September 2, 2023 • 30 mins
Tyler Ryan speaks with Lauren Cashatt, the Founder of The Million Mile Project about this national addiction crisis and the partnerships that have been created for the journey of recovery.
You can learn more about the Million Mile Project HERE.
Carolina Cares is hosted by award winning radio and television personality Tyler Ryan, and recorded at iHeart Studio in Columbia South Carolina, and air across the state of South Carolina on the South Carolina Radio Network. In addition to Carolina Cares, Tyler Ryan is seen weekday mornings on ABC Columbia’s Good Morning Columbia television program, where he serves as the Host and Morning Weather Anchor.
Tyler is also a professional Emcee and Brand Ambassador.
If you have an idea for a Carolina Cares topic our would like to appear on the show, you can reach out to him at Tyler@CarolinaCaresRadio.com
You can learn more about the Million Mile Project HERE.
Carolina Cares is hosted by award winning radio and television personality Tyler Ryan, and recorded at iHeart Studio in Columbia South Carolina, and air across the state of South Carolina on the South Carolina Radio Network. In addition to Carolina Cares, Tyler Ryan is seen weekday mornings on ABC Columbia’s Good Morning Columbia television program, where he serves as the Host and Morning Weather Anchor.
Tyler is also a professional Emcee and Brand Ambassador.
If you have an idea for a Carolina Cares topic our would like to appear on the show, you can reach out to him at Tyler@CarolinaCaresRadio.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Good morning, and welcome to CarolinaCares and iHeartRadio production here on the South
Carolina Radio Network, heard across thePalmetto State and even a little beyond,
places like the Grand Strand or downin the low Country, over in Horse
Country, the Upstate, Oh mygosh, I love the Upstate, and
of course right here in the Midlands. Wizz happens to be our flagship station,
w VOC A M and FM inColumbia. My name is Tyler Ryan,
(00:22):
your host for the show, andthank you so much for joining us
as you guys do week after week, for great guests, great information,
some entertainment. Sometimes topics get alittle heavy as they do. As always,
if you have a topic you'd liketo hear discussed on the show,
something in your own community, doesn'tmatter where it is, we'd love to
hear from you. Maybe you thinkyou make a pretty good guest, and
you just might. We'd love tohear from you as well. It's Tyler
(00:44):
at Carolina Cares Radio dot com.It's Tyler at Carolina Cares Radio dot com.
And make sure you follow us upon the socials. As the kids
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(01:06):
is get that and then you typein Carolina Cares Radio. You can hear
today's episode along with every other episodethat we have hundreds of them up there
as well. Well, guys,addiction really isn't a new thing, and
it isn't always a drug thing either, by the way. We can be
addicted to really anything. I meanthink of adrenaline junkies or serial daters,
you know talking about or basically anythingthat can really take over our lives.
(01:29):
Oh and by the way, sowe're clear, the American Society of Addiction
Medicine defines addiction as a treatable chronicmedical disease involving complex interactions among brain circuits,
genetics, the environment, and theindividual's life experiences. There you go,
that's addictions as it were. Well, guys, you know, having
the need for speed aside. Whenit comes to substance addiction, I mean,
(01:53):
it could be drugs, alcohol,cigarettes. Things are really getting intense,
and pandemics certainly hasn't helped that.In fact, the numbers for people
who live with a substance use disorderor SUP or a SUD as it were,
is over twenty million here in thiscountry, twenty million. And it's
kind of sad that for this intwenty nineteen only ten percent of those people
(02:15):
got help, only ten percent oftwenty million. And a couple more numbers
that really need to wake you up. This morning, there were over fifty
percent of us who were over twelveyears old who have tried an illicit drug.
Fifty percent over twelve have tried anillicit drug of some kind. And
since two thousand, the year twothousand, we can shock up over seven
hundred thousand deaths to these drugs,these illicit drugs. Now, according to
(02:39):
the National Center for Drug Abuse Statistics, marijuana still ranks the highest, by
the way, with ten percent ofkids twelve to seventeen trying it and nineteen
percent of adults taking a ride withMary Jane. Now below that, of
course, opioids, which have seena huge spike, along with pain meds
and other drugs that, when usedfor the purpose they were built for.
They can actually help, but whenused they changed. They can change the
(03:01):
trajectory of lives and in far toomany cases, as we just learned,
end them. Now something you needto understand, Like, wait, addictions
don't just start instantly. It's it'sa road, it's a it's a journey,
and recovery is exactly the same.Now. Thankfully, there are many
places that can provide help for addictionsand even mental health issues, but as
(03:22):
I said, the road to recoveryis not short, and it's incredibly hard
to navigate a loan. Of course, there are many support options out there
for the journey, but still awhole lot of gaps, which is why
last year Lauren Caschett founded the MillionMile Project to be that support, to
be that hand that holds yours inthose gaps on your long road to recovery.
(03:43):
And Lauren joins us this morning.Thank you for coming in, Hi,
good morning, Thanks for having me. Absolutely, you know, we
we'll talk a lot about addictions lately. You know, we've got all the
e fentanyls all in the news.You know, opioids, the pain killers,
you know, addictions. Like Isaid, it's always been around,
but it just seems like it isjust exploded, exploding. Oh, where
(04:04):
do you even begin on such atopic. You know, I'll just jump
in with it does not discriminate,that's for sure. I mean on the
on the opioid topic. For example, I have a family member who chronic
pain, went to this doctor.He's been put on pain meds, and
(04:25):
after a couple of weeks he realizedthat if he didn't take that pain medication
exactly, I think it was eighthours on the dot, he started having
severe withdrawals. That's addiction to opioids. And the problem is the story is
told over and over. I hearall the time. I'm a baseball player
(04:47):
throughout my shoulder, had surgery,was put on pain meds, got addicted.
After a while, the doctor can'tprescribe you anymore pain killers, So
then you go to the streets.And then that's heroin, and then from
haro. There's not a whole lotof heroin out there right now, it's
fentanyl and it is moving to carfunnel, which is even more dangerous,
more potent. And so yes,those numbers of drug overdose slash poisoning is
(05:14):
on the rise. It's you know, and and you know, you think
about this. The our bodies areamazing machines. It's like working out,
you know, it's why you goto the gym and you become stronger.
Your body's doing the same thing whenit comes to whatever you're taking. You
know, when you get addicted tothe drugs, and that's why you need
more and more because at some point, you know, one one pill maybe
just enough, and you feel fantastic, right, But then you know,
after a month or two, yourbody's like, Okay, they ain't no
(05:36):
big deal. You know, I'mlifting one hundred and fifty pounds. That
ain't no big deal, right,I'm going to add some more weight on.
I gotta add more pills, andI gotta drink some more, you
know, some more Jack Daniels.And that's where you get that that slept.
