OC Talk Radio
S1 Ep7: AROUND THE TABLE with South County Outreach: Love Story of Our Founder Ray Havert
(upbeat music) - Hey, welcome back everybody. It's time to gather around the table, South County Outreach, where we take you on a journey deep into the heart of our organization's mission to combat poverty and uplift our community. And today I think we're gonna bring LaValle in and he's gonna talk about the origin of this whole thing. I think that's what you're talking about here today. We're gonna talk about, but I'm not, I wasn't there. That's why we're doin' this. We're gonna hear from the people that were. Yeah, we had the privilege of knowing how you got started and the founder that kinda pulled that together is rare for organizations that are of our age of 35 years. So good to see you, Paul. - Good to see you. We're gonna get one of your guests to turn. Bunny's gonna turn a little bit more towards the camera than she's turnin' away if we can't see her, okay? - Bunny's, yes. - She's hiding. - You know what, I've learned that I don't tell her what to do. - I made that mistake. - Yes, you've committed the mistake that I was not able to coach you on. But hey, let's get started. Hi, I'm Wolf Al Brewer and this podcast is about showcasing our work. It's about inviting our listeners to join us on our mission by offering a sneak peek into the values that shape our poverty prevention efforts. We hope to inspire you to become more involved in creating positive change in our community. I've read Ray's book. I got a chance to understand why he started and who he was as a person 'cause the book wasn't just about South Kanye. I read it was about him and then his journey to bring love and care to the world. And when we started thinking about our podcast work, we were like, how do we celebrate Ray and how do we bring this together? And by the way, this is our 35th year. And how do we bring love into the space? When we were thinking about what he was doing for his neighbors and what he was doing for his community, it was really about love. He loved his neighbors so much and he cared for them so well that he started this organization to continue that care. And now that he's not with us any longer, that care continues to grow. But we don't know the inner workings of that beginning part. So that's why you two are here. - And we gotta do a shout out to Ray's last name was. Haver, okay. All right, we're gonna tell the story of Ray Haver. Let's go, who else, who'd you bring in to tell that? - Okay, so if two people here with me today, I've got a bunny echus who's on our team and was originally one of our board members but now is one of our team members. And we have Shana, who's a good friend of mine from Hope Builders, who worked there a long time ago. How you guys doing? - Not that long ago. - Short time ago. - Thank you. - We're just going in trouble everywhere here today. - A little bit. - But you know what, this is gonna be the best one. - Half my life ago. - Half your life ago. Hey, how are you two doing? - Great, so happy to be here to talk about Ray Haver. - Oh my God, it's so fun. Hey bunny, we're gonna start with you, get to meet him, like how do you know him? - I've been doing non-profit work since I was probably 10 years old. And when I moved to South County, what we call Saddleback Valley at that time, I wanted to give where I live. And so I was a realtor at that time and I was the chairperson for the community relations. And when somebody at the board told Ray to find me, he found me at what we call wantin' a plug meeting and I was getting ready to plug one of my listings and he came up to me and said, I was told to talk to you, I need food. And I said, let me push my dice, I'll be right back. I came back and said, let's go get you food. And he goes, no, I don't need food. This community needs food. And I said, we got Nelly Gayle, we got Cut It A Color, we got, we really need food here. He says, let me show you. And he took me for a drive, I got a car with a man, I just said Matt. And he took me up Los Alisos in Mission VA Ho and we saw and bags and food underneath the acacia pushes there. And he said these people need food, I wanna start a food bank. He said, I've retired, I went to my priest and he said, I said, I don't play golf, I don't play poker, I don't cheat on my wife, I want to do something for the county. I want it. And he said, go gather food for them, they need food. And so that's what he started doing. - Well, yeah, I love opportunity. He was a Knights Columbus to I believe. - He was in so many organizations, I can't even, but this one, that was one of them. - So this guy has this power to say, hey, I need food and you want to feed him and he brought you to feed others. - Yes. - Yeah, it's very biblical. There's a lot, we could talk about that later. We'd tie into that. You, so you joined as a volunteer and at some point in time, he talked you in to do something different. What happened there? - He had me attend board meetings and after the third one, he said, but he's been here three times, he's on the board and I was on the board at that time. And I was like, going what? But he said, I want to start buying houses. I wanna start buying homes for these homeless people. And that's, I was a real estate agent, he wanted to have help into that. - Yeah. - I was very honored. - We eventually got 17 properties because of that effort and helped people get out of shelter and get into a stable place where they can heal and grow and then move into more stable housing of their own. That's a different conversation. But you joined the team. You left your sprawling lucrative real estate effort and you joined the team at South County Outreach as a paid staff person. What happened there? - 18 years I was not paid. 18 years I was on the board of directors and although I made commissions, but when you're selling condos at $68,000, it's not a lot of commission involved. I usually donated it back to Claz escrow, either to buy home warranties or something. But then 17 years ago, he said, he threw my hat into the ring and said, I think Bunny should be our new manager for our e-commerce and our thrift store. And they were expanding the thrift store at that time to a bigger location. And I said, I have a job. And he says, yeah, you can probably do both. And I did for a short period of time. But my heart was not in the real estate industry as much as it was in his heart and helping raise money