Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
And welcome back to Viewpoint Alabama on the Alabama Radio Network.
My name is John mountsin. Every week we try to
bring you word from an organization in our state that's
helping out making a difference and helping people who need
it the most. And that's the reason why I'm excited
to be joined by our next guest. And let me
tell you a little backstory on this. We recently had
Herbie Knewell in from Lifeline and he liked the interview
(00:23):
so much he sent me a Christmas card. And the
Christmas card was a little piece of pottery and I
saw a tag on it and it said Prodigal Pottery,
and I thought that's interesting. So I looked them up
on the internet and I said, you know, they have
an amazing story. So I said, we should talk to
the folks from Prodigal Pottery. So joining me right now
is Jennifer Collins. She's the co director of Prodigal Pottery. Jennifer,
(00:45):
welcome to Viewpoint Alabama.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
So this little piece of pottery that I got, I said, well,
this is interesting because it's obviously handmade and this is
not made in like say a factory, way off in China.
This is actually made in Alabama. Tell me about this.
Speaker 3 (01:02):
Yes, so, Prodigal Pottery is a nonprofit organization that is
a part of King's Home. And we employ the women
from the shelter, so women who are fleeing domestic violence, homelessness,
and sex trafficking, and we provide them a job by
teaching them how to handmake pottery. And so what you
see there is a piece of a woman's healing journey
in little old Chelsea, Alabama.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
Chelsea, Alabama. So talk with me about the mission first
of King's Home. What do you I understand it It
helps women, but specifically does it help get them out
of difficult situations, helping them transition back into a more
I don't want to say the word normal, but I
guess a lifestyle more like the rest of us are
used to. How does King's Homework?
Speaker 3 (01:43):
Yes, absolutely so Kingsome Originally it's a group home for
children coming out of difficult situations themselves, and twenty plus
years ago that opened to women's shelter for women fleeing
domestic violence and homelessness.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
And so the way it.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
Works is the shelter is a two year pro for
women and children, so women can bring their children and
where a.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
Lot of shelters don't allow that.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
And so women are able to bring their children with
them and they can stay up to two years, and
they save seventy five percent of their income while they're there,
and they have in house childcare, and they also transport
them where they need to go. And so a lot
of the right now there's fifteen women with children, and
so that is a house full.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
And the childcare is so important because there are a
lot of people for whom the childcare piece is the
impediment from them seeking help or for them being able
to enter into the workplace, and for those reasons, they
sometimes stay in bad situations because they don't have that assistance.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
Absolutely, that is correct.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
A lot of times what we see is including myself,
So I actually went through the Kingstone program from twenty
eighteen to twenty twenty, and I transitioned out in May
of twenty twenty and purchased my first home. And so
in that what I ran into personally, and so many
other women run into, is childcare often is the same
price as a mortgage, and so a lot of women
(03:04):
are not able to go and provide for their families,
and they do end up back in bad situations where
maybe the abuser is the one providing the income because
they can't afford to pay for childcare. We do run
into that, and so this gives them the opportunity to
go out and work and start gaining those skills they need,
(03:25):
but also us giving them the resources they need for
subsidized childcare so that they don't end up back in
those bad situations that they work so hard to get
out of.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
So, Jennifer, tell me, and you don't have to be
really super specific, but in general, just your story how
you ended up in King's home and walk me through
that journey all the way to where prodigal pottery kind
of started.
Speaker 3 (03:47):
Yes, absolutely, so. I A little bit about my story
is that I was an active IVY Heroin user for
close to seven years, and so in that what comes
with that is I lost my children, and I lost my.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
The place to stay, the cars.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
But ultimately I lost myself and I was scared of God,
and so I just ended up where my addiction took me,
was living in the woods, walking the gas stations to
get water. And so my journey to Kingsholme was I
went to a treatment center in Birmingham, and as soon
as I left there, I heard of a place called
(04:25):
King's Hoolme and I went there because I knew I
wouldn't have a shot if I didn't. And so I
came to Kingsholme in twenty eighteen and they taught me
how to live again. They taught me how to pay
bills and how to be a mother, and they poured
into me. But most important thing they did was they
had women guide me through that relationship with Christ and
(04:45):
because that's what's you know, the radical heart change that
it takes for a new life and to be renewed.
And so where Prodigal Pottery comes into that is I
I had felonies on my record at the time, and
I couldn't even get a job at Pizza Hut, and
so I knew I was a good worker. I knew
that my choices hindered my ability to work, and so
(05:09):
I went to Prodigal Pottery in in October of twenty
eighteen and.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
I started painting. And at the time we were in
a little house on the property.
