April 21, 2026 • 29 mins
“Continue the tremendous impact on local, homeless veterans by joining Veterans Outreach of PA for an unforgettable afternoon at the Greystone Battle of the Roses – Derby Day on Saturday, May 2nd at Greystone Brewhouse in Harrisburg.”
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi, I'm Sylvia Moss.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
This is Insight, a presentation of iHeartMedia where we really
do care about our local communities and all our listeners
who live here. In fact, I personally care so much
about what we discuss on this program every week that
every time the thoughts of today's particular guests come to mind,
I literally, as I told him, I get all teared
up with us to hand me a box of tissues.
(00:21):
Is Tom Zimmerman, co founder and immediate PASS board chair,
a vote on Veterans Outreach of Pennsylvania. Never forget the
day Tom first came in here a couple of years
ago with the idea that you want to construct a
village of fifteen tiny homes in downtown Harrisburg for veterans
who were homeless. Talked about how expense it was going
to be, But you know why it happened because so
(00:43):
many people, as you've heard me say so many times
on this program, Central Pennsylvania. Wow, all you have to
let them know what the causes and they rally around you.
And the most important thing is that Tom's true belief
that no veteran who served our country should ever be
without a safe place to call home. Anyway, Tom has
brought Jordan Purcell right right, Okay, he's the new executive
(01:08):
director of BOPA. He is also a twenty three year
veteran and retired Master Sergeant of Pennsylvania Army National Guard,
twenty one years active service, and he looks like he's
not even twenty one years old. I don't know what
you're drinking, but I want some of that and a
couple of minutes we're going to find out what makes
during so uniquely qualified for his role at BOPA and
(01:28):
his insight into the fact that each homeless veteran has
specific needs. First, I want to talk to Uncle Tom
over there. Tom, you were the first one to come
up with the idea and rally around people, and it's
amazing how people have stepped up to help BOPA. But
one of the people that actually Jason and Kelly Viscount.
They have a Greystone Public House and they've been your
(01:51):
sponsor of the Greystone Battle of the Roses Derby Day
pretty much since the beginning, right.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
Well, since the beginning for us, that's for sure. I
think this is going to be our fifth year as
the beneficiary of this event. Wow, it's perfect.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
It's blast well I want to talk Mornie about that,
but I can't understand if anybody out there listening, if
you didn't hear about the fifteen tiny homes down in Harrisburg.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
Tom, where is it located.
Speaker 3 (02:16):
We are located in the southern part of Harrisburg, just
south of the pen Dot Building along the Susquehanna River.
We have five acres of land that was donated to
us by Peggy Grove and it's just the perfect spot. Location.
The serenity is ideal for what we're accomplishing at Veterans.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
Grove, and it's a complete package.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
And that's one of the things I want to talk
about to today. But I want to talk more to
Tom or to Jordan. Excuse me, as I said. You're
a local kid, right, You graduated from Cedarcliffe, Cedar Crest, Pittercrest,
Cedar Crest, and let me ask you. You started talking
off Mike about your experience, but I think you are
so uniquely qualified, not only because you've been in the military,
(02:57):
but your focus is always it's been well, you did
a lot of stuff, Okay, you handle all the books,
you did training, everything else, but your interest has always
been in people who are going through rough time.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
Behavioral health. Right, that's why this is so perfect right.
Speaker 4 (03:15):
For you, That's exactly right. So I was a medic
in the Army for a majority of my career. Cool,
no one ever died on my watch as a medic,
But my passion was always behavioral health. I was my
unit's suicide intervention officer, behavioral health officer, master resiliency trainer.
I've always taught to suicide prevention, suicide and intervention classes
and it just was always a passion of mine undergrad
(03:36):
and psychology and the whole works.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
That's perfect.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
Well, let me ask you guys, both of you guys,
people don't realize they see best side of the street.
Oh it tears me apart when I see that. But
it's not just find them a home, put them somewhere.
They come with a lot of issues. And because your
background and the people that you have at the Yeah,
listen to me down.
Speaker 1 (03:59):
I called the grove.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
It sounds like I'm talking about canobles as we use it,
called cannobles. But anyway, veterans grove talk us to us
a little bit about what are some of the issues
that the vets have when they come in there.
Speaker 4 (04:12):
So absolutely so. They're they're recovering from substance use disorders.
They have a myriad of diagnosable disorders between the PTSD,
adjustment disorder, depressive major depressive disorder, anxiety. So they come
bent but not broken. So and that's what they're there for.
We can do, we can, They're still malleable, we can
still get them to the right shape. But they all
(04:34):
have their unique experiences, their unique setbacks. But we bring
them together individually and collectively through the therapeutic community.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
Therapeutic community. You can get them, you can do give
them everything they need. But the therapeutic community is extremely
important for them moving forward.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
Tell us exactly why that.
Speaker 4 (04:53):
Is so absolutely so that they're the therapeutic community, much
like the military is. You have that camaraderie, you have
that brother that sisterhood. Because we have both male and
female resident veterans, so the residents can count on having
someone having their back, and they're having someone else's so
they're accountable and people are accountable for them. It's not
just the staff, it's the fellow community members there. We
(05:16):
utilize three meetings a day Monday to Friday of programming
where they come together as a community and we have
staff that works with them with their individual service plans
as well.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
Oh that's wonderful, and that's why it's so cool too,
because individual service plans, that's like everything structured individually. That
is correct, everybody, that's fantastic. Okay, they also know that.
To me when you say therapeutic, first thing I think
about is somebody has my back and I responsibility and
it's like going home.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
Everybody wants to go home.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
And that's because home a lot of times, even though
even if you're not someone who's homeless or you're not
somebody in the military with these issues, home is always
where you feel safe, right, And I think that has
a lot to do with the do you mentioned you.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
Now have a limit?
Speaker 2 (06:05):
Well, first of all, I want to ask Tom this,
this moving into June is going to be your second year, right.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
That is correct.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
You're all booked up, we are, and you have a
lady down there. How'd you do that? Well?
Speaker 3 (06:17):
That would be with Jordan and the leadership team.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
You know.
Speaker 3 (06:20):
We our philosophy is if you were willing to sacrifice
your life for our freedom, it doesn't matter what sex
you are, it doesn't matter what political background. Us as
Americans need to stand up and you know, so that's
that's what the vision of our co founder, Valve you know,
am I when we started, and it was it was
didn't matter who you were or what you were, if
you were a military person, you qualified. You could qualify
(06:43):
to be part of our program, you know. And I
want to kind of just stress too that veterans outreach
is a little bit different than everybody else, and we
really focus on those twenty percent of veterans who have
fallen through the cracks. There's great organizations as you know
Sylvia for many years helping well.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
Tom word of these vets come from.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
You just don't go out and look on the street
for somebody looks like a homeless fat.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
I mean, it's amazing. You know, most of us as Americans,
have somebody who has been part of the military in
some form or fashion, whether it be your grandfather, aunt
or uncle or mother or father or brother or sister
or cousin. And when veterans or military people and they
graduate or they retire from the military, they come back
(07:27):
sometimes changed and there's a hard transition into the corporate
world and adjusting, and it takes time. We have veterans
down there of Jordan and I were just talking about
this that you know, start at age thirty two and
as old as seventy four, So it's not something that
just happens as soon as they get out of the military.
