September 23, 2025 • 29 mins
Alabama Foster Coalition founder Paul Berry explains the unique challenges faced in finding foster families for kids in AL. Then Dr. Eboni Preston Goddard with the National Park Service talks about the impact budget cuts are having on state and national parks.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
One in four park service jobs are being eliminated in
twenty twenty five by new congressional legislation that is intended
to save money but may cost some federal employees their job.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Hello.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
I'm John Mount and this is Viewpoint, Alabama on the
Alabama Radio Network. Joining me now to talk about this
is doctor Ebane Preston godd Archie is the Regional director
and National Park Service Diversity Lead for at the National
Parks Conservation Association. Ebany, Welcome to Viewpoint.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Good morning, John, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Since January, the National Park Service has lost twenty four
percent of the permanent staff. How will these cuts impact
the public's ability to enjoy our parks?
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Great question, John, Well, certainly the way they show up
is going to look different, right, so the second that
they step foot at the gate, if you will, you know,
maybe line their longer. Visitor centers could be closed, ranger
tours that they get so much information from, or even
directions they quite frankly just aren't there or aren't happening anymore.
The visitor experience could certainly change with these already have There.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
Are some things that we might not recognize as a
National park that are actually considered national parks, things like
the Washington Monument or the Statue of Liberty. A lot
of times people don't they think when they hear national parks,
they think Grand Canyon, they think Mount Rushmore. But there
are a lot of other things that are technically national
parks that we might not realize are national parks. Are
there any things like that in the state of Alabama?
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Sure, of course. So Alabama is home to nine National parks,
several which are my absolute favorite. But we have monuments
like Birmingham, Silly Rights and Freedom Writers, So there's somes
to do that. To your point, may not fit the
name of National park at indited, but it's certainly a
part of the agency as a whole, is certainly deserves
to be protected.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
Abiti, Why do you think these cuts are being made.
Do you think that there's a political motive behind it
or do you think it's just simply we're trying to
save money.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
There's a lack of understanding of importance that's happening there,
and then all that goes into you know, sustainding up
these parks and making sure that their enjoyable place is
not only now the future generation. And so I think
that there's more education that could be done there to understand,
you know, all that park rangers are doing, all the
park police are doing, all the superintendents are doing, all
(02:09):
that the scientists and researchers are doing, everything that's happening
within that visitor service engagement as a whole. And so
I think there's a real opportunity there for people in
the administration to get a better understanding of what's happening
on the ground and the value and impact that these stafferings.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
And of course when we talk about the administration, the
funding for things is not it doesn't really come from
the White House, per se. That's more something from Congress.
Are the two parties? Are they competing in terms of
writing the funding or setting up the funding for the parks?
How does that work?
Speaker 2 (02:39):
Yeah, so we there's three budgets or three buildings you
will right now that have different blog implications, if you will.
And so I'll start with the Senate's built something that
we think is really really strong and it actually is
bipartisant funding and it's our best bet to protect our
parks and the people that care about them like you
(02:59):
and me. And so the Senate bill really holds the
National Park Service budget funding steady, which is certainly needed
right now, and it also blocks additional cuts to make
sure that we're defending the integrity of the agency as
a whole. But we've also seen, to your point, some
additional bills that have been thrown out there. So the
administration made its intentions clear through will with a recent
(03:22):
budget proposal aiming to cut a billion dollars from the budget.
This is the worst budget for national parks in living memory.
We've run the numbers a few times, and if the
administration gets away with this, the budget could shut down
potentially three hundred and fifty parks. And that's three fifty
out of four hundred and thirty three, so certainly a
big chunk there. And then on the House side, there's
(03:44):
a bill that pushes back on some of the administration's cuts,
but it would still cut another one hundred and seventy
six million dollars from the operating budget at the National
Park Service, and this will honestly just make a tough
situation even worse still parks.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
When you stay shut down. What was an look like
in the case of a larger park, like let's say
the Talladega National Force or something like that. Something where
we have roads that goes through that, would they just
close the roads and say no one's allowed in here,
or there's just not going to be any services available.
What would that look like?
Speaker 2 (04:14):
It could be a combination of things, right, and so
we're also talking with te other National forest. We're also
talking about other agencies that are being hit at the
same time, and so it could look like that gates
could quite literally close. I know I've heard people say that,
you know, they drive through the Blue Ridge Parkway every
day on their way to work or in a visit family.
Same with Great Smoky Outain Dational Park, and so some
(04:36):
of those roads would close, some of them. You know,
they work on a skeleton budget, and so services would
certainly be be listed operations within and you know that
goes beyond roads. That's air quality, that's water quality, that's
wildlife management, and so the impact with certain movie sells
on multiple levels, but it would depend on the unit
and kind of the resource available there. Each unit would
(04:57):
have its own plan, but the impact that will certainly
be you sell across the entire agency.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
Butty, is there any thought about possibly handing off some
other responsibility for these parks a to the state. In
other words, the state of Alabama has a park system,
the Alabama State Park Associate, you know, the Alabama State Parks.
Is there any thought about possibly handing some of this
off to states to be able to fill in the
gaps where the federal budget may leave off.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
Yeah, so there's certainly been conversations there, but you know,
the National Park Service has been charged to do this
work and to do it a certain way since nineteen sixteen.
We certainly appreciate all the work that Alabama State Park
is done. I've visited several myself with my family, but
it's different and they have different chargets. You know, the
funding that has been appropriated by Congress having very intentional purpose.
(05:44):
When we look at the foundations documents of these different parks, like,
they have values of systems of operations that need to
be uphilled and so this is not a enough to
state parks. But it's just different, and so the management
of these areas require different things.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
I understand. So if people want to find out more
about how these cuts could impact impact them and also
take action if they don't like it and they want
to contact their representatives, where's the best place for them
to become more educated on the topic.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
Absolutely, absolutely so. Our communications team, our government affairs team,
our regent teams are staying on top of it. So
people can always visit our website at NPCA dot org.
