- On today's show guest Wendi Martinez talks about Loula and it's mission in Southeast Texas of promoting a safe and loving home for children through family recovery.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Good morning everyone, and happy Saturday to you. It is
a beautiful, beautiful day today. You know whether it was
kind of dreary yesterday, but woke up this morning temperature
was good Son's coming out, so we are in for
a good beautiful day today. My name is Andy Hemmings.
I'm with Capital Title of Texas. I'm the guest host
today for Miss Dana Simmons. Dana, thank you for having
(00:25):
me and having Capital Title on as your host. We
appreciate you so much and we hope you are enjoying
your day wherever you are today. So we have a
couple of guests coming on the show today. One is
right here with me and her name is Miss Wendy Martinez,
and she's going to be talking with us about the
(00:45):
Lula Foundation, which is a foundation with a very very
special cause that you're going to hear all about. And
we're going to talk with Wendy here in just a moment.
And we also have a representative from First Financial Bank
that's going to be calling in here in just a
short bit to talk about fraud in the finance world.
And you're going to learn just a lot of good tips,
(01:07):
a lot of good information about fraud out there, which
is just something that's rampant, you know, It's rampant across
all institutions, and so we're going to be hearing from
him about fraud in the financial marketplace. Real quick. A
little bit, just a quick little bit about myself and
Capital Title. I work for a Capital Title of Texas.
(01:27):
We have five offices here locally Beaumont, Orange Port, Arthur, Lumberton,
and all the way down in Crystal Beach as well.
We close real estate transactions residential, commercial, industrial, ten thirty one, exchanges,
investor business. We close any type of real estate transaction.
(01:48):
And as I mentioned, Dana is one of our very
very good customers that we love working with her. So
if you have a real estate transaction of any kind
in this area, please give me a call. I'm at
four oh nine six five eight three six nine five
four oh nine six five eight three six nine five,
and we will be happy to help you. I believe
(02:12):
our call in guest has joined us. Now, mister Randy,
are you with us? Well? I think he was there
and now he's not there. So we're gonna we're gonna
come back, but we're gonna I think we're gonna hear
very shortly from mister Randy. Uh, mister Randy Rowe, chief
risk officer with First Financial Bank, and looks like he
(02:35):
may be calling back in again. So Wendy, we're gonna
switch over to you right now. And first of all,
thank you very much from being here, for being here,
you drove all the way in from Buena And if
you would just give us a quick background on on
yourself and your organization and we're going to dive into
it a little bit more later.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
Good morning. I am Wendy Fault Martinez, and I'm my sister,
and I created Lula Foundation and memory of our grandmother
who lived to be ninety nine, and she was probably
the most caring and kind woman that you would ever
want to know, so we wanted to honor her with
our work.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
Fantastic. Okay, very good. I think I think Randy just
called back in. Randy, are you with us? Looks like
looks like he is. I see it on the screen, Randy.
Can you hear me? Okay, Wenny, I'm sorry, let's uh,
(03:37):
let's let's go back to you. Let's let's talk a
little bit more about the Lula Foundation.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
Our mission at the Lula Foundation is to promote a
safe and loving home for children through family recovery.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
Right.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
So within the system, I'll just talk about some statistics first.
Within the healthcare I'm not the healthcare, sorry, the CPS
or maybe foster care system. There are about twenty eight
thousand kids in the system in Texas alone. About fifty
(04:10):
nine hundred of those kids are actually waiting for placement.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
Unbelievable.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
A lot of kids are sleeping on the floors and offices.
And when I say on the floor, I mean on
the floor staffed by you know, eight hour ships of
workers of whatever agency they're with. Some are in group
homes and some are in hotel rooms. Oh my, yes,
So we wanted to help them stay with their families.
(04:36):
There's lots of research out there that shows that kids
do better with their natural families. Yeah, a lot of
things happen. A lot of people have, you know, issues
that they can't explain, challenges, and our goal is to
Sometimes it's just to provide one little thing. You know,
somebody might need a bus pass to get to a
(04:58):
job interview, or or payment for their utilities to get
caught up so they can get subsidized housing. You have
to have a lot of things in place to get
your children back. Sometimes it's an apartment, a job, a house.
It's extremely overwhelming for a lot of people.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
Yeah, yeah, how did you know your background? You are
an r in, you said, And I would love to
talk more about that and your current business that you
run right now. But tell me how you got involved
with the Lula Foundation and that's l O U LA
and it's just such a wonderful mission. How did this
had this come about?
Speaker 2 (05:38):
So we grew up in my sister and I grew
up in the port and Age just grows area, middle
class family, and we had never been attuned or had
these type of challenges before. And then my sister became
involved in a domestically abusive marriage and we found ourselves
(05:59):
where she went to rehab that was totally unnavigated for us,
you know, and then she had challenges with she lost
my nephew, and challenges through the court system that literally
lasted for years. And sometimes it was just that one thing,
like we talked about, you know, somebody to help her
(06:19):
catch up on her utility bills, somebody to help her
with you know, getting to a job interview, or helping
with him. You have to have someone to supervise your visits,
you know, for a certain amount of time to be
able to get your give visitation back. Yeah, so we
wanted to educate other people on what we had been
(06:41):
through and educate ourselves even more to be able to
help those people that are in that situation.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
Yeah. I was looking on your website and it really
dove into that story about what your sister went through,
and it was very I don't think touching is the
right word, but it really it really hits you because
she was and how this was completely unexpected out of
the blue, just never imagined herself being in that position,
and the challenges that she went through as a result
(07:09):
of that relationship, and the fact that the institutions out
there weren't really set up to help her, you know,
And so Lula was thereby created. And that's wonderful. So
give us an idea of another just a little bit
more idea about specifically what y'all can do for someone
who is in that situation who just needs a little
(07:31):
a push through.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
So right now, we currently have a lot of programs
that we are involved in and we're getting more requests
every day. Right now, we're doing a Life Skills Group
with Girls Haven. I don't know if you're familiar with that,
but it's teenagers that are between the ages of thirteen
and seventeen. That's in Beaumont. We're doing something called Embrace
(07:54):
Grace in conjunction with Life Church, which is young pregnant
moms that need assistant and then we have a group
at Revive, which is the New Recovery Center. We have
something with the Melton Center which is women who've been
incarcerated and they're trying to integrate themselves back into society.
We're helping them. Jasper County Sheriff's Office, First Court which
(08:17):
is Judge Sheldon's Court in Beaumont, and Franklin House North
and South. That's just a few that you're working with.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
Okay, we're going to come right back to you, and
we're going to take a quick break. Thank you, Wendy,
and we're going to try to get the caller through
here in a moment. I know he's trying to call
in as well. So this is Andy Hemmings, guest host
for the Dana Simons Show, and we'll be right back.
Come back, everyone. This is Andy Hemmings with the Capitol
title guest host of The Dana Simmons Show. And right
(08:46):
now we are talking with Miss Wendy Martinez with the
Lula Foundation and talking about their mission and how they
help support those that are in abusive relationships. So if
you have any questions or you wanted to speak with
Wendy about this, please call in at four O nine
eight nine six five five eight four four nine eight
(09:10):
nine six klv I. Wendy is here to answer any
questions and maybe point you in the right direction during
a challenging time for you or your family. So, Wendy,
before I forget, how do people get in touch with
you or find out more information about about Lula.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
We have a website. It's Lulafoundation dot org. Okay, the
information is on there. If you need to apply for services,
there is an application on there that you can apply
for services and someone will call you back or get
with you with them forty eight hours of completing that application.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
Is that the easiest way to help facilitate someone just
to go to the website and it's a little more
private that way.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
Possibly, Yeah, absolutely. And if it's an organization, for instance,
the Glass Project in Beaumont, they might have someone that
they're helping that needs something they cannot provide. One thing
I want to bring up is we work with a
lot of organizations and a lot are grants supported, right,
so what they can help people with is very specific.
(10:11):
Where we do have a couple of grants, but we
also have independent donations which means we can we can
fill in that one thing like we said that maybe
other organizations cannot do because of their grants.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
Okay, all right, We do ask.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
That those that are applying for services do it themselves.
We want them to take the initiative to fill out
the application, give us their contact information versus someone that's
needing you know, helping them already, say the Glass project
or First Court. We want them to actually take the
initiative the client to go to the website, fill out
(10:50):
the application, and then we will get back with them directly.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
Okay, perfect, Okay, all right, So you tell me some
of the organizations that y'all partner with, like who helps
support y'all tell us a little bit more about those, Okay.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
First Court in Beaumont, which is Judge Sheldon's Court in Beaumont.
Judge Freeze also works with First Court. There is Family
Services in Beaumont, Girls Haven, Embrace Grace Revive, which is
the new rehab in Beaumont. We're doing some groups there.
The Melton Center, which is where incarcerated women whenever they're
(11:29):
released from jail, they go there to live and try
to get integrated back into society. We're doing some work
there Jasper County Sheriff's Department. We just started a program
called Inside Out where we help them while they're inside
and then we're going to follow them whenever they're they
get out as well. We're going to follow them and
help them to be successful. We have recovery Support specialists
(11:51):
that and recovery means drug, alcohol, trauma, you're recovering from
basically anything.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
So any type of challenge that's on on his face.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
Absolutely, and we are credentialed by Texas to do intern
hours for those seeking that Recovery Support Specialist certification, So
we have people that can help. You know, they're getting
their hours and they can help the different clients and
support them. One thing that I was totally not aware
(12:21):
of that happened this past year is we got a
call where there were two teenage girls that were still
in high school. Unfortunately, both had ended up without any
parental support. Oh no, yes, and I've recently joined a
task force with the Regional Planning Commission. We do work
with them as well. Where I mean, that's a common problem.