It's a process, and everybody's story is unique and different.
(07:50):
I was at a breakfast this morning with Rocky Blier,
the NFL great for Pittsburgh Steelers, and his message was
everybody has a story. Everybody has it, and it was really,
you know, moving, because we don't know their story, and
they don't want to tell their story, especially if it's
not a good story. But the therapeutic model gets them
(08:12):
to be able to be a human being again, gives
them responsibility, gives them accountability, and creates that environment that
I am a person and I do have a story,
but what I write today and what I write tomorrow
is going to define who I am and the past
is the past.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
Well, you know what, You're absolutely right.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
First of all, when people come they've seen a military action,
how can especially the young ones, how can they come
home the same person and families expect that same person
to come home.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
We talk about homeless veterans, but we and Jordan's team
does a phenomenal job with getting them back with their families.
You know, that's part of the healing process, that's part
of reconnecting. Some of them don't have a great support system,
and you know they handle it each different and unique.
And that's also another feather in Veterans outreach of Pennsylvania's CAP.
We are customize and we create that individual service plan
(09:02):
for the veteran and work with them. And we're not
a hand up or hand out. We're a hand up.
You know. We're here to help guide you and get
you back on your feet and give you the tools
necessary to live a life of dignity and pride that
you deserve and get back into society and feel like
a human being again.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
Boy, you have a so far, You've had a great
military life. Bet you, this is the cream of the
crop for you. This job, isn't it?
Speaker 5 (09:26):
Oh?
Speaker 4 (09:26):
It absolutely is. They always say, you know, do a
job you love. You never work a day in your life.
I'm working with veterans and it's more than just a job.
It's a brotherhood.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
What surprised you since you're there, anything surprise you?
Speaker 4 (09:40):
Surprise me is learning something new every day and growing
myself holy.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
You'll learn from them too.
Speaker 4 (09:45):
I certainly do without it.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
And the whole focus is to get them on track,
help them, you know, with the structured environment, but individualized plans.
And it's nice if you can get somebody who goes
through the process and come back some work and works
for you guys, isn't it.
Speaker 4 (10:01):
That's absolutely correct, and that is definitely our goal. I mean,
we are still that fledging upstart, you know, coming up
on two years, but we're seeing tremendous individuals. If I
can share a quick story about a graduate we just
had on Friday, tell that and we have the story.
Thank you Diane for putting that out on Facebook there.
But this individual, same age as me, same military experience.
(10:23):
He was Navy versus me being military, but it could
have been me, it could have been any of us,
any any forty two year old veteran. And he was
again bent but not broken. But he had lost himself.
He had lost his confidence, he had lost his leadership.
And just seeing this individual grow and develop and take
on more responsibilities within the community to the point of
being the chief coordinator of all the residents, the liaison
(10:46):
between the staff and the residents, and we all. We
all view the residence as equals. It's not one of
those jobs that you know you have your different hierarchy.
We're all we're all family, we're all brothers and sisters
in arms there. But hearing what he had to say,
Vopa saw something when I could even see it in myself,
and just encouraging his brother and sisters, his brothers and
(11:07):
sister in arms, to continue to grow and develop and
proud to say he has a job. He is now
permanently housed, and that's the idyllic dream of veterans outreach.
But everyone's success and victory is different, and I can
keep you here all day with different stories, but that
one really spoke to me from this individual.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
And it doesn't necessarily have to be what has happened
to him for other people might, like I know, Diane
was telling me there was to start gaining way, somebody
who finally reached out to their family. They were on
the streets for years and all of a sudden, you
guys are there and their lives are changing.
Speaker 4 (11:44):
That is absolutely correct. And Tom has a plethora of stories,
you know, Diane, as do I. But just hearing that
individual that they haven't spoke to a family member. Some
it's a year, year and a half, some it's two
decades and just spending that holiday with family, and that
family is showing an interest there and that's a that's
their community as well.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
You know, we have Jordan, I want to ask this
to you.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
Mentioned Tom mentioned there as young as how thirty two
is seventy years old.
Speaker 3 (12:11):
Is it this?
Speaker 2 (12:11):
I mean, they have all different issues, but talking to
an older event, is it different? Because Tom and I
talked about when we first met, our father's post traumatic
stress disorder, and my dad used to he didn't want
to he had terrible nightmares, don't want to talk about it. Said,
if you find somebody who saw what I saw, they
all think about it.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
It seems to me.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
That wouldn't change if you were thirty two and saw
horrible stuff or if you were seventy. But is that
what you found that they share the same kind of issues.
Speaker 4 (12:41):
I would say that there is a similarity. You know,
everything is unique, but the similarity is that everyone has
that mask to wear. For the individual who was the
Vietnam Vet that he held that he wore that mask
a lot longer than some of the other ones. You know,
I'm an OIF VET. Some of the OIF vets they
can't make sense of it either, just like the older individuals,
So they are able to come together. Some individuals opening up,
(13:04):
never opening up to other civilian personnel or even in
the military, which might have been their their cause for
discharge from the military and terminated their career a little
bit earlier, but coming to VOPA seeing other individuals, hearing
that story, opening up and saying, hey, I'm safe here,
you know, because that's the quintessential thing is if I
open up, you know, can that person, is that person willing?
(13:25):
Are they able to receive it? And can they validate
or am I going to be invalidated with what happened
to me? Or oh you you were this type of
veteran versus that type of veteran. No, all veterans come
together at VOPA resident non resident alike and are able
to share their stories, their pain and that there is
a similarity there.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
I think that's fantastic. Couldn't ask for more.
Speaker 2 (13:45):
You know, I had read a article that you had
gone to tent City and you're a real adamant about
promoting your therapeutic.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
Model because it works.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
You're real interested in sharing what you're doing with other organizations.
Speaker 4 (13:59):
Right, absolutely correct. We have a tremendous partnership with the
the Well, the former tense city and now a miracle
for sure.
Speaker 1 (14:07):
Yes. Wow.
Speaker 4 (14:08):
I was actually just speaking with someone from Bethesday yesterday
because they do have some veterans there. Because the therapeutic
community model is not necessarily for everyone. They have to
want that hand up, not the handout, as Tom had said.
And I don't mean any disrespect to them, but there
is programming, there is requirements, there is responsibilities because we
do want to get them back on their feet, get
(14:29):
them back to the greatness that they once had.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
Yes, exactly, absolutely, and start to believe in themselves and
feel whole inside that we all went that uncle Tom.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
Yes, tell me about the party May second, Well.
Speaker 3 (14:42):
Party May second is going to be the Greystone Battle
of the Roses. It's that colonial road in Harrisburg and
it is on May second. Start time is two thirty
and it ends right after the major race to Kentucky Derby.
It's always the first Saturday of the month. It is
you know, the people that come the are all dressed
(15:05):
up in their gear, they have their fascinators, they have
all dressed up. They have we have music, we have games,
we have Prosecco pop, we have wine pool, we have
fifty to fifty silent auctions.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
Silent auction. You don't, I mean, you don't have never
seen this silent auction.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
It's nice.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
Oh my gosh, it's it's amazing, Like this is good.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
Well, I got to watch my good stuff.
