Salvation Army Capt. Ramesh Sukhdeo

Original Air Date: July 7, 2024

Salvation Army Captain Ramesh Sukhdeo knows 1st hand what it is like to be a homeless immigrant.  He was saved by The Salvation Army, where he also met his wife! 

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Welcome to Sunstein Sessions on iHeartRadio,conversations about issues that matter. Here's your
host, three time Gracie Award winner, Shelley Sunstein. I want to introduce
you to Salvation Army Captain Ramesh soupDio. And he has incredible work that
he's doing with the Salvation Army.But what is most interesting is how he

(00:24):
came to the Salvation Army because originallyhe came for help. So, first
of all, Captain, thank youso much for joining us, and please
share with us your story, yourpersonal story. Thank you. I'm very
glad to have this opportunity that Ican share. So I came to the
United States in the year two thousandand six, and while living here,

(00:47):
I was unable to pay my rent. Things was very, very hard,
So I was forced to give upmy apartment and I become homeless, and
I started living on the streets ofQueens and Manhattan, sleeping in the park.
I go to Landry Mats because itwas during the winter season to sit
there to get some heat. Sometimesthey would let me sleep in there and

(01:10):
I get very hungry, and Ididn't know I had no money, nothing
to eat, and I didn't knowwhere to go on, and I just
keep sleeping on the streets, eatingout of garbage can and those things.
And so one day I was walkingacross a bridge from the East River is
from wats Island, across the firstAvenue. And when I came over the

(01:32):
bridge to first Avenue, I meta guy over there, don't I never
saw him before? So I askedhim that if he have any idea where
I can get some food, andhe took me to the Salvation Army in
Harley and I joined the line overthere. And then later on I understand
I was like a sub kitchen.So I went in and they treated me

(01:53):
as if I was royalty in asense, because I was homeless I did,
I was smelly, I had bigbeard, and my life was starting
upside down. But Establishing Army receivedme that day. They fed me the
treatment as and I'm forever grateful forthat. How old were you you came
here from India? Right? No, I'm from Guyana and West Indian,

(02:15):
okay. And how old were youwhen you came over here? I think
I was a wrong twenty four thirtyfive years around then? What did you
do for a living back home?I was a cop. So why did
you come here and what were yourgoals? And did you you came alone?
To be honest, I came hereand I'm looking for better life because

(02:37):
in my country things are very,very tough. The economy is very it's
very bad. So I came hereto look for a better life. And
then I ended up in that situation. How did you make your living when
you first came here, because yousaid you had an apartment and you know
you lost it. I was doingconstruction. I was a liberer and that

(02:59):
worked just dried up or what happened? Yes, because that was during nine
when the recession was on right,right, did you want to come over
here and become a police officer hereas well? No? No, no,
And what about the rest of yourfamily? I was not married,

(03:20):
right, yes, so had Ihave kids out of marriage? But so
I came here for a better life. And so when you found the Salvation
Army, did you immediately start workingfor them or how did you end up
being a captain with the Salvation Army? Well that's a very interesting story because

(03:40):
well I waited on the line forfood with adult homeless people and homeless family,
you know, And as I said, they welcomed me, and then
I start volunteering there and I getto know about the Salvation And because of
me volunteering there, I had anopportunity to meet someone who offered me a
place to stay. A member ofthe Salvation Army. The church offered me

(04:03):
a place to stay, so Iwent there and I stayed, and then
I started looking for jobs, andthen I volunteered in the super Kitchen actor
and my situation started to get better. Because I started attending the church.
I start having mentors from the SalvationArmy. And this is where I was
introduced to Our Lord and say JesusChrist. And I started being faithful and

(04:29):
stayed working at my regular job,but serving at the court. What was
your regular job? I was aplumber, Okay. And then after all
those years, God has called meto be a Salvation Army officer pastor.
And fourteen years after, I becomea Salvation Army officer. And I'm so
happy that I have this opportunity tobe an officer so I can give back

(04:50):
to people who helped me give backto the community. The Soup Kitchen is
my art, a sup kitchen thatbrought me to the Salvation Army because I
was looking for food and I seewhat hundreds of people need food and need
shelter, need help. And I'mthe core officer now at New York Temple,
my wife and I and we getto serve over five hundred people every

(05:12):
day at our souper kitchen. Iget to stand there and I get to
talk to them. I get toshare my story with them, and it's
a wonderful thing. It's a wonderfulfeeling and talking to you, getting very
emotion because established an Army has doneso much for me, made me the
person to be the person who Iam today. And this opportunity and as

(05:34):
I have this opportunity and people whoare listening, you know, the people
in the community, companies, individualpeople who are donors who can come out
and help us in this in thisneed. It's a I I need out
there. And I can tell yousleeping in the cold, sleeping in boxes
on the street, don't have nofood to eat, do have no family,
don't have nothing, and go tothe selfish an Army. And today

(05:57):
I'm blessed a family. I'm marriedcaptain and the Salvation arm and stationed at
one of the biggest Salvation arm inthe Division, the HQ Division head quarters
of fourteenth Street. And God hasblessed me so much, and I believe
strongly that the way how God hasblessed me and the Salvation Army has helped
me is my time to repeat thatit and he said that I cannot repeat.

