July 19, 2025 • 42 mins
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
You're listening to the Roy West Show here on News
Talk five sixty k LV, and folks, it could be
heard anytime on the Spotify, Apple podcast, Android podcast, and
the iHeart app as well. But you know, folks, it
is so fun doing this radio show because I get
(00:23):
to talk to people from across the community that are
making a real difference in Beaumont and Southeast Texas. And
today I am talking to Chris Robertson, and he is
the executive director at some other place which has been
serving Southeast Texas and Beaumont for right at over sixty years.
(00:43):
I guess now are right at sixty years and nineteen sixty. Yeah,
so it's our most sixty years, not quite there. And
so Chris, welcome back to the show.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Hey, thanks for having me. Always happen to be here.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Well, it's a pleasure to have you tell people because
a lot most people have heard of some other place.
What they don't know is they may know with what
they were interacting with what it is some other place does,
but some other place does so much.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
It does. Yeah, I'm in that boat.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
I mean, before I actually came here to some other place,
I'd worked with some other place for years in priorate
roles that I had had, and even I was surprised
that what all.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
It has to offer. And so.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
It's I think it's it's commonly associated with homelessness when
you hear some other place, it's kind of synonymous with
the homeless services that we have. But you know, it's
which is it's fair because to a certain extent, it's
what we do differently than a lot of the other agencies.
You know, very few agencies try to tackle that issue.
And so some other place does have the soup kitchen
(01:54):
called the Nutrition Center, and so you know Monday through
Friday and on Saturdays, but actually we don't.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
Facilitate it on Saturday. It's a group that we have
come in.
Speaker 3 (02:02):
But the kitchen serves a cafeteria style of food, and
so we have an actual chef that.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
We were able to recruit and he.
Speaker 3 (02:11):
Prepares hot meals and people come in and they get
served food on the daily basis, and prior to that,
they get their breakfast at Henry's Place, one of our
other services that caters to the homeless population, and Henry's
Place is the day center where you get breakfast, you
can do your laundry, you can take showers, and currently
we're in the process of we've already elongated the hours
(02:33):
of operations so that when Salvation Army closes in the
morning time, they can come over and they can work
with spindletop case Management inside, who has to satellite office there.
They could take showers, they can do their laundry, and
they can just kind of look for they can get
their mail there, they can work with case manager volunteers
that we have now on transitioning and a lot of
(02:56):
people have been transitioning out of homelessness through that program.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Right But we're actually in the process of rearranging the
back area. We have a big back area which.
Speaker 3 (03:06):
Is kind of historically was probably intended to be a
garage with the roll top door that that kind of
like for an automobile, but we decided we're going to
make it a more convenient place to to spend their
time during the day. We have the case management program
and stuff, and so a lot of those times people
need to be on the inside of it kind of
(03:27):
more focus, a little bit quieter environment, and so if
people are just wanting to spend some time outside of
the elements, they can come into that area and the
folks that are working with the case managers or with
Spindle Top can be on the inside and the quiet
of the computers. And so that's the Henry's Place Stay
center for homeless. But then we have Emergency Services which
(03:48):
has it's non homeless. It's a food pantry for anybody
who maybe you know, in an emergency need, needs some
food in their pantry.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
We have three clothing stores which are all free charge.
There's the men's, women's and children's clothing store.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
We have rent and utility distance there and across the
street we have Special Projects which facilitates a Thanksgiving Day store,
back to school program for children, and the Giving Tree,
our Christmas program for children, which is actually a really
cool program. I know that a lot of people have
heard of the concept of the Giving Tree but some
(04:25):
other place. The more I learned about it when I came,
it's the only program that I'm aware of where the
kids get exactly what they asked for for Christmas. So
the way we structure our vetting process is to make
sure that we're approving the families who otherwise would not
be able to provide a Christmas for their children.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
And so.
Speaker 3 (04:46):
After the application process and the eligibility vetting. The kids
their parents asked them what they want for Christmas, you know,
kind of a wish list, and their parents they tell
us application then we create little little cards for people
in the community to come and you can kind of
pull a card or adopt the family or whatever you like.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
And it has exactly what the children want.
Speaker 3 (05:10):
So on the day of the parents come before Christmas
and they pick up this gigantic bag of toys to
put under the tree. Makes the holiday a little bit
more festive and exciting. The kids will have Christmas presents
under the under the tree, and when it becomes Christmas time,
they get exactly what they ask for. And so it's
a very specific and personal program that they have, and
(05:31):
it's it's such a largenment. It's over it's well over
a thousand children, and so to be so personal, it
requires a lot of the community and a lot of volunteers,
a lot of people to take tags and you name it.
It's very it's very interactive with the community and we
need them very much to help out.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
But it's a very personal program.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
For well, you know, I miss well well some other place,
you know. I always heard that it got its name
from churches and other locations saying well, you need to
go to some other place for this help. So it's
become a catch all over the decades and really has
(06:12):
made a huge impact. And it also does some vetting
because obviously, you know, you know, people feel like, hey,
you know, I want to help people, but I really
want to do something that helps people and not enables
them to stay in their current situations. And you know,
and I think with the homeless ministry that y'all have
(06:34):
as well as the emergency services, those are so important
because on the front side there as y'all are doing
your best to help people from ending up being homeless.
That's right, Which that's which I think, you know, which
it helps people a whole lot if they're just behind
(06:56):
one month on some rent or utilities and they just
need a little help, then you don't have to set
them up from the ground all the way to furniture
and everything else. And so it becomes it becomes challenging
and certainly the chaos it brings in people's lives. And
you know, y'all are supported by local people donating their
(07:19):
time and their money, which is really important. Churches organizations,
but sometimes people say you know, where can I serve?
Some other place has so many ministries where you can
effectively serve and your time can be well used as
well as your money.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
That's right.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
And to touch on what you were talking about, I
think that it would be surprising for a lot of
people to know, but I actually I'm one of those
people that kind of shy away from programs that, you know,
it could be accused of enabling, you know, And that's
been kind of the stump that I've carried, you know,
kind of the brand that I've had since I came
into the field ten years ago, was if we can
(08:02):
all agree that these programs were originally created because somebody
genuinely needs them. I think that's why all of them
were started. It's snowball and some have gotten away from
agencies and you name it. But if we can all
agree that they were needed for someone, then then we're
in good hands. Because that's that's exactly my point is
that I come into the picture knowing someone needs it.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
My job is to not let people take advantage. My
job is to make sure that.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
I relook at every single program we have logistically, look
at the signing options. I mean, from the time somebody
calls and says they need help, to the time that
they come to the desk is our opportunity for vetting.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
And we're not putting anybody through the rent. I mean,
are you.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
There, Yeah, I'm here. Well, you know, y'all, y'all do
it so well. Is having the privilege of being mayor
here in Bombah now you know I have you are
the chair of the uh Mayor's Homeless Coalition that meets
quarterly here in town. In terms of helping meet the
(09:13):
needs of the homeless community and with the different organizations
because clearly there are needs. But you know, you know,
managing when you're helping people and when you know you're
if you will enabling them to stay in their current circumstances,
which I think is is something that you know, everybody
(09:36):
is aware of and people have different feelings though, but
y'all have been able to You've been able to manage
that really well.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
Yes, And that's that's really what it comes down to.
Speaker 3 (09:46):
It doesn't matter the program I've gone, because I've worked
in different programs I've I've had the I've been fortunate
to be able to be the director of several different
kinds of programs from disaster response to utility assistance that
you name it, from both eng and I've found that
there's not been one program I've come across where you
can't look at the who is this program intended for
(10:07):
and make sure that you're capturing that demographic specifically, I
mean with a small seit we're not putting anybody through
the ringer or embarrassing anybody. We're not doing that at all.
It's it's a very that's very important to me. Everybody
gets treated with respect and dignity. It should feel like
you're coming kind of to the nineteen sixties grocery store.
We're just glad to see you, but the questions time
to find out, you know, is this a temporary situation?
(10:29):
And is the the service you're requesting? Is our help
going to help you to the extent that it was
intended for and to the extent that we will never
see you again because we helped youall. We helped you
on your way, and everything should be done in a
way that's designed to be transitional. Even with our homeless services.