Speaker 3 (15:27):
It is good.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
Gosh.
Speaker 3 (15:29):
Yeah, and you I think this year we're going to
have it online so you can get a link. Oh
so really, so go to Greystone Deerby dot com. You
can get your tickets online or you can actually be
a sponsor. And we have a lot of great sponsors.
Central Pa, like you mentioned, Sylvia has been phenomenal and
(15:49):
we can't thank them enough for their past support, and
we also want to thank them for their future support.
And we we want to say that we are succeeding
because of the hell that everybody is giving us to
allow us to keep our doors open and sustainability of VOPA.
It's not inexpensive to do what we're doing, and our
veterans get charged zero no matter if they have income
(16:13):
coming in or not. We do not take it. It
goes into an account they save it until we can
get them housing and a job, and then they have
a nice little nest egg that they can use.
Speaker 1 (16:21):
I didn't know that. That's fantastic.
Speaker 3 (16:23):
So we've been we've been very, very fortunate, and but
it's just a great day. The food is unbelievable. It's
all inclusive.
Speaker 2 (16:32):
The people are funny and they're even the guys get
dressed up in goofy suits like you do.
Speaker 3 (16:36):
And there's all kinds of contests, like the best dress contests,
the nicest hats, the couple and the couples, yes and so.
But the foods, I mean, it is just unbelieve We
have lamb chops, grilled honey chili, shrimp, margarita, a square mushroom, pizzas,
shrimp and grits. It's all kind of tied into the
Derby day. And of course you got your your drinks,
(16:58):
the mint jul ups which yeahs, yes, yes you did, espresso,
martinis and persecco and all kinds of stuff. But it's
a great day. It's the beginning of May. I guess
it's May second. It's really kind of a kickoff to
the nice weather the twenty twenty six. It's the first
real event that we could hopefully get outside. We've had
(17:19):
some good weather lately and we're hoping to do that
as well.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
Well, you know what, I think there's something we really
really need to talk about here, and I think you
mentioned it for people who were used to going over
to Dillsburg. Is that that guy gray Stone. It's the
one of the Colonial Road.
Speaker 3 (17:35):
Absolutely sure, absolutely, we want to make sure that you
go to the right one, and we're the we're gonna
be using the utilizing their parking lot. We'll be utilizing
the building. They have a great al patio and DJ
have a DJ clock Entertainment who's donating their time, and
they have TVs to route so we can watch the
derby races and also you know, get some information about
(17:58):
veterans outreach. But it's one of our biggest, Oh it is.
It is a big one, and it helps with our expenses.
So if you can't come, please sign up as a
sponsor or maybe make a contribution to you know, allow
us to keep our doors open.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
And I'm glad to say keep your doors open because
the place is beautiful. I mean on your website you
have aerial views of this. It's a beautiful place. But
it's open, it's full. You got you need this stuff
to take care of the people. You need to pay
them hating all that other stuff right.
Speaker 3 (18:30):
All the expenses, all the utilities to keep it clean.
It's a twenty four to seven facility. So staffing, you know,
the programming that we do. We have UPMC is a
huge sponsor of ours. We have their outreach doctors and
nurses that come every single Wednesday. We have all kinds
of it classes, you know, financial literacy and programming, and
(18:53):
it's open to all veterans. So, you know, one thing
that we haven't talked about is our outreach, which Jordan
and his clinical team is a phenomenal job. In the
year of twenty twenty five, which was our first year
of full operation, we helped over one hundred veterans, Oh
my gosh to you know, with services and programming and
you know, there's a lot of challenges out there and
(19:14):
of course we want to we want to help the
veteran before they become homeless. And if we can do that,
we can be that go to organization that veterans know that, hey,
I'm struggling trying to get some information from this place
or this benefit or whatever we can at least help
guide you and make some calls for you and put
you on that path to alleviate some of the frustration
(19:37):
that you've had.
Speaker 2 (19:38):
Oh my god, I think that's fantastic. Tell me about
some of the other stuff coming up. You got a
clay shoot coming up at the end of May too,
don't you.
Speaker 4 (19:44):
We do.
Speaker 3 (19:45):
And actually this is the fifth annual clay shoot. It's
put on by stone Bridge Financial and you can go
to their website at Stonebridge f P dot com to register.
It is the clay shoot out of Blue Ridge Sportsman's
Club just out by Central Dolphin High School. It's almost
like a golf event, but it's on a on a
(20:06):
clay shoot, you know, it's on a shoot.
Speaker 2 (20:09):
It was like they did up in Higgins Rally where they.
Speaker 3 (20:13):
Well they do, but they have eighteen different stations, so
you walk around, so each one is a little bit different.
Sometimes they throw three of the clay birds and you
got to show, and sometimes it's two, and it's and
then you take a score and then it's kind of
scored like a golfing event. And then the one with
the lowest score are I don't know if it's the
highest score however it is you know, there's prizes and
(20:34):
there's all kinds. But we are the local nonprofit that
is the beneficiary of this event. And Brian mcgarver and
Jonathan Freeman, the partners at stone Bridge Select a local
in a national and Veterans Outreach has been the local
and will be for the first ten years of this.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
So we are the last ten years.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
Yes, yes, Oh my gosh, that's fantastic. Holy heck, you
got that big golf event coming up to the outing. Now,
where is that one. It's in August. Yeah, that's always
successful too.
Speaker 3 (21:08):
That is great and that's actually so the first two
that we talked about, which was the Derby Day and
the Clay Shoot, were events that we are the beneficiary.
We don't run them. We just, thank god be able
to be to get the net process or net profits
from it. The golf shoot is our event is the
VOPA and it's the sixth annual Val Fletcher, who was
(21:29):
our co founder, Red White and Blue Scramble and it's
out at Mannata Golf Course. It is on Friday, August
twenty first, and it's a twelve pm shotgun start. It's
an all day event. We have DJs. We have silent auctions,
we have food, and it is our biggest event that
raises the most money for us. So we announced it
(21:52):
about two weeks ago. Yeah, we were at seventy five
percent full of golfers already. So if you plan on golfmen,
please get your forms in because it's going to be
sold out. But we could always use sponsors.
Speaker 2 (22:03):
I state this guy who was a golf nut, and
he's got mad at me because my favorite part is
driving the car.
Speaker 3 (22:11):
There's nothing wrong.
Speaker 1 (22:13):
And there'll be people right behind you. Sees, those people
are waiting, you know. Oh, it's fun. It's fun. I
also want to talk to if.
Speaker 2 (22:20):
You don't mind talking about something coming up in November.
Speaker 1 (22:23):
Did you announce it?
Speaker 3 (22:24):
We did not announce it, but we can kind of
touch base.
Speaker 5 (22:27):
On it here.
Speaker 1 (22:28):
No you'll come back, well surprise.
Speaker 3 (22:30):
Me, No, we can. We actually, let's do a save
the date.
Speaker 1 (22:33):
Okay, coolhead, do a save the date.
Speaker 3 (22:34):
So we are going to be having a a special
event and it is called.
Speaker 5 (22:41):
Hold on here.
Speaker 3 (22:41):
I just want to make sure I get.
Speaker 1 (22:42):
It right now.
