How God Uses Your Past to Prepare You for Purpose: Hope Is Alive with Gretchen Moran

Sometimes following God means releasing something you love to step into what He has next. Returning guest Gretchen Moran (Episode 19 & 20) shares how God led her from “spinning ten plates” into a faith-filled role with Hope Is Alive, a Christ-centered addiction recovery nonprofit. Gretchen opens up about empty nest life, sacred quiet seasons, and how God used her leadership, relationships, and painful past to prepare her. Discover Christian recovery homes, peer-led recovery, Finding Hope family support groups, Hope After Loss, and practical resources for those impacted by addiction.

Gretchen's contact info:

Email - gretchen.moran@hopeisalive.net

Hope is Alive info:

Website - https://www.hopeisalive.net

YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@HopeisAliveMinistries

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/hopeisaliveok

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/hope_is_alive

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Transcript

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SPEAKER_00 0:00

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Welcome Back Gretchen Moran

SPEAKER_00 0:37

Welcome to the Wolf Unlocked Podcast. I'm Kristen Kurtz, your host. I pray this episode is like a holy idea of hope for your soul. Please help me welcome Gretchen Moran to the show. I'm so excited to have her here today. You guys might recognize this name or not, but she was back on the show in 2023, which was over three years ago in July, which is wild because I was just saying to her, you're one of the first ones who trusted me to do this podcast. And it was crazy. Well, three years ago. So if you guys want to go check out her story, it was actually done in two parts back on episode 19 and episode 20. So you can go check those out. But I wanted to have her back on because she is just doing some amazing things. And I wanted her to give us an update where she is in life and the organization that she's been working with, which is right up my alley with the the name of this organization. So Gretchen, thanks for coming back again today. For those who don't know those who don't know you, could you just tell them a little bit about yourself?

SPEAKER_01 1:43

Oh gosh. How is there a little bit? Because I feel like I feel like I'm a lot, Kristen.

SPEAKER_00 1:48

You can care a lot. If you can care whatever you play, Gretchen.

SPEAKER_01 1:53

Well, first and foremost, I am a daughter of the father in heaven. And you know, everything else just, you know, kind of rests underneath that. And first of all, I gotta apologize for my voice. I sound like I've been like smoking 20 cigarettes today. You know, some the weather happens, and you know, we're just gonna go with

Empty Nest Life And New Freedom

SPEAKER_01 2:15

it. Anyway, I have trying to think of where I even left off in my last story, but I am second time married. I'm a mother of three girls, um, and now I have two grandchildren, seven and two, and they are just the joy of my life, and they live close by, so we get to be together a lot. We are new empty nesters. My daughter, Jolie, um, is now a sophomore at Park University. So we are like a year into this empty nester life, and it took me two weeks of like like continual emotional crying, and then I was like, this is kind of cool. Like the house is quiet, and you know, we can have some newfound freedom we never had before. So being a second time married for both of us, I had three kids that I brought to the relationship, so we didn't get a honeymoon phase. Like we went away and got married, like we went to a destination and got married and came home and like started family with two teenagers and a toddler. So, you know, now we like get to enjoy this, you know, being having this freedom, which has really been pretty awesome. So we both have kind of dug into our work, more ministry opportunities. We have more time on our hands to spend with friends and help people with different projects. And so we're not like pigeonholed in being home, you know, all the time to care for children. You know, we can kind of schedule our times with our family and taking care of grandkids and sleepovers and that kind of thing. So it's really just been a joyful part of life, one that I like years ago like dreamed of, and now it's finally here. So it's it's really been truly a blessing just to be able just to just sit in my chair for two hours in the morning and be uninterrupted. So it's it's it's really wonderful.

SPEAKER_00 4:17

Lovely. So for for parents who are listening out there, I have a friend who actually, you know, we call it like empty nester, but she said, what if we like I think there was a friend of hers that said, like, well, what if we n re renamed it to like Bird Watcher? Like empty, like empty sounds really sad. Yeah. It can be. I don't want to be an empty nester. I mean, so what would you say has been like the most, if you were to look at this last couple years, what has been the most enjoyable time that you've experienced through this?

SPEAKER_01 4:54

Enjoyable.