(12:42):
No one ever hears about that, right, They have a
task force that.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
I didn't know that.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
I didn't either before I went to that meeting.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
So they have a task forced okay, to support to
help those without parental support or some sort of need
like that.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
Yeah, and these these two girls are are seventeen, when
when you're seventeen you have to be eighteen to get
housing assistance, so you're basically stuck when you're seventeen. When
you're seventeen, you can't get housing assistants. So we have to,
you know, help them find somewhere where they can live.
Neither one of them knew how to cook. They just
(13:16):
don't know how to do basic They didn't have their
driver's license. We are helping them, like get their driver's license,
and what are they going to do. We're trying to
get them to They're both graduating from high school this year,
and we help them for the last year, like be
successful so they can graduate from high school and figure
out what they'll do after that.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
Yeah, godly, there's just so much need out there. And
you know, as you go about your day, just out
in the public, in the grocery store, shopping or whatever,
you could be looking at someone who's facing these challenges
and you never even know it.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
That's absolutely right. You have no idea what they've been through.
And if you just start talking to people, it's just
amazing unbelievable that if you and you just don't know, right,
like these girls, I had no idea before we got
the call that they needed help. I had no idea
that was like a bigger issue.
Speaker 1 (14:07):
Yeah. Go, well, it's a blessing to have you involved
and your sister involved and Lula to carry on this
great need. So is it just you and your sister
or do y'all have other employees as well or other
volunteer You mentioned y'all partner with people that are doing
intern or students doing internships. So tell us about the
organization itself, the hierarchy or the administrative set up.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
Yeah, okay, we do have a board of directors. We
also have a director that's directly employed by Lula. Her
name is Alicia Bean and she's also very well connected
in this community. She is an LCDC, which is a
licensed Chemical Dependency counselor, and she's also a social worker.
She's amazing. So she when people find out that she's
(14:54):
with LULA because she has been around this area, like
they want to work with us. Yeah, we're constantly getting
phone calls for different We're actually now working on a
contract where we can work directly with CPS, which is
something initially that we thought we would never do.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
Right what why is that? To me? That seems a
natural fit. But maybe not so tell me just because
they're not set up to deal with organizations like.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
You all or well, CPS kind of has a negative connotation,
you know, like Okay, they take kids away from their families.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
I see.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
Really they want to integrate the kids back, you know,
the parents back and help them get their kids back. Okay,
and that's what Yeah, and that's what we are going
to be able to help them do, which is a
true blessing.
Speaker 1 (15:48):
Yeah, wonderful. And remind me again how long LULA has
been around, Like when was it founded?
Speaker 2 (15:54):
This is our I believe this is our fourth year. Time.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
It's still really new. It's very new, and y'all are
still and I would imagine every year that goes by
your mission expands, more connections expand, and more opportunity, for
lack of a better word, for you to serve as
out there.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
Absolutely, and we've been able to help about thirty approximately
thirty families a year thus far, okay, which is good.
And we there are a lot of organizations that can
give them help. But whenever they're discharged from these various organizations,
that's where we will pick up, okay and keep you know,
(16:33):
to make sure we want to suctaint, sustain their health
and wellness, sustain their health with their families so they
can keep their kids repeats. There's a high repeat with CPS.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
Yeah, oh I gotcha. Yeah. And so is this a
full time job for you or your sister or y'all
do this full time? Is that you'll have an all
like an office that y'all work out over.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
We both actually have our own companies. My sister has
CAT five Resources, her name is Cindy Perez, and then
I have FULK Health Partners, but Alicia is a full
time employee. And we also have a lot of volunteers
that are case managers. One of them is actually a
nurse that I worked with at MD Anderson. She has
(17:21):
a lot of experience. She's been a nurse for I
think thirty five years. Oh wow, that's good that we
can have that. And she's a recovery support specialist as well,
so she has both of those credentials, which makes it
even better. And we have the students.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
Yeah, and so where do the students come from?
Speaker 2 (17:38):
Different there's different classes around the state. Actually, there's one
in Beaumont that does the class for like, is.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
It through LAMAR or is this something?
Speaker 2 (17:47):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (17:47):
Okay, it's through LAMAR.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
Okay, it's a certificate that you get, but you do
have to complete a certain number. I believe it's three hundred, but.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
Don't Yeah, I got it.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
Yeah, something like that that they have to get. And
then we certified that they've had the hours and there's
certain things that you have to make sure that they
do and teach them. It's really a great program.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
So tell me if you would maybe a success story
or maybe something that just moved you or just an
example of where y'all have been able to serve and
meet a need out there.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
Okay, sure, we have had several one in particular who
actually was our client twice. So she went to rehab.
She lost her children and went to rehab I believe
at Franklin House in Beaumont. And then she was also
(18:46):
followed by First Court, which is Judge Shelden's Court, that
we worked closely with. We helped her initially maybe with
you know, some utility bills, something like that bus pass
so forth, and then she ended up relapsing.
Speaker 1 (19:01):
So after she and you said that that's pretty common.
Speaker 2 (19:04):
Yeah, it's very common. So after she relapsed, she went
back to rehab. We were blessed to be able to
help her again. But the biggest joy, the greatest amount
of joy she had was when she relapsed. She lost
her glasses so she could not see. Well, she couldn't see,
(19:24):
and she has medicaid, but medicaid only pays for an
exam once a year. It had been less than a year.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
Something so simple. So you're saying that's what was a
trigger for the relapse.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
So no, after she relapsed.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
After she relapsed, she lost her lap Okay.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
I don't know she was using and lost her glasses,
but she couldn't see. To get get another driver's license,
to get a job, to do basically anything to read.
She had no way to get the glasses, so we
took her to get an eye exam get some new glasses.
You should have seen the excitement on her face because
(20:01):
she can see.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
That is just so I mean, it's just so moving
that something's so simple and there's people out you know,
for you and I out there, just go get more glasses.
Don't think anything of it. For somebody in a just
really a desperate situation like that, or a very vulnerable situation,
it can make all the difference. That's the one more
(20:24):
thing that you're talking about.
Speaker 2 (20:25):
Exactly right.
Speaker 1 (20:26):
Wow, fantastic. Well, so tell me a little bit more.
I know y'all have a gala coming up, don't you.
Isn't there an event coming up to help support we do.
Speaker 2 (20:39):
We have a gala coming up August twenty eighth. It's
called Sweet Summer Nights and that information is also available
on our website.
Speaker 1 (20:47):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (20:47):
It will be at the event center on a Thursday night.
We have sponsorships available, we have there's you know, of
course tickets that are available, but we would love to
have assistance with that and have you know, just attendees.
We will have a live auction, a silent auction a.
Speaker 1 (21:05):
Raffle And where did you say?
Speaker 2 (21:07):
That's taking place of the event center.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
At the event Center, great place for a front event. Okay,
on August twenty eighth, Yes, Okay.
Speaker 2 (21:14):
Marcella Molfino is on our board and he's an awesome
cook and he's going to be cooking that night. Okay,
So yes, we're excited about that. We're going to have
some good food.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
Sounds good.
Speaker 2 (21:26):
Along with the sweet summer nights, we'll have like a
barbecue type theme. So I'm really excited about the food.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
Yes, yes, And that's on August twenty eighth at the
event Center and people can get tickets there off of
the website. And you mentioned like, so, what are some
of the volunteer opportunities y'all have available for somebody that's
interested in some volunteers.
Speaker 2 (21:43):
Well? Absolutely, I don't know if you're aware, but I
thought I was going to do this a couple of
years ago, a fundraiser, and it was going to be
pretty simple. There is a lot, a lot of lot
involved and it's easy to get overwhelmed. But we have
different committees, you know, the decorating committee, the fundraising committee.
There's entertainment that will be involved. We're going to have
(22:04):
if you can look up Josie Butler. She's a really
good artist and she's going to do a live painting
there while we're there. Okay, yeah, and it's great. You
can look her up. There's an example of what she
does a live painting on YouTube, and then we'll auction off.
Speaker 1 (22:20):
Her painting Josie Butler. Okay. You know you're talking about
needing volunteers, do y'all. I know, like the area high
schools they need volunteer hours. So I don't know if
that's anything. Y'all have looked at some of the high
local high school students.
Speaker 2 (22:32):
So for our last fundraiser two years ago, for our fundraiser,
P ANDNG actually bust kids there on Friday and they
help us set up. And they also have floral arrangement
classes at the school. Oh okay, and so we bought
the flowers and then the high school made all the arrangements.
Speaker 1 (22:50):
You know, that's wonderful when you can pair up high
school students and let them see what's going on out
there in the broader world and get them out of
there teenage bubble, if you will, Because I remember when
I was when I was a kid and I volunteered
for the Special Olympics and it just like wow, and
it was it really it affected me, you know, and
(23:11):
I saw things differently after that. So that's great that
you can involve involved the high school students.
Speaker 2 (23:15):
What we've done in the past is we also ask
our clients to volunteer.
Speaker 1 (23:20):
You know, Okay, we are going to help.
Speaker 2 (23:22):
You, but we need you to volunteer.
Speaker 1 (23:24):
That's a great tool to help with recovery too.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
They love it. They love it, like some of them
have never been in a position where they can help other.
