OurCalling - Our podcast about homelessness

In this episode, Pastor Wayne Walker, CEO of OurCalling, interviews Dr. David Woody, who has significantly impacted The Bridge as its President and CEO, steering its evolution through challenging times, particularly post-pandemic. They delve into the role of The Bridge as a critical low barrier shelter offering comprehensive services and facing a critical need for expanded capacity due to the disparity between day and night shelter capabilities. The discussion also covers the intricacies of care management, the high success rates of those housed, and the urgency for more shelters and actionable housing solutions. Furthermore, they explore the importance of data in strategic planning, community education, and collaboration with faith-based organizations to enhance the support system for the homeless.
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- **Dr. David Woody's Background** [01:31]
- President and CEO of The Bridge for 6 years, involved for 9 years.
- Significant growth and activity noticed on campus since the pandemic.
- **Role of The Bridge** [02:10, 02:43]
- A low barrier shelter helping single adults aged 18 and older.
- Provides comprehensive day and night services including food, showers, and canine kennels.
- **Capacity and Demand Issues** [03:36]
- Current facilities face a large disparity between day (700) and night (approx. 400) shelter capacities, resulting in many unsheltered individuals.
- **Evolution of Services at The Bridge** [08:56]
- Focus on recovery and crafting individualized care and housing plans based on the specific needs (health, mental health, substance use) of the guests.
- **Care Management and Success Rates** [11:57, 12:42]
- Emphasis on diverse care management teams assisting with recovery, intensive needs, and sustaining housing post-placement.
- High success rate with 93% of housed individuals remaining in housing at 6 months.
- **Importance of More Shelter Beds and Housing** [05:54, 16:24]
- Urgent need for more shelters to accommodate growing numbers, and a push for actionable resources to turn funding into housing solutions.
- **Complexities of Housing Vouchers and Collaboration with Landlords** [16:53]
- Challenges with finding adequate and accepting housing options for guests with ready-to-use vouchers.
- **Data Integration and Utilization** [29:10, 29:48]
- Importance of improving data analysis and accuracy beyond point-in-time counts to better support strategic planning and resource allocation.
- **Racial and Community Equity** [30:17, 32:09, 33:12]
- Discusses the disproportion of African American guests at The Bridge and the need to address upstream barriers and inequities in community resources.
- **Collaboration with Faith-Based Organizations** [39:17]
- The Bridge values partnerships with faith groups to address spiritual needs as part of comprehensive care for guests.
- **Individual Stories of Impact** [41:11]
- Highlighting personal transformations and ongoing connections that illustrate the profound effect of The Bridge's services on individuals' lives.
- **Community and Public Education** [34:26]
- Importance of educating the public on effective strategies to support the homeless, maximizing the impact of resources.

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Creators & Guests

Host
Wayne Walker
CEO and Pastor Wayne Walker serves as the CEO and Pastor to the homeless at OurCalling. In 2001, Wayne, along with his wife Carolyn, started serving the homeless community in Dallas. They founded OurCalling in 2009. During his youth, Wayneā€™s family actively pursued the scriptural commandment to ā€œlove your neighbor as yourselfā€ by modeling the life of Jesus to scores of foster children whose own origins represented generations of human brokenness, dysfunction, sexual exploitation, and abuse. Early exposure to these destructive forces set him on a path to recognize the long-term effects of trauma, which often lead to homelessness. While completing his Masterā€™s Degree in Cross-Cultural Ministry from Dallas Theological Seminary, Wayne befriended and ministered to men and women in the homeless community. During that time he began to establish personal, discipleship-oriented relationships with homeless individuals, many in the same urban setting where he and his family continue to work today.
Editor
Orange and Teal Productions
caroline@orangeandteal.org
Designer
Sarah Katherine

What is OurCalling - Our podcast about homelessness?

A Podcast by OurCallingā€”the goal is to be a learner. What can we learn about serving those experiencing homelessness? Even though we have years of experience, can we step back, take a fresh look, and rethink everything we know? OurCalling is a Christian nonprofit (501 c3) serving the homeless community throughout Dallas County in Texas. Our team helps people get to know Jesus and get off the streets every day. Last year, we helped individuals exit homelessness over 1,300 times. We have a facility in downtown Dallas, and our street outreach teams visit over 4,000 locations throughout the county. We serve about 10,000 individuals experiencing homelessness each year. We partner with the most amazing organizations and recognize that we are stronger when we work together.

Wayne Walker:

Welcome to the Our Calling podcast. Today, I'm gonna be talking to doctor David Woody. The third is the CEO and president of the Bridge Homeless Recovery Center, learning more about what they do and what integral role they play in serving our homeless neighbor. Who is our calling? What does our calling do to help the homeless?

Wayne Walker:

The nonprofit. We care with dignity. Our calling

Dr. Woody:

Can't help but think about the definition of Christian

Wayne Walker:

We connect with intentionality.

Dr. Woody:

Called our calling To our calling. We build community with integrity. Our calling.

Wayne Walker:

This is our calling and our podcast, a word on the streets about homelessness. Alright. Today, I'm here with doctor David Woody. Good to be here. CEO and president of the Bridge Homeless Recovery Center in downtown Dallas.

Wayne Walker:

Little weird for me because I remember serving meals in that field before the bridge was built. Both of us have been doing this a minute in different places.

Dr. Woody:

That's right.

Wayne Walker:

But again, I I wanna take a moment for you just to kinda introduce yourself. What do you do? K. What's your role?

Dr. Woody:

Great. Again, thanks for having me, Wayne. It's good to see you again. I'd I'm thinking back to, the pandemic and, the intense meetings regularly, more than regularly. So it's good to be back on the campus and to see how things are growing, and it's bustling today.

