Participants:
Series Code: TDYL
Program Code: TDYL250007A
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00:03 I want to spend my life I
00:15 want to spend my life 00:36 I want to spend my life 00:46 I want to spend my life 01:06 Good evening everyone and welcome to 3ABN today. 01:09 It's Thursday night and I've got my lovely wife with me, 01:12 Angela. 01:16 Now tonight is about seasoning. 01:18 You'll find out what that means in just a moment. 01:20 We want to thank you for your prayers. 01:21 Honey, isn't it going to be a good program tonight? 01:23 I'm excited about tonight's program. 01:25 That's right. 01:28 little bit of salt. 01:29 Salt adds flavor. 01:31 I like to cook so you'll see why I said salt. 01:34 Exactly. 01:36 Not in the literal sense, but you'll find out why you need to 01:40 stay tuned. 01:43 well, how can the Lord use me? 01:44 Well tonight you'll find out how you can participate, how 01:48 you can get involved and you might be able to open doors in 01:50 your community to expand and make a difference through this 01:55 ministry. 01:56 What do you think? 01:57 Now last week, where were we? 01:59 We had a 3ABN rally in Jamaica. 02:03 In Kingston. 02:04 It was in Kingston and Mandeville. 02:05 It was in Andrews Church and at Northern Caribbean University. 02:10 We had a blessed time. 02:12 As many of you know, my roots is Jamaican so I was with my 02:16 people. 02:16 That's right. 02:17 And I enjoyed it, really. 02:19 It was a blessing. 02:20 So those of you in Jamaica, if you were there, thank you for 02:23 being there. 02:26 Northern Caribbean University and we're looking forward to 02:29 being in Jamaica later on this year. 02:31 So we'll work on that for the Lord's glory. 02:33 But tonight, we're not going to go to music. 02:36 We're going to go right to our guest so you can find out why 02:39 this is a seasoned program. 02:42 Good to have the salt director, Eric Camarillo. 02:45 Good to have you here again. 02:46 Yeah, no, I'm really happy. 02:47 Always happy to be here. 02:49 Always happy. 02:52 been following your track. 02:53 You're not a stranger to 3ABN. 02:56 You're not new to our family. 02:57 But every time you come, instead of repeating the same 03:00 program, saying the same thing tonight, you're going to 03:02 unfold. 03:03 This is going to be like a cauliflower art show kind of 03:06 program showing where you've been, how you got started, and 03:09 where you're headed. 03:10 Just kind of give people an overview of who you are. 03:13 Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. 03:15 So, you know, my name's Eric. 03:17 You know, I started the organization back in 2011, 03:23 September of 2011. 03:25 So we are talking, yeah, it's going to be 14 years this year. 03:29 And God just, you know, I experienced homelessness when I 03:32 was younger and it was about six months. 03:36 And so it really, you know, when I became an Adventist 03:40 Christian, it really kind of, you know, God was using that to 03:44 plant a seed for something. 03:46 You know what I mean? 03:51 thinking, OK, God, what is it that you want me to do with my 03:54 life? 03:55 Why am I here? 03:56 What can you use me for? 03:59 And, you know, all the stuff, you know, before you give 04:03 yourself to Christ, right? 04:06 There's all this stuff that you learn and that you go through. 04:10 And then when you come to Christ, then all that stuff 04:14 gets kind of repurposed and it's redirected for His Kingdom 04:20 and for His glory. 04:22 And so I was wondering, what is it that He wants me to do 04:24 there? 04:30 hadn't looked back, you know. 04:32 How did it start? 04:34 So, you know, I... 04:38 What is SALT? 04:39 What does it mean? 04:40 Yeah, so SALT is an acronym for Service and Love Together. 04:44 You know, we were just kind of looking in the community and I 04:47 became, you know, I came into the faith and I was seeing that 04:50 there were a lot of churches doing a lot of things, but 04:53 there wasn't a lot of unity. 04:54 There wasn't a lot of people, a lot of collaboration, as much 04:57 collaboration as I would have liked to see. 05:00 And so SALT really started as a way to get different churches 05:04 and different groups together for one purpose. 05:07 So combine your resources, combine your energy and let's 05:10 do this. 05:14 And so that's kind of, you know, we talked to some young 05:17 adults, we had an event, we kind of pitched the idea to the 05:20 young adults and then it just kind of caught on, you know, 05:24 and like Wildfire, other young adults were telling other 05:27 people and then about a year later, after that initial 05:31 start, we had about 850 young adults in the sanctuary all 05:37 wanting to do something in the community and make a difference 05:40 in the community. 05:42 And so that was kind of just, you know, what was a catalyst 05:46 that kind of spread and made SALT what it is today. 05:48 Wow, and so here we are seeing you married, you were single at 05:55 the time, you experienced homelessness and so the Lord 05:59 took your tragedy and turned it into a treasure that He's using 06:03 today. 06:04 Now tell us about your wife. 06:06 You have a wife, how long have you been married? 06:07 Oh yes, yes, I could talk about her all two hours if you want. 06:11 I love it. 06:17 Yes, good mix. 06:18 She's in Miami and spent some time in Puerto Rico as well. 06:21 She's a school counselor at a private Christian Academy, 06:24 Adventist Academy in Orlando and she does mental health 06:28 counseling in the evenings. 06:30 Very good. 06:35 tell her this all the time and she thinks I'm joking, I'm 06:37 like, man, if you didn't come in my life, I don't know, I'd 06:40 be, you know, work myself to death or something, you know, 06:44 but she's just... 06:45 She has balance. 06:50 one of our outreaches with The Unsheltered when we first 06:53 started and well, it was like 2016 or so when she volunteered 06:56 and you know, we just, we became friends and you know, 06:59 over time we got to know each other and you know, then next 07:03 thing you know, I'm popping the question eventually and then, 07:06 you know, we kind of go from there and got married during 07:10 the pandemic actually. 07:12 Yeah, yeah. 07:13 Oh my. 07:16 wedding? 07:22 know, hopefully I don't get these dates wrong, it was 07:24 scheduled for April 5th and you know, with all the shutdowns 07:30 and everything happening started around mid-March, you 07:32 know, and so the pastor that was marrying us, he's like, you 07:37 know, we call him Uncle Les, you know, he called us, he's 07:40 like, do you want to just get married tomorrow? 07:42 We don't know what's going to happen in two weeks, you know 07:45 what I mean? 07:48 The next day we just went in an empty field by Florida 07:52 conference office there in Orlando and you know, we had 07:56 about 15, 20 people there. 