Community Warehouse and Partners in Hope host special skydiving event - Leap of Faith

Saturday, August 19, 2023, Noon to 6:00 pm

Wisconsin Skydiving Center

N3407 County Road K, Jefferson, WI 53549

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The Community

Warehouse and Partners In Hope- Milwaukee WI

What's so special? 10 Milwaukee Police Officers and 10 previously incarcerated take a leap of faith together out of a plane. The first-ever event of its kind where two culturally divided groups come together and prove they can form bonds of friendship.

Guest: Nancy Aliota a representative from Partners in Hope talks about the organization and the event.

Show Highlights:

• Community Warehouse and Partners in Hope - Who they are?
• What's the mission and purpose?
• Locations
• Services offered
• Who is involved and how to get involved?
• How did the event Leap of Faith start and what's it all about?
• Why people are passionate about PIH?

Community Warehouse Locations

• 521 S. 9th Street Milwaukee, WI 53204
• 4110 W. Green Tree Road Milwaukee, WI 53209.

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Warehouse and Partners In Hope- Milwaukee WI

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https://www.facebook.com/thecommunitywarehouse.org

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Leap of Faith It's all about relationships.

this Saturday, which is August 19th.

At the Wisconsin Skydiving Center.

Partner in Hope Is holding an event called Leap of Faith, we are bringing 10 formerly

incarcerated along with 10 Milwaukee police officers to the skydiving center,

and these people are going to pair up.

And

Tandem skydive together.

it's in Jefferson, You take 94 West Highway 26 South, it turns into

Highway K and , it's right there.

. We have asked people to register in advance, but we

will not turn anybody away.

Partner in Hope

Leap of Faith It's all about relationships.

Hello everyone.

This is Mechi Jay, and welcome to a Prisoner's.

Pardon

Podcast.

Today I'm excited to talk about a special

community organization called Partners in Hope and their special event that's

happening this Saturday Leap of Faith.

My guest here is Nancy Aliota.

She represents Partners in Hope.

Microphone (2- AT2005USB)-2: Now let's jump into the show.

Hi Nancy.

Hey Michi.

Thanks for having me.

Thank you and welcome to the show.

Why don't you tell us what you do at Partners in Hope?

, I'm just simply a volunteer.

There's a pretty long story about how I got associated with partners in Hope, but

I think, people probably need to know.

Where even partners at Hope got started.

Back in, , 2005, a gentleman along with a group of people decided to open

up a store that would provide home building products at affordable prices.

So that, , people, all kinds of levels could afford these nice new products.

In addition to that, they wanted to provide employment to those that might

be challenged in getting work and finding work like the formerly incarcerated.

Hmm.

So Community Warehouse, , is the name of that, obviously.

And.

They now have two locations , in addition to Community Warehouse, what

they do is the funds from Community Warehouse supports partners in Hope,

and Partners in Hope is a nonprofit, faith-based organization that helps

men and women who are willing, , that come out of incarceration.

Reintegrate into society.

So that's their goal and their purpose, their mission is, , to transform

the lives of those impacted by incarceration through the Lord of Christ.

I just love this whole concept to, have it almost self-supporting , along

with also having it be a 5 0 1 C three.

, I didn't know it started that long ago.

2005.

Yeah, yep.

So pretty successful and obviously doing really great things, , to

now expand to , two locations.

For sure.

So is it only in the Milwaukee area?

Correct.

Um, there's one up on the north side off of Greentree, and then

there's one on the south side.

And I have to admit, I don't exactly know where it isn't on the south side.

The partners in Hope is actually located on Third and North

Avenue, right there in Milwaukee.

Okay.

All right.

Yeah, I do.

The other location I see here is on 5 21 South ninth Street.

Is this okay?

That's it.

So this is good.

This is , a good.

I think organization.

I've been there, , a few times and I just fell in love with it and I've now

joined and partner with them somewhat because of , what you all do there.

So, , what kind of things do they offer the people there at Partners in Hope.

So, um, basically what happens, the men and women coming

out of incarceration mm-hmm.