So then I'll even add go to MPC dot org
forts Last Save Parks and you can use that link
to directly find information and resources to make sure that
you tell members of Congress that national parks matter and
(06:34):
that you know we want to make sure that they're
protected now and for future generations.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
Doctor Ebanie Preston got are the Regional director and National
Park Service Diversity Lead for the National Parks Conservation Association. Ebitie,
thank you so much for joining me this week on
Viewpoint Alabama.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
Thanks Sean, have a great one.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
You're listening to Viewpoint Alabama, a public affairs program from
the Alabama Radio Network.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
This is John Mounts and every week we talk to
people from around the state that are making a different
and a big problem we have in the state is
we need foster parents. We have a real problem with
kids who need someone in their lives who are able
to help lead them. Joining me now in our studio
is Paul Berry. He is the Foster Coalition founder, a
retired financial planner and an investment partner with the Covenant
(07:17):
Group and also with me is Derek tan He is
the Central Alabama Partnership Liaison. Guys, thank you so much
for joining us on Viewpoint.
Speaker 4 (07:25):
Love to be here.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
Thank you.
Speaker 5 (07:26):
It's a pleasure.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
So let's talk about specifically what your organization, what its
mission is.
Speaker 4 (07:33):
We're uniting the governmental side of the foster system, which
is DHR, judicial, school, police, whatever, with the local foster
organizations in each county that support the foster system, if
they have any. You know, some counties don't have any
organizations that are helping. And then we're trying to connect
in the church so that they can work more together
(07:55):
and accomplish more together than they can work and independent
of each other. And the church is important because they
can't do what the government does, which take kids out
of the home. It would be called kidnapping. They can't
do that. And the government can't do what the church does,
which is put a rap group around a foster parent
and support them so that they can survive. It's very
(08:16):
hard for a foster parent to survive because of taking
care of a traumatized child and every child in the
foster system is traumatized. It's like taking care of anywhere
from two to four kids depending on the trauma. So
it's very difficult and and when you don't have support.
That's the reason we have a fifty to one hundred
(08:37):
percent turnover in the foster system.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
When these kids come to enter the foster system, as
you mentioned, there are they have been traumatized. They do
need additional attention. The parents who are the foster parents
who are involved in this, are they given special treatment
because special training so they know how to deal with
these kids as opposed to just I won't say, I
want say regular kids, but kids who don't have that
(09:01):
same background.
Speaker 4 (09:03):
Very little if any.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
So, so how do you handle that? What you do
in order to address it? Because I imagine that is
a real need. I sense the concern on your face.
How do you deal with that? How do you get
these these parents, these foster parents, up to speed so
they're able to better adjust to these kids needs.
Speaker 4 (09:21):
Well, we had a what we call a brainstorming session
where we invited a bunch of organizations in that focused
to own trauma counseling, and we actually when we got through,
we found an organization in the bunch that has a
federal grant to teach anybody in the state about trauma
(09:44):
and how to handle it. So what we're doing is
trying to get all of the independent organizations out there
in the counties educated about trauma so that they can
work with foster parents and even DHR workers. And DHR
workers get a lot of counseling, but they're so short
of help too, because they're turnover in twenty three was
(10:04):
sixty four percent, and so there's not a lot of
education out there. So we're trying to do a bottom
up proposal to get the trauma education so that these
foster parents can get a little bit of a support.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
Now, the children that were that are in the foster program,
they could be anywhere between infants all the way up
to it's seventeen and a half, right.
Speaker 4 (10:24):
They can actually be in there till twenty one. Okay,
well you get and that's another problem. The foster system
is so haphazard and dysfunctional that these kids, a lot
of them, spend a lot of time in institutions rather
than in foster homes, and when they turn eighteen, they're
(10:44):
just ready to hit the road. Do anything to get
out of there, so they get one thousand dollars checkings
and good luck, and twenty percent are immediately homeless, fifty
percent homeless after three years, and they don't have any
transportation to get to work. They have to turn to
illegal activities to survive. And so that's the reason our
(11:06):
prison makeup across the country is up to seventy percent
of prisoners being in the foster system before they got
into prison, and sixty five percent of the kid people
rescued out of sex trafficking have been in the foster system,
so they're trying to survive. Now, the problem with a
sex trafficking issue is that there's only a seven year
(11:29):
life expectancy of a person in sex trafficking because they
will either die from a drug overdose, the owner will
kill them, or they'll commit suicide.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
And those are terrible, terrible statistics. What we if you remember,
reason I know you do for our listeners, the situation
that happened down in Bibb County, and that was just horrific.
That was like a national story, the sex trafficking that
happened there, and how many and all children were involved
or do you know a number was it was more
(12:02):
than three, it was more than five. It was it
was a fair number of kids.
Speaker 4 (12:05):
Well, I don't know how many were actually being sex trafficked,
but I know that the DHR and Bibb County took
in over twenty kids.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
And those kids had to go somewhere, And those kids
had to go somewhere, and they went to the foster program,
right right, So when we talk about that, and I'm
turning to you, Derek, because you're the Central Alabama Partnership Liaison,
those kids they went to homes and then we have
parents who had to foster, parents who had to work
with them to try and provide for them all different ages.
How do they handle things like education and that kind
(12:37):
of thing. Do they get a stipend for food to
be able to pay for any of these expenses or
they kind of just out of their goodness of their heart?
Speaker 5 (12:43):
Yeah, I'm not quite sure. That's more of a DHR process.
But what we have focused on is getting the DHR
in bib County the resources they need to facilitate the
transfer of the children. I don't believe that all of
(13:04):
the children are local.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
I do not know.
Speaker 3 (13:07):
I know the.
Speaker 5 (13:07):
Investigation is still ongoing and it's a pretty pretty heavy investigation.
So our focus is not so much the logistics behind
how they're you know, whether it's getting the kids into
schools in their communities, but it just depends on what county,
maybe even out of state, that local DHR is going
(13:30):
to facilitate what that child needs. Our focus is getting
the resources to support the local DHR in Bibb County
just to help them be successful in helping these children.
Speaker 4 (13:43):
And some of them may be transferred out of the
different counties because that's a that's a heavy load for
small county like bib Sure, and some of them may
be put in institutions or there are homes out there
that specialize in sex trafficking issues and there's not enough
(14:05):
of those unfortunately. And the foster parents, yeah, they get
a stipen and these organizations are licensed by the state
to take care of sex trafficking children. And it's hard
to get a foster parent to take care of a
sex trafficking situation child because they act differently. They especially
(14:32):
if they have been traffic themselves, that you have to
have special training to really just understand how they think
and why they do what they do and that's severe trauma.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
And when you talk about these foster parents, how many
of them are already parents of their own children and
they're bringing foster kids into blend or would they rather
be in a situation where they no longer because I
can imagine you're exposing your biological children to a different
element and sometimes you might not want that in your home.
