Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Speaker A: Welcome to Life Reviewed, a podcast by Hope House Colorado, where we invite you into conversation with teenage moms and the people who champion them. These stories of struggle, overcoming, and perspective shifts will challenge you to review life as you've known it. One story, one person, one conversation at a time. Oh, I thought I knew the kind of life that I would need.
[00:00:29] Speaker B: Welcome back to Life Reviewed. This is Lisa Schlarbaugh. I'm the director of development here at Hope House, and I'm super excited to have Brian sump here today with me.
[00:00:39] Speaker A: I'm really excited to be with you, Lisa. Thanks for having me.
[00:00:41] Speaker B: Brian, you've been around Hope House for a really long time, and I'm super excited about spending this time together with you. So be ready. We have a little bit of construction going on outside us, so we're going to, like, talk loudly and so you can't hear the hammering. And the building of the new patio they're doing for upstairs, but homemade's doing for the residential house here, so we'll talk loudly.
[00:01:06] Speaker A: There's always that silver lining, you know, it's like, okay, that's annoying. And you look at it like, wait a minute, is this annoying or is this awesome that they're improving?
[00:01:13] Speaker B: So we're super excited about that.
[00:01:15] Speaker A: It is. It is. Yeah. Super cool.
[00:01:17] Speaker B: Good. Well, I'm gonna get started a little bit, and I'm gonna ask you the very first question here. How'd you first hear about Hope House?
[00:01:25] Speaker A: I heard about Hope House, and one day I should go back and actually look at the email chain and realize when the exact date was. I had he somewhere around, I guess, 1213 years ago, I think, and a major champion of Hope House for a long time, Wes Gardner, who has been just a great mentor of mine, and my father worked for him for, I don't know, better part of 30 years. So I've known him since I was a little kid. And he called me one day and he said, hey, you know, I was vaguely familiar with Hope House. You know, I've been. He said, you know, I've been coming alongside this organization to help him grow. And there's this new thing called the career partner program.
And he said, basically what we're taking these young ladies and who really don't have much of any work experience, if at all, and they have these young children, and we're giving them a pathway to learn how to work. And I thought to myself, I'm like, maybe I'm 30 years old at the time or something. I'm like, okay. Oh, yeah, we have to. We have to learn that skill. You know, many of us been working since we were in high school or even college, and you worked in retail or whatever you did, and you forget that. So I said, well, that sounds really cool. Now we're in automotive, right? We're in the automotive repair business. And so we have this young lady with this little, beautiful little girl, and the mama's name was Ariel. Still follow her today, and she's doing very well. But. So we were introduced that way and said, hey, do you want to be part of this program? I said, well, yeah, we'll take this young lady in automotive repair and teach her some work skills and stuff. Introduction. I'm so thankful for Wes and for that opportunity.
[00:02:54] Speaker B: I remember Ariel living here in the house, and she was probably one of the first moms I was exposed to here at Hope House when I joined the staff. And my office here at the house was, well, now it's the bathroom in the live in quarters, but back in the day, it was part of the server room. And it's really funny to look back and think about all the transitions this house has gone through and everything. And your dad, I remember your dad being one of the first volunteers I met here at Hope House back in the day. So I can remember. The story that sticks out to me about your dad is I'll never forget, he came back from a hunting trip early, and he felt compelled to buy flowers for all the girls that were going to the gala that year. Yeah, I remember that.
[00:03:38] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Dad's just such a generous, giving guy, and I think that the hope house really kind of pricked his heart, and it's really cool that we both felt that.
[00:03:46] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. And Wes has been around a hope house for a really long time, and he was involved with Hope House back in the day. He was probably one of the first Hope House champions that I met back. Oh, my gosh, almost 13 years ago now.
[00:04:00] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:04:00] Speaker B: That's crazy.
And then you said yes to me when I started the development committee of the board. So that's amazing. One of our first challenges on the development committee was how do we prepare these girls for work and everything like that? So I can remember, like, you, McKenzie, my friend Robin, all, like, saying yes to being part of the development committee of the board. You've been on that committee, I'm guessing at least ten years, right?
[00:04:28] Speaker A: Probably ten years, yeah. It's gotta be since. Well, I guess since inception almost.
[00:04:32] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. I would say since we started that it took me a little while for the board to say yes to having that development committee. But I think that's super important to have a group of people that are surrounded by you that love the fundraising part of it, that say yes, that aren't afraid to make asks of your friends and family and stuff like that for things that the girls need and everything.
And then I think after Ariel, you had another one of our moms that came and worked for you, right?
[00:04:59] Speaker A: Well, we've had alumni come work for us. Yeah. Ok. Yep. Yep. We had Tina for a few years that was working with us and stuff. And, you know, it's interesting. Cause again, in automotive repair, it's something you don't see a lot of. A lot of ladies in that industry, but they can actually do really well and be successful. And so, you know, we're indifferent. We love quality people who love to have a heart, to serve, and to serve our community and stuff. But Hope House, that's one cool thing of many that I love about Hope House is to teach community, you know, and maybe that's not on the curriculum necessarily as a line item, but that happens because there's so much reliance, whether it's, you know, the career development or ged or college, whether it's counseling or legal advocacy or even like an early learning center. Think about the community impact of an early learning center.
Having your vehicles serviced, health and wellness and church. I mean, there's just so many aspects, and Hope House essentially is kind of a hub for that. So that's kind of intrinsic there. But I've always thought that was really cool. That's part of everything that happens at Hope House.