Dr. Woody:

Again, doctor David Woody, the third president and CEO of The Bridge. I have been at The Bridge. It will be 9 years in June, and, in my current role, I just celebrated, 6 years as president and CEO of The Bridge. When I first came to The Bridge, I was, chief services officer, and I think that's how we initially engage each other just around, collaborating, frankly, on services, to the unsheltered here in Dallas. As you mentioned, the bridge, now will be, 16 years old next month.

Dr. Woody:

And, it is in the a homeless encampment, frankly. That's what was there. And, again, we are a low barrier shelter. Here in Dallas, we our arms are wide open in terms of accepting single adults, 18 and older, and we are about engaging, trying to get folks, to build just enough trucks with folks to get them onto the campus and to contemplate, frankly, what's the exit strategy from homelessness. Sure.

Dr. Woody:

Again, we're offering both day shelter services, great partnerships, collaborations with Parkland Hospital, with MetraCare as most of our, shelter partners are have the got those folks immersed on the campus. 3 meals a day, 3 hot meals a day, showering, indoor and outdoor showers. We have a kennel. We'll hold about 20 to 25 k nines.

Wayne Walker:

So if someone comes with their dog, they can still come into a shelter.

Dr. Woody:

Exactly.

Wayne Walker:

Now That's right. All the other shelters in town, this is it.

Dr. Woody:

That's right.

Wayne Walker:

You guys are the only one that'll take someone and their 4 legged friend.

Dr. Woody:

Exactly. And so, you as you can imagine, we have a waiting list Yeah. Of canines to get in as well as, our unsheltered folks. And so to offer those services during the day is important. But also we have, night shelter for right around 375, maybe 400 with our overflow at night.

Dr. Woody:

And right now, my biggest concern is this, Wayne, is that, couple days last week, we saw nearly 700 folks on the campus for day shelter services, and we know about the lack of night shelter on the campus. And so we can sleep, we can offer day shelter around 700, maybe 400 or so at night, but we've got that delta of folks who are unsheltered. And right now, I think that's what the community here, Cedars, Farmers Market, they're concerned about folks who are unsheltered on the street, and what's happening. Right? Sure.

Wayne Walker:

Yeah. You know, it feels to me like since the bridge was built, and I remember the ribbon cutting ceremony that was there, and it was so much fun. Was it mayor Rawlings at the time?

Dr. Woody:

That's right. Yeah.

Wayne Walker:

He used to be the homler homeless czar. Right. And but when it was built, it was just such an amazing opportunity to build something downtown. There wasn't a shelter in downtown Dallas. Right?

Wayne Walker:

Years ago, there was.

Dr. Woody:

Mhmm.

Wayne Walker:

Austin Street Center used to be on Austin Street. That's right. And then they built the convention center there, so it moved. And, Dallas life is across the highway, but it's still more families. It's a little not a a lot more barriers to get into.

Dr. Woody:

Right.

Wayne Walker:

But to provide a shelter in downtown was gonna create this beautiful space. And I remember when they first opened, people could sleep anywhere there.

Dr. Woody:

That's right.

Wayne Walker:

There were people sleeping on every piece of sidewalk, every piece of concrete in the pavilion, outside the pavilion.

Dr. Woody:

That's right.

Wayne Walker:

You know, bodies everywhere, people sleeping because there were needs.

Dr. Woody:

You're right.

Wayne Walker:

But since then, 16 years ago, it doesn't feel like Dallas has added any significant shelter space.

Dr. Woody:

That's right.

Wayne Walker:

Our friends at Austin Street, you know, Daniel, they opened up their new facility.

Dr. Woody:

Right.

Wayne Walker:

But even then, city hasn't allowed them to add a bunch of extra beds

Dr. Woody:

That's right.

Wayne Walker:

Because of zoning.

Dr. Woody:

That's right.

Wayne Walker:

Because of restrictions. That's right. It just seems like Dallas's homeless population and now they just reported that we have 8,000,000 people in the metroplex.

Dr. Woody:

Yes.

Wayne Walker:

But we haven't added it's like a small town that doesn't make the streets any bigger. You know how we realize infrastructure doesn't keep up.

Dr. Woody:

Yes.

Wayne Walker:

And so I'm hearing you say that you think we need more shelter beds.

Dr. Woody:

There's no question about it. Right? And again, we can talk all we want to about the fact that what will eliminate homelessness is housing. Okay? We've we know about money that's been set aside.

Dr. Woody:

Meager at best, but it's been set aside, but not access, not put into action. And, and there's still lots of talking about more workforce, more affordable housing. Okay? Right now though, we need more shelter, or else folks are gonna see people on the street. That's just the reality.

Wayne Walker:

Okay? Yeah. One day, you know, when we moved into this building, we asked the question, should we serve lunch? You guys already serve lunch.

Dr. Woody:

That's right.

Wayne Walker:

We don't need, you know Yeah. Gonna have competition. Right. Well, one of the things we realized earlier on is we did need to because there were too many people.

Dr. Woody:

That's right.

Wayne Walker:

But we specifically set our lunch time to be the same time as the bridge Right. And the same time as Cornerstone Mhmm. Which serves lunch. Yes. You know, with Pastor Chris, who's on our board, good friends.

Wayne Walker:

Mhmm. We said, okay. Let's not make a place where people can hop from place to place to place.

Dr. Woody:

That's right.

Wayne Walker:

Let's look at how many people we're serving. And if you add the number of people that we're serving for lunch Right. You're serving for lunch, they're serving for lunch.

Dr. Woody:

Right.

Wayne Walker:

Dallas needs a lot more bed.

Dr. Woody:

Correct.

Wayne Walker:

Correct. And then you take street outreach teams going all over the city. Right. How do you I know I'm jumping the gun here. We have a list of questions.

Wayne Walker:

But how in you in your mind, do you measure the value? And I know we have to do it. The point in time count versus the numbers that we actually see in reality.

