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Creating an emergency inclement weather shelter with Daniel Roby, CEO of Austin Street Center. For about seven years, OurCalling has been helping with creating emergency space during inclement weather events. OurCalling is not a shelter, but we opened our doors overnight when the weather dropped below freezing in Dallas. We have recently partnered with Austin Street Center to set up for Inclement Weather. This episode was recorded during an inclement weather period in early 2024 while we were operating an emergency inclement weather shelter at Fair Park, the historic location of the State Fair of Texas.
- **Daniel Roby's Background** (00:51-00:55): Daniel has been working with the homeless for 17 years, with 9 years at Austin Street Center in Dallas and 8 years in Portland.
- **Daniel Roby's Background** (00:51-00:55): Daniel has been working with the homeless for 17 years, with 9 years at Austin Street Center in Dallas and 8 years in Portland.
- **Difference in Shelter Types** (01:42-02:00): Daniel explains that an inclement weather shelter primarily serves the chronically unsheltered who often face severe mental health issues, addictions, and other health declines not typically seen in regular emergency shelters.
- **Complexity of Inclement Weather Shelters** (02:00-02:54): These shelters deal with high-needs cases including severe mental illnesses, addictions, and lack of bodily control, requiring a different service model and intense support levels.
- **Client Challenges in Inclement Weather Shelters** (03:30-05:24): Daniel discusses the complexities of handling clients with recent trauma, susceptibility to outbursts, incontinence, and significant health issues, which necessitate a lower barrier to entry compared to traditional shelters.
- **Unique Needs for High-Needs Individuals** (05:00-06:47): The shelters must accommodate individuals unable to perform basic activities of daily living (ADLs), contrasting with traditional shelters' requirements. They also must cater to non-recoverable conditions, differentiating from their medical respite programs.
- **Budget and Resource Planning** (05:43-06:47): Emphasizing the need for adequate budget and resources tailored to the specific needs of chronically homeless individuals, which differ significantly from those in standard emergency shelters.
- **Handling Altercations and Maintaining Security** (08:02-08:27): Dealing with frequent altercations due to mental and cognitive challenges faced by the sheltered individuals, pointing out the necessity of adaptation and rigorous management in emergency shelters.
- **Operational and Physical Space Challenges** (13:26-15:42): Discusses the challenges faced when setting up emergency shelters in non-traditional environments like large open warehouses, which are not designed for segregated or specialized needs.
- **Role Division and Collaboration** (39:39-43:48): The importance of defined roles and collaboration between different organizations and city departments to handle emergency shelter operations effectively, drawing an insightful parallel to the biblical story of Nehemiah and the collective effort of wall building.
- **Adaptive Security Measures and Engagements** (27:53-32:02): The need for adaptive security capable of handling various scenarios from a place of compassion and practicality, which involves handling personal belongings sensitively, including potential weapons.
- **Future Planning and Community Engagement** (37:15-38:00): Emphasis on building strong preemptive relationships with city departments and community resources to better respond to spontaneous emergencies and operational needs.
These highlights focus on the strategies, challenges, and requisite adaptations needed in managing emergency inclement weather shelters, particularly for a chronically homeless population with complex needs.
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, Wayne’s family actively pursued the scriptural commandment to “love your neighbor as yourself” 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 Master’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.
What is OurCalling - Our podcast about homelessness?
A Podcast by OurCalling—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.
Welcome to Our Callings podcast. Our podcast, today, we're gonna talk about inclement weather shelters. It's an emergency. The weather is terrible. How do we put this thing together?
Wayne Walker:How do we run it? And I'm gonna be talking about this with my friend Daniel Roby from Austin Street Center. Who is our calling? What does our calling do to help the homeless? The nonprofit.
Wayne Walker:We care with dignity. Calling. Can't help but think about the definition of Christian We connect with intentionality.
Daniel Roby:Called our calling To our calling. We build community with integrity.
Wayne Walker:This is our calling and our podcast, a word on the streets about homelessness. Today, I'm with my friend, Daniel Roby. Daniel is the CEO of Austin Street Shelter in Dallas, Austin Street Center. How long you've been there?
Daniel Roby:9 years now.
Wayne Walker:K. And before then, you were in Portland? Yep. 8 years
Daniel Roby:in Portland running homeless services.
Wayne Walker:Awesome. So you kinda have a little bit of experience under your belt. Almost as much as you. Man, I'm still learning from you. Today, we're just gonna talk about inclement weather because we're kind of in the middle of it.
Wayne Walker:Yeah. And inclement weather happens to us when it gets really hot or really cold. We'll talk about shelter on another day, but today, we just wanna talk about inclement weather.
Daniel Roby:K.
Wayne Walker:And I wanna start off with the question, what's the difference between running a regular shelter and an emergency inclement between running a regular emergency shelter and a emergency inclement weather shelter?
Daniel Roby:That's a great question. Obviously, the people that come in during inclement weather are, all unsheltered. Right? And most people who come to an emergency shelter, typically, you may have some that are unsheltered. You also have a lot of people who may be coming out of various institutions, you know, hospital, a jail, similar.
Daniel Roby:You may have people who, come to you, keep being kicked out of a home. Maybe they're living with family, or maybe they've been living in a car. But when you run an inclement weather shelter and everyone has been typically chronically homeless, right, very severe, persistent, untreated mental illness combined with a very active addiction, life, and just the overall, breakdown of the physical body that happens after years years of being on the streets, you're dealing with things, like, you know, public urination and, people's inability to control their their bowel movements, and you're dealing with, a level of mental health issues that don't typically, exist in in typical emergency shelters. So, you know, for all these reasons, it it requires a very different service model and a very different level of support for an inclement weather shelter.
Wayne Walker:So I put together a white paper, a few years ago on this when the city decided they wanted to get involved, you know, it at first emergency inclement weather sheltering was just the shelters adding some more space and Then, you know, we're not a shelter. We decided to stay open, you know, we got the ticket from the city all that kind of stuff and then the city said hey, they wanted to do this and start putting together some, some details on it. And so I I put together this list of some of the differences between people that stay at a shelter normally and people that come to an emergency inclement weather shelter. Yeah. And it's it's the list you said.
Wayne Walker:First of all, people who have a significant or recent trauma exposure
Daniel Roby:Mhmm.
Wayne Walker:Maybe more so than those that are traditionally in a shelter. Mhmm. 2nd, people that are susceptible to outburst.