Like I said, it's not ait's not a daylong process. This
is a a process, absolutely definitelya process. And you know, kids
are starting to use this at ayoung age. A lot of people think
(06:00):
that, oh, the persons incollege and they party too hard and then
they became an addict, or theyhad a rough upbringing, they were in
you know, poverty stricken areas,and so they got hooked on this substance.
And that's not the case. Imean, I grew up with individuals
who had loving families and wonderful upbringingand middle to upper class lifestyle, and
(06:24):
they got they got hooked on substance. And unfortunately, I've lost some very
close loved ones. And I thinkthat's the misconception. It's oh, my
son or daughter or my family memberthat that would never happen. I don't
need to listen to this addiction segmentbecause that doesn't affect me. And if
(06:46):
it's sad to say, but ifit has not affected you yet, it's
only a matter of time because everyone'slife is somehow affected by it. It
might not be you, but itbut it really is like it is you.
You know, to your point,you know, your family member,
somebody you loved, you had towatch, you know, go down this
road of addiction and and and dealwith it. So it does impact you.
(07:09):
And that's something people forget, isit's not just you know, the
person who struggles with Alzheimer's or mentalhealth or or you name it. You
know, it's everybody around, right, It's your family, it's the friends,
it's the workplace, that they arein. I managed a personal training
department for years and we had atrainer who was struggling with addiction, and
(07:32):
you know where we're there too.We had to pick up the pieces we
had to fill in for her.We gave her the opportunity to go away
and get help, but that thatdoesn't always turn out as planned, but
it does affect everyone around, butespecially your loved ones that are sitting there
trying to help you so much.And I was in that situation. I
(07:54):
have a very close family member whostruggled with addictions. It's the age of
I think he was sixteen when hegot into alcohol first and then moved on
to marijuana and then moved on toother drugs, and for years we didn't
know what to do. Doctors wouldprescribe this, doctors would prescribe that,
(08:16):
So he was on a constant yoyo of substance that was okay because it
came from the doctor. And aftera while he's just like, screw this,
I'm self medicating. And now hestruggles with trying not to self medicate
and face life as a sober person. But it was in those years of
(08:39):
trying to get him help, tryingto look for treatment programs. Oh,
we don't have forty thousand dollars fora thirty day excuse me, twenty nine
day program? And oh, wellwe take insurance. I'm sorry. We're
talking about an individual who can't keepa job so doesn't have insurance. And
he's not an adolescence, he's noton mom and dads. What do you
(09:01):
do? It's just a cycle,you know. It's it's almost like a
hamster wheel, right, because you'reright, then it's gonna go back to
the streets, self medicate and youstart over again, right, you know.
And it's funny you mentioned, youknow, there's all this talk and
we've gotten away from and I Imean, I think I don't I certainly
drink, but I you know,I don't use drugs. But I'm you
know, I'm not going to bea teetotaler and preach about it. But
(09:22):
you know, there's all that talkabout Marijuana was always the gate with cigarettes,
it's a gateway drug, and thenmarijuana and that was and nowadays with
it becoming legal everywhere and available inmany many states, you know, if
now it's a marijuan's no big deal. And and I mean I think that's
wrong. I mean I think thatit probably, you know, an alcohol
to an extent, but you know, I think that there's something too that
(09:43):
that gateway down that road. Right, Well, anytime that you're trying to
get outside of self, that's whereif you have that addictive trait, that's
where it could develop. You know, did I smoke weed in high school
every once in a while? Sure? I don't. I didn't search for
more, right, I didn't smokeweed after a period of time and say
(10:03):
that's not enough. How can Iget higher? How can I get outside
of myself even more? But thereare individuals who will smoke weed and then
after a while that's not good enough. It's kind of like drinking a beer,
but then you want to go tothe harder stuff, so you start
taking the shots and so that thatis the same with drugs. It absolutely
(10:24):
can be a gateway drug. Butit's not everybody who touches weed is going
to get down the whole. Butyeah, I mean, and then that
way for anything. It's not everybodywho takes pain medication that's legally prescribed is
not to necessarily be addicted to it. But there is that that potential because
the way we're human being is theway we're wired right. Well, even
the family remember that I was tellingyou about that was on pain medication and
(10:46):
then he just noticed that his bodydeveloped the addiction. It wasn't even the
mental addiction, it was the physicalwithdraws that he felt, the details.
It was a deep yeah, hewas withdrawing from that drug. And so
is the physical opponent component to beingaddicted to a substance. And then there's
the mental component, and there's alsothe lifestyle. That is one reason why
(11:09):
when people go through a treatment program, if they just bounce right back into
the same lifestyle that they had thesame environment, the same surrounding, the
same people, the same work,it is very hard for the individual to
stay sober because it's around you're gonnago back where you come right right,
And even if the substance isn't inthe household and you're you know, you
(11:31):
get a new number, and youcancel your Facebook and you do all the
things. But if you didn't dothe work in treatment and desire a completely
different overhaul of your life and yourlifestyle and you set new boundaries. That
those boundaries is with workforce, withfamily members, with friends, people who
(11:52):
you've grown up with in love.But if they're in that lifestyle that you
know will eventually take you back out, you have to cut those ties.
And those friends will or will notunderstand and respect that, but you have
to do what's best for you.And when that friend does get sober and
decides to turn their life around twothey will appreciate it for you and then
they'll hut you up and you canbe friends again. But too many people
(12:13):
go to, especially these thirty dayprograms, And let me first start by
saying I don't knock a thirty dayprogram. Each person's recovery journey is different,
each person requires different types of treatment. There is a time and place
for the thirty day but for peoplewho we mainly work with the Millimail Project
works with, we suggest that theygo to a longer term treatment program four
(12:37):
months twelve months. We work witha couple of different ones that have different
links, but that allows you toget in there and for the first thirty
days you just focus on yourself.You are just focusing on clearing your mind,
clearing the substance from your body,doing the mental, emotional and spiritual
work. The programs that we workwith are twelve step and there is a
(13:00):
spiritual component to this twelve step program. It's not Bible thumping, but in
the Big Book it does speak ofGod, but it's very clear that God
being you need to recognize that there'ssomething greater than yourself that you need to
really put in the hands of them. Do the work, but say like,
I can't do this alone. Andso we work with these longer programs
(13:26):
because they help the person do thework internally, and then they help them
to get a job work, sothey're starting to integrate them into society.
But still you're working a program,you're impatient. You can't just drive your
car, you can't have your phone, you know. But it helps the
person to then start getting back intothe real world while still working on themselves.