[00:06:08] Speaker B: When I joined Hope House at the beginning, we used to say that the girls had three big challenges, right? And one was transportation. Like, just getting your driver's license was a big deal. Like a lot of our moms, you have to go to the used to have to go to the license bureau, and you have to go with a parent that would sign off on you getting your driver's license and saying that you had enough hours in and stuff like that. And that was hard for a lot of our girls who didn't have parents that were in their lives. So how do you go about doing that? That was really difficult. And then even after you got your driver's license and having that reliable car and buying it from a reputable dealer, that was very hard for our moms and stuff like that. So transportation is a really big barrier. Childcare, that was the other big barrier that we were up against. And then education. So those were the three big barriers, and there's still big barriers for us today. The one, I would add, that's also a big barrier right now in the state of Colorado is housing. Like, where can you live? Like, we used to say back in the day, that if you had got a job for 13 or $14 an hour, you could afford a two bedroom apartment, and it was like $800 to $1,000. Well, that's unheard of today. So definitely housing is another big barrier for us. So we're super excited about the new early learning center that's opening up in August of this year. So that's going to be able to house 104 moms. So that's our 104 moms, 104 kids, and that's going to be a game changer for us and stuff like that.
[00:07:38] Speaker A: Yeah. And I think that anybody listening or aware of this would probably get it right. Let's call it, people may refer to it as a daycare, something like that, but it's more than that. But let's just call that alone. And going through this process on the board, which I guess has now been about four years that I've been part of as we working with our consultants and stuff and really dreaming about this idea and then practically looking at, even at the financial portion of it, one of the things that stood out to me was how most daycares, or especially private, you know, privately owned daycares, how they become, you know, profitable and sustainable. And that's primarily through private pay, families like families that can afford and that. That pay to have their children at that daycare. And that there's a very low percentage, actually, in most daycares or even early learning centers that are comprised of parents who really can't afford it.
[00:08:36] Speaker B: Right.
[00:08:36] Speaker A: And that. And that was really eye opening to me about that sort of dog chasing its tail there. I mean, you just can't get ahead. And one of the things that's so cool about our early learning center now, Lisa, I think what, 90% of the mothers or the children there are going to be part of the CCAP program or basically have that federal aid because they're lower income.
And I think that's totally the inverse of what happens, I think, at most daycares, right, it's like 90% private pay, maybe 10%.
[00:09:09] Speaker B: I mean, a lot of them don't take any type of CCAP or whatever. We have some relationships currently with some amazing partners that save a couple spots for our moms and stuff like that, but for us to have 90% of those available for our moms. That's gonna be. That's amazing. We initially thought that maybe we'd have some private pay spots available, but I don't think that's gonna be the case. I think by the time we offer those spots to our moms, that's the priority number one. Priority number two is staff.
That's gonna be a big draw for staff to be able to have some of those spots and we can retain some of our staff, that's a really, really big deal.
[00:09:45] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:09:45] Speaker B: So we're super excited about that.
[00:09:47] Speaker A: Yeah, it's going to be. It's going to be quality from top to bottom. I mean, you walk in or walk up to the facility, you're in awe. I mean, it looks magnificent. You walk in, it's even better. And the programs and the curriculum and all that kind of stuff. And, I mean, Lisa, KP, what an incredible lady she is, is going to be the director and overseeing it.
The quality of the staff and everything, it's so amazing. And all of that for. Especially for these moms who can't really afford it otherwise. It's just like, that's how God works, right? Grace is maybe giving a person, giving us what we don't deserve. And it's like, not only is this gonna be a place where you can have your children, but this is gonna be top notch, first class for these ladies that wouldn't be able to get anything otherwise.
[00:10:30] Speaker B: Our development team were in charge of the decor inside the building and picking out the furniture and fixtures. And it's been so fun to do that and know that this is gonna be, like, lovely inside for everybody. So we're super excited about that. And then we're going to have a faith based curriculum, which is great, that falls in line with our principles and everything like that. So we are super excited about that. So Dana and Joe are in the room. So next weekend, we are driving up to Estes park to take a picture in front of Noah's Ark. We have a little Noah's ark theme going on inside the building. So we're going to have the kids dressed up appropriately, like in their classroom. Animal that's assigned. So it's going to be. So I can't wait to see all this come together and everything. It's going to be great.
[00:11:17] Speaker A: That'd be a blast.
[00:11:18] Speaker B: So, a little bit about the capital campaign, because I think this is worth mentioning. There's always a ton of God stories at a hope house, as you know. And we started out getting a surprise million dollar gift from the Bill Ackerman estate. So that was a lead gift that we weren't expecting. So we're super excited about that. And then for us to raise in total over $6 million for this building in a very short period of time, which is not best practice. But when you're told the million dollars is contingent on you raising the rest of the money by the end of the year, then you get behind that and go, okay, we're going to. We're going to do this. And so that building is going to probably finish out with probably two thirds the number of donors that we built the resource center with. And we are super excited about that. To be able to move in debt free to that building and have some money set aside for the operating reserve because we'll get paid in arrears from the Colorado CCAP program and stuff like that. So it's amazing to me how the cow. This is all coming together. So we are still looking for teachers. So if anybody's out there and you're looking for a great place to come to work, then please come apply to the Hope House Childcare center. Early learning center.
[00:12:33] Speaker A: Absolutely. You know, you talk about capital campaigns and fundraising. You know, it's something that a lot of people don't have a natural, positive disposition toward doing that. And I'll say that I've said this, and we joke, and I often joke and we laugh about it. And in the boardroom, even when we're talking about next year's budget or we're talking about needing this capital, it's funny because there's always maybe a brief moment of tension. Everybody looks over at Lisa Schlarbaum and it's like, nah, we're good. And, you know, Lisa, truly, it's been incredible to kind of be alongside you in this journey. And you're.
Your faith, and, you know, you always, I know you have tense moments when you're trying to meet budgets and timelines and stuff, but you always just present it in such a way that's like, and you say this so many times, God's got this. And truly, and to watch it year after year in God's faithfulness and your ability to just galvanize community and just, you know, touch the hearts of people that probably have the means to be able to make it happen and just to watch it all come together, it's just been incredible. And I know you're very humble about it, and you're very gracious. I think, God, you're just such an integral part of all this. And so this is just another example, right, of a fully funded building through the generosity of so many people who love Hope House or maybe didn't even know about Hope House, like the Ackerman estate, essentially. That's a crazy story in itself.
[00:13:54] Speaker B: But God, that's a crazy story.
