At the Frontier

The U.S. experienced a record number of billion-dollar weather disasters in 2023, and it's not a one-year fluke but the new trend.

In the face of this changing disaster landscape, there's one organization consistently on the frontlines, bringing aid and hope to those in need: The Salvation Army, whose disaster relief operation never sleeps.

Last year alone, The Salvation Army served nearly 600,000 people across a staggering 4,300 disaster events. Thanks to the generosity of donors and corporate partners, The Salvation Army was able to provide these survivors with a warm meal, a safe haven for the night, and in some cases, something just as essential: a listening ear and a moment of prayer.

John Berglund, The Salvation Army's Emergency Disaster Services Director in the West, is helping us set the stage for our ongoing conversation about the current state of disaster relief.

He's sharing more on the dynamics of serving throughout another record-breaking disaster year, the importance of cleverly adapting to meet needs, and some of the common misconceptions around disaster relief.

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We see stats about addiction. We see substance abuse portrayed in film and in TV shows. We might even know someone who's personally faced addiction to drugs or alcohol. But most of us don't really understand what causes addiction, and why our brains respond the way they do to drugs.

Dr. Judy Grisel has made it her life's work to unravel the mysteries of addiction, striving to uncover its root causes.

A distinguished behavioral neuroscientist whose expertise spans the fields of pharmacology and genetics, Dr. Grisel's groundbreaking research draws from her insights into addiction. These insights aren't just academic though; they're also deeply personal.

Dr. Grisel's journey has been shaped by her own experience with addiction, which has given her a unique vantage point on the subject.

Her passion for understanding the neuroscience behind addiction led her to deliver a powerful TED Talk titled "Never Enough: The Neuroscience and Experience of Addiction," which captivated audiences around the world. She wrote a book of the same name.

With a career dedicated to advancing our understanding of addiction, Dr. Grisel is on the show to share her knowledge, insights and research findings, shedding light on this complex and often stigmatized topic.

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It's 2024, and the opioid crisis is showing no signs of slowing down.

Overdose deaths from opioids, including prescription painkillers and synthetics like fentanyl, continue to rise.

The statistics paint a chilling picture.

According to the CDC, an estimated 187 people in the U.S. die every day of opioid overdoses, most involving illicit and dangerous versions of fentanyl.

What's perhaps more alarming, is this crisis is now affecting every age group. In fact, overdose is now the third leading cause of death in American children. From 2019 to 2021, adolescent overdose deaths more than doubled.

To help us better understand the crisis, Dr. Ricky Bluthenthal is on the show today. At the University of Southern California, Dr. Bluthenthal is a Professor and Vice Chair for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the Department of Populations and Public Health Sciences, and Associate Dean for Social Justice in the Keck School of Medicine.

He's well versed on the opioid crisis and its devastating effects on families and communities. He's been published more than 190 times in peer-reviewed scientific journals and is on the editorial board of the International Journal of Drug Policy. Dr. Bluthenthal has received numerous awards including the John P. McGovern Award for Excellence in Medical Education from the Association for Multidisciplinary Education & Research in Substance Use & Addiction.

On this episode, he joins to give us more insight on the opioid crisis and what he believes needs to happen to make change.

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Did you know every 39 minutes, someone dies in a drunk-driving accident in the United States? That's about 37 people a day.

We know drinking and driving is deadly, yet it continues to happen across the country.

According to one estimate, on average, those who drive drunk will be intoxicated 80 times before being caught. In addition, studies show the odds of being involved in a fatal auto accident increase with each additional DUI arrest.

It's a fate Shauna Zeuske tempted again and again.

In 2015, she was arrested for driving under the influence. That DUI was her third. Within a month, she'd received two more and ended up with a three-year jail sentence. She was able to get some time shaved off her sentence, but within six months of returning home, she got her sixth DUI.

When she went back to jail, she told her public defender she wanted to go to The Salvation Army. They allowed it, so she entered the Adult Rehabilitation Center program. These residential programs provide spiritual, emotional and social assistance to individuals who are experiencing a variety of social, emotional and spiritual challenges, including issues relating to substance abuse. Shauna feared she wouldn't be able to get sober, but she stuck with it, because as she said, "she desperately wanted to stop drinking."

And in 2021, she graduated from The Salvation Army San Diego Adult Rehabilitation Center.

She went on to manage the Transitional Living Center at The Salvation Army Door of Hope Rady Campus in San Diego, helping other women looking for transformation too.

And today, she works as a financial controller for a construction company. She recently married and continues to sponsor and mentor others through their own challenges.

Shauna is on the show to share more about her own experience on the road to recovery.

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It's said when an individual is rehabilitated from their addiction, some 50 people around them are positively affected.

For The Salvation Army Adult Rehabilitation Center program across the western U.S., that equates to some 50,000 people a year.