(13:48):
And after a while, you've gotsix months under your belt and you're
like, wow, I've never hadsix months completely sober. And that's where
the lifestyle and mental and spiritual changehappens is during those times. Speaking this
morning on Carolina Cares, Lauren caschatthe founder of the Million Mile Project,
and I want to talk a littlebit about about that. You founded this.
(14:11):
It's a five one three c youget up and running last year and
you know clearly it's a it's becomea passion for you. Oh yeah,
yeah, clearly. But let's let'skind of talk about what what that means.
You know, you've got talked aboutsome long term programs and what you
know what MMP does, but youknow what exactly is is the organization.
Yeah, so the Money Mail Projector like you called it, MMP,
(14:33):
that's what we call it for.I really do like it. I love
it when people say it. Ilove it when people post that. I
think it's cool. So MMP iswe work with individuals to help get them
into long term treatment facilities that aresuitable for them. Also, depending on
their location, we are nationwide,so we've got partnerships across the nation.
(14:54):
That's not to say, like justa few weeks ago, we helped somebody
from New York get into a prograhere in South Carolina. So we partner
with different long term programs and thenwe also mentor individuals as they are transitioning
back into life. Okay, somost of the organizations do have some sort
of aftercare support. So you know, if you're moving back to your home
(15:16):
state, making sure that you havea sponsor there and getting you know,
the meeting schedule in your area,that kind of thing. But we're there
to say, hey you. Alot of programs move from like on site
and patient to transition housing for likemaybe three to four months, and it's
during that time where we step inand we say, hey, you don't
have a car and you're going toneed one in four months. What is
(15:39):
your what does your finances look like? What does your credit look like?
Because now you have to find housingand most of the time, a lot
of times, I should say,their credit doesn't allow them to move into
an atmosphere that is conducive to alife of sobriety. That's that's a very
good point. You're right, becausea lot of the higher end ones where
you don't have that leftyle, theyare going to check things like credit right,
(16:00):
make sure you or your background.Yeah, yeah, absolutely and rightfully.
So I understand. I used tobe in property management and I understand,
and so you know, their needto make sure that who they're bringing
in is going to pay their rent. You know, No, I firmly,
firmly believe that we should work hardand trying to protect their credit,
have a job, and to right, and so coming alongside the individual and
(16:22):
pulling their credit report and being like, yeah, this is a fifty three
dollars to like Columbia Water, Likepay that off, you know, get
that paid, get that off yourcredit. A lot of these are medical
bills, and so getting down gettingsetting down with them and pulling up the
phone numbers and calling them and sayinglike, hey, I'd like to settle
(16:44):
or can I get on a paymentplan or you know, a phone bill
that's astronomical giving them a call.So I was mentoring this one person and
they had an eight hundred dollars cellphone bill that was from a couple of
years ago. Well, you know, if you don't pay and there's fees
and you owe for the phone orwhatever. And so the he called,
(17:07):
and it's funny because he put itoff and put it off and put it
Have you called them? Have youcalled them? He? No? I
just I don't know what to say. And I'm like, you literally say,
hey, I'd like to pay thisoff. What can you do with
that balance? They cut it inhalf, that's easy, and then they
offered him payments, but he waslike, I just want to get this
done, Like let's just get itoff my credit. So by kicking it
down the road for however many months, yeah, it just added to it
(17:30):
exactly exactly. And there was sucha fear of facing that shameful bill.
And it oftentimes takes somebody to comealongside you and say like, hey,
what do you have to lose?Give him a call, I'm right here,
and you know, the person onthe other line was asking questions and
he was like what I say,you know so, But we got through
(17:52):
that and he got it paid andit shot his credit up within the next
you know, couple of weeks,and it was just such a relief and
so sitting down and making sure thattheir credit is moving in the right direction
so that four or three months laterwhen they move out, they have a
better chance of finding a place.And it doesn't always work out, you
know, they're not going to havea seven hundred dollars in a seven hundred
(18:14):
credit score within three months, butnow we know what they're working with and
people who are pulling their credit orseeing that things are being paid right,
it's going up and rightly to findsomebody ticket chance on you, it's not
going to be in that bad environmentthat would make you slip back into that
exactly field, habits exactly, andthere's other options. You know, maybe
this person can't get an apartment ontheir own, but there might be somebody
(18:38):
who is also a working, youngprofessional who needs to rent out the second
bedroom of their apartment and is lookingfor a good, reliable roommate. And
because I've been working with you,I can advocate for you, I can
write you that reference letter. Andso there are a lot of benefits to
working with individuals there, you know, cleaning up their credit, budgeting,
(18:59):
just basic financial literacy. A lotof people addict or not don't have,
that's fair to say. And that'sa whole different altogether. I would be
glad to come back to that onefor that one also. But you know,
how much do you make a month? What are you spending? Where
can you cut? You know,what is the budget of getting you a
car to get you from a tob in this town, just from home
(19:22):
to work and grocery store that kindof thing. All right, Well,
if that's what you're looking at,how much do we need to save per
week to get you a car byX date? And you're gonna have expectations,
right, I mean, you can'tbuy a mailing to our house and
drive a Maserati. If you're righta bad boy, right exactly, you've
got to have the Oh, whichbrings me to the next subject. Oh,
let's just keep this rolling. Isfinding a career or job with a
(19:45):
livapool wage. So I was workingwith a gentleman. He's in his thirties,
and he said, I can't bea dish guy for the rest of
my life, right, I'm tiredof working in kitchens. I've got so
much more to offer, but myback ground and my use of addict you
know, use of substance has limitedme. And he actually got addicted to
(20:08):
opiates due to a shoulder injury.He was a baseball player. It's very
similar to the story I told earlier. And so because of that, he
had a d one scholarship that hedidn't pursue and has been struggling with addiction.
And he's always had a love andpassion for health and fitness. So
(20:30):
we talked about that a little bitmore, and I learned how much knowledge
he actually has of health and fitnessthrough team sports growing up and his own
journey through getting healthy. And Isaid, become a personal trainer and he
was like yeah, and I waslike, no, I'm serious, and
he goes, I can never bea personal trainer. I said why,
Well, his words, I'm anaddict, and why well, who would
(20:56):
want to train with me? Whydo you say that? And he had
all of these limiting beliefs and thenhe's like, well, I don't even
know where to begin. Well,you're talking to someone who's been in the
industry for over fourteen years, solet's get this. So I sent him
three different links of different personal trainingcertifications, benefits to each of them,
pricing, timeline, that kind ofthing, and he got certified. He's
(21:22):
certified personal trainer. He now hasclients and he's doing something he absolutely loves.
He's still working in a kitchen,but he can see further down the
road that the kitchen isn't his future. That something in health and fitnesses.