Speaker 1 (23:35):
People, right, and how empowering that is to give them
that opportunity and for them to have a win, a
success exactly. Wow, that's a great idea. We are going
to take a short break and come back and talk
some more with miss Wendy loving this conversation, loving what
you do. This is Andy Hemmings with Capital title, guest
(23:57):
host for the Dana Simons Show, and we'll be right back.
Welcome back, everyone, and I hope wherever you are right now,
you are enjoying this weather. I know I'm gonna I
know when I get home, we're going to start preparing
some food. It's Kentucky Derby Day. It's Derby Day. We're
(24:17):
making some sliders and some Derby deviled eggs and we're
gonna sit down on the patio and watch the Derby
in a little I don't even know it was Derby
Day till my wife told me. So we're gonna enjoy
the day, and I hope you are as well. This
is Andy Hemmings with Capitol title, guest host for the
Dana Simmons Show, and we're talking with Miss Wendy Martinez
who is talking about her organization, the Lula Foundation, that
(24:40):
supports those that are in a in abusive relationships. If
you have any questions about the organization, how to get involved,
anything like that, please please give us a call. Wendy
is here and the numbers four oh nine eight nine
six five five eight four. So Wendy tell us again.
(25:00):
The best way for people to get in touch with you.
Speaker 2 (25:03):
Okay at our website Lulafoundation dot org. You can go there,
but you can also email us. It's Wendy W E. N.
D I at Lulafoundation dot org or Alicia A. L I.
S H A. Okay at Lulafoundation dot organ Lula is
l o u la, so it's a little bit different.
Speaker 1 (25:23):
Yeah. You know what we haven't talked about yet is
the inspiration behind the name Lula. And that is such
a good story. And I'm looking at these wonderful pieces
that you gave me here. So tell us how the
name where the name lulaca? And I can tell you're
getting you get a little bit teared up thinking about it.
So tell us where the name came from.
Speaker 2 (25:43):
So, my grandmother's name was Katie Lula Falk and she
lived to be ninety nine years old. We have some
life lessons that she that we learned from her, and
we try to use those every day in our own lives,
and we try to put that, you know, in other
people's lives so they can live and get, you know,
(26:05):
get as much satisfaction and joy as we do. Can
I read them really quick?
Speaker 1 (26:09):
I would love for you. Now this came from how
old was she when she wrote these?
Speaker 2 (26:13):
Well, we took videos that we had over of her.
We started the videos when she was like ninety seven,
and I will say this now, we started videoing her
and we put it on Facebook. There were like ten
fifteen thousand shares, views, et cetera. And when we told her,
she could not believe it. She could not fathom that
(26:33):
people wanted her wisdom that much. So it was very sorry. Week.
Speaker 1 (26:38):
It's wonderful. I saw you have her picture posted on
your website and just a beautiful woman. Beautiful woman. So
please read us what what your grandmother wrote.
Speaker 2 (26:49):
Okay, I sure will. Life is a teacher. Put God first.
You can never outgive God. Be forgiving every day, laugh
at yourself, be an overcomer, give more than you get.
(27:09):
Don't give up if you know something is right. God
puts you in the valley so you can see the mountaintop.
Love everyone. Never give up on family. God blesses and
takes away, and own up to your mistakes and be grateful.
Speaker 1 (27:28):
It's a lot of wisdom right there. It really is.
And I know that it meant a lot to your
sister when she was going through what she was going through.
Speaker 2 (27:38):
It did my grandmother. She tells a story about she
went to Florida for the first part of her rehab
and then my dad brought her home and she had
to stay with my grandmother. But she got so much
out of that few days that she stayed with my
grandmother that it really positively impacted her life. And the
thing about that is a lot of people don't have that.
(28:01):
If you grow up with family support, you think, you
know how other people don't have it, but until you
see it firsthand, like they really really don't have anyone.
Speaker 1 (28:14):
Yeah, And I know, like personally, I couldn't imagine. I mean,
just because I've been blessed to grow up with family
support all over the pl you know that, just that
it's a blessing. And like you said, not every not
everybody has that, but what but even those who have
a lot of support can still find themselves in troubling
situations too. Yes, absolutely, yeah, yeah, looking at these as
(28:38):
you were reading them, there's just a lot of wisdom
and just just such good philosophy. Here. God put you
in the valley so that you can so that you
can see the mountaintop. That's just so true, so true.
Speaker 2 (28:52):
We've given hundreds of these out and you would not
imagine the people that we will just run across in
the community and they'll be like, oh, yeah, remember that
card you gave me. I still have that And one
of them, she said, she my sister just spoke at
a church women's conference and a lady was in our
class and she said that she has it in her
(29:15):
kid's room, in her teenage daughter's rooms. Yeah, so that's
amazing that we can put her wisdom out there.
Speaker 1 (29:21):
Yeah, and I tell you teenage girls specifically, they need that.
There's a mental health crisis going on out there. There
just is. And for whatever reason, we could, you know,
talk about that about the mental health crisis out there.
But it's real, it's out there, there's a wave of it,
(29:42):
and they need all the support they can get.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
Yes, loneliness is at an all time high. Yeah, with
all the social media it is, actions, it is, it's
worse than ever I.
Speaker 1 (29:53):
Know, I know. Yeah, So having a real person and
who expressing true love, human connection, there's just no substitute
for true human connection, that's right. Yeah. Well we've got
a little bit more time here. And actually that's a
pretty good segue into something else I wanted to talk
(30:15):
with you about that. I didn't know about you until
we just met. And you have another life outside of Lula. Obviously,
you're an r N. You work for M D Anderson
for many years, and now you run Falk Health Excuse me, yes,
Falk Health Partners. And you were telling me about the
mission that you serve there and it's very special. So
(30:39):
tell us a little bit about that.
Speaker 2 (30:40):
Okay, thank you so much. I have been an r
N for more than thirty years, and I started I
retired from m D Anderson after twenty one years. I
worked in executive leadership there and before hour, it's about
a year before I retired, I ended up as a
patient myself. And if I tell you that I thought
(31:03):
I knew how patients felt, I didn't. And my family
didn't know how patients felt. Yeah, and I didn't realize
how hard it was on families. So after that very
stressful time for all of us, I decided to start
my own home home company. I'm not going to say
(31:25):
we're a home care, but home company. We help people
at home. We provide health management, palliative care, life enhancement,
post surgical and post surgical care. So we want our
mission to be based on health. Even if you are sick,
we want to get you to the top of your game.
(31:45):
Whatever you think the top of your game is, we
want to help you with that. It could be with diet,
it could help be with sleep, it could be with exercise.
We just went to see a man yesterday that is
here from California that has this really great pass Like
he was a stuntman in Hollywood and he's eighty five
now and he broke his hip, but he his goal
(32:08):
is to get back to California and pick up his motorcycles.
Speaker 1 (32:12):
And he's eighty five.
Speaker 2 (32:13):
He's eighty five.
Speaker 1 (32:13):
Yeah, that's so inspiring. I'm fifty seven and I'm like,
I love hearing stories, like I got a good thirty
years left in me.
Speaker 2 (32:20):
So we want to you know, we're gonna help him
with his diet and with his exercise, and he might
not get back to getting his motorcycles, but we will
help him get to the top of his game however
we can. Yeah, we do provide caregiver services. Those are
unlicensed services, but we can help with the management of
the overall. Like he has caregivers and we're going to
(32:42):
train those caregivers to help him, you know, with his diet.
They cook for him.
Speaker 1 (32:46):
Okay, so forth, Yeah, Now where is falk Health Partners
based out of as you're in Buna or here in Beaumont,
It's in Buna, Okay.
Speaker 2 (32:54):
Our office is in Buna. It's not really an office
it's at our house because we want to be out
on the streets seeing people networking, interacting. There's also a
big we've recently found that there's a big population that
are in the skilled beds and nursing homes that are
there for rehab, but they will eventually they don't. They
(33:16):
can't keep them very long for rehab and then for
insurance purposes, and then they're going to go home. So
that is a population that we could help. So when
they go home, we can help support you know, keep
supporting them so they can continue to get better.
Speaker 1 (33:31):
Yeah. I went through that with my father Milton who
he's passed now, and Hay Milton, and he was he
was older, he was in his mid eighties, and and
he only got so much rehab per day. You know,
he only got so much rehab per day, and it
(33:54):
was helpful to him. But then once that was done,
that was done just because that's all that's all insurance.
Speaker 2 (33:59):
Will pay exactly. Yeah, this gentleman had home care, physical therapy,
and you know, they had to discharge him because if
you can't document a specific amount of improvement over time,
then they won't pay for it anymore. Then you know,
you have to discharge them, which doesn't mean that you
can't get better. It's just going to take a little longer.
Speaker 1 (34:20):
Yeah, And everybody's different. Everybody has different needs, and everybody,
from what I've seen in just my limited observation, everybody
is more is more or less engaged. Some of them
are all in on trying to get better, and some
of them you have to really work with them to
buy into it and do what you're asking. Right.
Speaker 2 (34:40):
Yeah, we had to make this is Yesterday was my
third time to be there with him, and it took
him three times to come around and come up with
a goal and tell me he can actually do it.
And he's motivated and he's not scared of it being hard,
So it doesn't always you know, they don't know and
then they're intimidated. And he said, he he knows. It's
(35:01):
in his mind. He's afraid he's going to fall again
and he just needs help overcoming that.
Speaker 1 (35:06):
Yeah. Yeah, and I'm you know, there's probably some pride
issues as well. He was a stunt man, absolutely, and
now here he is in this situation and there's u
and I can only imagine how that affects you mentally
and your buy in into what's going on? Yeah, but
like how you said, you haven't, so you have them
establish a goal first. That's good. That's good.