SPEAKER_00 4:55

Yeah. Sounds like you really like your two hours in the morning.

SPEAKER_01 4:59

I do. I love it. I'll probably I'm sure I'll share more about that later because God has had me and a on a journey this year, that's for sure. But probably, you know, my favorite part

A Longtime Dream Starts Clicking

SPEAKER_01 5:10

the last couple years, I think, is just seeing where God has brought me throughout my entire life. And I've always had this like inner feeling that He had something great for me to do. Like I could see visions of myself like up on stage, speaking in a microphone and talking in front of crowds of people. And, you know, I had no idea what that was gonna look like, what it was gonna be like. And, you know, for our past beach body days and our past pure days, you know, I thought maybe it would be that, you know, and so I'm like, oh, like I'm gonna be a leader and we're gonna get to speak to people and you know, in these, you know, network marketing organizations. But when this opportunity came to me early last year with Hope is Alive, I didn't really understand at the time when I said yes, that it was gonna fulfill in me that dream that God put in my heart years ago to do something bigger.

SPEAKER_00 6:13

Do you mind me asking?

SPEAKER_01 6:14

How many? I mean, Jolie was probably in elementary school, fifth, sixth grade. Okay, and she is 19 now. Over 10 years, yeah, way over 10 years. So yeah. So now it's like I've I'm finally at the place where I feel like God is truly like using me as a vessel, you know, and just continuing to pour into me. And you know, I'm just every day I'm like, okay, Lord, like this whole thing is yours. Like you brought me here, like you've equipped me thus far in my life to do this work. And so every day I wake up and I'm like, okay, like I don't know where I'm supposed to go next. So I'm just trusting you with it. So I mean that that I think has been the my favorite, my favorite part.

SPEAKER_00 7:02

Yeah. Well, take us, take us

The Church Connection That Opened Doors

SPEAKER_00 7:05

back to how you came to be part of this organization, Hope is Alive.

SPEAKER_01 7:08

I'm sure that there's some good stories there that you could there are some for sure. And Total God's story, of course. So if you caught my last bit of my story about how I came to be a business owner, that is wrapped up into this part of the story. I got introduced to actually the woman that was in this role previous to me. I got introduced to her through a serve day at our church. Um, my husband and I have been leaders and volunteers at Life Church Northland here in Kansas City for really right around the time when we did this last podcast, July 23. So we started going in May, and I think official we made it official around July of 2023. So we just like dug in with both feet and decided that we wanted to serve together in ministry because previously we'd always served in different areas. He was like with the deacons, or you know, we were at the mobile church for a while, and so he was on the setup crew, and I was on the worship team and doing admin stuff or hostess or holding babies or, you know, all these different things, but we never did something together. So when we brought when God brought us to life church, we decided that we were gonna do ministry together and really saw God making drastic moves in the youth department. So we decided to, you know, we were gonna sign up to be youth group leaders, and we have just loved every minute of it. Well, the next year that fall, they were doing a service project, and so they opened it up to all of the youth groups leaders. I'm, you know, I started with the sixth grade girls and I'll stay with them until they graduate. And so at this time, I think they were in seventh grade. My husband was high school boys. So I was there at the home because we were doing the service project, and I met the lady that was doing this work, and so being the natural connector that I am, I invited her to all of my networking groups because she was from the Southland, not from there, she was living in the Southland of Kansas City. I'm from the Northland. Um, so I was trying to help her get connected with people and just introducing her to people I knew that were, you know, of faith and church and might want to get plugged in. So she'd been coming to some of these meetings, and probably, I don't know, maybe six months later, seven months later, we're having coffee, and she says, I feel like the Lord is telling me that um I need to talk to you about an opportunity. And I was like, I'm listening. And she's like, Well, my husband Nick and I and the kids are moving back to Oklahoma, and I think you would be perfect for this job. And would you prayerfully consider it? And I was like, Well, I need to know more about what you do. I mean, I could see, you know, from the outside kind of what she did, you know, and trying to grow the organization, but like, talk to me about the nuts and bolts and what this is. And so essentially she does fundraising, which is zero part of my past. I mean, I was an admin girl, like, you give me a list of to-dos and I'll just go knock it out. But you know, being polished and going and talking to people, you know, we're talking like business leaders, church leaders, people who run organizations to ask them to donate to our organization. That was not my experience at all. So, like, I don't know how I don't know how I can help you at all.

unknown 10:46

Not even one.

