview of their upcoming Medical Cannabis Symposium.
And finally, we'll take a moment to remember Pierre Robert,
the legendary WMMR radio host and my dear friend who
passed away this week. Will share an excerpt from his
remarks at the Aidswok Philly Commemoration, a powerful reminder of
his voice, his passion, and the deep love he had
(00:42):
for the city. That's all ahead on what's going on,
But first, Owning a home is a major milestone, but
can also feel out of reach without the right support
and guidance. The Urban League of Greater Philadelphia is helping
change that through its Comprehensive Home Buyers Program, which equips
individuals and families with an no knowledge, tools and resources
they need to achieve sustainable homeownership. Joining us right now
(01:05):
is Abraham rey es Pardo, who's vice president of the
Office of Housing and Diversion Services at the Urban League
of Greater Philadelphia. It's going to talk to us about
how this program is opening doors to opportunity across our city.
So tell us about this home buyers program. Who is
eligible and is it just for first time buyers?
Speaker 2 (01:22):
That's an excellent question. Thank you for having me. Yeah,
the program is open to anyone who wants to gain
knowledge about the home buying process. We have a targeted
focus on first time home buyers. In twenty twenty two,
we embark on a special project called Philly five thousand
where we want to bring five thousand families into home ownership.
And with that came special effort to guide more people
(01:46):
into getting the resources that they need to achieve sustainable
home ownership. Someone whose own home can also use our
program to in our classes receive counseling as a pressure.
I mean, some of these processes have changed over time,
including some of the programs at the City of Philadelphia
(02:07):
offers in terms of taxes, probably taxes and other protections
for homeowners, particularly now that the City of Philadelphia is
about to launch the Home Initiative, which I'm sure some
people have heard about, and there's always been synergy between
the housing counseling organizations and the city for the deployment
of some of these programs.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
Well, so what kind of exects services specifically in support
does the Urban League provide to help potential home buyers
get ready to buy a home?
Speaker 2 (02:34):
So we run we have a Saturday morning shows. I
like to call it kindly, but it's an ongoing for
standing for some home bar webinar that runs from ten
am to two pm every Saturday, yes or yes or
the average year we complete around sixty three of those sessions.
So we have our standing Zoom session where we have
(02:56):
a realtor, lender, home inspector, and someone other professionals talking
about what it takes to become a homeowner, including a
housing counselor that's one of those professionals. So we have
those standing sessions happening every Saturday, and then we go
out into the community base mins, community rooms, houses of worship,
you name, it will be to one of those. And
(03:18):
the idea is to go into some of these places
knowing that some people are not technology savvy. The digital
divide is real. Some people are still having a hard
time accessing this information. So we put special attention and
we partner with local members of the community or organizations
who are executing some kind of work to give you
an idea. In West Philadelphia, for example, we have partnered
(03:40):
with long standing real estate organizations that we know are
in service of those communities, and then we go with them,
we organize sessions, and then we follow up. Whereas the
people who attend those sessions across the board have the
option to receive one on one counseling as well. So
we're doing the financial literacy, we're doing housing counseling. During
(04:01):
the one on one counseling, we talk about your financial profile,
what goes into your financial profile, credit, asset, income's income, collateral,
if you already have an idea of what property you're
looking at right and then once we have done one
two like in boxing, then we bring you into the
other option, which is if you are going to make
(04:21):
it to the finish line, we reward you with down
payment and closing costs system.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
Oh wow, that's amazing.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
So one of the things that our program has been
very successful at and what we are getting a reputation
for is because we have been able to take all
of this information programs offered by lenders, by realtors, by
the state, by the City of Philadelphia, and we are
team of hotproof housing counselors can meet with someone and
kind of give them an idea of their situation pairs
(04:50):
with these different programs. So some people are walking into
these transactions with capital stacks of forty six thousand dollars
from different programs that they were able to leverage. That
always makes me happy. I'm not going to say that's
the rule, but a lot of people can qualify for
programs available through the state, through the city, and then
we're always encouraging mortgage lenders and banks to provide that
(05:14):
additional support that a lot of folks need due to
the lack of wealth or generational wealth.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
And sometimes people just don't know what they don't know.
