Good to Know: Verni Howard Providence House

Paul Reiser and Jeff Beimfohr talk with Verni Howard, Providence House Executive Director about the latest plans with their mission.

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KTBS Podcasting and the Committee of 100 present Good to Know Shreveport-Bossier, a podcast series showcasing the good things happening in our area. We’ll go in-depth about economic development, community growth and other topics about initiatives that are having a positive impact in our community. We’ll have new episodes every other Wednesday. You can find the KTBS Good to Know podcast wherever you listen to podcasting. Or go to KTBS.com or KTBS Now on your streaming device to see the full interview.

Hello again, everybody.

Welcome to another edition of Good
to No Shreveport Boneyard.

This is a podcast where you showcase
all the good things happening in

and around the Shreveport
Bougie community. My name's Jeff.

I'm four.

That's the most important name
to know for this broadcast this

year.

My co-host
and you know, he's a local business guy.

Made French fries for a while.

He's a member of the community of 100.

Every podcast,

we focus on topics and initiatives
having positive impact on our community.

We have new episodes
every other Wednesday, and you can find

good to know
wherever you listen to your podcast.

And as always, the honors go to you, Mr.

Fisher,
to introduce our very special guest.

Well, thank you, Jeff. It is my honor.

I appreciate it.

You know, I've got a great guest today.

I was always as always, you know,
I'm glad we're finally saying that

because we used to be surprised
every time.

But I quit being surprised

because we keep
getting these great guests in here today.

No exception.

So there is an organization in Shreveport
called Providence House,

and I always knew it had something
to do with homeless folks.

And when I think homeless, my imagination

goes to one guy
standing on the corner holding a sign.

You know,
that's a homeless guy in my mind. Okay.

Turns out there's
a large population of homeless families.

So what do you do when there's a mom
and possibly a dad and kids

involved in homelessness?

Who helps out with that?
Who takes care of that population?

I've never even been aware of that.
We're going to find out.

Well, today we have the director
of the Providence House.

She's entertaining, vivacious enthusiast.

You're going to love that
just from the little conversations.

Are you ready to meet her?

I am. We're going to get to meet her.

Is there an introduction
anywhere in our near future?

Absolutely. Okay.

So today we have the executive director
of the Providence House, Ms..

Bernie Howard Verney.
Thank you for coming out today.

Thanks for having me.
I'm excited to be here.

Thanks for your patience
during our introduction.

I love it. Love

vivacious

is I think
is very descriptive in the hallway.

I got that picked up on that
in about 30 seconds.

I love people.

I do.

Even me and Jeff. I do.

I am. It's remarkable.

You know, looking at your background,
though, it's very interesting

because you
you got a degree from LSU in microbiology.

You went to
you were accepted into medical school

and then you went ahead and got into
became 15 years in commercial banking.

That's right.

And really, eight years
in making me feel very inadequate.

Senior executive Short 18.

And then all of a sudden
you make this shift to Providence.

How so? Why?

Why commercial banking to Providence?

I call it purpose.

I stumbled into purpose.

I served on Providence House's
board of directors.

I got back to town, back
to Shreveport in 2013.

I was invited to become a part
of the Board of directors in 2014,

and I had a lot of experience in serving
on nonprofit boards across the country,

just you name it.

And we did.

And it was really part of work,
but it was also a part of passion for me.

And so when I was invited to be
on Providence House's board, you know,

what an honor and what an opportunity
to learn about this organization.

Never in a million years
would I have thought that we would

be sitting here now having a conversation,
and my role would be executive director.

That was not the plan.

It was just not the plan.

Well, another look at that expansion
or you're looking at expanding.

But just a little bit about.

Well, I was going to say
before we go further, let's define

for everybody watching and listening
what Providence House is all about.

Okay. So I love that question.

We are an emergency homeless shelter
for families with children.

And the definition of family is where
people always say, we didn't know that.

So families, single moms with children,

single dads with children,
married coupled with children.

And so once upon a time, Providence House
always

was always regarded
as a shelter for women.

And since inception, since 1988,
Marianne Silber and Jean Sayers

have this vision about the family
rehabbing together.

And so we've always served men.

But what you did not see back in 1988,
where a lot of men

who were heads of household
because women were absent.

When you fast forward,
our society has shifted.