[00:13:55] Speaker A: Connected the dots through your faith in action and then through all the people that come together to raise money. So it's such a cool thing.
[00:14:02] Speaker B: I think if you look back, I'm gonna celebrate 13 years at Hope House in August. And one of the main reasons I came to work at Hope House was I wanted to see God in action. Like, God working up close and personal. Like, what does that look like? I definitely experienced, like, those once, and every once in a while, you would get a little godwink or whatever, but I see that all the time here. It's amazing to me, like, once a month or before every big event, I'm stressing out about how well we're gonna do and stuff like that, and we're having another crappy month right now, but it's like, I know that God's got this, right. Like, I. Every time we open up the mail, like, there's a check we weren't expecting, or somebody's heard about us through a news story or whatever, like, there's crazy, crazy stories. So it's amazing to me, like, to be able to sit back and reflect about how all of a sudden somebody walked in the door and wrote a big check and everything, so. And even, like, small checks. Like, even, like, there's a. There's a couple that sends in $15 every month, and it's just like, they've been doing this for years. It's like, the faithfulness that you have about what we're doing and being able to watch where we're going and stuff like that. That is. It's. It's not. It never gets old, right?
[00:15:26] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:15:26] Speaker B: I mean, there's definitely.
The board teases me there was a finance meeting yesterday, and it's kind of like, well, we're not having a good month, but we had a good month last month, so it's. I kind of feel like maybe you're going to appreciate this. I feel like a used car salesman. Like, you're only as good as the current month.
So it's one of those things, like, as soon as you finish the year, you celebrate.
Then it's January, and it's like, you start all over again. So if you want to work in the development world, like, you gotta be that person that wants that big challenge every month, and you just want to keep being better. And at this point, I think in my career, I just kind of want to keep training the future generation, you know, like, what does this look like and stuff like that. In the development world, like, your average ten year person in development is like 18 months. And you have to get along with the board, you have to get along with the executive director, you've got to be able to figure out the donor piece and stuff like that, and you've got to be tenacious. And I just constantly see a lot of turnover in that.
[00:16:30] Speaker A: Yeah, well, you're staying power and resiliency and all these other many wonderful accolades and qualities are well evident, I think, Lisa, and you know, that, like, when I look at, you know, I'm involved in some other nonprofits and in the marketplace and all this kind of stuff, and when you, when you really start to assess the nonprofit world, I think, like, hope House is such a high quality organization and it's so well rounded for me. And I think for many of us, the cause, you know, the mission, number one, first and foremost, right. A Christ centered approach to helping young women and their children become, you know, thrive, thrive and become self sustaining. That's a beautiful mission, and that's, you know, paramount in the whole thing. But then I look at everything from, you know, our, it was a charity navigator and how we're rated and just even the financial side going through our audits and the care and the effort that's put in to do everything right. You know, even in the boardroom, we give so much attention to sometimes what seems like such small, minor things. But I think that's how the kingdom of God works. That's how God's economy works, right? He cares about little details and he wants us to be stewards over every aspect. And I really can say that from my view, and I think many, many others that Hope House has really done an incredible job as a whole, from founders like Lisa, Stephen, to development, you, Lisa, and so many other integral parts, the jenny's and, you know, Dana and Joe on the marketing side. And it's just that, like everybody, when that congruence, congruency happens and everybody's running their lane and feels empowered and God's blessing, it's been such a cool thing to watch.
[00:18:16] Speaker B: Years ago, the gentleman that helped recruit me to hope house and everything, like, he told me a quote from one of our donors, and he basically said, you know, we're working really hard. We're rowing the boat as hard and as fast as we can, and God just blesses our work. And I do really feel like that. That shines through. Right. I worked in corporate America, and I worked. I feel like I worked really hard in there, but it was hard work, and I feel like we're doing the same thing here, but it's just, like, we're just blessed all the time here by the people that surround Hope house and everything.
One of my biggest joys is seeing the girls that go through our program. And then there's a couple of the. Those girls that are working here today. There's. One of our board members was a former mom, like, hearing their stories and seeing where they're at today, that just brings me joy. I love that. Yeah.
[00:19:11] Speaker A: Well, how powerful was it at the gala? Was it a couple? Was it two galos ago? The 20th anniversary? Right. And that stage was packed with these ladies who now are grown ladies with thriving families and beautiful professions, and their kids are graduating high school now and all this kind of stuff. That was one of the most powerful moments that I've ever been a part of at Hope House. And that kind of speaks to what you're saying.
[00:19:32] Speaker B: Yeah, I can't wait to see. There's a couple of children that lived here in the house or that were part of the building and everything. And some of those, I'm thinking of a couple boys that went through the program. Like, I cannot wait for them to, like, get up there and say their speeches at Hope House, and I cannot wait to see what that looks like. There's a mom that was living out of her car, and she had two young boys, and those two boys had so much energy and so much personality. Like, they're going places. I know that. And to be able to see them one day come back and maybe participate in that gala with the company that they're working for, like, I see that happening here in the future is that.
That's gonna be totally a moment for me. Yeah. Yeah.
[00:20:22] Speaker A: Full circle. Yeah, absolutely.
[00:20:24] Speaker B: Yeah.
Let's see. What else do I want to ask you about? I want you to tell a little bit about your companies, because your companies have been very involved here with Hope House, and you've given back in that way. So tell us about how many companies you have today and what that looks like.
[00:20:41] Speaker A: Yeah. So, you know, as I mentioned earlier, we provide automotive mechanical service and repair. So urban auto care. We have currently five locations. Hopefully, we'll have our 6th completed soon here.
So neighborhood automotive service, everything from basic maintenance to complex diagnosis and major repairs. And then, of course, one of our locations, Avalon Motorsports, we specialize in german imports and sort of at that factory, that dealership level.
And it's been 17 and a half years since we started.