Are, um, invited to attend what they call a cohort.

And that is, um, where participants part participate in a one

week soft skills workshop.

, it helps equip them for the transition that they're facing ahead of them.

They do things like, , helping with writing a resume as well

as, , interviewing skills, they help with time management.

They help with goal setting.

They might help with financial literacy.

There's all different things that take place during this week.

It really kind of helps them also identify their negative influences.

Mm-hmm.

Um, and you know what, it even goes so far, mechi as.

Teaching them traffic stop etiquette, you know, it seems like that.

What is that?

Well, you know, I guess the goal is, , to build trust and a mutual

understanding between the law enforcement as well as the former

incarcerated, so that should they have an encounter, it will end peacefully.

Oh, okay.

I get you.

Now, you know what, at first I thought you were talking about like

every time they stop at a stoplight, they're supposed to do something, but

you Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

Should they unfortunately get pulled over or I bus, you know, stuff like that.

It's pretty cool.

, Once they go through the cohort, which is like Monday through Thursday mm-hmm.

On Friday, they actually, we hold a graduation, and I'll tell you, last

Friday was the biggest class ever.

16 people graduated from the cohort.

Wow.

So, mm-hmm.

It just keeps getting bigger and bigger and better and better.

Yeah.

So once they graduate mm-hmm.

Um, partners in Hope then kind of helps them work on their individual success.

And one of the cool things that they offer is to provide these people with a mentor.

So there's mentors and there's mentees, and.

The mentors are people of, , a very diverse background.

We've got actually law enforcement, we have police officers

that are serving as mentors.

We've got faith and business leaders in our communities.

I mean, just anybody.

And I like to kind of say godly people.

Mm-hmm.

You know, just really, , coming together , it's really neat when we see.

The mentees accepting a mentor and, that building of trust that allows them

to simply walk alongside one another.

And these mentors could help these guys, these men and women, , when they

transition, you know, to back to the journey home and helps them, , develop.

Skills to overcome obstacles that they might face.

Mm-hmm.

Um, so many different things that, that relationship, it's

all about relationships, right?

So it's, mm-hmm.

It's a neat thing when we see.

The mentor and the mentee relationship building and growing

and really coming together.

So that's one thing that, comes out of p i h.

Mm-hmm.

That they're given.

And then, you know, the coolest part about it is, is as you have said

yourself, on Wednesday nights we gather together and we have what we call huddle.

So what huddle is, is we come together, and this is, these are the mentees,

these are the formerly incarcerated, these are mentors, these are

volunteers, these are police officers.

These are all kinds of people.

People like me that just simply have come and now want to be in the room.

And what we do is we share, we open with a prayer, we read a devotional.

And then we share a meal together and that meal is provided to

anyone attending for free.

And then the best part about it is after about a 15 minute toolbox

talk, , it's another informational talk where they can, again, I.

Put more tools in the toolbox, they gain skills , in something else.

Say it's, renter's assistance or fraud or again, just we're

talking about relationships.

, but the coolest part is, , everyone in the room is given the microphone and

we go around the room and you get the mic for a minute and a half, and during

that minute and a half, you are to talk about the highs and lows of your week.

And you can only imagine.

The things that we're hearing, you know, the things that people are

facing, the things that people are going through, and it's, it's people like

you and me along with those that are formerly incarcerated, just basically

getting that minute and a half to talk where somebody will simply listen.

And it's kind of that safe space for a lot of these people.

Um, you know, they know that this is a place where they feel loved and cared for.

Um, it's just, it's, it's, I can't explain it to people and, and you

asked me, you know, what is my role there and my husband, um, we actually

learned about partners and hope through our pastor at our church.

Hmm.

And I love to talk about my husband Dean because I believe he's a godly man and

he has been blessed with spiritual gifts.

And, you know, I think those are like, um, word of wisdom, word of knowledge.

Discernment, you know, and I believe that's discernment

is one of my spiritual gifts.

But, um, Dean was approached to, to just come check out Partners in Hope

and he attended his first huddle and came home and was telling me about it.