And more than only addressing issues of substance abuse, these centers offer life rehabilitation for those who need it, according to Major Mark Nelson, ARC Commander in the West.

It's a story that goes back to William Booth telling his son in Victorian England to "do something" to help the men living under the bridge.

Now, for more than 100 years, The Salvation Army has operated rehabilitation facilities across the U.S. that provide help and hope to those with a variety of problems, including issues relating to substance abuse. These residential programs offer spiritual, emotional and social assistance in an environment designed to help participants live healthy, fulfilling lives.

But it doesn't stop with them. That ripple effect is helping restore families.

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One in 7 Americans reports experiencing a substance use disorder, according to the CDC.

Some people may use drugs to help cope with stress or trauma. Others may use them to deal with mental health issues. Others still may even develop opioid use disorder after misusing opioids they are prescribed by their doctors for ailments like back pain.

In any case, using drugs over time makes it easier to become addicted.

Yet for those that become addicted, just one in 10 people will receive treatment. The reasons for this low rate range from stigma to difficulty actually accessing treatment services.

It's something Steve Adami is keeping a close watch on.

Steve spent two decades in and out of jails and prison. Today, he is Executive Director of The Way Out, a recovery-focused homeless initiative of The Salvation Army.

Ultimately, Steve wants to make sure it's easy for anyone who wants to get treatment to get treatment. And he's on the show to share more about the effort to do just that.

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We've heard church attendance is down globally in the wake of the pandemic.

Per Gallup, in the United States, just 22% of people say they attend church every week.

That's down from 32% in 2000.

We talked last week to General Lyndon Buckingham, the international leader of The Salvation Army, about this trend and what he makes of it.

And while The Salvation Army hasn't been wholly immune to this—there are locations where we're seeing the opposite.

And we want to take you to one of them today.

The Ray and Joan Kroc Corps and Community Center in Phoenix saw a 112% increase in Sunday morning meeting attendance from 2019 to 2023.

So what's going on at the Kroc?

Captains Dustin and Caroline Rowe are the corps officers, or pastors, of the Phoenix Kroc Center. They're on the show today to share more about their community, their congregation and their perspective on growing a church.

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Are you prepared to give an answer, a reason for the hope that you have?

We're told in 1 Peter 3:15 to always be ready—and maybe, especially now.

Maybe the world needs that hope more than ever.

It's part of what makes The Salvation Army what it is. As General Lyndon Buckingham will tell you, we are visible which signals that we are available.

And why? Well, Salvation is in the name.

General Buckingham is the international leader of The Salvation Army, having assumed the office in August 2023. He has served alongside his wife Commissioner Bronwyn Buckingham in appointments from New Zealand to Canada to Singapore.

He is focused on finding ways for The Salvation Army to be more effective in fulfilling its mission, starting with our own personal testimony.

And he's on the show to share more about how we can be ready and be looking.

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Despite California's economic might and world-class growth engine, one of the biggest problems plaguing the state is growing right alongside its GDP.

California has dominated the national conversation on homelessness. As of 2022, 30 percent of all people in the U.S. experiencing homelessness resided in California, including half of all unsheltered people.

In a recent poll, 84 percent of Californians said they think homelessness has become a "very serious problem."

And despite spending billions to address it, the issue has only grown.

To help us understand why so many efforts to curb homelessness have fallen short and which strategies deserve more of our attention, we're talking today with Andrew Hening.

Andrew is a UC Berkeley MBA with nearly 20 years of social sector leadership experience. He is currently consulting with public agencies to measurably reduce homelessness, spark civic innovation, and redesign systems of care for homeless and at-risk populations.

In 2018, Andrew was named the top national influencer in local government by Engaging Local Government Leaders for his work with the City of San Rafael. There, Andrew helped break down the complex issue of homelessness and mobilize the community around lasting solutions.

He's also the author of "So You Want to Solve Homelessness? Start Here," helping us understand the issue, what efforts are effective and what communities can learn.

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As we've been discussing recently, homelessness in the U.S. is still on the rise. In fact, rates have been climbing nationally by about 6% every year since 2017, according to the National Alliance to End Homelessness.

That uptick coincides with soaring housing costs and rising prices for necessities like food and transportation.

As we work to chip away at the homelessness crisis, one of the often overlooked components is data collection. Collecting the right data is critical in helping us understand the issue and deploy our resources more efficiently.

Quality data, of course, enables communities to tailor solutions to people's specific needs so they can exit homelessness.

To help us better understand the importance of data and the complexities surrounding homelessness on a national scale, Steve Berg, chief policy officer at the National Alliance to End Homelessness is on the show today. Steve is an expert in the field of homelessness and housing policy. He has dedicated much of his career to advocating for effective policies and strategies to address homelessness in the U.S. And he's written extensively on various ways addressing the primary need for housing for people experiencing homelessness leads to stability and better health.

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FIGHT FOR GOOD. Give to The Salvation Army.