You know, I think understanding that, yeah, we are doing, we're providing a noble service for our communities. And when you start a business, Lisa, I think, you know, this, I think many of us that have been in business can attest early on, it's challenging, right? But when God blesses you and you grow and then you start thinking through, like, this is much bigger than just my business and much bigger than a patron walking through the door that needs some car service and, and, you know, ever since we had aerial and then connecting those dots and realizing that that's transportation's probably, I mean, for any person is one of the five most essential needs they have. Right. If you can't get around, it's extremely challenging to make a way in your life and to work. So, you know, and so we've just realized that God continues to bless us and to allow us to grow. And a big part of that is journeying, you know, walking alongside Hope House as we grow. And I've shared this with you, you know, I. My hope and my prayers that as we continue to grow, we just, we can help solve that problem for more and more of these moms. I think. What are we going to serve? 200, 5260, 65, I think is this year. But I know our capacity probably even more with the early learning center is going to be over 400, maybe upward of 500 moms that we can serve. Right?
[00:22:27] Speaker B: Yeah, just, yeah. I don't know exactly what that number is going to be, but it's going to be more than it is today, for sure.
[00:22:33] Speaker A: And they're all going to have some need, at least in the automotive side. So we're going to do our very best just to partner and support in that way.
[00:22:40] Speaker B: I'm trying to think. I think I remember dropping off a thank you plaque to you. The place on Colfax. Is that Avalon?
[00:22:49] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:22:49] Speaker B: Yeah. Back in the day and everything, I remember doing that. So it's been amazing to watch. I was at your last grand opening. I think it was your last grand opening, and that was amazing to watch all that. You've got some really great people that work for you.
[00:23:03] Speaker A: Well, thank you for that. It was just. It was awesome having you, and that's one thing that just having you share in front of all that. I think we had 40 or so community leaders and stuff that we invited to that grand opening. And have you shared and you know, we have the plaques at all of our locations. When you walk in the front door with the pictures and everything. And I've had so many clients just say, wait, you support this organization. And some may know Hope house, some don't. And it's just, it never fails. There's not a single person that will walk in that sees that, that doesn't have a little sort of a twinkle in their eye or a star in their eye about serving that. Cause I don't care who you are, what your worldviews are, political ideologies, whatever. It doesn't matter. Like, I think anybody can get behind what Hope House does because we're helping the least of these, as it were, biblically.
[00:23:49] Speaker B: That's right.
[00:23:50] Speaker A: And doing it in an amazing, faithful way.
[00:23:52] Speaker B: That's right.
I had this aha moment this year when Lisa Stevens book is coming out, and she's talking in the book about when hope I started, it was over 2020. That's 21 years this year. And I kept thinking, well, I started here 13 years ago, and then it was on the board before that, but I had this ahama was like, oh, my gosh, my wedding anniversary. It's 21 years this year. So my in laws were teen parents. So I started thinking about that. I'm like, oh, God knew what he was doing. Like, he put Jeff and I together, and his parents were teen parents. And then I had a friend of mine who did some research on my own family, and I found out my great grandmother was a teen mom. So it's like, so that's. I am connected. Like, I thought it was just through my church and that sort of thing. But when I look back at my own family and the family I joined and everything, like, we have that connection with. With teen parents and teen moms and stuff. And I was like, God really does knit people together. Like, long before you even thought about joining a hope house as board of directors, like, that was. That's amazing to me. Like, who knew that? So I just kind of, like, shake my head and go, oh, yeah, that's exactly what happened.
[00:25:11] Speaker A: Exactly. Yeah, it's easy. Like, in hindsight, it's pretty easy to see the hand of God on stuff.
[00:25:15] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. For sure. For sure. So you're also. You've got three little ones at home, so why don't you talk a little bit about that?
[00:25:24] Speaker A: Yeah, three little ones. Yeah. That's. So we have, girls are nine and almost eight here pretty shortly, and our little guy channing, is just turned four. So, you know, so we're in those sort of short year long days now, as they say, and. But it's just such a. It's such a fruitful time of life, and, I mean, we enjoy the heck out of it and have a lot of fun with spending our time with.
[00:25:48] Speaker B: Those kids and stuff. So, yeah, it's amazing to me, like, how it kind of feels like grade school to me was like, long, right? Like, and then all of a sudden, it's middle school for us was like, only three years. And then you get to high school and they're usually driving, and it's like you don't spend any time in high school at all. So it's just like, that goes by in a blink of an eye. Last year, I watched my son graduate high school, and it was like, how the heck did this happen? Like, how is it that time goes by so fast and everything?
[00:26:17] Speaker A: Yeah, it really does. Everyone just talking to you several times about Max heading out and getting to college and just that you were, you shared your thoughts and emotions about it, and I was just like. And, you know, and I was like, hey, pay attention, brian, cuz it's not gonna be that long.
And so, yeah, I know that was rollercoaster ride for you.
[00:26:38] Speaker B: Yes, but yes. Yeah, before you know, you're gonna be. It's gonna be the middle school dance and.
Yeah, all those milestones and everything like that just go by so quickly and everything.
[00:26:49] Speaker A: Yeah, it really does. You know, we took the girls to this, these daddy daughter ball every year, which, if any, there's any dads listening. Listen, I know at first it may sound like, what is that? But I promise you, you go, you will not regret going. And I love, like, I love dancing. I'll get on the dance floor and dance and do all this kind of stuff. And. And so usually at these daddy daughter balls, you know, there's dinner and there's like, it's like a dance party, and the girls dress up and it's maybe two or 3 hours long. And the first third of the nights, like, they'll pop music, and the girls are out there dancing, being silly, and all of a sudden they slow it, slow it down, and it's like, hey, this is chance for dads to dance slowly with their daughter. So I get my oldest daughter, Camille, and I'm like, hey, you know, let's dance. So I pick her up and I kind of hold her on my shoulder, and she. This is what? She's maybe seven or eight years old, so my biceps are burning about halfway through the song, but. But that's not even the point. So they. I forget. So it's this call songs. The theme is about let me take you to Wonderland. And it's kind of. It's just a beautiful. I'd never heard the song, right? So it gets about 30 seconds, and all of a sudden, I start bawling. Like, I'm like, in front of all these dads. I got Camille on my shoulder. I'm, like, uncontrollably. Because, you know, then you start envisioning, well, it really isn't gonna be that long. You're walking her down the aisle, and, you know, you're thinking about all this kind of stuff, and she's like, eight. And I'm like, it's gonna be 20 something, 28 here soon. And so anyway, I get. I think she never lifted her head off my shoulder. I think she could probably tell by my breathing what was going on, but she was so gracious. She's that smart not to, like, actually look at me, because then, I don't know, it would, you know, I really start crying harder. Anyways, song ends, put her down. And then they play another one. So I grabbed Kya, our middle daughter, and I pick her up, and I'm composed by that time. So the song is my girl. And all of a sudden, it's like 5 seconds in, and boom, I start balling again. I'm like, I'm just giving up now. Like, isn't it? There's no hope for me. And so I was telling my wife Jill about it, and I'm like, yeah, I'm gonna be the guy at the wedding. I'll be the guy losing my marbles. And she's like, I didn't know you were so sensitive. I'm like, well, we do now, so it's good.
