December 28, 2025 • 37 mins
Segment 1: You Eat I Eat
.
Amber Banda interviews Dorene Corothers, Founder of You Eat I Eat Community Unity Food Pantry Corp. Listen to learn about the beginnings of the unity food pantry, and who and how they help serve the El Paso Community in so many ways.
.
Dorene also talks about how and why she started this organization, the future of the food pantry, and how you can help keep them going and support people facing food insecurity.
.
If you would like to donate to You Eat I Eat, please contact them on Facebook at You Eat I Eat Food Pantry or online at youeatieat.com
.
_______________________________________________________________________________
Segment 2: TX DOT HERO Program
.
Have you ever seen cars on the side of the road marked with an "H" in a circle? Those cars have been marked by the TX DOT HERO Program, a FREE roadside assistance program.
.
Amber Banda interviews Lauren Macias-Cervantes, TX DOT Public Information Officer, and Martin Morales, HERO Program Manager and former law enforcement. They talk about what type of roadside assistance is offered FREE of charge to stranded drivers, including help changing your tires, putting air in tires, drinking water, battery charges, and help towing your vehicle to the nearest safe place or help with moving drivers off of dangerous areas.
.
The TX DOT HERO Program also helps law enforcement with clearing incidents on major highways and severe weather responses. Remember, when you see an accident or someone on the shoulder, MOVE OVER OR SLOW DOWN, it's the law.
.
If you need roadside assistance, or see someone who needs it, be a good neighbor and call 915-790-HERO (4376), or call the number on the back of your driver's license. Parents, have your teenager save this number in their phone!
.
For more information go to txdot.gov
NEW EPISODES EVERY SUNDAY AT 8AM! Follow Amber Banda, 96.3 KHEY Country, Power 102.1 or Sunny 99.9 on Instagram and/or Facebook for pictures of our guests and leave a comment. Be a part of the good going on in our community!
.
Amber Banda interviews Dorene Corothers, Founder of You Eat I Eat Community Unity Food Pantry Corp. Listen to learn about the beginnings of the unity food pantry, and who and how they help serve the El Paso Community in so many ways.
.
Dorene also talks about how and why she started this organization, the future of the food pantry, and how you can help keep them going and support people facing food insecurity.
.
If you would like to donate to You Eat I Eat, please contact them on Facebook at You Eat I Eat Food Pantry or online at youeatieat.com
.
_______________________________________________________________________________
Segment 2: TX DOT HERO Program
.
Have you ever seen cars on the side of the road marked with an "H" in a circle? Those cars have been marked by the TX DOT HERO Program, a FREE roadside assistance program.
.
Amber Banda interviews Lauren Macias-Cervantes, TX DOT Public Information Officer, and Martin Morales, HERO Program Manager and former law enforcement. They talk about what type of roadside assistance is offered FREE of charge to stranded drivers, including help changing your tires, putting air in tires, drinking water, battery charges, and help towing your vehicle to the nearest safe place or help with moving drivers off of dangerous areas.
.
The TX DOT HERO Program also helps law enforcement with clearing incidents on major highways and severe weather responses. Remember, when you see an accident or someone on the shoulder, MOVE OVER OR SLOW DOWN, it's the law.
.
If you need roadside assistance, or see someone who needs it, be a good neighbor and call 915-790-HERO (4376), or call the number on the back of your driver's license. Parents, have your teenager save this number in their phone!
.
For more information go to txdot.gov
NEW EPISODES EVERY SUNDAY AT 8AM! Follow Amber Banda, 96.3 KHEY Country, Power 102.1 or Sunny 99.9 on Instagram and/or Facebook for pictures of our guests and leave a comment. Be a part of the good going on in our community!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to ol Paso Public Forum, a weekly half hour
public affairs presentation of iHeartRadio El Paso for over twenty years,
featuring local news and interviews of interest to our listeners
in West Texas and southern New Mexico. All views and
opinions expressed on this program are those of the host
and guest, and not necessarily those of iHeartRadio Management and
now El Paso Public Forum.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Welcome to the al Paso Public Forum. I'm your host,
Amber Banda, and today we have Duran cow others, founder
of you Eat I Eat Community Unity Food Pantry Corps. Duran,
thank you so much for talking with us today.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
No, thank you so much. Amber, You know what, It
is an absolute blessing to be here with you today
to represent you Eat I E Community Unity Food Pantry.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Of course, my only regret is not knowing about you sooner.
I mean too so. I am a biker and I
learned about your organization through the al Paso Motorcycle Coalition.
There was some donations that were made. So you eat
I Eat Unity. Excuse me, you Eat I Eat Community
Unity Food Pantry. I love the way that sounds community unity.
(01:08):
What is this organization?
Speaker 3 (01:10):
Well before I talk about what the organization is is
I just want to say thank you, you know, thank you,
and thank you to all of our sponsors that makes
given possible. And thank you to the L Pascal Motorcycle Coalition,
you know, to bringing awareness to you about our organization.
So what is you Eat I Eat? You Eat I
(01:31):
Eat is a five oh one c three independent organization
that relies on the support of the community to give
that help and hand up to anyone that's in El
Paso County and ours surrounding sister cities that's facing food insecurities.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
I love that hand up, not handout. I saw it
on the website. Yes, and so what does it do
for the community, Like what events do you have? Like
you know, because there's different nonprofits and they do certain thing.
What is unique to you Eat I Eat?
Speaker 3 (02:02):
Well, what's unique to you Eat I Eat is it
was unfounded and started based upon just wanting to help
the community. So you eat I Eat. We have various programs.
We did open ten years ago. Yes, we've been open
for ten years and four months. And so our initial
(02:22):
program was focused mainly on the food insecurities with non
perishable foods and we also serve a hot meal on
Tuesdays and Thursdays, you know, as time you know, has
passed by. Not only do we focus on those things,
we also have an after school program and we also
(02:44):
do special events. We do outreach with the unhoused community,
and we also partner with other organizations. One of them
is Homeward Bound and what they do is they assist
individuals and recovery. Oh wow, okay, so you know they
(03:05):
want to get clean, you know, so we helped them
in addition to other organizations. Because our impacts it just
goes much further than the you eat, I eat doors.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
Oh definitely. And I'm curious this started ten years ago.
What's your backstory? What made you want to open this
Unity Food Unity Food Country.
Speaker 3 (03:29):
Well, you know, in twenty fourteen, I spent the entire
summer in then out of the hospital, and you know,
at that time, God placed in my heart to help people.
Now keep in mind, you know, I grew up in
the church, you know, but I didn't have a relationship
with God. But during my illness, I began to form
(03:49):
a relationship and He just placed in my heart to
want to help people, and he wanted me to help
people the way that I would want to receive the
help personally, you know, I want to receive something with
some dignanty and respect. You know what, when I when
I go out, I expect a certain kind of service,
and that's the service that he wanted me to give
(04:10):
to the people. And so the number one thing that
we do at You Eat I Eat, which makes us
stand out is that our clients know that we love them,
You're genuine. You know, they understand that it is a
blessing for us to be there. Since we are not city, state,
(04:32):
or government funded. You know, we don't receive funding, you know,
And so that's what makes the You Eat I Eat
mission so special because not only am I a volunteered
nor have I ever paid myself one dime and the
ten years for working full time plus hours, I've never
(04:53):
paid any volunteers either. Oh, we just paid to operate.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
Yeah, oh, I'm sure volunteer. There's two things that nonprofits need.
I say this every time is volunteers and money. I mean,
without that, you know, you need to be able to
have those things to help the community. And you know,
with the food pantry, what kind of impact have you
seen over the years, you know, you're telling me some
stories earlier. You're a very good storyteller. What kind of
(05:20):
stories have you seen or examples can you give of
the way it's impacted certain families or populations?
Speaker 3 (05:25):
Okay, well, I think the the best way that everyone
can relate to this is during the Corona virus pandemic. Yeah,
you know, we did not shut out doors, but there
were people that never thought that they would utilize, you know,
a food bank, you know, And so when I think about,
(05:46):
you know, what we've done that really stands out on
our mind. And I'll tell you when I watched on
the news those food bank lines.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
I was horrified. Yeah, okay, I.
Speaker 3 (05:57):
Didn't know as an independent organize how we would be
able to handle that. But with the support of the community,
we assisted over ten thousand, okay, our individuals that were
facing food and securities. We did not we did not
eliminate our programs. We still served hot meals during the pandemic,
(06:21):
thousands of them. We just had to readjust and reconfigure.