You know you've got the showers and the laundry. Those
are incentives for our homeless folks to transition with us.
(10:50):
I mean, you're you're there and you can use those
services while we're working on fixing your situation.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
And I've got a great team of people that really
kind of.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
They're they're compassionate, but they also will tell you, hey,
you need to you need to get up and get busy,
and we're gonna get you fixed and then we're gonna
send you on the way. And we've had a very
good success rate at making people feel good but also
getting them back on our feet again.
Speaker 4 (11:13):
Well.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
And so if people are listening and they want to
give money or they want to volunteer, we're running out
of time here. I want to make sure you can
share with folks how they can do that.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
Yeah, you can go to www dot someotherplace Beaumont dot
com and that we've got all of our services and
you can actually click become a volunteer and send an
application to us and someone will reach out to you
via email.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
Or you can just call up.
Speaker 4 (11:43):
And what's that phone number?
Speaker 2 (11:47):
So there's some other place phone on you call me
off guard.
Speaker 3 (11:49):
Let's see four zero nine eight three to two seventy
nine seven six.
Speaker 5 (11:58):
Well.
Speaker 1 (11:58):
Chris Robertson, Executive Director, of some other place. Thank you
so much for all y'all do for the community. Keep
up the work man. We are back with the Roy
West Show here on News Talk five sixty KLD, and
I have with me Carlton Sharp and he is a
(12:21):
pastor here in the community, also very involved in the community,
and he is the president of the Woodland Acres of
States Homeowner Association. And I wanted to I mean, Carleton
and I could talk about a whole lot, but right
now we're going to focus on these city homeowners associations
(12:41):
that are across the city. There's almost twenty of them,
and oftentimes the community. It's a great way to be
involved knowing what's going on in the city and within
your neighborhood. But Carlton does a great job with it
at Woodland Acres of States. Give people an overview of
(13:01):
what they can expect from uh from Woodland Acres a state,
and some of them may be a little bit different,
but an example here.
Speaker 6 (13:11):
Well, first of all, Roy, thank you for having me
on your show today. It's such an honor to be
on with you to talk about neighborhood asociations and the
benefits of those associations. Well, first of all, it allows
neighbors to come together to to you know, to meet
one another. That's the most important thing that you get
to meet your neighbors because now in these days, uh,
(13:33):
people don't know each other. And so it gives us
an opportunity to fellowship with the people that are directly
in our community.
Speaker 5 (13:41):
UH.
Speaker 6 (13:41):
But then it also gives us an opportunity to uh
to share some of the issues that may be of
be of impact in our particular community. And so we
come together to talk about those things, uh, to to
share with the city officials what some concerns may be
and even and also and even some some things that
(14:02):
are happening that are on the positive side.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
Well, and you know, I think oftentimes Peter Doolf realize
the depth of the resources that are there, because like
with your meeting, you know, there is kind of walk
people through, I mean, because you get reports from different
departments and then you can request departments to be present
to address issues that are important to the neighborhood. And
(14:32):
sometimes there are citywide issues, but they're important to the neighborhood.
Speaker 4 (14:37):
Yes.
Speaker 6 (14:38):
So what we try to do at willand Akers Estates
Association is to first of all, we get there and
we we talk about how they can report issues to
the city, and that's through three one one. We encourage
people that if they're having a challenge in the community
(15:00):
to contact three one one, and then of course we
have a contact list of all of our city officials
that they can email, and so we give that information
to each and every person that's there. Also, we like
to talk about how the city government works, because many
people are don't understand how city government works. They think
(15:22):
that because you are the mayor, that you could just
go down to a department head and tell the department
head what to do, and that's not how our structure is.
So we try to inform our community just exactly how
it works. Because we elect seven people for city council,
the mayor for ward persons and two at large city
council persons, and they are they have four direct reports
(15:47):
under them, which is the city manager, the city Clerk,
the city attorney, and the city magistrate and everybody else
in that organizational chart works for the city manager. We
try to inform our citizens that it's if we have
a concern, send it through three to one to one
(16:08):
and then contact our city officials to get on their
radar and UH and so. And another thing that we'd
like to do is try to encourage them to come
to city council meetings. We try to show them share
with them that every first and third Tuesday of the
of the month, UH at one point thirty, they could
go down to City Hall and be a part of
(16:29):
city Council to hear the issues that you are making
a decision on as council. Also on the fifth Tuesday
of each month, when there's a fifth tuesday's at five
thirty in the evening. So we try to try to
encourage them to be involved well and you do a
great job at that.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
And also you know, you know how whether it's sewer repairs,
whether it's police shoes, fire issues, ems, it could you know,
I know y'all have gotten reports from text thought in
terms of the highway projects. It's also about getting informed because,
like you said, you know, understanding the process can help
(17:08):
you be less frustrated and also recognize, you know, from
a city's perspective. You know, we follow the local government
code as well as state and federal law, so there
are processes that we go through for everything. And with
the idea that you know, we want to enhance our city,
make it more attractive, and certainly meet the needs of
(17:30):
the residents. But that's why neighborhood associations work so well,
because a lot of people aren't able to go to
council meetings that are at one point thirty you know,
on the first and third Tuesday. But if they go
to their neighborhood association meeting, you know they're going to
they're going to be able to get access to all
that different information in a smaller venue and then you know,
(17:54):
address with the association. Hey, what I'd like to hear
about this next month or the following month, you know,
issues that are relevant to them.
Speaker 6 (18:03):
Yes, you know, like we started this year in January.
We meet every second Monday of the month at six
o'clock and we started our year off with having the
city manager to come to talk to us about the
city organization and what he does as a city manager.
Speaker 4 (18:21):
And in that meeting, he brought us.
Speaker 6 (18:23):
The twenty twenty four annual report card for the city.
Speaker 4 (18:29):
That was one of the things that he brought.
Speaker 6 (18:30):
He gave us each person the presentation on the financial
condition of our city. Also, he brought the budget, the
twenty twenty five budget that you guys are looking at,
and so we were able to question the.
Speaker 4 (18:44):
City manager on our tax dollars. And then in.
Speaker 6 (18:49):
February we brought in the director of the Water and
Wastewater Operations for the city, mister Mike Harris. He came
to talk to us about how his department works and
some of the projects that they'll be doing this year.
Speaker 4 (19:06):
And then in March, we brought in uh the director of.
Speaker 6 (19:09):
The Education Embracing Freedom UH to talk about the crisis
and intervention of and of youth sex trafficking. So that
was one of the things that our group wanted to
know about because that that's become more prevalent in the
news now and so we wanted to bring somebody to
educate us on what to look for uh and what's
(19:31):
really happening in that area.
Speaker 7 (19:33):
UH.
Speaker 6 (19:33):
And then we had we had Shaqueina Nobles, UH, the
emergency Management coordinator, come in to talk to us about
hurricane preparedness.
Speaker 4 (19:41):
We're in that season right now, Mayor, and so we
wanted to.
Speaker 6 (19:44):
Know, uh, what do we need to do uh uh
and how alerts will be given uh if something should
get into the golf and come our way UH.
Speaker 4 (19:54):
And how we should prepare ourselves.
Speaker 6 (19:56):
And so you know, those are some of the things
that we we we we brought it people we brought
in this year to really talk to us about what's
going on in city.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
Well, and you know that it's a good time not
just to receive the information, but you also get to
ask questions and help understand the processes that are used.
But you know, and the other thing I like, because
I try to attend a lot of the neighborhood associations
across the city is neighbors do get get to know
(20:29):
one another, and sometimes the conversations just become internal because
they're you know, in terms of solving internal problems, because
you know, people spend less time on their front porch,
if you will, or in their neighborhoods, and oftentimes people
don't know one another, and it's it's nice to know
(20:49):
who your neighbors are. You know, we've got a little
over a minute left, but uh, you know, certainly people
can go to the city website for uh in check
out homeowners i mean neighborhood associations for a location niled
near them, or they can call the Executive Suite up
(21:09):
at City Hall at eight eight four nine, eight eight
zero thirty seven seventy to find out the closest one
to you. But you know, I just want to applaud
you because you send out text reminders. You do a
really good job of keeping people informed as well as
providing electronic resources for all the different things that are presented.