I think that's the problem. You know, there are lots
of programs out there, but if you don't know what
they are, then you can't take advantage. So you kind
of are the one stop shop to help you corral
all that benefit and money.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
There's a lot of misinformation and we continue to fight
with that sometimes people coming to the program, they tell
you how my program runs, and I'm like, well, yes,
there's some truth to that, but here are the steps
one to three. We're not rigid, but we organize. We'll
help them organize some of those ideas so they can
achieve their goal of sustainable homeownership.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
I wonder if you can give us an example of
a homeowner or someone who was a potential homeowner that
was able to cross that finish line.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
Yeah. Lately, I've been talking about a lot about the
twenty year olds who are coming to a program. People
who are younger and are just have been had employment history,
have been really good at that may perhaps saving some
money or getting assistance from a member of the family,
(06:24):
and then we connect them with resources as well. So
I don't know where you were a twenty years old,
but at by twenty years old, I was definitely not
thinking about buying the house exactly. So one of them
actually came to us when he was nineteen and he
(06:44):
turned twenty as if he had already purchased his first home. Wow,
so young folks, Just because there's a lot of talk
these days about younger people not being able to access homeownership.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
We know.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
Let me just say that, we know that in Philadelphia
things are changing, right just like in everywhere every other market.
That's part of the reason why things are changing in
Philadelphia because the surrounding markets are taking notice about Philadelphia.
But one of the things that pre builds in Philadelphia
is home ownership is still relatively accessible, Whereas with two
(07:23):
two hundred and fifty thousand dollars in places like New
York or DC, you're definitely not buying a house, and
in Philadelphia is still a reality for a lot of folks.
And the tradition of Philadelphia is homeownership. This has been
historically a place of homeowners and we are helping people
preserve and communities preserve that well.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
Abraham tell us, how can listeners register or get more
information about the program?
Speaker 2 (07:50):
That's a very good question. We're everywhere. We have a beautiful,
recently reimagined website that can give you all of information
about how to join our program. We're also event bright
where people can find us, and we have a solid
following of around three thousand people that are consistently watching
what we do, and that includes a lot of people
(08:13):
in the lending and realtor community. So anyone who googles
to Urban League event bright will be able to find
you find us. Urban League philow dot org is one
of our avenues. Everything gets disseminated through a different social
media channels linkeding x, Instagram, Facebook, We try.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
And is there a phone number for those people who
aren't so tech savvy exactly?
Speaker 2 (08:37):
Yes, two one five ninety five three two two zero
two one five nine eight five three two two zero.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
Well, the dream of home ownership seems so far away
for so many people, but the Urban League of Philadelphia
of Greater Philadelphia is really helping make those dreams come true.
And I'm very delighted to hear that young people like
nineteen and twenty are thinking about home ownership and are
actually getting there a home because, as we know, that's
really the start of building generational wealth, right.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
Building generational wealth, that's something that is extremely important for
their own league. We've heard what is happening with Tangled
titles in Philadelphia. I mean a PU Charitable Trusts published
that article now four years ago, so that is something
that we're also helping address. I mean ten thousand families
being in that sort of lay Mow Gray area very
(09:28):
specialized but also expensive work to untangle those titles. So
once we have brought people into home ownership, we also
talk about estate planning with them.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
That's fantastic. So you really create an opportunity in a
platform for people to stabilize their finances, to build wealth,
and to go from you know, from zero to having
something that can pass on to their next generation.
Speaker 3 (09:57):
Right.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
Yeah, And I love it when we have our sixty
to ninety people in the class every Saturday, and then
we have a lot of what comes out of the
mouths of our constituents, of our clients is I want
to buy a house because they want to live something
for my kids beautiful.