Daniel Roby:Mhmm.
Wayne Walker:So these are people that just got kicked out of a regular shelter.
Daniel Roby:Oh, sure. Absolutely.
Wayne Walker:Yeah. Or can't stay in a regular shelter.
Daniel Roby:And to your point, I mean, we've we've seen tons of people that our staff know because they showed up and then were kicked out. Right? Because the behavior is not something that can be typically tolerated.
Wayne Walker:And but in cold weather, you're like, hey, can we tolerate
Daniel Roby:That's right.
Wayne Walker:That's right. This guy. That's right. Another is hygiene. Mhmm.
Wayne Walker:Right? We have people that come into an inclement weather shelter who haven't bathed in months. Yep. Right? And people that have maybe not just incontinent issues for the day Mhmm.
Wayne Walker:But they've had incontinence issues. And so they're sitting in and have been sitting in soiled or wet clothes for a really long time. They can't bathe themselves.
Daniel Roby:Yep.
Wayne Walker:You know, most shelters require people that can manage their ADLs. Right. Activities daily living. That. Yeah.
Wayne Walker:So what are the requirements to get into Austin Street as far as, like, your ADLs?
Daniel Roby:Yeah. So our typical emergency shelter is all the ADLs have to be, have to be in place. So the individual has to be able to navigate a shelter environment on their own, so not being wheeled around in a wheelchair.
Wayne Walker:They can wheel themselves around. They can
Daniel Roby:wheel themselves around. Right. Or similarly, like, you know, people who are, vision impaired, they have to be able to, kind of walk, you know, the shelter floor where without risk of falling. And, and, you know, all these are things that, you know, an income weather shelter, we would not typically require. Right?
Wayne Walker:So in a traditional shelter, you have to be able to go to the bathroom on
Daniel Roby:your own.
Wayne Walker:Yeah. Absolutely. Get off the wheelchair onto the bed, back onto the wheelchair Absolutely. On your own. Yep.
Wayne Walker:Activities of daily living Yes. ADL. But in an emergency incomma weather shelter, you're gonna take people in that can't
Daniel Roby:That's right. That
Wayne Walker:that that soil themselves regularly. So, like, having adult diapers and stuff and the hygiene, we have to be able to take people that can't manage your hygiene. Yep.
Daniel Roby:And it's been interesting because I've had some conversations recently with some cities who, you know, saying, hey. You know, we've never had a shelter. We wanna start one. And in those conversations, it's been really interesting because they come up with budgets that are based upon a service model that is, you know, a typical emergency shelter that you would operate. And I say, hey.
Daniel Roby:That's fine. You can do that. You'll serve people. It'll be great. But if you're focused on chronically homeless people, severe and persistent mental illness and addiction that are on the streets and been on the streets, you know, if that's what the pushback of your community is and that's what you wanna address, well, you need a budget that's gonna reflect the type of care and support that you need, which is very different from a a typical emergency shelter.
Wayne Walker:And beyond that is just people, and you we already talked about a little bit of this, is people with significant health issues. Mhmm. Right? So we get people that just got dropped off from the hospital who just had surgery. Yep.
Wayne Walker:I mean, their sternum is just wired together. Yep. They've got a colostomy bag next to them that might be leaking. Yep. Or they have, you know, a major long term or terminal illness Mhmm.
Wayne Walker:That, again, most of our shelters wouldn't accept. Yep. Now you guys have some respite space in Austin Street, which is pretty unique and pretty awesome.
Daniel Roby:Sure.
Wayne Walker:But even then, you have limitations. Yet when we run an emergency inclement weather shelter, the hospitals wanna discharge lots of people, busloads to these spaces that really have nowhere else to go.
Daniel Roby:Yeah. And, you know, the medical respite program that we've been able to do has been very effective, but that program is specific for people who will essentially recover from whatever is going on. So if they are postoperation and, you know, in the next, you know, 6 to 12 weeks, whatever, they're gonna be better, that's great. If you've got a lot of chronic issues, so, you know, you're being treated ongoing for cancer care for diet if you're not gonna get better, then it's not the pro program. In fact, we'll actually tell people, hey.
Daniel Roby:This is not appropriate referral for this program. This is for a designated period of time. If you need ongoing care, we try to defer to nursing homes. But as you know, I mean, there's not the funding. There's not the resources.
Daniel Roby:You know, these people are not getting placed in nursing homes, and a lot of times they get kicked out of the nursing homes they're placed in. Yeah. So that that's certainly a big challenge. Health is a massive difference between, you know, we have health challenges at typical shelter, but it's a next level on the streets.
Wayne Walker:Another thing that we have to anticipate at an emergency inclement weather shelter is because normal agitation, some mental health challenges, some cognitive challenges. We're going to have a lot more altercations Mhmm. Than we normally would.
Daniel Roby:Absolutely. Yeah. And, you know, we've both seen that. Right? I know we're operating several different shelters in collaboration together, during this income or the period, and there's been altercations at both locations that you won't typically see at Austin Street Center.
Daniel Roby:I'm not saying they would never happen, but, certainly, they're gonna happen, on a daily or hourly basis, whereas in our typical shelter environment, you know, it's you know, maybe you have some kind of incident, you know, every couple of months or so.
Wayne Walker:And, really, this gets down to and the goal of an emergency inclement weather shelter is to get people out of inclement weather. Yeah. In order to do that, you have to lower the barrier. Agreed. And that's really where I see the major differences is Yeah.
Wayne Walker:In an emergency inclement weather shelter, you have extremely low barrier or almost no barrier.
Daniel Roby:Yeah.
Wayne Walker:Where in a shelter, you have to have standards. And so the standards means you have to have an ID.
Daniel Roby:Yep. You
Wayne Walker:have to have a background check.
Daniel Roby:Yep.
Wayne Walker:Right? You have to be able to manage, you know, your own self where in an emergency situation, I'm just trying to get this guy out of the ice. Yep. And I'm not gonna run his background.
Daniel Roby:Right.
Wayne Walker:I'm not going to make sure he has an ID. Right? Everybody can come in. We're not checking backgrounds. We're not checking IDs.
Wayne Walker:If you come in with a name and a birthday and even partial of a social, we're gonna let you in. Sure. And that brings in a a different group of folks. And also a lower barrier is bags and possessions. Mhmm.