(21:34):
Not every homeowners association does that, but but you know
that if you get involved, you know you could certainly
be in leadership in that within your community exactly.
Speaker 6 (21:45):
And I would in these closing moments, I would encourage
everybody to get involved, to go and listen to the
issues of your community, because it's important that citizens get involved.
I mean, that's that's that's what's great about the Home
of the Neighborhood Association that citizens will getting involved.
Speaker 1 (22:03):
Well, Pastor, thank you for being on the show. Look
forward to seeing you again soon.
Speaker 4 (22:09):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (22:12):
You're listening to the Roy Wett Show here on News
Talk five sixty KLV. I could be heard anytime on
the free iHeartRadio apps, Spotify, Apple podcast and Android podcasts,
but every Sunday from noon to one right here on
News Talk five sixty k LV, and I have Bonnie
with me from the BBB Better Business Bureau here in
(22:36):
Beaumat and I don't body welcome to the show.
Speaker 8 (22:40):
Thank you, thank you so much for having me on.
I appreciate you helping us get the word out what
BBB does.
Speaker 1 (22:46):
Absolutely, and I know that there's probably very few people
that hadn't heard of BBB and hadn't seen the logo
on accredited businesses. But I think, like many fans, people
may not fully under understand what BBB does in the
value of being accredited and the different services y'all offer.
Speaker 8 (23:08):
You are correct, sir, So I didn't know a lot
of what they do here either until I came to
work here. There is so much more to it than
what most people think. Of course, that BBB Seal of
Approval means a lot for businesses that have it, and
it means a lot for consumers that are looking for
a trustworthy business. For over one hundred years, they've seen
(23:29):
that symbol, like you said, and that is a very
big part of what we do. But more than that,
it's a way for us to promote marketplace trust so
that consumers and businesses can trust each other. And in
this society where there's less and less of that, BBB
(23:51):
is so much more needed now than it's ever been before.
So we're glad to be a part of what promotes
that try and what helps consumers find the trusted businesses
to deal with. They can go to our website, they
can look up just about any kind of business or
industry out there. If they want a trusted contractor to
(24:14):
come to their home, if they want a trusted landscaper,
they can go to that BBB website and find them
in their area. And on that side, it'll tell them
what their rating is, It'll tell them if they've had problems,
if people have filed complaints, it'll show how the business
responded to the complaints, which is always important as well.
So we're very, very fortunate that we are in a
(24:37):
position where we can help strengthen our communities. We cover
eight and a half counties, and we're glad to be
a part of what helps all of our little Southeast
Texas area be a strong community, helping businesses to learn
how to do better and helping consumers to find those
businesses well.
Speaker 1 (24:57):
And in today's world, I think you're right. I think
the BBB Trusted organizations their value has really increased because
now you don't know who you're dealing with and where
they are, and you can't even just trust when you
see a BBB logo, you need to check the website
to make sure. And because businesses that go and we're
(25:22):
going to talk about the accreditation process, but you know,
they're genuine businesses. They're there to be a part of
the community. And it doesn't mean that somebody can't have
a problem with the business that is BBB accredited. But
you know, there's a lot of personalities out there, but
are they willing to work it out and you know,
because there can be misunderstandings and it certainly will take
(25:47):
the just the crooks out of the game, which is
really what you're wanting to do. You want to make
sure you're getting what you expect exactly.
Speaker 8 (25:56):
Yes, so yeah, a lot of times somebody will have
that BBB symbol on their business because they know the
value of it and they're not accredited. So just because
you see it, make sure you go to the website
and check it. Now, we do monitor that and we
do our best to make sure that if they are
not accredited, that they remove that because we do want
consumers to be able to trust the businesses that they're
(26:18):
that they're working with and so that and it's it's
not real often that they have that, but occasionally it'll
it'll come up, and like I said, we do try
and make sure and keep that from happening. So, yeah,
the the process to become accredited is they fill out
an application. Not everybody qualifies. They do have to commit
(26:40):
to following the eight standards of trust that are required
to be able to be accredited. Uh and if if
they if they don't follow those, they're not going to
get accredited. If they become accredited and stop following those,
they get removed and can no longer be accredited. But
we do try and help businesses to operate in such
(27:02):
a way that they can qualify because we, like I said,
we want a strong community. We want to trustworthy businesses
for our consumers to be able to feel comfortable to
doing business with.
Speaker 1 (27:12):
Them, well and you know for our business and certainly
for customers. And uh, you know, advertising so much of
it's done digitally now, and you know, whether people are
on Facebook or they're googling something and they see an
ad and they click on it, and you know it's
(27:33):
the people sometimes make purchases more spur of the moment
and without as much research, and it's so simple just
to go to the BBB website and see if somebody
is legit, because there, you know, there's a number of
people out there that aren't providing the service that they
(27:55):
claim to be providing. And uh and if somebody is
not a part of the that can tell you something
significant too.
Speaker 8 (28:04):
It absolutely can. So we do have people trying to,
you know, fill out the application and they don't qualify,
and they might try and come back and try again
under a different name, which we do. We investigate where
it's not it's not a hard process, but you're not
just automatically in so we do investigate. We do check
and make sure that people truly are who they say
(28:26):
they are and what they are operating in the right way.
And so yes, on that website, on the BBB website
where they have their profile, they can put pictures of
their services, they can put videos of their services, they
can list out, they can have what's the keywords on there,
so that when people are searching for their service, their
BBB profile is likely going to pop up closer to
(28:49):
the top than their own website. We have one hundred
over one hundred and fifty million people visit BBB every
year their website, so it's that helps with the algorithm
so that their little BBB listing can pop up closer
when people are searching for them. So that's another plus
for the businesses. They can get found on that BBB
website and they can portray what they do.
Speaker 4 (29:12):
Well.
Speaker 1 (29:12):
And let's talk about some of the additional services y'all
offer beyond accreditation and beyond people just checking on the internet.
Speaker 8 (29:21):
Yes, So we also have our BBB Education Foundation that
provides scholarships to local area students within our eight and
a half counties. This year we gave out nine twenty
five dollars scholarships. Then we also have events that helped
promote trustworthiness in the in the area. We just had
our Torch Awards last month that helped celebrate those businesses
(29:44):
that are operating at that highest level and that was fun.
It was Academy Award style and it's a great way
to promote those businesses. So that's that's another side. Then
we also have education moments. We have our Runch and Learns.
We always have great speakers for those.
Speaker 5 (30:04):
We have our.
Speaker 8 (30:06):
Professional Women's Conference coming up in September on September twenty fifth,
another way to help just empower our community and then
other events to all throughout the year that helps educate
and helps both our consumers and our businesses be able
to interact with one another and that trustworthy network.
Speaker 1 (30:26):
Well. And I think having been a part a lot
of certainly an accredited business through my mortgage company, but
also attending a lot of the events, it's a great
way to network too. It's a great way to meet
business owners that are committed to Southeast Texas and doing
(30:46):
business the right way. And you know, I just I
know there's lots of value in that. And when people
are looking to when they're in businesses, they're establishing a
new business, oftentimes they're looking to be able to network,
just be able to create those relationships, and that's a
good place.
Speaker 5 (31:05):
To do that.
Speaker 8 (31:06):
Yes, and we always enjoy seeing you at our events.
Hopefully we'll get to see We have two COEO reveals
coming up next week on the twenty third and twenty fourth.
I'll put them out there, so hopefully we'll see one
of those. But yes, networking is key, especially in our
Southeast Texas community.
Speaker 1 (31:24):
We'll tell people we got about forty five seconds. How
they can go about the credit nation process.
Speaker 8 (31:30):
You can go to BBB dot org and you can
also just bb dot BBB dot org slash apply and
get the application that way, or they can call our office.
The main number for the office is four O nine
eight three five. I better put my glasses on eight
three five five one.
Speaker 1 (31:51):
Well, and folks, you certainly find them online and give
them a call, but go through the process. It's well
worth it. And if you're not a business and you're
just looking for services, don't forget check the BBB website
column if you have any questions. Bonnie, thank you so
much for being on the show today.