And I could tell that, you know, it really impacted him and it really

got him thinking and feeling and, you know, probably in a different way.

And he started attending the huddles.

Pretty much on a regular basis.

And then we went to the fundraiser.

Um, they, they hold an annual fundraiser typically in the fall.

Mm-hmm.

And, uh, you know, he asked, do you wanna come along?

I'm like, absolutely.

Based on the things that you're telling me, I would love to

see what this is all about.

So we are, you know, in this room with it's, you know, all kinds of people and.

They did a program where, you know, the c e O got up and talked and a

couple other people got up and talked.

There was a lovely woman who sang and, but the, the best part was one of the formerly

incarcerated, his name was Fernando.

He gave his testimony and Michi, there wasn't a dry eye in the room.

Oh, wow.

It was, it was really, really, really interesting and really

neat to hear his story.

This is someone who served, I believe, 43 years in prison.

Wow.

And , he dropped to his knees in prison and said, God, I can't, I don't like me.

I can't be this way anymore.

, if you're the God you say you are, help me change me.

And it was in prison where he found Christ.

And that's what changed Fernando and um, , it was just, like I said, he,

he obtained, um, I believe his M B A through Marquette while in prison.

Mm-hmm.

I think he actually has another degree, , and I, I, it was just

amazing to me to hear the story.

So when we left, Dean and I were walking through the parking lot and

I'm like, so and so, what do you think?

Because, , they were encouraging Dean to become a mentor.

He is like, oh, I don't know.

I think I really need to pray about it.

He's like, what do you think?

And I'm like, are kidding me?

Fantastic in this role.

Mm-hmm.

, I'm like, I believe you have so much to offer, and just think of what it

will do for you yourself as well.

, the relationships that you can gain from it, , in addition to maybe making

a, , a change in somebody else's life to give, be given that opportunity.

Why wouldn't you, ? So we, , talked about it obviously, and this was a Thursday.

That Saturday, we went downtown to a Christian concert.

We went to see Mercy me and downtown was a blurry of people.

It was the bucks opener, it was the admirals opener.

There was all kinds of things happening downtown in addition to this concert.

So we park in the parking structure, we walk out and as we are crossing

the street, who do we see?

Who Fernando.

Wow.

And it's like Fernando, , and, um, we hug each other, we get off the

side, , the middle of the road and walk over to the, curb and sidewalk

and we end up talking for 10 minutes.

And it's , we've been friends forever.

And here we just met at.

, the fundraiser.

Mm-hmm.

So it was just really, I'm like, okay, God, look at you.

? So he does answer does he does answer.

Absolutely.

, so we, so then, now Dean and I walk away.

I'm like, okay, so now what do you think?

He's like, well, I don't know.

I really don't know who that was for, or what that was all about.

I'm like, I, you kidding me?

You know, again, I was just like, wow.

Um, and I was like, You know, I really think this is supposed to happen, Dean.

, we're supposed to get involved with partners in Hope so.

, Dean went and sure enough, he became a mentor, and I attended my first huddle

on December 21st of last year, which happened to be my mom's birthday.

And I had lost my mom that last February.

Wow.

Mm-hmm.

So for me it was like, Yeah, let's go do this.

This is something I wanna do tonight.

And I can say that when I walked down the stairs and what I

witnessed that night, like so many other people say, I never left.

I wanna keep coming back.

Mm-hmm.

Um, you walk down the stairs at Partners in Hope, Ji and I, I

hope you have felt this as well.

Mm-hmm.

But it's totally come as you are.

There is no, nobody caress what you're wearing.

Nobody caress where you come from.

Nobody cares what you've done.

Nobody cares how much money you make.

Nobody cares how much wake up you're wearing that none of that matters.

You know, it's just, it's real.

It's raw, it's vulnerable, it's authentic.

And again, it's just, it's that Matt Mars song in the room.

I just wanna be in the room.

I love to hear the people talk.

Everybody's got their story.

I.

You know, but the coolest thing that I'm finding about Partners at Hope is that

everybody there is simply there to, like I said before, walk alongside one another.