07:58 Outdoors. 08:02 the stuff together and friends rallied together and we got 08:06 some pictures and you know, friends brought food there. 08:10 It was just, it was very small. 08:14 We saved a lot of money. 08:17 It was very small, but it was really beautiful. 08:19 You know, we don't regret anything. 08:22 We really, that was a beautiful time for us, yeah. 08:26 Until he lights up. 08:27 Exactly. 08:27 When he talks about his wife. 08:28 That's right. 08:29 She's now the salt in his life. 08:30 Oh, okay. 08:32 I love that. 08:33 She seasoned it for sure. 08:34 It was real plain before her. 08:36 You know, salt is so diverse. 08:38 I want to let us go to this video and give our audience, 08:42 our viewing audience, if you're a listening audience, then you 08:44 might be able to hear some of it, but the viewing audience, 08:47 you'll see generally what salt is really all about. 08:50 Check it out. 08:55 Homelessness in central Florida is just getting so much worse. 09:02 Shelters are at capacity. 09:03 Rent is at all time highs. 09:06 Every $100 increase in median rent equals a 9% increase in 09:10 homelessness. 09:15 past three years. 09:16 That means a 50% increase in homelessness. 09:18 So we're starting to see that now, especially among youth and 09:21 young adults, seniors, you know, people 55 plus are 09:27 becoming homeless. 09:28 And, you know, I think a lot of the time people look at the 09:31 people that are living on the street and they think that 09:34 they've been there forever. 09:35 But over the past four years, about 75% of people 09:39 experiencing homelessness have been experiencing it for the 09:42 first time. 09:48 The story of salt is a story of God using average people that 09:54 have leaned on their faith and wanted to make a difference in 09:58 the community among people experiencing homelessness. 10:03 Before I became a Christian, I had experienced homelessness 10:05 myself. 10:06 I was about 20 years old. 10:07 And not having access to things like a place to wash clothes, 10:12 not having access to a case manager to help me understand 10:15 what services were available to me and what I qualified for, 10:18 and to help me navigate the system, it was really 10:21 difficult. 10:22 And I think as I became a Christian and started to think 10:26 about how can I take this energy that I was putting into 10:29 the world before into something that God can use. 10:35 So we were doing breakfast. 10:37 We would serve about 8 to 16 at a time. 10:41 But that started growing. 10:44 Together I got with some friends. 10:45 We came up with some names. 10:47 We took a poll. 10:48 And salt was the name that came out from Matthew 5.13 that we 10:52 are the salt of the earth. 10:53 So, yeah, like this was pretty much the OG group, 2012, 2013. 10:59 So, I mean, it was a bunch of different ministries and 11:01 outreaches that Eric and a few others kind of brought 11:04 together. 11:07 So it went from 16 to 20 to 50 to 100. 11:13 We didn't have enough benches to fit the amount of people 11:16 coming. 11:18 I didn't realize how fulfilled I felt by something so simple. 11:21 We were cooking out of restaurants. 11:23 We would have hotels send us food. 11:25 We'd have people bring food. 11:26 We'd have churches, other organizations donate food. 11:30 I kind of joke that making a peanut butter and jelly 11:32 sandwich kind of changed my life. 11:35 Towards the end, we were serving I think close to 200 on 11:39 Saturday mornings. 11:41 And as we continued to share food, we didn't want to just 11:45 stop at food. 11:47 And so we started to provide clothing and hygiene products, 11:51 which ended up leading to us fundraising for a clothing 11:53 trailer that we called our Change trailer. 11:57 But that started growing. 12:00 We didn't know it at the time, but that trailer helped inspire 12:03 kind of our model moving forward in how we deliver our 12:07 services by really just meeting people where they are. 12:13 And then the next big milestone was our shower trailer. 12:16 We found out that over half of the people we were serving were 12:20 actively looking for work, but those same people hadn't 12:22 showered in three to seven days on average. 12:24 There were some people going on job interviews that hadn't 12:27 showered in three months. 12:28 So we're like, OK, there isn't enough shower capacity in this 12:32 community. 12:35 And that's when we fundraised about $40,000 for our shower 12:38 trailer. 12:39 And now we're providing food. 12:40 We started to bring in barbers to do haircuts. 12:43 We were doing showers and we're doing clothing and hygiene 12:46 products. 12:47 We have the clothing trailer. 12:49 We're just giving out clothes, giving out clothes, giving out 12:50 clothes. 12:51 And it's just like, this is kind of wasteful. 12:54 Let's find a solution for that. 12:56 And that's where the laundry trailer came in. 13:02 And we started to add other services like mail services. 13:05 We added limited storage services, charging stations for 13:09 the unsheltered. 13:10 Are you already signed up for showers? 13:13 But there needed to be a comprehensive drop-in center in 13:16 the downtown Orlando. 13:17 There needed to be a front door for people experiencing 13:20 homelessness, a place where someone can come and say, I 13:24 want my homelessness to end. 13:25 And a case manager can guide them through that process from 13:28 beginning to end. 13:30 Let's really start attacking the roots of the homelessness 13:34 issue and let's really try to help them on another level. 13:39 Now, that case management program went on that year to 13:42 help one out of five people transition to shelter housing 13:46 and three out of four take the next step toward ending their 13:48 homelessness. 13:50 And since then, they're on track to helping directly end 13:53 homelessness for either one family or person a week and 13:56 divert people away from the system because our system's 14:00 already burdened. 14:02 This is the past, but I also see the future in these 14:06 pictures. 14:13 Homelessness in central Florida is just getting so much worse. 14:19 We are trying to do what we can to meet the need, to keep up 14:23 with the need, but it's just becoming overwhelming. 14:25 It's a lot. 14:27 Our community is just not able to handle the influx that we're 14:33 seeing right now. 14:35 It's not people that are there just all the time, you know, 14:37 and we're seeing a lot more first timers. 14:42 And so as God continues to write this story, we're hoping 14:46 that more people come together and want to be a part of the 14:50 story with us together. 14:52 We're so thankful that in January of 2024, we were 14:56 awarded a grant to work with homeless youth. 