Speaker 8 (32:11):
Absolutely appreciate it, very very much. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (32:16):
We are back with the Roy West Show here on
news Talk five sixty KLV. Folks, would love to keep
you informed about what's happening here in Southeast Texas. We've
had a great show so far and now I am
going to introduce you to Sabrina with the Artisan Farmers
Market Sabring here. Welcome to the show.
Speaker 7 (32:37):
Hi Roy, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (32:39):
Oh my pleasure and if you would we've talked a
little bit. This is a really clever idea and so
tell people about the art Artisan Farmers Market. Sure.
Speaker 7 (32:53):
So the Artisan Farmers Market is a new online farmers
market for the Southeast Texas area. There's only a handful
of this type of concept across North America, so it's innovative,
it's very new, and it's something that will probably evolve
over time. But we just launched the end of May.
Speaker 5 (33:15):
And what it.
Speaker 7 (33:16):
Is is when you can't physically make it to a
farmer's market, or you want to start shopping more local
and support small businesses, this is an easy, convenient, and
unique way to do so. You just hop online on
our platform. It's www dot the Artistsmfarmersmarket dot com and
you can search different vendors products and purchase from each vendor.
(33:42):
They offer pickup, shipping, and delivery. It just depends on
the vendor. Or we have an avenue to add even
more convenience where you could buy from multiple vendors in
one order. We meet with the vendors to obtain the products,
and then we deliver it directly to your home or
a place of work, or if you wanted to send
(34:02):
a special gift to someone, we could deliver it to
any address that's in the southeast Texas service area that
we offer.
Speaker 1 (34:11):
Well, this is incredibly clever. And I see that y'all
are also on Facebook, so you have a presence a
little bit everywhere.
Speaker 7 (34:20):
Yes, so we are on social media Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest. Again,
we're just trying to wait, raise awareness. It's a new
platform that we launched, and we are still looking for vendors. Again,
we're servicing such a wide area that we could have
multiple vendors of the same or similar product and also
(34:42):
just again raising awareness to get customers on there and
showing them that this is an easy way to shop local. Again,
people can't always make it to the Farmer's Market because
of accessibility, timing, busy weekends. They're just usually one day
a week for short period of hours. So this way
(35:02):
you can shop twenty four to seven. Vendors are able
to sell their products twenty four to seven, create their
own storefront and get their products out there. Because again,
I think a lot of people don't realize that it
can be easy to shop local. But it's just making
the effort, so you know, making small changes in your
(35:22):
pantry or your lifestylef it's weekly or monthly, for example,
instead of buying processed sweeteners or sugars. You could switch
and use a local honey maybe instead of buying a
commercial brand lip bomb, purchase from a local maker who's
doing a tallow based lip bomb. You could even look
(35:45):
at switching out your breads instead of getting those processed
breads that have a gazillion additives and last weeks and
months on your shelf, look and find an artisan that's
making fresh bread or sweetbreads. So again, it's just small
changes like that.
Speaker 5 (36:02):
That make a big impact for our community.
Speaker 7 (36:05):
And again it's kind of a win win. You're getting fresh,
local stuff that's going to be a healthier option for
you long term, and you're supporting small business in your
community all at the same time. So it's a great
opportunity to join the movement and make it easy and
convenient for everyone to do so well.
Speaker 1 (36:23):
This is very innovative. And I know with HB and
Kroger all the grocery stores now have you know where
you can shop online and some deliver or you can
go do pickup and not walk in the store. And
I think people have gotten really used to the convenience
of that. And now you've added that to the farmer's
market model by getting that local access but not having
(36:46):
to be somewhere necessarily at Saturday morning at nine am.
Speaker 7 (36:50):
Yes, exactly. And again you know people have busy lives,
they want to go, they want to do it, but
it just doesn't always happen. There's a lot to other
priorities or things that take precedence. So again, this is
the easy way when you have a minute to sit
down and just hop on the platform and scroll through
the products and again look in your pantry. What could
(37:10):
you start switching out to make those changes and support local.
I had read an article somewhere and it said for
every one hundred dollars that you purchase or invest in
your community, when you're buying from a commercial or a
box store, large corporation, only forty dollars comes back to
the community. But when you buy from a small local business,
(37:33):
anywhere from sixty three to sixty eight dollars comes back
into the community. So it's it's the right thing to do,
and it's a good way to again win win for
the customer and the small business. And so you can
again find us at www.
Speaker 5 (37:50):
Dot the Artisanfarmersmarket dot com.
Speaker 7 (37:53):
We have a newsletter that you can sign up for
and those newsletter subscribers kind of get the inside scoop
on new prout drops, new vendors that have joined, seasonal
products that are in stock, or recipe ideas.
Speaker 5 (38:08):
We even do a lot of.
Speaker 7 (38:10):
Promotions, deals, sales giveaways, so the newsletter subscribers are getting
the first insight on that. If you're a vendor and
you're interested in signing up or learning more, you.
Speaker 5 (38:21):
Can also go on the website.
Speaker 7 (38:23):
And click on become a vendor and learn a little
bit more about the platform. It's really great because it
also ties in your social media and there's a lot
of search engine optimization. We can also do cross sales
and promotions with other vendors, so we can tag up
and share and promote each other's products. And we also
(38:48):
this month we're doing an offer where if you choose
our multi vendor delivery service, we'll do free delivery and
we're giving away fresh cut flowers for free or a
small gift well supplies last. So that's for the rest
of the month of July. So again, check us out
and take the challenge of switching to local and see
(39:11):
the ease and convenience that the artists and Farment's market
can offer.
Speaker 1 (39:14):
You and do y'all provide. I know I'm on your website,
so I see where you can, you know, get your
name email and then send a message to get more
information and to get an application. But assuming people are
a bit intimidated by the process, so y'all able to
help walk people through too?
Speaker 5 (39:36):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (39:36):
Interested?
Speaker 7 (39:37):
Yes, because I understand everyone has a different level of
IT skill and knowledge. So I actually go out and
meet with the vendors one on one if they need
that extra support. We can get their storefront set up
in just a couple an hour and get their products
posted and everything started.
Speaker 5 (39:56):
I'm glad to help with that.
Speaker 1 (39:59):
Well, Sabrina on thank you. I think it's a great
idea and I'm sure it will take off. And thank
you for bringing to the show today.
Speaker 7 (40:07):
Yes, thanks Roy for having me, and I'm really excited.
Speaker 5 (40:11):
For everyone to try out the new.
Speaker 7 (40:13):
Artists and farmers market and make.
Speaker 5 (40:15):
The switch to local.
Speaker 1 (40:17):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 7 (40:18):
Okay, take care.
Speaker 1 (40:21):
We are back with the Roy West Show here on
News Talk five sixty k LD. And remember this is
podcast on the iHeart app as well as Apple podcast
and Android podcasts. This week we had an incredible show.
Chris Robertson with some other place talking about all the
(40:42):
different ministries that they offer as well as he is
the chair of the Mayor's Homeless Coalition here in Beaumont,
and brought a lot of useful information and be sure
to check out some other place to find out about
all the different resources they offer. And then I spoke
to Carlton Sharp, who is the president of the Woodland
(41:03):
Acres State Neighborhood Association, to talk about the value of
neighborhood associations here in Boma, the resources that they are
to their community and what theirs looks like. If you
need more information about it, you can go to the
City of Boma website to find out about your neighborhood
association or you can call the city at four nine
(41:25):
eight eight zero third three seven seven zero. Then I
had Bonnie with a Better Business Bureau talking about how
to become an accredited business and also as customers, how
you can use that to be safer in your transactions
by going to their website to check vendors you are
(41:46):
looking to use businesses that you're considering to see what
if anything, is on the Better Business Bureau website. And
then Sabrina with the Artistan Farmers Market, which is an
online local farmers market where you can go on to
the Artisan farmers Market dot com for more information. But
(42:09):
it's a it's a great idea. I think it will
be a future much like HGV or Kroger where you
can shop on and shop online for your farmer's market
and have it delivered. Folks, until we talk again, God
bless you all.