SPEAKER_01 10:48

And she's like, you know, Gretchen, you are such a connector, and that's what really makes this job so perfect for you because you know people, you know, and you know people that know people. So, you know, you've already been like boots on the ground and you know, can just go and connect some more. Yeah. So she invited me to one of their fundraising events they were having and got to have a conversation with her boss. And great conversation. They invited me down to their networking or their fundraising event in Oklahoma the next month. So each of the markets that we have um have these fundraising events. And so went down to meet with them, go to their event, met with her boss again and the founder of the organization. They're in Oklahoma City, where they're based out of, had a great conversation. Absolutely. They fell in love with me. I fell in love with them. It was like such a total perfect fit for what uh they were looking for. And I didn't know what I wasn't looking for anything, you know, at the at that point. It was like, my plate was full, girl. I was already spinning like 10 plates, you know, and I thought, you know, I don't know how I'm gonna do this. And her boss asked me, he's like, so I know you're already, you know, you got a lot of stuff going on. How are you gonna have time to do this? And I said, Well, honestly, you know, God's gonna have to show me what I have to lay down in order to take this and do this and do it well. So, you know, I had started my business as a professional organizer back in 2018. And so, you know, I knew that some some part of that was gonna have to lay down. And also I was working part-time for a small community here in the Northland, the Chamber of Commerce and their economic development council. So I worked for them part-time, as well as my business and still, you know, running the back end of things for my husband's side of the business. He's a handyman. So, you know, still doing all of that, plus, you know, all of my volunteer work at church and running my BI meeting. So, you know, there's all of these things.

Laying Down A Business To Say Yes

SPEAKER_01 12:58

I was like, I'm still just like spinning all these plates. So, anyway, after you know, a lot of prayer and conversations with my husband, the Lord asked me to lay down my side of the business. And I gave notice at my job. And on June 30th of last year, it was my first day at Hobe is alive. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:20

So the the laying down process, how was that for you? Rough. Yeah, it was rough. What did that look like? Because I think maybe some people might be in that transition right now and or being led into something like that. I feel like a lot of people are in transition right now and are being called to lay things down. And yeah, could you tell us maybe a little bit more about that process?

SPEAKER_01 13:45

Well, probably to explain that, I probably need to go back to when I first started my business. And I I know you and I have had a conversation about this before. And I I'm sure I probably shared it in my previous conversation with you. But in 2018, I found out my job was being downsized and they were consolidating all of our all of our positions in Kansas City and they were moving them to Texas, where their main office was. And so I was faced with the decision. I had 30 days to kind of figure out what I was going to do with my life and do what do I do? Go find another job somewhere. And so during that time, I was going through a five-week journey of prayer with virtually with a group of ladies. And so I was just praying about it. I asked them to pray, you know, God, what am I supposed to do? I have no idea. And God literally gave me a download of my business and what I was supposed to do, being a professional organizer. He gave me the name of it, the colors I was supposed to use, and just how I'm supposed to reach people. And I sat up from that vision because I'm like on my knees just praying in the dark, and it's like five o'clock in the morning. And I sat up and I'm like, You want me to do what? Like, I've never started a business, like owned a business. I mean, not like a legitimate business, you know, like I don't know the first thing how to do this. And so that was the very beginning of that. And so just growing that business from the ground up, just from you know, my own skill and ability and what I did in my corporate career, you know, I just it was just one conversation after the next and getting involved in networking groups and meeting people and talking to people, building relationships with people, and never did I spend money on marketing. Like I don't know that I ever paid for a Facebook ad, like none of that. And so I knew very quickly by what God wanted me to do and how to grow that business was just going to be by word of mouth. Um, that's why networking groups were so important to me, and just building, you know, authentic, organic relationships with people, and and and that was very fruitful for me. I mean, so that was 2019 when I joined BI as this networking group, and then, you know, running very successfully. I mean, God taught me so much through that experience, and that was part of my story. That's part of what the equipping was for me to get to where I am now, because I this is my third time being president of the chapter. And, you know, so I'm literally up in front of the group running the meeting every week. And before when I was in corporate, you know, I was the one behind the desk like making meetings happen. I was not the person in front of the room running the meeting. So, you know, this was just part of the equipping that God was, you know, letting me walk through to prepare me for this. And so learning everything that I learned in my previous business, you know, and then I'm faced with this decision of do I say yes to this? And it was, I I had a lot of tears and a lot of not arguments, but very strong words with the Lord because Lord, you gave me this. And now you're asking me to lay it down like it was hard. It was hard. So I mean, but when God makes

