November 19, 2025 • 8 mins
Tyler Kregel, Director of Outreach at Mel Trotter Ministries joins us to discuss how Mel Trotter Ministries meets people where they are at.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Bolly and thanks again to the Oberlin Group for that match.
You heard a buck fifty a turkey. That means you
are more powerful than ever if you make a donation.
Let us get a little update right now when it
comes to the number of turkeys. We are hoping for
five thousand turkeys. That's our goal this year. And again
(00:23):
if you go to turkey drop dot org you'll find
out more information. But as of eleven thirty six, we
are now at two thousand to four hundred and eighty
three turkeys.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Do you think we'll be able to hit that twenty
five hundred by now?
Speaker 1 (00:39):
I would hope so, Schmidt. The deal is, it gets
a little busy at noon and it gets kind of quiet,
so we can't gauge really where we are right now.
You can continue to give online at turkey drop dot
org stop by either Celebration Cinema North or South until
seven o'clock tonight. The Meltrotter Ministry is Jennithan thrift Store.
(01:01):
I've said that right yet, Jennison thrift Store, Methodist Episcopal.
I can't say that either. It's on Cottonwood in Jennison.
Now listen, we've gotten a couple of calls. If you
go downtown to Meltrotter on Commerce at two twenty five Commerces,
you can't just walk in there. You got to ring
the bell. It's kind of like a house. Don't just
walk into a house you don't know. Same with Meltrotter,
(01:24):
ring the bell and then someone will buzzy. In the
Miskegan Rescue Mission, my gosh, did we not just have
a passionate representative and Dan Skogland there they're on linked
in and Miskegan or Gateway mission in Holland on River Avenue.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
Can we give a couple of shoutouts to businesses that
have donated while we're out the air budget Blinds right
showed up with a van and forty frozen turkeys inside
life ems as they always traditionally do. Started us out
with a whole ambulance full of one hundred frozen turkeys.
So if you can collaborate at work and have some fun,
you know, bosses out there, maybe letting employee take some
(02:00):
time off to deliver them.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
Yeah for crying out that would be great. But for
hungry people.
Speaker 3 (02:05):
And we know there's other businesses out there, but again,
let us know, drop us a line, drop us a note,
and we'll be happy to give you a shout out.
Speaker 1 (02:12):
If you're a boss and you have an employee that
has asked for a little time off to help the
turkey drop and you say no, you also may qualify
to play the grunch at the Civic Deal.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
Well, wasn't sure where you were going. I was like, Oh,
we're hitting the down button.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
It's all positive, schmidty not unlike the director of outreach
on the liveline with us at Meltrotter Ministry's Tyler Kriegel's
with us, Tyler, thanks for doing this today.
Speaker 4 (02:38):
Yeah, happy to be here.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
Talk to us a little bit about what outreach means
for a ministry like Meltrotter. What an amazing organization and
it's one hundred and twenty fifth year, might we add.
Speaker 4 (02:50):
Yeah, Yeah, So myself and my team, along with some
other community partners, we go out into the streets every
day and engage with folks who are staying outside who
for whatever reason shoots to not come into shelter or
not able to, and we connect with them, build relationship
and try to help them figure out what's next. So
we'll try to help them work on housing, employment, recovery,
mental health, services just really try to build relationship, meet
(03:12):
them where they're at and try to help them figure
out what's next.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
Meeting people where they're at is kind of important, and
sometimes it takes patients give us a little more on that.
Chris Pulaski, the CEO, joined us a little while ago
and talked about a guy that lived in a planter
in the winter and it took a while, but eventually
and I'm crediting Chris for the help too, because he
said he would poke through the snow and the guy
would say, can you get me a coffee? And he
would talk to us a little bit about what persistence
(03:37):
means with outreach as well. There are some people that
just don't like the idea of being with other people,
but yet they need the services right and sometimes you
got to build a little trust.