[00:28:42] Speaker B: That's funny.
[00:28:43] Speaker A: Yeah, it's really fun.
[00:28:45] Speaker B: That's funny. I think I told you the story about how when we dropped off Max at college last fall, my mom said to me, how did Jeff do? And I was like, jeff was fine. I was crying. I couldn't even talk, which is not my personality. As I get older, I'm more emotional and everything. But at the end, I could not even. I couldn't even say goodbye, max. I was, like, that upset.
And then one of our, one of our current board members, he.
I can't believe he said this to me. He said, he goes, lisa, every time you say goodbye from now, I don't want to be, like, having the bandage ripped off all over again. Oh, my gosh. I can't believe you just told me that. So I've got the goodbye going on in August of this year. Hopefully I'll actually be able to say goodbye to him and say goodbye to his roommates and stuff like that. But last year, I couldn't even talk. It was ridiculous.
[00:29:38] Speaker A: It is. It is. Children are so special. And, you know, I love, and I also realize, you know, raising kids and feeling the way we do about our own kids, I often think about Hope house. I often think about these moms, and we're blessed. Listen, like, if we need something for our family, we can provide that.
[00:29:53] Speaker B: That's right.
[00:29:55] Speaker A: But I often think of these moms and think it's so much harder for them to do that. Right. Maybe they don't have a career set forth already. They don't have the support system maybe that I have outside of the walls of Hope House, they're going through so many different struggles and challenges in their lives. And that's what many of us refer to as in some degree. Look around therapy. There is also, and it's a healthy thing. But I am so compassionate to the young ladies because I do put my, try to put myself in their shoes and go, what it must it be like? And, but the other side of that is it does, it does allow you to be thankful for what you do have in your life. And so, yes, saying goodbye to Max, going to college, right, that's hard. But that's also a wonderful blessing that he gets to do that. And so, and I think even at the gala every year, I do, I get emotional, too, because I, there's power in, emotional power in watching the successes happen, whether it's a little tiny thing or a major thing or they're, you know, speaking at the graduation when they're sort of walking across the stage, so to speak, or whatever, it's just absolutely incredible to watch that happen. And I just have so much compassion. Somebody told me, by the way, recently that empathy is knowing how somebody feels, but compassion is doing something about it.
[00:31:10] Speaker B: I love that.
[00:31:11] Speaker A: And I've been thinking a lot about that. Right. And so empathy would be like, look, I realize what I, it must be so hard for these young moms and how they struggle. But compassion saying, you know what, I'm going to step up. I'm going to go serve one night a week at Hope House or I'm going to join the development committee. Right. That's a very loose obligation. Really. It's a joyful thing. Once a quarter you meet and you realize, who do I know in my network or in my marketplace that I can introduce hope House to, and then something even such small like that, that's having compassion and it's doing something about it. And that's why I pray that anybody that is exposed to hope House, that just even in one little way, whether it's donating some clothes or some things for the children or to put together a basket for the gala, for a silent auction or bring a foursome to the golf tournament, there's so many opportunities and incredible ways that you can have compassion on these young ladies and these children. And I'm just prayful that more people get to be a part of that.
[00:32:05] Speaker B: Yeah. Every year. I can always tell, like, if we have a real. Well, we always have a good speaker, but I can always tell the mark of that time in their speech where they're saying something that's so impactful. I'll look over at Jeff, and if. If Jeff Schlarbaum has got a tear in his eye or is crying, then I know we've nailed it. And so many people, when they get to hear our mom speak at those events, that just brings it all home. They get to hear about how determined she is, how tenacious she is, and how we talk about mommy motivation. We talk about generational poverty, and it all comes together for everybody at our golf tournament. Like, how do you get a bunch of golfers to get behind what we're doing? Well, one of our moms will come and speak. We just chose our speaker for this year's golf tournament. And all those dads in the room or all those brothers or all those sons in the room, they get to hear what this mom has gone through and to think about what she's got in front of her and how tenacious she is about creating a better life for her child and stuff like that. People relate to that.
[00:33:14] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:33:15] Speaker B: And one of the things I'm really passionate about here at Hope House is that we tell authentic stories. We tell, we have. When we take photos of our moms, like, these aren't stock photos. These are really our moms. I am very passionate about that. And I just, they just provide all the encouragement and the motivation for me to keep doing what I'm doing here.
[00:33:37] Speaker A: Yeah. I love that you get to see it. You get to see it often, you know? And I think that's such a cool. Such a cool thing.
[00:33:44] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I just need to find one of those moms that wants to be the director of development here at Hope House.
[00:33:52] Speaker A: Let's start asking now, right?
[00:33:53] Speaker B: That's right.
[00:33:54] Speaker A: It could happen. That's right.
[00:33:55] Speaker B: It can happen.
So one of the things. Who's made the biggest impact in your life? Brian?