Simply listen, we are there in the struggles.

We celebrate the victories.

Mm-hmm.

But we as Christians, you know, we are called to come with compassion and out

of love and respect to serve one another.

And that's why I wanna be there.

I just absolutely love.

Everything about partners and Hope I'm their biggest cheerleader.

I love any chance I get to talk about it.

And what's cool is I get to talk about it because people are

like, so whatcha up to Nancy?

And I'm like, well, lemme tell you.

You know?

And, and it's because I see the successes.

Yes.

And that, you know, even going back to Fernando, he still struggles.

He definitely still struggles, but yet he knows now that he has this.

Family, you know, and for a lot of them, they've had to realize coming out

of prison, sometimes you've gotta walk away from family because that negative

environment that you think , you might go back to, that's not a good choice.

And sometimes that's a difficult choice.

And we all, you know, anybody sometimes has to make that choice.

But we recognize that, you know what?

Those Wednesday night huddles, those people, they're now your family.

They're your family.

And we are there for one another.

And that's, I just, I love, that's what I love about it, mm-hmm.

I think, , like, , Nancy was just mentioning these huddles.

It kind of reminds me of like when Jesus was in the upper room Yeah.

With his disciples and it's.

It's that type of a feeling, not that I was in that room with Jesus Black.

I've been there and it's the same thing, but I, you know what I can really imagine

that is similar to , the atmosphere there.

And you're right, it's no.

Kind of competitiveness or, , trying to be proud or

anything like that in this place.

, it's like you said, it's a safe place.

You don't know who's who.

It doesn't matter.

No, no.

You just, how are you doing?

, everyone just welcomes you and , when you see a new face and then people walk

up to you and say hi, , and it's, , just that going around the room and people

just, Talking about they're weak.

It's like you get to know them and you look forward to hearing

from them and, praying for them.

Right.

And it's just incredible.

I, I have never experienced anything like it, so that's why I'm still hooked.

You know, there, 'cause I went there, I was like, oh, I'll check it out.

And, , maybe, I'll do some speaking stuff there, but I'm like, I'm learning so much.

Mm-hmm.

I, I, mm-hmm.

It's like gold.

Um, yeah.

Being in that room because you get more than you ever give out.

I feel like I'm just being greedy here.

And just you, and you meet so many like nifty people.

And you're able to, , talk about things even, show your

vulnerability and everybody has stuff.

Absolutely.

It's so wonderful that we can share it and people just give you the encouraging

words and just let you know that you're just not alone in that situation.

That it really speaks to your whole name, calling it Partners

in Hope, because that's exactly what happens during this huddle.

It is, , it's providing that path to hope and redemption.

I wanna add too that, , although we are faith-based mm-hmm.

We are not to push our faith.

Mm-hmm.

Because we have people, all kinds of people in the room.

Mm-hmm.

, we have nonbelievers, we have Muslims, we have.

Christians, we have Catholics.

There are all kinds of people, so we don't push our faith on anybody, but

we're given an opportunity to talk about our faith and how it impacts us, and

hopefully that is, , planting that seed.

Mm-hmm.

Perhaps somebody is hearing that and they may then realize, wow,

maybe that relationship with God is something I need and.

You know that, that's bonus, right?

Mm-hmm.

It's, and yeah, it really is.

And I really love that approach and of not pushing the faith,

and I don't like that myself.

When people push the faith, because it should be something that they're

attracted to and they want to come to, , themselves, it's no,

you're not gonna just bombard them.

You know, this is what you gotta do, and things like that.

It's definitely not.

The place.

If you, if you're thinking that that happens, it definitely does not

happen at Partners and hope for sure.

So, and again.

Mm-hmm.

I, I, I don't mean to interrupt you, but it's no go.

It's, there's that saying, , be the only Jesus someone may see and display

his character through your character, , and people , will figure that out,

mm-hmm.

So again, it's just, It's that openness, that honesty, that communication.

And it's just, , fostering the relationships that are, , rooted in faith.

You know, we, we build community.

We're providing opportunities.