Speaker 3 (22:43):
Kind of gratitude, an evening of gratitude, an evening of gratitude,
and it is going to be November fifth, and it's
at the Willows.
Speaker 1 (22:53):
Oh so beautiful. Is going to be like a dressing.
Speaker 3 (22:56):
It's not going to be a black tie, but it
is going to be like a bus in this casual.
It's going to be a sit down dinner. We are
working out all the details and sponsorships and we will
be having more to come, but we can at least,
you know, save the date, you know, Thursday, November fifth,
at the Willows. Follow us on the Facebook page Veterans
Outreach of Pennsylvania. Our website will be having some things
(23:19):
and hopefully some of our board members and committee people
will be reaching out to people to either come to
the event or to sign up for sponsorship.
Speaker 2 (23:27):
I want to talk about your everyday things that people
can donate.
Speaker 1 (23:31):
Do you still do that fifteen for fifteen?
Speaker 3 (23:33):
Oh we do, we do? And yeah that's easy if
everybody here. And you know, again I've mentioned multiple times
even today, Central PA has been phenomenal, but no donation
is too small. You know, people say, well, if I
had a million dollars, this is what I would have done.
And I tell people, I said, I don't have a million,
but give me twenty five and together we'll make it work.
Speaker 1 (23:53):
That's right.
Speaker 3 (23:53):
And fifteen for fifteen is basically fifteen dollars on your
credit card each and every month. You can go to
our website and that's www. Veterans Outreach of PA dot
org and go to the contribution tab and click on
the fifteen for fifteen And what basically that does is
we have fifteen tiny homes in our community, and one
dollar for every tiny home will help with the operations
(24:16):
of paying those utility bills, of keeping the lights on
on helping. And if we get a thousand people to
do it, it's going to generate one hundred and eighty thousand.
Speaker 1 (24:23):
Dollars home my god.
Speaker 3 (24:25):
So this is something that everybody can be part of.
Fifteen dollars. You know, it's it's one big cup of
coffee at Starbucks, or it's it's it's less than a
large pizza nowadays. And you know, we feel that our
veterans deserve it.
Speaker 1 (24:38):
Absolutely Community eight. Anybody can do that.
Speaker 3 (24:42):
Community at absolutely so Community Age we are. We are
a partner. They have multiple locations that you can drop off.
Not only do they take clothing, they basically take everything.
They take flat screen TVs, they take furniture and we
are a partner of that organization and our number, vopa's
(25:03):
number is five zero zero seven four, and when you
go to their drop off location, you just give them
that number and we get a credit. I think it's
thirty cents on every pound that is delivered. So it's
nice to get those those monthly checks from them. But
it's something especially now with spring cleaning. If you've got
stuff you want to get rid of, take it the
Community Aid. Go to their website communityaid dot org and
(25:26):
look for their locations and their hours. I know there's
one in Harrisburg, and there's one on the Carlisle Pike,
and there's I think six or seven throughout Central PS.
Speaker 1 (25:34):
Yeah, they're really grown. How about Amazon?
Speaker 3 (25:37):
Amazon has been a great partner, and I know we
talked with Diamcnon who is our PR consultant and word
she is and she does our Facebook page and she
does a lot of the behind the scenes work and
we partner up with some of our committees of what
our needs, immediate needs are for our veterans and it
changes daily and you can go to our Facebook page
(26:00):
and click on Amazon and see what we need and
buy and it'll get shipped directly to Veterans Growth.
Speaker 2 (26:06):
You know what, I could talk to you guys for days.
I'm from the bottom of my heart, Tom, you know
how I feel about veterans. We talked about that so much.
One more time, when to remind people about Veterans Outreach
PA will be the recipient of the proceeds at Greystone
Battle of the Roses Derby Day on Saturday May second.
It's at Graystone brew House in a Greystone brew House
(26:28):
in Harrisburg, not the West sure, the one on Colonial Road.
Don't forget that. It's so important to have all kinds
of awesome. I mean, you're not gonna forget it. You
might have to find a way home now I'm kidding.
I'm kidding. I mean people are wonderful, they're having a ball.
How do again, how do you get tickets for Derby Day?
And how to get more information about anything we talked
(26:48):
about today?
Speaker 3 (26:49):
So you can go to our website, which is the
Veterans Outreach OFPA dot org, or for Derby Day you
go to Greystonederby dot com.
Speaker 2 (26:57):
That's terrific, guys, Tom, thank you, thank you for your brain,
for your heart.
Speaker 1 (27:03):
It's for sticking through this.
Speaker 2 (27:05):
I mean we talked about I mean when you first
came in and was talking about the kind of money,
I thought, oh God, bless and I hope he gets
some of that. Look what happened is it's because good
things happen. Good things are supposed to happen. Of all
of all organizations, your stands out with veterans. I know
a lot of people we never heard of what you do.
Speaker 3 (27:25):
Your radio program helps us tremendously. So thank you for
having us. Thank you for being our supporter.
Speaker 1 (27:31):
You know that we love you. I love you guys too. Jordan.
Nice meeting you, buddy. We're gonna talk.
Speaker 4 (27:36):
Again, right, sounds great to me. Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (27:39):
Jordan is well.
Speaker 2 (27:40):
Tomas everybody know he's a co founder, immediate past board
chair and Jordan Purcell, executive director of Veterans Outreach of Pennsylvania. Guys,
thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. I'm Sylvia
Mowa's Ketch Insight every week on one of our ten
iHeart stations, or anytime on your favorite podcast step Thanks
so much for listening.
Speaker 1 (27:59):
See you next week.
Speaker 6 (28:00):
Today's world is hectic and sometimes as parents we need
a little help and we get it. Our kids prefer
to hang out with their digital babysitter, where social media
is their best friend. Companies like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube
promise entertainment and connection, but spread isolation and despair. To them,
our kids are just dollar signs for hours a day,
social media sells our children's minds to the highest bidder,
(28:21):
no matter the human cost. We would never let a
real life babysitter introduce our kids to racists, conspiracy theorists,
or women haters. We wouldn't let a babysitter show our
children violence or give them drugs. But social media companies
do this every day, making billions of dollars by feeding
our kids' content that damages their mental health and self esteem.
So before we hand our kids off to the digital babysitter,
(28:43):
just remember that social media is addictive and profitable by design.
These companies don't care, and Congress won't act, So it's
up to us. We at the Center for Countering Digital
Hate are fighting for change to make sure someone holds
these companies accountable. Join us at Protecting Kids Online dot org.
Speaker 5 (29:00):
Everyone has a community, a neighborhood, school kids, teams, where
you worship, work, work out, or any other place or
group where you choose to belong. Communities can provide support
when you need it and even when you don't know
you do, like when it comes to preventing underage drinking
and other substance use. Community members can be your eyes
(29:20):
and ears when you're not with your kids and alert
you to signs of potential problems. Learn more at Talk
They Hear You dot SAMSA dot gov.
Speaker 2 (29:28):
You'll have an unforgettable afternoon at Greystone Battle of the
Roses Derby Day. It's on Saturday, May second, a Greystone
Brewhouse in Lower Paston Township, Harrisburg. Expect great food, great fashions,
fun contests, a wonderful silent auction, and that's just a
few of the things going on. Proceeds from this amazing
event go to Veterans Outreach of PA, a remarkable organization
(29:52):
that makes a tremendous impact in the lives of our
local homeless bed Grab your ticket right now at Greystone
Deerby dot com.