Dr. Woody:

Exactly. It obviously, the point in time count, if we're just looking at, 2023, I think it was 4410 something was the number. Okay? And folks wanted to celebrate that as a reduction. What?

Dr. Woody:

4%. Okay? The reality though is that the bridge, we've only seen more people. Okay? I brought some numbers last year overall, and that this is, post pandemic, we saw overall, 63100, maybe 64100 folks.

Dr. Woody:

Right now, already, as of last week, I just got these numbers. We have already seen, over 46, nearly 5,000 unique individuals, and we're only 5 months into the fiscal year. Okay? So we can talk all we want about it being reduced. Okay?

Dr. Woody:

The bridge though, in terms of the needs of the unsheltered, we're we're exploding. Yeah. That's what's happening. And so, that's that number, point in time count number is a great starting place. What?

Dr. Woody:

Another 3, 4000 folks uncounted? I think that's more realistic for City of Dallas. Yeah. Yeah.

Wayne Walker:

Yeah. And if you keep going further out, Mhmm. Yes. Dallas is big. Mhmm.

Wayne Walker:

Right? Yes. Not even the county, but just sticking in Dallas itself Yes. We're seeing huge growth of homeless camps all along the outskirts. That's right.

Wayne Walker:

All up and down the Trinity, all up in South Dallas Yes. All along 2635. Right. You know, when we look at those maps, it just glows. Exactly.

Wayne Walker:

Right? With all the people there.

Dr. Woody:

It's those are hot maps. It's hot. Yes.

Wayne Walker:

Okay. So you talked about the bridge Mhmm. Some of the current stats, current numbers. Right. If you could real quick, tell me the history.

Dr. Woody:

Okay.

Wayne Walker:

History of the bridge. Okay.

Dr. Woody:

Originally, as you described, what, 15 minutes ago again, folks came in, and basically it was gonna be a repository for folks who are homeless, and we were sleeping folks all over. I think a major change has been the notion of recovery. Okay? And crafting with a guest. Again, we're talking folks, guest on the campus.

Dr. Woody:

What's what's the exit strategy? A care and housing plan. Okay? We can go do an initial intake, identify what some of the issues were that created this homeless status, and then with that care manager relationship prioritized, what kinds of things need to be addressed? Physical health needs through Parkland on campus, behavioral health, mental health, substance use needs through MetraCare, and then basically piece together enough stability such that a person can take on some additional skills that will allow them to sustain a housing solution in the community.

Dr. Woody:

So that's been a major, I think, transition. And it's also spoken to maybe, I I think our arms are wide open, but this expectation that we're gonna be asking a guest, where'd you sleep last night? Do you have a care manager? Where it is what's your next step? And that the bridge is just a stop along the way to get you prepared to manage that.

Dr. Woody:

And for us now to be able to talk, we we're tracking at 6 months, where is somebody, who we've housed? And 93% of folks at 6 months are still in their housing solution. And so, I think that's great, in terms of success, quote unquote, for the bridge. But I, as a leader, also have to be very concerned about the growing numbers. And is there a better way for us to keep our arms wide open, but also, be balanced in terms of an expectation that folks would come in and be about a recovery experience?

Wayne Walker:

So I'm gonna ask you a question that can sometimes sound a little bit, alarming or, you know Yeah. Causes people to kinda wanna make fists and fight. You know, whenever I hear an organization say we're the best, they're the biggest. Yeah. We do more.

Wayne Walker:

We love people more. Yeah. We've got the biggest shelter. We got you whatever it is. You know?

Wayne Walker:

Right. I just wanna flap on them. Mhmm. Like, it's it's not true. It's not it's arrogant.

Wayne Walker:

It's it's not helpful.

Dr. Woody:

Right.

Wayne Walker:

But what do you feel that the bridge does best for the guest on your campus? Now you're not comparing yourself to anybody else, any other organization, but Mhmm. Everybody has their niche. Right? Right.

Wayne Walker:

And I know you guys are single adults only. Mhmm. And including those with pets, and you have all these litany of services from haircuts to, you know, getting that dog wormed and taken care of, and meal services, you know, partnership with the Stewpot.

Dr. Woody:

Sure.

Wayne Walker:

But what do you feel like the bridge does best that you're so proud of?

Dr. Woody:

What I'm most proud of is just the care management experience. Okay? And we have 3 teams. A recovery care management team for manages, an overwhelming number percentage of our guests who have had that one budget busting event that tripped them over into homelessness, especially post pandemic, loss of a job, an eviction, that kind of thing, and that they would come in, see our recovery care management team, and quickly, hopefully, identify a new housing solution that they can afford and hopefully employment, then, like, or and or benefits that would support that. Then we have a, intensive care management team that drills strictly with our guests who have behavior health, mental health, and or substance use issue.

Dr. Woody:

Smaller case loads so that they can really wrap their rounds around that person and hopefully connect them with a permanent supportive housing experience. And then we've got a housing care management team where we're doing 6 months of housing follow-up with folks post placement, really helping them to really get rooted in the community. Where do I shop? Where do I get my meds? If I have a spiritual need, how I can get connected to a church?

Dr. Woody:

All of those kind of basic things that anybody in society, once you move, in order to be stable and rooted in your new experience, most of us, we have the skills, or a partner who can help us with that. The homeless folks, who are leaving our shelter experience where they're guided, engaged, they're by themselves. And that sounds great. They've got their own key, but from after 48 hours, they're lonely. They're alone.

Dr. Woody:

And so to have somebody who will come out and check on them for at least 6 months to make sure they're stable, that's what allows us to have that 93% post placement, experience and not coming back to the bridge.

Wayne Walker:

That's important because the goal is not to get people off the street. Mhmm. The goal is to keep them

Dr. Woody:

Exactly. Off the street. That's right.

