Hope Vibes - Triad

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Welcome to Carolina Cares. I'm Scottyblaisdown along with Hannah Tyler, and once
again we turn the spotlight on theTriad and people doing good works and meeting
needs in the Triad. So let'smeet John and mcdahalia. Basilio. John,
I got it right, You gotit right, all right, off

(00:20):
to a good start, and theorganization is called Hope Vibes Triad. Before
we get into the organization itself,John, introduce yourself, your beautiful wife,
and of course you have a familyyou're raising as well in the Triad.
Yes, sir, thank you.We are very grateful to be here.
Thank you for inviting us again.My name is John and this is

(00:42):
my beautiful wife, mcdahlia. We'vebeen married almost twenty three years this year.
We have three children that are almostadults, a twenty year old,
eighteen year old, and a fifteenyear old, and so we are very
busy in our home. Well,now you've lived not just in the Triad,
but you guys have lived in alot of different places. I was
looking at your background, named someof those places where you have had your

(01:04):
family at various points. Well,we met in New Jersey and then from
Jersey, we moved to San Diego, California, and then we moved from
there to here to North Carolina.We lived in the Morrisville area, then
we moved we worked as missionaries inBolivia and we were there for almost two
years and worked with basically an orphanageand a hospital that we went to work

(01:30):
with, and then we moved backto North Carolina because we did love this
area so much, and we werein the ministry in the Triangle area for
seven and a half years, andthen we felt called to do something different
and we decided to move here toWinston Salem, trusting that there were needs

(01:53):
here and we even though we didn'thave a necessarily a plan, we knew
we wanted to work with people thatdon't necessarily have a voice, with people
that don't necessarily have a place togo where they can feel and be themselves
and be safe. I think forboth of us our background we come from

(02:14):
Latino backgrounds, and so for us, having seen what our parents went through
to come into this country, thedifficulties that they went through, there's a
lot that we can relate to whenwe encounter people going through hard challenges in
life, and so for us,it was just kind of a joy to
be able to figure what that isand how we can give back because we

(02:35):
feel like we've been given so muchin our life. That our parents came
from poverty. Both our parents camefrom poverty, came to this country.
We're able to do something to helpus to have the education that we have,
the relationships that we have, andall the opportunities that we have,
and we're like, how can wegive back? So you guys were called
the Hope Vibes. What is HopeVibes? Well, Hope Vibes is in

(02:57):
organization a nonprofit that started in Charlotteand basically this couple had a heart.
Emmanuel and Adrian Threats are their namesthem as a family, they have a
heart, an incredible heart for thehomeless. Through just social media, started
collecting hygiene products, hygiene items togive to the poor in Charlotte, and
then they were able to build atruck, a Hope tank is what they

(03:20):
call it, that has two fullshowers, full bathroom, and then it
has three washers, three dryers andthey drive that around town or just partnering
with different organizations and then being ableto just serve the homeless in that way.
So is that the idea here aswell, is that ultimately you're working
toward getting one of those trucks.Yes, that is the dream. That's

(03:42):
what we are working towards. Wehave brought the truck from Charlotte out a
few times here in the Winston areaand it's been honestly a joy. We've
been able to just partner with othernonprofits and work together in just bringing dignity
to that community. When we don'thave the truck from Charlotte. What we

(04:04):
do is every month, usually thethird Sunday of each month, we go
canvassing and we basically give out hygieneproducts and we just meet. We go
out there and we talk with themand we ask them, you know,
what are your needs, like what'shelpful while you're in this stage in the
season of your life. And honestly, a lot of their response they're so

(04:24):
grateful. I Mean, there aretimes where people have used a shower and
they're like, thank you that Ican take a shower before I go to
work, you know, thank youthat you know there's you know, from
young pregnant moms to just so manydifferent life situations that they're in there's always
such a heart of gratitude and alsoa heart of I want to make sure

(04:46):
that I'm not taking too much,but that there's enough for the other person
that's in need. It's also beensuch a fun opportunity to just see hope
spark in different people's lives. Imean it's like they're in person when you
know, like we all feel whenwe take a shower, we just be
like, okay, I can,let's do this, and just to see
the transformation and you know, intheir hearts, it's been really encouraging.

