TrulySignificant.com celebrates MiracleFoundation.org and their inspiring leader Leslie Beasley.
Learn the story and vision behind this Austin based company "of significance" as they find a family for every child. What is the internal compass that guides MiracleFoundation.org?
Hear Leslie talk about ensuring safety, stabililty and holding love as "NON-NEGOTIABLE."
Listen to Leslie riff about fathers and how the landscape of missing dads is starting to change. Is our modern miracle seen as men starting to rise up and protect their families?
Contribute today to www.miraclefoundation.org
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/success-made-to-last-legends--4302039/support.
Learn the story and vision behind this Austin based company "of significance" as they find a family for every child. What is the internal compass that guides MiracleFoundation.org?
Hear Leslie talk about ensuring safety, stabililty and holding love as "NON-NEGOTIABLE."
Listen to Leslie riff about fathers and how the landscape of missing dads is starting to change. Is our modern miracle seen as men starting to rise up and protect their families?
Contribute today to www.miraclefoundation.org
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/success-made-to-last-legends--4302039/support.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
And welcome back to Truly Significant dot com Presents.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
I'm Rick Tolkeini.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
Our very special guest live from Austin, Texas, is Leslie Beasley.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
She's the CEO leader of.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
The Miracle Foundation, and we're honoring her today for her journey.
But we also know that she's a nominee for Austin's
Business Journal Best CEO Award. That aside from all the
other accomplishments that you are you have achieved, we'd love
to know from you, Leslie, why in the world did
(00:46):
you get into this space called the Miracle Foundation.
Speaker 3 (00:52):
Well, Hi, Rick, thank you for having me. I'm delighted
to be here. And it's a great question. I you know,
Miracle Foundation is about empowering children around the world to
reach their full potential. And what we know from a
(01:15):
lot of data, a lot of data from all over
the world, is that children reach their full potential when
they're in families. That children need families, they don't need
to grow up in orphanages, institutional care institutions don't know
how to raise children. And the way I got into
(01:35):
this work is I actually started my career trying to
make orphanages better and I was in Uganda. I was
in a refugee camp and my purpose for being in
Uganda was to look at orphanages, sustainability, a lot of
(01:57):
things that we were doing to try to take care
of children inside the walls of orphanages. And I ended
up in this refugee camp with all these women who
had been displaced because of war. Their children had been
their little boys had been snatched and turned into child soldiers,
(02:18):
they had been raped. I mean, it was just like
things that just make you want to curl up in
a ball and die. And what I saw in these
women was all this resilience and this intense love for
their children. And what they told me is that they
were giving their children to orphanages because orphanage leaders were
(02:42):
telling them that their children were better off than orphanages.
And it was like this epiphany. I just realized, wait
a second, these children have parents. They're not what we
think of as orphans. They actually had a living mother
or father. And it sent me on this long sort
(03:04):
of journey to find out that eighty percent of children
that we consider orphans actually have a living mother or father,
and the vast majority of the time it's single moms.
(03:26):
They want to take care of their children. They love
their children, but oftentimes poverty is the driving factor. So
this passion of mine led me to Miracle Foundation. That
is our work today. Our work today is to get
children out of institutional care, where it be in the
(03:49):
United States, whether it be in India, whether it be
in Africa, wherever it is. Because children are growing up
in systems right here in the US as well. Get
them out of these systems and into their forever families.
And a high percentage of the time it's their own
biological family, their mom, their grandmother, their aunt, their uncle.
(04:13):
It's beautiful work, beautiful work.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
Thank you so much for that, Thank you for your service,
for your big heart. It makes me wonder what we
can say to the next generation who's trying to understand
what their own purpose in life is and what I'm
wondering at what age did you have that epiphany?
Speaker 3 (04:42):
I when I was you were talking about when this
story when I was in Africa, Yes, I was. Probably
That's a good question. No one ever asked me that
what was my age when I was there? I was
in my late thirties.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
What had happened to you between your teenage years in
your late thirties that prepared your heart for this mission.
Speaker 3 (05:18):
I would say that if I think about what the
first thing that comes to mind is my dad. I
think just as a young kid, he was so service
oriented that it just got into my DNA. One of
(05:40):
the stories about my dad is this is this is
such a heart wrenching story. But I was in we
spent some years in Mississippi. Of course, this is years ago,
so not a reflection of today at all. I had
(06:01):
a friend who was one of my best friends in
high school, a black guy, Jesse Jesse Bilbro and my
dad with all my friends, we were the hangout house.
And my dad gets a call one day and I
hear him saying on the phone, you know, basically go
(06:26):
to hell. And I thought, wow, that's really shocking to me,
you know, as a kid, Like, why'd you say that?
What happened?
Speaker 2 (06:34):
Dad?
Speaker 3 (06:35):
And he said that he had received a phone call
that this boy better never be seen at our house again.