Speaker 2 (35:27):
Yeah, we might not make it to that goal, but
we're going to get them as close as as close
as we can.
Speaker 1 (35:32):
Yeah, yeah, well that's important. I know, like for somebody
like me, I know that would help me. I need
an endpoint that I'm going to uh and then that's
that's very motivating in and of itself. So how do
people find you that are that need this type of care?
Like do you partner with the assisted living facilities or
how does that work?
Speaker 2 (35:50):
They can go to Faulthealthpartners dot com. Okay, and my
phone number, my cell phone number is on there. They
can call me. And I do want to say that
we also help people get their insurance benefits. Okay, So
if you are going. I helped a gentleman last year
who needed wasn't okay with going on hospice when he
left the hospital, but eventually he was okay with it.
(36:12):
It was just sprung on him, you know, the day before.
So I looked at all the hospices that were on
his insurance, talk to the different ones, had them come
to his house, talk to him about it and helped
him make a decision. So all we did was fill
in the holes. We want you to get your what
your insurance will cover. But unfortunately there's everyone knows there
(36:35):
are a lot of holes in that system at the moment.
Speaker 1 (36:39):
That's an understatement. We're going to take one more break
and come up and finish, come back and finish our
conversation with Miss Wendy Martinez of the Lula Foundation and
Falk Health Partners. This is Andy Hemmings with the Dana
Simon Show, and we'll be right back. Welcome back, everyone.
This is Andy Hemmings with the Danis Simmons Show. Thank
(37:01):
you so much for tuning in. We're just having just
a great conversation with Wendy Martinez here, who in her
life and her passion, she's serving a number of needs
out there in the community and we're just so glad
to have you with us here today. And Wendy, in
our last little bit of time here, let's talk about
(37:22):
another mission that you have, another service you provide, and
that's end of life care. And I know it's not
necessarily something that people always want to talk about, but
to me, I think it's something very important to talk
about and how to help people during that period of time,
you know, and I think it's good to talk about
(37:42):
it and know what services are out there. So tell
us a little bit about that.
Speaker 2 (37:46):
Okay, I'll tell you about a little a patient that
I took care of over the year for twenty twenty
four and I think that'll give it a good example.
When I retired at the end of twenty twenty three,
I knew what I wanted to do earning end of life,
but I didn't know how to make that happen. And
less than a month later, I got a call. You know,
I have this patient who's in the hospital. He has
(38:08):
head and neck cancer. He has a trade, no family
that can help take care of him, and he can't
get out of the hospital unless someone is there to
take care of his trape, unless someone attends a class
to take care of to take care of him. Otherwise
he would have to go to long term care, which
he was not ready for at all. So we helped him,
(38:31):
you know, get that class done. He went home. He
wasn't ready for hospice when he left the hospital, but
after a few weeks getting used to that and having
repeated conversations with him to let him know. You know,
everybody thinks that's associated Most people think that's associated with
you know, I'm dying soon.
Speaker 1 (38:50):
Yeah, you know, Yeah, that's my perception of it.
Speaker 2 (38:53):
Okay, exactly exactly. People stay on it. I have a
friend who her mom's been on it for three years,
so that's not yet.
Speaker 1 (39:00):
Not necessarily true. Yes, that's good to know.
Speaker 2 (39:02):
So anyway, I helped him. I researched all the hospices,
got his enturance information, researched all the hospice that took
care of patients in his area. He picked a hospice
after we you know, interviewed a couple of them, and
then he went on service. But there were I guess
holes in his care. Like I said earlier, there were
(39:24):
things he needed that hospice couldn't fill in. You know,
there's just not number one, there's a shortage of nurses
in every field, so and they couldn't do daily care
for him. So we just filled in the holes. We
would go and help him take a shower. He had
Parkinson's disease, so he couldn't He could take care of
his trade, but he had to do breeding treatments three
(39:45):
times a day and couldn't draw them up because of
the Parkinson's, so we would actually help him draw them up.
You know, every patient's different. He was an engineer, owned
his own company, had a very engineering mind, which doesn't
deal with the graver very well. And science is gray.
So we just made it a point to make him
part of his care. You know, if there was a
(40:08):
challenge we would like with the nebulizer treatments, the breathing treatments.
He made a stand out of metal to hold those
nebulizer setups, the two being themselves, so someone could help
him draw them up in the morning and get them
ready and he could just turn on the machine to
do the next two and then somebody would come back
(40:29):
the next morning.
Speaker 1 (40:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (40:30):
So he loved that and everybody, everybody what motivates them
as something different, and he felt like he was participating
in his care.
Speaker 1 (40:37):
Yeah, that's that's such a good point there, that to
meet people where they are and with their with their background.
Because he you had mentioned that he invented. He had
an invention of some sort of device that was on
the ocean floor for oil exploration. Tell what was it?
Speaker 2 (40:53):
To me, It's a compressor that's pulled behind a boat, okay,
and then it shoots air down into the water, and
if there's a certain seismic vibration, then there's either oil
or guess there.
Speaker 1 (41:05):
Okay, So he invented this. So here's a guy that's
that's this guy's mind, and you were able to work
that part of who he is into his care. That's great,
thank you.
Speaker 2 (41:17):
Than Yeah. Yeah, yeah, I think he passed away at
that It did pass away at the end of the
year almost and almost a year later, but it was
on his own terms, in his bedroom, right exactly where
he wanted to be. Not he never went back to
the hospital once he got out. And I think, you know,
(41:38):
like we said earlier, the compensation for healthcare companies, home
health or hospice, whatever it may be, is just not
unless you have a Really when we took care of
my grandmother, we took care of her at home, and
what it took me and my sister around the clock,
twenty four hours a day.
Speaker 1 (41:54):
You know, very taxing, yes, yeah, and it's very expensive
to get private care you know. Yeah, yeah for those
of those that aren't aren't prepared, and so that end
of life care is that's something you do through through
your health Partners company.
Speaker 2 (42:12):
Yes, sir, yes, sir.
Speaker 1 (42:13):
Okay, Yeah, it's a great story. And you also mentioned
that guy. He was an underwater hockey player, so his
lungs were like super healthy.
Speaker 2 (42:21):
Yeah, he had great lungs. But then his tumor was
in his neck, so you know, he couldn't understand why
he was having difficulty breathing. But his oxygen saturation was
you know, in the high nineties. But that was his
lung capacity that he had worked on and that probably
helped him in the end, you know where he didn't
he didn't suffer once he was not able to talk
(42:43):
and get around and you know, communicate, well, it was
it was just a matter of time.
Speaker 1 (42:48):
Yeah. So for somebody out there that might be that's
listening right now, that might be facing a situation where
they have a loved one who's approaching end of life,
maybe about to go into hospice or whatever their situation is,
and maybe they're struggling with that and struggling just processing it.
What advice would you have for them?
Speaker 2 (43:09):
Talk to someone? Okay, talk to someone, talk to another
family member, a friend. And the patients are not always
We had one lady who she was ready to go,
but she knew her family wasn't ready, you.
Speaker 1 (43:26):
Know, and once, I bet that's really common, it's very and.
Speaker 2 (43:30):
Once we got the okay from her to have a
discussion with her family, and we spoke to them, you know,
very graciously of course, about you know, what her fears were,
what her wishes were. It was it's just a beautiful
thing when everybody can come together and they were going
to miss her, yeah, you know, just like we were
(43:51):
going to miss my grandmother, and we were afraid and fearful,
but we knew where she was going and that she
was going to be singing with the angels, you know,
just a few minutes later, which was a beautiful thing.
Speaker 1 (44:03):
Yeah. Yeah, I know when my when my dad passed
a couple of years ago, Uh, it was it was
a true blessing. We could all be there with him
at that moment. I mean we were there was we
were all around the bed at the time and not
it's that to me, that's just such a blessing. And
it was very sad, but it was yet that's the way.
(44:26):
That's such a good way to to end.
Speaker 2 (44:29):
It really is. It's a blessing, That's what that's what
we want for everyone where there's no you know, in
the family. Sometimes the family is afraid too and they
don't want to be around that person because they're afraid
and they don't know how they feel about it personally.
Speaker 1 (44:43):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, Well it's been a great conversation, great
talking with you today. And in our last very short
bit here next minute or so, uh, let's talk about
how the Lula Foundation again and the how people get
in touch with you there. Go to Lula Foundation dot org.
Isn't that correct? And you'll have that upcoming gala on
(45:04):
August the twenty eighth at the event Center. People can
get tickets for that, and there's volunteer opportunities for that
as well, and.
Speaker 2 (45:11):
They're sponsoring opportunities.
Speaker 1 (45:12):
And some sponsoring opportunities Okay, always good sponsoring opportunities. Wonderful.
And then also your company, the Falk Health Partner Falk
Health Partners llcuh, they tell us how they get in
touch with you there again.
Speaker 2 (45:28):
It's Falk Health Partner Partners dot com. Okay, And my
email is Wendy W. E. N d I at Falk
Health Partners dot com. And my cell phone number is
eight three two six nine three six one eighty six,
but it's on the website too, you'll have to remember that.
Speaker 1 (45:45):
Yeah. So, I know we have a lot of people
out there listening, and this resonated with with some of
you out there, and I encourage you to reach out
and get involved with the Lula Foundation, or if you
have some family need for the end of life care
or some of the services that Wendy provides, please reach out.
(46:05):
Thank you all for joining us today. This is Andy
Hemmings with capital title. It's been a pleasure being the
host today for the Dana Simmons Show. Y'all have a
wonderful day and enjoy this weekend.