So we went to you have to come inside to
the drive up distribution to ensure the safety you know,
of not only the community, but also of our volunteers.
And I can proudly, proudly, proudly say that during the
(06:44):
entire coronavirus pandemic and assisting ten thousand individuals, no one
at the U eat I E facilitated, volunteered, contracted the
coronavirus POTT. Yes, ma'am. So we were covered and we
were protected, and I'm just grateful. So if I have
(07:04):
to think about anything, that is it, because it was
a horrifying time, not only for me but and for you,
but for the entire world.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
Yeah, I kind of imagine having to add food and
security on top of already having to deal with the
stress of not getting sick and all the changes and
layoffs and everything that was going on. And when we
spoke off air, you were talking you know, you didn't
really know many people when you initially started this venture.
To having many people wanting to volunteer. How did that happen? Like,
(07:35):
did people hear about what you were doing? Did you
reach out? How did that work out?
Speaker 3 (07:39):
Well? You know what, I think that when you have
got involved, he reached out, you know. So we didn't
have any sponsors, and to be honest, we started off
kind of silently. Out of silent what's the name of
that pizza place, a little Caesars. Oh yeah, okay, when
(08:01):
we opened the doors, they would allow me to come
in and pick up the pizzas instead of you know
that that they were my very first So I would
stay up until eleven o'clock at night, Yes, ma'am if
they had anything that was hot, I'll be driving around
the city and look for unhoused people. So we wouldn't
go to ways, you know. So after time we did
(08:25):
pick up it was another location Costco. Oh. Yes, it
was amazing. You know. We had so many breads and
pastries and it was absolutely amazing.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
Yes, you know.
Speaker 3 (08:40):
And and that worked for three years until another organization
came in and and kind of you know, acquired them
from us, and so you know, it's okay. But since
then we have picked up twenty sponsors, okay, which is Sprout,
which was our first.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
Yeah, shot them. Also people know where to go shop.
Speaker 3 (09:03):
Yes, it was Sprouts, and that was we were blessed
with that from our Carrot okay. And what Carrot is
it's a it's an organization that connects restaurants with nonprofits
to donate instead of discarding. And so yes, and they
(09:24):
were you know, they were wonderful, you know. And then
we're also working with the food donation connection with them,
we pick up from multiple olive Garden, Chick fil as,
a lot of different agencies that are donating instead of
discarding their own and sold products. But let me just
(09:49):
say this. You know, for the last seven years, okay,
I think five to seven years, we've had sponsors that
have really truly impacted and through the community. One is
Domino's Pizza. We have a silent Domino's Pizza. He's purchased
my freezes, he purchased my refrigerators. Oh wow, he donates
(10:12):
to every special events. He purchased Turkey's, he's purchasing toys,
and he's just given us that helping hand up to
the tune of over thirty five thousand dollars since we've
opened as a text run. It's yeah, Dominoes is silent,
and we're also being very good friends with Verizon. TCC
(10:38):
does give back, Okay, the Walmart Community Grant, the Braiding
Up Doom Foundation. You know, it is so many organizations,
the ol Passo Community Foundation that has actually given us
that helping hand up. Let me not forget the mayor.
You know, he participated in giving us his his paycheck.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
He really story that day.
Speaker 3 (11:06):
You know, I wish we had the time to acknowledge
each and every one. And the last one I will
mention is the Junior League because of their sponsorship this
year of our after school program, and we're able to
not think about the funding you know that it costs
(11:27):
because they took up that that liability. They're also building
all the bags. They're coming out with volunteer support, so
it is absolutely amazing.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
That's awesome. And again, if you're just tuning in, I
have here Durna cor Other's founder of You Eat I
Eat Community Unity Food Pantry Core. Now we you have
an event coming up. Sorry, I mean it seems like
it's far away, but it's really not an Easter you
Eat I Eat event. Can you tell the listening audience
a little bit more about this event and maybe how
(11:57):
they can support you in it.
Speaker 3 (11:59):
Yeah, well, our Easter Evan, I just scheduled that just
yesterday and so that is on Saturday, March to twenty eighth.
It is going to be at the U Eat I
Eat facility which is at eighty eight eighty eight tire
Sweet number five one three. The only thing that we
require is that you bring your children out for the
(12:22):
holiday meal and they can select the Easter basket that
they like. You know, one more thing I just do.
I have to make a shout out to Papa John's Pizzas. Okay.
They have been a tremendous on support to us, not
only through donating instead of discarding. Okay, they have monetarily
(12:45):
donated to us. Okay, and by the time this airs
to check presentation would have happened, you know. But I
just want to make sure that you know, I give
them that shout out.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
Of course. Yes, you have to, you know, support the
ones that support you. On Facebook. You can find them
at you Eat, I Eat food pantry. You can also
go to you EATI Eat dot com. They have ways
that you as the community can support them cash apzel
you can find more information. You can find Durn's backstory. Now, Duran,
we have a few more minutes, but before I let
you go, is there anything else that you would like
(13:18):
to tell the listening audience?
Speaker 3 (13:20):
Yes, everyone, you know what it is. What I believe
was God touching my spirits, you know, to open up
that you Eat I Eat facility. So what I'm gonna
ask of you today is to allow your hearts, you know,
to be touched. You know, my husband of thirty one years,
my loving husband, Anthony Dearman Carruthers, he passed away on
(13:44):
March the nineteenth, twenty twenty five, and so this has
been a very challenging time for me. And so what
you're supporting, what your monetary contributions will do, is it
will help us, you know, to give that helping hand up.
You know, as I am going through this change in life,
(14:09):
we will be temporarily going through a temporary pause where
we will not be offering any non perishable foods or
hot meals. We do have to leave our location because
of financial reasons. You know what, when we all join
together with our monetary contributions, you eat, I e. Could
(14:32):
buy a building and we can resume our non perishable
food distribution and our hot mail distribution. But in the meantime,
we are gonna do pop ups. So after our Easter event,
the next one it is our back to school, our
tenth annual back to School giveaway, and we're we're gonna
(14:53):
pop up somewhere. So just follow our page and keep
us in your prayers and monetary country. Abusians are always
needed and appreciated because alone we could do very little,
but together.
Speaker 2 (15:07):
They're going to continue to knock it out the park exactly.
So DURAN is asking for the community support in a
very large way. If there is someone else that can
support financially, that can spread the word again, you EATI
Eat dot com you can be that miracle for you
eat I Eat food, You eat I eat community Unity
food pantry, for the kids that take part in the services,
(15:29):
for the you know, the veterans, for the whole community
on Facebook. You want to see the miracles that they're doing,
the good they're doing for the community. You Eat I
Eat Food Pantry on Facebook. Duran, thank you so much
for coming in and talking with us today.
Speaker 3 (15:44):
No, thank you so much for having us. It has
been an absolute blessing. And thank you so very much.
And please allow your hearts to be touched like I
let mine, because alone we could do very little. Together
we could continue to accomplished so much more perfect. Thank you,
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
Welcome to the al Paso Public Forum. I am your host,
Amberbanda and today we have Lauren Macias Servantis techs dot
Public Information Officer. Lauren, thank you for talking with us today.
Speaker 4 (16:21):
Thank you, Thank you for the opportunity.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
Of course, and we also have Martin Morales, Hero Program Manager. Martin,
thank you for talking with us today.
Speaker 5 (16:30):
Good morning, Thank you for having us.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
Of course. So I've actually wanted to have you guys
on for a while. It's just time got away and
this program does fill up really fast. But I feel,
especially around the holiday season and the colder months, I
really want people to know about the techs Dot HERO program.
HERO standing for Highway Emergency Response Operator. And before we
get started, I was talking with Martin a little bit
(16:53):
before this interview because if you've ever seen those vehicles
that are marked with a circle and an H in
the middle of you're running with the he does that mean?
I figured it out. It means that they were inspected
by the HERO program. So Martin, I'm going to ask
you first, you were a Do they call it a HERO?
