You Know Me Now

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.

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/

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/

While it is not always apparent in the moment, our life choices, all of them, the big complicated ones down to the little daily decisions, create the direction and opportunities of our life, our future, for better or worse.

When someone is successful we often admire them for their smarts, for having made all the right choices. And conversely, when people are struggling, we pass judgment, thinking, “They should have made better choices.”

But is it really that simple, to credit failure to bad choices being made?

What if everyone IS trying to make the best choice possible at every opportunity, and that the issue is not simply one of bad choices, but rather a lack of available good options.

In this episode we hear from Casey, a woman who will explore with us the idea of choice. What it means to fit in and find a way in life when choice is limited, or, removed altogether. When all you have in front of you are bad options.

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

In this episode we are talking with Benny. He has lived homeless in the Fremont neighborhood, artfully stacking stones on the parking strip, in the same place, for the last 30 plus years.

It seems, in every family there is a person who is living a bit differently from the rest of the family. You could say, zigging when the others are zagging. Their lifestyle or life-choices are thought provoking in one moment, perplexing and challenging in the next.

And yet, these differences are often what makes a family vibrant, positive forces in the dynamic. The varying views are appreciated for what they bring to the family mix.

And while it is not always the case, in general, with family, we work to find ways to be inclusive and supportive of those differences. In other words, we try our best to make room for each other. For example, Uncle Maynard, who’s marching to a completely different drummer, who gets eye rolls around the table at Thanksgiving, is appreciated rather than pushed away for his nonconformity.

How far beyond the family does this acceptance extend. How do we react when somebody in our community is marching to a different drummer? Do we make room for them? Do we work to be inclusive and supportive in the way we do for Uncle Maynard?

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

Immediate need: About a year ago Benny was diagnosed with lung cancer. With chemo-therapy his cancer went into remission but In March 2023 the doctors determined the cancer was back. Benny has been given about 6 months to live. 

With rent and medical bills he is in desperate need of financial support. If you are moved by Benny’s life story, please consider donating to the Venmo account - @bennytherockman. All funds will go to Benny.