So how many times is it a family that already
(15:05):
has biological children versus it's somebody maybe their children are
grown and out of the house and so now they're
bringing in foster kids. How does that usually work or
is it all different ways?
Speaker 4 (15:14):
It's all different ways. I would say most families have
children of their own, and that creates another support problem,
and that you know, if a child that has trauma
has given a lot of attention, and then you have
a birth child that sees that that other person is
(15:36):
getting all that attention, well I'll just act out too,
you know. So that makes the situation worse. And so
that's the reason a lot, you know, some families quit
fostering because they got to keep their family together. And
sometimes it's husband and wife. They have trouble staying together
in this issue because you know, it's hard, it's extremely hard,
(15:58):
but it's severely needed out there. But we do need
extra training for these falster parents and what they get.
You know, they could do get a small stipend, but
it's not enough to even pay the expenses of what
taking care of the job.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
So you really have to have a heart for this
sort of thing. This is not something somebody does just because,
like you said, because they're gonna get rich. They're not.
This is more something you do because you have a
heart for these kids and you want to help the
kids and really help the community because, like you mentioned,
if these kids go back out on the streets, they're
going to go back through the system and it's going
to create more problems for all of us if they're
not you know, if they're not brought up to you know,
(16:33):
become functional and productive members of our society.
Speaker 4 (16:37):
And we got a choice. We can really revamp the system.
And I've been all over the state talking to people
working in the foster system. They love these kids, they
have a compassion for them, the understanding and their heart
breaks from their situation. But the system structure itself is broken,
(16:59):
and so we're actually working on some issues to try
to help solve that problem, and especially by the twenty
seven general session of legislation, we're looking at making some
big changes.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
So who are some of the outstanding legislators in the
Alabama legislature that are working on legislation to help.
Speaker 4 (17:21):
Well, we've got Devo, he's a local fellow here that
he's been in the Senate for I think longer than
he's been alive. And we got Arnold Mooney in there,
and we've talked to several others. We're looking at, you know,
getting sponsors. We're looking at maybe getting up you know,
(17:44):
probably we're hoping to get like twenty to thirty different
sponsors to do this. And we got two pieces of
legislation that's going to be supported and implemented next year.
And it's about giving foster parents a right to tell
(18:05):
their story about what the child needs in the court
and so right now they're not totally represented in the court.
And the other piece of legislation is a guard in
their items. There's a lot that are very good out there.
They meet with the children and represent them the way
they should. But others out there, you know, we've heard
(18:27):
cases where there's representing two hundred kids and they're supposed
to be meeting with all of these kids and representing
them them instead of just listening to hearsay of what
DHR or any other worker says.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
So it would behoove people to get in touch with
Jabe Wagner or whoever their representative is or senator is
to maybe push this legislation forward, make sure there's funding
behind it, because without funding, of course, nothing really can happen.
Speaker 4 (18:53):
That's right. Well, these two pieces of legislation doesn't really
need any funding, but it does need support because part
of the system doesn't want parents involved in the court
because some have just been pretty vocal about things rather
than being helpful. But you know, that's a judge's job
(19:16):
to control all of that. But they if a child
has been in foster system for fifteen months, foster parents
should be allowed in the court room until then. Every
time there's a court hearing, they're supposed to be have
a written summary of what their recommendations are or problems
or status given to the judge so he can review it.
Speaker 1 (19:39):
Paul and Derek, you have an event coming up that's
going to try and I guess raise some First of all,
what's the event, what's the event's goal, I guess to
raise money to raise awareness.
Speaker 4 (19:49):
Well, there's three things. One is to help people understand
what Foster Coalition is all about and what we're doing.
And then the second is we're actually adding a third
element to the uniting of advocates. We want the individuals
to play a big part in this. There's probably a
(20:10):
million and a half people in the state of Alabama
that I've had some interaction with the foster system one
way or the other, and they have a lot of input.
But there's a lot of problems out there that need
to be solved. Sex trafficking problem needs to be solved,
this trauma education problem needs to be solved. You got
(20:33):
foster parents that needs support. We need churches out here
doing foster ministries to provide care for these foster parents.
And we have a total of fifteen different focuses that
people could have a major impact on if they wanted
to come and hear about those and join one of
the impact groups. And the third thing is to raise money.
(20:58):
These groups need money to offer rate and because they
may need some things printed or some kind of little
event for them, and so we need to fund them
and Foster Coalition needs funding, and we're also going to
be feeding at least ten thousand meals, provide ten thousand
(21:19):
meals and fifteen hundred of them will be for local
poor and then the others will be going to Bangladesh
sex trafficking ministries.
Speaker 1 (21:28):
So this reaches outside our state boundaries. Oh yes, okay,
So when is the event? It's October fourth. We start
at six o'clock.
Speaker 4 (21:36):
We're going to end at eight and we got Derek
is a great barbecue chef and he's going to be
cooking a lot of barbecue and we're going to feed
him all, have a little music and share these three
topics and what people want to get involved in. We're
going to hook them up and get them put in
groups and provide them whatever they need to be successful.
Speaker 1 (21:58):
So the barbecue is part of the fundraiser. Why people
can buy barbecue there and also no, it's free, it's free. Yeah,
how are you going to get any money? I don't know.
Speaker 4 (22:09):
We need people with a great heart. But the fundraising
program is a what's called Meals to Missions, and it's
going to be where individuals can text everybody in their
contact list a little note that explains what they're doing.
And give them an opportunity to support them. Because people
(22:30):
give to people, they don't give to an organization. And
so the people that I asked will be doing it
because of me. They won't be doing it to support
Foster Coalition because they don't know that much about it.
We've been going ever since twenty twenty one, but we've
been digging holes and not a lot of public awareness.
(22:52):
So it's what we appreciate this show for is to
get the awareness out there that there is a big
need across the state.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
Okay, so on the fourth of October, and where is
the event going to be.