, we're empowering people to make good decisions, supporting them in their

choices, and really, really trying to, to help foster good choices.

, I heard, I think I've heard this right?

It's not just for people that's, , been incarcerated, it's

just anybody who wants to Yeah.

Yeah.

Okay.

Yeah, and I mean, there's, there's people in there that, , suffer from

addictions that found out about it and that are coming and, and you

know, I think too, other people end up inviting people despite.

They're not formally incarcerated, but they might get something out of

this, just come and sure enough, you know, they walk away forever changed.

Mm-hmm.

It's really, really neat.

For sure.

So going back to your original question, it's like mm-hmm.

How did I get involved and, you know, that's how I got involved.

Mm-hmm.

So, um, you know, just started attending huddles on a regular basis

and, um, you know, it's through our.

, c e o.

, he's, , a head of the board.

He's a member at our church too.

And when this event, they started talking about this event, it was

like, Hey, would you like to help?

And I was like, you bet.

I'm all over it.

So, and what event is this?

So this Saturday, which is August 19th.

Mm-hmm.

Um, out at the Wisconsin Skydiving Center.

Partner in Hope is holding an event called Leap of Faith, and what we're doing is

we are bringing 10 formerly incarcerated along with 10 Milwaukee police officers

out to the skydiving center, and these people are going to pair up.

Tandem skydive together.

Isn't that incredible?

Oh, for sure.

That you got 10 people, 20 people saying, are you gonna jump?

But again, it's the formerly incarcerated with the 10 Milwaukee police officers, and

people are like, how did this even happen?

I know.

So we have, you know, Lieutenant Michael Dix, who works with the

Milwaukee Police Department.

Mm-hmm.

He serves on the board and partners in hope.

He serves as a mentor.

He attends huddles on regular basis, and he's a huge skydiving fan.

Mm-hmm.

He loves to skydive.

So this was kind of his little, you know, Um, whatever dream to do this.

And he, it's been on his heart for about two years, I think.

And he, he tells me, he's like, Nancy, I just kept praying about it and I kept

praying about it and every time God opened the doors, he just opened the

doors and he basically told Michael, We're gonna do this, and you just

watch me see what I can do through you.

And you know, it took him getting approval from the board.

It took him getting approval through the police department and he made it happen.

So, this day is obviously a very, , extraordinary day.

I mean, for these two parties to come together.

Mm-hmm.

We're gonna hopefully build some trust and show the community that two unseemingly,

you know, parties can actually, you know, like I said, come together and unite and.

Show the community that not only can we get along, but

we can have a blast doing it.

You know, so in addition to the skydiving, we're holding a day of celebration.

We are providing, um, a free lunch for those that attend along with beverages.

There's gonna be games with a chance to win prizes.

We have raffle items.

Um, a silent auction.

And the coolest thing about it all Michi is mm-hmm.

That due to the uni, the unique partnership between the police

officers and the formerly incarcerated, we are filming a documentary Wow.

On the whole thing.

Wow, this is like, this is incredible.

I was wondering how did it all get started and where is the

Wisconsin Skydiving Center at?

Where is that at?

It's, it's in Jefferson, you know, so it's a good hour from Milwaukee.

And again, these people wanna do this.

These people are so excited about doing this and the stories that

we're hearing that are coming out of all of this is just remarkable.

And I can't wait for people to.

To hear about it.

So yeah, it's Jefferson, it's um, you know, you, you help 94 West.

You take Highway 26 South, it turns into Highway K and , it's right there.

. Okay.

And even, the owner of the skydiving center has got an incredible story

and it's just all gonna come together.

And I'm just so super excited about it.

It's a lot of work.

It's a lot, a lot of work.

But I know that day is gonna come and it is gonna be, so I

know it is, it's, it sounds like.

Very awesome.

And I'm just, ooh, I'm just trying to see how I can get there.

At the same time, I have an event the same day that was already booked,

so I was like, so super like down when I heard it's the same day, like, no.

Yeah.

So I would try, well, you'll get to watch the documentary and you'll

feel like you were part of it.