Speaker 4 (03:49):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I mean I credit my team for
incredible patients and perseverance of just continuing to show up,
you know, demonstrated that we care, that we you know,
we want to help, and so just continually building that relationship,
continually showing up. You know, our yes is yes and
or no is no, and kind of as we build
trust and continue to show up and keep to our
(04:11):
promises that we can. You know, folks are able to
let us in a little bit. We're able to understand
a little more what's going on in their story and
in a situation, and then you know, we try to
really just be aware of all the resources in the
community and connected to those resources and try to move
as quickly as we can to try to make sure
they get connected to what they need so that they
can end their homelessness.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
You know, Tyler, I consider you guys the professionals, and
we talked about this earlier. People want to help. This
is West Michigan, and I think when we get into
the colder months right now, I know you guys have
talked about a Code Blue. We see some of these
individuals and things like frigid temperatures, we go, what can
we do? And that's when you can give and allow
your team to do exactly what needs to be done
(04:52):
for each individual person. Right, what does that look like?
Speaker 4 (04:56):
Yeah? Yeah, So when when when the really cold weather
h we activate Code Blue outreach where being my team
and some other volunteers go out and visit folks in
the evening or later hours of the night and we
will provide them transportation or ride back to shelter if
they're willing, and if they're not, we'll make sure they
got cold weather gear so that they can get through
the night.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
Give you let me put you on the spot. We've
done this to everybody that we've had on the program
so far from the time that you've been with mel Trotter.
Is there a story that you like to tell that
pops in your head right now? But transformation about the
difference that the ministry with mel Trotter has made. Maybe
somebody that you've seen out in the field that now
(05:37):
is in a much more stable situation.
Speaker 4 (05:41):
Yeah, I can think of one client. We've got a
mobile shower unit where we bring to a few different
sites throughout the city where folks that are staying outside
can get access to a shower, get cleaned up, and
then we use that as kind of a resource hub
to help them take step forward in their lives. And
we had one individual show up who was pretty intoxicated,
and he showed up, took a shower, and then went
to the party store to buy some more alcohol. And
(06:03):
he came back and said that the party store wouldn't
even serve him anymore. And he didn't know what to do,
and we kind of had a recovery conversation and conversation
about what kind of addressed in that problem is life
might look like. And he was willing. He kind of
saw it as a sign that God was telling him
this time to be done, and so we were able
to get him connected to recovery services. He went through
recovery program and then a few months later he was
(06:24):
volunteering in our kitchen providing meals for our preparing meals
for outreach to sort of the same population that he
was a few months prior. And so it's really cool
to see that full circle come about and that transformation happened.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
You hear about the hands and feet, don't you, And
you get to see it right up front, right on
the line.
Speaker 4 (06:43):
Wow, Tyler something yea, yeah, it's pretty cool.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
If someone is listening right now to our broadcast. I'm
just curious how this works, because, like Sweety said, you
guys and your team are the professionals when it comes
to outreach. If someone thinks there is someone homeless in
their community in the West Michigan area, or they see
someone and they're concerned, can they contact you guys and
let you know of that individual where they are.
Speaker 4 (07:08):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely, Yeah. We've got a contact form on
our website so if anyone sees anybody experience in homelessness
and it is concerned, definitely you can summit something right
on our website. The team willfford it to me and
my team and then we'll activate from there and make
sure that we try to connect with that individual and
get them connected to the services they might need.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
And that's shower truck. It's just it's such a simple thing,
but the difference the compassion of a shower is and
then having the resources within that as well. That's not free.
Those units, those things you've got to pay staff. It takes.
That's what donations to Meltrotter help take care of. And
(07:48):
outside of the Turkey drop for Meltrotter Ministries, there are
amazing things being done. The director of Outreach at Meltrotter Ministries,
Tiger Tyler Kriegel, is with us this more. Thank you
so much for your time today. We appreciate all the
work that you're doing.