Speaker 5 (17:11):
Yes, that's correct. So our official title is Highway Safety Operators. Okay,
So tex dot one of their most important missions is
highway safety. So they brought the safety Service patrol program
known as the HERO program, and these programs are becoming
more prolific throughout the states as time goes on. So
here in Texas, we're lucky to have text Dot providing
(17:31):
these these safety service patrol programs. So what it entails
as they provide safety operators that go out and patrol
the interstate highway system and we're basically basically looking for
traffic incidents to manage, whether it be a collision, whether
it be a stall vehicle, whether it be someone with
a flat tire, run on fuel. So it's very dangerous.
(17:53):
Any any kind of roadside emergency here on the highway system,
especially no possible with them. Our infrastructure is growing, but
it's very very We patrol those routes looking to help
motorists and get them out of safety or get them
going down the road. So that's the entire mission of
the program.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
So not only do you patrol and look for people
that might have been stranded, but people can also contact you.
It works like you also, I didn't know you also
went and patrol. That's cool.
Speaker 5 (18:16):
So we actively patrol throughout our shifts. We have two
eight hour ships that are out there and it's a
team of six operators. So our goal is to initiate
that contact and find those calls. So about seventy to
seventy five percent of the time, we were the ones
that are encountering the calls. Other calls come in through
other sources, whether it be through the police, fire nine
(18:38):
to one one, And we also have the Traffic Management Center.
We have dedicated operators in there that are monitoring the
highway camera system, so if they see trouble developing, they
see a vehicle that's stalled out in the blocking traffic,
they'll dispatch our units to those calls.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
Okay, So again it's not just and we'll get into
a little bit more right now of what kind of
assistance you provide for people that are stranded on the
side of the road. But it's not just that. It's also,
like you said, if there's a collision or something where
they need I'll pass the police or the emergency vehicles
need assistance like kind of taling traffic to move out
of the way. You're also out that's a very dangerous
job exactly.
Speaker 5 (19:13):
So as you know, our emergency responders, they're the true
heroes out there, and there's a finite amount of resources
out there for that. Our police departments extremely busy. So
when we encounter collisions and we're first on scene, we
serve as a force multiplier for the emergency responders. If
it's something minor that within the rules of the law
(19:34):
we can clear, we will clear those. If there's injuries,
the vehicles are not driveable, then we'll secure the scene
and we prepare for the arrival the fire department and
police department for the investigation. And we're on standby as
safety officers on the highway and we're promoting safety for
the responders, for firemen that are providing the medical care
(19:55):
and treatment. And then once all that is clear and
police gives us the okay to clear the scene. Instead
of having a wait for tow trucks to arrive on
scene and clear the accident, we step in and we
also help clear some of these incidents a little bit
quicker and it helps prevent secondary collisions. When yeah, along
we're out on the highway, the higher the incidents or
the chances of something else secondary crashes occurring. So, oh yeah,
(20:18):
that's our goal, quick clearance right.
Speaker 2 (20:20):
Perfect. And Lauren, you're the tech dot public information officer.
What is your role with the hero program?
Speaker 5 (20:26):
Sure?
Speaker 4 (20:27):
So, as the public information officer, we provide information on
tech dot projects, tech dot programs, and so we're out
promoting progress, what's happening with our construction projects, closures, why
we're doing construction projects. We also have traffic safety programs
(20:47):
like click it or Ticket, Don't Drink and Drive, and
then we have the Hero program, so we're out there
getting that information out to the public. So we certainly
appreciate your opportunity today to let people know about the
Hero program, which is now about five well it's five
years back.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
I was okay, yeah, so five years back.
Speaker 4 (21:08):
It's a program that did exist before, but then went
away for a bit and then now came back in
twenty twenty, and so we're five years into the program.
It does not exist in all Texas cities. It does
exist in Odessa, the Odessa Midland area, Austin, San Antonio
(21:32):
as well.
Speaker 2 (21:34):
And with the tech Stop program. I'm assuming like before
for that little period of time that it wasn't that
it wasn't work existing here in all pass So I
guess if people needed assistance, they would have to call
the police department.
Speaker 4 (21:47):
Yeah, or I mean again, you know, as as Martin mentioned,
the priority is safety and so as you know, if
anybody has has broken down on the side of the
road to flat tire, or anything like that. You know
that it's scary, it's dangerous, and so these guys are
out there once they come in, I mean, they don't
sit in an office. They come in, they check their vehicle,
(22:10):
and then they start patrolling. So they're out on LUB three,
seventy five, I ten, US fifty four are major highways,
and so they've got their routes set, you know, as
Martin mentioned, Yes, they encounter vehicles that are you know,
stranded on the side of the road, or they see
a crash, or they're called to assist. But we have
(22:30):
more than two hundred cameras on on our system where
you know, we have operators at our center which is
twenty four to seven, and they're out there monitoring traffic.
Speaker 2 (22:42):
Yeah, so if they see, you know.
Speaker 4 (22:45):
A vehicle that's stalled, a crash that just happened, or
you know, a traffic tie up, I have them on
my on my bluetooth and I you know, so it
may not be you that's broken down, but you see
someone on the side of the road that needs assistance.
I do that a lot, you know, not not using
(23:06):
my phone, but I have them on the bluetooth and
say hands.
Speaker 2 (23:09):
Free, yes, hands free.
Speaker 4 (23:11):
Uh, you know, if it's safe to do so, just say,
you know, I see this person on the side of
the road or there. I've seen people stuck in the
middle of a lane, right in the middle of a lane.
And if there's a way to provide it to to
make that call safely and provide some assistance to them,
they can check on the camera and then our dispatchers
(23:32):
are right next door to the hero dispatchers and work
collaboratively to keep their the eyes you know, yeah, on
the traffic system.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
And again we'll give that information that phone number of
how you can contact. And that's good to know because
a lot of times I'm with my younger daughter and
I'm like, I don't feel comfortable stopping because I don't know,
you know, but I do, I do want to help,
or if I stop, I'm like, well, I don't know
anything about cars, Like I'm just going to keep you company.
So that's good to know that you can contact that
for someone else. And plus I have an older daughter
that's on the road. So if you have teens that
(24:01):
are driving or just loved ones on the road to yourself,
make sure that you're paying close attention. So I want
to ask. We talked about there's free roadside assistants against
free ninety nine one hundred percent off. Now I want
to talk about the types of assistance. If you're you know, Martin,
do you want to take this question, like what types
(24:22):
of assistance does the Hero program provide free of cost?
Speaker 5 (24:26):
Yes? So, the majority of our incidents encountered are just
sable vehicle calls, and the majority of those are flat
tire calls. That's probably one of the ones that keeps
us busiest. What is heartbreaking now is a lot of
people are driving down the road and they don't have
spare tires in their vehicles anymore so absent knowing that
you don't have a spare tire. If you don't know that,
(24:47):
or you don't have a plan for how you're going
to how you're gonna get off the highway, how are
we going to get to More so, oftentimes they're trying
to figure out what their game plan is going to be.
They're late for work, they're late for class, they have appointments.
Sometimes they off for leaving the vehicle on the side
of the road. There's no ordinances against that, and we
(25:07):
we'd rather deter that we do have the means. We
have a tow truck toe services. We don't actually toll,
but we can relocate you off the highway if folks
are amenable to that, and it's completely free. If we
can push you off the highway. If a vehicle is
stalling out but still running, we can safely escort you
off the highway. So we bring the scene protection and
traffic control and we try and work the solution with
(25:29):
a motorist and we try and give them options like listen,
let's try this. If this doesn't work, we can try this.
If not plans. Yeah, but our services are based on consent,
so that that's difficult because unless they're they're agreeable and
amenable to being moved or relocated, or if they want
to work with us and you know what we're what
we can offer. Yeah, most folks they do take take
(25:51):
a step on the offer and we help them and
we get them down the road or get them off
the highway. Some folks just they prefer to leave the
vehicle behind, or they're going to wait for their triple
A or their tow truck, and if it's in a
bad area, we'll wait with them. Otherwise, sometimes we move
on as we have with their calls pending, and then
we'll give them our number and say if something changes,
call us back and we'll be right back.
Speaker 2 (26:11):
So, say someone is strand on the side of the road,
they can't fix the car, then in there and you
do decide to tow the vehicle to a safe space.
You're not going to tow it to their house or
anything like that. Do you give them a ride off
of the freeway or highway as well?
Speaker 5 (26:23):
Yeah, so they can ride in our tow truck, or
they can move over and ride and their racle wait
before they ride with us, And we're basically going to
get them off the highway to the nearest exit and
the nearest safe location, whether it be a parking lot
or the nearest substreet one of the city streets. It's
just so much safer. Yeah, even just sitting there waiting
for help. Sometimes things change, Conditions change on the road,
(26:45):
yeah fast, and accidents happen.