You're listening to the Roy West Show here on News
Talk five sixty k LV, and folks, it could be
heard anytime on the Spotify, Apple podcast, Android podcast, and
the iHeart app as well. But you know, folks, it
is so fun doing this radio show because I get
(00:23):
to talk to people from across the community that are
making a real difference in Beaumont and Southeast Texas. And
today I am talking to Chris Robertson, and he is
the executive director at some other place which has been
serving Southeast Texas and Beaumont for right at over sixty years.
(00:43):
I guess now are right at sixty years and nineteen sixty. Yeah,
so it's our most sixty years, not quite there. And
so Chris, welcome back to the show.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Hey, thanks for having me. Always happen to be here.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Well, it's a pleasure to have you tell people because
a lot most people have heard of some other place.
What they don't know is they may know with what
they were interacting with what it is some other place does,
but some other place does so much.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
It does. Yeah, I'm in that boat.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
I mean, before I actually came here to some other place,
I'd worked with some other place for years in priorate
roles that I had had, and even I was surprised
that what all.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
It has to offer. And so.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
It's I think it's it's commonly associated with homelessness when
you hear some other place, it's kind of synonymous with
the homeless services that we have. But you know, it's
which is it's fair because to a certain extent, it's
what we do differently than a lot of the other agencies.
You know, very few agencies try to tackle that issue.
And so some other place does have the soup kitchen
(01:54):
called the Nutrition Center, and so you know Monday through
Friday and on Saturdays, but actually we don't.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
Facilitate it on Saturday. It's a group that we have
come in.
Speaker 3 (02:02):
But the kitchen serves a cafeteria style of food, and
so we have an actual chef that.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
We were able to recruit and he.
Speaker 3 (02:11):
Prepares hot meals and people come in and they get
served food on the daily basis, and prior to that,
they get their breakfast at Henry's Place, one of our
other services that caters to the homeless population, and Henry's
Place is the day center where you get breakfast, you
can do your laundry, you can take showers, and currently
we're in the process of we've already elongated the hours
(02:33):
of operations so that when Salvation Army closes in the
morning time, they can come over and they can work
with spindletop case Management inside, who has to satellite office there.
They could take showers, they can do their laundry, and
they can just kind of look for they can get
their mail there, they can work with case manager volunteers
that we have now on transitioning and a lot of
(02:56):
people have been transitioning out of homelessness through that program.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Right But we're actually in the process of rearranging the
back area. We have a big back area which.
Speaker 3 (03:06):
Is kind of historically was probably intended to be a
garage with the roll top door that that kind of
like for an automobile, but we decided we're going to
make it a more convenient place to to spend their
time during the day. We have the case management program
and stuff, and so a lot of those times people
need to be on the inside of it kind of
(03:27):
more focus, a little bit quieter environment, and so if
people are just wanting to spend some time outside of
the elements, they can come into that area and the
folks that are working with the case managers or with
Spindle Top can be on the inside and the quiet
of the computers. And so that's the Henry's Place Stay
center for homeless. But then we have Emergency Services which
(03:48):
has it's non homeless. It's a food pantry for anybody
who maybe you know, in an emergency need, needs some
food in their pantry.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
We have three clothing stores which are all free charge.
There's the men's, women's and children's clothing store.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
We have rent and utility distance there and across the
street we have Special Projects which facilitates a Thanksgiving Day store,
back to school program for children, and the Giving Tree,
our Christmas program for children, which is actually a really
cool program. I know that a lot of people have
heard of the concept of the Giving Tree but some
(04:25):
other place. The more I learned about it when I came,
it's the only program that I'm aware of where the
kids get exactly what they asked for for Christmas. So
the way we structure our vetting process is to make
sure that we're approving the families who otherwise would not
be able to provide a Christmas for their children.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
And so.
Speaker 3 (04:46):
After the application process and the eligibility vetting. The kids
their parents asked them what they want for Christmas, you know,
kind of a wish list, and their parents they tell
us application then we create little little cards for people
in the community to come and you can kind of
pull a card or adopt the family or whatever you like.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
And it has exactly what the children want.
Speaker 3 (05:10):
So on the day of the parents come before Christmas
and they pick up this gigantic bag of toys to
put under the tree. Makes the holiday a little bit
more festive and exciting. The kids will have Christmas presents
under the under the tree, and when it becomes Christmas time,
they get exactly what they ask for. And so it's
a very specific and personal program that they have, and
(05:31):
it's it's such a largenment. It's over it's well over
a thousand children, and so to be so personal, it
requires a lot of the community and a lot of volunteers,
a lot of people to take tags and you name it.
It's very it's very interactive with the community and we
need them very much to help out.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
But it's a very personal program.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
For well, you know, I miss well well some other place,
you know. I always heard that it got its name
from churches and other locations saying well, you need to
go to some other place for this help. So it's
become a catch all over the decades and really has
(06:12):
made a huge impact. And it also does some vetting
because obviously, you know, you know, people feel like, hey,
you know, I want to help people, but I really
want to do something that helps people and not enables
them to stay in their current situations. And you know,
and I think with the homeless ministry that y'all have
(06:34):
as well as the emergency services, those are so important
because on the front side there as y'all are doing
your best to help people from ending up being homeless.
That's right, Which that's which I think, you know, which
it helps people a whole lot if they're just behind
(06:56):
one month on some rent or utilities and they just
need a little help, then you don't have to set
them up from the ground all the way to furniture
and everything else. And so it becomes it becomes challenging
and certainly the chaos it brings in people's lives. And
you know, y'all are supported by local people donating their
(07:19):
time and their money, which is really important. Churches organizations,
but sometimes people say you know, where can I serve?
Some other place has so many ministries where you can
effectively serve and your time can be well used as
well as your money.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
That's right.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
And to touch on what you were talking about, I
think that it would be surprising for a lot of
people to know, but I actually I'm one of those
people that kind of shy away from programs that, you know,
it could be accused of enabling, you know, And that's
been kind of the stump that I've carried, you know,
kind of the brand that I've had since I came
into the field ten years ago, was if we can
(08:02):
all agree that these programs were originally created because somebody
genuinely needs them. I think that's why all of them
were started. It's snowball and some have gotten away from
agencies and you name it. But if we can all
agree that they were needed for someone, then then we're
in good hands. Because that's that's exactly my point is
that I come into the picture knowing someone needs it.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
My job is to not let people take advantage. My
job is to make sure that.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
I relook at every single program we have logistically, look
at the signing options. I mean, from the time somebody
calls and says they need help, to the time that
they come to the desk is our opportunity for vetting.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
And we're not putting anybody through the rent. I mean,
are you.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
There, Yeah, I'm here. Well, you know, y'all, y'all do
it so well. Is having the privilege of being mayor
here in Bombah now you know I have you are
the chair of the uh Mayor's Homeless Coalition that meets
quarterly here in town. In terms of helping meet the
(09:13):
needs of the homeless community and with the different organizations
because clearly there are needs. But you know, you know,
managing when you're helping people and when you know you're
if you will enabling them to stay in their current circumstances,
which I think is is something that you know, everybody
(09:36):
is aware of and people have different feelings though, but
y'all have been able to You've been able to manage
that really well.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
Yes, And that's that's really what it comes down to.
Speaker 3 (09:46):
It doesn't matter the program I've gone, because I've worked
in different programs I've I've had the I've been fortunate
to be able to be the director of several different
kinds of programs from disaster response to utility assistance that
you name it, from both eng and I've found that
there's not been one program I've come across where you
can't look at the who is this program intended for
(10:07):
and make sure that you're capturing that demographic specifically, I
mean with a small seit we're not putting anybody through
the ringer or embarrassing anybody. We're not doing that at all.
It's it's a very that's very important to me. Everybody
gets treated with respect and dignity. It should feel like
you're coming kind of to the nineteen sixties grocery store.
We're just glad to see you, but the questions time
to find out, you know, is this a temporary situation?
(10:29):
And is the the service you're requesting? Is our help
going to help you to the extent that it was
intended for and to the extent that we will never
see you again because we helped youall. We helped you
on your way, and everything should be done in a
way that's designed to be transitional. Even with our homeless services.