Wayne Walker:

Now, you mentioned a lot of things in that need that your care team is doing Mhmm. Once they get off the street. Right. Connection with food resources, maybe employment for those that are employable. That's right.

Wayne Walker:

You know, counseling, mental health care.

Dr. Woody:

That's right.

Wayne Walker:

And as you're saying this list, it just reminds me that although housing is a necessity for people to end their homelessness Yes. It is not the only need that anyone has.

Dr. Woody:

That's right.

Wayne Walker:

Everybody that's ever been to our place or yours Mhmm. Has been in a house before. Yes. And housing is a necessity. It's an and and it's an it's a required ingredient.

Wayne Walker:

Mhmm. Right?

Dr. Woody:

That's right.

Wayne Walker:

But housing alone is never going to resolve.

Dr. Woody:

Exactly. Right? That's why I mean, there's there's, you know, who is it? Luther Vandross. A house is not a home.

Dr. Woody:

That's a perfect example right there, and of how we're trying to, soften the walls, the floors. What do we need to add to that structure that will allow a person to be feel fully engaged, and be able to make a home what it needs to be for them. Right?

Wayne Walker:

What do you believe the Housing First has been adopted since a long time.

Dr. Woody:

Yeah.

Wayne Walker:

Right?

Dr. Woody:

Mhmm.

Wayne Walker:

I'll I'll let you make a reaction there. Right? Right? Yes. Where do you feel like we could do things better?

Wayne Walker:

I'm not saying Housing First is wrong or bad. You you know I've got opinions on that. I know you

Dr. Woody:

do too. Exactly.

Wayne Walker:

But where do you feel there's a shortfall or a pain point there that that as a community, we can do better?

Dr. Woody:

Again, the bridge was established as a result of a bond package, 2,007, 2006. Okay? And an element of that package was

Wayne Walker:

minute. Pause real quick.

Dr. Woody:

Okay.

Wayne Walker:

The bridge was created based on a bond package in 2006 or 7. That's right. The bridge didn't open until 2,008. Yes. That bond package was probably put in works and planned on 4

Dr. Woody:

or 5 years before then. Mayor Rawlings, former mayor Rawlings, the housing the homeless czar.

Wayne Walker:

K.

Dr. Woody:

That's what he was involved in, the creation of that and championed, the need, right, for an experience of housing homelessness. Now was

Wayne Walker:

he the czar under Laura Miller when she was mayor?

Dr. Woody:

Yes. Okay. And so what is it? $23,700,000 to establish in its footprint the bridge. Okay?

Dr. Woody:

But then also another element of that bond was housing. Okay? Establishing housing, and we're still trying to do that. Okay? As a community, we're way behind in terms of workforce affordable housing.

Dr. Woody:

Most folks, Dallas Morning News claims that homelessness is a major concern for everybody. And so, again, at the bridge, I've got a 100, 110 individuals, okay, who we describe as housing ready. Okay? They're well down to the road in terms of their recovery experience, connected to Parkland, connected to Metro Care, a care manager. They've got their benefits in place, a voucher perhaps.

Dr. Woody:

Okay? And we can't connect them to a housing solution. Okay? And so

Wayne Walker:

Now why can't you connect them?

Dr. Woody:

There's just not enough options that we can connect. For example, a voucher too. Okay? Folks get a voucher, they got 90 days to put it into play. We're asking for extensions.

Dr. Woody:

Okay? And so what we've done is to just I've got part of my housing team now going out and trying to craft relationships with landlords who are willing to give folks a second chance, but without all of the drama of a voucher and that kind of thing. So we've got more resources to bring to bear through the bridge to work with a landlord who would say, hey. I'm I've I've been that way, or I've got a family member who's been through this. I've got 3 units.

Dr. Woody:

Okay? That I would like to work with the bridge on. How would you all support a person when they come, etcetera, etcetera. And again, if we had more available affordable housing with landlords who would accept the benefits that a guest has, I think that we could turn it in. I just can't create a flow at the bridge.

Dr. Woody:

Okay? We've got outreach, folks contemplating recovery, recovery services, housing ready, and I've got a backlog backlog in my housing ready group because I can't get them out into a unit.

Wayne Walker:

And you when you say we can't get them out, it's not because your team doesn't know how to do the job. It's that you have some rules Mhmm. That you're held to. Right. It has to be a house that meets a certain standard.

Wayne Walker:

Yes. You have to have a landlord that's willing to take them

Dr. Woody:

Right.

Wayne Walker:

In a safe space

Dr. Woody:

for them.

Wayne Walker:

Yes. Mhmm. And just finding that available inventory Yes. Has been really tough.

Dr. Woody:

That's the tough part.

Wayne Walker:

What about services that are offered or not offered? Is it good? Is it bad? Is there a lack? Is there a need?

Wayne Walker:

Is there too many services to people once they get into housing?

Dr. Woody:

It's been really challenging, you know, in terms of what our housing team has experienced in respect to a housing follow-up experience. Okay? It's one thing to have crafted that relationship with a guest, who can trust with you trust in you and your ability to connect them to resources in their new, neighborhood. Okay? The fact that there is not enough resources, And and, again, it's a it's a complex thing in terms of the types of resources that are needed, but connecting that guest to resources in their community, that's been a challenge.

Dr. Woody:

We've struggled with, okay, once we get a person into a new home in a different community, should we have them come back to take advantage of the needs that they have because those resources are not available in their new community? Okay? And so we're expending a lot of energy, a lot of political energy, frankly, trying to connect and empower services through local organizations, through neighborhood churches, and those kinds of things who want to be able to offer more to a guest in that new community who is just coming out of an unsheltered or homeless experience.

Wayne Walker:

Yeah. When they wake up in the morning, they go in the cafeteria and eat meals.

Dr. Woody:

Exactly.