14:59 It's for unaccompanied minors from ages 16 to 17 and young 15:02 adults from 18 to 24. 15:05 We just got both of our trailers delivered yesterday. 15:09 This big trailer here is going to be dedicated to youth and 15:11 young adults experiencing homelessness. 15:13 We're going to be providing the case management support, the 15:15 day services support, the showers and laundry and all 15:17 that stuff. 15:22 trailer. 15:22 We're really excited. 15:24 We think it's going to make a big difference here, and that's 15:26 going to be five days a week. 15:27 So it's basically doubling our current five days a week here 15:31 in downtown Orlando to now an additional five days a week 15:34 across the central Florida area. 15:37 Yeah, you hear that all the time. 15:38 Like, yeah, I used to work in corporate. 15:40 I used to this. 15:43 until, you know, I got in a car accident, until I had a stroke. 15:48 It's just, it's crazy because as we see this increase in 15:51 homelessness, the increase in evictions, you know, the 15:53 increase in rent prices, we're not seeing an increase in 15:56 wages. 15:59 It's no longer just a homelessness crisis. 16:02 It's an emergency. 16:03 This is nothing new. 16:04 We're not doing anything new here. 16:06 This is what God has asked his people to do. 16:11 And we're just following that calling. 16:13 And we're excited because so many people have joined this 16:18 calling with us. 16:20 Every day is a new page in the story that God is writing 16:24 through Saul. 16:25 We all are just working together to help provide the 16:30 most vulnerable, not only with their basic needs, the most 16:33 basic human needs, but also to help end their homelessness, to 16:37 revive that hope in them that one day they don't have to be 16:42 living on the street. 16:43 They can be in a home. 16:46 And our hope is that you join us in becoming a part of that 16:52 story here in Central Florida. 17:10 Wow, I've known a lot about Saul, but this really has 17:13 impacted me seeing it in a broader view. 17:16 The eye-opener. 17:17 The eye-opener. 17:18 Eric, I mean, you're living this. 17:20 This is your heartbeat. 17:21 Yeah. 17:25 you, but look at all the lives you're touching. 17:26 How does that impact you when you wake up in the morning? 17:29 You know what, when we started Saul, we had a dream that one 17:34 day we would be able to have enough resources that we'll be 17:41 serving so many people that we would have to do this full 17:44 -time. 17:45 And that was what we envisioned from day one. 17:48 Oh, wow. 17:49 And God has done it. 17:51 Amen. 17:51 He's done it. 17:52 He's provided resources. 17:54 Many people watching right now have probably donated to Saul 17:57 at some point because we've been coming on here six, seven 18:01 years now. 18:02 It's great being able to see the ministry grow. 18:07 Now we have a team of 46 employees. 18:11 We're about to be in five locations five days a week 18:14 right now across Central Florida. 18:17 We have a two-day-a-week location. 18:19 We have a branch in San Diego, and we'll talk more about that. 18:22 But yeah, we can't take credit for it. 18:26 God comes out of nowhere, and He just comes out of left field 18:30 with stuff that we don't even know where it's coming from. 18:34 It's just Him reminding us, Hey, I'm in control. 18:37 I got you guys. 18:38 I'll provide. 18:39 You guys keep doing my work, and I will provide. 18:42 And that's the message He's been sending to us. 18:44 The work has been there, Ephesians 2, 10, for you are 18:48 His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works 18:51 which God prepared beforehand that you should walk in. 18:54 So this need was there. 18:56 The Lord was just looking for someone. 18:57 Who will we send and who will go for us? 19:01 And Eric said, Here I am. 19:03 Send me. 19:04 And this impact is amazing. 19:07 Let me talk about something that people watching may have 19:10 missed this. 19:11 People were walking up to the windows asking questions about 19:14 being registered, but there's a room that had all these files 19:17 in it. 19:21 So, you know, people experiencing homelessness, they 19:23 don't have an address, right? 19:25 So a lot of the time, they burn bridges with banks. 19:29 If they're applying for jobs, they need to put an address 19:32 down. 19:33 If they need to get their paychecks or Social Security 19:35 checks mailed somewhere, they need an address. 19:38 If their family or loved ones want to send them something, 19:41 they need an address. 19:42 I mean, it's a key piece in helping end homelessness. 19:46 Our data team actually looked at the strongest correlations 19:50 to getting someone to see a case manager. 19:52 We found that mail services was one of the services that was 19:56 most correlated to getting someone over to see a case 19:58 manager. 19:59 So that's why we continue to market that. 20:03 Yeah, it's the bridge. 20:04 Our outreach services, the showers, the laundry, you know, 20:07 they meet basic need, right? 20:09 And we're called to do that. 20:11 And it builds trust, it builds relationship, and especially 20:14 for our chronically homeless individuals, our guests that 20:18 are chronically homeless, it gets that trust to the point 20:21 where they will say, you know what, I'm done with this. 20:24 I want to get out of this situation. 20:27 And a lot of the time, they've tried, and they've tried, and 20:30 they've tried, and the resources aren't there, the 20:34 organizations have failed them, maybe they've been looked at. 20:38 You know, there was two brothers that came to us 20:41 recently. 20:42 This was about a month ago. 20:44 They came to us, and they sat with a case manager, they got 20:48 some basic needs met, and we were able to end their 20:51 homelessness. 20:53 And before they left, they came up to our team, and they're 20:58 like, you know what, we've gone to other organizations, like we 21:02 feel, you guys, like you don't look at our outward appearance, 21:05 you know, because they had tattoos, they had a history, 21:08 you could tell, there was maybe a history there, but our team 21:11 treated them with love, with compassion, and they were 21:15 almost in tears, you know, sharing how we just, we didn't 21:20 treat them any differently. 21:22 We treated them the way that we felt Jesus would want us to 21:25 treat people, how He calls us to treat people, and that made 21:30 a difference in their lives, and then they ended up getting 21:32 off the street, you know, so it's, yeah, it's an amazing 21:39 thing to be a part of, I feel blessed to be a part of it, and 21:43 yeah, I know our team is amazing, they're doing some 21:46 really good work. 21:51 they come and register, how does that work? 21:53 You know what, good question, I have a video that shows a walk 21:57 -through of our services, I'll show you what one of our 21:59 clients goes through, and you can literally see through his 22:03 eyes what it's like to be at S .A.L.T. 22:05 and get services. 