(05:11):
And what kind of need right noware you seeing in the Winston Salem community.
I'll be honest, I mean it'sa it's a good question. I
think the biggest thing that my wifeand I both feel is that people need
kindness, People need to be seen, people need to be able to share
their story. And what Hope Vibesdoes is it gives people an opportunity to
have conversations with others while they're gettingshowers and they're doing you know, we're

(05:35):
doing their laundry. We have volunteersthat are folding clothes for them when we
have the truck or when we're canvassing. All the time. These are opportunities
to get to know stories, becauseI think we all formulate stories about why
someone's homeless, and the reality isthere's always going to be some type of
need that needs to be met.We all have needs. We all have
all kinds of different needs that needto be met. But the fact that

(05:58):
we go out and we actually takethe time, who listen and to hear
what they have to say and showcompassion is probably the greatest need. It's
not a physical thing, but thesephysical things that we do provide opens opportunities
to be able to know exactly whatthat particular person might need. And so
when we're having these type of conversationswith them, it's incredible to be able
to hear even their backgrounds, whatthey came from, or are homeless neighbors,

(06:21):
they're better educated than both my wifeand I, or they're going through
a very difficult challenge in their lifebecause some tragedy happen. We've got veterans
that are out there that have foughtfor this country, that have mental illness
and mental issues that because they're takinga shower and able to get their clothes
folded, they can share those thingsand we can make connections with organizations,

(06:43):
incredible organizations all over Winston Salem inthe triad that they can get help from
that maybe they weren't aware of before, because when we're having these type of
conversations, they're also seeing us aspeople that they can trust, because in
the homeless community, you can imaginethere's a lot of distrust with each other
and even with the community about whatthey how they're being perceived, and what

(07:04):
they see. Now you've mentioned WinstonSalem, but you're not just about Winston
Salem exclusively. Correct. Yeah,our desire is to serve the communities both
in Greensboro as well as in highPoint, and we're starting off in Winston
Salem because that's where we live andthat's where we're starting really the relationships.
But we've had people reach out tous from Greensboro, Hey, come on

(07:27):
out, and we're like, assoon as we get that truck, we
will be there because that's our goal. We do not want to reinvent the
wheel. We want to work withorganizations that are already established and have relationships
and we just want to come alongsidethem and support them and what they're doing.
And you keep talking about this truck, how can the community help you
guys get this truck. We're veryexcited about people that get excited. You

(07:51):
know, this truck is it's amazing. Everybody that gets to see the one
in Charlotte, their eyes are opened, and it's incredible because it provides so
much hope in the sense of thatif we can bring washer and dryers and
full bathrooms so that we can servepeople get excited about. Okay, we're
gonna use this. We're gonna beable to help a lot of different communities.

(08:15):
But there is a cost. Andso you know, when we look
at it and we say how beautifulit is, we've got to tell you
how much it costs. So itis fully loaded truck to costs about one
hundred thousand dollars and another fifty thousandjust for operations, and so one hundred
and fifty is the goal. Nowwe're talking about trying to get a truck
that's used, and right now thetrucks that are available are not used.

(08:39):
They're actually being used with what's happenedafter twenty twenty and everybody's kind of becoming
mobile, you know, so theywant to they're buying the type of trucks
that we need in order to beable to serve the community. So we're
at this place where we're like,Okay, well let's just buy a brand
new truck, and a brand newtruck ranges between eighty to one hundred thousand
dollars. Well, it's interesting becauseI was personally looking for a vehicle.