Speaker 4 (23:02):
It's down in Chelsea, Chelsea, Okay, Yeah, it's about I
think a half a mile off the road and we
can if people want to come, all they need to
do is email Kelly at Foster Coalition's k e l
Y at Foster Coalition and just tell them how many
people are coming because there is limited seating there. We
(23:23):
can only seat so many at a barn. And it's
a beautiful setup out there on a lake and everybody
will have a good time in Chelsea.
Speaker 1 (23:31):
Sounds sounds like a great time. So, Derek, Paul, anything
you wanted to add.
Speaker 4 (23:36):
Or well, I just want to encourage people to really
think about the need that these children have and they
need one on one because that's the only way you
can handle trauma is one on one to build a
relationship and stick with them. I interviewed twenty seven aged
(23:58):
out children and they told me all the horror stories
of their journey through the foster system, and when they
got through, I asked them one question. I said, what
would have made a difference in your life all going
through the foster system? And they all pretty well agreed
that if I just had one person that had accepted
(24:18):
me the way it was, give me some guidance about life,
it would not have deserted me. Would have made all
the difference in the world. It took me a year
to understand what these children were saying. Did Jesus meet
the woman at the well the way she was Yes?
About zach kiss in the tree? Yes? Does he give
(24:39):
us guidance about life? Yes? Did he say I will
never forsake or desert you?
Speaker 5 (24:46):
Yes.
Speaker 4 (24:47):
They're looking for Jesus with skin on them, and that's us.
And we need people that have a heart that's woulding
to make a difference and have an impact in one
child's life at a time.
Speaker 1 (24:59):
Very well put Paul Barry, thank you so much for
joining us in Derek, and thank you so much for
joining us on Viewpoint Alabama.
Speaker 4 (25:05):
Thank you for having us.
Speaker 3 (25:06):
You're listening to Viewpoint Alabama, a public affairs program from
the Alabama Radio Network.
Speaker 1 (25:11):
My name is John Mounts. In this past weekend was
the memorial service for Charlie Kirk And right now we're
joined by a graduate of the University of Alabama who
is also close with the Turning Point USA program and
was there in Phoenix for the memorial service, Blaze Button
and Blaze, I know you're out in Phoenix, which makes
it two hours earlier than it is here, so I
know I drug you out of bed early. Thank you
(25:31):
for making time for Viewpoint Alabama.
Speaker 6 (25:33):
That's okay, I'm happy to join.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
So Blaze, you attended the event and you were there
in the crowd with all those other tens of thousands
of people, hundreds of thousands of people. What was the
energy like in that stadium?
Speaker 6 (25:45):
It was truly incredible. The atmosphere was like nothing I've
ever experienced before. The Able dooers responsible for Charlie's death,
they thought we were going to have a funeral, but
they were wrong. That was history, that was Jesus, that
was the Holy Spirit that filled that place. And I
really wish everyone could understand or feel just how incredible
(26:06):
it was. One thing that stuck out to me and
I thought was amazing. Rob McCoy is Charlie's pastor. He
asked all believers in Christ to say seated, and those
who wanted to have a relationship with God, he asked
them to stand up, and there were hundreds that stood.
And to me, that's just the Charlie effect, and that
just shows the fact he has on so many people
(26:28):
around the world, and I really truly hope everyone got
to see that.
Speaker 1 (26:31):
It is one of those things that I thought about
while watching last week was how many people came to
Christ yesterday because of the message that was delivered.
Speaker 6 (26:38):
Well, as we've seen over since Wednesday the tenth, we've
seen millions of people come to Christ. But with my
own eyes yesterday I saw hundreds. You know, when he
asked that question, I didn't expect that many people to
stand up, but when they did, I mean I just
got chills. I couldn't believe that this many people were
(27:00):
tears to be honest, because this man, they might have
taken him, but they just started something that they will
never be able to finish and say it was just
incredible to them.
Speaker 1 (27:09):
Well, he's the nearest thing I can liken this too,
is I've been to UH. I go to a kind
of a smallish church, but I've been to a lot
of different churches, and I've been to what they refer
to as megachurches. I've been to a Church of the Highlands,
their main campus, for a couple of services. And what's
interesting in places like that is usually when they have
that that you know, alter call, and that that that
you know where people are, they they feel moved by
(27:31):
the Holy Spirit and they go forward and they give
their their their life to Christ. Usually there's a there's
like a team there of people who take that person
aside into a side room and then work with them
afterwards to you know, kind of minister and help needs
along the way. I wonder at that at that funeral yesterday,
did they have praise team teams that were there to
help those who accepted Christ that day yesterday? Were there
(27:55):
people there kind of doing that sort of that same
kind of work that you would see in a magature setting.
Speaker 6 (28:01):
Roll McCoy actually asked everyone that was sitting down beside
the people that stood up. He called on us to
actually pray over these people that took the stand and
wanted to start a life with Christ. So that was
another amazing thing to see with the millions of Charlie's
standing there praying over people that they don't even know
and accepting them, helping them accept their life to Christ.
(28:24):
It was absolutely beautiful.
Speaker 1 (28:26):
Isn't that an interesting way to say it? Please, there
were Charlie's. It's going to be a new you know,
can you hear this derogatory term like somebody who causes
the problem a Karen, But a charlie Is will be
known as somebody who ministers to others, who actually brings
people closer to Christ. And that that is a that
is a great term, a Charlie. Let's let's make that
part of the new vernacular to be to be called
(28:47):
absolutely again.
Speaker 6 (28:49):
The evildoers that had that were responsible for this. They
created millions of Charlie's. And this is never going to stop.
It's only going to grow. And I'm just so proud
to be a part of it. You know, Charlie is
the reason I am the way I am. I mean,
since twenty sixteen, politics and this has always been my passion.
He's always been my biggest inspiration. So I really am
(29:11):
just so proud I get to be a part of
his legacy. And I hope and pray that I can
get people involved, that I can better educate them on everything,
and I really hope people stand up and realize that
this is the turning point of our country and we're
getting our country back.
Speaker 1 (29:30):
Isn't that a great name for his organization, Turning Point USA,
And it is a turning point blaze button. Thank you
so much for joining us from Arizona this morning.
