Ep. 1616 – The Good News with Angie Austin – HAYLEE HOLLAND, COMMON FINACIAL MISTAKES LOTUS FIDUCIARY GROUP / Jim Stovall, Happiness

SPEAKER 01 : 0:00

Welcome to The Good News with Angie Austin. Now, with The Good News, here’s Angie.

SPEAKER 03 : 0:08

Hey there, friend. Angie Austin here with the good news. Very pleased to have Dave Schunk joining us. He is the president and CEO of Volunteers of America Colorado. Welcome to you, Dave. Thank you very much. Hello. I want to get into your mission and VOA, but I want to just reminisce a little. I saw that your former president and CEO, Jim White, was featured on Facebook today, that even after his retirement, he’s continued to do a lot of volunteer work with you and your organization.

SPEAKER 04 : 0:38

He has. Jim has been an amazing part of our legacy here in Colorado for so many years. He ran our marketing and all of our public relations for a long, long time. And he’s the Energizer Bunny. He just keeps going. He just exudes that positive feeling that we all want to have every day. Yeah, and he’s very humble. Very humble guy. You wouldn’t know all that he’s accomplished, but we do know what he’s accomplished. And we’re excited for just recognizing him as we did today. for all of his works that he’s been a part of here. It is amazing.

SPEAKER 03 : 1:11

Now, it was interesting because then I went to his page to find it again, and he’s so humble he didn’t even repost it on his own page. You know what I mean? It was posted by Volunteers of America giving him a shout-out. And what is the volunteer work that he continues to do? It’s a food bank. Can you tell me about that? Because I was curious. I might want to bump into him there.

SPEAKER 04 : 1:28

You bet. Yes. So Volunteers of America, among many other programs that we have, we have a food bank called the City Harvest. And the City Harvest, I mean, it’s a beautiful thing. It is a food bank. that serves the most underserved communities in our city, primarily the 8, 9 metro region of our city. And it gets food from donations and from the Food Bank of the Rockies and some of these other bigger food banks who are providing food to bigger communities where ours is focused on smaller communities. And we primarily distribute that to churches and synagogues and other places of the community throughout California. It could be in Westwood or other parts of Denver that oftentimes are food deserts. And Jim is a big part of that program. He’s a big part of our Meals on Wheels program where we’re serving over 600,000 meals a year up and down the Front Range and even up as well in Fort Collins. Jim’s a big part of Meals on Wheels for us there. And, I mean, Jim actually – He’s in a number of different programs. He goes to a lot of our affordable housing communities where he’s doing everything from being a Santa Claus, if that’s what is required, or serving meals that are Martin Luther King celebration in January. So there’s a number of different things that he’s done and is involved with.

SPEAKER 03 : 2:46

I love that. And his personality perfectly suits that. And it cracks me up because Jim White has white hair, but little did Jim White know when he was younger that he would come to match his name later, you know?

SPEAKER 04 : 2:58

That’s great. I love it. Next time I see him, I’m going to remind him of that.

SPEAKER 03 : 3:02

He grew into his name, right? He grew into it. I love it. Well, when he retired, I thought, boy, he’s got so much life in him. Like, I really thought, you know, wow, he’s retiring already. But he didn’t really retire. He’s still working. So tell us about your mission and, you know, and being a man of faith. Of course, we love to feature those stories on the good news as well. So tell us what led you to being the president and CEO of VOA.

SPEAKER 04 : 3:26

Well, yeah, Angie, I tell you, I’ve got, I think, the best job in the world. I feel so fortunate to be in this position. My background is I actually was in technology and banking for a number of years, 30 years of my career, and then even owning my own businesses. And let me preface this by saying, as a person of faith, I believe that anyone of faith can bring their faith in a good way to any work environment. And that means bringing the best tenants of that faith to there where you’re helping others, you are loving your neighbor, right? You’re doing all these things. You can do that in whatever current job you have. However, for me, it never worked quite that well. My wife and I always wanted to marry up my work with our faith, and we wanted to take that everywhere we go. And in the world that we live in today, a little bit, you could argue, maybe a little bit post-Christian society that we have, it got harder and harder to do. And for me, the path, which I was led to by, I believe, by the Lord. was to, and I ended up at the Denver Rescue Mission. I had sat on the board there for a while. And my good friend, Brad Miley, who just retired. Oh, he did too?