Speaker 1 (10:14):
I love that and that is a major milestone for
so many people. It's really what they used to call
the American dream. And you know, the Philadelphia the Urban
League of Greater Philadelphia is helping to make that happen
through their Comprehensive Home Buyers Program, which helps individuals and
families with knowledge, tools and resources they need to achieve
(10:35):
sustainable home ownership and so much more. Thank you so much.
Abraham Rayes Pardo, Vice President of the Office of Housing
and Diversion Services at the Urban League of Greater Philadelphia.
Thanks for sharing all that information.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
I appreciate you. Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (10:51):
You're listening to what's going on today. We're joined by
doctor Asif m Ilias, President of the Rothmann opiord Foundation,
an organization dedicated to advancing research, education, and policy to
improve pain management and reduce unnecessary opioid use. Doctor Elias
is also an orthopedic surgeon at Rothman Orthopedics and is
(11:13):
the driving force behind the upcoming Medical Cannabis Symposium at
the Sydney Kimmel Medical College on November eighth. Thank you
so much for joining us here today. And pain is
an issue that so many Americans face, especially when it
comes to our backs and next and there's been such
a tremendous issue with the use of O prioids and
(11:36):
the eventual misuse of OI pioids to address the pain.
So tell us about the mission, first of all, of
the Rothman Opioid Foundation and what inspired you to create it.
Speaker 4 (11:47):
Sure well, First of all, Lauren, thanks for having me
on and discussing pain and our foundation and the work
that we're doing. So as you mentioned, pain is an
important thing that we all deal with in various capacities
and something that we can often struggle with and it
can also become problematic. And we learned as practicing physicians
in the Greater Philadelphy area, as members of rothn Orthopedic extent,
(12:09):
we were seeing increased problems around pain management and opioid addiction.
So we created a foundation dedicated around solving this problem.
So we call it the Wrothman Opioid Foundation, and the
foundation has a threefold mission. First is educating the public
and prescribers on safe opioid use and prescribing. The second
(12:35):
part is performing and or supporting research around pain management
that emphasizes opioid sparing or opiate alternative pain management strategies.
And third is around advocacy, serving as a think tank
with our policy makers to support evidence based strategies when
they're looking at different laws and policies to put forth
(12:57):
for society.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
You've been a leader voice in redefining pain management. What
are some of the biggest misconceptions about opioid use and
pain treatment right now?
Speaker 5 (13:08):
Well, in many misconceptions.
Speaker 4 (13:09):
Firstly, pain, like I mentioned, is unfortunately a ubiquitous problem.
We see pain in lots of ways. It can be
after an injury. It can be from aging and degenerate
changes in our body. It can be from conditions such
as cancer, so we have to treat them that. We
have to treat the different pains in different ways. Our
concern about pain management is the overreliance on opioids, and
(13:32):
one of the common misconceptions. Firstly, I'll say is that,
first of all, not all opioids are bad.
Speaker 5 (13:36):
We rely on opioids.
Speaker 4 (13:38):
Routinely to manage patients and the public's pain predicting in
a surgical space. Wheneveryone has surgery, there's some amount of
opiods being used that facilitates surgery. But the key is
to use opioids safely and whenever possible, to use alternative
pain management strategies. So not use opioids as our first
line of treatment, but rather use it as a one
(14:00):
of the tools, but one of the late tools that
we will go to after first exhausting the safer pay
managements options.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
How does medical cannabis fit into a larger evidence based
approach to pain management, especially for orthopedic patients.