Wayne Walker:

They have a lunch. They have a great dinner. Mhmm. But when they get an apartment, they look in the kitchen and they're like, okay. Something's missing here.

Dr. Woody:

That's right.

Wayne Walker:

There might be a food pantry down the road, but it might take them an hour and a half on a bus. They get it carried as box of food. Exactly. Then they gotta get in the food prep role, which, you know, we can all figure out how to do. But when you've got to do this 3 times a day, 7 days a week, like you and I do.

Dr. Woody:

Right.

Wayne Walker:

Right? Yes. But still, on top of all the other challenges like getting your meds Mhmm. Filled. Yes.

Wayne Walker:

Remembering to take your meds.

Dr. Woody:

That's right.

Wayne Walker:

Going and seeing that counselor. Going and get that let that doctor look at that problem with your knee. Exactly. Whatever, you know. All those life skills, Mhmm.

Wayne Walker:

Continued addiction recovery classes, like 12 step classes. You mentioned spiritual, maybe connecting with a church. Right. This person now has a job.

Dr. Woody:

Yes, sir.

Wayne Walker:

And their new job is this agenda on how to care for themselves almost by themselves.

Dr. Woody:

That's right.

Wayne Walker:

That's right. Because I feel like they put too much pressure on case managers Mhmm. When they get in housing. They expect them to be miracle workers.

Dr. Woody:

Exactly. Everything is gonna be perfect, you know. And that's part you know, we haven't talked much about the experiences. We've talked a lot, and a lot of folks focus on the needs of the guests. It's another whole thing, especially post pandemic, to be thinking about our employees.

Dr. Woody:

Okay? And the burdens, frankly, that they carry, both in terms of the variety of and uniqueness of each guest, but also what that guest brings to bear in terms of trauma, etcetera, etcetera, and how they manage that. Okay? Along with wanting to see their guests succeed.

Wayne Walker:

Oh, yeah. And the frustration when they don't. Exactly. Yes. When you see

Dr. Woody:

them come back. Right. Yes.

Wayne Walker:

So we we I'm a tell you what we do, and I'd love to hear what you guys do k. Because this is a learning experience. Right? So we have 2 chaplains that all they work with is our staff.

Dr. Woody:

Mhmm.

Wayne Walker:

They're staff chaplains. They're counselor trained Yes. Staff chaplains, so they have skills. Right? We also do trauma processing groups for staff.

Wayne Walker:

Okay. All kinds of trauma training. Like, not just trauma informed care of how to work with someone who's lived through trauma Mhmm. But how to express and understand the complex secondary trauma that you're exposed to. That's right.

Wayne Walker:

Yes. Compassion fatigue. Yes. All those challenges because, you know, you're working with someone and you've gone through all these steps and then they disappear.

Dr. Woody:

Right.

Wayne Walker:

You're working with someone, you go through all these steps and they die Mhmm. On the street. Yes. And you feel, man, if I could only made that one phone call Mhmm. If that door would have opened.

Dr. Woody:

Right.

Wayne Walker:

Right? If that landlord would have taken that. If that one program would have accepted them with their criminal background. Right. And now you feel the culpability in there.

Wayne Walker:

Right? We work with people that have committed suicide. Mhmm. You know, we work with people that have been murdered and people that have committed murder because of, you know, all the chaos and endless streets. Yeah.

Wayne Walker:

And so I feel like there's so much burden and pressure put on workers in this space.

Dr. Woody:

Yes.

Wayne Walker:

Now I'm a go a little pastor on us here. When Jesus said come to me all who are weary and heavy burdened Right. I will give you rest.

Dr. Woody:

Right.

Wayne Walker:

We think of our neighbors as the ones carrying the burdens and they do. Yes. But in an unhealthy way, sometimes our staff try to carry those burdens in a codependent way. I can fix them. I can I'm responsible for them.

Wayne Walker:

And so we've we're continually trying to figure out how do we care for our staff. We have a counseling room for them here.

Dr. Woody:

Okay.

Wayne Walker:

We pay for counseling. We have a team of counselors around the, county that we found that actually specialize in trauma Wow. Care like this.

Dr. Woody:

Okay.

Wayne Walker:

So that's what we've done for our staff. Right. Trying to make sure they're healthy. Healthy at home. Mhmm.

Wayne Walker:

Yes. Whether they wear a green shirt or not, if if they leave our calling, that's fine. We wanna make sure they're healthy.

Dr. Woody:

Right.

Wayne Walker:

They're healthy at home, recognizing they get exposed to a lot of stuff. Mhmm.

Dr. Woody:

Yes. We have a relationship with Marketplace Chaplains. Mhmm. Okay? Same kind of experience that you do on the campus several days a month.

Dr. Woody:

Folks can be involved in both individual experiences, group experiences as well. Some of our teams, obviously, going through things. And it's great to hear you describe some of what and we'll have to, you know, once this is over, talk more because we're we're not doing as much as you, frankly, in terms of care. You have put together in terms of trauma, secondary trauma. We're aware of it.

Dr. Woody:

We had did a couple studies with our, care management team about what their needs are. We've I guess I should say this. We have not done enough to prioritize care for our employees, so we need to do more talking about that. You spoke about the issues of loss of, clients, the guests, that kind of thing. This earlier this week, we had a guest who had been in our emergency shelter and didn't wake up.

Dr. Woody:

Okay? And passed away in his sleep. And it's it's it's a, ribbon effect, you know. A bottle of Danny. Exactly.

Wayne Walker:

Yeah. For both

Dr. Woody:

the guests, but also for employees who crafted a relationship with this person over x number of month. He was making care, progress in terms of his, care and housing plan, and it's like, yes. He died in his sleep. He was in good spot in terms of his physical health, at least through Parkland, but, it's like, what else could we have done? Okay?

Dr. Woody:

And the burden of that as well.

