On this episode we are talking with Ryan Henry Ward. If you live in Seattle and you don’t know Ryan, there is a good chance you do know his artful murals seen all over town!

Ryan’s murals, which are signed simply “henry”, have the power to bring out a smile, even on the grayest days. The scenes of his characters and the quiet story being told, leave you with a good feeling about living here in Seattle. Now, that alone would be reason to sit down with Ryan and share a good conversation, but, there is something more that you are going to want to hear. His views on community, specifically around the issue of homelessness, are beautiful, ones that are grounded in his personal journey of finding himself through his art.

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A while back we interviewed Casey for a 3-part series titled The Skipping Rock. It was one of our most popular stories shared! If you missed it, we highly recommend that you take the time to listen to Casey's story. I believe it will shift your understanding and feelings about the sex industry.

Casey was kind enough to come back into the studio for this 4th episode to have a follow up conversation, in part to answer some of the questions submitted to us from our listeners as well as share her own feelings about having told her story.

Casey’s sharing of her first hand experiences of falling into and then finding her way out of the sex industry gives us an opportunity to move past the debilitating and hurtful societal understanding we have of sex workers.

We can begin to change the narrative by seeing the individual, their beauty and their worth. Casey, and her team at Light Of Love, remind us that the limited choices brought by trauma have people living unintended lives, often ones with very little hope. She will tell you, through the loving light found in relationships, we can begin healing our community.

Casey and her team are tireless in their mission. If you would like to learn more about their work, or look into volunteer opportunities, please visit lightofloveseattle.org

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In every city and town across America, our libraries are loved. I know I smile to myself every time I come through the entry doors of the main branch in downtown Seattle or any one of the other neighborhood branches. I think it’s connected to knowing ahead of time that I’m entering into a special place, similar to walking into a church, or a museum.

Common to these spaces is that there are rules of conduct, ones that ask us to be respectful of others. I’m guessing a good many of our listeners, at one time or another when growing up and visiting the library, were told they were being too loud, that they were disturbing others. By the time we are adults, we know most of these rules of conduct without being told.

For people experiencing homelessness, libraries have always been sanctuaries. They provide shelter from inclement weather and access to water and a bathroom. More recently they offer use of the internet and a place to charge devices. For many, maybe most importantly, they are a safe place to be. A place where they are welcome. As the number of people struggling on our streets increases, this has put a strain on our library systems. We wanted to know how they were navigating the complexities of this issue. I think you are going to be surprised by what we found out!

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On this episode we sit down with Ren and Adam, the co-founders of The Outsiders Inn. I met them 8 years ago. At that time Ren and Adam were living in the basement of a house where the owner, a Deacon in the church, let them be there for next to nothing.

He also allowed them to care for friends struggling through homelessness. This included being okay with tents and several small shelters being built in the backyard and folks living in their cars parked along the street. All of these people were receiving simple services provided by Adam and Ren. In those early days, everyone knew it was only a matter of time before the city of Vancouver, WA would shut it down.

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Tracy and I met 9 years ago when she commented on the Facing Homelessness Facebook page. Her sharing was, you could say, a tour de force of emotional outpouring.

Today I want to revisit that exchange because something important happened, something I believe is available to all of us and provides a path for moving forward when discussing difficult societal issues.

Tracy’s comments on the Facebook page were, for sure, ones of disgust and even anger towards those living homeless in her neighborhood. They were not unlike the polarized back and forth emotional statements we often see in the world of social media. However, Tracy did something remarkable after sharing her comment. She remained open and willing to engage.

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David knows first-hand the impacts of mass incarceration, after receiving a life sentence at the age 16. In his words, “being thrown away at 16 years old wasn’t the event. It was an exclamation point” on the consistent messaging he’s been receiving his whole life from systems that failed to see his humanity.

He was released after serving 24 years, following legislative reform of juvenile sentencing standards due to a new understanding of youth brain science.