Speaker 3 (05:17):
There was maybe five or six women there and I
started out part time.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
And at the time we were only we started.
Speaker 3 (05:26):
So the way Prodigal Pottery started was that a person
in the community unfortunately passed away and their family donated
all their pottery equipment, the kilns, the wheels, the molds,
and so they sat in the house that ultimately became
Prodigal Pottery for a while and the founder, Jamie Johnson,
started it and it started with just a few women
(05:48):
and it just has blossomed into what it is today.
But no thanks to the Lord's provision over the women
in Kingsholm. And so I went from just painting and
then in twenty nineteen I became the studio and wholesale manager.
And you know, it took another person seeing something in
me that I couldn't see and pulling that out. And
(06:11):
so what that did is provide a safe space for
me to grow and to heal. And because they have
on site counselor at Kingsolme and Prodigal Pottery is so flexible,
I was able to go and get those services without
being in trouble for leaving work.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
So did you from a very young age you wanted
to make pottery or is this something that you kind
of took on as a outlet to be able to
help you grow and to recover.
Speaker 3 (06:34):
Absolutely, So I know, I you know, I think growing
up I always wanted to help people, but I didn't
know that somebody was going to have to help me
to get me to the place where I could go
out and help people. And so I had no pottery
experience when I arrived, and they just took me by
the hand and showed me, and.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
I fell in love.
Speaker 3 (06:52):
I fell in love with the process. I fell in
love with the creative aspect of it. But ultimately, just
you know, as scientist, if we want to look at
the scientific part of it, has proven when you work
with your hands, that is the best time when you
do process through those things.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
And so it provided me a safe space to do that.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
It makes sense because you know, we get how so
I say, input into our brains in so many different ways.
We get it through our eyes, through a sound, but
through a tactle input. And sometimes while you're doing that,
it allows you to kind of free your brain to
think about other things while you're working that clay. And
I could see how that would definitely help people work
through situations in looking at this piece of pottery I'm
(07:31):
holding right here, it's a simple. It looks like an ornament.
I guess you'd hang it on a tree and I
could tell somebody somebody made this, and it's very well made,
it's nicely glazed and everything. I guess this was made
in that kiln you mentioned, yes, And so you fire
it in the kiln, and then I guess you paint it,
or do you paint it? Then you fire it?
Speaker 3 (07:47):
So yeah, so you've the process goes. You make it
and you let it dry for a few days, and
the technical turn is refined. But we call it loving
because just like God loves our rough edges off, we
love the rough edges off the pottery. And it gets
fired in the kiln and it comes out, so that
gets roughly up to almost two thousand degrees, and then
after it comes out, it gets glazed, and then it
(08:09):
gets put back in a kiln and gets fired again,
and then once it comes out, it gets loved one
more time. And so it's definitely a process. And we
currently have fourteen women in our studio, and it's the
most we've ever had, and so we have a little
department for each thing.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
And so those fourteen women, they are all graduates of
the King's Home.
Speaker 3 (08:31):
So most of our women that we have now we
either list still live in the women's home.
Speaker 4 (08:36):
We do have.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
Graduates that have been with us, and we have some
women who have been with us since for over five years.
And so we won't make them leave once you know, okay,
it's time to go, like when they're ready to transition.
We want to be able to walk with them through that.
And so the biggest part of that is we have
three e's to empower, equip and employee and anybody can
(08:59):
give somebody a job, but what are we doing to
pour into the women. How are we empowering them to
make better choices? And how are we guiding them through
this process? So it's much more than just a jobs
program as much as it is how can we get
these women, you know, empowered women, empower women and go
back out into the community to help empower more women.
And so how can we get them to that place
(09:20):
of that?
Speaker 2 (09:20):
And so we have some women.
Speaker 3 (09:23):
We also employ women from Wellhouse, which is a safe
house for women fleeing sex trafficking, and we employ women from.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
Love Lady Center.
Speaker 3 (09:30):
So we have one woman from Love Lady and we
have two Wellhouse graduates.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
That work with us and that's a phenomenal story that
you have to tell. And I'm sure there's other people
who have come through the program and gone on to well,
Like I said, they've gone on to be able to
support themselves in jobs. Now, you mentioned the fact that
you've got some felonies on your record. It kept you
from being able to pursue gainful employment by a lot
(09:56):
of places. I'm curious, does kings Home work with any
sort of like say, attorneys who are helping to maybe
help with criminal records and that sort of thing, get
them expunged so that you could you and other women
can go out there and be employed by some of
these companies that otherwise have prohibitions on that sort of thing.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
Not as of right now, we don't.