Wayne Walker:

Yeah. That's so so hard. Yeah. And I don't think we'll ever gonna figure it out. Right?

Wayne Walker:

Yeah. I the burdens that our our guests, our neighbors carry Mhmm. When we try to walk with them and carry that burden with them, I think of the good Samaritan. When he put the guy in his own donkey Mhmm. He's paying for the guy's needs.

Wayne Walker:

He's caring for his needs. Maybe he's treating his wounds.

Dr. Woody:

Mhmm. Right.

Wayne Walker:

And in the story, the guy that's wounded is Jewish. He's a Jew. Yes. Yes. You know?

Wayne Walker:

And the Samaritan and so maybe even the guy on the donkey saying, leave me alone. Don't touch me. I don't want anything to do with you. That's right. He's, like, fighting the guy who's trying to care for.

Dr. Woody:

That's right.

Wayne Walker:

We see that. Yeah. Crazy. For sure. So the bridge does amazing work.

Wayne Walker:

You're doing amazing work there, but you also do a lot of work outside of the bridge.

Dr. Woody:

Yes. Yes.

Wayne Walker:

So your business card, if it had all of your boards you serve on and committees would be, like, 3 pages long. So if you could share some of the other roles you have in the community.

Dr. Woody:

Okay. I am the past chair of the executive leadership council for our local continuum of care, the All Neighbors Coalition, and, that has been critical over the last 24 months or so in terms of trying to, transform our homeless response system. One of the things that I would say is that and some of this was born, through the pandemic. The need for, providers within the homeless response system to really come together to address the needs of homeless citizens during the pandemic. There they had no advocates, in in terms of shelter, in terms of access to a vaccine, all of those kinds of things.

Dr. Woody:

And I think out of that, experience, I know I am working more closely with other homeless provider, service providers who are doing amazing work. I'm also as part of our All Neighbors Coalition, working with 3 or 4 different, work groups who are kind of real down in the weeds in terms of the various complexities of homelessness. Everything from our HMIS system, which has gone through how many changes over the last 10 years, and we're still not where we need to be. Racial equity, and, that, unsheltered citizen or folk person who is in a good spot in terms of recovery that they have as many options for a housing solution as anybody else in our community. I'm also, let me think.

Dr. Woody:

I'm I'm blocking on, but and I've got 2 other committees that I'm involved with, to try to keep my finger on the pulse of the change process because at the bridge, because we're dealing with folks 18 and older who are coming from so many backgrounds, are are we doing as much as we need to do, at the bridge to really tap into the resources? Because we can't do it by ourselves. And so that's what I why I get so much pleasure in terms of just being involved with so many people, such that, I can bring to bear what I know, what we're doing at the bridge, but also to get so much more in terms of how we can change and get better.

Wayne Walker:

Sure. Wow. The coalition and, you know, Housing Forward has made some amazing strides over the last couple years. Yes. I feel like they've reinvented themselves a few times, but this current iteration is so solid.

Wayne Walker:

Yes. And they're doing such amazing work in the community. Yeah. You know, I've talked to so many people on their staff, so many other board members. Right.

Wayne Walker:

And it's just amazing to see that. We've been a part of the coalition for many years. Where do you see areas where we need community what are the pain points where we still need community wide support Okay. In areas where we can do more?

Dr. Woody:

I think one area is just and I know you've had a lot of input, and have done some cutting edge things around the management of data. Okay? We, I think, have a much more viable homeless management information system. We've got so many more organizations com committing their data to it. What I would like to see us be doing is there's so much dependence on the point in time count when we have all this additional data.

Dr. Woody:

Okay? We need to be doing what are the next steps in terms of really analysis, understanding that data, such that we can be more accurate. Okay? It's great to do the point in time count. We know it's not accurate, and I think our HMIS system can get closer to that accuracy need, that organizations need to tell their story, so that we can bring to bear resources both from the city, the state, and federal government in terms of the real needs here.

Dr. Woody:

A second issue for me is how we talk about, issues of equity. K? Most of the guests that we see at the bridge are from some community in Dallas. Okay? Nearly 63, 65% of who we see on the bridge campus is African American.

Dr. Woody:

Okay? And so I think that speaks to access issues, barriers to basic resources in those communities. And so I'm really concerned about what's happening upstream. Okay? Because, you know, I can be a great leader and have great metrics and goals that we wanna achieve in terms of numbers and that kind of thing, but we don't have a good sense of what's happening upstream so I can better prepare for what's happening.

Dr. Woody:

Okay? The fact that we had planned to see maybe 7,000, unique guests this year, we were totally off, totally off. We're always we're almost there, and we're only 6 months into the fiscal year. Mhmm. So the reverberations of that are incredible in terms of my employees' readiness, in terms of our budget, okay, and how much we're spending.

Dr. Woody:

Right now, we didn't expect to be spending as much right now. We've still got 6 months to go. And so lastly, a big issue is how can we tell a story such that we can get our foundations, our corporations more involved. Not through just volunteer activities, but committing resources to the strategic needs that we have in the community.

Wayne Walker:

That's a good answers. One of the issues you talked about is what percentage of the guests at the bridge are African American? Yeah. 65%. Mhmm.

Wayne Walker:

But Dallas is not 65% African American.

Dr. Woody:

That's right.

Wayne Walker:

Right? Yes. To see that disparity and what can be done, historically, what's been done, even though just over the last couple of decades Yes. In Dallas with all the housing policies and the lack of development in South Dallas.

Dr. Woody:

Right.

Wayne Walker:

So we are just south of I 30 here. Mhmm. Yes. And when we moved here, it was amazing that we couldn't get a pizza delivered here. That's right.

Wayne Walker:

Yes. We couldn't get the Dallas Morning News delivered here. Mhmm. And we were one of the Dallas Morning News charities. And their office is just right over there, right from the bridge.