Good morning everyone, and happy Saturday to you. It is
a beautiful, beautiful day today. You know whether it was
kind of dreary yesterday, but woke up this morning temperature
was good Son's coming out, so we are in for
a good beautiful day today. My name is Andy Hemmings.
I'm with Capital Title of Texas. I'm the guest host
today for Miss Dana Simmons. Dana, thank you for having
(00:25):
me and having Capital Title on as your host. We
appreciate you so much and we hope you are enjoying
your day wherever you are today. So we have a
couple of guests coming on the show today. One is
right here with me and her name is Miss Wendy Martinez,
and she's going to be talking with us about the
(00:45):
Lula Foundation, which is a foundation with a very very
special cause that you're going to hear all about. And
we're going to talk with Wendy here in just a moment.
And we also have a representative from First Financial Bank
that's going to be calling in here in just a
short bit to talk about fraud in the finance world.
And you're going to learn just a lot of good tips,
(01:07):
a lot of good information about fraud out there, which
is just something that's rampant, you know, It's rampant across
all institutions, and so we're going to be hearing from
him about fraud in the financial marketplace. Real quick. A
little bit, just a quick little bit about myself and
Capital Title. I work for a Capital Title of Texas.
(01:27):
We have five offices here locally Beaumont, Orange Port, Arthur, Lumberton,
and all the way down in Crystal Beach as well.
We close real estate transactions residential, commercial, industrial, ten thirty one, exchanges,
investor business. We close any type of real estate transaction.
(01:48):
And as I mentioned, Dana is one of our very
very good customers that we love working with her. So
if you have a real estate transaction of any kind
in this area, please give me a call. I'm at
four oh nine six five eight three six nine five
four oh nine six five eight three six nine five,
and we will be happy to help you. I believe
(02:12):
our call in guest has joined us. Now, mister Randy,
are you with us? Well? I think he was there
and now he's not there. So we're gonna we're gonna
come back, but we're gonna I think we're gonna hear
very shortly from mister Randy. Uh, mister Randy Rowe, chief
risk officer with First Financial Bank, and looks like he
(02:35):
may be calling back in again. So Wendy, we're gonna
switch over to you right now. And first of all,
thank you very much from being here, for being here,
you drove all the way in from Buena And if
you would just give us a quick background on on
yourself and your organization and we're going to dive into
it a little bit more later.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
Good morning. I am Wendy Fault Martinez, and I'm my sister,
and I created Lula Foundation and memory of our grandmother
who lived to be ninety nine, and she was probably
the most caring and kind woman that you would ever
want to know, so we wanted to honor her with
our work.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
Fantastic. Okay, very good. I think I think Randy just
called back in. Randy, are you with us? Looks like
looks like he is. I see it on the screen, Randy.
Can you hear me? Okay, Wenny, I'm sorry, let's uh,
(03:37):
let's let's go back to you. Let's let's talk a
little bit more about the Lula Foundation.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
Our mission at the Lula Foundation is to promote a
safe and loving home for children through family recovery.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
Right.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
So within the system, I'll just talk about some statistics first.
Within the healthcare I'm not the healthcare, sorry, the CPS
or maybe foster care system. There are about twenty eight
thousand kids in the system in Texas alone. About fifty
(04:10):
nine hundred of those kids are actually waiting for placement.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
Unbelievable.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
A lot of kids are sleeping on the floors and offices.
And when I say on the floor, I mean on
the floor staffed by you know, eight hour ships of
workers of whatever agency they're with. Some are in group
homes and some are in hotel rooms. Oh my, yes,
So we wanted to help them stay with their families.
(04:36):
There's lots of research out there that shows that kids
do better with their natural families. Yeah, a lot of
things happen. A lot of people have, you know, issues
that they can't explain, challenges, and our goal is to
Sometimes it's just to provide one little thing. You know,
somebody might need a bus pass to get to a
(04:58):
job interview, or or payment for their utilities to get
caught up so they can get subsidized housing. You have
to have a lot of things in place to get
your children back. Sometimes it's an apartment, a job, a house.
It's extremely overwhelming for a lot of people.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
Yeah, yeah, how did you know your background? You are
an r in, you said, And I would love to
talk more about that and your current business that you
run right now. But tell me how you got involved
with the Lula Foundation and that's l O U LA
and it's just such a wonderful mission. How did this
had this come about?
Speaker 2 (05:38):
So we grew up in my sister and I grew
up in the port and Age just grows area, middle
class family, and we had never been attuned or had
these type of challenges before. And then my sister became
involved in a domestically abusive marriage and we found ourselves
(05:59):
where she went to rehab that was totally unnavigated for us,
you know, and then she had challenges with she lost
my nephew, and challenges through the court system that literally
lasted for years. And sometimes it was just that one thing,
like we talked about, you know, somebody to help her
(06:19):
catch up on her utility bills, somebody to help her
with you know, getting to a job interview, or helping
with him. You have to have someone to supervise your visits,
you know, for a certain amount of time to be
able to get your give visitation back. Yeah, so we
wanted to educate other people on what we had been
(06:41):
through and educate ourselves even more to be able to
help those people that are in that situation.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
Yeah. I was looking on your website and it really
dove into that story about what your sister went through,
and it was very I don't think touching is the
right word, but it really it really hits you because
she was and how this was completely unexpected out of
the blue, just never imagined herself being in that position,
and the challenges that she went through as a result
(07:09):
of that relationship, and the fact that the institutions out
there weren't really set up to help her, you know,
And so Lula was thereby created. And that's wonderful. So
give us an idea of another just a little bit
more idea about specifically what y'all can do for someone
who is in that situation who just needs a little
(07:31):
a push through.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
So right now, we currently have a lot of programs
that we are involved in and we're getting more requests
every day. Right now, we're doing a Life Skills Group
with Girls Haven. I don't know if you're familiar with that,
but it's teenagers that are between the ages of thirteen
and seventeen. That's in Beaumont. We're doing something called Embrace
(07:54):
Grace in conjunction with Life Church, which is young pregnant
moms that need assistant and then we have a group
at Revive, which is the New Recovery Center. We have
something with the Melton Center which is women who've been
incarcerated and they're trying to integrate themselves back into society.
We're helping them. Jasper County Sheriff's Office, First Court which
(08:17):
is Judge Sheldon's Court in Beaumont, and Franklin House North
and South. That's just a few that you're working with.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
Okay, we're going to come right back to you, and
we're going to take a quick break. Thank you, Wendy,
and we're going to try to get the caller through
here in a moment. I know he's trying to call
in as well. So this is Andy Hemmings, guest host
for the Dana Simons Show, and we'll be right back.
Come back, everyone. This is Andy Hemmings with the Capitol
title guest host of The Dana Simmons Show. And right
(08:46):
now we are talking with Miss Wendy Martinez with the
Lula Foundation and talking about their mission and how they
help support those that are in abusive relationships. So if
you have any questions or you wanted to speak with
Wendy about this, please call in at four O nine
eight nine six five five eight four four nine eight
(09:10):
nine six klv I. Wendy is here to answer any
questions and maybe point you in the right direction during
a challenging time for you or your family. So, Wendy,
before I forget, how do people get in touch with
you or find out more information about about Lula.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
We have a website. It's Lulafoundation dot org. Okay, the
information is on there. If you need to apply for services,
there is an application on there that you can apply
for services and someone will call you back or get
with you with them forty eight hours of completing that application.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
Is that the easiest way to help facilitate someone just
to go to the website and it's a little more
private that way.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
Possibly, Yeah, absolutely. And if it's an organization, for instance,
the Glass Project in Beaumont, they might have someone that
they're helping that needs something they cannot provide. One thing
I want to bring up is we work with a
lot of organizations and a lot are grants supported, right,
so what they can help people with is very specific.
(10:11):
Where we do have a couple of grants, but we
also have independent donations which means we can we can
fill in that one thing like we said that maybe
other organizations cannot do because of their grants.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
Okay, all right, We do ask.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
That those that are applying for services do it themselves.
We want them to take the initiative to fill out
the application, give us their contact information versus someone that's
needing you know, helping them already, say the Glass project
or First Court. We want them to actually take the
initiative the client to go to the website, fill out
(10:50):
the application, and then we will get back with them directly.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
Okay, perfect, Okay, all right, So you tell me some
of the organizations that y'all partner with, like who helps
support y'all tell us a little bit more about those, Okay.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
First Court in Beaumont, which is Judge Sheldon's Court in Beaumont.
Judge Freeze also works with First Court. There is Family
Services in Beaumont, Girls Haven, Embrace Grace Revive, which is
the new rehab in Beaumont. We're doing some groups there.
The Melton Center, which is where incarcerated women whenever they're
(11:29):
released from jail, they go there to live and try
to get integrated back into society. We're doing some work
there Jasper County Sheriff's Department. We just started a program
called Inside Out where we help them while they're inside
and then we're going to follow them whenever they're they
get out as well. We're going to follow them and
help them to be successful. We have recovery Support specialists
(11:51):
that and recovery means drug, alcohol, trauma, you're recovering from
basically anything.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
So any type of challenge that's on on his face.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
Absolutely, and we are credentialed by Texas to do intern
hours for those seeking that Recovery Support Specialist certification, So
we have people that can help. You know, they're getting
their hours and they can help the different clients and
support them. One thing that I was totally not aware
(12:21):
of that happened this past year is we got a
call where there were two teenage girls that were still
in high school. Unfortunately, both had ended up without any
parental support. Oh no, yes, and I've recently joined a
task force with the Regional Planning Commission. We do work
with them as well. Where I mean, that's a common problem.