Speaker 2 (26:47):
And before you know, there's people out there that decide
to maybe try and scam other people. You have identifying vehicles,
you have identifying clothing where hey, I'm here to help you.
So people, you know, because there's so many different people
that you don't. Maybe I can understand why some people
might be skeptical, but you do correct. So if someone
sees the text dot hero vehicle and behind them and
it's you out there, then they can feel safe to
(27:08):
trust you.
Speaker 5 (27:09):
Yes, absolutely, Not only do we have the textout logos
on our vehicles, our employees carry their badges, and of
course we have our hero uniforms are Yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:17):
Is that what you're wearing right now? Yes, okay, it's
a bright green so you can't miss him. I mean,
I don't blame you.
Speaker 5 (27:22):
So we call it the high visibility life. It's just
you know, when I started doing this type of work,
I came from a law enforcement background and so it
was hard to get into this uniform. But if this
is what it takes to help people on the highway, yeah,
so be it. This is my uniform. And you see
a lot of these shirts now with a lot of
the construction crews. But we do have our identifiers, our
(27:45):
hero logo on the front in the back as well.
So okay, and of course the vehicle is they're unmistakable.
You can't miss them out on the highway.
Speaker 2 (27:53):
Yeah, there's one outside right now at the station. And
of course on pound O two Sundy, ninetynine point nine
and ninety six point three k, Instagram and Facebook. I'll
be posting pictures so you can see more of that
as well as whiles information we've been talking about today
and again Martin you talked about you know, the biggest
thing is assisting with tires, flat tires, low tires, but
you also can provide gas, drinking water, you know, especially
(28:14):
in the heat when there's those backups, batteries, I guess
I give them a jumpstart and minor repair. So those
are just a few of the other things that they
can help with. And Lauren, I want to ask you,
is there are there any like misconceptions or anything that
(28:34):
you would like the public to know when it comes
to the Hero program or if you see them on
the side of the road and they're trying to assist
with the traffic incident. Is there anything that you would
want the listening audience to know.
Speaker 3 (28:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (28:44):
So a lot of times, you know, as Martin mentioned,
they they pull up behind you, and sometimes people are
afraid to receive the service one because they're not familiar
with who they are, right but you know they are
in a you know, identifiable uniform, they've got a hard hat,
(29:06):
the vehicles are clearly marked. And the other thing is
that they think that there's a cost attached to it.
So very important to again let people know that this
is a service that is provided by text dot there
is no cost to them. And then another is what
you mentioned earlier is you know, each of the fleets
(29:30):
on the shift they have a tow truck. So there's
you know, trucks, and then there's a tow truck in
that shift as well. We won't tow you to your house,
we won't tell you to the body shop, but we
will tow you to the next safest place. And so
that's very important. And then saving that that number, you know,
(29:51):
keeping that I always tell people, if you don't have
the HERO number saved on your cell phone.
Speaker 2 (29:56):
You need to add that.
Speaker 4 (29:58):
So it's nine one five nine zero Hero, or call
the number on the back of your license. The program
is up and running seven days a week. But if
it's after nine o'clock, yeah we're not okay. Yeah, they
got arrest too, right, so overnight they are resting, but
you know, come first thing in the morning, they are
(30:20):
ready to assist and they're out on the roadways patrolling.
Speaker 2 (30:24):
What is the morning hours, like, when does it open?
I guess.
Speaker 5 (30:27):
So we kick off operations at five thirty in the morning, okay.
Our guys check their equipment safety brief and then they
hit their patrol routes.
Speaker 2 (30:33):
Okay.
Speaker 5 (30:34):
So they're out there starting in five thirty and we
have a second shift comes in at one pm. They
shift change in their head out to the field, so
it's seamless and the guys get out there and they'll
be out patrolling until nine pm is when we wrap
up operations.
Speaker 2 (30:48):
Okay. Perfect. So again, that phone number is nine one
five seven nine zero Hero. Remember it's it rhymes nine
one five seven nine zero hero or four three seven six.
You can also look at the phone number on the
back of your license, which is amazing. And then you
can also go to textdot dot gov for more information. Now,
before we conclude, I'm going to ask each of you
(31:10):
one more thing you'd like to tell the listening audience.
But before that, Martin or Lauren, whoever feels like they
would like to take this question. The move over or
slow down law. This makes me so mad when people
don't do it. Who would like to briefly describe what
this is and why it's important, and how to do it.
Speaker 5 (31:28):
I'll take those please. So we have an incredible team
out there on the highways here in town, on our
interstate system. This type of work is extremely dangerous. So
those two laws that you just mentioned. One of them
is the move overlaw. When whenever I drive and travel
onto the rural areas, everyone's really good about giving you
that lane if you move over into the right shoulder
(31:50):
because you broke down. Here in town not so much.
Folks are buzzing someone that's trying to address a vehicle
issue on the side of the road at full speed.
The law says, if there's emergency responders, if there's highway
operators or road workers on the highway, you should move
over and give them the lane. If you're unable to
(32:11):
move over, you should slow down by twenty miles per hour.
That is a sitable offense, and I know they're pretty
expensive tickets, but that goes a long way into keeping
our guys safe. The other law is a move it
low So if you're ever involved in a minor fender
bender on the highway system or in any other state highways,
the law prescribes you're allowed to move your vehicles from
(32:34):
the travel lanes to a safer location, especially when it's
a minor fender bender, there's a miner or no injuries,
and the vehicles are still drivable. Now, if you have
maybe a hit and run, or you suspect drunk driving
or road ranging, that kind of stuff, we prefer you
hold a scene and we'll let PD decide. But if
it's just a minor fender bender, everyone's okay. You don't
(32:56):
have to stay in the lanes of travel. When we
arrive on scene. On those, we have folks document and
exchanging for as quickly as possible, and then we hold
the traffic so they can exit the highway and they'll
either on the shoulder or we prefer off the highway,
And now they can sit there and wait for PD
to come and conduct their investigation, and everyone's already document
the scene for them, so that restores the highway. It
(33:17):
prevents secondary crashes from recurring. So it's really important to
know that, especially if you know it ahead of time,
because a lot of folks are real hesitant to move
their vehicle and now they're placing their lives in danger
over a minor fender bender. And also then we may
have a more serious crash in the queue behind them.
Speaker 2 (33:33):
Yeah, yeah, exactly. And also if your vehicle, if you
decide it's best to not keep it, like you said,
in the emergency lane, you know, if you can move
it safely out of the way, because again that is
for emergency reasons. So is there anything else, Lauren, that
you would like to tell the listening audience.
Speaker 4 (33:52):
Yeah, so a couple of things. So when your vehicle
breaks down, sometimes we see people get out of their
vehicle right away. It's very important to stay in your
vehicle when you break down and call for assistance. So
call our Hero program, call emergency responders. But stay in
your vehicle because once you're out of your vehicle, you
(34:14):
don't have that protection around you. So I would mention that.
And then as the holidays are approaching, you know if
you're going to be traveling well, and every day when
you go out on the road, check the check your
vehicle before you head out, So check your tires, make
sure you have gas. If you're traveling for the holidays,
make sure you're securing your load, that you know your
(34:37):
vehicle is ready for that trip, that you yourself are
well rested. You know, don't drive distracted. Some of these
crashes that we see are because people are driving too fast,
they're not wearing their seatbelt, they're on their cell phone,
they're not focusing on what they're supposed to be doing.
So those are all things. All these crashes are preventable,
(34:59):
and so we know that there's a lot going on
and there's a lot of things that can distract drivers.
And especially now in Thelid with the holiday season, you know,
people might be feeling some additional stress or some additional traffic,
maybe more pedestrian traffic. It's getting darker sooner, harder to
see pedestrians as well. So keep that in mind because
(35:22):
all these crashes are that you know, most of the
ones that we see are preventable.
Speaker 2 (35:27):
Yeah, if you have a stigmatism, just uber like me
and Martin. We have about a minute left. But is
there anything else you'd like to tell the listening audience.
Speaker 5 (35:34):
So Lauren hit on an important topic. We see it
every day when we're working incidents on the highway or
on the side of the highway. We've all learned because
of technology. You know, you see the messaging don't text
and drive and all that, but it's become more than that.