And what really changed the formation of my heart was
that even though my dad's response was we don't care
what you say, of course, that's these friendships will not change,
(07:00):
the same phone call happened at his house and scared
the family. He never came over again, and I remember
feeling so heartbroken, and I felt so like my hands
tied behind my back, Like what am I supposed to
(07:21):
do this? I was a kid, you know, later in
life I thought, man, I should have like led a
march through the town, or you know, I kind of
regretted not taking some kind of really bold action. I
just sort of sat in my grief and confusion. And
that has really informed that That has informed who I
(07:43):
am and who I've always been since then is take action.
Don't just sit and grieve and get angry, but take action.
And that the world can be pretty harsh and unjust,
(08:05):
and it takes each one of us to take a
stand for justice, equality, equitability, and we if we each
do that, then think about what this world would be.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
So that's exactly right. It's those turning point moments, isn't it.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
It really was?
Speaker 4 (08:30):
That was zero, That was a zero moment of truth
moment in time. It was even if you didn't take
the bold action at the time, what you're doing now,
it's like you're living.
Speaker 2 (08:42):
The volation every single day.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
Yeah, families, we know are complex and imperfect. Can you
share a kind of the inside. Look at how the
Miracle Foundation honors the new wants a family while ensuring
safety and stability, knowing that love is non negotiable.
Speaker 3 (09:12):
That's right, love is non negotiable. What we do at
Miracle Foundation is we have a methodology called the Thrife Skill,
and when a child is being reunified with their family
or placed in any forever family, there's five well being
domains that have to be measured to make sure that
(09:35):
the child is safe and it's sustainable, that they won't
that there won't be a breakdown, and then they have
to go back out of the family. And those things
are very you know obvious. It's safety, right, safety and protection.
So the child, we need to make sure that there
(09:56):
are social relationships not just in their house, but is
there anybody creepy living around them? We are social workers
measure that and make sure that in this home that
child is safe. Physical and mental health is a big one,
especially mental health. We have to make sure that the
(10:17):
whole the caregiver, the child, everybody has access to support
for mental health. Education. Is that child getting an education
if they need tutoring? Are they are they? Do they
have access to that tutoring? What do, we need to
make sure that that happens. And economic conditioned is the family.
(10:43):
Does a family have enough income to feed the child
and to give them the food and nutrition that they need.
So we measure these well being domains and and the
other one is living cans just to make sure that
the living conditions are good. We work all over the
world and we just need to make sure that the
(11:07):
living conditions that the child's in are safe for that child.
So when we measure these five well being domains, we're
able to put in interventions wherever they're needed, and then
we measure those interventions, we watch them, so we follow
the child for three years to make sure that if
there was any of those five well being domains that
(11:28):
needed help, that were able to put those interventions in place,
activate them, adjust and make sure that at the end
of the day the child is thriving. And that love
is non negotiable. I love that you said that, and
we are seeing incredible, incredible success. There's a lot of
misnomers in the world. There's a misnomer that there's a
(11:55):
misnomer that parents don't love their children. If a child
has has been institutionalized in some way, it's a misnomer
that all these children that have been separated from their
family have faced abuse. It happens, for sure, but it's
a misnomer that that's the majority. So often. I'll give
(12:17):
you an example. In the United States, this is a
pretty common scenario. Single mom, she has to work two
and sometimes three jobs, she does not have access to childcare.
Child gets sick, she has to go to work, so
(12:44):
she leaves child at home. Turns into a negligence case.
Neighbor comes over, childs by themself. Something's not going right.
Social service get called in, child gets removed, But it's
not because that mom doesn't love that child. She's working
(13:08):
her butt off for the child. And there's just some
safety nets that are not in place that can cause
a child to separate, and just with a little support,
the child and the family can be together. So oftentimes
we talk about if the approach just changes a little bit,
(13:30):
instead of viewing the family as the villain in the story,
just the approach just instead think of them as a
family that we want to support and activate around them
so that they can keep their child. And that's happening,
(13:51):
That's happening all over the world right now, and it's working.
And of course, if the child's not safe, does any
of those five well being domains put them in crisis?
We don't put them in family. So that's first and foremost.
But the misnomer is that it's just this terrible abuse
all the time. It's not true.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
Hey, before we go to break, I want you to
comment on over the last twenty four years of your
work at the Miracle Foundation, can you note any progress
that may have been made with fathers? Because fathers seem
to be the absentee player here.
Speaker 2 (14:35):
Do they love anymore or less?
Speaker 1 (14:37):
Has there been any progress about fathers taking more accountability
for their children?
Speaker 3 (14:45):
That is a very very insightful question. Do you want
me to answer it now or after the break?
Speaker 1 (14:54):
Let's answer it after the break and suspend our audience
into this ninety seconds so I can't wait, dear Leslie.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
We'll be right back after this quickness.
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Speaker 1 (16:52):
Okay, Leslie, Now you can answer that sixty four million
dollar question about dads.
Speaker 3 (17:02):
The sad reality is so often we are dealing with
single moms, so this question about dads is incredibly important.
There are a lot of conversations and around this very
question about dads and where are the dads in this
(17:27):
a lot of times you know, again, we work around
the world, so oftentimes the dad is gone, he's either
passed away or left. And I'll tell you a story.