(12:42):
No one ever hears about that, right, They have a
task force that.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
I didn't know that.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
I didn't either before I went to that meeting.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
So they have a task forced okay, to support to
help those without parental support or some sort of need
like that.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
Yeah, and these these two girls are are seventeen, when
when you're seventeen you have to be eighteen to get
housing assistance, so you're basically stuck when you're seventeen. When
you're seventeen, you can't get housing assistants. So we have to,
you know, help them find somewhere where they can live.
Neither one of them knew how to cook. They just
(13:16):
don't know how to do basic They didn't have their
driver's license. We are helping them, like get their driver's license,
and what are they going to do. We're trying to
get them to They're both graduating from high school this year,
and we help them for the last year, like be
successful so they can graduate from high school and figure
out what they'll do after that.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
Yeah, godly, there's just so much need out there. And
you know, as you go about your day, just out
in the public, in the grocery store, shopping or whatever,
you could be looking at someone who's facing these challenges
and you never even know it.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
That's absolutely right. You have no idea what they've been through.
And if you just start talking to people, it's just
amazing unbelievable that if you and you just don't know, right,
like these girls, I had no idea before we got
the call that they needed help. I had no idea
that was like a bigger issue.
Speaker 1 (14:07):
Yeah. Go, well, it's a blessing to have you involved
and your sister involved and Lula to carry on this
great need. So is it just you and your sister
or do y'all have other employees as well or other
volunteer You mentioned y'all partner with people that are doing
intern or students doing internships. So tell us about the
organization itself, the hierarchy or the administrative set up.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
Yeah, okay, we do have a board of directors. We
also have a director that's directly employed by Lula. Her
name is Alicia Bean and she's also very well connected
in this community. She is an LCDC, which is a
licensed Chemical Dependency counselor, and she's also a social worker.
She's amazing. So she when people find out that she's
(14:54):
with LULA because she has been around this area, like
they want to work with us. Yeah, we're constantly getting
phone calls for different We're actually now working on a
contract where we can work directly with CPS, which is
something initially that we thought we would never do.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
Right what why is that? To me? That seems a
natural fit. But maybe not so tell me just because
they're not set up to deal with organizations like.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
You all or well, CPS kind of has a negative connotation,
you know, like Okay, they take kids away from their families.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
I see.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
Really they want to integrate the kids back, you know,
the parents back and help them get their kids back. Okay,
and that's what Yeah, and that's what we are going
to be able to help them do, which is a
true blessing.
Speaker 1 (15:48):
Yeah, wonderful. And remind me again how long LULA has
been around, Like when was it founded?
Speaker 2 (15:54):
This is our I believe this is our fourth year. Time.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
It's still really new. It's very new, and y'all are
still and I would imagine every year that goes by
your mission expands, more connections expand, and more opportunity, for
lack of a better word, for you to serve as
out there.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
Absolutely, and we've been able to help about thirty approximately
thirty families a year thus far, okay, which is good.
And we there are a lot of organizations that can
give them help. But whenever they're discharged from these various organizations,
that's where we will pick up, okay and keep you know,
(16:33):
to make sure we want to suctaint, sustain their health
and wellness, sustain their health with their families so they
can keep their kids repeats. There's a high repeat with CPS.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
Yeah, oh I gotcha. Yeah. And so is this a
full time job for you or your sister or y'all
do this full time? Is that you'll have an all
like an office that y'all work out over.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
We both actually have our own companies. My sister has
CAT five Resources, her name is Cindy Perez, and then
I have FULK Health Partners, but Alicia is a full
time employee. And we also have a lot of volunteers
that are case managers. One of them is actually a
nurse that I worked with at MD Anderson. She has
(17:21):
a lot of experience. She's been a nurse for I
think thirty five years. Oh wow, that's good that we
can have that. And she's a recovery support specialist as well,
so she has both of those credentials, which makes it
even better. And we have the students.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
Yeah, and so where do the students come from?
Speaker 2 (17:38):
Different there's different classes around the state. Actually, there's one
in Beaumont that does the class for like, is.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
It through LAMAR or is this something?
Speaker 2 (17:47):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (17:47):
Okay, it's through LAMAR.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
Okay, it's a certificate that you get, but you do
have to complete a certain number. I believe it's three hundred, but.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
Don't Yeah, I got it.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
Yeah, something like that that they have to get. And
then we certified that they've had the hours and there's
certain things that you have to make sure that they
do and teach them. It's really a great program.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
So tell me if you would maybe a success story
or maybe something that just moved you or just an
example of where y'all have been able to serve and
meet a need out there.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
Okay, sure, we have had several one in particular who
actually was our client twice. So she went to rehab.
She lost her children and went to rehab I believe
at Franklin House in Beaumont. And then she was also
(18:46):
followed by First Court, which is Judge Shelden's Court, that
we worked closely with. We helped her initially maybe with
you know, some utility bills, something like that bus pass
so forth, and then she ended up relapsing.
Speaker 1 (19:01):
So after she and you said that that's pretty common.
Speaker 2 (19:04):
Yeah, it's very common. So after she relapsed, she went
back to rehab. We were blessed to be able to
help her again. But the biggest joy, the greatest amount
of joy she had was when she relapsed. She lost
her glasses so she could not see. Well, she couldn't see,
(19:24):
and she has medicaid, but medicaid only pays for an
exam once a year. It had been less than a year.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
Something so simple. So you're saying that's what was a
trigger for the relapse.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
So no, after she relapsed.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
After she relapsed, she lost her lap Okay.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
I don't know she was using and lost her glasses,
but she couldn't see. To get get another driver's license,
to get a job, to do basically anything to read.
She had no way to get the glasses, so we
took her to get an eye exam get some new glasses.
You should have seen the excitement on her face because
(20:01):
she can see.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
That is just so I mean, it's just so moving
that something's so simple and there's people out you know,
for you and I out there, just go get more glasses.
Don't think anything of it. For somebody in a just
really a desperate situation like that, or a very vulnerable situation,
it can make all the difference. That's the one more
(20:24):
thing that you're talking about.
Speaker 2 (20:25):
Exactly right.
Speaker 1 (20:26):
Wow, fantastic. Well, so tell me a little bit more.
I know y'all have a gala coming up, don't you.
Isn't there an event coming up to help support we do.
Speaker 2 (20:39):
We have a gala coming up August twenty eighth. It's
called Sweet Summer Nights and that information is also available
on our website.
Speaker 1 (20:47):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (20:47):
It will be at the event center on a Thursday night.
We have sponsorships available, we have there's you know, of
course tickets that are available, but we would love to
have assistance with that and have you know, just attendees.
We will have a live auction, a silent auction a.
Speaker 1 (21:05):
Raffle And where did you say?
Speaker 2 (21:07):
That's taking place of the event center.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
At the event Center, great place for a front event. Okay,
on August twenty eighth, Yes, Okay.
Speaker 2 (21:14):
Marcella Molfino is on our board and he's an awesome
cook and he's going to be cooking that night. Okay,
So yes, we're excited about that. We're going to have
some good food.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
Sounds good.
Speaker 2 (21:26):
Along with the sweet summer nights, we'll have like a
barbecue type theme. So I'm really excited about the food.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
Yes, yes, And that's on August twenty eighth at the
event Center and people can get tickets there off of
the website. And you mentioned like, so, what are some
of the volunteer opportunities y'all have available for somebody that's
interested in some volunteers.
Speaker 2 (21:43):
Well? Absolutely, I don't know if you're aware, but I
thought I was going to do this a couple of
years ago, a fundraiser, and it was going to be
pretty simple. There is a lot, a lot of lot
involved and it's easy to get overwhelmed. But we have
different committees, you know, the decorating committee, the fundraising committee.
There's entertainment that will be involved. We're going to have
(22:04):
if you can look up Josie Butler. She's a really
good artist and she's going to do a live painting
there while we're there. Okay, yeah, and it's great. You
can look her up. There's an example of what she
does a live painting on YouTube, and then we'll auction off.
Speaker 1 (22:20):
Her painting Josie Butler. Okay. You know you're talking about
needing volunteers, do y'all. I know, like the area high
schools they need volunteer hours. So I don't know if
that's anything. Y'all have looked at some of the high
local high school students.
Speaker 2 (22:32):
So for our last fundraiser two years ago, for our fundraiser,
P ANDNG actually bust kids there on Friday and they
help us set up. And they also have floral arrangement
classes at the school. Oh okay, and so we bought
the flowers and then the high school made all the arrangements.
Speaker 1 (22:50):
You know, that's wonderful when you can pair up high
school students and let them see what's going on out
there in the broader world and get them out of
there teenage bubble, if you will, Because I remember when
I was when I was a kid and I volunteered
for the Special Olympics and it just like wow, and
it was it really it affected me, you know, and
(23:11):
I saw things differently after that. So that's great that
you can involve involved the high school students.
Speaker 2 (23:15):
What we've done in the past is we also ask
our clients to volunteer.
Speaker 1 (23:20):
You know, Okay, we are going to help.
Speaker 2 (23:22):
You, but we need you to volunteer.
Speaker 1 (23:24):
That's a great tool to help with recovery too.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
They love it. They love it, like some of them
have never been in a position where they can help other.
Speaker 1 (23:35):
People, right, and how empowering that is to give them
that opportunity and for them to have a win, a
success exactly. Wow, that's a great idea. We are going
to take a short break and come back and talk
some more with miss Wendy loving this conversation, loving what
you do. This is Andy Hemmings with Capital title, guest
(23:57):
host for the Dana Simons Show, and we'll be right back.