We've learned that you can't do one thing with you're
always multitasking. You're on a team's call, you're listening to
(35:55):
a podcast, and you're on two or three chat groups,
you know, with family and friends, with work hr and
we just got used to operating doing many things at once. Yeah,
and when you're driving your folk it seems like they're
driving as the last thing on your mind, on your mind,
and so it's hard to do to turn all the
technology off and just drive and focus on the driving.
(36:16):
But that really changes the outcomes. You're more alert and
you're more in tune with what's going on with your
vehicle and the traffic's running. So when we're speeding, if
we're falling too closely and then we're distracted, then that's
why we're going to see the accidents happen.
Speaker 2 (36:30):
And people are so distracted all day, you could use
that time as kind of a meditation. I know there's
road rage, but you know, kind of just to disconnect
from everything the way you should anyway. And me myself,
I'm a motorcyclist. I ride a Harley, so I have
a game I play with my daughter. It's like how
many bikes can you count, you know, to kind of
keep attention on the road. We make it like a
game all from the side to the west side. I
spotted five motorcycles and it just makes people where not
(36:52):
only have bikers, but about the streets as well. So
you know, if you have kids in the car, you
can kind of make it a fun way to do something.
So again, the Text dot Hero program nine one five
seven nine zero Hero, or you can also go to
text dot dot gov or you can call the number
on the back of your license. Lauren and Martin, thank
you so much for being here with me today. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (37:13):
Thank emer you've been listening to El Paso Public Forum,
a weekly public affairs presentation of iHeartRadio l Paso. If you,
your organization or event would like to be featured on
an upcoming program, please email to Epforum at iHeartMedia dot
com or call us at nine one five three five
one five four zero zero. Tune in again next week
(37:34):
for another additional of El Paso Public Forum. The preceding
program was recorded at the studios of iHeartRadio l Paso.
Welcome to ol Paso Public Forum, a weekly half hour
public affairs presentation of iHeartRadio El Paso for over twenty years,
featuring local news and interviews of interest to our listeners
in West Texas and southern New Mexico. All views and
opinions expressed on this program are those of the host
and guest, and not necessarily those of iHeartRadio Management and
now El Paso Public Forum.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Welcome to the al Paso Public Forum. I'm your host,
Amber Banda, and today we have Duran cow others, founder
of you Eat I Eat Community Unity Food Pantry Corps. Duran,
thank you so much for talking with us today.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
No, thank you so much. Amber, You know what, It
is an absolute blessing to be here with you today
to represent you Eat I E Community Unity Food Pantry.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Of course, my only regret is not knowing about you sooner.
I mean too so. I am a biker and I
learned about your organization through the al Paso Motorcycle Coalition.
There was some donations that were made. So you eat
I Eat Unity. Excuse me, you Eat I Eat Community
Unity Food Pantry. I love the way that sounds community unity.
(01:08):
What is this organization?
Speaker 3 (01:10):
Well before I talk about what the organization is is
I just want to say thank you, you know, thank you,
and thank you to all of our sponsors that makes
given possible. And thank you to the L Pascal Motorcycle Coalition,
you know, to bringing awareness to you about our organization.
So what is you Eat I Eat? You Eat I
(01:31):
Eat is a five oh one c three independent organization
that relies on the support of the community to give
that help and hand up to anyone that's in El
Paso County and ours surrounding sister cities that's facing food insecurities.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
I love that hand up, not handout. I saw it
on the website. Yes, and so what does it do
for the community, Like what events do you have? Like
you know, because there's different nonprofits and they do certain thing.
What is unique to you Eat I Eat?
Speaker 3 (02:02):
Well, what's unique to you Eat I Eat is it
was unfounded and started based upon just wanting to help
the community. So you eat I Eat. We have various programs.
We did open ten years ago. Yes, we've been open
for ten years and four months. And so our initial
(02:22):
program was focused mainly on the food insecurities with non
perishable foods and we also serve a hot meal on
Tuesdays and Thursdays, you know, as time you know, has
passed by. Not only do we focus on those things,
we also have an after school program and we also
(02:44):
do special events. We do outreach with the unhoused community,
and we also partner with other organizations. One of them
is Homeward Bound and what they do is they assist
individuals and recovery. Oh wow, okay, so you know they
(03:05):
want to get clean, you know, so we helped them
in addition to other organizations. Because our impacts it just
goes much further than the you eat, I eat doors.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
Oh definitely. And I'm curious this started ten years ago.
What's your backstory? What made you want to open this
Unity Food Unity Food Country.
Speaker 3 (03:29):
Well, you know, in twenty fourteen, I spent the entire
summer in then out of the hospital, and you know,
at that time, God placed in my heart to help people.
Now keep in mind, you know, I grew up in
the church, you know, but I didn't have a relationship
with God. But during my illness, I began to form
(03:49):
a relationship and He just placed in my heart to
want to help people, and he wanted me to help
people the way that I would want to receive the
help personally, you know, I want to receive something with
some dignanty and respect. You know what, when I when
I go out, I expect a certain kind of service,
and that's the service that he wanted me to give
(04:10):
to the people. And so the number one thing that
we do at You Eat I Eat, which makes us
stand out is that our clients know that we love them,
You're genuine. You know, they understand that it is a
blessing for us to be there. Since we are not city, state,
(04:32):
or government funded. You know, we don't receive funding, you know,
And so that's what makes the You Eat I Eat
mission so special because not only am I a volunteered
nor have I ever paid myself one dime and the
ten years for working full time plus hours, I've never
(04:53):
paid any volunteers either. Oh, we just paid to operate.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
Yeah, oh, I'm sure volunteer. There's two things that nonprofits need.
I say this every time is volunteers and money. I mean,
without that, you know, you need to be able to
have those things to help the community. And you know,
with the food pantry, what kind of impact have you
seen over the years, you know, you're telling me some
stories earlier. You're a very good storyteller. What kind of
(05:20):
stories have you seen or examples can you give of
the way it's impacted certain families or populations?
Speaker 3 (05:25):
Okay, well, I think the the best way that everyone
can relate to this is during the Corona virus pandemic. Yeah,
you know, we did not shut out doors, but there
were people that never thought that they would utilize, you know,
a food bank, you know, And so when I think about,
(05:46):
you know, what we've done that really stands out on
our mind. And I'll tell you when I watched on
the news those food bank lines.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
I was horrified. Yeah, okay, I.
Speaker 3 (05:57):
Didn't know as an independent organize how we would be
able to handle that. But with the support of the community,
we assisted over ten thousand, okay, our individuals that were
facing food and securities. We did not we did not
eliminate our programs. We still served hot meals during the pandemic,
(06:21):
thousands of them. We just had to readjust and reconfigure.
So we went to you have to come inside to
the drive up distribution to ensure the safety you know,
of not only the community, but also of our volunteers.
And I can proudly, proudly, proudly say that during the
(06:44):
entire coronavirus pandemic and assisting ten thousand individuals, no one
at the U eat I E facilitated, volunteered, contracted the
coronavirus POTT. Yes, ma'am. So we were covered and we
were protected, and I'm just grateful. So if I have
(07:04):
to think about anything, that is it, because it was
a horrifying time, not only for me but and for you,
but for the entire world.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
Yeah, I kind of imagine having to add food and
security on top of already having to deal with the
stress of not getting sick and all the changes and
layoffs and everything that was going on. And when we
spoke off air, you were talking you know, you didn't
really know many people when you initially started this venture.
To having many people wanting to volunteer. How did that happen? Like,
(07:35):
did people hear about what you were doing? Did you
reach out? How did that work out?
Speaker 3 (07:39):
Well? You know what, I think that when you have
got involved, he reached out, you know. So we didn't
have any sponsors, and to be honest, we started off
kind of silently. Out of silent what's the name of
that pizza place, a little Caesars. Oh yeah, okay, when
(08:01):
we opened the doors, they would allow me to come
in and pick up the pizzas instead of you know
that that they were my very first So I would
stay up until eleven o'clock at night, Yes, ma'am if
they had anything that was hot, I'll be driving around
the city and look for unhoused people. So we wouldn't
go to ways, you know. So after time we did
(08:25):
pick up it was another location Costco. Oh. Yes, it
was amazing. You know. We had so many breads and
pastries and it was absolutely amazing.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
Yes, you know.