Husband Support And First Weeks Onboard

SPEAKER_01 17:20

something very clear, I knew that if He was if He was asking me to lay something down and give something up, that it was gonna be for a really good reason, and that He was, you know, the fruit that was gonna come from it was gonna be way more than I ever could have accomplished in my business, you know. So even just, you know, a year later, a year into this, a little over a year now, it's like I've been able to touch so many more lives than just working, you know, one-on-one with with custom, you know, with my clients. And I'm gonna grab a tissue.

SPEAKER_00 18:06

Yeah. So tell us like kind of what that has looked like, um, just even maybe the first few months that you were stepping into something that you never had done before. Like, I think a lot of times, well, we we are called into things that we have never done before, right? And it's uncomfortable. And I think a lot of times we have a choice. Are we gonna say yes or are we gonna say no? And I think more than more than often people actually say no because they don't feel qualified, they don't feel like they're good enough, you know, all the all the things that come for them. What did that first few months look like for you stepping into this? And with your husband on board, what did that look like? Because how close you guys are with um all the things. Yeah. So it's two questions. Start whichever one you'd like first.

SPEAKER_01 19:35

The buy-in from my husband, I mean, that was immediate. And when the offer came to me, we were actually on our anniversary trip. It was our 16th wedding anniversary last year. So, you know, we're sitting in this little winery that had opened a lady that I met through the chamber, and they opened this little winery, and so we went out to go check it out. And I'm sitting there like reading through it, and I'm looking at him, and I was like, How do I say no to this? You know, like they were offering me a very a nice salary for, you know, for a nonprofit, plus, you know, some bonus incentives plan, and and plus, I mean, a whole list of like health benefits and you know, all also insurance and like this whole like list of all of these things that you know were available to me through this, through this work. And he looked at me and he was just like, well, babe, this is like a no-brainer. I was like, well, easy for you to say. I'm the one that has to give something up that I love, you know. So, but for him, it was this was an an easy decision for him. And I think too for him, sure, it was maybe a small part of that was just the stability and a and a salary every month, or you know, and but you know, when you own a business, it's like it fluctuates so much, and like you don't know what you're gonna be able to count on, depending on how many clients you have that month. So cash flow is is an issue. So I think you know, that was definitely a factor and part of that decision. So, but even from the very beginning, he was, I mean, full support of he's like, whatever you, you know, whatever you decide, he's like, I'm gonna, I'm gonna support you on that. So yeah. As far as like the first few weeks, my very first day. So I got to drove down to Oklahoma and they did the onboarding process with me because they had to give me a laptop and you know, all the you know, stuff that goes with it and some initial training and and all of that goodness. And being a part of like an office setting for a few days was kind of cool because like I hadn't had that for a while. So that was kind of neat, just the camaraderie that's there, and you know, everyone