Speaker 4 (14:18):
Indeed, medical cannabis is a very new phenomenon that has
become public, has become legal in many parts of the country,
not every part of the country. I would say that
a far majority of believe around forty states out of
fifty have legalized the use of medical cannabis. In some
cases it's medically only, like in our state of Pennsylvania
(14:40):
and other states, is for both medical and recreational uses,
and medical cannabis has become a useful additional tool in
our ability to manage pain. Particularly where we're finding most
value with medical cannabis is in the chronic pain space
and in the cancer pain space. Whenever you get deale
with a chronic pain condition. Opioids are less effective because
(15:03):
you need more and more opioids to maintain the same
level of pain relief, and that is part of the
reason why people develop addiction and the need for more
opioids in order to achieve the same effect. Medical cannabis
is serving a nice role in managing patients with chronic
pain because it does not need that increasing requirement and
is relatively safer from a side effect profile compared to opioids.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
There is medical marijuana here in Pennsylvania and in New Jersey,
and I think in Delaware this recreational use. So people
have fairly ready access to cannabis. How do you distinguish
the use of cannabis that between medically prescribed cannabis and
(15:49):
what people might do on their own taking advantage of
the accessibility of cannabis.
Speaker 5 (15:55):
That's a great question.
Speaker 4 (15:56):
So there's obviously there's been cannabis around for forever.
Speaker 5 (16:00):
Essentially now it's legal.
Speaker 4 (16:02):
As you mentioned, the states you mentioned all have medical
access and some have recreational access. Generally, let's focus on
the medical cannabis side and we'll focus on the Pennsylvanian perspective.
In Pennsylvania, for you to access medical cannabis, you have
to see a physician who is trained in certifying you
for medical cannabis. So they assess you, they do a
(16:25):
history and examine, they assess you and see do you
meet the criteria to receive medical cannabis. That a doctor
then fills out a form that goes to the state,
and then you get a license. It kind of almost
looks like a driver's license that says you're able to
get medical cannabis, and then at that point you can
go to a dispensary and then access medical cannabis.
Speaker 5 (16:43):
What's really different.
Speaker 4 (16:45):
Though, in terms of a medical cannabis compared to prescription
medication is that your physicians can certify you for cannabis,
but they can't prescribe cannabis, so you still simply go
to a dispensary and get what you want. That's an
issue that money of us are having with the current
model in terms of patients getting medical cannabis. We can
advise and suggest what you should take, but really you're
(17:08):
taking it. You're making those decisions at the dispensary. In
contrast to most prescription medications, where the physicians and prescribers
will write out the medication, the dosage is the frequency,
the duration, the refills, et cetera. That is not the
case with medical cannabis. So it is a different dynamic
that patients have to be aware of. The Other thing
that's important to be aware of it it's not covered
(17:29):
by insurance, so it can be quite costly. Currently there's
no insurance support for the use of medical cannabis.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
Well, you have an upcoming event the Foundation is sponsoring
medical Cannabis. What we Know and What We Do Not Know,
which explores cannabis as part of a pain management regimen.
Tell us what participants can expect from the symposium. Who
should attend as well.
Speaker 4 (17:53):
Of course, thank you for asking the question, And just
as a background, one of the things that we do
at the Foundation is we try to tackle we of
things obviously, but we try to tackle a big question
in an annual symposium where we bring together clinicians, researchers,
policy makers, and different key stakeholders together and have a discussion.
(18:13):
And so this year we're hosting a symposium like you mentioned,
around medical cannabis. It's scheduled for Saturday, November eighth on
the Jefferson Campus and in this symposia, we're going to
discuss what we what are our updated knowledge about medical
cannabis in terms of its efficacy, indications, outcomes. We're also
going to have a policy session where we're going to
(18:33):
have multiple legislators president who are going to discuss some
of the challenges around medical cannabis from a society and
a policy perspective. And then we're going to have a
session on some of the controversies around medical cannabis in
terms of different types of cannabis, legalizate sorry certification for cannabis,
driving while utilizing cannabis, et cetera.
Speaker 5 (18:53):
So it's going to be a far reaching symposium.
Speaker 4 (18:55):
We're also going to have a guest speaker in Todd
Harriman's who's a former Philadelphia and an advocate for cannabis
use for chronic pain as well. So we have a
fairly robust program kind of tackling all the different aspects
of cannabis and really focusing on what we know and
what we don't know, as the title goes, and also
kind of focusing on some of the controversies.