[00:34:03] Speaker A: Man, wow. Well, that's a. That's a deep question for any person. You know, I think certainly you know my dad, and you've met my dad is one of the most simple. Yeah. And there's so much simplicity about him and the way he lives his life, but he's one of the most loyal, faithful person. In fact, he was at church Sunday, and I've done announcements at our church every Sunday for, like, 13 years, and. And we always have fun. Like, we usually do something. And I was talking about my memories with my dad, just the road trips and. But, you know, one of the things I can truly say is that he.
I don't know if I could count on two hands the number of sporting games, concerts, and things that he missed of mine, even after college.
[00:34:43] Speaker B: Oh, that's great.
[00:34:43] Speaker A: And so just having his consistent loyalty and just always being there.
[00:34:49] Speaker B: He came there for you.
[00:34:50] Speaker A: Yeah, exactly. So him. I mentioned Wes Gardner earlier. Wes was a person that really, many years ago, came and said, hey, do you have a mentor in business?
Well, no, I kind of have this peer group. He's like, okay, we should pray about that. And he just started spending time with me and advocating and stuff like that. But there's just been a lot of people through the years. I mean, God's faithfulness, you know, I couldn't answer that question without just sharing how faithful God's been in our journey, so. But there's so many people on the way, right? And some people will call that luck, timing, and that kind of stuff. But when you, like you said earlier, when you really look back and you see God's hand on all these different relationships, one little piece of wisdom or advice from somebody you barely knew or somebody that came alongside you in the most difficult times and was just there to sit with you or maybe shed a tear with you or pray with you. I mean, there's so many people. And again, that's the power of community. Right. We see it at Hope House all the time. Like, we can't thrive with one legal advocate or one counselor or one, you know, whatever, right. One education system, you know, ged resource or whatever it is, one housing partner. So, yeah, there's just so many people on the way that have blessed me in our journey.
[00:36:03] Speaker B: I heard somebody say a long time ago that all you need is really one positive influence in your life. Like, if you don't have any positive influences on your life like that makes it so difficult. And I think about, like, some of our moms, like, they're not from good home situations and stuff like that. And I can also think back about when Jeff and I first got married. We had a couple that was talking to us, and they were saying that that was the reason why they had picked a church to go to. It's like it provided another positive influence for their children, and that was one of the reasons why Jeff and I started church shopping. And obviously, our church has been a big positive influence, and it's been a big, positive influence on our children, too. I love that.
[00:36:44] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely.
[00:36:46] Speaker B: That's great. So, Hope House is a faith based organization. Right.
Can you tell us a little bit about your own faith based journey?
[00:36:55] Speaker A: Yeah. So, in my upbringing, we had sort of a loose catholic affiliation. I would say just mostly my sisters and I, you know, for Christmas or Easter, maybe go to church and stuff. And always, I think I understood who God was, at least through some scriptures. And then Jesus, this man that walked the earth, that died on a cross, and, of course, came out of the grave alive. And so I knew that, um, but it wasn't until I was, you know, as you know, I played football after college, and I was in San Diego playing football, and. And that's a challenging time, right? You're away from your support system. Everybody's gunning for your job, like, and the odds are really stacked against you. And so one day, this guy named Miles McPherson shows up in the meeting room, and he. He's the team chaplain now, Miles McPherson founded the rock church and was a big part of promise keepers for a long time with coach Mack, and it was an all pro safety with the Chargers in the late eighties. So he said, I'm having a Bible study at my house tonight if anybody wants to come. And I'm thinking, I could sure use a Bible study, you know, like just some kind of get. Get out of this. This cutthroat thing and just get away. And so I'm there, and I think there was maybe seven other players. We had dinner, and then we sat in Miles's living room, and he said, I want you to all share the story when you got saved. Now, fortunately or not, I was last in that rotation. But I'm hearing stories from these. These players that. That were really tough stories. I mean, whether they're, you know, fathers abandoned them or had legal troubles when they were younger in gangs or. I mean, it was just. It was, like, crazy. And then, you know, so it gets to me and I'm like, you know, I had it pretty good, all things considered. You know, I didn't have crazy stories like that, but. And I said, you know, I'm pretty sure. Pretty sure I'm saved. Like, I just know who God is. And Miles looked at me, said, look, if. If you are saved, if you are assured of your salvation, you'd know it. And so he said. He said, is this something you want? I said, it is. So I knelt down right there, and all these guys, like, put their hands on my back, and. And I made this. This decision, you know, to follow Jesus. And it was. It was crazy. It was cool. It was awesome. And then. But I tell you, Lisa, for, like, the next three weeks, right, I think it was right around the time summer. Summer training sessions ended, I flew back to Denver for, like, two weeks, and there was just something truly different inside, just my feelings. And now I know what. That's my. That's your spirit, right? That's where you feel these and experience these things. And that was part of that. That reformation. So I go back down there, ended up getting released, and I come home and start going to Faith Bible Chapel over in Arvada here in 2003. And that was kind of the start of the journey where I realized that, you know, religion is something the world can sort of identify with or you can kind of belong to something. But for me, realizing what God said about scriptures and who Jesus really was and that it's really all about that journey and that relationship with God. And so that's when that began. And I'm so thankful for Myles and his faithfulness. And it's been, you know, it's been. I guess it was 20 years. Last summer was my spiritual anniversary.
[00:39:58] Speaker B: Yeah. So, 2003 was the year that hope house started.
[00:40:02] Speaker A: Oh, there you go.
[00:40:03] Speaker B: That's exactly right. We're tying it all back together. 2003. I love it.
[00:40:07] Speaker A: There it is. Yeah.
[00:40:09] Speaker B: So, as you probably know, I'm a big sports fanatic. So you played for the Chargers?
I'm trying to remember. I don't remember the whole story, but I know you've also played a school of mine, so maybe you can talk about that for a second.
[00:40:21] Speaker A: Yeah, it's kind of an interesting story, you know? And I graduated high school from the Denver School of the Arts. I was a music major there in high school, so I played. I was one of the top clarinet players in the state, which is kind of funny, because a lot of times, the definitely did not know the musicians and the athletes. They weren't always. It was a little oil and water there, I think. But we didn't know any different. So I was part of one of the top 20 jazz bands in the country. We traveled and played.