22:06 Okay, let's go to that, let's go to that thing. 22:08 Oh, okay. 22:10 Hi, I'm Richard, this is how S .A.L.T. 22:11 has helped me. 24:33 You know, S.A.L.T. 24:34 is a world in a world. 24:37 I mean, let's just go over some of what we just saw in the 24:40 first and second video, because it just continues to unfold. 24:44 Honestly, Eric, I thought I knew everything about S.A.L.T. 24:48 We don't. 24:49 I really didn't. 24:50 What I'm seeing today is like, it's an epiphany, there's light 24:53 going off in my brain saying, wow, S.A.L.T. 24:57 is not just about giving somebody clothes and giving 25:00 them a sandwich or a snack to go along the way and have a 25:03 great day, not just about giving them a shower and say, 25:05 well, we'll never see you again, but let's just go to 25:07 another location. 25:10 lives. 25:11 Yes, life-changing. 25:12 You're talking about becoming their family. 25:14 Talk about that, because that's powerful. 25:16 Richie's story is just an amazing example of that. 25:19 Yeah, and you know, you made me think of something, because 25:21 really, we get a lot of questions. 25:23 We served over 7,000 different people in the last four years 25:27 or so, and people ask, what's that common denominator? 25:31 And I've shared it before, but I feel like it's worth sharing 25:34 again, is, yes, triggers to homelessness include things 25:41 like addiction, things like mental illness. 25:44 We're seeing a lot of evictions right now, people losing their 25:48 jobs, loss of income, of course, is a big one, but those 25:52 aren't necessarily the causes of homelessness, right? 25:55 So when you look at severe mental illness, for example, 5% 25:59 of the general population is severe mental illness, but not 26:02 all of them are experiencing homelessness, right? 26:04 So what's the difference there? 26:05 The difference is that everyone experiencing homelessness has 26:09 gone through maybe a severe mental health episode, an 26:11 addictive episode, they've gone through an eviction, they've 26:14 lost income, but they had no one that was able or willing to 26:18 care for them when they went through that situation. 26:20 So the people we see, people that come to us, they don't 26:23 have anyone in their life that is able or willing to care for 26:28 them. 26:30 So we feel called to be that group for these people. 26:35 We are in their corner. 26:36 We're rooting for them. 26:37 We're wanting to make sure, and we're sharing that love with 26:40 them. 26:42 Like Richie, for example, he came to us, he was experiencing 26:46 homelessness for two years before he came to us. 26:48 Doesn't have any close family relationships. 26:51 No one he could really count on. 26:53 He's kind of a loner, I guess you can say. 26:56 Young adult, and he started coming to us, he started 26:59 getting showers with us, he signed up for mail. 27:02 Some of the services you saw there. 27:03 Even cell phone charging. 27:05 Yeah, charging his phone, doing laundry, and you know, he 27:09 started that. 27:10 Then he started going to our group Bible studies first 27:12 actually. 27:13 And he started coming to our group Bible studies, and he 27:16 started creating a relationship with our spiritual care team, 27:20 and then the spiritual care team encouraged him to go see a 27:23 case manager. 27:26 Started seeing a case manager shortly after he got a job. 27:30 It was about from six months after we met him. 27:35 In between that time he got a job, and he moved into housing 27:38 six months later, his own place. 27:40 What? 27:42 And then about a month and a half later, he texts our 27:44 spiritual care team. 27:48 my job. 27:50 I got two people under me now. 27:52 And then after that, he started volunteering with us, you know. 27:57 Giving back. 28:01 with him, and you know, just build relationship with him. 28:05 But you know, it's been an amazing journey. 28:08 He's a really great example of someone that really just needed 28:13 someone in their corner, needed someone to believe in them, to 28:15 root for them. 28:16 To stand on somebody's shoulder. 28:18 Yeah, exactly. 28:19 That's a lot of the time, that's all people need, you 28:21 know. 28:24 I'm sure there's people watching that have been 28:26 involved in ministry for the unsheltered, right? 28:30 And you know, they are providing food and they're 28:32 providing clothing. 28:33 But they know that there's something more that needs to be 28:37 done there. 28:37 Yes, amen. 28:38 But they don't know how to do it. 28:39 They don't know what the next steps are. 28:41 That feeling when you have someone in front of you, you 28:43 give them food, you give them clothes, and that feeling of 28:46 like, there's more that's needed here. 28:49 What am I going to do? 28:51 They start asking questions. 28:52 They say they want to get into housing. 28:54 They say they want to get employment. 28:55 But you don't have the resources or the ability to 28:58 help them get there. 28:59 Right. 29:06 the next level and to continue growing. 29:08 Because when you're in front of someone, and we still face that 29:11 even today, we have, last year we served 3,300 people 120,000 29:16 different times, right? 29:17 Wow. 29:27 with kids come to them. 29:29 The next day was a Friday, had a mom with kids come to them 29:33 again. 29:34 Then on Monday had another mom with kids come to them. 29:35 Literally three days in a row, three different moms with 29:38 children experiencing homelessness. 29:41 And we didn't have the resources to help all three of 29:43 them. 29:49 one and a half, or maybe one. 29:51 And then this person will be on a longer plan. 29:54 Like that's stressful to think about, right? 29:56 Of course. 29:58 Right. 29:59 And that's what pushes us forward. 30:01 It keeps pushing us to grow, to pray, to take things to the 30:09 next level each year. 30:10 Because there are more and more people experiencing 30:12 homelessness. 30:13 They need more help. 30:15 They need more assistance to get out of the situation. 30:17 And so anyway, I share that because this work is tough. 30:26 Yeah, but as I'm looking at that, I'm glad you pointed that 30:30 out because there's nothing more self-defeating or you're 30:35 feeling, oh, why can't I help finish this story? 30:41 And the Richie story is, I could imagine it's like a, you 30:46 guys may not have this. 30:47 It's kind of a workspace thing. 30:49 But you guys should have something like ring a bell when 30:51 he gets a job. 30:52 Hey, let's ring a bell today. 30:54 One of our clients got a job. 30:55 Let's ring two bells. 