Speaker 3 (10:15):
That is something that we would love to be able
to introduce as because I've we're currently working to get
mine expunged so that I can walk the other women
through that process, but we currently don't have anybody to
help do that. That's definitely something that we run into
a lot, and so we try to figure it out
(10:36):
and see if we can walk them through it. We've
had some get pardoned, We've had some get expunged and so.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
It's just it's just it's definitely a process.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
It's a process, sure, is it something where you go
before a judge and you say, here are the things
I did. However, here's the things I'm doing now, and
here's the reason why I'm never going back.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
I guess it depends on the it's case by case thing.
Or some of our women have been pardoned and all.
Speaker 3 (11:02):
They did was write a letter and do fill out
the proper paperwork and just had to wait back to
hear from the mercies of that court system whether or
not they could be pardoned. I personally have written letters
to the judges and the people who presided over my case.
I haven't heard my charges were dropped. So now I'm
just working on getting the getting them expunged off my record.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
And the stuff that you make, the products, they're very
high quality products that I guess people can purchase these.
Are they available? You said you've got a shop to
so people can come in and see the shop, or
it's just an online thing.
Speaker 5 (11:36):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (11:37):
So we so were sold in sixteen one hundred stores
across the United States.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
Sixteen hundred sixteen.
Speaker 3 (11:43):
Hundred stores across the United States, and in three countries and.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
What's the furthest a way store that it goes to.
Speaker 3 (11:49):
We have somebody in Spain that carries our stuff, which
you know what started in just a little three bedroom
house on a property that we grew out of and
had to move into a bigger building.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
We just give glory to God for that because I like.
Speaker 3 (12:03):
This, Like I told you, that is a part of
a woman's healing process that you have in your hand.
And to know that a woman was safe and she
was being loved and she was being empowered in that process,
and it gets to go to homes across the United
States in another country.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
And to think somewhere in Spain, this ornament or something
like this orderm could be hanging on someone's Christmas tree, yes,
and they're looking at it and they might not even
know the story behind it.
Speaker 3 (12:26):
And it's such a ripple effect because, like you said,
you got the ornament and you were intrigued, and just
how big of an impact just something so small can start.
And so we we do sell online. We have her
own website and we sell on Etsy, and we wholesale
and then we also have a retail store that we
have another jobs program and part of that job's program
(12:49):
is teaching women how to refurbish furniture, and so in
our retail store in Chelsea, it's in the Winn Dixie
Plaza right off two eighty, it's called King's Home Collections,
and so it's the collections of the jobs that are
a part of King's Home, and so we have beautiful
furniture and of course the pottery, but we also partner
with other ministries that do the same kind of things
that we do and sell their stuff in the store
(13:10):
as well.
Speaker 1 (13:11):
Is King's Home anyway affiliated with the King's Ranch.
Speaker 3 (13:14):
Yes, so it used to be Hannah Home and it
was King's Ranch and now it's they.
Speaker 1 (13:18):
Merged, they Kings got. I was curious about that because
I always heard about the King's Ranks. Now it all
comes together.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
For big company.
Speaker 3 (13:28):
They have over twenty campuses that they are in charge of,
where they have one in here in Birmingham from just
single women, and then the one in Shelby County for
women and children, and then tons of the kids' homes
and just trying to pour the love of Christ into
the children and the women and give them a safe
space to heal from abuse.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
And a big organization like that. You can't probably fund
it just on pottery alone. So I imagine there's other
ways you guys accept donations or how other What are
some other ways? I assume it's a five on one
three nonprofit. How how do you guys, you know, get
money to be able to operate?
Speaker 2 (14:05):
Absolutely, that's a great question. We do.
Speaker 3 (14:08):
Yes, we definitely take donations. We do some major fundraisers
throughout the year. We have one coming up called Queen's
Ball where mothers dress up and get all dressed up
with their sons and they have just a night out
and dance, and so that's one of our big ones.
But we you know, volunteers, just people coming out and
helping us bridge gaps that maybe we're just unable to
(14:29):
bridge at the time.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
We have donation links on our.