Do you want to hear? Are you okay to hear
stories in other places of the world or just the US.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
I think your global perspective will teach American So fire
away from around the world.
Speaker 3 (17:57):
Okay. I was just in India two weeks ago and
we were showing some of our ambassadors, people who were
involved with Miracle Foundation. We were showing them the work
on the ground. And day one was reunifications, meeting families
who had been reunified. Day two was showing livelihoods. How
we help activate livelihoods so families can take care of
(18:20):
their children, they have a source of income coming in.
And one of our ambassadors said, what about the dads.
Where are the dads in this equation? Where are the mentors,
the men, male mentors to these young teenage boys. And
(18:41):
the third day we went to a village to show
our prevention work. Our prevention work around the world and
in the US is the intention is to prevent children
from ever separating in the first place, and this person
that asked that question just lit up like a Christmas tree.
(19:04):
Because part of the prevention program is to activate number
one young men in their twenties ish age to serve
as mentors to these younger boys that are growing up.
And a young man got up. He was about twenty one,
(19:27):
and he said that being a mentor has called him
up and to realize his role and how important it is.
Then the adults in the community came in and it
was a mix of men and women, and I think
(19:49):
this is what's when you start talking about child protection
and how communities need child protection, and you activate volunteer
to be looking for those red flags and where is
there a family at risk, a child at risk, and
the whole community is rallying around. What we're seeing on
(20:10):
the ground in these small villages is that the men
are beginning to rise up because they're watching these young
twenty year old men, and they're watching these young children
who are part of these advocacy committees, and they're watching
(20:31):
these women talk about how important it is child protection
and they're rising up. And so this is the coolest
part is that night we had a performance and some
of the children were putting on a show and we
looked around and there are all these dads that were
standing there clapping for their kids, proud standing next to
(20:56):
their wives. It's actually a distinct difference from just like
ten years ago. I think inviting them in it matters
a lot, and education matters. Dads love their children too.
Speaker 2 (21:18):
Amen.
Speaker 1 (21:20):
That is a perfect bridge to the concept of a miracle.
And for those listeners out there that went to Sunday
School and you learned about all the miracles that Jesus
performed and some miracles that people think that Moses performed.
(21:41):
I happen to think that miracles are on a road
and some of them are long range. That last example
of men beginning to rise up is as much a
miracle as healing a person on the spot.
Speaker 3 (22:00):
Right, That's right. That is really well said and that's correct.
Speaker 1 (22:08):
So how do we support the Miracle Foundation and how
do we contact your team? And where does a dollar go?
Speaker 3 (22:21):
So Miracle Foundation dot org is our website. You can
also on our website is all the contact information. I'm
Leslie at Miracle Foundation dot org. We talk about three
things and it's it's money, megaphone and minutes. Those are
(22:48):
three ways to help the organization. If we don't have
people giving money, we don't have the fuel that moves
the program forward. Partnering with us by giving funds is
as important as anything because it's the fuel. Megaphone is
(23:11):
getting out there spreading the world doing exactly what you're doing, Rick,
just so, I mean, you've got this big megaphone that
and people have megaphones, they have megaphones in their own families,
megaphones and social media. Just getting out there and being
a part of spreading awareness is huge, huge, And then minutes.
(23:34):
Some people are like, I don't have a lot of
money to give, but I have time and giving time
where where you have a skill or you have a
real high like for example, we have a actually have
a product, a technology, we have an app. It's very
unusual for a nonprofit, and so we have people who
(23:56):
are like, I know technology, this is my skill set,
and so we'll put together a group of people who
have skills in this area and you use that kind
of experience. So money, megaphone, and minutes. Those are the
three ways to help. And the cost of the dollar
is it costs about twelve hundred and sixty one dollars
(24:22):
that's it. Ultimately, to get a child from institution into
family twelve sixty one a year. Do you know it's
five times less expensive to support a family than support
an orphanage or any kind of institutional care because it
never ends. It just goes on and on and on
(24:44):
and on. But when you support a family, you exit
because they become sustainable and they move on. It's not
something that has to be there forever. Twelve hundred and
sixty one per child.
Speaker 2 (24:58):
That's amazing, such a modest amount.
Speaker 1 (25:02):
I know your team and you you know you're being
nominated for Best CEO. But I look at it as now,
this is an award about significance, and this is going
to the entire team.
Speaker 2 (25:15):
This is going to the vision and mission.
Speaker 1 (25:18):
And I see this as you're in this ocean competing
against all the other nonprofits out there and then all
the other things that are going on that people can
donate to. And I have such a keener understanding after
talking to you for a few minutes about how your
organization's got to rise up above everybody else to become
(25:43):
front of mind, in front of heart. How are you
going to do that in the next year. Differently from
you than what you've done in the last twenty four years.
Speaker 3 (25:54):
Oh, that's a good question. Well, number one, I would
say that the point of different differentiation from Miracle Foundations
that we're focused on children and when children thrive, families thrive.