And so this is a story aboutpersonal training, but it could be cosmetology,
it could be welding. I mean, it could be anything, and
(21:44):
people just don't know what is outthere. So that's something else that the
Millionmail Project does is Okay, you'vegot a job right now that pays you
nothing to be able to live asober lifestyle. What do you want to
do and can we help move youin that direction? And it's not it's
not overnight again, I guess you'vegot to teach that long term, that
long vision. You're not you're notgoing to stop working in the kitchen tomorrow
(22:07):
and be you know, be atrainer to the stars, you know,
by by Thursday exactly. And youhave to be careful with that too,
not to think too far ahead becauseif they if they live too far in
the future, they get very discontentin the present. And that is a
big thing about recovery. You haveto be present. You have to be
thankful for what you have today.You have to be mindful and pray about
(22:30):
your sobriety today and yes, havegoals, but be present and grateful for
today. So that is why it'sone day at a time. That's smart.
Speaking this morning out Lauren Caschett,the founder of the Million Mile Project.
You can check out million Mile projectdot org for more information on the
program. How how do you findyour clients? How you know if somebody
if somebody's listening this morning saying youknow me or you know a lot of
(22:52):
times we're not self aware enough,it's gonna be somebody else who might say,
hey, Tyler, you need tocall these folks. How does how
does a potential client or you know, somebod who works with you come into
year fold. Yeah, so we'vehad a lot of referrals. It's all
referral based, but going to ourwebsite and using that phone number connects you
to one of two of us directly, and most of the time, I
(23:15):
mean, actually, I would sayat this moment it's been half and half,
but there's been a lot of timeswhere it's a family member. I'm
reaching out. This is our story, and that's often what it is because
either for the same reasons because they'resha ashamed of that, like the guy
who didn't want to call and reducehis phone bill, or he just not
being aware that this. You know, that's why we have interventions, Right,
you're not aware there's an issue,Right, You may not be constant
(23:37):
enough to go this really stinks on. It's just actually this past month,
it is a girl I've known foryears and she reached out to me months
ago when she knew that I startedthis organization, and she wanted just to
have an open discussion about her sibling, her sister, and the family was
just just drained and so scared forher and wanted her to get help,
(24:02):
and didn't know what resources were outthere, what was available, what options
they had, and she too thoughtthat it was just forty twenty nine day
facilities for her sister who didn't haveinsurance, and so to them she was
just you know, it was justshe just threw their hands up and just
pray for a change. So shehad been in contact with me and telling
(24:23):
me their story and explaining to mewhat was going on, where the girl
was, what she was using,and we just started that dialogue and so
I just was able to say thereare their programs, and we scholarship people
into programs who want the help,and just simply being a listening ear gives
(24:44):
the family members and the individual ifthey're the ones who call us, it's
a sigh of relief just knowing thatsomeone is there and there they can do
the work of looking up where youknow where to go, what resources there
are, the time frames, what'sthe best suitable program for them. And
so it took several months of usgoing back and forth talking and then I
(25:06):
got a call from her sister Wow. And what's really cool is two weekends
ago, I got a call fromher sister from the program that we scholarshipped
her in Okay. And the firstthirty days you're not soos to use the
phone, but the staff allowed herto call us because she wanted to thank
us for giving her a second chanceat life. And her words, she
(25:29):
said, I didn't think I wasever capable or worthy of the work I'm
putting into to turn my life around. That's pretty awesome. And that was
from months, maybe six months ofconversations with her sister. And so to
answer your question, how do peopleactually get connected with us? Is they
go to their website and use thephone number or email us. That seems
(25:49):
pretty pretty easy. Pretty easy,Yes, very very easy. They email
address this info at the Millionmail Projectdot org and then the phone number is
on their as well. And yeah, that's how we get connected. What
about you talked We have a couplemists left. You talked about mentors,
you know, besides you, wehave other mentors. You know, are
(26:11):
there opportunities for people to get involvedon that side if they're on the other
side of recovery and they're they've takenthat journey to done the work as you
as you say, and they're onthe other side. You know, are
there are there options for people becauseI knew, you know, like with
anything, you get diagnosed with cancer, whatever, it's easy to think you're
the only one who's ever had todeal with this. And I don't care
what your addiction or your problem is. You're not the only one. You're
(26:32):
not the first person to right tobe there. But you know, are
there options for people who are listeningto say, you know, listen,
I was I was that girl.You know, I did the work and
I would love to help be acog in the wheel. Yes. Absolutely,
we are in the process of buildingan ambassador program that's just helping us
raise awareness, reaching out to attendingevents, hosting events, whatever it is
(26:53):
that the Ambassador team wants to do, but on a more personal level,
if somebody wants to be the MenTour, We're absolutely going to be bringing
on more mentors within the next threemonths because as we grow, so does
our reach, and we need morepeople to reach further. And also,
if you've got an area of expertise, if you are a financial advisor and
(27:15):
you want to host a Zoom workshop, I say Zoom because we do have
clients all over the nation and youwant to do a thirty minute to an
our Zoom workshop on financial literacy oryou know, whatever it is. We
do offer that to our clients aswell. I love it. Okay.
So coming up behind a couple ofmonths on the nineteenth of October, Harvest
for Hope. It's happening here inColumbia actually, but it's a fundraiser and
(27:37):
awareness event happening at a great littlevenue just across the from downtown Columbi,
just outside of downtown Columbia. Ifyou're not familiar, but real good about
a minute a half tell me aboutthat. Yes, October nineteenth. So
it's being hosted by the Bistro,the restaurant on like Murray Boulevard here in
Armo, South Carolina. But wewe really just want to raise awareness and
spread the word of our mission andwhat we're doing, because it's been all
(28:02):
word of mouth, and let metell you, it has taken off faster
than what we can even hold onto. But we want people to know
that we are a resource and weare there for people, just like I
was that girl with her sister formonths and then we were able to get
her into a place and so raisingawareness, spreading the word, and then
we are five O one C threeand so this fundraiser will help us go
(28:23):
into twenty twenty four with a biggerreach and being able to serve more people,
families and individuals that struggle with substanceuse disorder and that Harvest for Hope
is open to anybody on the nineteen, Yes, anybody. Everything's on our
website, the tickets we are alsowe'll have sponsorship packages as well. So
(28:44):
yeah, should made a big time. I'm super excited about it. And
the bistro if you're not from Columbia, haven't eaten a bistro was yummy food.
It is wonderful. It is food. Lauren Cachette. Once again,
it is a million mile project.I just go to the dot orge Million
Mile Project dot org. We'll putlinks are you obviously on the podcast and
all the all the socials as itwere, when this thing goes up as
well, so you can connect veryvery easily. I appreciate your obviously your
(29:07):
passion for this, Lauren, andwhat you're what you're doing, what you're
trying to accomplish. It's it's ahard job, but you know, I
think you've got the heart for it. Yes, thank you so much,
and I'm glad that I can bea resource for those that were in my
situation years ago who couldn't help afamily member. That's why it started.