What Hope Is Alive Actually Does

SPEAKER_01 21:46

is so friendly and welcoming. And I haven't talked much about what Hope is Alive is, and so that plays a little bit more into you talked about the aspect of you know feeling qualified in the work. So Hope is Alive. We have 27 recovery homes around the country for drug addicts and alcoholics, and we have support groups for their families, and two of those recovery homes are here in Kansas City. And so, what I get to do as community development coordinator is develop relationships with people in the community to help support our homes because everything that we do is with our residents in mind and making sure that the home is well cared for, they have food to eat, they have community resources around. Them, you know, as well as the funding that goes along to make sure the operations of both the houses stay in the black. So that's my job and be able to grow so that we can get more homes in Kansas City. So that that's part and parcel of what I do. The other part that a lot of people don't know is that 80% of our staff are in recovery. Yeah. So I'm one of the small percentage of folks who are, we call them normies, like I don't have an addiction past. And so our program is set up as such as our residents come through the program, and it's an 18 to 24 month program where we, you know, it is we are a completely Christ-centered organization because we believe Jesus is the healing. So they they come through this program and it's a very well-structured long-term program. And when they get to a few months down, they, you know, need to kind of have their feet in the water a little bit with the program. But then they are offered an opportunity to apply for our boot camp program. And so it's kind of a full immersive invitation for folks that are in the program to come to the home offices in Oklahoma City and see what Hope is Alive is all about and explore the idea of coming on staff with us. So, you know, when you have staff members that have been through the journey, you know, it's it's just so much more deep and meaningful to be able to help others who are going through the same thing that you did. So our founder, Lance Ling, he and his wife are the founders that started this program. He, this whole organization was birthed out of his own addiction. He had a pill addiction. And so, you know, because of his journey and you know, how he was able to get through it and how he was able to get through it, is like that's the reason why, you know, this organization exists. And so he was, you know, they he and his wife believed very uh confidently that, you know, when when we offer this to other people that want to help other people come through the program, there's just gonna be, you know, even more success and more lives changed. So it's just been an integral part of how our organization is continues to grow. And, you know, we lose people along the way. And, you know, I found kind of our our turnover rate. I'm not sure quite what it is, but you know, when you come through the program for two years and then you're on staff maybe for a couple years, you might want to get at get away from Hope is alive and go do something else. So, you know, there's this the always like growth and you know, new things, more residents coming through the program and more opportunity to get people plugged in. So when I say that I I did not feel qualified really to do this work because it was not part of my history, I definitely felt qualified in the aspect that I knew this world because my first husband is an alcoholic and a drug addict. Um, and so I lived 13 years with someone who never sought sobriety until after I left. So, you know, I I feel like I do have, you know, my heart is definitely for to want to see, you know, people get freed from addiction to find sobriety, live in sobriety and live in community with others and to find healing through Jesus. I mean, so it, I mean, all of that, all of that long story to say, you know, I I know that I am equipped to do this work. Did I have the job experience? No, but that doesn't mean I wasn't qualified for it.

SPEAKER_00 26:23

So good. And it it's it's almost like you have a resume, right? Yeah, but does that resume have to be perfectly carried over to qualify you for what you've been qualified for? Exactly. Exactly. Sometimes the only letters you need behind your name, I shouldn't say the only, well, really, the only letters you need behind your name are G-O-D, really. I mean, yes, go go go get training, do all the things, right? But the main ones that matter are G-O-D. Like that's right. Yeah. I feel like I have to sneeze, so I'm gonna keep talking. I might mute myself in a second. Look up to the light. It's so funny. Before we got started, I'm like, I feel like I have to sneeze, but I I haven't sneezed yet. So I wanted to, so names are really important to me. So Hope is Alive is just a beautiful name for an organization. What do you know the the reason that he chose the name Hope is Alive?

SPEAKER_01 27:23

I mean, I've heard bits and pieces of the story. I don't know all of the exact story. He actually wrote a book called Hope is Alive. And I think if I know any part of the story, it's that when he when Lance went to a treatment center, he came out of that treatment center and quickly I think understood that if he was gonna stay sober, he was gonna have to do it in community. So he invited four guys, four or five guys that he went through the program with to come live with him. And he bought a house and invited those guys to come live with him because they he knew that if he was gonna stay sober, he he needed to have community because that's what he had found when he was at Rob's Ranch was the name of the place down in Texas. And you know, living in community, it it's a little easier to stay sober when you're with a bunch of people that are also trying to stay sober. And, you know, recovery homes are not anything new. I mean, they they've been around, they're all over the country, but he knew that he needed to

Why Jesus And Community Matter In Recovery

SPEAKER_01 28:21

do this differently. And that aspect of it was putting Jesus at the middle of it. And with Jesus in the middle of it, there's hope. And so, you know, just infusing hope into everything that we do. I mean, that's you know, part of part of the culture and at Hope is alive is you know, we we bring hope to people. You know, this program brings hope to people too. It brings hope to the parents who drop their kids off in front of our homes and you know, leaving them maybe they were homeless or you know, lost a job, or they've come from prison or jail or the streets or you know, whatever situation they've come from, they come and they're walking into a home that is full of hope. And so, you know, we offer not only the families, but also those that are coming to be residents in our program, we're offering them hope because we believe Jesus is that hope and he is healing.