If you see a child that's thriving, the odds are
(26:19):
their families thriving. If families are thriving, communities thrive. If
communities thrive, cities thrive, If cities thrive, nations thrive. It
starts with if we are making sure that we are
taking care of the children, everything else is going to
fall into place. So I think that's that's where we
(26:41):
need to focus, is let's take care of the children
of this world so everything else can fall into place
and we can have healthy, growing, thriving citizens when these
children grow up. And your question about how we're going
to get that message out differently is it's a really
(27:02):
great question. Times are different and there are there are
different ways in today's world because very noisy, you know,
I would say, just on a real practical level, most
people get their news, their information, their trust through just
(27:27):
a few influencers. It's different, you know, it's different than
going on the news stations and and so one of
the things that we're doing differently to let people and
also there's just a trust factor today that didn't used
to It's it's there's a lack of trust in today's
(27:52):
world that organizations that are trying to go out and
create social impact, there's a lot of trust you have
to gain. First. People don't want to just give their money.
They want to make sure they can trust what you're doing.
So it's important on Charity Navigator that it's very important
(28:13):
people look at Charity Navigator and make sure whoever they're
giving to is ranked very high. We are ranked very high.
That is a trustworthy stamp of approval. It's a gold
star stamp. And then your question about how are we
doing it differently, We're going to where the people are.
(28:34):
We're going to where people get their information. So we've
partnered with a number of influencers that know us and
trust us and love us and love our work, who
can then talk to people that trust them. That's different
than what it used to be. I would say that's
a really big change, a really big change. In the
(28:57):
next looking forward, we're also using a lot of AI
and looking for people who have a heart for this
kind of work, who love children, who doesn't love children,
but and people who want to give and change the
world and be a part of making a difference. We're
(29:20):
tapping into this whole AI conversation, which I think if
if you don't, you're left behind. As in a nonprofit
or business, it's all the same in that regard. And
just to try to get through all the noise and
tap into people's hearts. You know, I always talk about this,
(29:41):
you know, the why, So we have to we have
to stay focused on the why. Why are we doing
this work? Why do we care? And why does it matter?
And at the end of the day, every human being
on this planet, there's one one thing that every single
person has in common, and it's they want to matter.
(30:05):
Everybody wants to matter. And when it comes to social
impact work, our donors, our partners, that's what they're doing.
It matters. It matters to give, It matters, it matters
to change the world. You know, we lift people up,
everybody rises, that is a fact. So that's what I
(30:30):
would say, is to keep that heart, keep people's hearts
open and minds open. That's our work, and just go
where people are listening.
Speaker 1 (30:43):
Way to go the following is just a commentary on
you and your organization. A lot of people that listen
to this show know that we are students of scripture
and we've been looking at the Book of Acts and
(31:04):
the original churches that are out there, and there's three
words that describe the original church, love and action. They
came together as a community to help each other. Is
it a far fetched idea to think.
Speaker 2 (31:22):
That you are in the coming years, you're the new Church.
Speaker 3 (31:31):
I don't think that's a far fetched idea.
Speaker 1 (31:36):
You know.
Speaker 3 (31:38):
A verse that's been a driving verse for me since
I was young is James one twenty seven, take care
of the orphans and the widows and prevent. That's what
pure religion is. Pure, pure religion.
Speaker 1 (31:53):
Pure stole the words out of my mouth because I
was going to say, there's only a couple of commandments.
That's one of them from the truly Significant Jesus.
Speaker 2 (32:04):
We just wrote a book on truly.
Speaker 1 (32:06):
Significance and we said, there's really only one person, but
here's forty other stories, you know, But Jay, that's a
call to action.
Speaker 2 (32:15):
So who's doing it?
Speaker 1 (32:16):
The Miracle Foundation is doing it.
Speaker 2 (32:19):
So that's where that's where we went.
Speaker 1 (32:21):
A equals B B equal C, so equal C.
Speaker 2 (32:24):
You're could it be you're walking to talk?
Speaker 3 (32:30):
It's a it's a really good question to ponder. I
think we do have to pay attention to not what
people say, but what people do, and that is all
through scripture all the way down to that verse. I mean,
here's the definition of pure religion is taking care of
(32:50):
the orphans and the widows and not being polluted by
the world. It's it's it's real clear. So I think
that's a really interesting question to ponder, and I don't
think it's very far fetched.
Speaker 1 (33:06):
When all is said and done. If we're trying, if
we're trying to move our culture, in the world's culture
from success to significance, that means go do something, responded
to call of act to call of action, just like
the book behind me. The Spare Room is about finding
room in your heart is what the Miracle foundation is
(33:28):
as well. I'm so glad that you were on.
Speaker 2 (33:32):
We're honored to honor you.
Speaker 1 (33:33):
We're going to do another show with you for certain
and let's catch coffee together here in Austin somehow, some way.
Speaker 3 (33:40):
I would absolutely love that. I can't wait.
Speaker 1 (33:43):
Excellent, Now give us your your information.
Speaker 2 (33:46):
One more time on how we can contact you.
Speaker 3 (33:49):
Miracle Foundation dot org is the website. I'm Miracle Foundation
dot org and then feel free to reach out to
me Leslie at Miracle Foundation dot org. Either one of
those would be fantastic.