SPEAKER 03 : 4:38

Oh, wow.

SPEAKER 04 : 4:39

I didn’t know that. Okay. Okay. And he gave me the opportunity to board. I got exposed and I got to see lives transformed and changed. And I saw where you’d see one for every success you’d see, you’d see three or four not make it. But then this idea of second chances came about. And I started to learn, you know, life is about second and third and fourth chances. And I thought, you know what, I want to be a part of this. This is where my opportunity came. And I just felt like I was called there. So I became the CFO of the Denver Rescue Mission. I was there under Brad’s leadership. And I just knew then that I had found my home. I thought I would be there until I retired. But about eight years in, one day, I’ll never forget, he came down the hallway and he said, I can’t believe I’m doing this. But my good friend Diana Coons, who was the 40-year CEO at Volunteers of America prior to me, said my good friend’s retiring and she’s asked me to send somebody over. And I said, Brad, are you just trying to get rid of me? And he’s, well, maybe, Dave, but actually I’ve learned to never ignore a nudge from the big guy. So I’d like you to go interview over there. And, Dave, I’d rather walk side-by-side with you as we work with homelessness and poverty and addiction issues. rather than you back here counting the numbers as my CFO. And that meant a lot to me. And so, yes, five years ago now, 2018, I went through the process and became the CEO. Fortunately, I’ve become the CEO of Volunteers of America Colorado. And I haven’t looked back, and it’s been an amazing ride ever since then.

SPEAKER 03 : 6:11

All right. So I did, I did mix up Jim’s job earlier. He didn’t have your position, but he had another very important one. Okay. So I love your story about, about seeing how, um, the Denver rescue mission, you know, impacted, you know, uh, your course in life. And I too did, um, some volunteer work with them and I’m just astounded at, we, we hear a lot about the transformational power of Christ, but until you’ve seen some of the men in there, like, um, rehab program, which isn’t your average 30 day deal. This is like, I believe a year or two, right? Their program. It is. It’s two years now.

SPEAKER 04 : 6:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER 03 : 6:49

Wow. And just, and we have similar programs as well. Oh, you do. I just, you know, when you infuse scripture into a rehab program and, It is transformational. And, you know, we hear about the transformational power of Christ. And then you see, you know, someone who’s, you know, they grew up in the church and had a great life. And it’s hard to see. I’m not saying it’s not great to have a great life. Of course it is. But when you see someone that’s living under a bridge and that’s lost their home, their family, their everything, their teeth. know their dignity and they’re crawling into the rescue mission with the big cross there basically begging for a chance to stay there and then you hear how their lives have been turned around um one of the guys i interviewed and i’ve interviewed so many from that program for the years i think his name was mike but he’d been a basketball player when he was younger he even played with some big names and then he got an injury i believe he became a trucker So anyway, he was homeless, like living in a bush outside the mission and begged. He wouldn’t even leave the building when they said, we’ll see if we can find you a place. He’s like, if I leave, I’ll die. Like, I’m not even leaving while I wait for you to find me a place. And last I heard, he was working for Goodwill and he was managing a store and he would work late all the time. Do you know who I’m talking about? Yeah. Okay.

SPEAKER 04 : 8:01

I do know who you’re talking about. I absolutely do. Great story. He’s amazing.

SPEAKER 03 : 8:05

Yeah. Oh, I’ve got to arrange for more of those interviews because I’ll never forget. I can still picture him even though it was like a decade ago, right? And I said, why do you work late so often? He said, I feel like every piece of clothing I sell can help someone like me. So why would I go home early when I can continue to make a difference and help others? And I was like, this guy’s amazing. Wait, did I get his name right? Is it Mike?

SPEAKER 04 : 8:31

Yeah. It is, Mike and Angie. Can I just make one point?

SPEAKER 02 : 8:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER 04 : 8:34

A really great point you just said. So, yes, the power of Scripture is there. But you know what it’s really about, even beyond Scripture, which that’s the foundation. It’s about, and you think about what Jesus does for us, right?