Speaker 3 (14:33):
Websites just for people who felt led to give. We
post Amazon wish lists on you know, supplies and other things,
and so there's We have an incredible development department that
do a great job. The Kingsom takes over ten million
dollars a year to run, and so it's only through
(14:54):
the grace of God that that ten million gets hit
every year so that we have a place for these
women and show to be housed.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
So not that we're going to necessarily fund you for
the next year in all by ourselves, but if we
want to send some listeners out there to maybe give
what they can give, five dollars, ten dollars, whatever it is,
is there a safe place they can go on the internet.
Speaker 3 (15:14):
Absolutely, you can go to www Dot Kingshome dot com
and also on.
Speaker 2 (15:20):
The Prodigal Pottery website.
Speaker 3 (15:22):
Which is www dot Prodigal Pottery dot com. We both
have donation links that are safely secured and that will also.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
Once you've done it. No amount is too small.
Speaker 3 (15:34):
We'll send a receipt if you need it for tax
purposes or just to have on record, it'll send you
one right back.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
And we also take them through the mail as well.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
And those are all and that's all wonderful information. Jennifer Collins,
she's the co director of Prodigal Pottery and they work
with the King's Home and yes, so go to those websites,
check them out. Like I said, I'm holding one of
their pieces in my hand now. It's very Now this
is an ornament, but dold you make some other stuff too,
probably some very nice. It's a pottery, so you know,
I don't know pot and.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
Thanks like that. We do. We do what if I
told you, we sell over.
Speaker 3 (16:05):
We do a lot of custom logo mugs. So we
have three D printer that we people send us their
logos and we do over one thousand mugs a month.
And so our women are hard at work every day
and so we do mugs, and we do dinnerware.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
Are the dishwasher safe.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
They are dishwasher safe. I don't know about putting them
in the microwave, but they are dishwasher safe. And we
have dinnerware line and we have.
Speaker 3 (16:29):
Ring dishes and soap dishes, large platters. You know, we
just we try to introduce something new every year and
we let the women get in with the creative process.
We have a very large line of items.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
Well, Jennifer, thank you so much for coming in and
speaking with me today. Thank you so much for what
you're doing with Prodigal Pottery, and of course the mission
of King's Home is definitely appreciated for all of us
here in Alabama.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 6 (16:54):
You're listening to Viewpoint Alabama, a public affairs program from
the Alabama Radio Network.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
On Tuesday senidate Trump welcomed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahoo
to the White House, marking a historic moment as Netan
Yahoo became the first foreign leader to visit Trump since
his return to the White House. The meeting showcased the
strong alliance between the United States and Israel and emphasized
their sharing of the commitment to peace and security in
the Middle East. Hello, and welcome to Viewpoint, Alabama. I'm
(17:20):
John Mounch and this week I'm talking with Judy Isaacson Elias.
She's the founder and CEO of the Heroes to Heroes Foundation. Judy,
welcome to Viewpoint.
Speaker 4 (17:29):
Thank you, it's great to be here.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
Anomer, Well, I'm glad to have you. So what's happening
in the Middle East? It really does impact us here
in America and for that matter, right here in Alabama.
What can we expect in terms of Middle East policy
changes under the new President Trump administration.
Speaker 5 (17:45):
We can see a stronger, more actually more moral clarity
more than anything else. You know, President Trump understands the
difference between good and evil, and he's not willing to
color anything in a different way.
Speaker 4 (18:02):
He sees it as it is.
Speaker 5 (18:04):
It's black and white, and Israel has been fighting this evil,
this savage nation, and he realizes there's poison there and
it's poisoned through the generations. Okay, this war is not
about land.
Speaker 4 (18:18):
And I think this is what we don't understand in
the United States. This is not about land.
Speaker 5 (18:25):
This is a religious war. This is a war to
the death. So turning this land into a riviera is
a great thing to do. And then they have to
fight the businessman. Okay, they'll keep it quiet because then
they start to learn about economics, They start to learn
about having a good life, that you don't have to
depend on people like amaths to give you a good life.
Speaker 4 (18:47):
You don't have to be angry. You can enjoy your life.
Speaker 5 (18:50):
You can still you can be a good Muslim without
having to warn.
Speaker 4 (18:54):
A murder people.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
This is Viewpoint Alabama on the Alabama Radio Network. My
name is John Mountsin speaking with Judy Elias and she
is the founder and CEO of the Heroes to Heroes Foundation.