SPEAKER_00 29:14

So how many? I think you said there's 27 homes. 27 homes. For those who are listening, is this all US-based homes? They are, they're all US. Yeah. Is it is a lot, are there a lot of homes in certain areas or maybe so we're based out of Oklahoma City.

SPEAKER_01 29:34

Um, and so there's several homes around the Oklahoma City area, men's and women's homes. We have several in the Tulsa area as well. And then we have home out in Weatherford, Texas, Weatherford, Oklahoma, which is like western Oklahoma. We're also in Dallas Fort Worth area, a men and women's home there. We have homes in Wichita. We have a home in men's home in Colorado Springs, and then we have two homes here, a men and a women's home. And then we have homes out in North Carolina as well, two different communities out there.

SPEAKER_00 30:09

So yeah, we're kind of right around to each state. That's is that kind of the hope, unintended?

SPEAKER_01 30:15

I mean, that's the hope. I mean, we want to be in every state in the union and abroad. So it's interesting. I I mentioned earlier we have our support groups. So we have multiple support groups that meet in churches and communities around the around the country. But we also have this last year, we have a virtual group that's meeting in Mexico and one in Australia. So yeah, people are hearing about us. We have a YouTube page. Our our directors have a podcast that they do just called Finding Hope. And then they do some and they do some retreats. Uh-oh. Hold on.

SPEAKER_00 30:59

We're gonna take a drink for a moment.

SPEAKER_01 31:01

Good idea.

SPEAKER_00 31:02

I've got my throat coat. It's always good to have some electrolyte water too on my end. Yes. Stop sneezes. I think don't quote me on that.

unknown 31:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 31:15

So you have YouTube, you guys have a YouTube channel, a podcast.

SPEAKER_01 31:18

Yeah, our YouTube channel, our in-person support groups, uh, then we have several that meet on Zoom all over all over the country. And then several times throughout the year, they have in-person retreats happening for the finding hope groups as well as hope after loss. So really just having a sense of community for those folks that have lost a loved one. I mean, I I can't fathom what that would be like losing losing someone to addiction. But, you know, I talk to parents all the time who've lost a loved one to addiction. And so having just that support and community around them is very valuable.

SPEAKER_00 31:59

So from what I'm hearing, like are let's just say, you know, somebody's in Florida, can they take part in these virtual support groups as well?

SPEAKER_02 32:14

She's grabbing a drinking tea.

SPEAKER_00 32:41

Because Hope Unlocked is all about, you know, bringing hope to the world and through different organizations and people and hearing people's stories. And I love that you know,

Finding Hope Groups And Getting Help

SPEAKER_00 32:51

Gretchen came on three years ago and shared her story, and now she's even being a greater conduit of hope. So how you doing? How you doing over there? Just a little bit. She's having a little coughing fit, so you'll have to listen to me. Oh, Jesus. You're good. I'm gonna pause the recording for a moment. And we're back. Gretchen's back, we're good to go. I think my my sneeze is holding off, but the coughing's good to go. So so I think my question that I left off with so if there's somebody like that isn't in the area where the homes are, can they take part in any support groups? What might that look like for people who are not part of or nearby? What would you say to that?

SPEAKER_01 33:42

Well, that's a great question. I mean, if families are looking for support, you know, edu and are finding hope and hope after lost groups, you know, just walking alongside of someone that's currently in addiction or you don't know where to go, or you're just needing, you know, just support from a community. I mean, getting plugged into a group is foundational. And I would say it's probably a likened to Al-Anon. So, you know, very early on in my married life when my girls were young, I joined an Al-Anon group that was meeting at my church. And not having grown up with someone who was an alcoholic in my family, I had no idea like how what is codependent? I don't even know what that is, but I was sure living as one. So, you know, it was a great group that just kind of provided education and you know, just helped me keep my focus on my faith and establishing boundaries. And so I just learned a lot. So that's what our finding hope groups do, is you know, just providing that sense of community. So we have groups that are, you know, you can go to our website and look to see where groups are meeting. There might be one in your area. And then we have do have groups that meet on Zoom as well.