Speaker 3 (08:40):
And and that worked for three years until another organization
came in and and kind of you know, acquired them
from us, and so you know, it's okay. But since
then we have picked up twenty sponsors, okay, which is Sprout,
which was our first.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
Yeah, shot them. Also people know where to go shop.
Speaker 3 (09:03):
Yes, it was Sprouts, and that was we were blessed
with that from our Carrot okay. And what Carrot is
it's a it's an organization that connects restaurants with nonprofits
to donate instead of discarding. And so yes, and they
(09:24):
were you know, they were wonderful, you know. And then
we're also working with the food donation connection with them,
we pick up from multiple olive Garden, Chick fil as,
a lot of different agencies that are donating instead of
discarding their own and sold products. But let me just
(09:49):
say this. You know, for the last seven years, okay,
I think five to seven years, we've had sponsors that
have really truly impacted and through the community. One is
Domino's Pizza. We have a silent Domino's Pizza. He's purchased
my freezes, he purchased my refrigerators. Oh wow, he donates
(10:12):
to every special events. He purchased Turkey's, he's purchasing toys,
and he's just given us that helping hand up to
the tune of over thirty five thousand dollars since we've
opened as a text run. It's yeah, Dominoes is silent,
and we're also being very good friends with Verizon. TCC
(10:38):
does give back, Okay, the Walmart Community Grant, the Braiding
Up Doom Foundation. You know, it is so many organizations,
the ol Passo Community Foundation that has actually given us
that helping hand up. Let me not forget the mayor.
You know, he participated in giving us his his paycheck.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
He really story that day.
Speaker 3 (11:06):
You know, I wish we had the time to acknowledge
each and every one. And the last one I will
mention is the Junior League because of their sponsorship this
year of our after school program, and we're able to
not think about the funding you know that it costs
(11:27):
because they took up that that liability. They're also building
all the bags. They're coming out with volunteer support, so
it is absolutely amazing.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
That's awesome. And again, if you're just tuning in, I
have here Durna cor Other's founder of You Eat I
Eat Community Unity Food Pantry Core. Now we you have
an event coming up. Sorry, I mean it seems like
it's far away, but it's really not an Easter you
Eat I Eat event. Can you tell the listening audience
a little bit more about this event and maybe how
(11:57):
they can support you in it.
Speaker 3 (11:59):
Yeah, well, our Easter Evan, I just scheduled that just
yesterday and so that is on Saturday, March to twenty eighth.
It is going to be at the U Eat I
Eat facility which is at eighty eight eighty eight tire
Sweet number five one three. The only thing that we
require is that you bring your children out for the
(12:22):
holiday meal and they can select the Easter basket that
they like. You know, one more thing I just do.
I have to make a shout out to Papa John's Pizzas. Okay.
They have been a tremendous on support to us, not
only through donating instead of discarding. Okay, they have monetarily
(12:45):
donated to us. Okay, and by the time this airs
to check presentation would have happened, you know. But I
just want to make sure that you know, I give
them that shout out.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
Of course. Yes, you have to, you know, support the
ones that support you. On Facebook. You can find them
at you Eat, I Eat food pantry. You can also
go to you EATI Eat dot com. They have ways
that you as the community can support them cash apzel
you can find more information. You can find Durn's backstory. Now, Duran,
we have a few more minutes, but before I let
you go, is there anything else that you would like
(13:18):
to tell the listening audience?
Speaker 3 (13:20):
Yes, everyone, you know what it is. What I believe
was God touching my spirits, you know, to open up
that you Eat I Eat facility. So what I'm gonna
ask of you today is to allow your hearts, you know,
to be touched. You know, my husband of thirty one years,
my loving husband, Anthony Dearman Carruthers, he passed away on
(13:44):
March the nineteenth, twenty twenty five, and so this has
been a very challenging time for me. And so what
you're supporting, what your monetary contributions will do, is it
will help us, you know, to give that helping hand up.
You know, as I am going through this change in life,
(14:09):
we will be temporarily going through a temporary pause where
we will not be offering any non perishable foods or
hot meals. We do have to leave our location because
of financial reasons. You know what, when we all join
together with our monetary contributions, you eat, I e. Could
(14:32):
buy a building and we can resume our non perishable
food distribution and our hot mail distribution. But in the meantime,
we are gonna do pop ups. So after our Easter event,
the next one it is our back to school, our
tenth annual back to School giveaway, and we're we're gonna
(14:53):
pop up somewhere. So just follow our page and keep
us in your prayers and monetary country. Abusians are always
needed and appreciated because alone we could do very little,
but together.
Speaker 2 (15:07):
They're going to continue to knock it out the park exactly.
So DURAN is asking for the community support in a
very large way. If there is someone else that can
support financially, that can spread the word again, you EATI
Eat dot com you can be that miracle for you
eat I Eat food, You eat I eat community Unity
food pantry, for the kids that take part in the services,
(15:29):
for the you know, the veterans, for the whole community
on Facebook. You want to see the miracles that they're doing,
the good they're doing for the community. You Eat I
Eat Food Pantry on Facebook. Duran, thank you so much
for coming in and talking with us today.
Speaker 3 (15:44):
No, thank you so much for having us. It has
been an absolute blessing. And thank you so very much.
And please allow your hearts to be touched like I
let mine, because alone we could do very little. Together
we could continue to accomplished so much more perfect. Thank you,
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
Welcome to the al Paso Public Forum. I am your host,
Amberbanda and today we have Lauren Macias Servantis techs dot
Public Information Officer. Lauren, thank you for talking with us today.
Speaker 4 (16:21):
Thank you, Thank you for the opportunity.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
Of course, and we also have Martin Morales, Hero Program Manager. Martin,
thank you for talking with us today.
Speaker 5 (16:30):
Good morning, Thank you for having us.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
Of course. So I've actually wanted to have you guys
on for a while. It's just time got away and
this program does fill up really fast. But I feel,
especially around the holiday season and the colder months, I
really want people to know about the techs Dot HERO program.
HERO standing for Highway Emergency Response Operator. And before we
get started, I was talking with Martin a little bit
(16:53):
before this interview because if you've ever seen those vehicles
that are marked with a circle and an H in
the middle of you're running with the he does that mean?
I figured it out. It means that they were inspected
by the HERO program. So Martin, I'm going to ask
you first, you were a Do they call it a HERO?
Speaker 5 (17:11):
Yes, that's correct. So our official title is Highway Safety Operators. Okay,
So tex dot one of their most important missions is
highway safety. So they brought the safety Service patrol program
known as the HERO program, and these programs are becoming
more prolific throughout the states as time goes on. So
here in Texas, we're lucky to have text Dot providing
(17:31):
these these safety service patrol programs. So what it entails
as they provide safety operators that go out and patrol
the interstate highway system and we're basically basically looking for
traffic incidents to manage, whether it be a collision, whether
it be a stall vehicle, whether it be someone with
a flat tire, run on fuel. So it's very dangerous.
(17:53):
Any any kind of roadside emergency here on the highway system,
especially no possible with them. Our infrastructure is growing, but
it's very very We patrol those routes looking to help
motorists and get them out of safety or get them
going down the road. So that's the entire mission of
the program.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
So not only do you patrol and look for people
that might have been stranded, but people can also contact you.
It works like you also, I didn't know you also
went and patrol. That's cool.
Speaker 5 (18:16):
So we actively patrol throughout our shifts. We have two
eight hour ships that are out there and it's a
team of six operators. So our goal is to initiate
that contact and find those calls. So about seventy to
seventy five percent of the time, we were the ones
that are encountering the calls. Other calls come in through
other sources, whether it be through the police, fire nine
(18:38):
to one one, And we also have the Traffic Management Center.
We have dedicated operators in there that are monitoring the
highway camera system, so if they see trouble developing, they
see a vehicle that's stalled out in the blocking traffic,
they'll dispatch our units to those calls.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
Okay, So again it's not just and we'll get into
a little bit more right now of what kind of
assistance you provide for people that are stranded on the
side of the road. But it's not just that. It's also,
like you said, if there's a collision or something where
they need I'll pass the police or the emergency vehicles
need assistance like kind of taling traffic to move out
of the way. You're also out that's a very dangerous
job exactly.