(09:01):
It is a real challenge no matterwhat you're trying to buy right now,
So I fully understand. By theway, I want to mention again for
folks just tuning in John and mcdaliaBasilio, Hope Vibes, Try at It.
What is the website? How cansomeone reach out and touch you and
maybe make a donation even and helpout in your cause, not maybe for
the truck, or at least tohelp out in some other way. Absolutely,

(09:24):
we'd love for you to go toour website. It's Hope Vibes dot
org. And if you want todonate specifically to us to try it area,
there is an area where you cango to that specifically says tryad So
that's going to be key. Ifyou're in the try it area, you
can donate to try it at HopeVibes Try it Also, there's definitely links

(09:46):
there for building a profile and wantingto volunteer. We love volunteers coming to
help out. There's a when we'reserving here in the Tryad area every third
Sunday of the month, we areaiming to go out and canvas awesome.
And another way I'm sure you canhelp give back is when John walked in,
he handed Scottie and I each oneof these bags. It's just a

(10:07):
little zip block baggy, but it'sfull of personal hygiene products like shampoos and
deodorants and soaps, things that Ithink we all in this room take for
granted. I wanted to mention thatinteraction was interesting because you felt like I
shouldn't take this, you should givethis to someone in need, and John
pushed back, Well, I saidto Hannah, you know, there's a
lot of people that are out therethat we all get in contact with when
we're driving and when there's a stompand you see somebody come up to you,

(10:31):
I think is very important when they'reasking for something that we know in
kindness be able to say, hey, I have a hygiene pack with me,
and that you know, Hannah wouldhave an opportunity to be able to
give that if that person would likeit. Yeah, it's super brad.
So if someone this is a greatway like this just screams grow Scout Project
to me, like, get together, get items and put these bags together

(10:52):
and help out your community. Youguys are accepting donations for these as well.
Absolutely. We actually all saw onAmazon. There's a link you can
go on ama Zon as well andyou can purchase hygiene products for us and
then we can just get those directlyand we volunteers can come. We can
do packaging parties or even you know, people can do packaging parties, whether
in their church or youth groups orhigh school or younger kids because normally younger

(11:16):
children do not We don't recommend youngerchildren to come volunteer necessarily, but you
can do a big, you know, hygiene party, packing party with your
younger little ones. In that way, that's a great way to teach them
of a way you can be kindto others. This is a great idea.
And here's the thing. How manyAmazon orders have you probably done in

(11:37):
the last week or two? Okay, don't look at me, but to
just go on and figure out whatthe need is and have that order and
just know that you're doing good withthis particular Amazon order. That's a great
way to be able to help out. And you're and maybe we don't know
how to meet up with these people, or maybe we're a little imidated by

(12:00):
the thought you're in the trenches.If you will and you're willing to get
out there and do this, theleast we could do is help you be
able to do this with the toolsthat were blessed to be able to provide
well. Absolutely, and I wantyou to know that anyone that has either
donated in the past or that willdo in the future. One of the
things in our conversation is that welet our homeless neighbors know there are people

(12:22):
that care about you that put thesepackages together. This is not just coming
from mcdali and I or these volunteers. We're very grateful for all the people
that take their time to put thesepackages together, whether it's at their businesses
or churches like my wife talked about, or just you know, in your
home with your family. I meanthat means a lot. And when they
hear that, compassion grows even amongstthe people that are volunteering and the people

(12:46):
that are receiving these things, isthat they know that they're cared about.
I cannot stress that enough how importantit is for other people to know that
other people care about them, especiallyand probably the most difficult time of their
life that we are encountering. Itfeels like we're in the infancy. There's
so much still to be done,and they're building towards something great for the

(13:07):
entire triad. They're starting in WinstonSalem, but that is not the ultimate
goal is to meet all the needsin the triad. Hope Vibes Triad.
Give us that website one more timeif you could. Yes, it's www
dot Hope Vibes dot org. That'sJohn and mcdalia Basilio. Thank you so

(13:28):
much for joining us today on thisedition of Carolina Cares. Thank you,
Scotty and Hannah. Thank you.