And so now we see more and more men
who are single dads, heads of household

moms, maybe incarcerated moms, may have,
you know, given up their parental rights.

And so we're seeing more and more men
take on this role of,

you know, single parent.

And so we've always had
that as part of our mission.

But we're seeing it more

now because our community
and our society has changed a whole lot.

And so it's an emergency shelter,

I guess, for families always went
with what you said at the beginning.

You know, the single guy was on
I guess I never really gave it a thought.

Homelessness looks like the three of us.

That's what it looks like.

And COVID was what I call
the great equalizer, is

our COVID really exposed
the vulnerabilities in our communities.

You saw men and women who were working
at Bentley Steel and they were making,

you know, a ton of money
and they were the sole providers.

And when Bentley's sales stopped
because of COVID,

so did their income, so did their savings.

And then there you are exposed, like,
what do we do?

And so we were serving during COVID.

We were serving men and women
who had worked at manufacturing plant

teachers, people who were the breadwinners
in their households.

So homelessness can happen to anyone.

How close or is the average family
to homeless being homeless?

We used to say,

you know, there was this old adage,
you know, we're all one paycheck away.

I would say we're all a half of a paycheck
away from being homeless.

We are seeing a population

and uptick of need, but it's not
the uptick of need that concerns me.

It is, you know, people who have worked
and who had savings

and who had a health scare
and and maybe who was diagnosed

with hypertension and could not work
or maybe diagnosed with diabetes

or maybe diagnosed with cancer
and so can't work.

They've gone through their savings.

And so it's no longer one paycheck away.

It's just one circumstance away.

And we're all just one circumstance
away from homelessness.

What kind of services do you provide?

I mean, what all is there besides just
a room for somebody just because they're

they're going to be in trouble
pretty soon? Yes.

I love that question.
And let me tell you why.

When I started at Providence House,
we were so proud to provide

food, clothing, shelter,
a safe space, tutoring services.

And when I got there in 2015
with a fresh set of lenses,

I thought, it is so great that we help
people get their high school diploma.

But in 2015,
that means at best, a job at McDonald's.

So how do we really move the needle?

And one of the big challenges
that that I saw

before me in 2015 and and even today,
how do we really change

the narrative, the conversation
and the outcomes around homelessness?

And there are there are really only
two things that break the homeless cycle.

And it is not profound.

It is not, you know, earth shattering.

It is work and it's education.

Those are the only two things.

And so we set out as an agency
to really go beyond high school education.

So we partner with the local community
college and we said, Hey,

what would happen if you brought
your community college to our campus?

You know,
nobody had ever thought about that.

So what do we give and what do we bring?

What do people get
when they come to Providence House?

It's Ed first, first and foremost,
education, job skills training.

So we are in partnership
with both your parents, community college,

with citizenry, literacy volunteers
we work with elsewhere. U.S.

But there is an extension of your parish
community college on our campus

and we not only serve our residents,
meaning, hey, get out of bed

and come over and let's get some
education, let's get some,

you know, job skills
that will pay a living wage.

And so it is we have a four star child
development center.

Most people don't know

that we are one of the highest rated child
development centers in Louisiana.

Not in Shreveport, not in Bosnia.

And we're undergoing a renovation
right now.

We're going to be one of the first 100%
sustained science,

technology, engineering,

arts and math child development centers
in northwest Louisiana.

So it's education is workforce
development,

and it's all those ancillary things.

We have onsite counseling.

We have onsite case management, onsite
health care, all of those things that,

you know, we put ourselves as a staff
and as a team at the threshold

of Providence House.

And we ask ourselves

when we cross that threshold, what do
what would we need to be whole again?

And so those are the things that we
provide to our families in our capacity.

Awesome answer.

That's number one.

Number two is I was fascinated

that you said you loved his question
because nobody loves him.

I do.

I do. I love the questions that let you.

You obviously place
a great emphasis on education.

Absolutely. But absolutely.

And I kind of like Frasier.

So this would be for the folks
that don't have education. Yes.

You're talking about folks
that worked at Bent Steel or wherever

that we assume they were making good money
and they had an education.

Now they're in that situation.

Do they really need education
or do they need the job?

So when we talk about education,
I am really talking about from high school

to some type of certification
to college, too.