Speaker 1 (19:13):
If people would like more information about this symposium, which
is happening on November eighth, give us the details of
the symposium and also the location, the time, and how
people can find out more about that, and also about
the Rothman Opioid Foundation.
Speaker 4 (19:29):
Of course, so the second question first. To learn more
about the foundation, you can go to www Dot Rothmanopioid
dot org or you can also go to our Instagram
or Facebook or LinkedIn sites for Instagram at simply Rothman
Opioid at Rothminfopiod one word. At both sides, both the
website www Dot Rothmanopioi dot org or our social media
(19:50):
sites like Instagram at Rothmanopioid, you'll see the information about
the symposium which will be on Saturday, November eighth, at
the Jefferson Campus in Center City, Philadelphia in the Blumely
Life Science Building. It'll run from a thirty to twelve thirty.
This symposium is free. There is no cost to attend,
and if you're a healthcare provider, there'll be free seeing
(20:11):
me or continuing medical education credit available to you as well.
All professionals are invited to attend.
Speaker 1 (20:15):
Great Thank you so much, doctor Asif m Ilias, President
of the Rothman Opioid Foundation, an organization dedicated to advancing research, education,
and policy to improve pay management and reduce unnecessary opioid use.
Thank you so much.
Speaker 5 (20:31):
Thank you, Lauren, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (20:34):
And finally, we lost a radio legend and a good friend.
Wmmr's Pier Robert passed away this week. I was lucky
enough to see him a couple of weeks ago when
he spoke at the AIDS Walk retrospective. I'd like to
share his inspiring words marking the end of this important
event which for decades raised money and awareness for HIV
and AIDS.
Speaker 4 (20:55):
Next up, we have another one of our great friends
from the media, Pierre Robert, at the Pierre M.
Speaker 6 (21:01):
Seed Many Walks. I don't know if it was all overcome,
but the majority of that okay, And I'm so glad
that you're here today. Welcome Pierre, Thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (21:14):
You know, I was thinking as I was driving in
about three words compassion and action and transition. And when
I left San Francisco in nineteen eighty one, it was
just starting. And what age became I referred to as
an out of control forest fire.
Speaker 6 (21:37):
If you know, as Lorraine.
Speaker 3 (21:39):
Mentioned in the earlier days, if you were diagnosed, the
chances of you living.
Speaker 6 (21:43):
Were not good. So the and you know, these hotspots
all around the country.
Speaker 3 (21:49):
And then the great also transitioned from grid because I
remember when they called it grid in the very beginning,
which was not correct. And look at Africa where it
was atter, actual people being infected and dying left and right.
But the transition there into the word AIDS and now
we referred to it as HIV and a's. But the
(22:11):
compassion is the most important part, because the late Jane
Goodall said, if you can't do something large, do something,
take action, do something.
Speaker 6 (22:22):
So what were friends to do? In the beginning, we
didn't even know.
Speaker 3 (22:26):
People were afraid to even stand next to someone with
AIDS as we learned more as years went by, learned
that we didn't have to be afraid of people. And
even before that, even if they didn't know, friends started
gathering and taking care of their brothers and sisters who
were dying rapidly of this illness. And so they would
(22:49):
come up with the most unique ways of caring that
were nationwide and also right here in Philadelphia, for example,
Action Aids.
Speaker 6 (22:58):
My former boyfriend Mike, now very good friend, was a.
Speaker 3 (23:02):
Buddy and so if you can't, you know, fix it,
maybe you could volunteer time to be a companion to
someone who was affected by this disease. And if you
did sign up in those days, the chances of you
carrying that friendship on were.
Speaker 6 (23:20):
Not good because most likely that person was going to die.