Same.

I wanna be there too.

I wanna do both.

, I'll check the timings on things.

Maybe I can still get a little bit, in, on a celebration.

I'll check those times.

So , what are the times again?

We have asked people to register in advance, but clearly we

will not turn anybody away.

, so registration and check-in starts at noon.

, the jumpers will actually start.

We're gonna have two different classes.

One starting at one and one starting at three.

We've got the lunch being provided at one o'clock.

The silent auction and the raffle and the games are probably from

like about one to three 30.

We'll announce winners at four o'clock, so it's all day, you know.

Wow.

It's, oh wow.

It's gonna be an all day event.

I would say approximately 12 to five.

12 to six.

Oh, I can come.

I can come.

Then I'll, oh, there you go.

You know, I didn't know it was gonna be run that later.

So I'll, I'll do my other thing and come and make sure I, I'm there as well, so.

Fantastic.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So this is wonderful.

So I saw, so what is.

With them jumping, do you know the process, what you know of them jumping?

What do they have to do?

, I believe well, they're all gonna meet, early in the morning and, um, pray.

No, go ahead.

Yeah, exactly.

We actually we're, we're kicking off the day with a prayer, that's for sure.

They are gonna go through like a little workshop again.

They'll be.

They'll, I, I believe it's some sort of class that shows them

exactly what to expect and what to happen and what transpires.

, and again, only five people can go up at a time.

So it's one police officer, one formerly incarcerated along with

their, , tandem professional and then the videographer, , so they're

gonna really be able to capture.

Just everything that's taking place throughout the day.

Well, that's good because I wanna hear everything.

I wanna hear all the sounds.

I wanna hear somebody scream.

I mean, these people are, I, I'm like, talk about, be bold and be courageous.

The Lord is, Lord, our God is with you wherever you go.

I mean, it's.

This is really, really neat.

A lot of these people have never even been in a plane before.

I mean, some of these people have never even been outside of

Milwaukee and they're jumping.

So come out to Jefferson and they wanna come.

We've actually got over 150 people registered to attend.

Wow.

So it's, it's really neat.

And again, it's just to show the community that, you know, anybody

in this world can come together and make our community a safer place.

I just really love this.

, , I could just imagine this is gonna be an annual event.

I can't imagine it stopping.

I bet you it's gonna take off everywhere We sure are hoping.

So, and you know, , it's not about the money that we're raising,

it's more about our mission.

And it's, again, it's that, it's the, the relationships that

are being built , and helping.

Change the stigmas.

I mean, there's so much out there that is pushing that these people can't get along

and we prove it every Wednesday night.

You know, in addition to the police officers that serve as mentors, we

typically have anywhere between, I'd say five and 10 individuals that are

currently in the police academy that are coming to our huddles as well.

You know, God bless these people for wanting to do this job, wanting to serve

and protect our communities despite what is happening in our world today.

Mm-hmm.

I, we're hoping we can make it an annual event, but we're really hoping

that this documentary is shown, you know, across the country and perhaps

other cities will adopt this program.

I know they will.

Their communities.

Yeah, I know they will.

, I just can't see how it's not just gonna travel like wildfire through

the country because I just know God is gonna bless this event and

'cause it's like a leap of faith.

This is literally a leap of faith.

Yep.

So I, I, I just, I, I gotta see that documentary.

I wanna see everything.

Like what do you know them going through the class, what, you know, asking

questions, their eyes getting big and Yep.

You know, I wanna see all that.

So how do, how do people donate, um, if they go to the community warehouse.org?

I'll have it, I'll have it in a show notes.

Sorry to interrupt, but go ahead.

Okay.

We are actually going through the We Raise Foundation.

Okay.

Um, but if they go to the community warehouse.org,

that's kind of the easiest way.

Um, they can click, you know, donate and that'll take 'em right

to the We raise site as well.

And, um, that's where they can donate and every little bit helps.

I can guarantee you it'll make a difference.

They're making a difference.

Every little bit helps for sure, because, you know, some people think

it's, you know, gifts are too small.