Wayne Walker:Right? So when someone normally comes into a traditional shelter, what can they bring with them?
Daniel Roby:Well, it's usually about 2 bags of £25 apiece at Austin Street. So, that's usually, you know, what they're limited to.
Wayne Walker:Yeah. And that's most of our shelters in town kinda have the same kind of guidelines. And in in an emergency inclement weather shelter, you know, we still limit them. Right? Kinda like your airplane.
Wayne Walker:You can have 1 carry on and 1 personal bag. Right? So we've got 2 bags. They have to fit under your cot. But sometimes these are full of things people just randomly grabbed out of their camp.
Wayne Walker:Mhmm. Some of them, if we were to go through the bags, might have Yeah. Garbage. Absolutely. Right?
Wayne Walker:Old snacks from last week. Yep. It might have some wet clothes, might be all kinds of things. We go through those, but I don't think we're going through them. And we don't really want to Yeah.
Wayne Walker:As thoroughly as you would for a traditional shelter.
Daniel Roby:Yeah. This makes me think, about a time just a couple days ago when I got a call from a board member, to go check on somebody. And, you know, Austin Street doesn't typically do the type of search and rescue that our calling does. And, we're opening a couple of weather shelters, and I drive out behind this warehouse. And, you know, I can't find the guy.
Daniel Roby:And I have someone from a neighboring business direct me, and there's just, like, pile of blankets in the corner. And I'm like, oh, that's a person. You know? And as we as we, you know, peel back these wet blankets, you know, he's a w amputee. You know, he's laying in his own vomit, and, you know, can't even sit up on his own.
Daniel Roby:He can't get in the wheelchair on his own. You know? So we're picking this guy up, dusting him off, putting him in my car. And it's just like, you know, it's certainly it made it so real to me that, you know, I I think I'm so in tuned with people with significant need. But when we have these inclement weather shelters, when we engage this population, we don't typically engage, like, it is a different level of support and care that's needed.
Daniel Roby:And it makes me realize we need to think really differently about, how we respond to people's needs, especially when people who would typically never come to a shelter, even if that was an option, you know, are are at a space where they realize even subconsciously, if I don't go inside tonight, I'm not gonna live till tomorrow.
Wayne Walker:Yeah. So our teams, you know, we we don't run a shelter. Our teams specifically focus on the unsheltered. And so a lot of these individuals, because we've built a lot of relational equity with them Mhmm. Guys that are on Fentanyl that are, you know, overdosing all the time.
Daniel Roby:Sure.
Wayne Walker:You know, a lot of people that have multiple amputations that
Daniel Roby:are, you
Wayne Walker:know, OD'd on whatever. You know, because we have relational equity with them, I think we get an opportunity to say, hey, Joe. Mhmm. We've known you for a year and a half.
Daniel Roby:Yep.
Wayne Walker:Your friend Sam died last year when it got iced all over.
Daniel Roby:Sure.
Wayne Walker:That's you you got an amputation last year. You lost your leg because of frostbite the year before. Yeah. Do you trust us? Will you let us take you in?
Wayne Walker:And I think some of that relational piece is so important throughout the year when we do street outreach. Mhmm. It's important that we have that opportunity to bring those relationships in.
Daniel Roby:Yeah. It makes me think about something else, which is, people's familiarity, with having a conversation. Meaning when you've been unsheltered for a long time, you just lose a lot of those social skills. So you forget how to advocate for yourself. You forget how to communicate.
Daniel Roby:So, you know, we've seen a lot of people in this most recent inclement with a shelter event and similar to every year, who, you know, are kind of shuffling or stumbling through, you know, our shelter floor and, you know, come up to you and kinda start mumbling something that's incoherent doesn't make any sense. And, you know, maybe somewhere in there, they're trying to say, hey. I need some toilet paper. I need some socks or I need whatever, but they're not even able to get their words out because they just haven't had the type of human interaction, and they've lost that ability to to communicate and engage
Wayne Walker:with others. So we're gonna have different people Yeah. And we're gonna have people that aren't used to being inside. Yeah. We're also gonna be in a different building.
Daniel Roby:Mhmm.
Wayne Walker:Right? So talk about let's talk about a little bit the differences between
Daniel Roby:Mhmm.
Wayne Walker:What you would plan, because you guys just built a new shelter. Sure. Your shelter is a year old now. Yep. What you would what you planned in a new shelter that you built versus kind of what we get.
Wayne Walker:Yeah. So just just to set set the set the, stage here, we're operating right now at Fair Park in a building called Grand Place Right. Right near where the feet of Big Tex would be. Yeah. Right?
Wayne Walker:We walked in the building for the first time on a Tuesday. We planned on a Wednesday. We set up on Thursday. We moved people in on Friday. Right.
Wayne Walker:We'd never been in this building before. Sure. Kinda you get what you get. Yeah. Right?
Wayne Walker:And it's not the perfect building.
Daniel Roby:Right.
Wayne Walker:What's the difference in between what you plan and what you have in a regular shelter Mhmm. Versus the facility we kind of just get Yeah. In an emergency.
Daniel Roby:Yeah. In in, you know, talking about these these emergencies when you're given a building, you know, this city or whatever community you're engaged with is going to put you in whatever space they have. And usually that's just a big open warehouse. And that's it, you know? And so the bathrooms were not designed for people that have significant health issues or incontinence issues.
Daniel Roby:You know, you don't have, you know, the you know, you probably have no showers at all. You know, if by some miracle you get a place with, like, one shower, right, it's not gonna have the hose that you need to be able to For
Wayne Walker:a seating. Yeah. Right. Somebody. Yeah.
Daniel Roby:All that stuff. And so, you know, have big open warehouse. You can't segregate between men and women or people that have special needs. You know, you're just and from a service perspective, instead of creating space where you're saying, hey, These are where service partners are gonna be. We're gonna offer mental health here, whatever.
Daniel Roby:It's just one big open area. So people so
Wayne Walker:it's loud,
Daniel Roby:and, people are are new to the environment, and they don't know where to get what they need because wayfinding is really hard when it's just one big open floor. So a lot of challenges. But yeah. What do you think?
Wayne Walker:So as we've been doing this for years, we've kinda recognized the importance of creating those separate spaces. Mhmm. So when we set up and, you know, we walked in there Tuesday, we started drawing on blueprints then and trying to figure out where walls would go and walls meaning, curtains. Right? So pipe and drape.