Hi, I'm Sylvia Moss.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
This is Insight, a presentation of iHeartMedia where we really
do care about our local communities and all our listeners
who live here. In fact, I personally care so much
about what we discuss on this program every week that
every time the thoughts of today's particular guests come to mind,
I literally, as I told him, I get all teared
up with us to hand me a box of tissues.
(00:21):
Is Tom Zimmerman, co founder and immediate PASS board chair,
a vote on Veterans Outreach of Pennsylvania. Never forget the
day Tom first came in here a couple of years
ago with the idea that you want to construct a
village of fifteen tiny homes in downtown Harrisburg for veterans
who were homeless. Talked about how expense it was going
to be, But you know why it happened because so
(00:43):
many people, as you've heard me say so many times
on this program, Central Pennsylvania. Wow, all you have to
let them know what the causes and they rally around you.
And the most important thing is that Tom's true belief
that no veteran who served our country should ever be
without a safe place to call home. Anyway, Tom has
brought Jordan Purcell right right, Okay, he's the new executive
(01:08):
director of BOPA. He is also a twenty three year
veteran and retired Master Sergeant of Pennsylvania Army National Guard,
twenty one years active service, and he looks like he's
not even twenty one years old. I don't know what
you're drinking, but I want some of that and a
couple of minutes we're going to find out what makes
during so uniquely qualified for his role at BOPA and
(01:28):
his insight into the fact that each homeless veteran has
specific needs. First, I want to talk to Uncle Tom
over there. Tom, you were the first one to come
up with the idea and rally around people, and it's
amazing how people have stepped up to help BOPA. But
one of the people that actually Jason and Kelly Viscount.
They have a Greystone Public House and they've been your
(01:51):
sponsor of the Greystone Battle of the Roses Derby Day
pretty much since the beginning, right.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
Well, since the beginning for us, that's for sure. I
think this is going to be our fifth year as
the beneficiary of this event. Wow, it's perfect.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
It's blast well I want to talk Mornie about that,
but I can't understand if anybody out there listening, if
you didn't hear about the fifteen tiny homes down in Harrisburg.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
Tom, where is it located.
Speaker 3 (02:16):
We are located in the southern part of Harrisburg, just
south of the pen Dot Building along the Susquehanna River.
We have five acres of land that was donated to
us by Peggy Grove and it's just the perfect spot. Location.
The serenity is ideal for what we're accomplishing at Veterans.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
Grove, and it's a complete package.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
And that's one of the things I want to talk
about to today. But I want to talk more to
Tom or to Jordan. Excuse me, as I said. You're
a local kid, right, You graduated from Cedarcliffe, Cedar Crest, Pittercrest,
Cedar Crest, and let me ask you. You started talking
off Mike about your experience, but I think you are
so uniquely qualified, not only because you've been in the military,
(02:57):
but your focus is always it's been well, you did
a lot of stuff, Okay, you handle all the books,
you did training, everything else, but your interest has always
been in people who are going through rough time.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
Behavioral health. Right, that's why this is so perfect right.
Speaker 4 (03:15):
For you, That's exactly right. So I was a medic
in the Army for a majority of my career. Cool,
no one ever died on my watch as a medic,
But my passion was always behavioral health. I was my
unit's suicide intervention officer, behavioral health officer, master resiliency trainer.
I've always taught to suicide prevention, suicide and intervention classes
and it just was always a passion of mine undergrad
(03:36):
and psychology and the whole works.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
That's perfect.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
Well, let me ask you guys, both of you guys,
people don't realize they see best side of the street.
Oh it tears me apart when I see that. But
it's not just find them a home, put them somewhere.
They come with a lot of issues. And because your
background and the people that you have at the Yeah,
listen to me down.
Speaker 1 (03:59):
I called the grove.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
It sounds like I'm talking about canobles as we use it,
called cannobles. But anyway, veterans grove talk us to us
a little bit about what are some of the issues
that the vets have when they come in there.
Speaker 4 (04:12):
So absolutely so. They're they're recovering from substance use disorders.
They have a myriad of diagnosable disorders between the PTSD,
adjustment disorder, depressive major depressive disorder, anxiety. So they come
bent but not broken. So and that's what they're there for.
We can do, we can, They're still malleable, we can
still get them to the right shape. But they all
(04:34):
have their unique experiences, their unique setbacks. But we bring
them together individually and collectively through the therapeutic community.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
Therapeutic community. You can get them, you can do give
them everything they need. But the therapeutic community is extremely
important for them moving forward.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
Tell us exactly why that.
Speaker 4 (04:53):
Is so absolutely so that they're the therapeutic community, much
like the military is. You have that camaraderie, you have
that brother that sisterhood. Because we have both male and
female resident veterans, so the residents can count on having
someone having their back, and they're having someone else's so
they're accountable and people are accountable for them. It's not
just the staff, it's the fellow community members there. We
(05:16):
utilize three meetings a day Monday to Friday of programming
where they come together as a community and we have
staff that works with them with their individual service plans
as well.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
Oh that's wonderful, and that's why it's so cool too,
because individual service plans, that's like everything structured individually. That
is correct, everybody, that's fantastic. Okay, they also know that.
To me when you say therapeutic, first thing I think
about is somebody has my back and I responsibility and
it's like going home.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
Everybody wants to go home.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
And that's because home a lot of times, even though
even if you're not someone who's homeless or you're not
somebody in the military with these issues, home is always
where you feel safe, right, And I think that has
a lot to do with the do you mentioned you.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
Now have a limit?
Speaker 2 (06:05):
Well, first of all, I want to ask Tom this,
this moving into June is going to be your second year, right.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
That is correct.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
You're all booked up, we are, and you have a
lady down there. How'd you do that? Well?
Speaker 3 (06:17):
That would be with Jordan and the leadership team.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
You know.
Speaker 3 (06:20):
We our philosophy is if you were willing to sacrifice
your life for our freedom, it doesn't matter what sex
you are, it doesn't matter what political background. Us as
Americans need to stand up and you know, so that's
that's what the vision of our co founder, Valve you know,
am I when we started, and it was it was
didn't matter who you were or what you were, if
you were a military person, you qualified. You could qualify
(06:43):
to be part of our program, you know. And I
want to kind of just stress too that veterans outreach
is a little bit different than everybody else, and we
really focus on those twenty percent of veterans who have
fallen through the cracks. There's great organizations as you know
Sylvia for many years helping well.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
Tom word of these vets come from.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
You just don't go out and look on the street
for somebody looks like a homeless fat.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
I mean, it's amazing. You know, most of us as Americans,
have somebody who has been part of the military in
some form or fashion, whether it be your grandfather, aunt
or uncle or mother or father or brother or sister
or cousin. And when veterans or military people and they
graduate or they retire from the military, they come back
(07:27):
sometimes changed and there's a hard transition into the corporate
world and adjusting, and it takes time. We have veterans
down there of Jordan and I were just talking about
this that you know, start at age thirty two and
as old as seventy four, So it's not something that
just happens as soon as they get out of the military.
It's a process, and everybody's story is unique and different.