[00:40:43] Speaker B: Oh, I did not know that.
[00:40:45] Speaker A: Yeah, I was in the marching band, of course. And so I played baseball throughout high school. And so my senior year, some of the baseball teammates encouraged me to come out for football. So I did played at Thomas Jefferson is where I played sports, because we didn't have sports at the school of the arts.
[00:40:58] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:40:58] Speaker A: And fortunately, it was the most highly recruited school in the state. So I guess these recruiters come in and say, hey, pretty smart kids that can run, and like, yeah, you talk to this guy, Brian. So I get this $2,000 scholarship to play at the school of mines after playing one year in high school. Well, I played both sports my freshman year in college, baseball and football. But I got the small scholarship to play football. Okay. And so, I mean, and it was a wild journey that year. So the funny story, about halfway into that season, I was red shirting, but I was still traveling. And the special teams coach, who, if you don't know football very well, it's when the kicking game tip is the special team. So special teams coach says, hey, sump, do you know how to return kicks? Can you catch a kick? And I had. I don't even think I'd ever caught a kickoff. And I was like, yeah, coach, seriously. So he puts me in, and I get, like, a 60 yard kick return, like, the first time. And so then all of a sudden, then, you know, lost my red shirt, and I'm playing so fast forward a little bit. My. My sophomore year, I ended up first team all conference and special teams in the Rocky Mountain athletic conference, and then I was two time all american my junior and senior year. Just kind of on that. That fast trajectory, I think, you know, Dana's in the room. She played sports, and. And she can relate, but sometimes you just. You just latch on, and it just makes sense. And, you know, and that was kind of my journey. So I got a. I got this, you know, small signing bonus as a free agent to go play with the Chargers, and did that and went and went to play arena football, and ended up going to camp with the. The Rams when they were back in St. Louis the next year and played arena football for a few years, won a world championship with the Chicago Rush in 2006, and had a lot of fun. It was cool to be able to do that and experience what I did and, you know, have those memories.
[00:42:37] Speaker B: That's awesome.
[00:42:38] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:42:39] Speaker B: All right, so tell a little bit about Jill because she is also very talented in the sports area.
[00:42:44] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. Well, it's funny because she'll tell you, she's not very good at catching a ball, but she was a cheerleader and she cheered at University of Miami and ended up cheering with the dimmer Nuggets for a few years. And we didn't actually know each other, though. She was cheering for the Nuggets and I was playing football. We didn't know each other then, so it was until we were both. I was laughing. We're both washed up, you know, after we met. But, yeah, but she, she's, she's an athletic person and stuff, but she, you know, she's. She's just an amazing woman and loves the Lord, too. And, yeah, she's a lot of fun to do life with.
[00:43:15] Speaker B: I love that. I love that.
I'm trying to think what else we haven't talked about yet. Brian, what do you think?
[00:43:21] Speaker A: Well, one of the things that I think you had mentioned at some point is something that I'm super excited for this year about, particularly Hope house. And while absolutely the early learning center, we're going to launch here within. Within a month. Right. So that's just incredible. And to watch it from a piece of dirt to what it is now. We were just looking before we walked in here over at it, and I think we're going to walk through after together. It's just incredible. But, and so I'm super excited for that. But this year is my first year playing in the golf tournament. Okay. And here's why that's a big deal. So one, playing where we get to play, you know, the sanctuary, that's incredible. Never played there. I've always wanted to, but the five k has been the big event that I champion. That we champion. And I get to feel a little bit like you, Phil, when I feel like, are we going to be able to raise these funds? And we go out and, and we, you know, God blesses both of us in that journey every year to raise money for the five k. But we kind of go all in on that thing and so that kind of exhausts our, our mental power, our resources and stuff. So, of course, at the gate last year, you know, our good friend Corey, who's also on the development committee, he buys a. I think it buys a twosome for the tournament. And then we started thinking, hey, can we make this a foursome? Because we really want to play. So I'm really excited that we're going to have two good buddies come down and play with us, and we don't have high expectations for how we'll compete, but just to be there and play and have a great day, we're. We're really looking forward to that.
[00:44:45] Speaker B: I. We really don't have to plug the golf tournament, because the golf tournament sells itself. We're at the sanctuary, and I'll never forget, it's probably been eight. More than eight years ago, we first applied for the sanctuary, and if you get picked to be. Have your golf tournament at the sanctuary, it's kind of like winning the lottery here. There's been a couple things that we've won over the years, and this is definitely one where, you know, first of all, you have to have a golf tournament that raises over $100,000 to even think about applying down there. And then they have, like, 25 nonprofit tournaments, and there's something like 23,000 nonprofits in the state of Colorado. So you can kind of see why this feels like the lottery. So we make the application, and we apply and everything, and I don't get. I don't get a phone call that says you're in. I get a phone call summoning me to make an appearance at the sanctuary and sit down and have a discussion with a senior pro down there. So I go down there, and we have, like, this talk about, well, do you think we average, you know, $250,000? You've been averaging a little over 100,000 on your golf tournament. So do you think you can raise this kind of money? And we are so blessed that we've been part of that group that gets to participate down there. It's a beautiful, beautiful chorus. You're gonna probably see some wild animals. You might see some of the elk. You might see some of the deer. I have pictures of a bobcat and her little cubs.
It's just a beautiful, beautiful course and everything. And they do such a great job with their food service. Like, they'll do a catered breakfast for everybody, and then they'll have, like, lunch passed out on the course, and then afterwards, we'll have, like, a really great dinner. I think we're having barbecue this year, and then we have, like, a little live auction, and everybody just gives very generously down there, so. So our goal this year is to raise $265,000 at golf. So we'll see how that goes and everything.
We're super excited. So you've been to the gala. You've been doing the five k for a number of years. You've probably been to some more smaller events and now you're getting experience golf.