30:56 People working out there. 30:58 Something to celebrate. 31:01 Ring a bell. 31:01 Hey, what's that? 31:02 Our client got a job. 31:05 It's a boost to say, let's just keep going, an incentive. 31:08 Let's just keep going. 31:09 Or take their picture and say, on such and such a date, is 31:12 this when they came to us? 31:13 This is the day he got his job. 31:15 This is the day he got promoted. 31:17 And you look at that and you think there are more Richies 31:19 out there. 31:20 There are more people out there. 31:21 When you get up in the morning, that will just drive you. 31:24 I may be suggesting something that you don't do, but... 31:27 I love that idea. 31:28 I like the bell idea. 31:30 We might just throw a bell in there. 31:32 We'll call it the Loma Cane. 31:34 Loma Cane Bell. 31:35 The LB. 31:36 Today Richie got a job. 31:37 Yeah, every time we hit the bell, Pastor Loma Cane's voice 31:40 will be on the... 31:43 One thing that we invest in that is hard for us to continue 31:47 to invest in, but we know it's needed, is our data team. 31:51 Our data team is what looks at everything happening. 31:56 They put it on paper and they communicate it to not only the 32:00 public, but to our staff. 32:02 They say, hey look, you guys are breaking records. 32:05 The amount of people they house in 2024 was a 69% increase over 32:09 the year before. 32:10 Amen. 32:11 They were excited to hear that. 32:13 They were like, wow. 32:14 Their goal was 100. 32:15 They housed 130. 32:18 They beat their goal by 30%. 32:20 Amen. 32:23 As testimonies happen, we try and circulate that among the 32:26 team and make sure that they know, hey, you're making a 32:29 difference here. 32:31 Because it can be tough. 32:33 Time after time, you get people in front of you, especially as 32:35 a case manager, and we see so many people and with the 32:42 limited resources, we have to, you know, that's the tough 32:46 part. 32:49 us going. 32:50 Now how many locations do you have? 32:55 So our main location right now is Downtown Orlando. 32:57 I actually have some pictures of some of our trailers. 32:59 Let's see. 33:01 So those are actually all of our locations right now in 33:04 Central Florida. 33:05 Where we serve right now, in the center there is where we 33:09 serve more frequently. 33:14 a month. 33:15 And then you'll notice there, that's Florida. 33:17 But then we have one in California there. 33:19 That's San Diego. 33:20 The San Diego chapter has been killing it. 33:22 They've been housing families already. 33:25 They had a family baptized recently. 33:29 So they're moving on forward and we're excited to have them 33:33 on the team. 33:33 But our vision is national. 33:35 Our vision is that we're in every metropolitan area because 33:38 every metropolitan area needs something like this in their 33:42 community if they don't have it. 33:45 One of the reasons why I'm so glad that 3ABN continues to do 33:48 this program, somebody one day is going to look at this 33:51 program and say we need to make this a franchise. 33:53 We need to make this every state. 33:55 Because things are changing rapidly. 33:59 Homelessness is increasing. 34:00 That video pointed that out. 34:01 That's not going to decrease. 34:03 The loss of jobs. 34:04 We're talking about people inadvertently being laid off. 34:07 Things are happening all around America. 34:10 Some people come to America and don't know what to do. 34:14 Many of them come legally and just don't know how do I get 34:17 started. 34:18 And so SALT has become this bridge in so many ways that I'm 34:21 learning new things about it today. 34:23 So what I'd like to see is some of your mobile devices. 34:28 How do you travel? 34:29 Let me see some of those. 34:31 Because I remember years ago when you said we just got our 34:33 first trailer. 34:34 We celebrated that with you. 34:36 Let's talk about the expansion. 34:37 Yeah, so one thing that is kind of unique about us is we can 34:42 provide everything we do in mobile fashion. 34:45 We can go somewhere and set up and provide all of our services 34:49 a comprehensive holistic approach just by setting up 34:52 somewhere. 34:53 We can set up outside. 34:54 So anywhere. 34:54 So let me ask a question. 34:55 Because you have a shower trailer. 34:57 So that means when you go somewhere you've got to 35:00 contract or agree with someone to either connect to the 35:02 hydrogen or connect to their water supply. 35:05 That's another thing. 35:06 So we can hook up to a hose at a building. 35:09 But there's also fresh water tanks on those trailers. 35:11 So they can run without being hooked onto a hose. 35:14 So I'll show you the first one here. 35:15 This is our very first trailer. 35:17 We call it, yeah, that one is our original trailer. 35:21 So we've done over 50,000 showers in that trailer. 35:24 What's in that? 35:25 So we have four full bathrooms. 35:27 Each bathroom has a shower, sink, and toilet. 35:29 You did over 50,000 showers already. 35:32 Over 50,000 showers since we got that in 2018. 35:35 Actually, 3ABN, half of the cost of that trailer was 35:38 fundraised by 3ABN viewers. 35:40 Amen. 35:40 Yeah, so that was the beginning. 35:43 And then, you know, a few years later we launched our laundry 35:47 trailer. 35:48 Okay. 35:49 And so it has six washers and dryers in it. 35:52 A laundry detergent company donates unlimited laundry, $150 35:55 ,000 worth of laundry to us. 35:57 Wow. 36:02 50 loads of laundry a day, about 80 showers a day. 36:05 That's how busy these trailers got. 36:07 So those two trailers work together in downtown Orlando. 36:10 So you have people that are manning these. 36:12 Okay, this is your, you do this, you do that. 36:14 And where do you keep all the detergent and things like that? 36:17 Yeah, so we wish we had a warehouse. 36:21 That would be something. 36:24 That's a dream of ours too, you know, because now we have six 36:28 locations in central Florida, and there's a lot of supply 36:31 going in and out to each of those locations, you can 36:33 imagine. 36:35 But yeah, that right there is kind of our Orlando setup. 36:39 We have obviously some case managers and things like that, 36:42 and I'll go into more on that location. 36:43 And you have a wide shower trailer. 36:45 We do, we do. 36:46 What is that? 36:46 So the next picture is our... 36:48 There it is. 36:48 So we experiment. 36:50 Each trailer we get, we try something new and just kind of 36:53 experiment a little bit. 36:54 So this is a carbon fiber, you know, shell. 36:57 Okay. 37:01 toilet. 37:04 It's a place called Sanford. 37:05 Oh, I know Sanford. 37:07 And so this trailer is dedicated there along with case 37:10 managers and other services. 37:12 Actually, that's the same trailer that our San Diego 37:14 chapter got too. 37:16 So our San Diego chapter has the same white trailer. 