Wayne Walker:

That's right. Yeah. And there was no Internet

Dr. Woody:

in this

Wayne Walker:

area. Alright.

Dr. Woody:

So many

Wayne Walker:

things were different here. And, obviously, we're in an when we moved into this building, we were in a corner of near downtown that hadn't been really developed and still hasn't been.

Dr. Woody:

Right.

Wayne Walker:

But still, it's the disparity.

Dr. Woody:

That's right.

Wayne Walker:

Even just the basics, like a good grocery store. Right. Right? Having access How far do

Dr. Woody:

you have to travel for

Wayne Walker:

a business? Dallas.

Dr. Woody:

Yeah.

Wayne Walker:

And and people don't realize how important that is. These are the reasons why people become homeless. Exactly.

Dr. Woody:

Huge contributor. Yes.

Wayne Walker:

And it it's this pipeline that just keeps feeding. Mhmm. One of the things we've realized, and I talk to cities all the time, and every city always says this. Why don't everybody send all their homeless people to us? You know?

Wayne Walker:

Yes. And yet reality is 80 to 90% are homegrown.

Dr. Woody:

That's right.

Wayne Walker:

Those are your people. That's right. That's right. That's right. Yes.

Wayne Walker:

I don't care what's that. You're in 80, 90% are homegrown, 10 to 15% maybe, you know, or transient. Or transient. Yeah. Because look at your population.

Wayne Walker:

More than 10 to 15% of your population is probably transient anyway.

Dr. Woody:

That's right.

Wayne Walker:

But most of them are homegrown folks Mhmm. That have fallen out It's for some reason. Experiencing homelessness, and they're in desperate, desperate need. Correct.

Dr. Woody:

That's right. Yeah. So you've hit it on the head in terms of, and that's that's a major challenge, which is to educate the public. And I thought I'm really glad to be able to participate in this because that's become a more significant part of my role that I've been embracing is, what can I bring to bear both in terms of data, but also empathy, compassion? How can I balance that to really tell a story to folks who want to understand it?

Dr. Woody:

They wanna understand what's going on, but more importantly, how can they have an impact on the solution? Right? And for folks to be able to come to the bridge or to come to some other shelter, to talk with folks about, feeding, street feeding, so for example. Right? And the impact of that on folks who are homeless, does that really address the need, or how can we expand the hard earned resources that somebody has by having them serve a meal here at at, and or contribute to meal service here at, our calling.

Dr. Woody:

Right? What they would send spend on a meal there, you might be able to spend 20 prepare 20 meals here, but most folks don't understand that. So education is so important.

Wayne Walker:

It baffles my mind that people will show up in front of our facility Yes. And serve meals out of the trunk of their car Mhmm. While we're serving meals here

Dr. Woody:

Yes.

Wayne Walker:

In a commercial kitchen Mhmm. That gets inspected and has all the equipment.

Dr. Woody:

I know

Wayne Walker:

it. Yesterday, our chef prepared chicken shawarma.

Dr. Woody:

Wow. Okay.

Wayne Walker:

Right? Yes. Yes. He prepares the most amazing Amazing. Yes.

Wayne Walker:

We do brisket, we do salmon, we do ribs. Right. I mean, he does amazing food. Today, it was some other kind of Mediterranean. I don't know why he's in his Mediterranean mode right now, but it's awesome.

Wayne Walker:

He's culinary trained.

Dr. Woody:

Yes.

Wayne Walker:

It's and our food is unlimited. Yeah. Unlimited. Mhmm. You wanna go back through the line 7 times?

Dr. Woody:

Come on.

Wayne Walker:

That's totally fine.

Dr. Woody:

Okay.

Wayne Walker:

We don't use any styro foam here on campus. Mhmm. Not good for the environment. Right. So you can't take food with you.

Wayne Walker:

It's not like you're packing up to take your camp.

Dr. Woody:

Okay.

Wayne Walker:

But if you wanna eat again and again and again because you haven't eaten in a few days, no problem.

Dr. Woody:

Right.

Wayne Walker:

But still, people will show up in front of our doors and serve food. And leave styrofoam everywhere.

Dr. Woody:

They make a mess. That's right. Yeah.

Wayne Walker:

And I know, this doesn't ever happen at the bridge. Nobody serves meals right in front of the bridge. Right when you're serving meals, and your staff are just shaking their heads Exactly.

Dr. Woody:

Why? Exactly. Wednesday night Mhmm. 6 o'clock, the folks are out there, Saturday mornings. They're there early afternoon.

Dr. Woody:

They're same thing on Sunday. Right? And, of course, you know, we have valued being part of the neighborhood. Right? Farmers Market, Cedars.

Dr. Woody:

Okay? And, when a street feeding group will come out, you know, get their blessing, and the neighborhood is trashed out. They're not calling them. They're calling me. Doctor.

Dr. Woody:

Wood, what are you doing? Do you know what's

Wayne Walker:

with the neighborhood? Right? Exactly. It's kinda like all the trash that people always post about at homeless encampments. Yes.

Wayne Walker:

Right? Mhmm. And and I used to be the guy. Right? We would buy tents, buy, like, the 100 or 1,000 and pass them out everywhere.

Wayne Walker:

Yes. Food on the streets everywhere. Yeah. Back and this is before the bridge was built even. Right.

Wayne Walker:

And so I get it. The heart and the compassion Exactly. Feel like you're doing the right thing. You've got great motivation, great intentions. Mhmm.

Wayne Walker:

However, when you look at all the garbage in a homeless encampment, those people experiencing homelessness did not bring that garbage.

Dr. Woody:

That's right.

Wayne Walker:

They didn't bring that old couch

Dr. Woody:

or

Wayne Walker:

that old basketball goal or all those tents to get replaced.

Dr. Woody:

That's right.