And Judy with regard to what's going to happen if
we put this into practice and we start building the
big beautiful mar A lago on in Gaza, right, who
(19:16):
we talk about. We talked about the money. We talked
about the who and you said that Donald Trump probably
I'm sure you're right, because he develops things all the time.
Are we concerned at all about entanglements with using our
own Last week that question was actually asked in a
press conference, a White House press conference, the possibility of
boots on the ground entanglements, I e. Are we going
(19:36):
to have to dispatch our American soldiers to that region
in order to ensure that the rebuilding because there are
parties there that are not going to just go gently
into that good night and let them go ahead and
put up new buildings. They're going to actively going to
destroy as they have been. So how do we prevent that?
And if we say our troops, do we want to
(19:58):
send American troops there to ensure say, see of the
people rebuilding?
Speaker 5 (20:01):
Well, I think we need to let Israel finish the job,
clean it up, clean it up.
Speaker 4 (20:06):
Then we go in and build.
Speaker 5 (20:08):
There should be no.
Speaker 4 (20:09):
We shouldn't even be discussing.
Speaker 5 (20:11):
There should be no Hamas members left to discuss anything with.
But we've got to let Israel go in and finish
that job for us. And I think Israel will be
more than happy to finish that job, get it done,
get the innocent people out of the area. Then it's
ripe and ready for the next phase. Because that land
is poison. That land is not going back to be
(20:35):
a Palestinian state or a group, you know, whatever, whatever
it's been, that's over. And I think that's what Donald
Trump is whether it's ever going to become a riviera.
But that's what he's letting people know. Okay, it's either
the US riviera or it's the Israelis riviera. And if
the Israelis are you know, are controlling it, the US
does not have to worry about being attacked. There will
(20:56):
be you know, people are going to you know, we're
going to go through the screaming in the crying phase
and the anger phase, and they're going to have to
start really thinking about this because I think anyone who's
really put their mind to, you know, what is this
going to look like, really has to understand that it
(21:16):
can never be what it was. It can never be
the current Palestinian residents choosing the current hamas leaders.
Speaker 4 (21:26):
And believe me, they have just been.
Speaker 5 (21:29):
You know, a thousand strong are getting let out of
prisons right now, so there's not any shortage of quote
unquote government hamas people waiting in the wings, and it
will happen again. So the only way to do it,
and President Trump understands this is it's got to be
cleaned out and it's got to be rebuilt by someone
(21:52):
who uses cement to build buildings and sidewalks and parks
and playgrounds and beachfront property instead of using that cements
for tunnels. Billions and billions and billions of dollars have
been wasted over the past fifty years building these trash cities,
(22:15):
building these tunnels, building death centers. What President Trump is saying,
we have to turn that into building places for life
and positivity and fun. This is value. He's a real
estate guy. This is valuable beachfront property and it's been
mismanaged for since two thousand and I guess it was
two thousand and six when Prime Minister Sharon gave the
(22:39):
land basically to Humas.
Speaker 4 (22:42):
And it's less than twenty years.
Speaker 1 (22:44):
Judy, before we run out of time. I wanted to
make sure I gave you a chance to plug the
Heroes to Heroes foundation because we hadn't really talked about
the mission of Heroes to Heroes and how you, I guess,
fit into all of this situation. So tell me a
little bit about heroes to heroes.
Speaker 5 (22:58):
Okay, So you know, we have a big issue of
suicide among American veterans, and you know this is and
it's been going on for years, and we just had
another uptic and suicide rate this past year. One of
the things that we don't discuss is called moral injury.
And moral injury is the shame and guilt brought on
(23:21):
by war. And it can be because it's usually done
by either someone takes an action or doesn't take an
action that and the resulting outcome is something horrific, a death,
a massacre. So what happens with our vets. There's no
diagnosis for moral injury the VA, and so our vets
(23:44):
get diagnosed with PTSD. They go to program after program
after program and nothing helps. When they many of them
find our organization, usually through friends or through doctors who
stay in the know, they say, wow, I didn't know
there was a name for what I had, And it's
moral injury and it's soul crushing.
Speaker 4 (24:05):
And what we do is we help heal the soul.
Speaker 5 (24:08):
Eighty percent of the veterans who are part of our
program feel that God wishes they were dead because of
what they did during war. And what we do at
Heroes to Heroes is we reverse that and we help
give them a key to faith and connection to God.
Veterans of all faith about ninety nine percent of the
(24:29):
veterans who go through our program of Christian Faith, we
help them understand that, you know, God wants them alive
to serve God, to serve Him, and it's important and
it's crucial, but we help them fix that pain that
I'm not worth it. Many of them tell us God
wants me dead, and they don't understand.