Speaker 2 (34:05):
So great to have you on.
Speaker 1 (34:06):
Thanks again, and folks, as we always say here, we
wish you success but on your way to significance.
Speaker 2 (34:12):
Do you want to do something today? Donate to the
Miracle Foundation. Have a great week.
And welcome back to Truly Significant dot com Presents.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
I'm Rick Tolkeini.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
Our very special guest live from Austin, Texas, is Leslie Beasley.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
She's the CEO leader of.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
The Miracle Foundation, and we're honoring her today for her journey.
But we also know that she's a nominee for Austin's
Business Journal Best CEO Award. That aside from all the
other accomplishments that you are you have achieved, we'd love
to know from you, Leslie, why in the world did
(00:46):
you get into this space called the Miracle Foundation.
Speaker 3 (00:52):
Well, Hi, Rick, thank you for having me. I'm delighted
to be here. And it's a great question. I you know,
Miracle Foundation is about empowering children around the world to
reach their full potential. And what we know from a
(01:15):
lot of data, a lot of data from all over
the world, is that children reach their full potential when
they're in families. That children need families, they don't need
to grow up in orphanages, institutional care institutions don't know
how to raise children. And the way I got into
(01:35):
this work is I actually started my career trying to
make orphanages better and I was in Uganda. I was
in a refugee camp and my purpose for being in
Uganda was to look at orphanages, sustainability, a lot of
(01:57):
things that we were doing to try to take care
of children inside the walls of orphanages. And I ended
up in this refugee camp with all these women who
had been displaced because of war. Their children had been
their little boys had been snatched and turned into child soldiers,
(02:18):
they had been raped. I mean, it was just like
things that just make you want to curl up in
a ball and die. And what I saw in these
women was all this resilience and this intense love for
their children. And what they told me is that they
were giving their children to orphanages because orphanage leaders were
(02:42):
telling them that their children were better off than orphanages.
And it was like this epiphany. I just realized, wait
a second, these children have parents. They're not what we
think of as orphans. They actually had a living mother
or father. And it sent me on this long sort
(03:04):
of journey to find out that eighty percent of children
that we consider orphans actually have a living mother or father,
and the vast majority of the time it's single moms.
(03:26):
They want to take care of their children. They love
their children, but oftentimes poverty is the driving factor. So
this passion of mine led me to Miracle Foundation. That
is our work today. Our work today is to get
children out of institutional care, where it be in the
(03:49):
United States, whether it be in India, whether it be
in Africa, wherever it is. Because children are growing up
in systems right here in the US as well. Get
them out of these systems and into their forever families.
And a high percentage of the time it's their own
biological family, their mom, their grandmother, their aunt, their uncle.
(04:13):
It's beautiful work, beautiful work.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
Thank you so much for that, Thank you for your service,
for your big heart. It makes me wonder what we
can say to the next generation who's trying to understand
what their own purpose in life is and what I'm
wondering at what age did you have that epiphany?
Speaker 3 (04:42):
I when I was you were talking about when this
story when I was in Africa, Yes, I was. Probably
That's a good question. No one ever asked me that
what was my age when I was there? I was
in my late thirties.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
What had happened to you between your teenage years in
your late thirties that prepared your heart for this mission.
Speaker 3 (05:18):
I would say that if I think about what the
first thing that comes to mind is my dad. I
think just as a young kid, he was so service
oriented that it just got into my DNA. One of
(05:40):
the stories about my dad is this is this is
such a heart wrenching story. But I was in we
spent some years in Mississippi. Of course, this is years ago,
so not a reflection of today at all. I had
(06:01):
a friend who was one of my best friends in
high school, a black guy, Jesse Jesse Bilbro and my
dad with all my friends, we were the hangout house.
And my dad gets a call one day and I
hear him saying on the phone, you know, basically go
(06:26):
to hell. And I thought, wow, that's really shocking to me,
you know, as a kid, Like, why'd you say that?
What happened?
Speaker 2 (06:34):
Dad?
Speaker 3 (06:35):
And he said that he had received a phone call
that this boy better never be seen at our house again.
And what really changed the formation of my heart was
that even though my dad's response was we don't care
what you say, of course, that's these friendships will not change,
(07:00):
the same phone call happened at his house and scared
the family. He never came over again, and I remember
feeling so heartbroken, and I felt so like my hands
tied behind my back, Like what am I supposed to
(07:21):
do this? I was a kid, you know, later in
life I thought, man, I should have like led a
march through the town, or you know, I kind of
regretted not taking some kind of really bold action. I
just sort of sat in my grief and confusion. And
that has really informed that That has informed who I
(07:43):
am and who I've always been since then is take action.
Don't just sit and grieve and get angry, but take action.
And that the world can be pretty harsh and unjust,
(08:05):
and it takes each one of us to take a
stand for justice, equality, equitability, and we if we each
do that, then think about what this world would be.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
So that's exactly right. It's those turning point moments, isn't it.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
It really was?