You know you've got the showers and the laundry. Those
are incentives for our homeless folks to transition with us.
(10:50):
I mean, you're you're there and you can use those
services while we're working on fixing your situation.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
And I've got a great team of people that really
kind of.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
They're they're compassionate, but they also will tell you, hey,
you need to you need to get up and get busy,
and we're gonna get you fixed and then we're gonna
send you on the way. And we've had a very
good success rate at making people feel good but also
getting them back on our feet again.
Speaker 4 (11:13):
Well.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
And so if people are listening and they want to
give money or they want to volunteer, we're running out
of time here. I want to make sure you can
share with folks how they can do that.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
Yeah, you can go to www dot someotherplace Beaumont dot
com and that we've got all of our services and
you can actually click become a volunteer and send an
application to us and someone will reach out to you
via email.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
Or you can just call up.
Speaker 4 (11:43):
And what's that phone number?
Speaker 2 (11:47):
So there's some other place phone on you call me
off guard.
Speaker 3 (11:49):
Let's see four zero nine eight three to two seventy
nine seven six.
Speaker 5 (11:58):
Well.
Speaker 1 (11:58):
Chris Robertson, Executive Director, of some other place. Thank you
so much for all y'all do for the community. Keep
up the work man. We are back with the Roy
West Show here on News Talk five sixty KLD, and
I have with me Carlton Sharp and he is a
(12:21):
pastor here in the community, also very involved in the community,
and he is the president of the Woodland Acres of
States Homeowner Association. And I wanted to I mean, Carleton
and I could talk about a whole lot, but right
now we're going to focus on these city homeowners associations
(12:41):
that are across the city. There's almost twenty of them,
and oftentimes the community. It's a great way to be
involved knowing what's going on in the city and within
your neighborhood. But Carlton does a great job with it
at Woodland Acres of States. Give people an overview of
(13:01):
what they can expect from uh from Woodland Acres a state,
and some of them may be a little bit different,
but an example here.
Speaker 6 (13:11):
Well, first of all, Roy, thank you for having me
on your show today. It's such an honor to be
on with you to talk about neighborhood asociations and the
benefits of those associations. Well, first of all, it allows
neighbors to come together to to you know, to meet
one another. That's the most important thing that you get
to meet your neighbors because now in these days, uh,
(13:33):
people don't know each other. And so it gives us
an opportunity to fellowship with the people that are directly
in our community.
Speaker 5 (13:41):
UH.
Speaker 6 (13:41):
But then it also gives us an opportunity to uh
to share some of the issues that may be of
be of impact in our particular community. And so we
come together to talk about those things, uh, to to
share with the city officials what some concerns may be
and even and also and even some some things that
(14:02):
are happening that are on the positive side.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
Well, and you know, I think oftentimes Peter Doolf realize
the depth of the resources that are there, because like
with your meeting, you know, there is kind of walk
people through, I mean, because you get reports from different
departments and then you can request departments to be present
to address issues that are important to the neighborhood. And
(14:32):
sometimes there are citywide issues, but they're important to the neighborhood.
Speaker 4 (14:37):
Yes.
Speaker 6 (14:38):
So what we try to do at willand Akers Estates
Association is to first of all, we get there and
we we talk about how they can report issues to
the city, and that's through three one one. We encourage
people that if they're having a challenge in the community
(15:00):
to contact three one one, and then of course we
have a contact list of all of our city officials
that they can email, and so we give that information
to each and every person that's there. Also, we like
to talk about how the city government works, because many
people are don't understand how city government works. They think
(15:22):
that because you are the mayor, that you could just
go down to a department head and tell the department
head what to do, and that's not how our structure is.
So we try to inform our community just exactly how
it works. Because we elect seven people for city council,
the mayor for ward persons and two at large city
council persons, and they are they have four direct reports
(15:47):
under them, which is the city manager, the city Clerk,
the city attorney, and the city magistrate and everybody else
in that organizational chart works for the city manager. We
try to inform our citizens that it's if we have
a concern, send it through three to one to one
(16:08):
and then contact our city officials to get on their
radar and UH and so. And another thing that we'd
like to do is try to encourage them to come
to city council meetings. We try to show them share
with them that every first and third Tuesday of the
of the month, UH at one point thirty, they could
go down to City Hall and be a part of
(16:29):
city Council to hear the issues that you are making
a decision on as council. Also on the fifth Tuesday
of each month, when there's a fifth tuesday's at five
thirty in the evening. So we try to try to
encourage them to be involved well and you do a
great job at that.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
And also you know, you know how whether it's sewer repairs,
whether it's police shoes, fire issues, ems, it could you know,
I know y'all have gotten reports from text thought in
terms of the highway projects. It's also about getting informed because,
like you said, you know, understanding the process can help
(17:08):
you be less frustrated and also recognize, you know, from
a city's perspective. You know, we follow the local government
code as well as state and federal law, so there
are processes that we go through for everything. And with
the idea that you know, we want to enhance our city,
make it more attractive, and certainly meet the needs of
(17:30):
the residents. But that's why neighborhood associations work so well,
because a lot of people aren't able to go to
council meetings that are at one point thirty you know,
on the first and third Tuesday. But if they go
to their neighborhood association meeting, you know they're going to
they're going to be able to get access to all
that different information in a smaller venue and then you know,
(17:54):
address with the association. Hey, what I'd like to hear
about this next month or the following month, you know,
issues that are relevant to them.
Speaker 6 (18:03):
Yes, you know, like we started this year in January.
We meet every second Monday of the month at six
o'clock and we started our year off with having the
city manager to come to talk to us about the
city organization and what he does as a city manager.
Speaker 4 (18:21):
And in that meeting, he brought us.
Speaker 6 (18:23):
The twenty twenty four annual report card for the city.
Speaker 4 (18:29):
That was one of the things that he brought.
Speaker 6 (18:30):
He gave us each person the presentation on the financial
condition of our city. Also, he brought the budget, the
twenty twenty five budget that you guys are looking at,
and so we were able to question the.
Speaker 4 (18:44):
City manager on our tax dollars. And then in.
Speaker 6 (18:49):
February we brought in the director of the Water and
Wastewater Operations for the city, mister Mike Harris. He came
to talk to us about how his department works and
some of the projects that they'll be doing this year.
Speaker 4 (19:06):
And then in March, we brought in uh the director of.
Speaker 6 (19:09):
The Education Embracing Freedom UH to talk about the crisis
and intervention of and of youth sex trafficking. So that
was one of the things that our group wanted to
know about because that that's become more prevalent in the
news now and so we wanted to bring somebody to
educate us on what to look for uh and what's
(19:31):
really happening in that area.
Speaker 7 (19:33):
UH.
Speaker 6 (19:33):
And then we had we had Shaqueina Nobles, UH, the
emergency Management coordinator, come in to talk to us about
hurricane preparedness.
Speaker 4 (19:41):
We're in that season right now, Mayor, and so we
wanted to.
Speaker 6 (19:44):
Know, uh, what do we need to do uh uh
and how alerts will be given uh if something should
get into the golf and come our way UH.
Speaker 4 (19:54):
And how we should prepare ourselves.
Speaker 6 (19:56):
And so you know, those are some of the things
that we we we we brought it people we brought
in this year to really talk to us about what's
going on in city.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
Well, and you know that it's a good time not
just to receive the information, but you also get to
ask questions and help understand the processes that are used.
But you know, and the other thing I like, because
I try to attend a lot of the neighborhood associations
across the city is neighbors do get get to know
(20:29):
one another, and sometimes the conversations just become internal because
they're you know, in terms of solving internal problems, because
you know, people spend less time on their front porch,
if you will, or in their neighborhoods, and oftentimes people
don't know one another, and it's it's nice to know
(20:49):
who your neighbors are. You know, we've got a little
over a minute left, but uh, you know, certainly people
can go to the city website for uh in check
out homeowners i mean neighborhood associations for a location niled
near them, or they can call the Executive Suite up
(21:09):
at City Hall at eight eight four nine, eight eight
zero thirty seven seventy to find out the closest one
to you. But you know, I just want to applaud
you because you send out text reminders. You do a
really good job of keeping people informed as well as
providing electronic resources for all the different things that are presented.