I love it Million Mile project.Guys, this has been Carolina Cares and
(29:29):
iHeartRadio production here on the South CarolinaRadio Network. My name is Tyler Ryan,
your host. Of course, youcan drop me an email Tyler at
Carolina Cares Radio dot com and loveto love to be a part of your
world as well as always A showgoes by real fast, which means we've
had thirty minutes and it's time forme to say to you. I will
speak with you in seven days.
Good morning, and welcome to CarolinaCares and iHeartRadio production here on the South
Carolina Radio Network, heard across thePalmetto State and even a little beyond,
places like the Grand Strand or downin the low Country, over in Horse
Country, the Upstate, Oh mygosh, I love the Upstate, and
of course right here in the Midlands. Wizz happens to be our flagship station,
w VOC A M and FM inColumbia. My name is Tyler Ryan,
(00:22):
your host for the show, andthank you so much for joining us
as you guys do week after week, for great guests, great information,
some entertainment. Sometimes topics get alittle heavy as they do. As always,
if you have a topic you'd liketo hear discussed on the show,
something in your own community, doesn'tmatter where it is, we'd love to
hear from you. Maybe you thinkyou make a pretty good guest, and
you just might. We'd love tohear from you as well. It's Tyler
(00:44):
at Carolina Cares Radio dot com.It's Tyler at Carolina Cares Radio dot com.
And make sure you follow us upon the socials. As the kids
say, you guess what, Yeah, Carolina Cares Radio. You see it's
a theme there. And if youwant to hear this show again, the
repeat the podcast, if you will, you can do that. You've got
to get on that handy dandy iHeartRadio app. If you don't have it,
it's free, it's fun, it'seasy to download. All you do
(01:06):
is get that and then you typein Carolina Cares Radio. You can hear
today's episode along with every other episodethat we have hundreds of them up there
as well. Well, guys,addiction really isn't a new thing, and
it isn't always a drug thing either, by the way. We can be
addicted to really anything. I meanthink of adrenaline junkies or serial daters,
you know talking about or basically anythingthat can really take over our lives.
(01:29):
Oh and by the way, sowe're clear, the American Society of Addiction
Medicine defines addiction as a treatable chronicmedical disease involving complex interactions among brain circuits,
genetics, the environment, and theindividual's life experiences. There you go,
that's addictions as it were. Well, guys, you know, having
the need for speed aside. Whenit comes to substance addiction, I mean,
(01:53):
it could be drugs, alcohol,cigarettes. Things are really getting intense,
and pandemics certainly hasn't helped that.In fact, the numbers for people
who live with a substance use disorderor SUP or a SUD as it were,
is over twenty million here in thiscountry, twenty million. And it's
kind of sad that for this intwenty nineteen only ten percent of those people
(02:15):
got help, only ten percent oftwenty million. And a couple more numbers
that really need to wake you up. This morning, there were over fifty
percent of us who were over twelveyears old who have tried an illicit drug.
Fifty percent over twelve have tried anillicit drug of some kind. And
since two thousand, the year twothousand, we can shock up over seven
hundred thousand deaths to these drugs,these illicit drugs. Now, according to
(02:39):
the National Center for Drug Abuse Statistics, marijuana still ranks the highest, by
the way, with ten percent ofkids twelve to seventeen trying it and nineteen
percent of adults taking a ride withMary Jane. Now below that, of
course, opioids, which have seena huge spike, along with pain meds
and other drugs that, when usedfor the purpose they were built for.
They can actually help, but whenused they changed. They can change the
(03:01):
trajectory of lives and in far toomany cases, as we just learned,
end them. Now something you needto understand, Like, wait, addictions
don't just start instantly. It's it'sa road, it's a it's a journey,
and recovery is exactly the same.Now. Thankfully, there are many
places that can provide help for addictionsand even mental health issues, but as
(03:22):
I said, the road to recoveryis not short, and it's incredibly hard
to navigate a loan. Of course, there are many support options out there
for the journey, but still awhole lot of gaps, which is why
last year Lauren Caschett founded the MillionMile Project to be that support, to
be that hand that holds yours inthose gaps on your long road to recovery.
(03:43):
And Lauren joins us this morning.Thank you for coming in, Hi,
good morning, Thanks for having me. Absolutely, you know, we
we'll talk a lot about addictions lately. You know, we've got all the
e fentanyls all in the news.You know, opioids, the pain killers,
you know, addictions. Like Isaid, it's always been around,
but it just seems like it isjust exploded, exploding. Oh, where
(04:04):
do you even begin on such atopic. You know, I'll just jump
in with it does not discriminate,that's for sure. I mean on the
on the opioid topic. For example, I have a family member who chronic
pain, went to this doctor.He's been put on pain meds, and
(04:25):
after a couple of weeks he realizedthat if he didn't take that pain medication
exactly, I think it was eighthours on the dot, he started having
severe withdrawals. That's addiction to opioids. And the problem is the story is
told over and over. I hearall the time. I'm a baseball player
(04:47):
throughout my shoulder, had surgery,was put on pain meds, got addicted.
After a while, the doctor can'tprescribe you anymore pain killers, So
then you go to the streets.And then that's heroin, and then from
haro. There's not a whole lotof heroin out there right now, it's
fentanyl and it is moving to carfunnel, which is even more dangerous,
more potent. And so yes,those numbers of drug overdose slash poisoning is
(05:14):
on the rise. It's you know, and and you know, you think
about this. The our bodies areamazing machines. It's like working out,
you know, it's why you goto the gym and you become stronger.
Your body's doing the same thing whenit comes to whatever you're taking. You
know, when you get addicted tothe drugs, and that's why you need
more and more because at some point, you know, one one pill maybe
just enough, and you feel fantastic, right, But then you know,
after a month or two, yourbody's like, Okay, they ain't no
(05:36):
big deal. You know, I'mlifting one hundred and fifty pounds. That
ain't no big deal, right,I'm going to add some more weight on.
I gotta add more pills, andI gotta drink some more, you
know, some more Jack Daniels.And that's where you get that that slept.
Like I said, it's not ait's not a daylong process. This
is a a process, absolutely definitelya process. And you know, kids
are starting to use this at ayoung age. A lot of people think
(06:00):
that, oh, the persons incollege and they party too hard and then
they became an addict, or theyhad a rough upbringing, they were in
you know, poverty stricken areas,and so they got hooked on this substance.