Wayne Walker:But we set up a space for men, which is obviously we know that 70% of our population should be male. We set up a space for women. We want to provide some safe space for women to have privacy. And then we created a space on the middle we call our high needs area. Those are for individuals that for one reason or another, need to be closer to the bathroom Sure.
Wayne Walker:Because people have mobility challenges, people that are elderly
Daniel Roby:Yep.
Wayne Walker:People that don't identify as male or female. We want to create a safe space for individuals to be. Most of those individuals can't get up and go to the food line and wait, you know, with, you know, 800 other people in the room. They may not be able to just get up and run to the bathroom. That's why we bring in porta potties in addition to the toilets there.
Wayne Walker:But in addition to, you know, this men's area, women's area, and high needs area, we had to create an entertainment space. We learned this years ago. We have to create something for people to do.
Daniel Roby:That's right.
Wayne Walker:So they can play dominoes, so they can watch movies. I mean, I've got my DIRECTV login on these big screens there so we can watch movies, watch a football game, watch honestly, it's the weirdest thing. Favorite among most people is either westerns
Daniel Roby:Westerns.
Wayne Walker:Or the Hallmark Channel. It's totally westerns. These old guys love the Hallmark Channel. They're, like, loving every moment
Daniel Roby:of it. It's on constantly.
Wayne Walker:Is the girl in the red dress finally gonna kiss the guy at the end, you know? But anyway That's funny. You do this because you want people to be not just entertained, but give them something to do Yeah. Because we're humans.
Daniel Roby:Well and I think about, like, our own living environments. Right? I would imagine that the place where you sleep at night is not the same place where you watch TV. I imagine the place where you eat is not the same place where you're sleeping either. So, you know, when we try to confine people, you know, in a big room with, you know, 100 and 100 of people, maybe thousands of people, you know, and say, yeah, here's your 4 foot by 2 foot square area, that's not reasonable.
Wayne Walker:And grab your plate of food and go sit on your blanket and you're
Daniel Roby:caught Yeah.
Wayne Walker:Not real reasonable.
Daniel Roby:Yeah. Yeah. So, you know, I think, you have been really a really masterful creator of design, you know, ingress, egress, right, sleeping quarters and setting up something that, you know, is very operationally efficient. And, so, yeah, I'm grateful that we do this together.
Wayne Walker:Well, you know, and I've said this a 100 times. If we weren't doing this together, we just wouldn't We would
Daniel Roby:be doing it. We would
Wayne Walker:do it. Yeah. Put somebody else in your shoes. I'm like, y'all have fun. Yeah.
Wayne Walker:I guess that's one of the challenges you just mentioned, ingress, egress. And so that's important to me, not only from a fire safety perspective Yeah. But in a place like the State Fair of Texas Yeah. The building is designed for families to come in and make memories.
Daniel Roby:Sure.
Wayne Walker:Right? It's designed where every corner of the building has people coming in and people going out.
Daniel Roby:Mhmm.
Wayne Walker:Where when we run an emergency inclement weather shelter, we only want one entrance.
Daniel Roby:1 one entrance, one exit.
Wayne Walker:Right. So you go to a building that's got 12 sets of entrances. Yep. We have to station security at each one because we don't want anybody going out. Yeah.
Wayne Walker:Still available for an emergency. Yeah. But we don't want anybody going but this one spot. And that's another thing we have to set up when we set up these areas is a secure entry point Yeah. Where people can come in and go through an intake process.
Wayne Walker:Right. You guys use our HMIS. Right? Right. Right.
Wayne Walker:The Coalition's h you know, HMIS system to collect data on people and to track what we're doing. Then they go through a magnetometer. Right? So they're checking their bags, making sure, you know, they don't have any weapons. And then once that, they can they can go in and freely go anywhere within the space.
Wayne Walker:And if they're going outside and the way we run it, and we've we've we've gone back and forth in this, but we found the best way to do this is 24 hour a day intake. We're not turning it off at 10 PM.
Daniel Roby:Right.
Wayne Walker:We don't have a curfew. People can come in and out 40 times a day. We don't care. You wanna go out and smoke a cigarette and come back
Daniel Roby:in?
Wayne Walker:No problem. Yeah. Why? Because it keeps
Daniel Roby:you calm.
Wayne Walker:Yes. We can deal with a firm security perspective. We give you a color wristband for the day, and we change colors every day. You've got the blue, and you can come back in. Yeah.
Wayne Walker:No problem. You wanna go in and out. I would much rather you go outside Yeah. And come back in 10 minutes later than be stuck in this coop.
Daniel Roby:I think you should describe that whole wristband process in a little bit more detail because that was something that, you know, I I'd never thought of operating our own shelter. You know, it's typically you know, you know who your people are. You know, we have a sign in, sign out process, but it's much more difficult because you don't have, you know, that that easily identifiable data. And to try to control to your point, you know, people coming in and people leaving. You're trying to give a real accurate count to the community, to the public on how many people are in the building and what are they doing.
Daniel Roby:And and you can't do that if you don't control your entrance and your exit. So maybe I I if it's okay with you, I'd love to hear about that wristband because I thought that was very creative, and it's been very, effective for us.
Wayne Walker:So not only do we need to track and make sure we have enough beds, we have to make sure we have enough resources.
Daniel Roby:Mhmm.
Wayne Walker:In our calling, we distribute a lot of resources. Yeah. We normally will distribute 18 to 1900 clothing items a week. Mhmm. Right?
Wayne Walker:And so people come in, we track all that stuff. We ninjas on that. Right? We got some great software for that. In this scenario, we wanna do it in a way that still shows equity Mhmm.
Wayne Walker:And also shows accountability. Mhmm. We don't want to be in a scenario where one guy has 9 blankets and another one has none. Yep. Right?
Wayne Walker:One guy has hoarded all the snacks and the other guy comes in hungry. So when we have wristbands, it's not only for intake and security and to make sure that we've already checked you in and you're a person that we allow to be here, and we have some people we have to ask to leave even in terrible weather. Right? We that happens. Yeah.
Wayne Walker:But, also, we can track the resources we give out because we always will run out of food. We'll always run out of blankets. So when people come in, the first time they come, they'll sign in. They'll check-in with with, HMIS. They'll put them in the system.
Wayne Walker:Brand new. Never been there before. First night. Right? The first time they get there, they'll get a blanket.