for South County Outreach. - Yeah, so I'd love to hear one thing, except I'm gonna ask you that later. So when we circle up, I'm asked the one thing that you remember that Ray said to you that stuck with you, or something he did that kind of brought out this love and care for his community. So you start thinking about that. Shana, how are you? - I'm good, like I said, happy to be here. - Yeah, I remember I was going through, when I first started at South County Outreach, I was the jack of all trades because we had a smaller team. And I was going through our employee files because we needed to do some things to make sure that we were compliant. And I come across your folder and I was like, what? - This is the first I've heard of that. - Yes, I've seen my employee file. - Yeah, I've seen your employee file. It's very thin, it's very thin. That's good, but it's back then, anyway. So I come across your employee file and I was like, oh my lord. - I was a fresh new baby right out of college. And I participated in a program called the Jesuit Volunteer Corps. And somehow, I don't know how he got in touch with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps, but basically it pairs recent college graduates with social sector organizations that need help, need energy, need cheap labor. And that was me. And I was maybe the third volunteer who had been there. - That's awesome, that's awesome. So you're doing this work, what did you do? - I was there in 1997, '98. I was the only paid staff person. And I was paid $100 a month through the Jesuit Volunteer Corps. I lived in a community with five other folks. And the volunteer coordinator was my job title. But at that time, everybody did a little bit of everything, right? So I was in charge of scheduling all the volunteers and just making sure we had coverage for all the tasks that needed to be done. I worked in the food pantry if I needed to. I would help distribute utility assistance or rental assistance or really whatever needed to be done. I did it alongside many volunteers from the community that came every week and give a few hours to help make the place run. - Yeah, yeah. So what was it like working for Ray? - He's one of those people that just had youthful energy. He was an optimist from head to toe. He loved people. He loved getting to know people, talking to people like inquisitive, curious. One of the first things I remember was when he met me on my first day and he was showing me the code, the security code to get in. It was his age and plus a year the organization was founded. - I think that hasn't changed. - Good to know. I can still get in. And he would take me to lunch once a week. We'd just talk and learn about each other. As Bunny said, he knew every community organization out there, every Rotary Club, Goanna's Club, Knights of Columbus, every church ministry group. And he would be out there connecting people to people. - Yeah. One of the things that we pride ourselves on is when we talk about South County outreach in our communities. When I'm preaching a church or giving a presentation to a Rotary Club, I'm a Rotarian myself, as was he. We often start off with this conversation around neighbors. We never say, hey, South County outreach needs your help. So please give us money. That works. But we've found that when we started talking about, hey, everyone, your neighbor needs your help. And you can see some of them, Bunny, you mentioned it. We have very wealthy developments, right? We have very wealthy developments, but we don't have necessarily the available wealthy neighbors, right? So those people confuse the two. But when you start bringing it out as a neighbor conversation and bringing it back to our topic today, love that neighbor, it really, you can see the people in our community stop and go, yes. And 'cause what I say to them is, when you chose to live here, you stopped and you looked at the schools, you looked at the neighborhood, you looked at where you lived, and you chose this neighborhood because you're like, I love this. This is the neighborhood I want to raise my family in. And we sometimes forget that once we close the door, like once, Bunny, you talk about the real estate, once we close, we often then forget this conversation until we learn who our neighbors are and we start building these friendships within our neighbors, in our neighborhoods. And we just talk about what does it mean to love your neighbor who is struggling. And when I think Ray is, and I want you both to give me this, what I think Ray was, yes, he loved his neighbors. He loved his neighborhood and he loved them so much that he was willing to lean into them. He was willing to open the door to them. He was willing to bring people into that conversation about the volunteers who were doing this work and the collection of food and the buying of housing so that people don't live on the street. That's just this incredible wave of love that this man started. Can you think of or share how did he do that? Like when he was talking to clients and he not necessarily volunteers 'cause we know how he loved his volunteers, the clients they come and go, right? They're here for food and they're gone and then they're here for food and they're gone. They're here for rental assistance, they're gone. Are there in our units and then they move out? What was that love like when he was there? He was very given. He loved his family a lot. He spent a lot of time with his family. He loved his grandchildren but then he realized that they were lucky and there were children out there who weren't as lucky and he wanted to help them as well. And he was very fortunate that he had a family that was willing to let him do that and not say you're taking time from us who else is gonna do it, his whole attitude. - I think he saw it very simply. So one of the things I have reflected a lot about what Ray taught me over the years is he took something like hunger, solving hunger in our community, which sometimes can be so big and overwhelming that it paralyzes people into just like simple steps he could take, right? Like he could talk to somebody about hunger. He could introduce people and he treated every interaction like that, I think, just a simple conversation and because of that, people joined. I think they saw where, oh, I can do that. I can volunteer for a couple hours a week. I can, well, let me introduce you to this other person. I can make a small contribution. He made