Speaker 3 (23:23):
But what an impact you could have one on one
with that person. I think of people that needed food
and Manna sprung up this wonderful organization to deliver nutritious
meals to people who couldn't get them. I think of
I don't know what pause I guess it was that
(23:44):
started to take care of people's pets, you know, and
anytime there was a need. In other words, compassionate friends
came together and stood up and took the action. And
most personified to me when I went to Washington on
a couple of different occasions, when they spread out the
AIDS quilt. Seeing patches of it at the Age Walk
(24:05):
every year is still emotional to me. But imagine the
entire mall, you know, from Lincoln Memorial to the Washington Monument.
Speaker 6 (24:14):
Covered with these quilts. It was devastating.
Speaker 3 (24:19):
You've got the whole global picture of it, but you
also got the individual each panel, you got the story
of that person's life.
Speaker 6 (24:27):
Almost overwhelming and yet so beautiful.
Speaker 3 (24:31):
So in other words, out of compassion, all these things
sprung up, including a walk, and I'm told there were
thirty eight walks, and I think I hosted many of them.
I broadcast live, as did Lorraine from many of them,
and it was so inspiring, and in the height of it,
(24:53):
it was such a community event. Thousands and thousands of
people would gather to do this walk. I do remember
when they raised I think a million dollars in one walk,
you know, and thirty thousand people, and it just got
It was so inspiring to see that compassion and that action,
and then we started to get the illness under control,
(25:16):
and almost at a similar timeline, the amount of people
lessened that would come and lessened each year.
Speaker 6 (25:25):
The amount of money that was made each year declined.
Speaker 3 (25:29):
And God was Rob Reker, who's out doing the walk
right now by the way, and the Dukes of Destiny
who played every single age walk at the end, the
great Jazz Ben. But all the people who worked on that,
including Rob, in the last number of years that it
was around, Rob would get so sad that the amount
of money was declining, and it was sad, and it
(25:50):
was sad to see less and less people. But that
brings us to the transition part, because I remember in California,
I joined an environmental group that was trying to save
a huge piece of land in Alaska, and I only contributed.
I only had five dollars, but I said, and they
would send me to these regular updates, and finally they
(26:13):
sent one said we're closing down. We saved the piece
of property. We did what we were tasked with doing,
Thank you and goodbye. In other words, the idea of
any charity is to put itself out.
Speaker 6 (26:27):
Of business, you know. Can you imagine the.
Speaker 3 (26:30):
American Cancer Society announcing we're done we fixed this and
going away. It didn't happen in my mother's lifetime when
she had cancer.
Speaker 6 (26:39):
It will not happen in my lifetime.
Speaker 3 (26:41):
It will not happen in many people's lifetime in terms
of cancer. But in this particular case, through all this compassion,
through all this action and pressure on Washington, and all
the things that needed to happen to push science to
the place where it is now, we were able to
start making transitions. So while it is sad that the
AIDS Walk has gone away, it put itself out of business,
(27:04):
think about that it did what.
Speaker 6 (27:07):
It needed to do.
Speaker 3 (27:08):
Yes, the disease is still with us, HIV is still
with us, illness is still with us, and people still
need services. But that fund did what it needed to do.
It concluded its mission and so it transitioned, you know, action.
AIDS transitioned into action and wellness and still does all
kinds of wonderful work Manna transition from just serving people
(27:31):
with HIV into serving all kinds of people with illnesses.
So the compassion, the action, and if you're successful the transition,
what are you going to do now? And that's where
we find ourselves today. So I salute everybody who was
involved at any point in any way over the years.
It was inspiring, but the work goes on in different ways,
(27:55):
and as Jane Goodall said, if you don't, if this
is not your passion, find something that is and to action.
Do anything for anyone in any way, and you'll feel
better so fast.
Speaker 6 (28:07):
Sure.
Speaker 1 (28:13):
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 Keywords Philadelphia Community Podcast.
Follow me on Twitter and Instagram at Lorraine Ballard. I'm
Lorraine Ballard Morrow, and I stand for service to our
community and media that empowers.
Speaker 2 (28:33):
What will you stand for?
Speaker 1 (28:35):
You've been listening to what's going on, and thank you
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