SPEAKER_00 35:02

Okay, you have Zoom groups as well. What is the website, just for somebody who's, you know, wanting to jot that down or head to the website?

SPEAKER_01 35:09

Yeah, it's hope isalive.net.

unknown 35:12

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 35:12

And they can go there to get more information on our programs, what all we do. And then there's a a button up there. If they want to donate, they can obviously donate. We definitely need support. We are a 501c3 and do need to, you know, pay the bills from take care of our homes, take care of our residents. So that's what the funding goes for. And then if someone's interested and they need help, uh, we have an 800 number. And uh, so that's listed on the website as well. And they can call and, you know, just get asked questions, get support. And we have a there's an application on the website also. So if someone is looking for, you know, a place to go and you know they just want to know more about our program, they can fill out just it's a simple little Google form on the website to apply. And then I will say also, you know, sometimes, you know, people don't know what it takes to get into our program and maybe we're not the right fit for them. So we keep a full list of other programs and services that might be in your area. So we have a pretty comprehensive list of other support services in and around most areas around the country because we we don't want someone to call and be like, oh, well, you're not a fit for us. Click bye. But you know, if we're not a fit for that, you know, here's some really great organizations in your area that are doing great work, you know, and here's a phone number to at least give you a call.

unknown 36:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 36:50

That's incredible. And like, so they've kind of been vetted too. So it's not like you're having to just be like, whatever.

SPEAKER_01 36:57

Yeah, we're not just googling and oh, here, you know, call this place, but that is incredible.

SPEAKER_00 37:02

So that's on the website as well. Yeah, yeah. The 800 number. You know what I mean? Back to doing some kingdom business stuff. It was like that is such a collaboration mindset rather than oh, well, we're the only one who can help you, right? Right. That's yeah.

SPEAKER_01 37:30

Well, I mean, there are people that, you know, are looking for, you know, a recovery home. And if they're on certain medications, you know, they're not going to be a fit for us because we're not supervised by medical professionals. And there are some recovery homes that are. And we're not we're we are peer-led. So, you know, I mentioned earlier about how we have our staff people have come through our program. Some of them do have some certifications if they've gone on to get certified in, you know, some specific area around substance use disorder. So we do have some folks that have that, but not it's not a requirement for them to be on staff and uh be program managers over the homes. So since we are peer-led, it, you know, it we're just not the right fit for someone who may need medical assistance in some way with uh a medication, or maybe they have, you know, some other like a mental health disorder, where they're, you know, if it's schizophrenia or, you know, major, you know, other depressive type situations, you know, because we really want to have safety in our homes, you know, so we have to have the right person that's you know struggling with addiction, but you

Peer-Led Homes And Right-Fit Boundaries

SPEAKER_01 38:46

know, doesn't have a whole list of all these other mental health issues going along with it. So, you know, we want to be the right, be the right fit.

SPEAKER_00 38:56

Do you guys have any events coming up soon? I think tonight.

SPEAKER_01 38:59

We do have events coming up all over the country. We have a 5k that's getting ready to happen this Saturday in several of our markets here in Kansas City. We're doing a virtual 5K. So our all of our residents will be meeting up at a park in Parkville and doing a little, some of them will run or do a little walk or something, and so folks can have signed up to do like a virtual run. But in some of our other markets in Oklahoma City and Tulsa and Weatherford, not yeah, Weatherford and Colorado Springs, and I'm not sure who else, that might be it, are doing actual 5K's. So, and there's a they're a pretty big deal. The one in Oklahoma City, it's a pretty big deal. So uh that's super fun.

SPEAKER_00 39:48

And then Saturday, August, end of August here.