Speaker 3 (29:38):
You've been listening to Viewpoint Alabama, a public affairs program
from the Alabama Radio Network. The opinions expressed on Viewpoint
Alabama are not necessarily those of the staff, management, or
advertisers of this station.
One in four park service jobs are being eliminated in
twenty twenty five by new congressional legislation that is intended
to save money but may cost some federal employees their job.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Hello.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
I'm John Mount and this is Viewpoint, Alabama on the
Alabama Radio Network. Joining me now to talk about this
is doctor Ebane Preston godd Archie is the Regional director
and National Park Service Diversity Lead for at the National
Parks Conservation Association. Ebany, Welcome to Viewpoint.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Good morning, John, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Since January, the National Park Service has lost twenty four
percent of the permanent staff. How will these cuts impact
the public's ability to enjoy our parks?
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Great question, John, Well, certainly the way they show up
is going to look different, right, so the second that
they step foot at the gate, if you will, you know,
maybe line their longer. Visitor centers could be closed, ranger
tours that they get so much information from, or even
directions they quite frankly just aren't there or aren't happening anymore.
The visitor experience could certainly change with these already have There.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
Are some things that we might not recognize as a
National park that are actually considered national parks, things like
the Washington Monument or the Statue of Liberty. A lot
of times people don't they think when they hear national parks,
they think Grand Canyon, they think Mount Rushmore. But there
are a lot of other things that are technically national
parks that we might not realize are national parks. Are
there any things like that in the state of Alabama?
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Sure, of course. So Alabama is home to nine National parks,
several which are my absolute favorite. But we have monuments
like Birmingham, Silly Rights and Freedom Writers, So there's somes
to do that. To your point, may not fit the
name of National park at indited, but it's certainly a
part of the agency as a whole, is certainly deserves
to be protected.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
Abiti, Why do you think these cuts are being made.
Do you think that there's a political motive behind it
or do you think it's just simply we're trying to
save money.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
There's a lack of understanding of importance that's happening there,
and then all that goes into you know, sustainding up
these parks and making sure that their enjoyable place is
not only now the future generation. And so I think
that there's more education that could be done there to understand,
you know, all that park rangers are doing, all the
park police are doing, all the superintendents are doing, all
(02:09):
that the scientists and researchers are doing, everything that's happening
within that visitor service engagement as a whole. And so
I think there's a real opportunity there for people in
the administration to get a better understanding of what's happening
on the ground and the value and impact that these stafferings.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
And of course when we talk about the administration, the
funding for things is not it doesn't really come from
the White House, per se. That's more something from Congress.
Are the two parties? Are they competing in terms of
writing the funding or setting up the funding for the parks?
How does that work?
Speaker 2 (02:39):
Yeah, so we there's three budgets or three buildings you
will right now that have different blog implications, if you will.
And so I'll start with the Senate's built something that
we think is really really strong and it actually is
bipartisant funding and it's our best bet to protect our
parks and the people that care about them like you
(02:59):
and me. And so the Senate bill really holds the
National Park Service budget funding steady, which is certainly needed
right now, and it also blocks additional cuts to make
sure that we're defending the integrity of the agency as
a whole. But we've also seen, to your point, some
additional bills that have been thrown out there. So the
administration made its intentions clear through will with a recent
(03:22):
budget proposal aiming to cut a billion dollars from the budget.
This is the worst budget for national parks in living memory.
We've run the numbers a few times, and if the
administration gets away with this, the budget could shut down
potentially three hundred and fifty parks. And that's three fifty
out of four hundred and thirty three, so certainly a
big chunk there. And then on the House side, there's
(03:44):
a bill that pushes back on some of the administration's cuts,
but it would still cut another one hundred and seventy
six million dollars from the operating budget at the National
Park Service, and this will honestly just make a tough
situation even worse still parks.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
When you stay shut down. What was an look like
in the case of a larger park, like let's say
the Talladega National Force or something like that. Something where
we have roads that goes through that, would they just
close the roads and say no one's allowed in here,
or there's just not going to be any services available.
What would that look like?
Speaker 2 (04:14):
It could be a combination of things, right, and so
we're also talking with te other National forest. We're also
talking about other agencies that are being hit at the
same time, and so it could look like that gates
could quite literally close. I know I've heard people say that,
you know, they drive through the Blue Ridge Parkway every
day on their way to work or in a visit family.
Same with Great Smoky Outain Dational Park, and so some
(04:36):
of those roads would close, some of them. You know,
they work on a skeleton budget, and so services would
certainly be be listed operations within and you know that
goes beyond roads. That's air quality, that's water quality, that's
wildlife management, and so the impact with certain movie sells
on multiple levels, but it would depend on the unit
and kind of the resource available there. Each unit would
(04:57):
have its own plan, but the impact that will certainly
be you sell across the entire agency.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
Butty, is there any thought about possibly handing off some
other responsibility for these parks a to the state. In
other words, the state of Alabama has a park system,
the Alabama State Park Associate, you know, the Alabama State Parks.
Is there any thought about possibly handing some of this
off to states to be able to fill in the
gaps where the federal budget may leave off.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
Yeah, so there's certainly been conversations there, but you know,
the National Park Service has been charged to do this
work and to do it a certain way since nineteen sixteen.
We certainly appreciate all the work that Alabama State Park
is done. I've visited several myself with my family, but
it's different and they have different chargets. You know, the
funding that has been appropriated by Congress having very intentional purpose.
(05:44):
When we look at the foundations documents of these different parks, like,
they have values of systems of operations that need to
be uphilled and so this is not a enough to
state parks. But it's just different, and so the management
of these areas require different things.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
I understand. So if people want to find out more
about how these cuts could impact impact them and also
take action if they don't like it and they want
to contact their representatives, where's the best place for them
to become more educated on the topic.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
Absolutely, absolutely so. Our communications team, our government affairs team,
our regent teams are staying on top of it. So
people can always visit our website at NPCA dot org.