And that's not the case. Imean, I grew up with individuals
who had loving families and wonderful upbringingand middle to upper class lifestyle, and
(06:24):
they got they got hooked on substance. And unfortunately, I've lost some very
close loved ones. And I thinkthat's the misconception. It's oh, my
son or daughter or my family memberthat that would never happen. I don't
need to listen to this addiction segmentbecause that doesn't affect me. And if
(06:46):
it's sad to say, but ifit has not affected you yet, it's
only a matter of time because everyone'slife is somehow affected by it. It
might not be you, but itbut it really is like it is you.
You know, to your point,you know, your family member,
somebody you loved, you had towatch, you know, go down this
road of addiction and and and dealwith it. So it does impact you.
(07:09):
And that's something people forget, isit's not just you know, the
person who struggles with Alzheimer's or mentalhealth or or you name it. You
know, it's everybody around, right, It's your family, it's the friends,
it's the workplace, that they arein. I managed a personal training
department for years and we had atrainer who was struggling with addiction, and
(07:32):
you know where we're there too.We had to pick up the pieces we
had to fill in for her.We gave her the opportunity to go away
and get help, but that thatdoesn't always turn out as planned, but
it does affect everyone around, butespecially your loved ones that are sitting there
trying to help you so much.And I was in that situation. I
(07:54):
have a very close family member whostruggled with addictions. It's the age of
I think he was sixteen when hegot into alcohol first and then moved on
to marijuana and then moved on toother drugs, and for years we didn't
know what to do. Doctors wouldprescribe this, doctors would prescribe that,
(08:16):
So he was on a constant yoyo of substance that was okay because it
came from the doctor. And aftera while he's just like, screw this,
I'm self medicating. And now hestruggles with trying not to self medicate
and face life as a sober person. But it was in those years of
(08:39):
trying to get him help, tryingto look for treatment programs. Oh,
we don't have forty thousand dollars fora thirty day excuse me, twenty nine
day program? And oh, wellwe take insurance. I'm sorry. We're
talking about an individual who can't keepa job so doesn't have insurance. And
he's not an adolescence, he's noton mom and dads. What do you
(09:01):
do? It's just a cycle,you know. It's it's almost like a
hamster wheel, right, because you'reright, then it's gonna go back to
the streets, self medicate and youstart over again, right, you know.
And it's funny you mentioned, youknow, there's all this talk and
we've gotten away from and I Imean, I think I don't I certainly
drink, but I you know,I don't use drugs. But I'm you
know, I'm not going to bea teetotaler and preach about it. But
(09:22):
you know, there's all that talkabout Marijuana was always the gate with cigarettes,
it's a gateway drug, and thenmarijuana and that was and nowadays with
it becoming legal everywhere and available inmany many states, you know, if
now it's a marijuan's no big deal. And and I mean I think that's
wrong. I mean I think thatit probably, you know, an alcohol
to an extent, but you know, I think that there's something too that
(09:43):
that gateway down that road. Right, Well, anytime that you're trying to
get outside of self, that's whereif you have that addictive trait, that's
where it could develop. You know, did I smoke weed in high school
every once in a while? Sure? I don't. I didn't search for
more, right, I didn't smokeweed after a period of time and say
(10:03):
that's not enough. How can Iget higher? How can I get outside
of myself even more? But thereare individuals who will smoke weed and then
after a while that's not good enough. It's kind of like drinking a beer,
but then you want to go tothe harder stuff, so you start
taking the shots and so that thatis the same with drugs. It absolutely
(10:24):
can be a gateway drug. Butit's not everybody who touches weed is going
to get down the whole. Butyeah, I mean, and then that
way for anything. It's not everybodywho takes pain medication that's legally prescribed is
not to necessarily be addicted to it. But there is that that potential because
the way we're human being is theway we're wired right. Well, even
the family remember that I was tellingyou about that was on pain medication and
(10:46):
then he just noticed that his bodydeveloped the addiction. It wasn't even the
mental addiction, it was the physicalwithdraws that he felt, the details.
It was a deep yeah, hewas withdrawing from that drug. And so
is the physical opponent component to beingaddicted to a substance. And then there's
the mental component, and there's alsothe lifestyle. That is one reason why
(11:09):
when people go through a treatment program, if they just bounce right back into
the same lifestyle that they had thesame environment, the same surrounding, the
same people, the same work,it is very hard for the individual to
stay sober because it's around you're gonnago back where you come right right,
And even if the substance isn't inthe household and you're you know, you
(11:31):
get a new number, and youcancel your Facebook and you do all the
things. But if you didn't dothe work in treatment and desire a completely
different overhaul of your life and yourlifestyle and you set new boundaries. That
those boundaries is with workforce, withfamily members, with friends, people who
(11:52):
you've grown up with in love.But if they're in that lifestyle that you
know will eventually take you back out, you have to cut those ties.
And those friends will or will notunderstand and respect that, but you have
to do what's best for you.And when that friend does get sober and
decides to turn their life around twothey will appreciate it for you and then
they'll hut you up and you canbe friends again. But too many people
(12:13):
go to, especially these thirty dayprograms, And let me first start by
saying I don't knock a thirty dayprogram. Each person's recovery journey is different,
each person requires different types of treatment. There is a time and place
for the thirty day but for peoplewho we mainly work with the Millimail Project
works with, we suggest that theygo to a longer term treatment program four
(12:37):
months twelve months. We work witha couple of different ones that have different
links, but that allows you toget in there and for the first thirty
days you just focus on yourself.You are just focusing on clearing your mind,
clearing the substance from your body,doing the mental, emotional and spiritual
work. The programs that we workwith are twelve step and there is a
(13:00):
spiritual component to this twelve step program. It's not Bible thumping, but in
the Big Book it does speak ofGod, but it's very clear that God
being you need to recognize that there'ssomething greater than yourself that you need to
really put in the hands of them. Do the work, but say like,
I can't do this alone. Andso we work with these longer programs
(13:26):
because they help the person do thework internally, and then they help them
to get a job work, sothey're starting to integrate them into society.
But still you're working a program,you're impatient. You can't just drive your
car, you can't have your phone, you know. But it helps the
person to then start getting back intothe real world while still working on themselves.
(13:48):
And after a while, you've gotsix months under your belt and you're
like, wow, I've never hadsix months completely sober. And that's where
the lifestyle and mental and spiritual changehappens is during those times. Speaking this
morning on Carolina Cares, Lauren caschatthe founder of the Million Mile Project,
and I want to talk a littlebit about about that. You founded this.
(14:11):
It's a five one three c youget up and running last year and
you know clearly it's a it's becomea passion for you. Oh yeah,
yeah, clearly. But let's let'skind of talk about what what that means.
You know, you've got talked aboutsome long term programs and what you
know what MMP does, but youknow what exactly is is the organization.