Wayne Walker:Mhmm. They will not get another blanket the whole time they're there. Yeah. Just the one blanket. And I know that sounds cruel.
Wayne Walker:I'll explain why. They'll come in. We don't leave any blankets on the cots. You don't come in and pick up a cot and pick a blanket. No.
Wayne Walker:No. No. You come in. And when you check-in the first time, you'll get a blanket that very first time, and then you'll get a snack bag. Mhmm.
Wayne Walker:Right? Because maybe you haven't eaten in a couple of days.
Daniel Roby:We want
Wayne Walker:to come in and make sure you have a snack. Once you come in, you can pick a cot, empty cot, find 1 in the space that sit suits you best.
Daniel Roby:Right.
Wayne Walker:And then at nighttime, we're gonna go through and make sure that everybody has a blanket. If for some reason someone stole yours and this guy again has 3 and this guy has none, we're gonna go through and make sure, you know, everybody's covered up and, you know, maybe not as nice of a blanket because that's what we have to offer, a sheet or something. But their building's warm. We're gonna make sure everybody's covered. The next day when you go out, we're gonna pick time in the day where we're gonna have to re register everyone.
Daniel Roby:Yeah. That's
Wayne Walker:part. Because of the HMIS system, you guys need to count another bed night. Yep. Right? And so when we switch from blue wristbands to red wristbands Yeah.
Wayne Walker:We're gonna do that at lunchtime.
Daniel Roby:Yep.
Wayne Walker:And we're gonna do that when everybody goes through the lunch line. We're gonna remove your old wristband, check you back into the system, and give you the new wristband.
Daniel Roby:Yeah. And I think that's really critical. Right? Because, you know, what's the most desirable service that either one of us ever provide? Right?
Daniel Roby:It's always the meal. Right? It's like the hot meal. Everybody wants Everybody wants to eat regardless of what else is going on. And so it's like when you use that as the time that you change out the wristbands, well, now you you, you know, you gain a, a pretty good compliance.
Daniel Roby:Right? Because everybody wants to eat. And if they know that's to get a wristband to eat, then they know that that transition happens. So after they get the the change in color wristbands, you know, what what what happens then?
Wayne Walker:So at that point, we also tell security at this point, don't let anybody in who doesn't have the right color wristband, which just means they stop. They go through intake again. Right. We switch out their wristbands that come in. And then we have teams that go around to our high needs areas, those people that can't get up and go get in the line and make sure everybody has the right wristband.
Wayne Walker:And we do that for accountability. We do that so that one guy doesn't get 7 snack bags, because honestly, that just happens. Yeah. It's human nature. Right.
Wayne Walker:Yeah. It's not because they're homeless. It's not because they're whatever. It's because human nature. Right?
Wayne Walker:Someone's gonna park crooked and take 2 parking spaces. Right? And and we'll have to park further
Daniel Roby:back. That's
Wayne Walker:so sweet. All of us do that. Right? So it's human nature to make sure one guy gets one snack bag, and the snack bags are loaded. Right?
Wayne Walker:Now what we've done this year is Texas Baptist Men has graciously provided all the meals, which has been awesome. Yeah. They did the breakfast, and they did the dinner. And then lunch is a snack bag. It's kind of a grab and go throughout the day kind of scenario.
Wayne Walker:In the past, we've cooked meals. In the past, we've had, you know, people bring in meals. But depending on the weather, that can get really challenging. Mhmm. Right?
Wayne Walker:When there's an inch of ice on the ground Ugh. It's kinda hard to get the food.
Daniel Roby:Absolutely.
Wayne Walker:When someone says, hey. I ordered you a pallet of, you know, snacks from Costco, and Costco just closed because of the weather
Daniel Roby:Mhmm.
Wayne Walker:Then, you know, having the access and availability to resources. And for us, you know, one backup plan doesn't work. We have to have a backup to the backup just in case there's an emergency. I remember 1 year a partner said, we're gonna bring you breakfast in the morning. Mhmm.
Wayne Walker:Right? And so, like, 5:30 in the morning, our team calls me and they're and they're like, hey. We we have no breakfast. Right? Which, you know, we can deal with, but it's just You're giving me PTSD just thinking about it.
Wayne Walker:How do we come up with breakfast, right, for 6 to 800 people, however many? So I have a 4 wheel drive, which I love. Right? And And so I was able to go find a Walmart that was open, fill 8 shopping carts full of snack cakes, my wife and I, for breakfast and and then bring them in. I remember 1 year, a guy said, hey.
Wayne Walker:I'm gonna, smoke you guys some pork for pulled pork sandwiches. Uh-huh. Awesome. Thank you. Great.
Wayne Walker:It was in Denton. He got iced in and couldn't go. You know, so a normal hour long drive Yeah. Took me 3 hours each way
Daniel Roby:Yeah.
Wayne Walker:In my four wheel drive. I was able to do it, but having these backup plans and then when you get the backup plans and you get the resources and you get the food, if you don't set some kind of accountability. Yeah. Where it's not unlimited Yeah. It's not seconds and thirds and 4ths.
Wayne Walker:Right. It's not fill up the space under your cot with all the snacks. Otherwise, you're gonna have someone come in, and you're gonna be out of food. Yep. You're gonna have someone come in and not get a blanket.
Wayne Walker:Yeah. Because human nature means someone will get more than they need.
Daniel Roby:You know, what else I found really interesting about, how we we've kind of operated this together is the folks over at Our Calling are phenomenal where it comes to what I'll call client engagement or really de escalation and keeping people calm. So, like, one of the things that I was, you know, thinking that that your audience might be interested in hearing about is how they do that. Because as I've watched, like, your folks engage with people, it's really amazing because, you know, you you have, you know, third party security contractors or even, you know, police officers who, you know, they get in the middle of it, and things just blow up because it's a very specific population with unique needs. And, anyway, I've been I've been very impressed with your folks.
Wayne Walker:So let's let's switch and talk about security.
Daniel Roby:Okay. Okay.
Wayne Walker:I brought a show and tell Mhmm. To talk about security.
Daniel Roby:Oh, you did? Okay? Hold on. Oh, dude. This is awesome.
Daniel Roby:I didn't know.
Wayne Walker:So I have this under my, couch in my office. Okay?
Daniel Roby:Oh, my God.
Wayne Walker:And this is only, like, a month's worth of confiscated weapons.