Today David is 46 years old. He is the Director of Vision and Values at The Black Rose Collective. He works to develop community partnerships with individuals, groups and movements who share an alignment with and affinity for dismantling systems of oppression.

David was in the second cohort of Unlocked Futures’ social entrepreneurs impacted by the criminal injustice system, formed through a partnership with New Profit and John Legend's nonprofit organization FREEAMERICA.

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David knows first-hand the impacts of mass incarceration, after receiving a life sentence at the age 16. In his words, “being thrown away at 16 years old wasn’t the event. It was an exclamation point” on the consistent messaging he’s been receiving his whole life from systems that failed to see his humanity.

He was released after serving 24 years, following legislative reform of juvenile sentencing standards due to a new understanding of youth brain science.

Today David is 46 years old. He is the Director of Vision and Values at The Black Rose Collective. He works to develop community partnerships with individuals, groups and movements who share an alignment with and affinity for dismantling systems of oppression.

David was in the second cohort of Unlocked Futures’ social entrepreneurs impacted by the criminal injustice system, formed through a partnership with New Profit and John Legend's nonprofit organization FREEAMERICA.

Join in on the conversation on our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/goodoldlistening/

Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/you_know_me_now_stories/

More stories can be found at https://www.youknowmenow.com/

David knows first-hand the impacts of mass incarceration, after receiving a life sentence at the age 16. In his words, “being thrown away at 16 years old wasn’t the event. It was an exclamation point” on the consistent messaging he’s been receiving his whole life from systems that failed to see his humanity.

He was released after serving 24 years, following legislative reform of juvenile sentencing standards due to a new understanding of youth brain science.

Today David is 46 years old. He is the Director of Vision and Values at The Black Rose Collective. He works to develop community partnerships with individuals, groups and movements who share an alignment with and affinity for dismantling systems of oppression.

David was in the second cohort of Unlocked Futures’ social entrepreneurs impacted by the criminal injustice system, formed through a partnership with New Profit and John Legend's nonprofit organization FREEAMERICA.

Join in on the conversation on our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/goodoldlistening/

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More stories can be found at https://www.youknowmenow.com/

This is the 3rd and last part of an episode called The Skipping Rock.

In this 3rd part of Casey’s story, we cover some of the most traumatic events of her life. She admits openly that due to the heavy drug use, trauma, and instability during this time, she has gaps in her memory, making it difficult to connect everything together.

Rather than tell this chapter of Casey's life in a chronological order, as we usually try to do, we’ve decided to bring forward events, or moments, that best express what Casey was going through. As a young woman living homeless, heavily addicted and working in the sex trade, she was just trying to survive. Through these events we will continue to explore the idea of choice.

When we left Casey in the last episode, in Part Two, she was heavily addicted to street drugs, so much so that she was no longer able to dance at the strip clubs. This not only robbed her income, it took away her sense of being in community. Now that that was gone, she was trapped in an increasingly vicious cycle of doing drugs to be able to do the sex work, so she could make the money to pay for the drugs, that she was taking to do the sex work.

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This is Part 2 of a 3 part episode called The Skipping Rock - We recommend you listen to Part 1 first, which will undoubtedly give greater meaning to the following Parts two and three.

When we left Casey in the last episode, in Part One, she was making some big decisions in her life, wanting to not only leave the trauma and dysfunction of her childhood behind, but also coming to grips with having to earn a living. She decided to take a waitressing job at a strip club, which led to dancing, and the fast money of the sex industry.

Casey was 18 years old.

Suddenly she had a nice house, a car she loved, and plenty of money, all part of the fast paced life she was now living. For her, at that moment, it was working, she had arrived, and was going to enjoy it. There were lots of friends, lots of alcohol, and plenty of the attention she was seeking.

As we enter back into Caseys world, one that was accelerating fast, she met someone that slowed things down, for a moment, someone that would mean a great deal to her.

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More stories and our new Artist Spotlight can be found at https://www.youknowmenow.com/