Speaker 4 (08:04):
Yeah. Absolutely, thanks for having me
Bolly and thanks again to the Oberlin Group for that match.
You heard a buck fifty a turkey. That means you
are more powerful than ever if you make a donation.
Let us get a little update right now when it
comes to the number of turkeys. We are hoping for
five thousand turkeys. That's our goal this year. And again
(00:23):
if you go to turkey drop dot org you'll find
out more information. But as of eleven thirty six, we
are now at two thousand to four hundred and eighty
three turkeys.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Do you think we'll be able to hit that twenty
five hundred by now?
Speaker 1 (00:39):
I would hope so, Schmidt. The deal is, it gets
a little busy at noon and it gets kind of quiet,
so we can't gauge really where we are right now.
You can continue to give online at turkey drop dot
org stop by either Celebration Cinema North or South until
seven o'clock tonight. The Meltrotter Ministry is Jennithan thrift Store.
(01:01):
I've said that right yet, Jennison thrift Store, Methodist Episcopal.
I can't say that either. It's on Cottonwood in Jennison.
Now listen, we've gotten a couple of calls. If you
go downtown to Meltrotter on Commerce at two twenty five Commerces,
you can't just walk in there. You got to ring
the bell. It's kind of like a house. Don't just
walk into a house you don't know. Same with Meltrotter,
(01:24):
ring the bell and then someone will buzzy. In the
Miskegan Rescue Mission, my gosh, did we not just have
a passionate representative and Dan Skogland there they're on linked
in and Miskegan or Gateway mission in Holland on River Avenue.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
Can we give a couple of shoutouts to businesses that
have donated while we're out the air budget Blinds right
showed up with a van and forty frozen turkeys inside
life ems as they always traditionally do. Started us out
with a whole ambulance full of one hundred frozen turkeys.
So if you can collaborate at work and have some fun,
you know, bosses out there, maybe letting employee take some
(02:00):
time off to deliver them.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
Yeah for crying out that would be great. But for
hungry people.
Speaker 3 (02:05):
And we know there's other businesses out there, but again,
let us know, drop us a line, drop us a note,
and we'll be happy to give you a shout out.
Speaker 1 (02:12):
If you're a boss and you have an employee that
has asked for a little time off to help the
turkey drop and you say no, you also may qualify
to play the grunch at the Civic Deal.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
Well, wasn't sure where you were going. I was like, Oh,
we're hitting the down button.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
It's all positive, schmidty not unlike the director of outreach
on the liveline with us at Meltrotter Ministry's Tyler Kriegel's
with us, Tyler, thanks for doing this today.
Speaker 4 (02:38):
Yeah, happy to be here.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
Talk to us a little bit about what outreach means
for a ministry like Meltrotter. What an amazing organization and
it's one hundred and twenty fifth year, might we add.
Speaker 4 (02:50):
Yeah, Yeah, So myself and my team, along with some
other community partners, we go out into the streets every
day and engage with folks who are staying outside who
for whatever reason shoots to not come into shelter or
not able to, and we connect with them, build relationship
and try to help them figure out what's next. So
we'll try to help them work on housing, employment, recovery,
mental health, services just really try to build relationship, meet
(03:12):
them where they're at and try to help them figure
out what's next.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
Meeting people where they're at is kind of important, and
sometimes it takes patients give us a little more on that.
Chris Pulaski, the CEO, joined us a little while ago
and talked about a guy that lived in a planter
in the winter and it took a while, but eventually
and I'm crediting Chris for the help too, because he
said he would poke through the snow and the guy
would say, can you get me a coffee? And he
would talk to us a little bit about what persistence
(03:37):
means with outreach as well. There are some people that
just don't like the idea of being with other people,
but yet they need the services right and sometimes you
got to build a little trust.