Speaker 4 (08:30):
That was zero, That was a zero moment of truth
moment in time. It was even if you didn't take
the bold action at the time, what you're doing now,
it's like you're living.
Speaker 2 (08:42):
The volation every single day.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
Yeah, families, we know are complex and imperfect. Can you
share a kind of the inside. Look at how the
Miracle Foundation honors the new wants a family while ensuring
safety and stability, knowing that love is non negotiable.
Speaker 3 (09:12):
That's right, love is non negotiable. What we do at
Miracle Foundation is we have a methodology called the Thrife Skill,
and when a child is being reunified with their family
or placed in any forever family, there's five well being
domains that have to be measured to make sure that
(09:35):
the child is safe and it's sustainable, that they won't
that there won't be a breakdown, and then they have
to go back out of the family. And those things
are very you know obvious. It's safety, right, safety and protection.
So the child, we need to make sure that there
(09:56):
are social relationships not just in their house, but is
there anybody creepy living around them? We are social workers
measure that and make sure that in this home that
child is safe. Physical and mental health is a big one,
especially mental health. We have to make sure that the
(10:17):
whole the caregiver, the child, everybody has access to support
for mental health. Education. Is that child getting an education
if they need tutoring? Are they are they? Do they
have access to that tutoring? What do, we need to
make sure that that happens. And economic conditioned is the family.
(10:43):
Does a family have enough income to feed the child
and to give them the food and nutrition that they need.
So we measure these well being domains and and the
other one is living cans just to make sure that
the living conditions are good. We work all over the
world and we just need to make sure that the
(11:07):
living conditions that the child's in are safe for that child.
So when we measure these five well being domains, we're
able to put in interventions wherever they're needed, and then
we measure those interventions, we watch them, so we follow
the child for three years to make sure that if
there was any of those five well being domains that
(11:28):
needed help, that were able to put those interventions in place,
activate them, adjust and make sure that at the end
of the day the child is thriving. And that love
is non negotiable. I love that you said that, and
we are seeing incredible, incredible success. There's a lot of
misnomers in the world. There's a misnomer that there's a
(11:55):
misnomer that parents don't love their children. If a child
has has been institutionalized in some way, it's a misnomer
that all these children that have been separated from their
family have faced abuse. It happens, for sure, but it's
a misnomer that that's the majority. So often. I'll give
(12:17):
you an example. In the United States, this is a
pretty common scenario. Single mom, she has to work two
and sometimes three jobs, she does not have access to childcare.
Child gets sick, she has to go to work, so
(12:44):
she leaves child at home. Turns into a negligence case.
Neighbor comes over, childs by themself. Something's not going right.
Social service get called in, child gets removed, But it's
not because that mom doesn't love that child. She's working
(13:08):
her butt off for the child. And there's just some
safety nets that are not in place that can cause
a child to separate, and just with a little support,
the child and the family can be together. So oftentimes
we talk about if the approach just changes a little bit,
(13:30):
instead of viewing the family as the villain in the story,
just the approach just instead think of them as a
family that we want to support and activate around them
so that they can keep their child. And that's happening,
(13:51):
That's happening all over the world right now, and it's working.
And of course, if the child's not safe, does any
of those five well being domains put them in crisis?
We don't put them in family. So that's first and foremost.
But the misnomer is that it's just this terrible abuse
all the time. It's not true.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
Hey, before we go to break, I want you to
comment on over the last twenty four years of your
work at the Miracle Foundation, can you note any progress
that may have been made with fathers? Because fathers seem
to be the absentee player here.
Speaker 2 (14:35):
Do they love anymore or less?
Speaker 1 (14:37):
Has there been any progress about fathers taking more accountability
for their children?
Speaker 3 (14:45):
That is a very very insightful question. Do you want
me to answer it now or after the break?
Speaker 1 (14:54):
Let's answer it after the break and suspend our audience
into this ninety seconds so I can't wait, dear Leslie.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
We'll be right back after this quickness.
Speaker 5 (15:10):
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This book reminds me of one of my more stirring quotes,
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(15:35):
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(15:57):
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Speaker 6 (16:22):
Read she gave outrageously extended grace unceasingly and lived to
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Speaker 5 (16:34):
Visit truly significant dot com and celebrate the most truly
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How bold of you to make your next chapter matter
and be truly significant?
Speaker 1 (16:52):
Okay, Leslie, Now you can answer that sixty four million
dollar question about dads.
Speaker 3 (17:02):
The sad reality is so often we are dealing with
single moms, so this question about dads is incredibly important.
There are a lot of conversations and around this very
question about dads and where are the dads in this
(17:27):
a lot of times you know, again, we work around
the world, so oftentimes the dad is gone, he's either
passed away or left. And I'll tell you a story.
Do you want to hear? Are you okay to hear
stories in other places of the world or just the US.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
I think your global perspective will teach American So fire
away from around the world.
Speaker 3 (17:57):
Okay. I was just in India two weeks ago and
we were showing some of our ambassadors, people who were
involved with Miracle Foundation. We were showing them the work
on the ground. And day one was reunifications, meeting families
who had been reunified. Day two was showing livelihoods. How
we help activate livelihoods so families can take care of
(18:20):
their children, they have a source of income coming in.