So everybody who walks in
may have a skill,

but if your skill no longer serves
or if your skill is one

that no longer creates a viable living,
then yet.

Education. Absolutely.

But we help, you know,
most of most families,

most adults who come to Providence
have not completed high school.

So if you don't have a high school
education, it's very difficult

to enter into the workforce
where you can earn a living wage.

And we want to change that narrative.

And so when people come and say,
oh, I only finish eighth grade,

we have a solution for that.

So our job is to really break down
all those barriers

so that people really can move
to a place of self-sufficiency.

Are people

do they?

What am I saying? Not afraid,
but are they?

They do want to admit they're not Admit
that they don't have that education,

do you? Oh, no.

I think people let me tell you, I am.

So if you ask me, what am I most proud of?

I am most proud that when people cross
that threshold, they finally exhale

and they can take a breath and say,
Here are my needs.

And you know why?

Because they understand that
the woman that's sitting next to them or

the man that share in the room next door,
everybody's in the same situation.

So you don't feel as vulnerable
when you're sharing that discourse

with people who look or who are
in the same situation that you are.

So people are not afraid.

People are afraid

when they're on the outside
and they don't feel

like they're in a protective environment.

But once they get to Providence House,

it's like we share of all of the things
that have held us down

because we want them to move
to a place of self-sufficiency.

So you you giving their meet
their needs to begin with?

Absolutely.

Okay. Breathe.

And then you don't just let them sit
in comfort and homelessness.

You're like, okay, now let's get you
educated. Let's find your next steps.

But there are a lot of financial education
also.

Absolutely. Absolutely.

I'll share this with you.

When people come
and they want to do a tour

and they'll come and say, if it's 1:00,
I'll say, hey, there's nobody here.

And I said, Why should there be people
in the building?

If you are moving toward self-sufficiency,
you are working, you are in school,

you're in class, you're looking for a job,
There is no time to rest.

There is time that, you know,
time is not always on our side.

And so,

you know, we make sure that people
are moving towards our self-sufficiency,

because if I'm just doing it,
it's not going to benefit you.

So everybody has to have skin in the game.

I am most proud because I'm a banker.

We talk about financial literacy a lot,
and so it comes in really handy.

I never in a million years
my banking career would be so significant

in my nonprofit career,
but it is from the standpoint of teaching

financial literacy
and really pushing, you know, saving.

And I do it with my kids
that come to visit.

We just had a big group from from LA Prep,
which is a summer program at LSU,

and then I made them do a budgeting sheet
and I said, you know, we

we did the numbers
and when we got to the negative numbers,

I said, Hey, we don't have any more money.

I said, Oh, but we haven't
you haven't bought groceries yet.

We have to keep going.

And so when you able to see the numbers
and understand it in bite sized pieces,

then people begin to understand
that there are wants and there are needs,

and we have to distinguish
one from the other.

So there's a lot of financial literacy
going on.

There's a lot of emotional healing
that has to go on

because many people who come come from a,

you know, a lifetime of poverty,
and that's what they know.

And so it's our job
to meet every person where they are.

And what I love about our program,
one brushstroke does not fit everyone.

And so we have two people where they are.
Absolutely.

Some people with an eighth grade education
that have never worked.

And then you turn around, you have someone
from there you go, there you go.

And some people who are
who are seniors at Ochsner, you know,

you have it spans the gamut.

You have

you know, we had a physician's wife
and you would wonder

why would a physician's wife
end up at Providence House?

Well, she didn't want her friends to know
that she was experiencing

domestic violence.

She didn't want her family to know.

And so, no one would suspect that
she and her children

would drive up in their Lexus
at Providence house.

And so we don't have judgment.

There is no judgment.

And so that's why I say homelessness
looks like

the three of us and our larger community.

Well, first, can you

come help me on the money part?

Absolutely. Absolutely. Two, absolute.

We could do that.

It just starts with
you don't spend more than you're taking.

And that's really kind of fundamental.

And that's a great concept that

that most people don't have is you know,
there's a difference in want and need.

Absolutely.
Because those things are so expensive.

Even the needs
are getting out of out of control.

That's true.

And so when you have these kids
you're telling me yesterday

about a great thing
you said, you said, well, here's here.

Let's pretend you're making you're
working at Chick-Fil-A making $14.

That's right. That's right.

And you break down their expenses. Right.