Yeah, so the Money Mail Projector like you called it, MMP,
(14:33):
that's what we call it for.I really do like it. I love
it when people say it. Ilove it when people post that. I
think it's cool. So MMP iswe work with individuals to help get them
into long term treatment facilities that aresuitable for them. Also, depending on
their location, we are nationwide,so we've got partnerships across the nation.
(14:54):
That's not to say, like justa few weeks ago, we helped somebody
from New York get into a prograhere in South Carolina. So we partner
with different long term programs and thenwe also mentor individuals as they are transitioning
back into life. Okay, somost of the organizations do have some sort
of aftercare support. So you know, if you're moving back to your home
(15:16):
state, making sure that you havea sponsor there and getting you know,
the meeting schedule in your area,that kind of thing. But we're there
to say, hey you. Alot of programs move from like on site
and patient to transition housing for likemaybe three to four months, and it's
during that time where we step inand we say, hey, you don't
have a car and you're going toneed one in four months. What is
(15:39):
your what does your finances look like? What does your credit look like?
Because now you have to find housingand most of the time, a lot
of times, I should say,their credit doesn't allow them to move into
an atmosphere that is conducive to alife of sobriety. That's that's a very
good point. You're right, becausea lot of the higher end ones where
you don't have that leftyle, theyare going to check things like credit right,
(16:00):
make sure you or your background.Yeah, yeah, absolutely and rightfully.
So I understand. I used tobe in property management and I understand,
and so you know, their needto make sure that who they're bringing
in is going to pay their rent. You know, No, I firmly,
firmly believe that we should work hardand trying to protect their credit,
have a job, and to right, and so coming alongside the individual and
(16:22):
pulling their credit report and being like, yeah, this is a fifty three
dollars to like Columbia Water, Likepay that off, you know, get
that paid, get that off yourcredit. A lot of these are medical
bills, and so getting down gettingsetting down with them and pulling up the
phone numbers and calling them and sayinglike, hey, I'd like to settle
(16:44):
or can I get on a paymentplan or you know, a phone bill
that's astronomical giving them a call.So I was mentoring this one person and
they had an eight hundred dollars cellphone bill that was from a couple of
years ago. Well, you know, if you don't pay and there's fees
and you owe for the phone orwhatever. And so the he called,
(17:07):
and it's funny because he put itoff and put it off and put it
Have you called them? Have youcalled them? He? No? I
just I don't know what to say. And I'm like, you literally say,
hey, I'd like to pay thisoff. What can you do with
that balance? They cut it inhalf, that's easy, and then they
offered him payments, but he waslike, I just want to get this
done, Like let's just get itoff my credit. So by kicking it
down the road for however many months, yeah, it just added to it
(17:30):
exactly exactly. And there was sucha fear of facing that shameful bill.
And it oftentimes takes somebody to comealongside you and say like, hey,
what do you have to lose?Give him a call, I'm right here,
and you know, the person onthe other line was asking questions and
he was like what I say,you know so, But we got through
(17:52):
that and he got it paid andit shot his credit up within the next
you know, couple of weeks,and it was just such a relief and
so sitting down and making sure thattheir credit is moving in the right direction
so that four or three months laterwhen they move out, they have a
better chance of finding a place.And it doesn't always work out, you
know, they're not going to havea seven hundred dollars in a seven hundred
(18:14):
credit score within three months, butnow we know what they're working with and
people who are pulling their credit orseeing that things are being paid right,
it's going up and rightly to findsomebody ticket chance on you, it's not
going to be in that bad environmentthat would make you slip back into that
exactly field, habits exactly, andthere's other options. You know, maybe
this person can't get an apartment ontheir own, but there might be somebody
(18:38):
who is also a working, youngprofessional who needs to rent out the second
bedroom of their apartment and is lookingfor a good, reliable roommate. And
because I've been working with you,I can advocate for you, I can
write you that reference letter. Andso there are a lot of benefits to
working with individuals there, you know, cleaning up their credit, budgeting,
(18:59):
just basic financial literacy. A lotof people addict or not don't have,
that's fair to say. And that'sa whole different altogether. I would be
glad to come back to that onefor that one also. But you know,
how much do you make a month? What are you spending? Where
can you cut? You know,what is the budget of getting you a
car to get you from a tob in this town, just from home
(19:22):
to work and grocery store that kindof thing. All right, Well,
if that's what you're looking at,how much do we need to save per
week to get you a car byX date? And you're gonna have expectations,
right, I mean, you can'tbuy a mailing to our house and
drive a Maserati. If you're righta bad boy, right exactly, you've
got to have the Oh, whichbrings me to the next subject. Oh,
let's just keep this rolling. Isfinding a career or job with a
(19:45):
livapool wage. So I was workingwith a gentleman. He's in his thirties,
and he said, I can't bea dish guy for the rest of
my life, right, I'm tiredof working in kitchens. I've got so
much more to offer, but myback ground and my use of addict you
know, use of substance has limitedme. And he actually got addicted to
(20:08):
opiates due to a shoulder injury.He was a baseball player. It's very
similar to the story I told earlier. And so because of that, he
had a d one scholarship that hedidn't pursue and has been struggling with addiction.
And he's always had a love andpassion for health and fitness. So
(20:30):
we talked about that a little bitmore, and I learned how much knowledge
he actually has of health and fitnessthrough team sports growing up and his own
journey through getting healthy. And Isaid, become a personal trainer and he
was like yeah, and I waslike, no, I'm serious, and
he goes, I can never bea personal trainer. I said why,
Well, his words, I'm anaddict, and why well, who would
(20:56):
want to train with me? Whydo you say that? And he had
all of these limiting beliefs and thenhe's like, well, I don't even
know where to begin. Well,you're talking to someone who's been in the
industry for over fourteen years, solet's get this. So I sent him
three different links of different personal trainingcertifications, benefits to each of them,
pricing, timeline, that kind ofthing, and he got certified. He's
(21:22):
certified personal trainer. He now hasclients and he's doing something he absolutely loves.
He's still working in a kitchen,but he can see further down the
road that the kitchen isn't his future. That something in health and fitnesses.
And so this is a story aboutpersonal training, but it could be cosmetology,
it could be welding. I mean, it could be anything, and
(21:44):
people just don't know what is outthere. So that's something else that the
Millionmail Project does is Okay, you'vegot a job right now that pays you
nothing to be able to live asober lifestyle. What do you want to
do and can we help move youin that direction? And it's not it's
not overnight again, I guess you'vegot to teach that long term, that
long vision. You're not you're notgoing to stop working in the kitchen tomorrow
(22:07):
and be you know, be atrainer to the stars, you know,
by by Thursday exactly. And youhave to be careful with that too,
not to think too far ahead becauseif they if they live too far in
the future, they get very discontentin the present. And that is a
big thing about recovery. You haveto be present. You have to be
thankful for what you have today.You have to be mindful and pray about
(22:30):
your sobriety today and yes, havegoals, but be present and grateful for
today. So that is why it'sone day at a time. That's smart.