(07:50):
I was at a breakfast this morning with Rocky Blier,
the NFL great for Pittsburgh Steelers, and his message was
everybody has a story. Everybody has it, and it was really,
you know, moving, because we don't know their story, and
they don't want to tell their story, especially if it's
not a good story. But the therapeutic model gets them
(08:12):
to be able to be a human being again, gives
them responsibility, gives them accountability, and creates that environment that
I am a person and I do have a story,
but what I write today and what I write tomorrow
is going to define who I am and the past
is the past.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
Well, you know what, You're absolutely right.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
First of all, when people come they've seen a military action,
how can especially the young ones, how can they come
home the same person and families expect that same person
to come home.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
We talk about homeless veterans, but we and Jordan's team
does a phenomenal job with getting them back with their families.
You know, that's part of the healing process, that's part
of reconnecting. Some of them don't have a great support system,
and you know they handle it each different and unique.
And that's also another feather in Veterans outreach of Pennsylvania's CAP.
We are customize and we create that individual service plan
(09:02):
for the veteran and work with them. And we're not
a hand up or hand out. We're a hand up.
You know. We're here to help guide you and get
you back on your feet and give you the tools
necessary to live a life of dignity and pride that
you deserve and get back into society and feel like
a human being again.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
Boy, you have a so far, You've had a great
military life. Bet you, this is the cream of the
crop for you. This job, isn't it?
Speaker 5 (09:26):
Oh?
Speaker 4 (09:26):
It absolutely is. They always say, you know, do a
job you love. You never work a day in your life.
I'm working with veterans and it's more than just a job.
It's a brotherhood.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
What surprised you since you're there, anything surprise you?
Speaker 4 (09:40):
Surprise me is learning something new every day and growing
myself holy.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
You'll learn from them too.
Speaker 4 (09:45):
I certainly do without it.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
And the whole focus is to get them on track,
help them, you know, with the structured environment, but individualized plans.
And it's nice if you can get somebody who goes
through the process and come back some work and works
for you guys, isn't it.
Speaker 4 (10:01):
That's absolutely correct, and that is definitely our goal. I mean,
we are still that fledging upstart, you know, coming up
on two years, but we're seeing tremendous individuals. If I
can share a quick story about a graduate we just
had on Friday, tell that and we have the story.
Thank you Diane for putting that out on Facebook there.
But this individual, same age as me, same military experience.
(10:23):
He was Navy versus me being military, but it could
have been me, it could have been any of us,
any any forty two year old veteran. And he was
again bent but not broken. But he had lost himself.
He had lost his confidence, he had lost his leadership.
And just seeing this individual grow and develop and take
on more responsibilities within the community to the point of
being the chief coordinator of all the residents, the liaison
(10:46):
between the staff and the residents, and we all. We
all view the residence as equals. It's not one of
those jobs that you know you have your different hierarchy.
We're all we're all family, we're all brothers and sisters
in arms there. But hearing what he had to say,
Vopa saw something when I could even see it in myself,
and just encouraging his brother and sisters, his brothers and
(11:07):
sister in arms, to continue to grow and develop and
proud to say he has a job. He is now
permanently housed, and that's the idyllic dream of veterans outreach.
But everyone's success and victory is different, and I can
keep you here all day with different stories, but that
one really spoke to me from this individual.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
And it doesn't necessarily have to be what has happened
to him for other people might, like I know, Diane
was telling me there was to start gaining way, somebody
who finally reached out to their family. They were on
the streets for years and all of a sudden, you
guys are there and their lives are changing.
Speaker 4 (11:44):
That is absolutely correct. And Tom has a plethora of stories,
you know, Diane, as do I. But just hearing that
individual that they haven't spoke to a family member. Some
it's a year, year and a half, some it's two
decades and just spending that holiday with family, and that
family is showing an interest there and that's a that's
their community as well.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
You know, we have Jordan, I want to ask this
to you.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
Mentioned Tom mentioned there as young as how thirty two
is seventy years old.
Speaker 3 (12:11):
Is it this?
Speaker 2 (12:11):
I mean, they have all different issues, but talking to
an older event, is it different? Because Tom and I
talked about when we first met, our father's post traumatic
stress disorder, and my dad used to he didn't want
to he had terrible nightmares, don't want to talk about it. Said,
if you find somebody who saw what I saw, they
all think about it.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
It seems to me.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
That wouldn't change if you were thirty two and saw
horrible stuff or if you were seventy. But is that
what you found that they share the same kind of issues.
Speaker 4 (12:41):
I would say that there is a similarity. You know,
everything is unique, but the similarity is that everyone has
that mask to wear. For the individual who was the
Vietnam Vet that he held that he wore that mask
a lot longer than some of the other ones. You know,
I'm an OIF VET. Some of the OIF vets they
can't make sense of it either, just like the older individuals,
So they are able to come together. Some individuals opening up,
(13:04):
never opening up to other civilian personnel or even in
the military, which might have been their their cause for
discharge from the military and terminated their career a little
bit earlier, but coming to VOPA seeing other individuals, hearing
that story, opening up and saying, hey, I'm safe here,
you know, because that's the quintessential thing is if I
open up, you know, can that person, is that person willing?
(13:25):
Are they able to receive it? And can they validate
or am I going to be invalidated with what happened
to me? Or oh you you were this type of
veteran versus that type of veteran. No, all veterans come
together at VOPA resident non resident alike and are able
to share their stories, their pain and that there is
a similarity there.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
I think that's fantastic. Couldn't ask for more.
Speaker 2 (13:45):
You know, I had read a article that you had
gone to tent City and you're a real adamant about
promoting your therapeutic.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
Model because it works.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
You're real interested in sharing what you're doing with other organizations.
Speaker 4 (13:59):
Right, absolutely correct. We have a tremendous partnership with the
the Well, the former tense city and now a miracle
for sure.
Speaker 1 (14:07):
Yes. Wow.
Speaker 4 (14:08):
I was actually just speaking with someone from Bethesday yesterday
because they do have some veterans there. Because the therapeutic
community model is not necessarily for everyone. They have to
want that hand up, not the handout, as Tom had said.
And I don't mean any disrespect to them, but there
is programming, there is requirements, there is responsibilities because we
do want to get them back on their feet, get
(14:29):
them back to the greatness that they once had.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
Yes, exactly, absolutely, and start to believe in themselves and
feel whole inside that we all went that uncle Tom.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
Yes, tell me about the party May second, Well.
Speaker 3 (14:42):
Party May second is going to be the Greystone Battle
of the Roses. It's that colonial road in Harrisburg and
it is on May second. Start time is two thirty
and it ends right after the major race to Kentucky Derby.
It's always the first Saturday of the month. It is
you know, the people that come the are all dressed
(15:05):
up in their gear, they have their fascinators, they have
all dressed up. They have we have music, we have games,
we have Prosecco pop, we have wine pool, we have
fifty to fifty silent auctions.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
Silent auction. You don't, I mean, you don't have never
seen this silent auction.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
It's nice.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
Oh my gosh, it's it's amazing, Like this is good.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
Well, I got to watch my good stuff.
Speaker 3 (15:27):
It is good.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
Gosh.