Speaker 4 (03:49):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I mean I credit my team for
incredible patients and perseverance of just continuing to show up,
you know, demonstrated that we care, that we you know,
we want to help, and so just continually building that relationship,
continually showing up. You know, our yes is yes and
or no is no, and kind of as we build
trust and continue to show up and keep to our
(04:11):
promises that we can. You know, folks are able to
let us in a little bit. We're able to understand
a little more what's going on in their story and
in a situation, and then you know, we try to
really just be aware of all the resources in the
community and connected to those resources and try to move
as quickly as we can to try to make sure
they get connected to what they need so that they
can end their homelessness.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
You know, Tyler, I consider you guys the professionals, and
we talked about this earlier. People want to help. This
is West Michigan, and I think when we get into
the colder months right now, I know you guys have
talked about a Code Blue. We see some of these
individuals and things like frigid temperatures, we go, what can
we do? And that's when you can give and allow
your team to do exactly what needs to be done
(04:52):
for each individual person. Right, what does that look like?
Speaker 4 (04:56):
Yeah? Yeah, So when when when the really cold weather
h we activate Code Blue outreach where being my team
and some other volunteers go out and visit folks in
the evening or later hours of the night and we
will provide them transportation or ride back to shelter if
they're willing, and if they're not, we'll make sure they
got cold weather gear so that they can get through
the night.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
Give you let me put you on the spot. We've
done this to everybody that we've had on the program
so far from the time that you've been with mel Trotter.
Is there a story that you like to tell that
pops in your head right now? But transformation about the
difference that the ministry with mel Trotter has made. Maybe
somebody that you've seen out in the field that now
(05:37):
is in a much more stable situation.
Speaker 4 (05:41):
Yeah, I can think of one client. We've got a
mobile shower unit where we bring to a few different
sites throughout the city where folks that are staying outside
can get access to a shower, get cleaned up, and
then we use that as kind of a resource hub
to help them take step forward in their lives. And
we had one individual show up who was pretty intoxicated,
and he showed up, took a shower, and then went
to the party store to buy some more alcohol. And
(06:03):
he came back and said that the party store wouldn't
even serve him anymore. And he didn't know what to do,
and we kind of had a recovery conversation and conversation
about what kind of addressed in that problem is life
might look like. And he was willing. He kind of
saw it as a sign that God was telling him
this time to be done, and so we were able
to get him connected to recovery services. He went through
recovery program and then a few months later he was
(06:24):
volunteering in our kitchen providing meals for our preparing meals
for outreach to sort of the same population that he
was a few months prior. And so it's really cool
to see that full circle come about and that transformation happened.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
You hear about the hands and feet, don't you, And
you get to see it right up front, right on
the line.
Speaker 4 (06:43):
Wow, Tyler something yea, yeah, it's pretty cool.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
If someone is listening right now to our broadcast. I'm
just curious how this works, because, like Sweety said, you
guys and your team are the professionals when it comes
to outreach. If someone thinks there is someone homeless in
their community in the West Michigan area, or they see
someone and they're concerned, can they contact you guys and
let you know of that individual where they are.
Speaker 4 (07:08):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely, Yeah. We've got a contact form on
our website so if anyone sees anybody experience in homelessness
and it is concerned, definitely you can summit something right
on our website. The team willfford it to me and
my team and then we'll activate from there and make
sure that we try to connect with that individual and
get them connected to the services they might need.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
And that's shower truck. It's just it's such a simple thing,
but the difference the compassion of a shower is and
then having the resources within that as well. That's not free.
Those units, those things you've got to pay staff. It takes.
That's what donations to Meltrotter help take care of. And
(07:48):
outside of the Turkey drop for Meltrotter Ministries, there are
amazing things being done. The director of Outreach at Meltrotter Ministries,
Tiger Tyler Kriegel, is with us this more. Thank you
so much for your time today. We appreciate all the
work that you're doing.
Speaker 4 (08:04):
Yeah. Absolutely, thanks for having me
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