Welcome back, everyone, and I hope wherever you are right now,
you are enjoying this weather. I know I'm gonna I
know when I get home, we're going to start preparing
some food. It's Kentucky Derby Day. It's Derby Day. We're
(24:17):
making some sliders and some Derby deviled eggs and we're
gonna sit down on the patio and watch the Derby
in a little I don't even know it was Derby
Day till my wife told me. So we're gonna enjoy
the day, and I hope you are as well. This
is Andy Hemmings with Capitol title, guest host for the
Dana Simmons Show, and we're talking with Miss Wendy Martinez
who is talking about her organization, the Lula Foundation, that
(24:40):
supports those that are in a in abusive relationships. If
you have any questions about the organization, how to get involved,
anything like that, please please give us a call. Wendy
is here and the numbers four oh nine eight nine
six five five eight four. So Wendy tell us again.
(25:00):
The best way for people to get in touch with you.
Speaker 2 (25:03):
Okay at our website Lulafoundation dot org. You can go there,
but you can also email us. It's Wendy W E. N.
D I at Lulafoundation dot org or Alicia A. L I.
S H A. Okay at Lulafoundation dot organ Lula is
l o u la, so it's a little bit different.
Speaker 1 (25:23):
Yeah. You know what we haven't talked about yet is
the inspiration behind the name Lula. And that is such
a good story. And I'm looking at these wonderful pieces
that you gave me here. So tell us how the
name where the name lulaca? And I can tell you're
getting you get a little bit teared up thinking about it.
So tell us where the name came from.
Speaker 2 (25:43):
So, my grandmother's name was Katie Lula Falk and she
lived to be ninety nine years old. We have some
life lessons that she that we learned from her, and
we try to use those every day in our own lives,
and we try to put that, you know, in other
people's lives so they can live and get, you know,
(26:05):
get as much satisfaction and joy as we do. Can
I read them really quick?
Speaker 1 (26:09):
I would love for you. Now this came from how
old was she when she wrote these?
Speaker 2 (26:13):
Well, we took videos that we had over of her.
We started the videos when she was like ninety seven,
and I will say this now, we started videoing her
and we put it on Facebook. There were like ten
fifteen thousand shares, views, et cetera. And when we told her,
she could not believe it. She could not fathom that
(26:33):
people wanted her wisdom that much. So it was very sorry. Week.
Speaker 1 (26:38):
It's wonderful. I saw you have her picture posted on
your website and just a beautiful woman. Beautiful woman. So
please read us what what your grandmother wrote.
Speaker 2 (26:49):
Okay, I sure will. Life is a teacher. Put God first.
You can never outgive God. Be forgiving every day, laugh
at yourself, be an overcomer, give more than you get.
(27:09):
Don't give up if you know something is right. God
puts you in the valley so you can see the mountaintop.
Love everyone. Never give up on family. God blesses and
takes away, and own up to your mistakes and be grateful.
Speaker 1 (27:28):
It's a lot of wisdom right there. It really is.
And I know that it meant a lot to your
sister when she was going through what she was going through.
Speaker 2 (27:38):
It did my grandmother. She tells a story about she
went to Florida for the first part of her rehab
and then my dad brought her home and she had
to stay with my grandmother. But she got so much
out of that few days that she stayed with my
grandmother that it really positively impacted her life. And the
thing about that is a lot of people don't have that.
(28:01):
If you grow up with family support, you think, you
know how other people don't have it, but until you
see it firsthand, like they really really don't have anyone.
Speaker 1 (28:14):
Yeah, And I know, like personally, I couldn't imagine. I mean,
just because I've been blessed to grow up with family
support all over the pl you know that, just that
it's a blessing. And like you said, not every not
everybody has that, but what but even those who have
a lot of support can still find themselves in troubling
situations too. Yes, absolutely, yeah, yeah, looking at these as
(28:38):
you were reading them, there's just a lot of wisdom
and just just such good philosophy. Here. God put you
in the valley so that you can so that you
can see the mountaintop. That's just so true, so true.
Speaker 2 (28:52):
We've given hundreds of these out and you would not
imagine the people that we will just run across in
the community and they'll be like, oh, yeah, remember that
card you gave me. I still have that And one
of them, she said, she my sister just spoke at
a church women's conference and a lady was in our
class and she said that she has it in her
(29:15):
kid's room, in her teenage daughter's rooms. Yeah, so that's
amazing that we can put her wisdom out there.
Speaker 1 (29:21):
Yeah, and I tell you teenage girls specifically, they need that.
There's a mental health crisis going on out there. There
just is. And for whatever reason, we could, you know,
talk about that about the mental health crisis out there.
But it's real, it's out there, there's a wave of it,
(29:42):
and they need all the support they can get.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
Yes, loneliness is at an all time high. Yeah, with
all the social media it is, actions, it is, it's
worse than ever I.
Speaker 1 (29:53):
Know, I know. Yeah, So having a real person and
who expressing true love, human connection, there's just no substitute
for true human connection, that's right. Yeah. Well we've got
a little bit more time here. And actually that's a
pretty good segue into something else I wanted to talk
(30:15):
with you about that. I didn't know about you until
we just met. And you have another life outside of Lula. Obviously,
you're an r N. You work for M D Anderson
for many years, and now you run Falk Health Excuse me, yes,
Falk Health Partners. And you were telling me about the
mission that you serve there and it's very special. So
(30:39):
tell us a little bit about that.
Speaker 2 (30:40):
Okay, thank you so much. I have been an r
N for more than thirty years, and I started I
retired from m D Anderson after twenty one years. I
worked in executive leadership there and before hour, it's about
a year before I retired, I ended up as a
patient myself. And if I tell you that I thought
(31:03):
I knew how patients felt, I didn't. And my family
didn't know how patients felt. Yeah, and I didn't realize
how hard it was on families. So after that very
stressful time for all of us, I decided to start
my own home home company. I'm not going to say
(31:25):
we're a home care, but home company. We help people
at home. We provide health management, palliative care, life enhancement,
post surgical and post surgical care. So we want our
mission to be based on health. Even if you are sick,
we want to get you to the top of your game.
(31:45):
Whatever you think the top of your game is, we
want to help you with that. It could be with diet,
it could help be with sleep, it could be with exercise.
We just went to see a man yesterday that is
here from California that has this really great pass Like
he was a stuntman in Hollywood and he's eighty five
now and he broke his hip, but he his goal
(32:08):
is to get back to California and pick up his motorcycles.
Speaker 1 (32:12):
And he's eighty five.
Speaker 2 (32:13):
He's eighty five.
Speaker 1 (32:13):
Yeah, that's so inspiring. I'm fifty seven and I'm like,
I love hearing stories, like I got a good thirty
years left in me.
Speaker 2 (32:20):
So we want to you know, we're gonna help him
with his diet and with his exercise, and he might
not get back to getting his motorcycles, but we will
help him get to the top of his game however
we can. Yeah, we do provide caregiver services. Those are
unlicensed services, but we can help with the management of
the overall. Like he has caregivers and we're going to
(32:42):
train those caregivers to help him, you know, with his diet.
They cook for him.
Speaker 1 (32:46):
Okay, so forth, Yeah, Now where is falk Health Partners
based out of as you're in Buna or here in Beaumont,
It's in Buna, Okay.
Speaker 2 (32:54):
Our office is in Buna. It's not really an office
it's at our house because we want to be out
on the streets seeing people networking, interacting. There's also a
big we've recently found that there's a big population that
are in the skilled beds and nursing homes that are
there for rehab, but they will eventually they don't. They
(33:16):
can't keep them very long for rehab and then for
insurance purposes, and then they're going to go home. So
that is a population that we could help. So when
they go home, we can help support you know, keep
supporting them so they can continue to get better.
Speaker 1 (33:31):
Yeah. I went through that with my father Milton who
he's passed now, and Hay Milton, and he was he
was older, he was in his mid eighties, and and
he only got so much rehab per day. You know,
he only got so much rehab per day, and it
(33:54):
was helpful to him. But then once that was done,
that was done just because that's all that's all insurance.
Speaker 2 (33:59):
Will pay exactly. Yeah, this gentleman had home care, physical therapy,
and you know, they had to discharge him because if
you can't document a specific amount of improvement over time,
then they won't pay for it anymore. Then you know,
you have to discharge them, which doesn't mean that you
can't get better. It's just going to take a little longer.
Speaker 1 (34:20):
Yeah, And everybody's different. Everybody has different needs, and everybody,
from what I've seen in just my limited observation, everybody
is more is more or less engaged. Some of them
are all in on trying to get better, and some
of them you have to really work with them to
buy into it and do what you're asking. Right.
Speaker 2 (34:40):
Yeah, we had to make this is Yesterday was my
third time to be there with him, and it took
him three times to come around and come up with
a goal and tell me he can actually do it.
And he's motivated and he's not scared of it being hard,
So it doesn't always you know, they don't know and
then they're intimidated. And he said, he he knows. It's
(35:01):
in his mind. He's afraid he's going to fall again
and he just needs help overcoming that.
Speaker 1 (35:06):
Yeah. Yeah, and I'm you know, there's probably some pride
issues as well. He was a stunt man, absolutely, and
now here he is in this situation and there's u
and I can only imagine how that affects you mentally
and your buy in into what's going on? Yeah, but
like how you said, you haven't, so you have them
establish a goal first. That's good. That's good.