37:20 So give an estimated idea of what something like that costs, 37:22 because somebody might say, they need another trailer and 37:25 I'd be glad to donate the money for it. 37:27 Yeah. 37:28 You know, whenever we get... 37:30 We've realized that new trailers open up new 37:34 opportunities, you know, and like even... 37:38 You know, it's just how God works too, right? 37:40 When you prepare yourself, when you increase your capacity, 37:43 then God has more that He can fill, right? 37:46 And so... 37:47 You build it, we'll fill it. 37:48 Yeah, yeah. 37:51 I'll share a story on that in a second. 37:53 But yeah, the trailers, you know, if it's a three bathroom, 37:58 you're probably talking about 55,000 or so. 38:01 We started to add ADA bathrooms to our trailer. 38:05 So that next picture actually is a trailer that has an ADA 38:09 bathroom in the back. 38:11 An ADA bathroom, a handicap accessible bathroom. 38:16 And it has a wheelchair lift there too, so people with 38:19 disabilities can get in that wheelchair lift, they can go 38:22 into a bathroom, use the toilet safely, use the shower safely. 38:26 So we started to build those on our newer trailers. 38:29 So that is a little more expensive. 38:31 So that one we're looking at probably about 85,000, 38:35 something like that. 38:36 But you know, so many people experiencing homelessness right 38:39 now are our seniors. 38:41 Last year we served over 600 seniors, over 60 years old, 38:46 that came to our site experiencing homelessness. 38:49 Because Social Security doesn't keep up with the rent 38:51 increases. 38:53 And so people end up getting evicted. 38:55 I mean, the seniors, it's just, it's unreal right now. 38:59 Our Lake County branch has been seeing a lot of seniors too, 39:01 which I'll chat more about. 39:03 But you know, that trailer, for example, right, a real estate 39:07 company decided, you know what, we want to buy this trailer for 39:10 you guys. 39:11 We applied for a grant with them. 39:13 They gave us about 100,000 to get that trailer and get it all 39:18 set up. 39:19 Got solar panels on it too. 39:21 And we didn't have really, you know, a place to use it. 39:24 And so what ended up happening was we did the ribbon cutting. 39:28 And around the same time we did that ribbon cutting, a shelter 39:32 in Sanford had said, hey, our women and children's bathrooms 39:37 and showers are down. 39:39 We need some help. 39:41 You know, do you have an extra trailer that maybe you could 39:44 bring here to help with the women and children? 39:46 I'm like, actually we do. 39:48 Yeah, great, great timing. 39:49 We cut the ribbon and literally it went right to that shelter 39:52 to help the women and children at the shelter. 39:55 It was, and you know, it happened with one of our other 39:59 trailers I'll tell you about later too. 40:00 But that's just how God works. 40:02 You know, you build it and he puts it to work. 40:05 You know what I mean? 40:09 out? 40:10 How does that work? 40:10 Yeah. 40:15 spray all the surfaces. 40:16 We wipe it down. 40:17 We make sure there's not even a hair in that bathroom for the 40:20 next person because it's a dignity thing for us, right? 40:23 If we wouldn't feel comfortable showering in it, showering in 40:27 it, then we, then, you know, it's not clean enough. 40:30 We got to work on it more. 40:33 So that's another reason why we need staff too because that's a 40:37 lot of work. 40:37 Maintenance. 40:42 But that's what we feel. 40:44 That's the level of service, of dignity we want to provide to 40:51 our guests because, you know, yeah, we're serving people 40:54 experiencing homelessness. 40:55 I think sometimes some organizations are kind of lax 40:58 on the customer service. 41:00 But, you know, that's not how it should be. 41:02 You know, our team is there to provide exceptional customer 41:06 service to our guests because that's part of showing God's 41:08 love too, right? 41:09 Yes, it is. 41:13 something that's important to us. 41:14 Now, what do you do with the seniors that need a place to 41:17 live? 41:18 How does that work? 41:19 So, you know what? 41:21 It's a really sad statistic, but in Central Florida last 41:25 year, 50% of all the seniors experiencing homelessness were 41:30 able to fit in shelters. 41:32 The other 50% had to be outside. 41:35 There was no other option for them. 41:38 There were no programs, no shelters for that group of 41:40 people. 41:41 And so what ended up happening, we had a 72-year-old come to us 41:44 with her dog. 41:45 She was a widow. 41:47 You know, she was in, you know, they were kind of old school in 41:51 a sense, you know, where, you know, the husband was taking 41:54 care of all the bills and doing all that, you know, knew how to 41:56 work the computer. 41:58 She didn't really know how to do that, you know, so after he 42:00 passes, she's really kind of stuck. 42:03 You know, she has no one to go to, no one to go to for 42:06 support, so she ends up getting evicted from her home. 42:09 She finds out about salt, she comes to salt. 42:11 She's 72 years old now with a dog, just recently widowed, and 42:16 she's bright red when she comes to us, because you know how hot 42:19 it gets in Florida, and so when you're older, you're more 42:23 susceptible to heat stroke and things like that, heat-related 42:27 illness, and so we brought her inside, you know, tried to get 42:31 her an A.C. 42:37 woman into a shelter, but all the shelters were full. 42:41 We couldn't, she had to sleep outside, and we didn't have the 42:44 resources to, you know, to put her up somewhere, because we 42:48 see so many people that are in that age range that need help, 42:53 you know, and so, but I will say this, it took a few months 42:57 to get her into a shelter. 42:59 We finally got her into a shelter, and we ended her 43:01 homelessness after six months. 43:03 The six months from when she first came to us, six months 43:06 later, she was in housing, but you know, it's really, it's 43:11 really hard. 43:14 just simply say, well, let's trade places for six months, 43:19 just imagine in just a brief moment, for the next six 43:23 months, I have no place to sleep. 43:26 I wake up in the morning, and like, wherever I am, that's it. 43:29 My day just begins and ends the same way for six months. 43:33 That's a tragedy. 43:34 I must ask this question. 43:36 So there are people that know where you're going to be 43:37 showing up on those particular days. 43:39 Do you ever get there, and there are people waiting for 43:41 you? 43:41 Oh, yeah. 43:42 Oh, yeah. 43:47 people lined up ready for service. 43:49 Yeah, every day. 43:50 So we're still getting the numbers on this from 2024, but 43:54 in 2023, we served 3,000 different, 3,089 different 43:59 people, and 2,000 of them were new to our services. 