Wayne Walker:

And some of those camps get 10 or 20 different groups that show up on a Saturday to to serve meals. Like Right. If they don't do it, they're gonna starve, and then they're just high knee high garbage Yes. In some of these places.

Dr. Woody:

Exactly.

Wayne Walker:

And yet, the better option is to bring our resources together. That's right. In my opinion, we should not be helping people camp. We should help them on an exit strategy to get off the street.

Dr. Woody:

That's that's the message I want to communicate. And I'm not sure with, bullhorn, whatever, do I need to go to groups and just talk about the again, it's a complex issue. We get it. But there are so many options that would allow, a citizen to to have their hard earned dollars to grow them, to let them expand. Let us share with you how it is that, what you spend, to serve boxes of chicken from your trunk, how we can triple, okay, the impact of that.

Dr. Woody:

And you could come on the campus and really engage a homeless citizen and really understand the diversity of how it is that folks became homeless too.

Wayne Walker:

One of the things that's very different about The Bridge and our calling is we're a faith based group. We talk about Jesus every day. We think he's super important. We focus on 2 questions. Will you trust the Lord?

Wayne Walker:

Will you let us help you off the streets? But we have such a great partnership and collaboration with other agencies that don't. Mhmm. There's a lot of believers that work at the bridge and other places in town. Yes.

Wayne Walker:

Doesn't make us better. Just makes us a little different. Mhmm. Now we're completely inclusive in who we serve. We have everybody of every belief that comes in here, that we serve all over the streets.

Wayne Walker:

But it's a great opportunity for us to focus on what we think is important. Sure. Getting off the street. Mhmm. Yes.

Wayne Walker:

And being reconnected to God himself.

Dr. Woody:

Right.

Wayne Walker:

Right?

Dr. Woody:

Yes.

Wayne Walker:

As you work with faith based groups, and there's a lot of faith based groups. I know, John Castle was a dear friend, both of ours.

Dr. Woody:

He did.

Wayne Walker:

He led bible studies at the Bridge.

Dr. Woody:

Yes. He did.

Wayne Walker:

We used to lay the bible study at the Bridge every Friday night Right. From the time it opened until just a few years ago when we moved over here. What's the relationship between faith based organizations and the bridge?

Dr. Woody:

It's still extremely important. As you described, we still have church groups coming on the campus probably 2 to 3 times a week, especially on weekends. My idea is this, that, if if you look at the person and you divide up, a slice of pie, and, yes, we need to take care of their physical health needs, behavioral health needs. We need to be talking about employment. We need to be talking about what's the housing solution, that they're looking for.

Dr. Woody:

Spirituality, those spiritual needs, that's just as important a slice of the pie. And so to be able to have folks come onto the campus to make that resource available to folks, that's all part of them recovering, frankly, from homelessness and preparing them to use that part of who they are. And if that's nurtured, that's gonna be incredibly important to them in terms of sustaining their housing solution as well. So if we can make that happen and nurture that, that's an important just as important as everything else we're doing. And so we need to reconnect.

Dr. Woody:

You're all coming, to the campus on Friday nights. How about that? Okay. Well

Wayne Walker:

k. Do this for me before we close out here. And I know you get asked to do this at fundraiser events and, you know but tell us a few stories, if you could. Okay. We don't have much time left, but let's talk about a few stories because we're not here just to pass out food and get people in housing.

Wayne Walker:

Right. We're here for the individual.

Dr. Woody:

Exactly. Couple of stories. One of the most, poignant ones for me is, a female, older female, probably. This woman was 65, 70 years old and had significant, okay, mental health issues, to the extent that she would sleep across the street kitty corner from our campus. Okay?

Dr. Woody:

And folks could not get close to her. We tried to bring to bear the heart team. 2 or 3 other teams, folks would come engage, but not really bite down and really try to help this person. And so we would try to get incur to come, and we may be able to get her to come in for a shower, a meal, that kind of thing, but she would go back there. Okay?

Dr. Woody:

We were finally able to get her in and to get her connected to MetroCare, and this is the the work of one care manager who just went way over the board. And, and once she got stabilized on her meds, she made this incredible transition. And folks across the campus were speaking about how she cared for herself in her hair, and there was such a celebration when she moved into her own housing solution. Okay? We've we have her she's a poster child for the bridge, etcetera, etcetera.

Dr. Woody:

But it's those kinds of stories that are incredible. And then earlier this week, I came in at 6:30, 6:45, and and was approached by a a former guest who had been a former guest, who had a housing voucher and moved to San Antonio with that voucher. And, doctor Woody, do you remember me? Of of course, I remember you. And, you know, with trepidation, why are you back?

Dr. Woody:

I had I had to ask a question. Okay? And so he went through this litany of challenge that he's had, still has access to the voucher, and he's look. He came back to work with his former care manager to see if he could find something in Dallas. Okay?

Dr. Woody:

And but what was more important is that he described a conversation I had had with him 5 years ago. Okay? On the campus, and I was talking to him and I was saying finally, you know what? I don't know if you're really hearing what I'm saying because you're pretty drunk right now. Okay?

Dr. Woody:

That kind of thing. And he was able to remind me of how much that hurt his feelings, but now that he's returned, how important it was that I would accept him and teach him, as a human being despite that status. You know? So we always want for folks to be able to retain and maintain, sustain their housing solution. But when it breaks down, that they would feel good enough to come back to the bridge and try again.

Dr. Woody:

It's pretty awesome as well.

Wayne Walker:

Yeah. Thanks for coming today. Appreciate you guys.

Dr. Woody:

Thank you for having

Wayne Walker:

me, man.

Dr. Woody:

It's great. And and we'll continue to work together.

Wayne Walker:

Oh, yeah.

Dr. Woody:

Looking forward to it. Okay? Thank you. Alright.