(21:34):
Not every homeowners association does that, but but you know
that if you get involved, you know you could certainly
be in leadership in that within your community exactly.
Speaker 6 (21:45):
And I would in these closing moments, I would encourage
everybody to get involved, to go and listen to the
issues of your community, because it's important that citizens get involved.
I mean, that's that's that's what's great about the Home
of the Neighborhood Association that citizens will getting involved.
Speaker 1 (22:03):
Well, Pastor, thank you for being on the show. Look
forward to seeing you again soon.
Speaker 4 (22:09):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (22:12):
You're listening to the Roy Wett Show here on News
Talk five sixty KLV. I could be heard anytime on
the free iHeartRadio apps, Spotify, Apple podcast and Android podcasts,
but every Sunday from noon to one right here on
News Talk five sixty k LV, and I have Bonnie
with me from the BBB Better Business Bureau here in
(22:36):
Beaumat and I don't body welcome to the show.
Speaker 8 (22:40):
Thank you, thank you so much for having me on.
I appreciate you helping us get the word out what
BBB does.
Speaker 1 (22:46):
Absolutely, and I know that there's probably very few people
that hadn't heard of BBB and hadn't seen the logo
on accredited businesses. But I think, like many fans, people
may not fully under understand what BBB does in the
value of being accredited and the different services y'all offer.
Speaker 8 (23:08):
You are correct, sir, So I didn't know a lot
of what they do here either until I came to
work here. There is so much more to it than
what most people think. Of course, that BBB Seal of
Approval means a lot for businesses that have it, and
it means a lot for consumers that are looking for
a trustworthy business. For over one hundred years, they've seen
(23:29):
that symbol, like you said, and that is a very
big part of what we do. But more than that,
it's a way for us to promote marketplace trust so
that consumers and businesses can trust each other. And in
this society where there's less and less of that, BBB
(23:51):
is so much more needed now than it's ever been before.
So we're glad to be a part of what promotes
that try and what helps consumers find the trusted businesses
to deal with. They can go to our website, they
can look up just about any kind of business or
industry out there. If they want a trusted contractor to
(24:14):
come to their home, if they want a trusted landscaper,
they can go to that BBB website and find them
in their area. And on that side, it'll tell them
what their rating is, It'll tell them if they've had problems,
if people have filed complaints, it'll show how the business
responded to the complaints, which is always important as well.
So we're very, very fortunate that we are in a
(24:37):
position where we can help strengthen our communities. We cover
eight and a half counties, and we're glad to be
a part of what helps all of our little Southeast
Texas area be a strong community, helping businesses to learn
how to do better and helping consumers to find those
businesses well.
Speaker 1 (24:57):
And in today's world, I think you're right. I think
the BBB Trusted organizations their value has really increased because
now you don't know who you're dealing with and where
they are, and you can't even just trust when you
see a BBB logo, you need to check the website
to make sure. And because businesses that go and we're
(25:22):
going to talk about the accreditation process, but you know,
they're genuine businesses. They're there to be a part of
the community. And it doesn't mean that somebody can't have
a problem with the business that is BBB accredited. But
you know, there's a lot of personalities out there, but
are they willing to work it out and you know,
because there can be misunderstandings and it certainly will take
(25:47):
the just the crooks out of the game, which is
really what you're wanting to do. You want to make
sure you're getting what you expect exactly.
Speaker 8 (25:56):
Yes, so yeah, a lot of times somebody will have
that BBB symbol on their business because they know the
value of it and they're not accredited. So just because
you see it, make sure you go to the website
and check it. Now, we do monitor that and we
do our best to make sure that if they are
not accredited, that they remove that because we do want
consumers to be able to trust the businesses that they're
(26:18):
that they're working with and so that and it's it's
not real often that they have that, but occasionally it'll
it'll come up, and like I said, we do try
and make sure and keep that from happening. So, yeah,
the the process to become accredited is they fill out
an application. Not everybody qualifies. They do have to commit
(26:40):
to following the eight standards of trust that are required
to be able to be accredited. Uh and if if
they if they don't follow those, they're not going to
get accredited. If they become accredited and stop following those,
they get removed and can no longer be accredited. But
we do try and help businesses to operate in such
(27:02):
a way that they can qualify because we, like I said,
we want a strong community. We want to trustworthy businesses
for our consumers to be able to feel comfortable to
doing business with.
Speaker 1 (27:12):
Them, well and you know for our business and certainly
for customers. And uh, you know, advertising so much of
it's done digitally now, and you know, whether people are
on Facebook or they're googling something and they see an
ad and they click on it, and you know it's
(27:33):
the people sometimes make purchases more spur of the moment
and without as much research, and it's so simple just
to go to the BBB website and see if somebody
is legit, because there, you know, there's a number of
people out there that aren't providing the service that they
(27:55):
claim to be providing. And uh and if somebody is
not a part of the that can tell you something
significant too.
Speaker 8 (28:04):
It absolutely can. So we do have people trying to,
you know, fill out the application and they don't qualify,
and they might try and come back and try again
under a different name, which we do. We investigate where
it's not it's not a hard process, but you're not
just automatically in so we do investigate. We do check
and make sure that people truly are who they say
(28:26):
they are and what they are operating in the right way.
And so yes, on that website, on the BBB website
where they have their profile, they can put pictures of
their services, they can put videos of their services, they
can list out, they can have what's the keywords on there,
so that when people are searching for their service, their
BBB profile is likely going to pop up closer to
(28:49):
the top than their own website. We have one hundred
over one hundred and fifty million people visit BBB every
year their website, so it's that helps with the algorithm
so that their little BBB listing can pop up closer
when people are searching for them. So that's another plus
for the businesses. They can get found on that BBB
website and they can portray what they do.
Speaker 4 (29:12):
Well.
Speaker 1 (29:12):
And let's talk about some of the additional services y'all
offer beyond accreditation and beyond people just checking on the internet.
Speaker 8 (29:21):
Yes, So we also have our BBB Education Foundation that
provides scholarships to local area students within our eight and
a half counties. This year we gave out nine twenty
five dollars scholarships. Then we also have events that helped
promote trustworthiness in the in the area. We just had
our Torch Awards last month that helped celebrate those businesses
(29:44):
that are operating at that highest level and that was fun.
It was Academy Award style and it's a great way
to promote those businesses. So that's that's another side. Then
we also have education moments. We have our Runch and Learns.
We always have great speakers for those.
Speaker 5 (30:04):
We have our.
Speaker 8 (30:06):
Professional Women's Conference coming up in September on September twenty fifth,
another way to help just empower our community and then
other events to all throughout the year that helps educate
and helps both our consumers and our businesses be able
to interact with one another and that trustworthy network.
Speaker 1 (30:26):
Well. And I think having been a part a lot
of certainly an accredited business through my mortgage company, but
also attending a lot of the events, it's a great
way to network too. It's a great way to meet
business owners that are committed to Southeast Texas and doing
(30:46):
business the right way. And you know, I just I
know there's lots of value in that. And when people
are looking to when they're in businesses, they're establishing a
new business, oftentimes they're looking to be able to network,
just be able to create those relationships, and that's a
good place.
Speaker 5 (31:05):
To do that.
Speaker 8 (31:06):
Yes, and we always enjoy seeing you at our events.
Hopefully we'll get to see We have two COEO reveals
coming up next week on the twenty third and twenty fourth.
I'll put them out there, so hopefully we'll see one
of those. But yes, networking is key, especially in our
Southeast Texas community.
Speaker 1 (31:24):
We'll tell people we got about forty five seconds. How
they can go about the credit nation process.
Speaker 8 (31:30):
You can go to BBB dot org and you can
also just bb dot BBB dot org slash apply and
get the application that way, or they can call our office.
The main number for the office is four O nine
eight three five. I better put my glasses on eight
three five five one.
Speaker 1 (31:51):
Well, and folks, you certainly find them online and give
them a call, but go through the process. It's well
worth it. And if you're not a business and you're
just looking for services, don't forget check the BBB website
column if you have any questions. Bonnie, thank you so
much for being on the show today.