[00:46:54] Speaker A: Yeah, I think I'll have been at a lot of the bigger events, and they're so fun. Even back. Remember we used to do the bruins do or whatever back in the day. Those were. Yeah, it was crazy. But those are just. I mean, there's so many little things and fun little events that we've done together. I mean, the little things that you buy at the gala that you get to experience. We've done some with you and I know. Who was it? I think our friend Sherry got to cook cookies with Lisa Steven last year. She still talks about that. We invited her and her husband to the gate list. She buys the cookie thing and there's just so many little things you can do to just experience fun and support Hope house.
[00:47:29] Speaker B: Yeah, we've had fun doing that. I can't believe you brought Brew and Stew because my team constantly harasses me about Brew and Stew. Everybody loved to come to that event, but we couldn't figure out, like, we couldn't tap into the secret sauce about making money at that event. So I think the most successful brew and Stew raised maybe $10,000. And I know that's not small potatoes, but it was a lot of work for our staff and everything like that. So every once in a while I get harassed about Brew and stew. And then back in the day, like, everybody was super excited about the different breweries that were here in town. And at one point, I think Denver had more independent breweries than any other. Well, it's like, I think south Carolina and I think Oregon or Washington was the other state that had all these independent breweries and now you're watching them all close and stuff like that.
[00:48:16] Speaker A: So, yeah, that was so. I mean, it was fun. Anybody that went to it, you did not have a bad time.
[00:48:21] Speaker B: You did not have a bad time.
[00:48:22] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:48:22] Speaker B: If only we could figure it out how to make money at that.
[00:48:25] Speaker A: True. Well, anybody's listening has an idea. I'm sure lisa's inbox is open. If it's not, mine is. Okay. So email me.
[00:48:33] Speaker B: So email, email prime if you can. Some ideas about bruins, too.
[00:48:36] Speaker A: There you go.
[00:48:36] Speaker B: It's funny.
[00:48:37] Speaker A: Totally. Yeah.
[00:48:39] Speaker B: Brian, what else? Is there anything else we haven't talked about today that we need to talk about?
[00:48:43] Speaker A: No, I don't think so. We've covered a lot of the things, but, you know, and even we're at the residential house right now, we're in the basement. This is this cool little room here. And even as I was walking through here just looking at the thoughtfulness, and, I mean, this is a nice, this is a nice house. It's not just some. And there's stories about this house anyway, right? How it was given to us. We literally pick it up, put it on a flatbed trailer. The house goes on a trailer ships across town because the church gives us this lot and we plop this house down on a foundation. But I just was. It just, I was thinking about how intentional everyone associated with Hope House is to, you could say, another way, create an experience also.
[00:49:23] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:49:23] Speaker A: You know, very positive. Like, you walk into the resource center that's right across the parking lot. Well, that was built, what, in 17 or 18? Is it? Was it 19? I was trying to. It was about five years now, so. But then you walk in the front door and you're like, okay, this is different. There's something different here. And it's not all show, but there's thoughtfulness in how people feel right when they just walk in the front door and God's spirits there for sure. But I don't know, I'm just. I feel super blessed to be alongside an organization that is so thoughtful and is so intentional and candidly watching God's faithfulness and his hand on this organization. I see it through you all the time in development. I just see it through in the little things. And, I don't know, it's just an honor to be part of it.
[00:50:09] Speaker B: I'm going to do one quick plug because we are six days out from the book that Lisa's been working on for a long, long time, and it's called a place to belong. And that book is going to be on Amazon next Thursday. Next Thursday night, we're having a book launch party, and we've got 200 people coming to the book lunch party, which is gonna be super fun. And then you're gonna see a bunch of stuff on our social media accounts about a place to belong. So I am very, very excited about this book finally coming to fruition and everything. So a number of years ago, when I was on the board and I was stepping off to join staff, there was a pastor John, tell us. Do you know John? Tell us.
[00:50:51] Speaker A: Yeah, I've met him a few times.
[00:50:52] Speaker B: Yeah, great. Pastor John, tell us. When he was stepping off the board, he, like, shook his finger at me and he said, you make sure she writes this book. So I'm a little bit disappointed that he's not going to join us next Thursday night. But I'm super excited to finally say I have fulfilled my duty of making sure this book gets written. And I read the book. I read the manuscript, and I finished the manuscript, and I was like, wow, she could have written another. She can write a whole nother book about all the God stories. So there's, this book is all about the beginning of a hope house and all the God stories.
And I am, again, did I hear I say this? Super excited. Let's be clear, though, that she is launching this book, and it'll be on Amazon. And I'm just. I can't wait for everybody to read that book.
[00:51:41] Speaker A: Rightly so. You know, we've kind of been walking alongside Lisa and talking about it in board meetings and stuff, and she's just put so much. Anybody's written a book. I haven't, but I hear that. I mean, it's just. It's a labor of love, for sure.
[00:51:53] Speaker B: A labor of love, for sure.
[00:51:54] Speaker A: And she's put so much into it. And I think this book's gonna bless a lot of people and encourage them. It's gonna inspire a lot of people to step out and maybe do something that leverages their experience. It's kind of this theme, you know, that through your test comes the testimony kind of a situation. I think people are gonna need to have inspiration in their lives about something they've been through to leverage that and turn that into something as powerful as Hope House, maybe more so.
[00:52:20] Speaker B: Well, everyone's gonna get to see all the God stories at the beginning, like how this all came together. Like all. Every time there was a roadblock, there was a moment where God just lifted the roadblock out of the way, and we were able to keep moving forward and stuff like that. So thank you so much, Bryant, for being here with us this morning on our podcast and can't wait for the book next week. And thank you again for being here today.
[00:52:45] Speaker A: Well, it's an honor and a blessing, Lisa, and I'm just excited to continue to journey along with you and the rest of the crew here.
[00:52:52] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:52:52] Speaker A: Yeah, of course.
[00:52:53] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:52:57] Speaker A: Precious soul, the things I didn't know the things I didn't know about you o precious soul, the things I didn't know the things I didn't know about you, about.