Daniel Roby:Oh, this is great. This is
Wayne Walker:And, we'll we'll go through this and talk about some of these.
Daniel Roby:Alright. Who do we have here?
Wayne Walker:No. I put my cell phone chart my laptop charger.
Daniel Roby:This thing is heavy. So that
Wayne Walker:is a spike from a a tent, you know, when they put up, like, a circus tent
Daniel Roby:Okay.
Wayne Walker:Which I think is really, really cool. This is my favorite. Okay? This is my totally favorite one. Okay?
Wayne Walker:This is, like, a little stick with a hacksaw blade on it. Can you hold your arm up? Okay? This is how like, what would you do with this? Like, Shawshank take 30 years to go through the wall.
Wayne Walker:Yeah, crazy weapons. Some of these are dangerous.
Daniel Roby:Yeah.
Wayne Walker:So when you think about de escalation and there's chains and switch blades and screwdrivers that have been sharpened down, okay? If you or I were sleeping outside Mhmm. We would carry something. Sure. We would want to.
Daniel Roby:Absolutely. I when I go camping, I carry something and I even I even worry about my safety.
Wayne Walker:Yeah. Of course. Yeah. We would want to carry something because the dangers are all around. Even when our street outreach teams go out, honestly, the biggest danger is dogs, But still, people are gonna carry something.
Wayne Walker:So when you think about de escalation, having not just a team that can respond to the worst scenario
Daniel Roby:Yep.
Wayne Walker:But having a team that's equipped to respond to the best scenario. Mhmm. So our security on staff at our calling, and we've gone through every security vendor, I think, in the county, They're now full time employees.
Daniel Roby:I think I think you have gone through every security provider because I think, for about a couple months there, I think every time I'd show up, there'd be, like, a new a
Wayne Walker:new badge. Yeah. We went through all these different agencies to try to figure out which was the best fit for us. And our security guys are all full time employees. Yep.
Wayne Walker:They all are former law enforcement. Yeah. And they all love Jesus, and they all love our people.
Daniel Roby:It's awesome.
Wayne Walker:Right? And for us, that those are important things. And there the the faith thing is important to us because Christ is the faith thing is important to us because Christians are commanded to love their neighbor as themselves. Yeah. Right?
Wayne Walker:The other the rest of the world, it's a good idea, but I really really believe we have a conviction. And I know a lot of people do. I have Muslim friends that
Daniel Roby:Yeah.
Wayne Walker:That love their neighbors and and and and Yeah. You know, friends that are atheists and agnostics that do. But as Christians, I really believe it is a mandate Yeah. From a guy that we call a king, a guy that we call our Lord to love our neighbors. And so having security that first have the right mindset that I'm really here to love my neighbor first before I step into a situation, before I think about de escalation.
Wayne Walker:How can I really love this guy that might be carrying a weapon Yeah? And walk into that scenario for the best outcome.
Daniel Roby:Well, it's interesting you say that because I was talking to Tommy, your director of security here. And, in my conversation with him, one of the things he was telling about, we're just walking around and just chatting, and he was, sharing with me about how, you know, he feels a real obligation to make sure he's representative of Christ because he's like, hey, what's the first thing that people say as soon as you're upset? Right? This is supposed to be a Christian place. Are you guys supposed to love Jesus here?
Daniel Roby:And so, you know, he's like, so I'm he was telling me, he was like, Daniel, I'm very aware of that. And so I, you know, I tell our folks we have to make sure that in every interaction, we are Christ like or else they can point to us and see it was that's the reason why, you know, I I don't believe. And, obviously, you know, people make their own decisions, but, but I I that he said it was such conviction that, I was very blown away because you don't hear that from a lot of people whose primary, you know, default setting is, you know, security, right, and restriction and things like that. They're they're extraordinary folks.
Wayne Walker:Yeah. So for us, I mean, our guards are just they carry guns. They have less than lethal lethal tasers. They have handcuffs. Yeah.
Wayne Walker:They wear body cams. They've got radios every day. And they're not here to protect you from some 70 year old homeless lady, you know. Yeah. You know, I tell people all the time.
Wayne Walker:What's she gonna do? You know, she doesn't have teeth. She's gonna gum you, you know. Don't worry about that. She's really he they're really here to protect them Yeah.
Wayne Walker:From predators that come around. Yeah. You know, It sounds weird, but the best food at the picnic draws the worst pest. Right? It draws the worst insects.
Wayne Walker:Our most vulnerable people Mhmm. Draw for some reason Mhmm. The worst predators that come to prey on them.
Daniel Roby:True.
Wayne Walker:I mean, we work for trafficking victims, domestic violence victims. Domestic violence victim is not gonna pick someone who's gonna fight back. Yeah. Right? A a trafficker is taking advantage of someone and has warped their brain.
Wayne Walker:Mhmm. And even some of our elderly folks, they have people that are taking their money Yes. Taking advantage of them on a regular basis. Time. Our security is here to protect them.
Daniel Roby:Yeah.
Wayne Walker:And they're looking out for their best interest. Yeah. And they're also trained. Yeah. Right?
Wayne Walker:These are former law enforcement. Mhmm. But they also you know, we regularly go through verbal judo, which is a book. Yeah. And it's great about how to talk to people and de escalation techniques and, you know, motivational interviewing, all the different pieces.
Wayne Walker:I mean, sometimes it's our security guards that will convince someone, hey, man. It's time for you to get off the streets. Yeah. Because they have so much engagement.
Daniel Roby:They have so much FaceTime.
Wayne Walker:Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I I love hearing can and I hear this all the time. Guys will walk up to Tommy, who's our head of security, and say, I know I'm supposed to hate you, but you're my brother in Christ, and I love you, and I wanna thank you for what you do here.
Wayne Walker:You know? And they're, like, have this internal internal argument. Dialogue. Yeah. Okay.
Wayne Walker:So looking at time, we we we talk a little bit about security. And for someone doing this that may not have a security team
Daniel Roby:Mhmm.
Wayne Walker:Right? So, like, let's say a church wants to open up their, you know, gymnasium or something. So I so some of my friends from, the East Plano Islamic Center
Daniel Roby:Okay.
Wayne Walker:Came to visit us the other day. They bring us tons of blankets every year when we do this. They're great great guys. And they've opened up for the first time their gymnasium. They have, like, a 140 people sleeping in their space up in Plano.