(06:20):
But I tried my best to dothe things that God wanted me to
do. So I'm asking for peoplewho are listening to this story, what
can help us anyway, any shapeor from the world is in need,
and I believe that God has placedme here to help with that. I'm
speaking with Salvation Army Captain Ramesh soDio. He came here. He was

(06:45):
employed as a construction worker, butduring the first Recession and around two thousand
and eight, the work dried upand he ended up homeless and luckily was
directed to the Salvation Army, whichpretty much helped him put his life back
together. How long were you homeless, Ramesh? About a year? What

(07:09):
was the lowest point for you andhow did you handle that? The lowest
point for me is when I getwhen I started living in the street,
and I don't I didn't have nofamily here and I was new to this
country, so I didn't know whereto go or how to get help.
So I stayed on the street andI thought I was going to die because

(07:30):
I was he was freezing out there. And right at one hundred and twenty
fifth and Lexington having It, thereis a radio shack and it has a
little shed in front, and Iput box on the walk away and I
slept there in the night, andI thought that, you know, it
was very dangerous out there. Andso those are the times that I thought
I was never going to make it. And like I said, the Salvation

(07:51):
Army changed your life. How didyou meet your wife? Oh, that's
a that's a great story. Well, I was serving at Manhattan City Dinner
is Hard, and the assistant pastoris my wife's adopted daughter. So my
wife was single at that time whenI was single. So she we become

(08:11):
friends because she is one of mypastors. And she asked me if I'm
dating anyone. I said no,and then she told me, so I
have my money, and and shetold me about her mom and then she
introduced me. So when I talkedto my now wife, and she told
me about the adaption and stuff andwhere where my now daughter came from and

(08:33):
how she stroubled, and that hitmy heart because I went through stuff like
that. And my now wife takesa step to have someone because she's an
also Salvation Army officer, and sheshowed that love and she brought her to
the core and she took her inand she adapted her. And I said,
this is the person I wanted tobe my wife because she has the

(08:56):
heart of service and giving back.And I'm about all giving back to the
community. People come to our doorhere at one twenty West fourteen Street,
then we'll never leave without having something. We make sure they have something.
We might not have everything that theywant it, but we have something to
give them that they need other thanfood. What other than food? What

(09:16):
are their needs? What do theyneed? We give clothing that sucks,
underware, winter coats, backpacks firstand stuff for kids who go back to
school, and things like that wedo here. Do you know, all
right, do you have many migrantswho are showing up? Yes, we
do. We do. We havea lot of migrants that comes here.

(09:39):
So they get food, they getclothed, and we share the gospel with
them too. So most of thepeople you see are they migrants or how
would you describe them, is amix. There is migrant and there are
people who lose their jobs, justlike me. There's a lot of people
who comes in and they said,because of the you know some situation,

(10:00):
lost their job and they needed food, they needed help and stuff. So
we would we would try to helpthem as much as we can with what
we have, and we don't wantto turn anyone away. So that's one
of the things. That's why I'masking today that people from the community and
companies and individuals who can donate tous, they can come in. Like

(10:20):
yesterday, I had someone who cameprospective donor. I walk him through and
show him early operation and everything thatwe're doing, show him the need.
He was here, he visited thesoup pitching, he was out there,
see the line that we have,so things like that. So we are
open that anyone wanted to call us, wanted to come, we can show
them our operations and what is happeninghere and the need that we have here.

(10:43):
Obviously there's a need for money,but is there a real need for
volunteers and if so, what whatwould what kind of work would they be
doing? Okay, yes, weam are volunteers. They would come like
companies would come. They were theywere, they were come one day they
would help us really sup pitching.They were volunteering to serve the food.
They have cleaning, and then wehave some days we have a pantry also

(11:05):
where we serve over five hundred peoplewith food. So they come by appointment,
so we have to pack their bags. We have these when we have
deliveries coming in, we need peopleto come help with the delivery. So
we have our social worker here whompeople would contact and she will set that
up with them and they will theywill have like a calendar to know when

(11:28):
and when and which day they cancome to do this type of volunteering.
So we have it in an orderlyfashion, so because we have a lot
of people that comes to volunteer.Okay, well, thank you so much
for sharing your story. I meanit was really touching, and I think
what hit me hardest is how youfelt that you were treated like royalty when

(11:50):
you were welcomed into the Salvation Army. And you know, it's just I
can't imagine what she went through,but to be treated with respect and treated
with royalty, I just love hearingthat so again. If you can donate
to the Salvation Army or you canvolunteer. You've been listening to Sunstein sessions
on iHeartRadio, a production of NewYork's classic rock Q one O four point three