44:03 Wow. 44:04 So about 70% of everyone experiencing homelessness in 44:07 Central Florida each year is experiencing it for the first 44:10 time. 44:13 So every day, we get someone new. 44:15 When we recently moved location, I'll talk more about 44:18 that later, but when we got to that new location, the first 44:20 five days of operation, we had 77 new people to our services. 44:24 Wow. 44:25 And I'll show a word of mouth. 44:26 Some people say, hey, you know, hey. 44:28 Do you have business hours, too? 44:30 Yeah, we have business hours. 44:31 We set up on Google, you know, so people will know where we 44:34 are, what days, and all that, so that, you know, people can 44:39 come and get the services they need. 44:42 I must imagine with your staff, you know, you have counseling 44:45 available, you have prayer, those who wanted to have Bible 44:49 studies. 44:49 These are not imposed services. 44:51 These are elective things. 44:52 Yep, yep. 44:54 You know, it's not precursors to getting any service. 44:58 But talk about some of those days when, and I'm sure you 45:02 probably had many of these instances where just the story 45:06 you just heard just breaks you that day, and you say, we got 45:09 to keep going. 45:10 Yeah, oh, yeah. 45:13 We, I mean, every day almost feels like that, you know, I 45:17 mean, where we hear a new story, we see a new person. 45:22 I mean, we have our Youth and Young Adult program, which is 45:26 actually, which I'll talk more about in the second half, so, 45:30 you know, people are listening, you know, second half, you'll 45:33 learn more about that program. 45:34 But, you know, especially with the young people, you know, 45:36 Central Florida has one of the highest concentrations of Youth 45:39 and Young Adult homelessness. 45:40 Wow. 45:41 Homelessness? 45:42 Homelessness. 45:43 16 to 24-year-olds. 45:45 And so we have a dedicated team for that demographic. 45:48 We have dedicated space and trailers for that demographic 45:51 to make sure that they could have their own space, because 45:54 the causes of homelessness for that group are so different. 45:57 You know, they're aging out foster care, they're escaping 46:01 abuse or human trafficking. 46:04 Human trafficking is really big in Florida. 46:07 Or they're maybe identified as LGBTQ+, and they're kicked out 46:13 of their home, or they're running away, or a combination 46:16 of any of those things. 46:17 I mean, they're out there on the street. 46:19 So even, you know, when you see kids out there, I mean, it's... 46:23 It's heart-wrenching. 46:24 It's heart, yeah, it's heart -wrenching, for sure. 46:26 Now, sometimes people don't know about your service, and 46:29 the most unlikely person will say, You mean, you haven't 46:32 heard about SALT, and you're an Adventist? 46:35 Talk about Miss Betty for a moment. 46:37 Yeah, yeah, so, you know, we just expanded to a place called 46:43 Lake County. 46:45 You know, there's a lot of places there, you know, and 46:49 it's a pretty big county. 46:52 And so, actually, I have one picture I want to show real 46:54 quick to kind of show some of the team, the leadership that 46:57 started that chapter. 46:59 So Miss Betty attends a Presbyterian church. 47:03 You know, that's them right there. 47:05 So the second to the left is Miss Betty, and the third to 47:08 the left is Kelly. 47:10 She's the one, and the fourth to the left is Nancy. 47:14 And so they... 47:15 Kelly and Nancy kind of are, you know, and Miss Betty are 47:18 kind of spearheading this over there. 47:20 And so we named the shower trailer they got Miss Betty, 47:24 because Miss Betty is not an Adventist Christian, right? 47:29 She's Presbyterian, and she has a homeless ministry over there 47:33 in Lake County. 47:35 And so, and she, you know, Nancy and Kelly will attend 47:40 that ministry, and they would help, and they'd work together 47:42 and serve the unsheltered. 47:44 And one day Miss Betty's like, hey, you guys should call Salt 47:48 and bring them over so that we can start doing showers and 47:51 things like that. 47:52 And they were like, who's Salt? 47:53 And Miss Betty's like, what? 47:55 They're an Adventist ministry, and you guys are Adventists. 47:57 You don't know them? 47:59 Shame on you. 48:00 And so anyway, we, you know, Kelly ended up calling me. 48:03 We talked about just, we kind of dreamed together a little 48:06 bit. 48:07 And I ended up going to the church where they do the 48:11 outreach, which was a Presbyterian church. 48:12 We had different churches around the table there 48:15 represented, not just Adventist churches, but different 48:18 churches there. 48:24 about their vision of wanting to bring a shower trailer to 48:26 Lake County. 48:27 Wonderful. 48:32 came out of nowhere for us, right? 48:33 We had a plan of what we were gonna do. 48:35 And I was like, look, I love the idea. 48:38 We don't necessarily have the capacity to provide a lot of 48:41 support here. 48:42 We don't have the resources to provide. 48:45 But you know what? 48:48 You know, and we, you know, we all prayed together in that 48:51 room. 48:51 And we said, you know what? 48:53 Let's just see what God does. 48:55 Right when I left that meeting, someone had donated, you know, 48:59 and I don't wanna say her name because I don't think she'd 49:01 want me to share it, but someone had donated $20,000 49:03 toward the shower trailer. 49:05 Right when I left that. 49:06 And it felt, you know, we believed it was confirmation 49:09 that God wanted this to happen. 49:11 In three months, this is record time for any salt trailer, in 49:15 three months, they raised the money for that trailer, for a 49:18 shower trailer. 49:19 For Lake County? 49:20 In Lake County. 49:20 Wow. 49:23 They named it Miss Betty because Miss Betty helped 49:25 introduce everyone to salt, you know. 49:28 And yeah, it's just been, it's been really, really great 49:31 there. 49:35 of our guests there that we're serving. 49:38 And then the next picture there is Nancy praying with one of 49:44 our seniors experiencing homelessness there. 49:48 And so, and then we have Richie who's also, you know, a leader 49:51 and a huge help in the ministry there, kind of consoling, 49:56 comforting one of our guests that's going through a tough 49:59 time. 50:01 You know, it's, yeah, they're seeing a lot there, especially 50:06 a lot of seniors as well. 50:08 I was just talking to her today. 50:10 They're seeing a lot of seniors there, sleeping in their cars. 50:13 But you know, a beautiful thing that we're seeing there, which 50:17 is really cool, is that there's so many groups and churches 50:21 supporting this effort in Lake County. 50:24 It's just really, it's just... 50:26 Collective effort. 