Speaker 5 (19:13):
So as you know, our emergency responders, they're the true
heroes out there, and there's a finite amount of resources
out there for that. Our police departments extremely busy. So
when we encounter collisions and we're first on scene, we
serve as a force multiplier for the emergency responders. If
it's something minor that within the rules of the law
(19:34):
we can clear, we will clear those. If there's injuries,
the vehicles are not driveable, then we'll secure the scene
and we prepare for the arrival the fire department and
police department for the investigation. And we're on standby as
safety officers on the highway and we're promoting safety for
the responders, for firemen that are providing the medical care
(19:55):
and treatment. And then once all that is clear and
police gives us the okay to clear the scene. Instead
of having a wait for tow trucks to arrive on
scene and clear the accident, we step in and we
also help clear some of these incidents a little bit
quicker and it helps prevent secondary collisions. When yeah, along
we're out on the highway, the higher the incidents or
the chances of something else secondary crashes occurring. So, oh yeah,
(20:18):
that's our goal, quick clearance right.
Speaker 2 (20:20):
Perfect. And Lauren, you're the tech dot public information officer.
What is your role with the hero program?
Speaker 5 (20:26):
Sure?
Speaker 4 (20:27):
So, as the public information officer, we provide information on
tech dot projects, tech dot programs, and so we're out
promoting progress, what's happening with our construction projects, closures, why
we're doing construction projects. We also have traffic safety programs
(20:47):
like click it or Ticket, Don't Drink and Drive, and
then we have the Hero program, so we're out there
getting that information out to the public. So we certainly
appreciate your opportunity today to let people know about the
Hero program, which is now about five well it's five
years back.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
I was okay, yeah, so five years back.
Speaker 4 (21:08):
It's a program that did exist before, but then went
away for a bit and then now came back in
twenty twenty, and so we're five years into the program.
It does not exist in all Texas cities. It does
exist in Odessa, the Odessa Midland area, Austin, San Antonio
(21:32):
as well.
Speaker 2 (21:34):
And with the tech Stop program. I'm assuming like before
for that little period of time that it wasn't that
it wasn't work existing here in all pass So I
guess if people needed assistance, they would have to call
the police department.
Speaker 4 (21:47):
Yeah, or I mean again, you know, as as Martin mentioned,
the priority is safety and so as you know, if
anybody has has broken down on the side of the
road to flat tire, or anything like that. You know
that it's scary, it's dangerous, and so these guys are
out there once they come in, I mean, they don't
sit in an office. They come in, they check their vehicle,
(22:10):
and then they start patrolling. So they're out on LUB three,
seventy five, I ten, US fifty four are major highways,
and so they've got their routes set, you know, as
Martin mentioned, Yes, they encounter vehicles that are you know,
stranded on the side of the road, or they see
a crash, or they're called to assist. But we have
(22:30):
more than two hundred cameras on on our system where
you know, we have operators at our center which is
twenty four to seven, and they're out there monitoring traffic.
Speaker 2 (22:42):
Yeah, so if they see, you know.
Speaker 4 (22:45):
A vehicle that's stalled, a crash that just happened, or
you know, a traffic tie up, I have them on
my on my bluetooth and I you know, so it
may not be you that's broken down, but you see
someone on the side of the road that needs assistance.
I do that a lot, you know, not not using
(23:06):
my phone, but I have them on the bluetooth and
say hands.
Speaker 2 (23:09):
Free, yes, hands free.
Speaker 4 (23:11):
Uh, you know, if it's safe to do so, just say,
you know, I see this person on the side of
the road or there. I've seen people stuck in the
middle of a lane, right in the middle of a lane.
And if there's a way to provide it to to
make that call safely and provide some assistance to them,
they can check on the camera and then our dispatchers
(23:32):
are right next door to the hero dispatchers and work
collaboratively to keep their the eyes you know, yeah, on
the traffic system.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
And again we'll give that information that phone number of
how you can contact. And that's good to know because
a lot of times I'm with my younger daughter and
I'm like, I don't feel comfortable stopping because I don't know,
you know, but I do, I do want to help,
or if I stop, I'm like, well, I don't know
anything about cars, Like I'm just going to keep you company.
So that's good to know that you can contact that
for someone else. And plus I have an older daughter
that's on the road. So if you have teens that
(24:01):
are driving or just loved ones on the road to yourself,
make sure that you're paying close attention. So I want
to ask. We talked about there's free roadside assistants against
free ninety nine one hundred percent off. Now I want
to talk about the types of assistance. If you're you know, Martin,
do you want to take this question, like what types
(24:22):
of assistance does the Hero program provide free of cost?
Speaker 5 (24:26):
Yes? So, the majority of our incidents encountered are just
sable vehicle calls, and the majority of those are flat
tire calls. That's probably one of the ones that keeps
us busiest. What is heartbreaking now is a lot of
people are driving down the road and they don't have
spare tires in their vehicles anymore so absent knowing that
you don't have a spare tire. If you don't know that,
(24:47):
or you don't have a plan for how you're going
to how you're gonna get off the highway, how are
we going to get to More so, oftentimes they're trying
to figure out what their game plan is going to be.
They're late for work, they're late for class, they have appointments.
Sometimes they off for leaving the vehicle on the side
of the road. There's no ordinances against that, and we
(25:07):
we'd rather deter that we do have the means. We
have a tow truck toe services. We don't actually toll,
but we can relocate you off the highway if folks
are amenable to that, and it's completely free. If we
can push you off the highway. If a vehicle is
stalling out but still running, we can safely escort you
off the highway. So we bring the scene protection and
traffic control and we try and work the solution with
(25:29):
a motorist and we try and give them options like listen,
let's try this. If this doesn't work, we can try this.
If not plans. Yeah, but our services are based on consent,
so that that's difficult because unless they're they're agreeable and
amenable to being moved or relocated, or if they want
to work with us and you know what we're what
we can offer. Yeah, most folks they do take take
(25:51):
a step on the offer and we help them and
we get them down the road or get them off
the highway. Some folks just they prefer to leave the
vehicle behind, or they're going to wait for their triple
A or their tow truck, and if it's in a
bad area, we'll wait with them. Otherwise, sometimes we move
on as we have with their calls pending, and then
we'll give them our number and say if something changes,
call us back and we'll be right back.
Speaker 2 (26:11):
So, say someone is strand on the side of the road,
they can't fix the car, then in there and you
do decide to tow the vehicle to a safe space.
You're not going to tow it to their house or
anything like that. Do you give them a ride off
of the freeway or highway as well?
Speaker 5 (26:23):
Yeah, so they can ride in our tow truck, or
they can move over and ride and their racle wait
before they ride with us, And we're basically going to
get them off the highway to the nearest exit and
the nearest safe location, whether it be a parking lot
or the nearest substreet one of the city streets. It's
just so much safer. Yeah, even just sitting there waiting
for help. Sometimes things change, Conditions change on the road,
(26:45):
yeah fast, and accidents happen.
Speaker 2 (26:47):
And before you know, there's people out there that decide
to maybe try and scam other people. You have identifying vehicles,
you have identifying clothing where hey, I'm here to help you.
So people, you know, because there's so many different people
that you don't. Maybe I can understand why some people
might be skeptical, but you do correct. So if someone
sees the text dot hero vehicle and behind them and
it's you out there, then they can feel safe to
(27:08):
trust you.
Speaker 5 (27:09):
Yes, absolutely, Not only do we have the textout logos
on our vehicles, our employees carry their badges, and of
course we have our hero uniforms are Yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:17):
Is that what you're wearing right now? Yes, okay, it's
a bright green so you can't miss him. I mean,
I don't blame you.
Speaker 5 (27:22):
So we call it the high visibility life. It's just
you know, when I started doing this type of work,
I came from a law enforcement background and so it
was hard to get into this uniform. But if this
is what it takes to help people on the highway, yeah,
so be it. This is my uniform. And you see
a lot of these shirts now with a lot of
the construction crews. But we do have our identifiers, our
(27:45):
hero logo on the front in the back as well.
So okay, and of course the vehicle is they're unmistakable.
You can't miss them out on the highway.
Speaker 2 (27:53):
Yeah, there's one outside right now at the station. And
of course on pound O two Sundy, ninetynine point nine
and ninety six point three k, Instagram and Facebook. I'll
be posting pictures so you can see more of that
as well as whiles information we've been talking about today
and again Martin you talked about you know, the biggest
thing is assisting with tires, flat tires, low tires, but
you also can provide gas, drinking water, you know, especially
(28:14):
in the heat when there's those backups, batteries, I guess
I give them a jumpstart and minor repair. So those
are just a few of the other things that they
can help with. And Lauren, I want to ask you,
is there are there any like misconceptions or anything that
(28:34):
you would like the public to know when it comes
to the Hero program or if you see them on
the side of the road and they're trying to assist
with the traffic incident. Is there anything that you would
want the listening audience to know.