SPEAKER 01 : 8:45

Right.

SPEAKER 04 : 8:46

It’s not a religion. It’s a relationship. Yes. And I have come to believe in my time doing this work that relationships change lives. So we say often here at VOA, that since we do about a million meals a year total around the state, we provide every night about 4,000 Coloradoans sleep with us, either in our shelters or our transition programs or in our affordable housing. Here’s what we say. A meal is a chance at a relationship, and a relationship is a chance at a transformed life, a changed life. A house is a chance at a relationship, and a relationship is a chance at a transformed life. So the house itself doesn’t change the trajectory of an individual, it’s the people, the relationship around that individual. I saw this great research study a little bit ago that said you are who you’re connected to, and you are who you’re not connected to. The top five people in your life that you’re connected to, that drives about 85% of who you are day to day. So if we can surround these people that are in our programs with good influence, with spiritual influence, physical habit change, spiritual foundation, and then also just being a friend and seeing them, we can change lives, Angie. And we see it every day. I saw it at the Denver Rest Mission. I certainly see it here at VOA. So I just wanted to jump on that point that you were making, that it’s the relationship that Christ teaches us. If we can pass that on to the people we serve, you know what? It’s okay.

SPEAKER 03 : 10:13

Yeah, I am. Those are some of the best interviews I’ve ever done. One of the gentlemen, sad to say, he had tried to commit suicide and he put a gun in his mouth and he fired. And when he woke up in the emergency room, the doctor said something to the effect of, God must have a reason for you to be here because I cannot believe you’re alive. And yeah. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. And so he said he felt that it was to guide and to help raise his niece and nephew and to be an influence on their lives, which he was very involved in their lives after that and many other things. But the fact that he could speak and function, you know, in society to a pretty, I mean, his recovery was remarkable.

SPEAKER 04 : 10:58

That is fascinating. I mean, there’s some stories. Real quick, let me just tell you one. You’ll love this one. So we have this individual in our programs. His name is James. He’s 45 years old. He’s suffered from extremely severe drug use. He had from that severe seizures. He had been part of his life. He was tormented. And, again, he came into our program, a rapid rehousing program that we have. We wrapped case management and people around him. And just recently I got this letter from him. I’m going to read one part of it to you. And it makes your point, and it makes the point I was talking about as well. Here it is, and I quote, you saw me through my worst pain of all, my deepest, darkest addiction. You watched me almost die several times, and this is the part I love, Angie, this is amazing. He says, and yet you wouldn’t let me give up. And it’s just, and then he says, he goes on to say, thank you to all of you and the one ultimate higher power in my life. God, I’m able now. I now celebrate six months of society, sobriety, and I’m clean, and I have my own home. I mean, these things happen. Amidst even the failures that you go through day to day, I’ve seen it. But in this case, I love what this individual says. You saw me. You saw me. And if we just can see people, Angie, if we see them and we listen to them, I’m telling you, change starts to happen right then.

SPEAKER 03 : 12:20

Yeah, I’m so glad we got to do our interview today because I love the work you’re doing, and I want to make sure that if people want to volunteer with you, and we’ll continue our interview after the break, but before we take a break, if people want to get involved in your programs, my family, when my kids were younger, were involved in your family volunteer program, which I really love because kids under 13 could be involved, whereas many… You know, organizations don’t allow the younger kids to volunteer just, you know, because of, you know, legal reasons or whatever liability. But tell people where they go if they want to find out more about some of the various ways they can volunteer for you.

SPEAKER 04 : 12:57

I’d love it. We have 15,000 volunteers. Wow. What we do, we believe in that engagement. But yeah, they can just go to VOA Colorado. VOAColorado.org, VOAColorado.org. Love to have you. You brought up a great point. We have different programs where we can work through the liability and allow young kids to join. And, Angie, you’ve seen it with your family. Boy, when young people see, when young kids see what life is really all about, they learn so much, and it’s something they’ll always take with them.

SPEAKER 03 : 13:26

It’s really wonderful. Yeah, it definitely impacted my kids. All right, we’ll be right back with the good news.