How does that work?

It is eye opening
because the one thing I learned

about helping people to build a budget,
if you build a budget that so restrictive

that won't allow for them
to just have some entertainment

fun, then they won't they
they they won't follow the budget.

But it was eye opening.

When you think $14

an hour for someone with a high school
education, not not so bad.

But when you're when you're paying
more than 40% of your income

towards housing, then that
then you're experiencing a housing burden.

And so and then when you factor
in utilities and one of the things

that I did with the kids at LA Prep,
they were a great group.

I said, Oh, you're now a single parent
and you have two kids.

You know, you have a ten year
old girl, a 13 year old boy.

And so we went through
that whole iteration.

I said, Oh, and your boy just outgrew
his tennis shoes.

And so I said, So
who just got a new pair of tennis shoes?

Raise your hand.

And so the kids
were all raising their hands.

And I said, Okay,
how much did your sneakers cost?

Oh, my cost 90 bucks. Mine were 140 bucks.

I said, okay, for this exercise,
let's just call it 100 bucks.

And so we're going to deduct that.

And so they said, Oh,
but we have no more money.

And I said,
But your mom hasn't bought grocery

and your sister outgrew her uniform.

And so when you put it in context

where people can follow it
and we don't make it so convoluted

and so expansive
where people can't digest it,

if you don't do that,

if you just bring it home,
and if you tell somebody

and you tell them where they can buy
some cheaper.

That's right.

Or if you tell someone, hey,
you can get your nails done,

just not every single week.

Well, you know, I mean,
all this stuff seems kind of basic, right?

But it does to you and I, because we
we are accustomed

to budgeting and we're talking about

if we had never been exposed to it,
it wouldn't seem basic to us.

But because we've had some exposure, it's
now, hey, it's just kind of common sense.

But when you have somebody who's had
nothing and all of a sudden,

you know, you're you've hit what you call
rock bottom, it is not so common.

And so we assume everybody's at
we start at the same space when you

come across folks
that have been doing well

and all of a sudden aren't doing so well,
how do they deal with it?

Emotionally traumatizing.

And let me tell you,

when you see that more often than not,
they're not just doing well

for their family, but they are
the backbone for their extended family.

They are the uncle or the aunt
or the cousin that everyone goes to

for advice or for,
you know, a little bit of extra support.

So it is really emotionally traumatizing
for those people

and they stand to lose so much.

And and often can't see that there's
really an opportunity for new beginnings.

But you can't see it

because you're, you know,
you kind of stick

your head in the sand like,
I can't believe I'm here.

But again,
COVID taught us that we can all be there.

And, you know, with even if you plan ahead

and you've saved the market can crash,
anything can happen to anyone.

And so that's why I say, you know, let's
not judge a whole group by no judges.

No, no, not you.

But that that's the message around
homelessness.

You know,
we can't stay there, Jeff, you know.

No, but judging people.

But in terms of homelessness, people often
think that people are homeless

because they didn't plan
well or because they didn't budget,

just like you said earlier, certain
one circumstance.

Absolutely.

No, absolutely underemployed, folks.

So I had.

Oh, yes. Working with Cassie Hammond,
who was another.

Yes, she does work more with individuals.

Yes, we were giving out clothes down, down
by her establishment, by the hub. Yes.

And a guy comes walking up, he's
wearing a sonic uniform.

My whole business,
one of my employees and my peer.

What are you doing here? Yes.

I need some help. Yes, yes.

And it just kind of
was really eye opening to me

that people can have a job and work hard
and still just not have quite enough.

Absolutely. As that's interesting.

The folks on the other side
that are still doing well,

they need to be educated, too,
about homeless people in their situations.

Right.

I think, you know, we started this
narrative a few minutes ago by talking

about how people perceive

homelessness,
what we thought about homelessness.

And I think one of my you know, I would
I would call it success

if we could
if I could help to change the narrative

around homelessness, how
we think about it, how we talk about it,

and how
it's pushed down from top to bottom.

And so, yes, people need to be educated
because let me tell you,

when you have
we had a former mayor of a small city.

His daughter came to Providence,

and you would think a mayor as about
like what's happening here.

I want to tell you,
she spoke five different languages

and she was accepted into nursing school.

Her sister was an attorney, very affluent,

very well-respected family.