Speaker 3 (28:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (28:44):
So a lot of times, you know, as Martin mentioned,
they they pull up behind you, and sometimes people are
afraid to receive the service one because they're not familiar
with who they are, right but you know they are
in a you know, identifiable uniform, they've got a hard hat,
(29:06):
the vehicles are clearly marked. And the other thing is
that they think that there's a cost attached to it.
So very important to again let people know that this
is a service that is provided by text dot there
is no cost to them. And then another is what
you mentioned earlier is you know, each of the fleets
(29:30):
on the shift they have a tow truck. So there's
you know, trucks, and then there's a tow truck in
that shift as well. We won't tow you to your house,
we won't tell you to the body shop, but we
will tow you to the next safest place. And so
that's very important. And then saving that that number, you know,
(29:51):
keeping that I always tell people, if you don't have
the HERO number saved on your cell phone.
Speaker 2 (29:56):
You need to add that.
Speaker 4 (29:58):
So it's nine one five nine zero Hero, or call
the number on the back of your license. The program
is up and running seven days a week. But if
it's after nine o'clock, yeah we're not okay. Yeah, they
got arrest too, right, so overnight they are resting, but
you know, come first thing in the morning, they are
(30:20):
ready to assist and they're out on the roadways patrolling.
Speaker 2 (30:24):
What is the morning hours, like, when does it open?
I guess.
Speaker 5 (30:27):
So we kick off operations at five thirty in the morning, okay.
Our guys check their equipment safety brief and then they
hit their patrol routes.
Speaker 2 (30:33):
Okay.
Speaker 5 (30:34):
So they're out there starting in five thirty and we
have a second shift comes in at one pm. They
shift change in their head out to the field, so
it's seamless and the guys get out there and they'll
be out patrolling until nine pm is when we wrap
up operations.
Speaker 2 (30:48):
Okay. Perfect. So again, that phone number is nine one
five seven nine zero Hero. Remember it's it rhymes nine
one five seven nine zero hero or four three seven six.
You can also look at the phone number on the
back of your license, which is amazing. And then you
can also go to textdot dot gov for more information. Now,
before we conclude, I'm going to ask each of you
(31:10):
one more thing you'd like to tell the listening audience.
But before that, Martin or Lauren, whoever feels like they
would like to take this question. The move over or
slow down law. This makes me so mad when people
don't do it. Who would like to briefly describe what
this is and why it's important, and how to do it.
Speaker 5 (31:28):
I'll take those please. So we have an incredible team
out there on the highways here in town, on our
interstate system. This type of work is extremely dangerous. So
those two laws that you just mentioned. One of them
is the move overlaw. When whenever I drive and travel
onto the rural areas, everyone's really good about giving you
that lane if you move over into the right shoulder
(31:50):
because you broke down. Here in town not so much.
Folks are buzzing someone that's trying to address a vehicle
issue on the side of the road at full speed.
The law says, if there's emergency responders, if there's highway
operators or road workers on the highway, you should move
over and give them the lane. If you're unable to
(32:11):
move over, you should slow down by twenty miles per hour.
That is a sitable offense, and I know they're pretty
expensive tickets, but that goes a long way into keeping
our guys safe. The other law is a move it
low So if you're ever involved in a minor fender
bender on the highway system or in any other state highways,
the law prescribes you're allowed to move your vehicles from
(32:34):
the travel lanes to a safer location, especially when it's
a minor fender bender, there's a miner or no injuries,
and the vehicles are still drivable. Now, if you have
maybe a hit and run, or you suspect drunk driving
or road ranging, that kind of stuff, we prefer you
hold a scene and we'll let PD decide. But if
it's just a minor fender bender, everyone's okay. You don't
(32:56):
have to stay in the lanes of travel. When we
arrive on scene. On those, we have folks document and
exchanging for as quickly as possible, and then we hold
the traffic so they can exit the highway and they'll
either on the shoulder or we prefer off the highway,
And now they can sit there and wait for PD
to come and conduct their investigation, and everyone's already document
the scene for them, so that restores the highway. It
(33:17):
prevents secondary crashes from recurring. So it's really important to
know that, especially if you know it ahead of time,
because a lot of folks are real hesitant to move
their vehicle and now they're placing their lives in danger
over a minor fender bender. And also then we may
have a more serious crash in the queue behind them.
Speaker 2 (33:33):
Yeah, yeah, exactly. And also if your vehicle, if you
decide it's best to not keep it, like you said,
in the emergency lane, you know, if you can move
it safely out of the way, because again that is
for emergency reasons. So is there anything else, Lauren, that
you would like to tell the listening audience.
Speaker 4 (33:52):
Yeah, so a couple of things. So when your vehicle
breaks down, sometimes we see people get out of their
vehicle right away. It's very important to stay in your
vehicle when you break down and call for assistance. So
call our Hero program, call emergency responders. But stay in
your vehicle because once you're out of your vehicle, you
(34:14):
don't have that protection around you. So I would mention that.
And then as the holidays are approaching, you know if
you're going to be traveling well, and every day when
you go out on the road, check the check your
vehicle before you head out, So check your tires, make
sure you have gas. If you're traveling for the holidays,
make sure you're securing your load, that you know your
(34:37):
vehicle is ready for that trip, that you yourself are
well rested. You know, don't drive distracted. Some of these
crashes that we see are because people are driving too fast,
they're not wearing their seatbelt, they're on their cell phone,
they're not focusing on what they're supposed to be doing.
So those are all things. All these crashes are preventable,
(34:59):
and so we know that there's a lot going on
and there's a lot of things that can distract drivers.
And especially now in Thelid with the holiday season, you know,
people might be feeling some additional stress or some additional traffic,
maybe more pedestrian traffic. It's getting darker sooner, harder to
see pedestrians as well. So keep that in mind because
(35:22):
all these crashes are that you know, most of the
ones that we see are preventable.
Speaker 2 (35:27):
Yeah, if you have a stigmatism, just uber like me
and Martin. We have about a minute left. But is
there anything else you'd like to tell the listening audience.
Speaker 5 (35:34):
So Lauren hit on an important topic. We see it
every day when we're working incidents on the highway or
on the side of the highway. We've all learned because
of technology. You know, you see the messaging don't text
and drive and all that, but it's become more than that.
We've learned that you can't do one thing with you're
always multitasking. You're on a team's call, you're listening to
(35:55):
a podcast, and you're on two or three chat groups,
you know, with family and friends, with work hr and
we just got used to operating doing many things at once. Yeah,
and when you're driving your folk it seems like they're
driving as the last thing on your mind, on your mind,
and so it's hard to do to turn all the
technology off and just drive and focus on the driving.
(36:16):
But that really changes the outcomes. You're more alert and
you're more in tune with what's going on with your
vehicle and the traffic's running. So when we're speeding, if
we're falling too closely and then we're distracted, then that's
why we're going to see the accidents happen.
Speaker 2 (36:30):
And people are so distracted all day, you could use
that time as kind of a meditation. I know there's
road rage, but you know, kind of just to disconnect
from everything the way you should anyway. And me myself,
I'm a motorcyclist. I ride a Harley, so I have
a game I play with my daughter. It's like how
many bikes can you count, you know, to kind of
keep attention on the road. We make it like a
game all from the side to the west side. I
spotted five motorcycles and it just makes people where not
(36:52):
only have bikers, but about the streets as well. So
you know, if you have kids in the car, you
can kind of make it a fun way to do something.
So again, the Text dot Hero program nine one five
seven nine zero Hero, or you can also go to
text dot dot gov or you can call the number
on the back of your license. Lauren and Martin, thank
you so much for being here with me today. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (37:13):
Thank emer you've been listening to El Paso Public Forum,
a weekly public affairs presentation of iHeartRadio l Paso. If you,
your organization or event would like to be featured on
an upcoming program, please email to Epforum at iHeartMedia dot
com or call us at nine one five three five
one five four zero zero. Tune in again next week
(37:34):
for another additional of El Paso Public Forum. The preceding
program was recorded at the studios of iHeartRadio l Paso.
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