Speaker 3 (15:29):
Yeah, and you I think this year we're going to
have it online so you can get a link. Oh
so really, so go to Greystone Deerby dot com. You
can get your tickets online or you can actually be
a sponsor. And we have a lot of great sponsors.
Central Pa, like you mentioned, Sylvia has been phenomenal and
(15:49):
we can't thank them enough for their past support, and
we also want to thank them for their future support.
And we we want to say that we are succeeding
because of the hell that everybody is giving us to
allow us to keep our doors open and sustainability of VOPA.
It's not inexpensive to do what we're doing, and our
veterans get charged zero no matter if they have income
(16:13):
coming in or not. We do not take it. It
goes into an account they save it until we can
get them housing and a job, and then they have
a nice little nest egg that they can use.
Speaker 1 (16:21):
I didn't know that. That's fantastic.
Speaker 3 (16:23):
So we've been we've been very, very fortunate, and but
it's just a great day. The food is unbelievable. It's
all inclusive.
Speaker 2 (16:32):
The people are funny and they're even the guys get
dressed up in goofy suits like you do.
Speaker 3 (16:36):
And there's all kinds of contests, like the best dress contests,
the nicest hats, the couple and the couples, yes and so.
But the foods, I mean, it is just unbelieve We
have lamb chops, grilled honey chili, shrimp, margarita, a square mushroom, pizzas,
shrimp and grits. It's all kind of tied into the
Derby day. And of course you got your your drinks,
(16:58):
the mint jul ups which yeahs, yes, yes you did, espresso,
martinis and persecco and all kinds of stuff. But it's
a great day. It's the beginning of May. I guess
it's May second. It's really kind of a kickoff to
the nice weather the twenty twenty six. It's the first
real event that we could hopefully get outside. We've had
(17:19):
some good weather lately and we're hoping to do that
as well.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
Well, you know what, I think there's something we really
really need to talk about here, and I think you
mentioned it for people who were used to going over
to Dillsburg. Is that that guy gray Stone. It's the
one of the Colonial Road.
Speaker 3 (17:35):
Absolutely sure, absolutely, we want to make sure that you
go to the right one, and we're the we're gonna
be using the utilizing their parking lot. We'll be utilizing
the building. They have a great al patio and DJ
have a DJ clock Entertainment who's donating their time, and
they have TVs to route so we can watch the
derby races and also you know, get some information about
(17:58):
veterans outreach. But it's one of our biggest, Oh it is.
It is a big one, and it helps with our expenses.
So if you can't come, please sign up as a
sponsor or maybe make a contribution to you know, allow
us to keep our doors open.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
And I'm glad to say keep your doors open because
the place is beautiful. I mean on your website you
have aerial views of this. It's a beautiful place. But
it's open, it's full. You got you need this stuff
to take care of the people. You need to pay
them hating all that other stuff right.
Speaker 3 (18:30):
All the expenses, all the utilities to keep it clean.
It's a twenty four to seven facility. So staffing, you know,
the programming that we do. We have UPMC is a
huge sponsor of ours. We have their outreach doctors and
nurses that come every single Wednesday. We have all kinds
of it classes, you know, financial literacy and programming, and
(18:53):
it's open to all veterans. So, you know, one thing
that we haven't talked about is our outreach, which Jordan
and his clinical team is a phenomenal job. In the
year of twenty twenty five, which was our first year
of full operation, we helped over one hundred veterans, Oh
my gosh to you know, with services and programming and
you know, there's a lot of challenges out there and
(19:14):
of course we want to we want to help the
veteran before they become homeless. And if we can do that,
we can be that go to organization that veterans know that, hey,
I'm struggling trying to get some information from this place
or this benefit or whatever we can at least help
guide you and make some calls for you and put
you on that path to alleviate some of the frustration
(19:37):
that you've had.
Speaker 2 (19:38):
Oh my god, I think that's fantastic. Tell me about
some of the other stuff coming up. You got a
clay shoot coming up at the end of May too,
don't you.
Speaker 4 (19:44):
We do.
Speaker 3 (19:45):
And actually this is the fifth annual clay shoot. It's
put on by stone Bridge Financial and you can go
to their website at Stonebridge f P dot com to register.
It is the clay shoot out of Blue Ridge Sportsman's
Club just out by Central Dolphin High School. It's almost
like a golf event, but it's on a on a
(20:06):
clay shoot, you know, it's on a shoot.
Speaker 2 (20:09):
It was like they did up in Higgins Rally where they.
Speaker 3 (20:13):
Well they do, but they have eighteen different stations, so
you walk around, so each one is a little bit different.
Sometimes they throw three of the clay birds and you
got to show, and sometimes it's two, and it's and
then you take a score and then it's kind of
scored like a golfing event. And then the one with
the lowest score are I don't know if it's the
highest score however it is you know, there's prizes and
(20:34):
there's all kinds. But we are the local nonprofit that
is the beneficiary of this event. And Brian mcgarver and
Jonathan Freeman, the partners at stone Bridge Select a local
in a national and Veterans Outreach has been the local
and will be for the first ten years of this.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
So we are the last ten years.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
Yes, yes, Oh my gosh, that's fantastic. Holy heck, you
got that big golf event coming up to the outing. Now,
where is that one. It's in August. Yeah, that's always
successful too.
Speaker 3 (21:08):
That is great and that's actually so the first two
that we talked about, which was the Derby Day and
the Clay Shoot, were events that we are the beneficiary.
We don't run them. We just, thank god be able
to be to get the net process or net profits
from it. The golf shoot is our event is the
VOPA and it's the sixth annual Val Fletcher, who was
(21:29):
our co founder, Red White and Blue Scramble and it's
out at Mannata Golf Course. It is on Friday, August
twenty first, and it's a twelve pm shotgun start. It's
an all day event. We have DJs. We have silent auctions,
we have food, and it is our biggest event that
raises the most money for us. So we announced it
(21:52):
about two weeks ago. Yeah, we were at seventy five
percent full of golfers already. So if you plan on golfmen,
please get your forms in because it's going to be
sold out. But we could always use sponsors.
Speaker 2 (22:03):
I state this guy who was a golf nut, and
he's got mad at me because my favorite part is
driving the car.
Speaker 3 (22:11):
There's nothing wrong.
Speaker 1 (22:13):
And there'll be people right behind you. Sees, those people
are waiting, you know. Oh, it's fun. It's fun. I
also want to talk to if.
Speaker 2 (22:20):
You don't mind talking about something coming up in November.
Speaker 1 (22:23):
Did you announce it?
Speaker 3 (22:24):
We did not announce it, but we can kind of
touch base.
Speaker 5 (22:27):
On it here.
Speaker 1 (22:28):
No you'll come back, well surprise.
Speaker 3 (22:30):
Me, No, we can. We actually, let's do a save
the date.
Speaker 1 (22:33):
Okay, coolhead, do a save the date.
Speaker 3 (22:34):
So we are going to be having a a special
event and it is called.
Speaker 5 (22:41):
Hold on here.
Speaker 3 (22:41):
I just want to make sure I get.
Speaker 1 (22:42):
It right now.
Speaker 3 (22:43):
Kind of gratitude, an evening of gratitude, an evening of gratitude,
and it is going to be November fifth, and it's
at the Willows.
Speaker 1 (22:53):
Oh so beautiful. Is going to be like a dressing.