Don't think that, just go ahead and give so that we just show

that support and just show that.

This is real, you know?

Right.

That you are actually are participating and not just talking

that you actually participate.

Right.

And that's, you know, we have Adam Purcell, who his, he's kind of our

director at Partners in Hope I.

He, um, his saying is, nothing changes.

If nothing changes.

How simple is that?

Right.

That's how you know what, it's just humans.

We don't wanna complicate stuff.

It's not that complicated.

It may be hard, but not complicated.

So, and you know, and we as Christians know, it's not always

easy to do the right thing.

Mm-hmm.

But another simple thing to say is, love God.

Love people.

It's that easy.

That's true.

And it's, it's really happening at Partners and Hope.

Mm-hmm.

I just know it's going to take off.

I love partners and hope I talk about it, , talk about the organization all the time.

I love the analogies of, about building up relationships and people using.

You have building materials, you have building warehouses, you have,

right, talking about building trust.

I like how you have the toolbox, , and just giving people tools.

It's all relating and it helps people to understand what's going on there.

It's about restoration, restoring people and bringing them up to,

you know what they were created.

To be.

So this is, so we are gonna have a documentary coming out from this.

Do you have any idea when it will be available?

, it's gonna take some time, obviously.

Um, they'll do some post-event stuff as well, , some post-event interviews.

Mm-hmm.

Um, for sure.

And then, , with the editing , and all of that, Eric is doing the documentary

for us, and I asked him that question.

I said, where do you hope to show this?

Yeah, well, you know, it'll, and I'm like, okay.

What about like, Milwaukee Film festival or you know, whatever.

He is like, yeah, I definitely really need to explore my

options once it's said and done.

You know, where can we take this?

And again, we all know God will provide, he will provide and mm-hmm.

You know, sometimes we, we just don't know.

Where, what God is doing at that particular time.

But just to even get this far and you, like you said, get these approvals,

going through the red tape I call it.

And making sure, , you get all the approvals and you have 'em all.

And just, I think it's awesome, , growing up in the community myself

we didn't have this when I was growing up where you had, the police

working with the community and other leadership, and this is what it's going

to take to make our neighborhoods safe and for people to get involved.

And, I talked soon, , a couple of episodes away, if you

didn't hear that with Eddie.

Yeah, , Eddie Moore talking about.

Community service is very important that we understand how important community

service is, , for our community.

Right, right.

And you know, I'm, I'm gonna go on and, and say my husband Dean mm-hmm.

Is Eddie's mentor.

Yes, Eddie.

Eddie was Dean's first mentee.

Dean now has three mentees, but Eddie , was Dean's first mentee.

Wow.

And you know, Eddie unfortunately went through a lot this past year.

He lost his daughter.

Hmm.

And you know, having been in prison, in and out of prison his entire life, he

didn't know how to plan a funeral and.

By the grace of God, Dean was able to walk alongside him, and

together he and I made it happen.

We explained the importance of honoring your daughter and

we really need to do this.

Let's do this.

Mm-hmm.

You know, we have Reverend Ana, um, Who serves at our graduations.

He's got a church, um, Bethany Luther, I believe it's um, right

there, right around partners in hope.

He was kind enough to hold the service, you know, for Eddie.

Mm-hmm.

And you know, this just goes back to what I was talking about

before, you know who attended who.

About 10 people from Partners in Hope.

See, that's Eddie's family now, that's Eddie's family.

And what a blessing it was that we could all come together and do this for him

and his daughter and his other daughter,

again, it's all about relationships.

And I think another thing to point out that I am recognizing

through partners in Hope.

Mm-hmm.

And I should point out the success of Partners in Hope in the last

five years, um, usually men and women coming out of incarceration,

only 37% do not return to prison.

This is a, this is a fact.

Mm-hmm.

Through the success of the cohort, those that attend the cohort at Partners

in Hope, we have a 94% success rate.

That's awesome.

And you know, I think it just goes to show too, that by attending these

huddles, what a lot of people are hearing and seeing is resonating.

And for a lot of.