SPEAKER 02 : 13:36

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SPEAKER 03 : 14:42

Hey there, friend. Welcome back to The Good News. Angie Austin and Dave Shug. Dave is the president and CEO of VOA Colorado. And we were just talking about ways to volunteer. How many volunteers do you say you have with VOA?

SPEAKER 04 : 14:55

We have 15,000 volunteers. It’s in our name. It’s our legacy. It’s what we believe in. If we can get the community engaged, we know good things happen, both for the volunteer and the person receiving the services.

SPEAKER 03 : 15:08

You know, one of the things I remember my son talking about when the girls and I can’t remember if my husband came then, but he did come when we were volunteering at the Women’s Senior Center. And he was surprised at how old the women were because we were thinking, how would these women like some of them, like our mother’s age, be able to survive on the streets? Right. And so we were surprised at how many women of that age, you know, grandmothers didn’t have a home and how at risk they would be on the streets. But I think back to my son when we did the family shelter volunteer night where we did kind of like a fire and s’mores and it was kind of a motel hotel kind of set up. And it was short term when we volunteered there. And so we had the s’mores and My son was maybe nine at the time. He’s 18 now. And nine, 10, 11 right in there. And there were three girls in the family and their mother. And so one of the girls was trying to do s’mores and she was trying to put the graham cracker on the stick, like stick the graham cracker to the stick. And my son said, oh, I’ll… let me help you put the you know the the marshmallow on so i was talking to the mom and the mom was explaining that she had worked at a burger king or mcdonald’s and they were allowing her to let her you know her and the kids sleep in there until they opened up in the morning but then of course you know that’s not really legal to allow you know the her to sleep in there so That changed, and then they were living under a bridge and then in someone’s car and, you know, moving from here to there with the three little girls that were about the same age as my kids at the time, like maybe, you know, 10, 7, 5, right in there. So my son then says to me later… uh wow that i couldn’t believe that little girl she didn’t know how to make s’mores she was trying to put the graham cracker on the stick and i said honey their camping is living under a bridge not like our camping where we go with tents and you know a lexus four-wheel drive and you know our pets and friends and cots and sleeping bags and you know a new you know um you know gas grill to cook on um at you know the national parks where we paid for a space that’s not their kind of camping i said their camping is survival you know where they’re living under a bridge just trying to stay warm and not be you know attacked or you know harmed in some way so i said that’s why she’s never made s’mores because that’s kind of a luxury you know that they’ve never had so That really hit him that kids lived like that or could live like that. So when we went to that shelter, I just remember him talking about that afterwards and the impact it had on him. And I feel the same way, too, about the senior center. We volunteered there and the women’s shelter. And then I remember there was kind of a food bank we did on Colfax, and one of the women that was there, while we were there, she overdosed. And this wasn’t with your organization. It was with another, but just the kids just didn’t understand, like, why she fell over and why the police were coming. And I don’t know. I just think kids who grow up the way my kids grow up, because this isn’t how I grew up. I grew up very poor in low-income housing with alcoholism and violence. And one of my brothers was murdered. Another was homeless and still kind of lives on and off the streets. So I… didn’t grow up like my children did so with their privileged upbringing and what you know the education i was able to educate myself out of poverty so now they have a life that is nothing like mine was so i like them to be able to volunteer and see you know how other kids live and how um and to be able and to know that they do have the power to help others even though they’re a kid that they can make a difference that’s so true i mean and you you brought up the earlier point