And one of our ambassadors said, what about the dads.
Where are the dads in this equation? Where are the mentors,
the men, male mentors to these young teenage boys. And
(18:41):
the third day we went to a village to show
our prevention work. Our prevention work around the world and
in the US is the intention is to prevent children
from ever separating in the first place, and this person
that asked that question just lit up like a Christmas tree.
(19:04):
Because part of the prevention program is to activate number
one young men in their twenties ish age to serve
as mentors to these younger boys that are growing up.
And a young man got up. He was about twenty one,
(19:27):
and he said that being a mentor has called him
up and to realize his role and how important it is.
Then the adults in the community came in and it
was a mix of men and women, and I think
(19:49):
this is what's when you start talking about child protection
and how communities need child protection, and you activate volunteer
to be looking for those red flags and where is
there a family at risk, a child at risk, and
the whole community is rallying around. What we're seeing on
(20:10):
the ground in these small villages is that the men
are beginning to rise up because they're watching these young
twenty year old men, and they're watching these young children
who are part of these advocacy committees, and they're watching
(20:31):
these women talk about how important it is child protection
and they're rising up. And so this is the coolest
part is that night we had a performance and some
of the children were putting on a show and we
looked around and there are all these dads that were
standing there clapping for their kids, proud standing next to
(20:56):
their wives. It's actually a distinct difference from just like
ten years ago. I think inviting them in it matters
a lot, and education matters. Dads love their children too.
Speaker 2 (21:18):
Amen.
Speaker 1 (21:20):
That is a perfect bridge to the concept of a miracle.
And for those listeners out there that went to Sunday
School and you learned about all the miracles that Jesus
performed and some miracles that people think that Moses performed.
(21:41):
I happen to think that miracles are on a road
and some of them are long range. That last example
of men beginning to rise up is as much a
miracle as healing a person on the spot.
Speaker 3 (22:00):
Right, That's right. That is really well said and that's correct.
Speaker 1 (22:08):
So how do we support the Miracle Foundation and how
do we contact your team? And where does a dollar go?
Speaker 3 (22:21):
So Miracle Foundation dot org is our website. You can
also on our website is all the contact information. I'm
Leslie at Miracle Foundation dot org. We talk about three
things and it's it's money, megaphone and minutes. Those are
(22:48):
three ways to help the organization. If we don't have
people giving money, we don't have the fuel that moves
the program forward. Partnering with us by giving funds is
as important as anything because it's the fuel. Megaphone is
(23:11):
getting out there spreading the world doing exactly what you're doing, Rick,
just so, I mean, you've got this big megaphone that
and people have megaphones, they have megaphones in their own families,
megaphones and social media. Just getting out there and being
a part of spreading awareness is huge, huge, And then minutes.
(23:34):
Some people are like, I don't have a lot of
money to give, but I have time and giving time
where where you have a skill or you have a
real high like for example, we have a actually have
a product, a technology, we have an app. It's very
unusual for a nonprofit, and so we have people who
(23:56):
are like, I know technology, this is my skill set,
and so we'll put together a group of people who
have skills in this area and you use that kind
of experience. So money, megaphone, and minutes. Those are the
three ways to help. And the cost of the dollar
is it costs about twelve hundred and sixty one dollars
(24:22):
that's it. Ultimately, to get a child from institution into
family twelve sixty one a year. Do you know it's
five times less expensive to support a family than support
an orphanage or any kind of institutional care because it
never ends. It just goes on and on and on
(24:44):
and on. But when you support a family, you exit
because they become sustainable and they move on. It's not
something that has to be there forever. Twelve hundred and
sixty one per child.
Speaker 2 (24:58):
That's amazing, such a modest amount.
Speaker 1 (25:02):
I know your team and you you know you're being
nominated for Best CEO. But I look at it as now,
this is an award about significance, and this is going
to the entire team.
Speaker 2 (25:15):
This is going to the vision and mission.
Speaker 1 (25:18):
And I see this as you're in this ocean competing
against all the other nonprofits out there and then all
the other things that are going on that people can
donate to. And I have such a keener understanding after
talking to you for a few minutes about how your
organization's got to rise up above everybody else to become
(25:43):
front of mind, in front of heart. How are you
going to do that in the next year. Differently from
you than what you've done in the last twenty four years.
Speaker 3 (25:54):
Oh, that's a good question. Well, number one, I would
say that the point of different differentiation from Miracle Foundations
that we're focused on children and when children thrive, families thrive.