Wayne Walker:And so we were talking about, you know, some of the needs that keep calling me at, you know, asking questions, which is great. They're learning from us. We're learning from them. It's a great, you know, way to communicate and and just build relationship and be a community. Someone wants to do this in their gymnasium.
Wayne Walker:What should they do in the area of security?
Daniel Roby:Well, I can say, the process that we've worked on and, actually, we do it at Austin Street, and we do it at inclement weather as well. You know, regarding, you know, possessions, anything that's that's unsafe when security, you know, brings folks in, you know, we we don't we we found that in order to make sure that people come into shelter, right, you have to make sure that it's low barrier enough that people access it. Right? You you don't wanna say that you're opening up and then turning people away, and then they're dying on the streets. So, the way we do that is we typically have, you know, some really, kind of stiff, you know, manila envelopes.
Daniel Roby:You know, we will, you know, write the information of the individual, you know, on that envelope, and we'll put, whatever weapons in there. So they basically, they get it back when they leave. You know? I know some people are like, hey. You know, we shouldn't let people I'm like, okay.
Daniel Roby:People are gonna have stuff. Right? And and they need to make sure they don't have it on their on in the building, but they need to make need to also know that they're gonna get it when they leave so that that way, you know, they don't just say, hey. I'll sleep outside, and we don't see him again the next day.
Wayne Walker:That's the same thing with pets. Yeah. Right? If you're not gonna come in because your dog's with you Yeah. Find a place to keep the dog.
Wayne Walker:I mean, we have this room set up. We have all these kennels and stuff. But if you're not gonna come in because your pocket knife, your box cutter, your, you know, whatever, your piece of chain
Daniel Roby:And they feel like, hey. I this is my lifeline.
Wayne Walker:Like
Daniel Roby:Yes. They're they're thinking, hey. Someone may attack me. I can't go into shelter if you're gonna take my only safety, and I have to trust you that you're gonna keep me safe. Because if I'm giving you my knife, that means, hey.
Daniel Roby:I'm exposed. Right? If if you're not there, you know, in my corner, then I don't know what I'm gonna do for myself. And these are people who are used to having to rely on themselves because so many other people have let them down. And so, you know, making sure that they know, hey.
Daniel Roby:You'll get this back when you leave is important.
Wayne Walker:We had a guy last year, a plea I know a lot of police officers, and so a cop friend came in. He goes, hey, Wayne. This guy has some stuff I need you to hold out hold. And he pulls out 2 pistols, 2 Glocks, and he's like, can y'all store these? And I'm like, absolutely, man.
Wayne Walker:We can save. No problem. Right? And the guy carried 2 glocks and had a backup knife. Oh, my gosh.
Wayne Walker:And that's it's okay. Right?
Daniel Roby:Yeah. Right.
Wayne Walker:It's legal. Right. Yeah. Sure. And we want to keep him safe and warm.
Wayne Walker:More intense. Yeah. Yeah. We wanna keep him safe and warm. And when he leaves, you know, Tommy and the guys can give it back to him.
Wayne Walker:You know, if if you can carry that in Walmart, we have to be able to trust, you know, that that we can get an opportunity to create a safe space for this guy. Yeah. If if if us caring for his pocket knife or his pet Yeah. Is what gets him in the door, then we will create an opportunity to do that. Not just say Yeah.
Wayne Walker:Throw it away, leave it outside, go bury it outside, and hope you can find it later.
Daniel Roby:Right. Yeah. And I found that people really, you know, appreciate that. They they, we have so many people say, hey. I'm so glad that you have the security that you have here.
Daniel Roby:You know, I I feel like I don't worry about my safety while I'm here, and so that that is, that's so critical. And, you know, to your point, I've been to a lot of shelters that have knives buried, you know, a block away, you know, from the shelter door because they don't allow those things, but they also don't provide a process. And so I think that's that's really important.
Wayne Walker:So I'll show you one in here that I think is machine?
Daniel Roby:What is that?
Wayne Walker:Is this is a, Swiss Army knife Yeah. Took from somebody. And sometimes people come up and say, will you hold this for us, which is fine. So we have a vending machine downstairs
Daniel Roby:Okay.
Wayne Walker:For our guests. And, you know, of course, we have sodas and all the junk food everybody wants in there. We also have bus passes in there. Yeah. Right?
Wayne Walker:Someone wants a bus passing. Yeah. And we give it at the discounted rate. They can put $3. Our vending machine also has, Swiss Army knives.
Daniel Roby:-Wow.
Wayne Walker:-Right? Because if someone needs something to be able to cut their fingernails, you know, they want a little file for something, it's got a little blade on it. You know, we'd much rather them, you know, if you want a little pocket knife, I carry a Swiss army knife,
Daniel Roby:right?
Wayne Walker:So we have Swiss army knives in our facility, in our vending machine every day, open for guests. Now, in our calling, we don't take these out of people's pockets. Yeah. Right? It's 0 barrier.
Wayne Walker:If someone wants to carry that in their pocket, then, you know, that's fine. Yeah. And our security will
Daniel Roby:Yeah.
Wayne Walker:Handle it. We Every person. We anticipate that everybody has a weapon. Yeah. That's a whole lot wiser than anticipating they don't, and then they find out they did that they do.
Wayne Walker:But I I think that's interesting. We actually sell these in our little vending machine downstairs for a couple bucks. Okay. So last thing, if if someone wants to open up an inclement weather shelter, I think it's important that you consider the what ifs.
Daniel Roby:Mhmm.
Wayne Walker:Right? We've had inclement weather shelters open up Yeah. And then they lose power. They open up, and then they have what pipes burst. Yes.
Wayne Walker:Right? We were at Fair Park 2 years ago, and the water got shut off and
Daniel Roby:Oh, yeah.
Wayne Walker:You know, it was shooting everywhere, and toilets got shut down. Austin Street, this year, your 2nd old facility, you'll had how many pipes burst?
Daniel Roby:4, actually.
Wayne Walker:Yeah. Yeah. During the freeze, so you lost toilets. Yep. Right?
Daniel Roby:We did.
Wayne Walker:The what if is gonna happen. Yep. The question is not if, it's when. Yes. Like, when it happens Right.
Wayne Walker:When when you run out of food Yeah. When you run out of blankets, do you have a backstash?
Daniel Roby:Yes.
Wayne Walker:When you run out of food, do you have an emergency scenario? Yeah. When your pipes burst, where can you walk these people to find a toilet and walk them back or shuttle them back and forth?