SPEAKER_01 39:52

Yeah, it's this the 29th, yeah, in the morning. So yeah, that's coming up, which is great. Our next event after that, we all have golf tournaments coming up, and that's our our next big event here in Kansas City. And any of those golfers that want to come play, we somehow got an in at a private course here in Kansas City. So we'll be there October 12th. And so golf tournaments will be happening around the country for several of our markets and opportunities for people to sponsor, you know, if they want to play, they can bring a team, donate some raffle prizes or you know, some cool sports memorabilia that seems to be a thing, or we have, you know, a silent auction. So all of those fun kinds of events happening coming up. And then at the end of the year, I'm in November, we have our fall event in all of our markets called Nights in November. And this event started out as a little small intimate gathering inside each of the homes. And so we just invite people that are interested, that want to learn more, that want to give and to come be a part of this kind of more intimate dinner inside the homes. So that'll be happening all around the country and all of the markets between October and November. And incidentally, ours will be the day after the golf tournament because all of our events team will be here. Our founder and his wife are having a baby in November. So they won't be traveling to these events. So we're trying to double up some events in some of our markets to kind of relieve Lance and some of our others that we actually have the director of our media team. They're also having a baby. So babies are happening in November. So we've had to kind of juggle around other our other events because Lance is he does such a great job in going

5K Runs Golf Tournaments And Fall Events

SPEAKER_01 41:46

to each of our markets and you know trying to be a presence at uh all of our different spaces. So it'll be a fun year.

SPEAKER_00 41:54

I'm I'm so excited for you, and I'm excited for them to have you. So thank you. As we wrap up today, I just want to make sure that you guys know I'm gonna have all the information in the show notes. But if you could just say the name or the website again, we'll link it in the show notes. Like I'm sure.

SPEAKER_01 42:12

Yeah, you can go to hopeisalive.net. You can also find us on all the socials, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube. We're in all the places where you can hear all the latest and greatest, see some educational information. You can hear about our new healing center that we just opened down in just outside Oklahoma City, Oklahoma City, all the new and great, wonderful ways that we are supporting those that are struggling with addiction and loving on all their families.

SPEAKER_00 42:45

Beautiful. What is the name of the podcast? Is it Hope is Alive?

SPEAKER_01 42:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 42:49

Okay, everything's just it we keep it. Hope is alive. Hope is alive ministries, I think is what it's called. So as you guys hear, Hope is alive. Um, and it it is alive, it really is alive. Well, you have definitely been a an IV of hope here for us today. And as you, if you remember, I I really do this for the one. So if you could just think of that one who's listening in today. Do you have any other words of wisdom or encouragement that you'd want to share over this one who's listening?

SPEAKER_01 43:16

I just love that you just said that because at every one of our events, Lance always tells us, you know, there's gonna be one person at an event or a family member of someone that is there. And so as we're like writing, you know, our material for whatever is gonna be happening, whatever event it is, like we have to keep the one person in mind of who that message is for, because it could just be for one person. Like this podcast could be for one person and it's gonna, you know, spark in them something, you know, to get to get involved, to go help a family member, you know, have that intervention with someone who's struggling, you know, or hey, I have a, you know, my best friend has been living on the streets for two years, and you know, I just need to send a text message to let them know I'm thinking about them or praying for them, you know. So it's like every single time that all of us on staff get to speak or share anything, I'm always thinking of, okay, who's there's one person that's gonna hear what I have to say and it's gonna touch them in some way. So it's so cool that you said that.

SPEAKER_00 44:28

Wow. Yeah, and it's like the Lord was showing me years ago that you know, I math mathing is one times one equals one, which is just one, right? Yeah, that's right. He was showing me that one times one in the kingdom is exponential because that one gets touched

The One Person Mindset And Closing Prayer

SPEAKER_00 44:46

and then they go impact one, they go impact and you don't even know. So that's why I always think of you know, doing a podcast, you don't really know who's listening, so I always have that one in mind. So thank you. Yeah, that's beautiful. This has been amazing. I am gonna close with the Hope Unlocked anchoring verse. It's may the God of hope play with all joy and peace and believing, so by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. And that's Romans 15, 13. One of my favorites. I'm sure that's probably one for Hope is Alive as well, I imagine.

SPEAKER_01 45:20

It is. I actually have it framed on my desk and I write it in like all of my thank you cards that I send to people. So that verse.

unknown 45:30

Love it.

SPEAKER_00 45:31

Well, Gretchen, you're amazing. Yeah, if you want to hear her story, the fullness of her story, go back to episode 19 and episode 20. And I so appreciate you being here today. And thank you for being a brave voice who's setting so many free. Thanks, listeners. Thanks, Gretchen. Thank you.