Speaker 2 (35:27):
Yeah, we might not make it to that goal, but
we're going to get them as close as as close
as we can.
Speaker 1 (35:32):
Yeah, yeah, well that's important. I know, like for somebody
like me, I know that would help me. I need
an endpoint that I'm going to uh and then that's
that's very motivating in and of itself. So how do
people find you that are that need this type of care?
Like do you partner with the assisted living facilities or
how does that work?
Speaker 2 (35:50):
They can go to Faulthealthpartners dot com. Okay, and my
phone number, my cell phone number is on there. They
can call me. And I do want to say that
we also help people get their insurance benefits. Okay, So
if you are going. I helped a gentleman last year
who needed wasn't okay with going on hospice when he
left the hospital, but eventually he was okay with it.
(36:12):
It was just sprung on him, you know, the day before.
So I looked at all the hospices that were on
his insurance, talk to the different ones, had them come
to his house, talk to him about it and helped
him make a decision. So all we did was fill
in the holes. We want you to get your what
your insurance will cover. But unfortunately there's everyone knows there
(36:35):
are a lot of holes in that system at the moment.
Speaker 1 (36:39):
That's an understatement. We're going to take one more break
and come up and finish, come back and finish our
conversation with Miss Wendy Martinez of the Lula Foundation and
Falk Health Partners. This is Andy Hemmings with the Dana
Simon Show, and we'll be right back. Welcome back, everyone.
This is Andy Hemmings with the Danis Simmons Show. Thank
(37:01):
you so much for tuning in. We're just having just
a great conversation with Wendy Martinez here, who in her
life and her passion, she's serving a number of needs
out there in the community and we're just so glad
to have you with us here today. And Wendy, in
our last little bit of time here, let's talk about
(37:22):
another mission that you have, another service you provide, and
that's end of life care. And I know it's not
necessarily something that people always want to talk about, but
to me, I think it's something very important to talk
about and how to help people during that period of time,
you know, and I think it's good to talk about
(37:42):
it and know what services are out there. So tell
us a little bit about that.
Speaker 2 (37:46):
Okay, I'll tell you about a little a patient that
I took care of over the year for twenty twenty
four and I think that'll give it a good example.
When I retired at the end of twenty twenty three,
I knew what I wanted to do earning end of life,
but I didn't know how to make that happen. And
less than a month later, I got a call. You know,
I have this patient who's in the hospital. He has
(38:08):
head and neck cancer. He has a trade, no family
that can help take care of him, and he can't
get out of the hospital unless someone is there to
take care of his trape, unless someone attends a class
to take care of to take care of him. Otherwise
he would have to go to long term care, which
he was not ready for at all. So we helped him,
(38:31):
you know, get that class done. He went home. He
wasn't ready for hospice when he left the hospital, but
after a few weeks getting used to that and having
repeated conversations with him to let him know. You know,
everybody thinks that's associated Most people think that's associated with
you know, I'm dying soon.
Speaker 1 (38:50):
Yeah, you know, Yeah, that's my perception of it.
Speaker 2 (38:53):
Okay, exactly exactly. People stay on it. I have a
friend who her mom's been on it for three years,
so that's not yet.
Speaker 1 (39:00):
Not necessarily true. Yes, that's good to know.
Speaker 2 (39:02):
So anyway, I helped him. I researched all the hospices,
got his enturance information, researched all the hospice that took
care of patients in his area. He picked a hospice
after we you know, interviewed a couple of them, and
then he went on service. But there were I guess
holes in his care. Like I said earlier, there were
(39:24):
things he needed that hospice couldn't fill in. You know,
there's just not number one, there's a shortage of nurses
in every field, so and they couldn't do daily care
for him. So we just filled in the holes. We
would go and help him take a shower. He had
Parkinson's disease, so he couldn't He could take care of
his trade, but he had to do breeding treatments three
(39:45):
times a day and couldn't draw them up because of
the Parkinson's, so we would actually help him draw them up.
You know, every patient's different. He was an engineer, owned
his own company, had a very engineering mind, which doesn't
deal with the graver very well. And science is gray.
So we just made it a point to make him
part of his care. You know, if there was a
(40:08):
challenge we would like with the nebulizer treatments, the breathing treatments.
He made a stand out of metal to hold those
nebulizer setups, the two being themselves, so someone could help
him draw them up in the morning and get them
ready and he could just turn on the machine to
do the next two and then somebody would come back
(40:29):
the next morning.
Speaker 1 (40:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (40:30):
So he loved that and everybody, everybody what motivates them
as something different, and he felt like he was participating
in his care.
Speaker 1 (40:37):
Yeah, that's that's such a good point there, that to
meet people where they are and with their with their background.
Because he you had mentioned that he invented. He had
an invention of some sort of device that was on
the ocean floor for oil exploration. Tell what was it?
Speaker 2 (40:53):
To me, It's a compressor that's pulled behind a boat, okay,
and then it shoots air down into the water, and
if there's a certain seismic vibration, then there's either oil
or guess there.
Speaker 1 (41:05):
Okay, So he invented this. So here's a guy that's
that's this guy's mind, and you were able to work
that part of who he is into his care. That's great,
thank you.
Speaker 2 (41:17):
Than Yeah. Yeah, yeah, I think he passed away at
that It did pass away at the end of the
year almost and almost a year later, but it was
on his own terms, in his bedroom, right exactly where
he wanted to be. Not he never went back to
the hospital once he got out. And I think, you know,
(41:38):
like we said earlier, the compensation for healthcare companies, home
health or hospice, whatever it may be, is just not
unless you have a Really when we took care of
my grandmother, we took care of her at home, and
what it took me and my sister around the clock,
twenty four hours a day.
Speaker 1 (41:54):
You know, very taxing, yes, yeah, and it's very expensive
to get private care you know. Yeah, yeah for those
of those that aren't aren't prepared, and so that end
of life care is that's something you do through through
your health Partners company.
Speaker 2 (42:12):
Yes, sir, yes, sir.
Speaker 1 (42:13):
Okay, Yeah, it's a great story. And you also mentioned
that guy. He was an underwater hockey player, so his
lungs were like super healthy.
Speaker 2 (42:21):
Yeah, he had great lungs. But then his tumor was
in his neck, so you know, he couldn't understand why
he was having difficulty breathing. But his oxygen saturation was
you know, in the high nineties. But that was his
lung capacity that he had worked on and that probably
helped him in the end, you know where he didn't
he didn't suffer once he was not able to talk
(42:43):
and get around and you know, communicate, well, it was
it was just a matter of time.
Speaker 1 (42:48):
Yeah. So for somebody out there that might be that's
listening right now, that might be facing a situation where
they have a loved one who's approaching end of life,
maybe about to go into hospice or whatever their situation is,
and maybe they're struggling with that and struggling just processing it.
What advice would you have for them?
Speaker 2 (43:09):
Talk to someone? Okay, talk to someone, talk to another
family member, a friend. And the patients are not always
We had one lady who she was ready to go,
but she knew her family wasn't ready, you.
Speaker 1 (43:26):
Know, and once, I bet that's really common, it's very and.
Speaker 2 (43:30):
Once we got the okay from her to have a
discussion with her family, and we spoke to them, you know,
very graciously of course, about you know, what her fears were,
what her wishes were. It was it's just a beautiful
thing when everybody can come together and they were going
to miss her, yeah, you know, just like we were
(43:51):
going to miss my grandmother, and we were afraid and fearful,
but we knew where she was going and that she
was going to be singing with the angels, you know,
just a few minutes later, which was a beautiful thing.
Speaker 1 (44:03):
Yeah. Yeah, I know when my when my dad passed
a couple of years ago, Uh, it was it was
a true blessing. We could all be there with him
at that moment. I mean we were there was we
were all around the bed at the time and not
it's that to me, that's just such a blessing. And
it was very sad, but it was yet that's the way.
(44:26):
That's such a good way to to end.
Speaker 2 (44:29):
It really is. It's a blessing, That's what that's what
we want for everyone where there's no you know, in
the family. Sometimes the family is afraid too and they
don't want to be around that person because they're afraid
and they don't know how they feel about it personally.
Speaker 1 (44:43):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, Well it's been a great conversation, great
talking with you today. And in our last very short
bit here next minute or so, uh, let's talk about
how the Lula Foundation again and the how people get
in touch with you there. Go to Lula Foundation dot org.
Isn't that correct? And you'll have that upcoming gala on
(45:04):
August the twenty eighth at the event Center. People can
get tickets for that, and there's volunteer opportunities for that
as well, and.
Speaker 2 (45:11):
They're sponsoring opportunities.
Speaker 1 (45:12):
And some sponsoring opportunities Okay, always good sponsoring opportunities. Wonderful.
And then also your company, the Falk Health Partner Falk
Health Partners llcuh, they tell us how they get in
touch with you there again.
Speaker 2 (45:28):
It's Falk Health Partner Partners dot com. Okay, And my
email is Wendy W. E. N d I at Falk
Health Partners dot com. And my cell phone number is
eight three two six nine three six one eighty six,
but it's on the website too, you'll have to remember that.
Speaker 1 (45:45):
Yeah. So, I know we have a lot of people
out there listening, and this resonated with with some of
you out there, and I encourage you to reach out
and get involved with the Lula Foundation, or if you
have some family need for the end of life care
or some of the services that Wendy provides, please reach out.
(46:05):
Thank you all for joining us today. This is Andy
Hemmings with capital title. It's been a pleasure being the
host today for the Dana Simmons Show. Y'all have a
wonderful day and enjoy this weekend.
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