So then I'll even add go to MPC dot org
forts Last Save Parks and you can use that link
to directly find information and resources to make sure that
you tell members of Congress that national parks matter and
(06:34):
that you know we want to make sure that they're
protected now and for future generations.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
Doctor Ebanie Preston got are the Regional director and National
Park Service Diversity Lead for the National Parks Conservation Association. Ebitie,
thank you so much for joining me this week on
Viewpoint Alabama.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
Thanks Sean, have a great one.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
You're listening to Viewpoint Alabama, a public affairs program from
the Alabama Radio Network.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
This is John Mounts and every week we talk to
people from around the state that are making a different
and a big problem we have in the state is
we need foster parents. We have a real problem with
kids who need someone in their lives who are able
to help lead them. Joining me now in our studio
is Paul Berry. He is the Foster Coalition founder, a
retired financial planner and an investment partner with the Covenant
(07:17):
Group and also with me is Derek tan He is
the Central Alabama Partnership Liaison. Guys, thank you so much
for joining us on Viewpoint.
Speaker 4 (07:25):
Love to be here.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
Thank you.
Speaker 5 (07:26):
It's a pleasure.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
So let's talk about specifically what your organization, what its
mission is.
Speaker 4 (07:33):
We're uniting the governmental side of the foster system, which
is DHR, judicial, school, police, whatever, with the local foster
organizations in each county that support the foster system, if
they have any. You know, some counties don't have any
organizations that are helping. And then we're trying to connect
in the church so that they can work more together
(07:55):
and accomplish more together than they can work and independent
of each other. And the church is important because they
can't do what the government does, which take kids out
of the home. It would be called kidnapping. They can't
do that. And the government can't do what the church does,
which is put a rap group around a foster parent
and support them so that they can survive. It's very
(08:16):
hard for a foster parent to survive because of taking
care of a traumatized child and every child in the
foster system is traumatized. It's like taking care of anywhere
from two to four kids depending on the trauma. So
it's very difficult and and when you don't have support.
That's the reason we have a fifty to one hundred
(08:37):
percent turnover in the foster system.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
When these kids come to enter the foster system, as
you mentioned, there are they have been traumatized. They do
need additional attention. The parents who are the foster parents
who are involved in this, are they given special treatment
because special training so they know how to deal with
these kids as opposed to just I won't say, I
want say regular kids, but kids who don't have that
(09:01):
same background.
Speaker 4 (09:03):
Very little if any.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
So, so how do you handle that? What you do
in order to address it? Because I imagine that is
a real need. I sense the concern on your face.
How do you deal with that? How do you get
these these parents, these foster parents, up to speed so
they're able to better adjust to these kids needs.
Speaker 4 (09:21):
Well, we had a what we call a brainstorming session
where we invited a bunch of organizations in that focused
to own trauma counseling, and we actually when we got through,
we found an organization in the bunch that has a
federal grant to teach anybody in the state about trauma
(09:44):
and how to handle it. So what we're doing is
trying to get all of the independent organizations out there
in the counties educated about trauma so that they can
work with foster parents and even DHR workers. And DHR
workers get a lot of counseling, but they're so short
of help too, because they're turnover in twenty three was
(10:04):
sixty four percent, and so there's not a lot of
education out there. So we're trying to do a bottom
up proposal to get the trauma education so that these
foster parents can get a little bit of a support.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
Now, the children that were that are in the foster program,
they could be anywhere between infants all the way up
to it's seventeen and a half, right.
Speaker 4 (10:24):
They can actually be in there till twenty one. Okay,
well you get and that's another problem. The foster system
is so haphazard and dysfunctional that these kids, a lot
of them, spend a lot of time in institutions rather
than in foster homes, and when they turn eighteen, they're
(10:44):
just ready to hit the road. Do anything to get
out of there, so they get one thousand dollars checkings
and good luck, and twenty percent are immediately homeless, fifty
percent homeless after three years, and they don't have any
transportation to get to work. They have to turn to
illegal activities to survive. And so that's the reason our
(11:06):
prison makeup across the country is up to seventy percent
of prisoners being in the foster system before they got
into prison, and sixty five percent of the kid people
rescued out of sex trafficking have been in the foster system,
so they're trying to survive. Now, the problem with a
sex trafficking issue is that there's only a seven year
(11:29):
life expectancy of a person in sex trafficking because they
will either die from a drug overdose, the owner will
kill them, or they'll commit suicide.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
And those are terrible, terrible statistics. What we if you remember,
reason I know you do for our listeners, the situation
that happened down in Bibb County, and that was just horrific.
That was like a national story, the sex trafficking that
happened there, and how many and all children were involved
or do you know a number was it was more
(12:02):
than three, it was more than five. It was it
was a fair number of kids.
Speaker 4 (12:05):
Well, I don't know how many were actually being sex trafficked,
but I know that the DHR and Bibb County took
in over twenty kids.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
And those kids had to go somewhere, And those kids
had to go somewhere, and they went to the foster program,
right right, So when we talk about that, and I'm
turning to you, Derek, because you're the Central Alabama Partnership Liaison,
those kids they went to homes and then we have
parents who had to foster, parents who had to work
with them to try and provide for them all different ages.
How do they handle things like education and that kind
(12:37):
of thing. Do they get a stipend for food to
be able to pay for any of these expenses or
they kind of just out of their goodness of their heart?
Speaker 5 (12:43):
Yeah, I'm not quite sure. That's more of a DHR process.
But what we have focused on is getting the DHR
in bib County the resources they need to facilitate the
transfer of the children. I don't believe that all of
(13:04):
the children are local.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
I do not know.
Speaker 3 (13:07):
I know the.
Speaker 5 (13:07):
Investigation is still ongoing and it's a pretty pretty heavy investigation.
So our focus is not so much the logistics behind
how they're you know, whether it's getting the kids into
schools in their communities, but it just depends on what county,
maybe even out of state, that local DHR is going
(13:30):
to facilitate what that child needs. Our focus is getting
the resources to support the local DHR in Bibb County
just to help them be successful in helping these children.
Speaker 4 (13:43):
And some of them may be transferred out of the
different counties because that's a that's a heavy load for
small county like bib Sure, and some of them may
be put in institutions or there are homes out there
that specialize in sex trafficking issues and there's not enough
(14:05):
of those unfortunately. And the foster parents, yeah, they get
a stipen and these organizations are licensed by the state
to take care of sex trafficking children. And it's hard
to get a foster parent to take care of a
sex trafficking situation child because they act differently. They especially
(14:32):
if they have been traffic themselves, that you have to
have special training to really just understand how they think
and why they do what they do and that's severe trauma.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
And when you talk about these foster parents, how many
of them are already parents of their own children and
they're bringing foster kids into blend or would they rather
be in a situation where they no longer because I
can imagine you're exposing your biological children to a different
element and sometimes you might not want that in your home.