Speaker 3 (22:56):
It's not going to be a black tie, but it
is going to be like a bus in this casual.
It's going to be a sit down dinner. We are
working out all the details and sponsorships and we will
be having more to come, but we can at least,
you know, save the date, you know, Thursday, November fifth,
at the Willows. Follow us on the Facebook page Veterans
Outreach of Pennsylvania. Our website will be having some things
(23:19):
and hopefully some of our board members and committee people
will be reaching out to people to either come to
the event or to sign up for sponsorship.
Speaker 2 (23:27):
I want to talk about your everyday things that people
can donate.
Speaker 1 (23:31):
Do you still do that fifteen for fifteen?
Speaker 3 (23:33):
Oh we do, we do? And yeah that's easy if
everybody here. And you know, again I've mentioned multiple times
even today, Central PA has been phenomenal, but no donation
is too small. You know, people say, well, if I
had a million dollars, this is what I would have done.
And I tell people, I said, I don't have a million,
but give me twenty five and together we'll make it work.
Speaker 1 (23:53):
That's right.
Speaker 3 (23:53):
And fifteen for fifteen is basically fifteen dollars on your
credit card each and every month. You can go to
our website and that's www. Veterans Outreach of PA dot
org and go to the contribution tab and click on
the fifteen for fifteen And what basically that does is
we have fifteen tiny homes in our community, and one
dollar for every tiny home will help with the operations
(24:16):
of paying those utility bills, of keeping the lights on
on helping. And if we get a thousand people to
do it, it's going to generate one hundred and eighty thousand.
Speaker 1 (24:23):
Dollars home my god.
Speaker 3 (24:25):
So this is something that everybody can be part of.
Fifteen dollars. You know, it's it's one big cup of
coffee at Starbucks, or it's it's it's less than a
large pizza nowadays. And you know, we feel that our
veterans deserve it.
Speaker 1 (24:38):
Absolutely Community eight. Anybody can do that.
Speaker 3 (24:42):
Community at absolutely so Community Age we are. We are
a partner. They have multiple locations that you can drop off.
Not only do they take clothing, they basically take everything.
They take flat screen TVs, they take furniture and we
are a partner of that organization and our number, vopa's
(25:03):
number is five zero zero seven four, and when you
go to their drop off location, you just give them
that number and we get a credit. I think it's
thirty cents on every pound that is delivered. So it's
nice to get those those monthly checks from them. But
it's something especially now with spring cleaning. If you've got
stuff you want to get rid of, take it the
Community Aid. Go to their website communityaid dot org and
(25:26):
look for their locations and their hours. I know there's
one in Harrisburg, and there's one on the Carlisle Pike,
and there's I think six or seven throughout Central PS.
Speaker 1 (25:34):
Yeah, they're really grown. How about Amazon?
Speaker 3 (25:37):
Amazon has been a great partner, and I know we
talked with Diamcnon who is our PR consultant and word
she is and she does our Facebook page and she
does a lot of the behind the scenes work and
we partner up with some of our committees of what
our needs, immediate needs are for our veterans and it
changes daily and you can go to our Facebook page
(26:00):
and click on Amazon and see what we need and
buy and it'll get shipped directly to Veterans Growth.
Speaker 2 (26:06):
You know what, I could talk to you guys for days.
I'm from the bottom of my heart, Tom, you know
how I feel about veterans. We talked about that so much.
One more time, when to remind people about Veterans Outreach
PA will be the recipient of the proceeds at Greystone
Battle of the Roses Derby Day on Saturday May second.
It's at Graystone brew House in a Greystone brew House
(26:28):
in Harrisburg, not the West sure, the one on Colonial Road.
Don't forget that. It's so important to have all kinds
of awesome. I mean, you're not gonna forget it. You
might have to find a way home now I'm kidding.
I'm kidding. I mean people are wonderful, they're having a ball.
How do again, how do you get tickets for Derby Day?
And how to get more information about anything we talked
(26:48):
about today?
Speaker 3 (26:49):
So you can go to our website, which is the
Veterans Outreach OFPA dot org, or for Derby Day you
go to Greystonederby dot com.
Speaker 2 (26:57):
That's terrific, guys, Tom, thank you, thank you for your brain,
for your heart.
Speaker 1 (27:03):
It's for sticking through this.
Speaker 2 (27:05):
I mean we talked about I mean when you first
came in and was talking about the kind of money,
I thought, oh God, bless and I hope he gets
some of that. Look what happened is it's because good
things happen. Good things are supposed to happen. Of all
of all organizations, your stands out with veterans. I know
a lot of people we never heard of what you do.
Speaker 3 (27:25):
Your radio program helps us tremendously. So thank you for
having us. Thank you for being our supporter.
Speaker 1 (27:31):
You know that we love you. I love you guys too. Jordan.
Nice meeting you, buddy. We're gonna talk.
Speaker 4 (27:36):
Again, right, sounds great to me. Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (27:39):
Jordan is well.
Speaker 2 (27:40):
Tomas everybody know he's a co founder, immediate past board
chair and Jordan Purcell, executive director of Veterans Outreach of Pennsylvania. Guys,
thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. I'm Sylvia
Mowa's Ketch Insight every week on one of our ten
iHeart stations, or anytime on your favorite podcast step Thanks
so much for listening.
Speaker 1 (27:59):
See you next week.
Speaker 6 (28:00):
Today's world is hectic and sometimes as parents we need
a little help and we get it. Our kids prefer
to hang out with their digital babysitter, where social media
is their best friend. Companies like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube
promise entertainment and connection, but spread isolation and despair. To them,
our kids are just dollar signs for hours a day,
social media sells our children's minds to the highest bidder,
(28:21):
no matter the human cost. We would never let a
real life babysitter introduce our kids to racists, conspiracy theorists,
or women haters. We wouldn't let a babysitter show our
children violence or give them drugs. But social media companies
do this every day, making billions of dollars by feeding
our kids' content that damages their mental health and self esteem.
So before we hand our kids off to the digital babysitter,
(28:43):
just remember that social media is addictive and profitable by design.
These companies don't care, and Congress won't act, So it's
up to us. We at the Center for Countering Digital
Hate are fighting for change to make sure someone holds
these companies accountable. Join us at Protecting Kids Online dot org.
Speaker 5 (29:00):
Everyone has a community, a neighborhood, school kids, teams, where
you worship, work, work out, or any other place or
group where you choose to belong. Communities can provide support
when you need it and even when you don't know
you do, like when it comes to preventing underage drinking
and other substance use. Community members can be your eyes
(29:20):
and ears when you're not with your kids and alert
you to signs of potential problems. Learn more at Talk
They Hear You dot SAMSA dot gov.
Speaker 2 (29:28):
You'll have an unforgettable afternoon at Greystone Battle of the
Roses Derby Day. It's on Saturday, May second, a Greystone
Brewhouse in Lower Paston Township, Harrisburg. Expect great food, great fashions,
fun contests, a wonderful silent auction, and that's just a
few of the things going on. Proceeds from this amazing
event go to Veterans Outreach of PA, a remarkable organization
(29:52):
that makes a tremendous impact in the lives of our
local homeless bed Grab your ticket right now at Greystone
Deerby dot com.
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