SPEAKER 04 : 18:47

And I just want to reinforce that. So I was serving a meal at one of our shelters, and a young man next to me, innocent, wide-eyed, he must have been 11 years old, and he didn’t know half of the things, the first time he had seen them. And so in the line, we were serving some lettuce, and then we were serving some, I think it was lasagna. And he was noticing that most of the folks experiencing homelessness were not grabbing the lettuce. And he made a comment to me, and he said very innocently, he said, well, you know, they need vegetables. My mom tells me I need my vegetables, and they need vegetables. And, you know, Mr. Shunk, why are they not grabbing the lettuce? And, you know, I sat there, and I thought about it, and I didn’t have the right answer for him right away. But then one of my case managers working right next to me came over and said, hey, Dave, do you mind if I answer the question? And I said, no, that’d be great. And he did in the case where he said, well, son, you know, oftentimes these individuals don’t have teeth. They’ve lost their teeth because of either some drug habits that they’ve had or whatever. And he said, actually, when they put a piece of lettuce in your mouth and you don’t have teeth or if your teeth aren’t firm in your mouth, it’s actually very scary because you can actually suffocate. Can you think about a piece of lettuce? You need to chew that up. And so it’s not like pudding or applesauce or something like that. And so I just sat there with mine. I went, you know, Dave, that is such a that’s such an amazing point. I never thought about it gave me a whole new perspective that I hadn’t ever experienced or thought about before. And so then I just became much more mindful. But so did that young man. And then he was very aware of it, aware of that. And so just to your point, volunteering and what we see, I’ve seen that most of the time the benefits accrue to the volunteer even more so than to the person you’re serving. And it takes, like I said earlier, it goes with you your entire life. You remember that. And then you become like a Jim White, continuing to do good because you know that it’s circling back to yourself as well.

SPEAKER 03 : 20:47

Yeah, I agree. I think about I wouldn’t have known that either, to be honest with you. And we’ve served at Denver Rescue Mission a lot of the holiday meals when, you know, they’re pretty spectacular. And then being offered like, oh, you guys can sit down and eat, too. And like feeling guilty, like, oh, my goodness, like we can’t, you know, eat with. you know, everybody, like I felt guilty, like I’ve got plenty of food at home, but they make so much and there was enough for the volunteers to eat. And I was just astounded at the level, you know, through working through that mission, how special they made those meals and how delicious they were. You know, I mean, they were right up there with what you’d have at home or a restaurant, you know, because they want to make people feel special and valued. And that’s the location where I went wasn’t downtown. It’s where they have the the families and also the men in the new life program and, um, and, and the family, um, uh, you know, you know, area where they house some of the families. So anyway, um, yeah, I just think about every time learning something and it’s kind of reignite reigniting in me that, you know, desire to volunteer again and, uh, I know it had a positive impact on my children as well. So if you’re listening, you know, really consider it because you can find now on the website. Does it show us different options for volunteering? Because I just kind of did the generic family volunteering. So they gave us specific emails and specific opportunities. But if you go to your website, does it give us, you know, good info about different options?

SPEAKER 04 : 22:16

It will. It will give you the big generic ones. But I’ll tell you, once you do that, then there’s some phone numbers there to contact our volunteer specialists. This is what I think one of the things that Volunteers of America Colorado does very uniquely. We have the, you know, the, hey, you can do the standard Meals on Wheels, which, by the way, the Meals on Wheels is amazing. Because I always say there, it’s about the food, but it’s not about the food. I mean, you get a route. You get to know the people on your route. You can do it with your kids. My wife does it with her friends. And they have a great time. And then they go out to lunch afterwards and they tell the stories and they talk about who they met and that they might have prayed over them or whatever. But you do get to know the people really well. We always say to people, you know, you get seven stops on your route and it should take you about 30 minutes, right? And but we know you’re doing good if your route took you two hours because you’ve stopped and you’ve talked and you’ve listened to the stories because we all want to tell our story.

SPEAKER 03 : 23:09

Right.