Daniel Roby:And I think the preplanning is really important on that too because, you know, part of what we've been working on is really building strong relationships with all the different city departments and county resources to make sure that whatever you need to call on, that you've got somebody. Because if you don't have the cell phone number and I don't mean the email address. Right? Because the email address is great when something's a week away, but you're like, when I need something, I need it right then because I have 800, 900, a 1000 people, or more depending on making sure that they can have access to what they need. I remember when we were planning for this, you were like, Dale, do you have your do you have your plumber?
Daniel Roby:Like, are they on-site ready to go? Right? Because we know that we have plumbing issues every year, and, and you need to make sure that they're that they're available. So I think just having those resources and those phone numbers preplanned this year, the City of Dallas Office of Emergency Management, you know, took us through what they call, you know, their their ICS process. We have a a document that's they call it an IAP.
Daniel Roby:It's basically list out, right, who were the people that you call for what purposes, what is the plan, and we update it every day and send it out to make sure that all the city departments know what the plan is for the day. And that way as things change, right, and I'm calling, you know, a fire marshal, they've already been updated. Right? They get the documents. They know where to go and and what they're expected to do.
Daniel Roby:So then I'm not trying to haggle with them of, hey. We need one more officer or whatever. They already understand what the plan is, and they've already committed to whatever it is I'm trying to get them to do in advance of the issue going wrong. So that's been important too.
Wayne Walker:One thing you just highlighted on, and, you know, we can close on this, is I think the importance of our relationship
Daniel Roby:Yes.
Wayne Walker:And the difference between that relationship.
Daniel Roby:Night and day.
Wayne Walker:So now you guys are the coordinator.
Daniel Roby:Right. Right?
Wayne Walker:You're at the helm. And so you get the wonderful opportunity to call the fire marshal
Daniel Roby:Yeah.
Wayne Walker:And the chief of police Yeah. And deal with that.
Daniel Roby:Yeah.
Wayne Walker:We're operations. Right? So our teams are making soo food's there, security's there, building's okay, everybody's safe, everybody's warm, 24 hours a day, all that stuff. And it's important that those roles are separate.
Daniel Roby:Mhmm.
Wayne Walker:Right? So that at 9 o'clock, you're not trying to I'm not our teams aren't trying to run a building and call the plumber.
Daniel Roby:Yeah.
Wayne Walker:We're not having to deal with the fire marshal while we're trying to make sure food shows up on time. Yes. Having that separation, I think, is such a, a beautiful relationship.
Daniel Roby:Yeah. Well, I think, you know, it's like that book, Speed of Trust. Right? It's like when you know that, hey, you know, you're good at what you do. You know, we're good at what we do when we kind of, design to who's gonna do what.
Daniel Roby:And then when things go wrong, you've built enough trust and respect for one another so you don't immediately because it's crisis. Right? I mean, you're when you're dealing with thousands of people in crisis, people's default mode is, you know, either advocacy for an individual to, in the in the process alienating, people that they need help with. Right? You it's easy to respond reactionary, you know, to the environment as opposed to, hey.
Daniel Roby:We've been doing this for years. Like, I know, you know, your intentions and you know mine. So we can go into it with the expectation like, hey. 1st, they're gonna do a good job. And second, when things go wrong, I know they're not gonna turn and just, you know, you know, flip a lid.
Daniel Roby:Right? They're they're going to approach this thoughtfully, and we're gonna find a resolution together and move forward together because we're all committed on the same mission. And that goes from the fire marshal to the police officer to the security to the operator to, you know, the city officials. So
Wayne Walker:I just love the fact that we're not a shelter. We don't have to run a shelter every day. Yeah. I don't know how you do it. Yeah.
Wayne Walker:But I also love the fact that we're flexible. Mhmm. And we can shut down this building. Yep. We're not a 24 hour shop.
Wayne Walker:You guys are.
Daniel Roby:Right.
Wayne Walker:We can shut down this building, take all 60 of our staff Yep. Wherever Yep. And switch into 24 hour mode to supplement and to be able to serve the community in the way we do and then have this great relationship where we're all supporting each other. And it's not an our calling thing. It's not an Austin Street thing.
Wayne Walker:It's all these other agencies that are coming together. I mean, Stewpot's working on transportation and vans around and Yeah. North Texas Behavioral Health is doing their thing. We have the SPCA helping with pets. We have Oak Lawn United Methodist Church.
Daniel Roby:Watermark Health. Space.
Wayne Walker:I mean, Watermark Health is doing acute care needs, which is I've got a wound. I've got challenges. My nose is dripping. You know, we'll look at this thing on my on my foot. You know, all these other agencies coming together, Housing Ford, helping with intake.
Wayne Walker:Yep. It's just a beautiful symphony. Right?
Daniel Roby:And what's cool about it is we've also aligned people's interest to their function. So, you know, we have our, you know, our COC lead agency housing forward. What do they care about the most? Well, they wanna make sure that HMIS data is accurate, and it's on point, and they've got everything. So it's great.
Daniel Roby:So you're assigned to the to the intake process, and that's your role in inclement weather because that's what you care the most about. Right? Similarly, you know, the fire department, you know, has got their concerns with flow. You know, great. Okay.
Daniel Roby:Well, then let's make sure the DFR is there so we can the Dallas Fire and Rescue team is there, where paramedics are there. So it's like you have to make sure people it reminds me a lot of the book of Nehemiah, right, when the leader was like, you know what we're gonna do? We're gonna have people build, the wall outside their house. Right? And it's just like, that's great.
Daniel Roby:Set people up by where they live, and then let them, let them build and let them do their share, in a way that's meaningful and important to them.
Wayne Walker:I love that story because it's like, do you want the weak spot in the wall to be in front of your house?
Daniel Roby:Right. Yeah. No. No. No.
Wayne Walker:And so everybody's building together, and they were able to do it in in an amazing work. To me, it's it's a it's a picture of the body of Christ. It is. Even working with agencies that aren't believers
Daniel Roby:Yeah.
Wayne Walker:It's how we all work together and supplement each other, for the greater good, which is loving our neighbor.
Daniel Roby:I'm so
Wayne Walker:grateful for you, Wayne. You too, man. Yeah. Hey. Thanks for what you do and, wouldn't do it without you.
Daniel Roby:Yeah. Likewise. Yeah. 100%.