But they ended up
she ended up at Providence House

because of domestic violence.

Well, what really happened,

the abuser became so aggressive
and really started to threaten the family.

And so the family just didn't feel safe

that daughter
and her kid had to show up somewhere.

So if it were not for Providence House,
you know, that that child

would not have had a place to come.

And so when we started
when we start to change the narrative

about how people become homeless,
then I think how we approach homelessness

from a holistic perspective
will shift as well.

I understand
now why you're needing to expand.

How many people are you currently serving
and what is the expansion plan?

All right, so we are so excited.

Our our house, we call it a house.

And because people live there we don't
shelter, just has a negative connotation.

So our capacity, 80 people,
we have 27 rooms.

All right. 27 rooms.

They are 420 square feet.

And so here's what I want
you to really think about in those rooms.

I have teenage boys
there who are bigger than the two of you.

So we have two teenage boys.

We have a little girl
and a mom living in 420 square feet,

sharing a bathroom with a family
on the other side that I do not know.

I barely want to share a bathroom

with my husband of 26 years,
much less a family that I do not know.

And so we understand
that our programs can be great.

Our you know, our
our initiatives are great.

But if we don't have the space
to really serve people and serve them well

with dignity or with a level of dignity
that we want in all this, right?

Yeah.

Everything we do, a dignity and respect.

And so we are on the cusp

of erecting a three storey
brand new facility

where our now 10,000 square foot warehouse
exist.

We're going to deconstruct that warehouse
and erect a three storey building

that would adequately accommodate
these families in a way that moms and dads

and children have, you know, great pride

and feel a sense of I'm safe and

and I can do this
and it'll be a hotel style building.

We are just so excited about this
will have the capacity to serve 130 people

and so we will continue to

use our 814 Cotton Street location
for homeless services.

The fastest
growing segment of homelessness are kids

that are 16 to 19 years old.

These are kids who dropped out of school.

They've dropped out sometimes third grade.

They are just kind of bopping up
and down the streets.

And if you're wondering
why we have crimes and carjackings

and all of this, these are kids
who have just coexisted on their own.

And so we certainly want to create a space
for those young adults who

where they can just come in
and do what just take a breath

and say, hey, for a minute, be 16

and let's get some let's get some reading
skills and let's get some math skills.

Let's get some education, let's
get some workforce development skills.

Let's teach you how to drive a forklift
so that you can make a living wage.

And then let's let's show you what love
looks like.

Let's let me show you
what nurturing looks like.

We have to model those things for people
who've never had it before.

And so we'll continue to use that.

Built into service at 16 to 19 year
old group

or in the in the housing part of it.

We have all these natural disasters.

We've had this whole apartment
complex fiasco

and there was really no
where to place people.

And that's very recent. Yes. Yes.

Prevalent to this conversation.

So we just had three apartments.

That's right.

Complexes in Shreveport
and they really shut down.

That's right.

And there was no families.

And so that's right there.

A lot of them did.

Providence House was a fiscal agent
for the city of Shreveport.

But there are some families
to this very day who are still there.

Oh, my gosh.

And it's not because we

there are some families
who are so well without water or power.

So we will use that space,
that that residential space

for emergencies
like we've experienced here.

So we are so much more than food,
clothing, shelters.

There's not a
there's a misconception of the people

that are just that
just lost their power and water.

A lot of them were paying their bills.

Oh, these were

these were not these were not
men and women who didn't pay their rent.

These were men and women
who some who had lived there 22 years

and were paying their rent and
the landlord didn't pay the water bill.

And so for an extended period of time.

And so now we have a landlord
who is living at their best lives,

and then we have hundreds of people who

who were left to pick up their lives,

a lot of them who work for Barksdale Air
Force Base.

We had a lot of veterans at the Joe Louis.

This should never happen

in the richest country in the world,

but we see it happening
right here in Shreveport, Louisiana.

And so it really just exposes the
vulnerability of of people and community.

But what I love about it,

it was just a beautiful amalgamation

of kindness and generosity
from this community.

So many people called just to say,
how can we help

Bernie?

What do you need us to do
to help these families? What do they need?

How do we ensure that

when they get into their new space,
they have everything that they need

so they're as generous staying in this
community like we have never seen before.

And it's in the case of a crisis,
we see it so beautifully.