Those that dropped to their knees in prison, they recognized what was more

important was a spiritual transformation rather than just behavior modification.

That's what makes the difference.

Yes.

That's what makes the difference.

It's an that's an incredible difference.

And it's, , one of the things I like to talk about too is just like, and

what I do here with, , prison's.

Pardon?

Because it's about a reconciliation with God, which is, it's not just a legal

issue, it's a spiritual issue, and those things need to be, Taken care of with

it, which is an inner transformation.

And it's not a reform, it's a transformation.

. Yes.

When you have a transformation, the, , success rate is a hundred percent.

You're wasting right your time and resources , when there's no interchange,

don't waste your time and money because if that doesn't change, you can't

do anything with those resources.

, it's not gonna stick.

Right.

Yeah, I love this event.

Leap of Faith.

I'm love that I can go now for sure.

I didn't wanna, I didn't wanna talk about it, so I'm like, I can't go.

I don't wanna hear about this.

And then you go and it's getting better and better.

You having documentaries, I'm like, oh yeah, they're having a documentary now.

I can't even go.

So yeah.

That'll make the documentary that much more impactful.

You know, look at all the people that are here.

Look at the people that wanna come, that wanna be involved.

Mm-hmm.

That are definitely a part of this.

And it's just, again, it's, it's so meaningful.

It's, it's, it's just a really beautiful thing that's happening.

And I.

Again, we give God the glory.

We're doing it for him, we're doing it for him.

I'm gonna have to pick up some balloons or something and, , just be able to let go of

some balloons out there as they, because I'm like, you jump for me because, , I

don't do heights, like, wow, I cannot believe that you guys are doing that.

But that leap of faith, I love how it says leap of faith and you're

actually leaping out on a plane.

When you go by faith, it does feel like that, I would think.

Mm-hmm.

You know, because you're not in control anymore.

Nope.

Right.

And, and you fail and you have to trust.

Trust God and we have to, allow yourself to trust other people because

it's not, you can't do it alone.

That's why I love partners.

Hope Who picked this name right?

This, that was, uh, this, that's an awesome name.

Every, everything that you're doing is catchy Phrases.

Somebody is like Leap of faith partners in hope, , toolbox.

You know, huddles a love, all of it.

It is just really talking about.

, everyone coming together and sharing burdens and because, it's so easy

just to think that you're alone.

Yeah.

And that's just it.

I mean, that's, that's like I said, and, and there's no judgment.

There's no, there's none of that.

It's just come as you are and you know, again, we are there to just

love one another, serve one another.

It's just, it's just a, it's a really neat thing and that's why

I just love being a part of it.

I'm, it's a privilege to be a part of it.

Oh, is there anything else you wanna add that people should know about

Partners and Hope leap of Faith yourself and, uh, what you, uh,

do there for as community service?

I think we, we about said it all and it's a.

It's a diamond.

I think this is a diamond here in the city of Milwaukee.

I'm grateful for the opportunity.

Like I said, I love to talk about partners in hope and just to spread

the word and it's, it's the good word.

And you know it's truth.

That's what, that's what we follow and.

It's just, thank you so much for this opportunity and I really hope

that people are excited and, you know, wanna know more about it.

And if they can't come, you know, we'll maybe we can, I can come back and we

can talk about when the documentary's gonna take place, or Oh, for sure

where they can find it or what actually happened or somebody else from the

event can talk and, and again, just.

Thank you so much for the opportunity, Michi.

Yeah, it's, it really means thank you.

Thank you.

And yeah, maybe I could have a few of them on to talk about their

experience, like, did you cry?

Did your life change?

Did you, did you walk differently once you got back on the ground?

You know, things like that.

So That's awesome.

Thank you for coming so well, that's all we are gonna be doing today.

Everything that we did talk about, I will have it in the show notes, for instance.

Um, the time, the place where the leap of faith event will be, um, how to donate.

So I have the website and a lot of your other social

media links in the show notes.

Well, that's it for today folks.

Thank you for listening.

Anyway, you have a week filled with blessings.