Speaking this morning out Lauren Caschett,the founder of the Million Mile Project.
You can check out million Mile projectdot org for more information on the
program. How how do you findyour clients? How you know if somebody
if somebody's listening this morning saying youknow me or you know a lot of
(22:52):
times we're not self aware enough,it's gonna be somebody else who might say,
hey, Tyler, you need tocall these folks. How does how
does a potential client or you know, somebod who works with you come into
year fold. Yeah, so we'vehad a lot of referrals. It's all
referral based, but going to ourwebsite and using that phone number connects you
to one of two of us directly, and most of the time, I
(23:15):
mean, actually, I would sayat this moment it's been half and half,
but there's been a lot of timeswhere it's a family member. I'm
reaching out. This is our story, and that's often what it is because
either for the same reasons because they'resha ashamed of that, like the guy
who didn't want to call and reducehis phone bill, or he just not
being aware that this. You know, that's why we have interventions, Right,
you're not aware there's an issue,Right, You may not be constant
(23:37):
enough to go this really stinks on. It's just actually this past month,
it is a girl I've known foryears and she reached out to me months
ago when she knew that I startedthis organization, and she wanted just to
have an open discussion about her sibling, her sister, and the family was
just just drained and so scared forher and wanted her to get help,
(24:02):
and didn't know what resources were outthere, what was available, what options
they had, and she too thoughtthat it was just forty twenty nine day
facilities for her sister who didn't haveinsurance, and so to them she was
just you know, it was justshe just threw their hands up and just
pray for a change. So shehad been in contact with me and telling
(24:23):
me their story and explaining to mewhat was going on, where the girl
was, what she was using,and we just started that dialogue and so
I just was able to say thereare their programs, and we scholarship people
into programs who want the help,and just simply being a listening ear gives
(24:44):
the family members and the individual ifthey're the ones who call us, it's
a sigh of relief just knowing thatsomeone is there and there they can do
the work of looking up where youknow where to go, what resources there
are, the time frames, what'sthe best suitable program for them. And
so it took several months of usgoing back and forth talking and then I
(25:06):
got a call from her sister Wow. And what's really cool is two weekends
ago, I got a call fromher sister from the program that we scholarshipped
her in Okay. And the firstthirty days you're not soos to use the
phone, but the staff allowed herto call us because she wanted to thank
us for giving her a second chanceat life. And her words, she
(25:29):
said, I didn't think I wasever capable or worthy of the work I'm
putting into to turn my life around. That's pretty awesome. And that was
from months, maybe six months ofconversations with her sister. And so to
answer your question, how do peopleactually get connected with us? Is they
go to their website and use thephone number or email us. That seems
(25:49):
pretty pretty easy. Pretty easy,Yes, very very easy. They email
address this info at the Millionmail Projectdot org and then the phone number is
on their as well. And yeah, that's how we get connected. What
about you talked We have a couplemists left. You talked about mentors,
you know, besides you, wehave other mentors. You know, are
(26:11):
there opportunities for people to get involvedon that side if they're on the other
side of recovery and they're they've takenthat journey to done the work as you
as you say, and they're onthe other side. You know, are
there are there options for people becauseI knew, you know, like with
anything, you get diagnosed with cancer, whatever, it's easy to think you're
the only one who's ever had todeal with this. And I don't care
what your addiction or your problem is. You're not the only one. You're
(26:32):
not the first person to right tobe there. But you know, are
there options for people who are listeningto say, you know, listen,
I was I was that girl.You know, I did the work and
I would love to help be acog in the wheel. Yes. Absolutely,
we are in the process of buildingan ambassador program that's just helping us
raise awareness, reaching out to attendingevents, hosting events, whatever it is
(26:53):
that the Ambassador team wants to do, but on a more personal level,
if somebody wants to be the MenTour, We're absolutely going to be bringing
on more mentors within the next threemonths because as we grow, so does
our reach, and we need morepeople to reach further. And also,
if you've got an area of expertise, if you are a financial advisor and
(27:15):
you want to host a Zoom workshop, I say Zoom because we do have
clients all over the nation and youwant to do a thirty minute to an
our Zoom workshop on financial literacy oryou know, whatever it is. We
do offer that to our clients aswell. I love it. Okay.
So coming up behind a couple ofmonths on the nineteenth of October, Harvest
for Hope. It's happening here inColumbia actually, but it's a fundraiser and
(27:37):
awareness event happening at a great littlevenue just across the from downtown Columbi,
just outside of downtown Columbia. Ifyou're not familiar, but real good about
a minute a half tell me aboutthat. Yes, October nineteenth. So
it's being hosted by the Bistro,the restaurant on like Murray Boulevard here in
Armo, South Carolina. But wewe really just want to raise awareness and
spread the word of our mission andwhat we're doing, because it's been all
(28:02):
word of mouth, and let metell you, it has taken off faster
than what we can even hold onto. But we want people to know
that we are a resource and weare there for people, just like I
was that girl with her sister formonths and then we were able to get
her into a place and so raisingawareness, spreading the word, and then
we are five O one C threeand so this fundraiser will help us go
(28:23):
into twenty twenty four with a biggerreach and being able to serve more people,
families and individuals that struggle with substanceuse disorder and that Harvest for Hope
is open to anybody on the nineteen, Yes, anybody. Everything's on our
website, the tickets we are alsowe'll have sponsorship packages as well. So
(28:44):
yeah, should made a big time. I'm super excited about it. And
the bistro if you're not from Columbia, haven't eaten a bistro was yummy food.
It is wonderful. It is food. Lauren Cachette. Once again,
it is a million mile project.I just go to the dot orge Million
Mile Project dot org. We'll putlinks are you obviously on the podcast and
all the all the socials as itwere, when this thing goes up as
well, so you can connect veryvery easily. I appreciate your obviously your
(29:07):
passion for this, Lauren, andwhat you're what you're doing, what you're
trying to accomplish. It's it's ahard job, but you know, I
think you've got the heart for it. Yes, thank you so much,
and I'm glad that I can bea resource for those that were in my
situation years ago who couldn't help afamily member. That's why it started.
I love it Million Mile project.Guys, this has been Carolina Cares and
(29:29):
iHeartRadio production here on the South CarolinaRadio Network. My name is Tyler Ryan,
your host. Of course, youcan drop me an email Tyler at
Carolina Cares Radio dot com and loveto love to be a part of your
world as well as always A showgoes by real fast, which means we've
had thirty minutes and it's time forme to say to you. I will
speak with you in seven days.
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