So how many times is it a family that already
(15:05):
has biological children versus it's somebody maybe their children are
grown and out of the house and so now they're
bringing in foster kids. How does that usually work or
is it all different ways?
Speaker 4 (15:14):
It's all different ways. I would say most families have
children of their own, and that creates another support problem,
and that you know, if a child that has trauma
has given a lot of attention, and then you have
a birth child that sees that that other person is
(15:36):
getting all that attention, well I'll just act out too,
you know. So that makes the situation worse. And so
that's the reason a lot, you know, some families quit
fostering because they got to keep their family together. And
sometimes it's husband and wife. They have trouble staying together
in this issue because you know, it's hard, it's extremely hard,
(15:58):
but it's severely needed out there. But we do need
extra training for these falster parents and what they get.
You know, they could do get a small stipend, but
it's not enough to even pay the expenses of what
taking care of the job.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
So you really have to have a heart for this
sort of thing. This is not something somebody does just because,
like you said, because they're gonna get rich. They're not.
This is more something you do because you have a
heart for these kids and you want to help the
kids and really help the community because, like you mentioned,
if these kids go back out on the streets, they're
going to go back through the system and it's going
to create more problems for all of us if they're
not you know, if they're not brought up to you know,
(16:33):
become functional and productive members of our society.
Speaker 4 (16:37):
And we got a choice. We can really revamp the system.
And I've been all over the state talking to people
working in the foster system. They love these kids, they
have a compassion for them, the understanding and their heart
breaks from their situation. But the system structure itself is broken,
(16:59):
and so we're actually working on some issues to try
to help solve that problem, and especially by the twenty
seven general session of legislation, we're looking at making some
big changes.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
So who are some of the outstanding legislators in the
Alabama legislature that are working on legislation to help.
Speaker 4 (17:21):
Well, we've got Devo, he's a local fellow here that
he's been in the Senate for I think longer than
he's been alive. And we got Arnold Mooney in there,
and we've talked to several others. We're looking at, you know,
getting sponsors. We're looking at maybe getting up you know,
(17:44):
probably we're hoping to get like twenty to thirty different
sponsors to do this. And we got two pieces of
legislation that's going to be supported and implemented next year.
And it's about giving foster parents a right to tell
(18:05):
their story about what the child needs in the court
and so right now they're not totally represented in the court.
And the other piece of legislation is a guard in
their items. There's a lot that are very good out there.
They meet with the children and represent them the way
they should. But others out there, you know, we've heard
(18:27):
cases where there's representing two hundred kids and they're supposed
to be meeting with all of these kids and representing
them them instead of just listening to hearsay of what
DHR or any other worker says.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
So it would behoove people to get in touch with
Jabe Wagner or whoever their representative is or senator is
to maybe push this legislation forward, make sure there's funding
behind it, because without funding, of course, nothing really can happen.
Speaker 4 (18:53):
That's right. Well, these two pieces of legislation doesn't really
need any funding, but it does need support because part
of the system doesn't want parents involved in the court
because some have just been pretty vocal about things rather
than being helpful. But you know, that's a judge's job
(19:16):
to control all of that. But they if a child
has been in foster system for fifteen months, foster parents
should be allowed in the court room until then. Every
time there's a court hearing, they're supposed to be have
a written summary of what their recommendations are or problems
or status given to the judge so he can review it.
Speaker 1 (19:39):
Paul and Derek, you have an event coming up that's
going to try and I guess raise some First of all,
what's the event, what's the event's goal, I guess to
raise money to raise awareness.
Speaker 4 (19:49):
Well, there's three things. One is to help people understand
what Foster Coalition is all about and what we're doing.
And then the second is we're actually adding a third
element to the uniting of advocates. We want the individuals
to play a big part in this. There's probably a
(20:10):
million and a half people in the state of Alabama
that I've had some interaction with the foster system one
way or the other, and they have a lot of input.
But there's a lot of problems out there that need
to be solved. Sex trafficking problem needs to be solved,
this trauma education problem needs to be solved. You got
(20:33):
foster parents that needs support. We need churches out here
doing foster ministries to provide care for these foster parents.
And we have a total of fifteen different focuses that
people could have a major impact on if they wanted
to come and hear about those and join one of
the impact groups. And the third thing is to raise money.
(20:58):
These groups need money to offer rate and because they
may need some things printed or some kind of little
event for them, and so we need to fund them
and Foster Coalition needs funding, and we're also going to
be feeding at least ten thousand meals, provide ten thousand
(21:19):
meals and fifteen hundred of them will be for local
poor and then the others will be going to Bangladesh
sex trafficking ministries.
Speaker 1 (21:28):
So this reaches outside our state boundaries. Oh yes, okay,
So when is the event? It's October fourth. We start
at six o'clock.
Speaker 4 (21:36):
We're going to end at eight and we got Derek
is a great barbecue chef and he's going to be
cooking a lot of barbecue and we're going to feed
him all, have a little music and share these three
topics and what people want to get involved in. We're
going to hook them up and get them put in
groups and provide them whatever they need to be successful.
Speaker 1 (21:58):
So the barbecue is part of the fundraiser. Why people
can buy barbecue there and also no, it's free, it's free. Yeah,
how are you going to get any money? I don't know.
Speaker 4 (22:09):
We need people with a great heart. But the fundraising
program is a what's called Meals to Missions, and it's
going to be where individuals can text everybody in their
contact list a little note that explains what they're doing.
And give them an opportunity to support them. Because people
(22:30):
give to people, they don't give to an organization. And
so the people that I asked will be doing it
because of me. They won't be doing it to support
Foster Coalition because they don't know that much about it.
We've been going ever since twenty twenty one, but we've
been digging holes and not a lot of public awareness.
(22:52):
So it's what we appreciate this show for is to
get the awareness out there that there is a big
need across the state.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
Okay, so on the fourth of October, and where is
the event going to be.