50:30 to the table to help. 50:31 I mean, the Presbyterian Church has donated. 50:33 Yes. 50:34 The Baptist Church has donated. 50:37 The Unitarian Church, you know, invited Kelly to go speak and 50:41 donated. 50:42 I mean, it's just been, it's been... 50:44 You know, the sheep I have. 50:46 Yeah. 50:46 Here it is. 50:47 Yeah, yeah. 50:51 you know, the Church of Latter -day Saints kind of selected 50:55 SALT to fundraise at the end of the year to help us continue 50:59 our mission as well. 51:00 LDS? 51:01 So yeah, yeah. 51:02 So it's just been, you know, that's a really beautiful 51:07 thing. 51:08 Yes, yes. 51:09 And acronym for SALT is Service and Love Together. 51:12 Together. 51:16 ministry. 51:17 We all come together. 51:18 We do Matthew 25 ministry. 51:20 That's right. 51:20 And it brings everyone together. 51:23 And so yeah, that's been a huge blessing. 51:26 Yeah. 51:31 the kingdom. 51:32 And they said, then he tells them the reason why. 51:35 And you're checking all the boxes. 51:37 Yeah. 51:37 And God put that on your heart. 51:39 Yeah. 51:42 But James talks about the functional Gospel. 51:47 If you see somebody hungry or naked or need clothing and you 51:51 dismiss them, you are a respecter of a person. 51:56 And you look at the ministry of Jesus, He modeled of that. 52:00 He fed the hungry, clothed the naked, raised the dead. 52:04 Now you don't have resurrection services. 52:06 Yeah, yeah. 52:08 We haven't raised anyone for the dead yet, but you know. 52:10 But the Lord will raise them up. 52:12 But He's raising people up literally out of the gutter. 52:16 Well, and you know, you remind me of a testimony that our Lake 52:20 County leader Kelly was sharing with me later. 52:23 And so earlier today, so there's a young person they've 52:27 been ministering to that they've been serving at the 52:29 Lake County Project and the chapter. 52:32 And you know, one of the people involved in the ministry used 52:37 to be an addictions counselor. 52:38 And she's there. 52:39 She's talking with this guy who has an addiction. 52:41 Young guy has an addiction. 52:44 And she shares with him some of those, you know, as an 52:47 addictions counselor helping him to process that and 52:50 hopefully give that up, right? 52:53 Because it's, you know, of the destructive nature of this, 52:57 right? 53:01 care and we want God to get the glory for everything we do. 53:04 So he knows we're a Christian Adventist organization. 53:07 And so he ends up two days later, after this, after this, 53:14 he overdoses. 53:15 He almost dies. 53:16 He gets raised back to life. 53:17 Someone brings him back to life using, I think they use Narcan 53:20 or something to get him back to life. 53:22 His life literally flashed before his eyes. 53:25 He comes out of that and he comes back to the ministry. 53:28 And he's like, ever since I got back, I've been thinking about 53:33 those words you told me the last time. 53:35 And he's like, I want to give this up. 53:37 I need to go to detox. 53:38 And so our branch there, our leadership there is getting 53:42 them over to detox and continuing to minister to him 53:45 and help them through that process. 53:49 But in this case, someone had said, I heard it somewhere and 53:54 I can't remember where, but that the opposite of addiction 53:57 isn't being sober. 53:59 The opposite of addiction is community. 54:02 Love that. 54:06 to someone that's in addiction is so healing. 54:09 It's so healing. 54:13 pray for him. 54:18 And we'll continue kind of walking with him in this story. 54:22 I love that. 54:23 The opposite of addiction is community, not sober. 54:27 That's beautiful. 54:28 Eric, you're just laying the foundation. 54:31 So if you're watching the program or listening to the 54:34 program, you've seen this artichoke over ministry just 54:37 continue unfolding and unfolding. 54:40 And it'll be wonderful. 54:42 We're going to talk about in the second hour how you can 54:44 volunteer. 54:45 But before we end the first hour, say you have a 54:49 circumstance or situation, there are people that you can 54:52 partner with. 54:54 Are you looking into how to partner with somebody who can 54:57 provide housing, who can begin to build those bridges? 55:00 That may be another facet. 55:01 Yeah, we're always looking for partners. 55:04 We have tons of partners we work with. 55:06 Every partner we have, we vet the partners too and make sure 55:09 that they're legit and providing Christ-centered 55:14 services. 55:18 Because sometimes some places are a little... 55:21 But yeah, we have tons of partners we work with to help 55:25 get people from experiencing homelessness to housed. 55:28 And then our spiritual care team. 55:30 Last year, 18 people were brought to Christ through 55:33 baptism. 55:34 Amen. 55:39 studies, the church services, has been a really, really key 55:43 point too, especially even on the addiction side too. 55:46 Because God is the one who helps to break our addictions, 55:49 right? 55:50 We're all addicted to sin, right? 55:52 And God helps us to overcome that, born in sin. 55:56 So yeah, always looking for collaborations for sure. 56:02 That's beautiful. 56:03 We'll talk about that later on in the program. 56:06 But you know, salt, you all have the salt of the earth. 56:08 If the salt loses its savor, what purpose does it have any 56:12 longer? 56:16 but you're just about getting ready to expand. 56:19 And we know that what we're seeing here, Eric, is you look 56:23 back on your inception and look at where you are today and to 56:27 say, I wake up every morning supercharged, ready to go. 56:32 And I know when you pull up and you're hooking up those hoses 56:35 and stabilizing the trailer and you see the people gathering, 56:39 it's like, thank you, Lord. 56:42 Another life is going to be changed today. 56:45 Yeah, yeah. 56:45 God is doing something here. 56:48 And again, He put it on our hearts to grow and to expand, 56:52 to help even more people, more places. 56:55 But not just in a wide sense, but in a deep sense. 56:59 That's right. 57:02 And, you know, so we're excited to see that. 57:05 And we'll continue serving and sharing Christ's love with the 57:10 people we see that are most vulnerable on our street. 57:12 Quick question. 57:13 How many days a week are you open? 57:14 So we have five, so by the, probably another three months 57:18 we'll have five locations five days a week in Central Florida. 57:22 Crazy. 57:23 Yeah. 57:25 think we're just about done, we're just getting started. 57:28 You do not want to miss the second half. 57:29 We're going to be talking about the ministry to the young and 57:32 so many more things. 57:33 So we're going to take about a two minute break. 57:35 Don't go away. 57:37 There's more salt to come. |
Revised 2025-02-28