Speaker 4 (24:50):
The basics of faith.
Speaker 5 (24:52):
You know, the average person has about an eight year
old's understanding of their faith. So what they see is
they see the Ten commandments. Thou shalt not kill well
in the Hebrew and the original lo tzach means thou
shalt not murder, and it's a very different tone. And
even in our American jurisprudence, there's a difference between murder
(25:13):
and killing, and we were not preparing our soldiers for
that spiritually. We prepare them physically, intellectually, a little bit emotionally,
but we do not prepare them spiritually.
Speaker 4 (25:26):
To go to war.
Speaker 5 (25:28):
So part of our program we have a twelve month
program and in the fifth month they travel to Israel,
which is why you know, we're very connected to Israel.
And during that time they get baptized in the Jordan River.
They walk where Jesus walked, they walk the stations of
the Cross, They go to Bethlehem, they start learning about
their history, where they came from, what does the Bible means,
(25:52):
what is the context of the Bible, What.
Speaker 4 (25:55):
Was Jesus saying, what did he mean?
Speaker 5 (25:58):
What is life about? What is every person's individual purpose?
And during that time in Israel, when we start to
hear which is usually within twenty four hours, if God
didn't want me alive, he wouldn't have brought me here,
then we know we're breaking through. And on the last
day of their journey, they go on top of Mountain.
Speaker 4 (26:20):
Mesada and Mountain Masada.
Speaker 5 (26:22):
That story ended horrifically and ended in suicide, and on
top of out mountain they promise each other that they
will their lives will not end that way.
Speaker 1 (26:35):
It sounds like something that really should be part of
the training. As much as they are enlisted men and
women are trained to fire weapons and do all these
things on the battlefield. This seems like it's as important
as anything involving health and safety. You know, from a
physical this emotional thing is so important. And is this
a program that's open to anybody? I mean, how does
(26:57):
a veteran get in touch with your organization?
Speaker 5 (27:02):
It's open to all combat veterans and we are you know,
we say to families often the veterans who are suffering
from moral injury isolate themselves. They stop going to church,
they start getting involved in family events. You'll see them
sitting at your Christmas dinner table with trying to even
can't even smile. Those are signs of moral injury. Please
(27:26):
be in touch with us. Our website is Heroes two
heroes dot org. H E r o E S t
O H E r o E.
Speaker 4 (27:36):
S dot org.
Speaker 5 (27:38):
We have served many veterans from Alabama, so please please
reach out reach out to us with questions.
Speaker 4 (27:46):
You can call me on.
Speaker 5 (27:49):
Our phone is two O one eight five one two
four zero nine. My name is Judy Elias. Please reach out.
We are also funded privately. We get no government funds.
It's all of our because of people like you, where
we can do this program over four hundred and eighty
(28:11):
veterans have gone through our program and we have had
zero suicides from our alumni in the past fifteen years.
Speaker 1 (28:19):
And that's an incredible statistic. That's probably the best statistic
you've shared all day, is the fact that the success
rate that you have with the Heroes to Heroes Foundation.
Speaker 4 (28:28):
We're proud of it.
Speaker 5 (28:29):
We're also you know, we're concerned.
Speaker 4 (28:31):
You know, I don't even like to put that out there.
Speaker 5 (28:33):
I've always feel like it's kind of bad love to
do that, but I know God is with us. This
is a program about connecting to God and it's so crucial.
Please refer veterans. Veterans, please apply if you have any thought.
This is about shame and guilt. It is not unusual
for veterans to feel that more more of you feel
(28:56):
that than you know, and we'll help you get there
in an unashamed manner.
Speaker 4 (29:00):
A family of support.
Speaker 1 (29:01):
Judy Elias, thank you so much for joining us in
one more time for more information or to donate or
to connect with Heroes to Heroes. What is that website
h E.
Speaker 5 (29:12):
R o E s t O h E r o
e s dot org and zerostwohroes dot.
Speaker 1 (29:20):
Org, heroes to heroes dot org and that phone number
one more time is two A one eight five one
twenty four oh nine.
Speaker 5 (29:27):
Yes to A one eighty five one twenty four o nine.
Speaker 1 (29:32):
Thank you so much for joining us this morning, Judy,
Thank you so much.
Speaker 5 (29:36):
Ton.
Speaker 6 (29:36):
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.