Speaker 4 (23:02):
It's down in Chelsea, Chelsea, Okay, Yeah, it's about I
think a half a mile off the road and we
can if people want to come, all they need to
do is email Kelly at Foster Coalition's k e l
Y at Foster Coalition and just tell them how many
people are coming because there is limited seating there. We
(23:23):
can only seat so many at a barn. And it's
a beautiful setup out there on a lake and everybody
will have a good time in Chelsea.
Speaker 1 (23:31):
Sounds sounds like a great time. So, Derek, Paul, anything
you wanted to add.
Speaker 4 (23:36):
Or well, I just want to encourage people to really
think about the need that these children have and they
need one on one because that's the only way you
can handle trauma is one on one to build a
relationship and stick with them. I interviewed twenty seven aged
(23:58):
out children and they told me all the horror stories
of their journey through the foster system, and when they
got through, I asked them one question. I said, what
would have made a difference in your life all going
through the foster system? And they all pretty well agreed
that if I just had one person that had accepted
(24:18):
me the way it was, give me some guidance about life,
it would not have deserted me. Would have made all
the difference in the world. It took me a year
to understand what these children were saying. Did Jesus meet
the woman at the well the way she was Yes?
About zach kiss in the tree? Yes? Does he give
(24:39):
us guidance about life? Yes? Did he say I will
never forsake or desert you?
Speaker 5 (24:46):
Yes.
Speaker 4 (24:47):
They're looking for Jesus with skin on them, and that's us.
And we need people that have a heart that's woulding
to make a difference and have an impact in one
child's life at a time.
Speaker 1 (24:59):
Very well put Paul Barry, thank you so much for
joining us in Derek, and thank you so much for
joining us on Viewpoint Alabama.
Speaker 4 (25:05):
Thank you for having us.
Speaker 3 (25:06):
You're listening to Viewpoint Alabama, a public affairs program from
the Alabama Radio Network.
Speaker 1 (25:11):
My name is John Mounts. In this past weekend was
the memorial service for Charlie Kirk And right now we're
joined by a graduate of the University of Alabama who
is also close with the Turning Point USA program and
was there in Phoenix for the memorial service, Blaze Button
and Blaze, I know you're out in Phoenix, which makes
it two hours earlier than it is here, so I
know I drug you out of bed early. Thank you
(25:31):
for making time for Viewpoint Alabama.
Speaker 6 (25:33):
That's okay, I'm happy to join.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
So Blaze, you attended the event and you were there
in the crowd with all those other tens of thousands
of people, hundreds of thousands of people. What was the
energy like in that stadium?
Speaker 6 (25:45):
It was truly incredible. The atmosphere was like nothing I've
ever experienced before. The Able dooers responsible for Charlie's death,
they thought we were going to have a funeral, but
they were wrong. That was history, that was Jesus, that
was the Holy Spirit that filled that place. And I
really wish everyone could understand or feel just how incredible
(26:06):
it was. One thing that stuck out to me and
I thought was amazing. Rob McCoy is Charlie's pastor. He
asked all believers in Christ to say seated, and those
who wanted to have a relationship with God, he asked
them to stand up, and there were hundreds that stood.
And to me, that's just the Charlie effect, and that
just shows the fact he has on so many people
(26:28):
around the world, and I really truly hope everyone got
to see that.
Speaker 1 (26:31):
It is one of those things that I thought about
while watching last week was how many people came to
Christ yesterday because of the message that was delivered.
Speaker 6 (26:38):
Well, as we've seen over since Wednesday the tenth, we've
seen millions of people come to Christ. But with my
own eyes yesterday I saw hundreds. You know, when he
asked that question, I didn't expect that many people to
stand up, but when they did, I mean I just
got chills. I couldn't believe that this many people were
(27:00):
tears to be honest, because this man, they might have
taken him, but they just started something that they will
never be able to finish and say it was just
incredible to them.
Speaker 1 (27:09):
Well, he's the nearest thing I can liken this too,
is I've been to UH. I go to a kind
of a smallish church, but I've been to a lot
of different churches, and I've been to what they refer
to as megachurches. I've been to a Church of the Highlands,
their main campus, for a couple of services. And what's
interesting in places like that is usually when they have
that that you know, alter call, and that that that
you know where people are, they they feel moved by
(27:31):
the Holy Spirit and they go forward and they give
their their their life to Christ. Usually there's a there's
like a team there of people who take that person
aside into a side room and then work with them
afterwards to you know, kind of minister and help needs
along the way. I wonder at that at that funeral yesterday,
did they have praise team teams that were there to
help those who accepted Christ that day yesterday? Were there
(27:55):
people there kind of doing that sort of that same
kind of work that you would see in a magature setting.
Speaker 6 (28:01):
Roll McCoy actually asked everyone that was sitting down beside
the people that stood up. He called on us to
actually pray over these people that took the stand and
wanted to start a life with Christ. So that was
another amazing thing to see with the millions of Charlie's
standing there praying over people that they don't even know
and accepting them, helping them accept their life to Christ.
(28:24):
It was absolutely beautiful.
Speaker 1 (28:26):
Isn't that an interesting way to say it? Please, there
were Charlie's. It's going to be a new you know,
can you hear this derogatory term like somebody who causes
the problem a Karen, But a charlie Is will be
known as somebody who ministers to others, who actually brings
people closer to Christ. And that that is a that
is a great term, a Charlie. Let's let's make that
part of the new vernacular to be to be called
(28:47):
absolutely again.
Speaker 6 (28:49):
The evildoers that had that were responsible for this. They
created millions of Charlie's. And this is never going to stop.
It's only going to grow. And I'm just so proud
to be a part of it. You know, Charlie is
the reason I am the way I am. I mean,
since twenty sixteen, politics and this has always been my passion.
He's always been my biggest inspiration. So I really am
(29:11):
just so proud I get to be a part of
his legacy. And I hope and pray that I can
get people involved, that I can better educate them on everything,
and I really hope people stand up and realize that
this is the turning point of our country and we're
getting our country back.
Speaker 1 (29:30):
Isn't that a great name for his organization, Turning Point USA,
And it is a turning point blaze button. Thank you
so much for joining us from Arizona this morning.
Speaker 3 (29:38):
You've been listening to Viewpoint Alabama, a public affairs program
from the Alabama Radio Network. The opinions expressed on Viewpoint
Alabama are not necessarily those of the staff, management, or
advertisers of this station.
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