Speaker 8 (32:11):
Absolutely appreciate it, very very much. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (32:16):
We are back with the Roy West Show here on
news Talk five sixty KLV. Folks, would love to keep
you informed about what's happening here in Southeast Texas. We've
had a great show so far and now I am
going to introduce you to Sabrina with the Artisan Farmers
Market Sabring here. Welcome to the show.
Speaker 7 (32:37):
Hi Roy, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (32:39):
Oh my pleasure and if you would we've talked a
little bit. This is a really clever idea and so
tell people about the art Artisan Farmers Market. Sure.
Speaker 7 (32:53):
So the Artisan Farmers Market is a new online farmers
market for the Southeast Texas area. There's only a handful
of this type of concept across North America, so it's innovative,
it's very new, and it's something that will probably evolve
over time. But we just launched the end of May.
Speaker 5 (33:15):
And what it.
Speaker 7 (33:16):
Is is when you can't physically make it to a
farmer's market, or you want to start shopping more local
and support small businesses, this is an easy, convenient, and
unique way to do so. You just hop online on
our platform. It's www dot the Artistsmfarmersmarket dot com and
you can search different vendors products and purchase from each vendor.
(33:42):
They offer pickup, shipping, and delivery. It just depends on
the vendor. Or we have an avenue to add even
more convenience where you could buy from multiple vendors in
one order. We meet with the vendors to obtain the products,
and then we deliver it directly to your home or
a place of work, or if you wanted to send
(34:02):
a special gift to someone, we could deliver it to
any address that's in the southeast Texas service area that
we offer.
Speaker 1 (34:11):
Well, this is incredibly clever. And I see that y'all
are also on Facebook, so you have a presence a
little bit everywhere.
Speaker 7 (34:20):
Yes, so we are on social media Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest. Again,
we're just trying to wait, raise awareness. It's a new
platform that we launched, and we are still looking for vendors. Again,
we're servicing such a wide area that we could have
multiple vendors of the same or similar product and also
(34:42):
just again raising awareness to get customers on there and
showing them that this is an easy way to shop local. Again,
people can't always make it to the Farmer's Market because
of accessibility, timing, busy weekends. They're just usually one day
a week for short period of hours. So this way
(35:02):
you can shop twenty four to seven. Vendors are able
to sell their products twenty four to seven, create their
own storefront and get their products out there. Because again,
I think a lot of people don't realize that it
can be easy to shop local. But it's just making
the effort, so you know, making small changes in your
(35:22):
pantry or your lifestylef it's weekly or monthly, for example,
instead of buying processed sweeteners or sugars. You could switch
and use a local honey maybe instead of buying a
commercial brand lip bomb, purchase from a local maker who's
doing a tallow based lip bomb. You could even look
(35:45):
at switching out your breads instead of getting those processed
breads that have a gazillion additives and last weeks and
months on your shelf, look and find an artisan that's
making fresh bread or sweetbreads. So again, it's just small
changes like that.
Speaker 5 (36:02):
That make a big impact for our community.
Speaker 7 (36:05):
And again it's kind of a win win. You're getting fresh,
local stuff that's going to be a healthier option for
you long term, and you're supporting small business in your
community all at the same time. So it's a great
opportunity to join the movement and make it easy and
convenient for everyone to do so well.
Speaker 1 (36:23):
This is very innovative. And I know with HB and
Kroger all the grocery stores now have you know where
you can shop online and some deliver or you can
go do pickup and not walk in the store. And
I think people have gotten really used to the convenience
of that. And now you've added that to the farmer's
market model by getting that local access but not having
(36:46):
to be somewhere necessarily at Saturday morning at nine am.
Speaker 7 (36:50):
Yes, exactly. And again you know people have busy lives,
they want to go, they want to do it, but
it just doesn't always happen. There's a lot to other
priorities or things that take precedence. So again, this is
the easy way when you have a minute to sit
down and just hop on the platform and scroll through
the products and again look in your pantry. What could
(37:10):
you start switching out to make those changes and support local.
I had read an article somewhere and it said for
every one hundred dollars that you purchase or invest in
your community, when you're buying from a commercial or a
box store, large corporation, only forty dollars comes back to
the community. But when you buy from a small local business,
(37:33):
anywhere from sixty three to sixty eight dollars comes back
into the community. So it's it's the right thing to do,
and it's a good way to again win win for
the customer and the small business. And so you can
again find us at www.
Speaker 5 (37:50):
Dot the Artisanfarmersmarket dot com.
Speaker 7 (37:53):
We have a newsletter that you can sign up for
and those newsletter subscribers kind of get the inside scoop
on new prout drops, new vendors that have joined, seasonal
products that are in stock, or recipe ideas.
Speaker 5 (38:08):
We even do a lot of.
Speaker 7 (38:10):
Promotions, deals, sales giveaways, so the newsletter subscribers are getting
the first insight on that. If you're a vendor and
you're interested in signing up or learning more, you.
Speaker 5 (38:21):
Can also go on the website.
Speaker 7 (38:23):
And click on become a vendor and learn a little
bit more about the platform. It's really great because it
also ties in your social media and there's a lot
of search engine optimization. We can also do cross sales
and promotions with other vendors, so we can tag up
and share and promote each other's products. And we also
(38:48):
this month we're doing an offer where if you choose
our multi vendor delivery service, we'll do free delivery and
we're giving away fresh cut flowers for free or a
small gift well supplies last. So that's for the rest
of the month of July. So again, check us out
and take the challenge of switching to local and see
(39:11):
the ease and convenience that the artists and Farment's market
can offer.
Speaker 1 (39:14):
You and do y'all provide. I know I'm on your website,
so I see where you can, you know, get your
name email and then send a message to get more
information and to get an application. But assuming people are
a bit intimidated by the process, so y'all able to
help walk people through too?
Speaker 5 (39:36):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (39:36):
Interested?
Speaker 7 (39:37):
Yes, because I understand everyone has a different level of
IT skill and knowledge. So I actually go out and
meet with the vendors one on one if they need
that extra support. We can get their storefront set up
in just a couple an hour and get their products
posted and everything started.
Speaker 5 (39:56):
I'm glad to help with that.
Speaker 1 (39:59):
Well, Sabrina on thank you. I think it's a great
idea and I'm sure it will take off. And thank
you for bringing to the show today.
Speaker 7 (40:07):
Yes, thanks Roy for having me, and I'm really excited.
Speaker 5 (40:11):
For everyone to try out the new.
Speaker 7 (40:13):
Artists and farmers market and make.
Speaker 5 (40:15):
The switch to local.
Speaker 1 (40:17):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 7 (40:18):
Okay, take care.
Speaker 1 (40:21):
We are back with the Roy West Show here on
News Talk five sixty k LD. And remember this is
podcast on the iHeart app as well as Apple podcast
and Android podcasts. This week we had an incredible show.
Chris Robertson with some other place talking about all the
(40:42):
different ministries that they offer as well as he is
the chair of the Mayor's Homeless Coalition here in Beaumont,
and brought a lot of useful information and be sure
to check out some other place to find out about
all the different resources they offer. And then I spoke
to Carlton Sharp, who is the president of the Woodland
(41:03):
Acres State Neighborhood Association, to talk about the value of
neighborhood associations here in Boma, the resources that they are
to their community and what theirs looks like. If you
need more information about it, you can go to the
City of Boma website to find out about your neighborhood
association or you can call the city at four nine
(41:25):
eight eight zero third three seven seven zero. Then I
had Bonnie with a Better Business Bureau talking about how
to become an accredited business and also as customers, how
you can use that to be safer in your transactions
by going to their website to check vendors you are
(41:46):
looking to use businesses that you're considering to see what
if anything, is on the Better Business Bureau website. And
then Sabrina with the Artistan Farmers Market, which is an
online local farmers market where you can go on to
the Artisan farmers Market dot com for more information. But
(42:09):
it's a it's a great idea. I think it will
be a future much like HGV or Kroger where you
can shop on and shop online for your farmer's market
and have it delivered. Folks, until we talk again, God
bless you all.
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