And if we can continue to have these kind
of conversations healthy conversations,

long term, more and more people
will realize it really doesn't take

so much to change things, but
it just takes all of us to change things.

All right. I'm going to take over for Paul
because he normally asked this question.

Yes, I'm going to do it today. Okay.

So if people want
to get in touch with you. Yes.

How do they do it?

I'm so easy to find Providence House.

It's the Providence House WSJ.com.

That's our website.

3182217887 is our phone number

and our go to our website.

Anything you want to know
about volunteering, donating,

getting involved, any of that is all
on our own, on our Web site.

Or just ask anyone,
anyone I'm talking to with Bernie.

They over

you are Well well, let me just tell you,

I am I am so fortunate

to have had two amazing parents.

My dad pastored one church for 50 years.

My mother was a social worker

and my parents taught me
that we are our brother's keeper

from the time that I could just even read
or begin to understand language.

And it is a lesson that they passed to me.

It's the lesson
that I'm passing to my children.

We are never in a position
where we've made it.

We've just made it to the point where
we can reach back and help somebody else.

And it's our responsibility.

It is not the federal government's
responsibility.

It is not
it is not Those people over there.

It's all of our responsibility to be kind.

And so I am just a product of a
of a Baptist preacher

and a good old social worker

who taught me, you know, the benefit
and the gift of community.

Those were pretty good lessons they took.

They are great lessons.

I certainly hope my children are taking
all those cues because my husband and I

are teaching the same lessons to my now
almost 17 year old and my 14 year old.

Do you try to apply those lessons to folks
who come to your house?

Oh, yes, absolutely they are.

They are receptive.

Very Providence House.

We volunteer at the food bank.

Our children who live at Providence
House volunteer at the food bank.

We are a part of this community.

And being a part of this community
does not mean that you have your handout.

It means we take a posture of gratitude.

We say thank you for everything that
someone does, and that's what we teach.

Last thing I'll tell you,
we had a young woman yesterday

who was really kind of beside herself
because she was working

and, you know, got a new place.

We got got her new place.

And, you know,
she was going to have to pay

a little bit of money
and she didn't want to do that.

And she walked in the building
and she'd been with us almost a year

and walking to the building and was,
you know, really not kind to my staff.

And I just kind of

her little girls
were playing in the in the hallway

and I just kind of walked over to her
and said,

that is not how we treat one another.

We give we treat with kindness.

We talk to one another with kindness,
we respect one another.

And I will not permit that with my staff.

And, you know, she kind of hunger
head down low.

But we have to remind people,
no one owes you anything.

People do things out of cup.
People don't have to.

My mom would say this all the time.

People don't have to be nice to you.

And so we teach those lessons
because we want them to go back out

into the community to remember
that they got back into the community

because of what somebody else did
for them. So yeah.

All right. Okay.

We have about a minute left here.

Well, just in summary,

I know I just think it was
it was so interesting

when you talk about the fastest
growing demographic. Yes.

Homelessness as a 16 to 18 year

old young men and the opportunity
to teach them. Yes.

To help get them off the streets.

Do you think that is the pathway
to lower the crime?

Absolutely, unequivocally,
without one doubt about that.

Everyone says, what do we do?

Yeah, a boy can't.

A boy or girl can't learn to be a man
or a woman unless they're taught.

I wouldn't have values
if it were not for a mother and a father.

And we we we think these kids
can we send them to school and say,

hey, be good in school and sit up and act
right and be respectful.

But we don't know that
that kid slept in somebody's

car the night before and didn't eat or
or no one had embraced and loved on them.

And so people don't just instinctively
grow up to be good people

without nurturing.

And so if we could capture that.

That segment just to say without judgment.

Let me start there without judgment
just as you are.

But let's let's start from where you are.

I guarantee you,
we could change the landscape

of our community in terms of
that's a great place to start. Yes.

Change the landscape of the work you do.

Thank you for having me.
Thank you so much.

It was an awesome conversation.

Thank you.

We may do it again sometime. Let's do it.
I'm ready.

Always ready.

This very from Providence House, Paul.

Good job. Come on.

I know.

I don't say that word
first for everything.

I love it.

You going to another edition
of Good to Know Sri for a year?

You can check it out
wherever you get your podcasts.

Have a good one, everybody.