SPEAKER 04 : 23:10

And we’re seeing it more and more with a with the seniors. You know, that demographic is growing throughout our nation. And we believe VOA. That this is one of our causes is to help seniors get back engaged in society because they have so much good that they’re about. But we discard that. But going back to your question, because I just got off track. So we have the standard volunteering things, Meals on Wheels, where you can also come to our mission, our shelter and serve meals and do those kind of things. But then we also have contact information for our volunteer specialists. This is what I think we do unique. We create specialty volunteer opportunities. So like if it’s your church or if it’s your neighborhood get-together and you say, hey, let’s go do a volunteer thing. And then afterwards we’ll talk about it and have a lunch or something. And you can even do it at the VOA facilities. We love that. A lot of businesses do that. So if you’re in your business, you want to say you take your team down, there’s 12 of you. And you say, this is the kind of event we want. We’ll handcraft one for you based on what you want to see and be a part of. And it’s been great. We went all kinds of opportunities. You can go. One of my favorite ones is called Snow Angels. And we also have the Yard Angels. We’ll go into a low income homebound senior who hasn’t had a chance to do the landscaping or clean up their yard. We go clean up their yard with them. And I remember last year we did one for a retired veteran. And his daughter brought him out near the end when we were done cleaning up the yards, about four hours of good work, right, in the nice July sun. But it was so worth it when I get a little choked up when she brought him out in his wheelchair at the end, and he just wanted to say thank you. And he just looked at each one of us, and he just said in the nicest way, thank you. You don’t know what this means to me. I’ve served my country. I have a lot of dignity, but I can’t do this. And I felt so bad because my house looks so bad in my neighborhood, and now my house looks great. Now I feel like I’m, again, part of the neighborhood and part of the community. Thank you. Thank you. I mean, that was all I needed to hear. That was all the team I was with needed to hear. We’re like, okay, I’m on cloud nine. You know what? I’ve done some good today. So we can do things like that. that are just fabulous for groups and businesses and communities and churches and synagogues and whatever it might be.

SPEAKER 03 : 25:31

Yeah, so different things that really fit maybe your gifts that you, you know, can. Exactly. And we always say in the show, it’s not a gift until you give it away. So if you have a gift, you know, to share it with others certainly makes a difference. Now, how long did you say Meals on Wheels deliveries are supposed to take? Like would take if you didn’t visit?

SPEAKER 04 : 25:51

Right. If you didn’t visit, it could probably take you 25 to 30 minutes. So, again, you drive down. What’s great about it, I love it because, you know, we make the food in our 50,000 square foot kitchen. We do about 4,000 meals a day. So we make the food. The government sets nutrition guidelines and things like that. So it’s a great government and then agency partnership. But then the real key part, is that our volunteers deliver the last mile. So what we do is we have delivery trucks that then take those meals out to drop-off points. And then the volunteers, they get their route sheets. They can put them into their phones. They know they’re all conveniently located per route. anywhere between five and seven stops. And then the volunteer will come and pick up the food at the indicated drop-off spot and then go through their route. And again, if you are moving through it quickly, you can probably be done in about 30 minutes, but most of the time, most of our volunteers say they’re about they’re between 45 and an hour because they just love talking and they get to know the people right and they know their story we’ve had more than uh about once every two weeks we’ll also get one that’s a life-threatening situation you know they’ll knock on the door and the individual will have fallen on the ground and will have not been able to get up and so they call 911 and we we save a life in the process of delivering food every now and then but The key is just that relationship that incurs. I’ve got one super-duper volunteer. He’s also on my board. His name is Kevin McCary. This guy is an amazing guy. He was a tank captain in the Army, and now he’s retired but a full-time volunteer, and he tells the most amazing stories about the people that he brings food to. And it’s just so powerful when you hear him engage with those. And, you know, food insecurity is growing, Angie, in Colorado. It used to be one in ten Coloradans were facing food insecurity. And now it’s one in seven. And for veterans, it’s one in four. Unbelievable. Food insecurity is defined as not knowing whether you’re going to be able to put a meal in front of you or your family. because you need to pay a utility bill or you need to pay your rent. So you’re making a choice whether to eat or not. That’s food insecurity. And it’s growing. Even here in America, the richest nation in the world, we’re seeing that, and especially with seniors. And we’re seeing some budget cuts possibly coming. through the Older Americans Act. And, you know, this is an issue that’s going to only grow. And I think, you know, Meals on Wheels, we need more volunteers. We just picked up more routes in Adams County, and we need more volunteers to help out. And so it’s just a beautiful program.

SPEAKER 03 : 28:43

Let’s give everyone the website again, Dave Schunk.

SPEAKER 04 : 28:46

You bet. It is VOAColorado.org. VOAColorado.org.

SPEAKER 03 : 28:53

Well, real blessing to have you on the show, Dave. Thanks for all you do for others. Appreciate it. Angie, thank you for that. You’re doing amazing work.

SPEAKER 01 : 28:59

Thank you. Thank you for listening to The Good News with Angie Austin on AM670 KLTT.