If you see a child that's thriving, the odds are
(26:19):
their families thriving. If families are thriving, communities thrive. If
communities thrive, cities thrive, If cities thrive, nations thrive. It
starts with if we are making sure that we are
taking care of the children, everything else is going to
fall into place. So I think that's that's where we
(26:41):
need to focus, is let's take care of the children
of this world so everything else can fall into place
and we can have healthy, growing, thriving citizens when these
children grow up. And your question about how we're going
to get that message out differently is it's a really
(27:02):
great question. Times are different and there are there are
different ways in today's world because very noisy, you know,
I would say, just on a real practical level, most
people get their news, their information, their trust through just
(27:27):
a few influencers. It's different, you know, it's different than
going on the news stations and and so one of
the things that we're doing differently to let people and
also there's just a trust factor today that didn't used
to It's it's there's a lack of trust in today's
(27:52):
world that organizations that are trying to go out and
create social impact, there's a lot of trust you have
to gain. First. People don't want to just give their money.
They want to make sure they can trust what you're doing.
So it's important on Charity Navigator that it's very important
(28:13):
people look at Charity Navigator and make sure whoever they're
giving to is ranked very high. We are ranked very high.
That is a trustworthy stamp of approval. It's a gold
star stamp. And then your question about how are we
doing it differently, We're going to where the people are.
(28:34):
We're going to where people get their information. So we've
partnered with a number of influencers that know us and
trust us and love us and love our work, who
can then talk to people that trust them. That's different
than what it used to be. I would say that's
a really big change, a really big change. In the
(28:57):
next looking forward, we're also using a lot of AI
and looking for people who have a heart for this
kind of work, who love children, who doesn't love children,
but and people who want to give and change the
world and be a part of making a difference. We're
(29:20):
tapping into this whole AI conversation, which I think if
if you don't, you're left behind. As in a nonprofit
or business, it's all the same in that regard. And
just to try to get through all the noise and
tap into people's hearts. You know, I always talk about this,
(29:41):
you know, the why, So we have to we have
to stay focused on the why. Why are we doing
this work? Why do we care? And why does it matter?
And at the end of the day, every human being
on this planet, there's one one thing that every single
person has in common, and it's they want to matter.
(30:05):
Everybody wants to matter. And when it comes to social
impact work, our donors, our partners, that's what they're doing.
It matters. It matters to give, It matters, it matters
to change the world. You know, we lift people up,
everybody rises, that is a fact. So that's what I
(30:30):
would say, is to keep that heart, keep people's hearts
open and minds open. That's our work, and just go
where people are listening.
Speaker 1 (30:43):
Way to go the following is just a commentary on
you and your organization. A lot of people that listen
to this show know that we are students of scripture
and we've been looking at the Book of Acts and
(31:04):
the original churches that are out there, and there's three
words that describe the original church, love and action. They
came together as a community to help each other. Is
it a far fetched idea to think.
Speaker 2 (31:22):
That you are in the coming years, you're the new Church.
Speaker 3 (31:31):
I don't think that's a far fetched idea.
Speaker 1 (31:36):
You know.
Speaker 3 (31:38):
A verse that's been a driving verse for me since
I was young is James one twenty seven, take care
of the orphans and the widows and prevent. That's what
pure religion is. Pure, pure religion.
Speaker 1 (31:53):
Pure stole the words out of my mouth because I
was going to say, there's only a couple of commandments.
That's one of them from the truly Significant Jesus.
Speaker 2 (32:04):
We just wrote a book on truly.
Speaker 1 (32:06):
Significance and we said, there's really only one person, but
here's forty other stories, you know, But Jay, that's a
call to action.
Speaker 2 (32:15):
So who's doing it?
Speaker 1 (32:16):
The Miracle Foundation is doing it.
Speaker 2 (32:19):
So that's where that's where we went.
Speaker 1 (32:21):
A equals B B equal C, so equal C.
Speaker 2 (32:24):
You're could it be you're walking to talk?
Speaker 3 (32:30):
It's a it's a really good question to ponder. I
think we do have to pay attention to not what
people say, but what people do, and that is all
through scripture all the way down to that verse. I mean,
here's the definition of pure religion is taking care of
(32:50):
the orphans and the widows and not being polluted by
the world. It's it's it's real clear. So I think
that's a really interesting question to ponder, and I don't
think it's very far fetched.
Speaker 1 (33:06):
When all is said and done. If we're trying, if
we're trying to move our culture, in the world's culture
from success to significance, that means go do something, responded
to call of act to call of action, just like
the book behind me. The Spare Room is about finding
room in your heart is what the Miracle foundation is
(33:28):
as well. I'm so glad that you were on.
Speaker 2 (33:32):
We're honored to honor you.
Speaker 1 (33:33):
We're going to do another show with you for certain
and let's catch coffee together here in Austin somehow, some way.
Speaker 3 (33:40):
I would absolutely love that. I can't wait.
Speaker 1 (33:43):
Excellent, Now give us your your information.
Speaker 2 (33:46):
One more time on how we can contact you.
Speaker 3 (33:49):
Miracle Foundation dot org is the website. I'm Miracle Foundation
dot org and then feel free to reach out to
me Leslie at Miracle Foundation dot org. Either one of
those would be fantastic.
Speaker 2 (34:05):
So great to have you on.
Speaker 1 (34:06):
Thanks again, and folks, as we always say here, we
wish you success but on your way to significance.
Speaker 2 (34:12):
Do you want to do something today? Donate to the
Miracle Foundation. Have a great week.
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