it so that you could figure out how to channel your desire to serve the neighbor. He was that conduit because he just showed you by doing this simple thing and I totally agree. His love for his family just was a person who exuded love. So when he interacted with clients who came in, that's who he was, happy and welcoming and full of joy. - That's awesome. - If I can add a little bit to that, I remember a story he told me and he gave me a print out of it about the man walking on the ocean and he was throwing in-- - Starfish? - Starfish. And another man said, what are you doing? He says, I'm trying to save the starfish. And he said, look, there's so many. You won't be able to make a difference. And he threw one in, he made a difference to that one. And that was just, well, I still have it in my office. That whole poem about that. - The interesting thing about the starfish story, thanks for sharing that bunny and reminding me. Interesting thing about the starfish story is that starfish story, we think it's just the starfish that gets thrown in and that those two interactions is the story. The reality is the story multiplying to others about you can also be a part of the solution and if more of us were throwing starfish back in the ocean, which now we are because we're recognizing that, we can save this multitude and it is really hard in it. And when you think about homelessness right this minute, it's almost, is it possible for us to do this? Yes, it is. Now it's gonna take a whole bunch of people to put their hands down, pick up that starfish and throw it back in, have enough love to say, I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna stop what I'm doing. I'm gonna stop what's important to me and I'm gonna lean into others. So, and when you think about the mission, if Ray were here today and he was walking and he was looking and he was paying attention, what would he say about the mission of the organization right now? I think the most important thing about our mission is trying to break the cycle of homelessness and hunger, helping to educate the head of the family that your children don't have to be hungry and homeless like you were, they won't have to, because you are gonna learn and teach them the way to get out of it. I've always, I said to some of them when I speak, I say that probably my happiest day will be the day that LaValle calls me and says, we don't need SEO anymore, and I don't see that happening, but that would be great to say we don't have people that need food or need help with their utilities or help with their rent. Yeah, we can get there, we can get there. I think he would be thrilled, he would be absolutely thrilled to see how it has evolved, because I think even in the early days, he was always seeing the next opportunity and bringing it in to SEO to better serve the clients that came every day. So whether it was the rental housing or the computer lab or you were teaching computer skills back in the day, or again, he would just see the next little small thing he could bring into the fold to make SEO a place where people could really come and get the services they needed, so I think he would be absolutely thrilled. Yeah, I think he would love it. So we often get asked, at least I often get asked when I'm out and about, you're a faith-based organization. I'm like, nope, we're not a faith-based organization. We're led by a faithful man who believes in the Lord and God, and we have multiple people who believe that the Lord is making a path for us, but we are not registered as a faith-based organization. And people stop and look at us like, huh, you treat people like you're a faith-based organization, and I've always wondered about that, and I want to say always, it's only been four years. So I've always wondered about that character of our organization that makes us seem like we are faith-based in our efforts. Do you think that was because Ray built that out or that the character of the organization just molded around that? If you were to guess, what do you think about that, Sean? I lead a very similar organization. So that was started by the Sisters of St. Joseph, of Orange, but is not a faith-based organization. And I think Ray built it into the DNA. It is, part of his Catholic identity was, like the Sisters of St. Joseph, they have a very similar mantra of serving the dear neighbor, without distinction. And that is exactly what Ray embodied as well. So I think it was who he was, and his DNA was implanted into the organization, and the organization has carried it forward in a beautiful way. And I think it's what we're called to as human beings, regardless of our faith orientation, is to use the gifts and talents that we have to serve one another. And I think that is what Ray embodied completely. Okay, we're gonna divert a little bit, we're gonna move a little differently here. We were talking about love, we're gonna continue that, we're gonna end it up. But Sean, tell us about the work you do. Okay, Hope Builders empowers young adults in our community who are disadvantaged, low-income with the mentorship and the life skills and the job skills they need to start a career pathway and build a pathway to prosperity. So we're catching young people out there who need the skills to get a great job and support themselves and their families into the future and helping them launch early into young adulthood, so. Now we're talking about transitional age youth, primarily? 18 to 28 is our target age group. And I'll tell you, one of the reasons I was so called to go to Hope Builders after my time at SCO was, I saw how every month hard-working families who were employed still had a hard time making ends meet and they needed places like SCO to close the gap. And it really propelled me to Hope Builders because I felt like, okay, if we can invest in skills and education, we can help people break that cycle of poverty. But you have to have both. You have to have both the things that help fill the gap in the meantime. And then you need the catalytic thing, the skill building and the kind of social skill building that help people break the cycle. - You know, we often break myths on this podcast. One of our efforts here is to break the myth of poverty and break the myth of hunger and homelessness. And we so often hear the stories of, it must be mental illness. It must be, they've made a bad decision. It must be, oh, they don't know how to budget and the school system didn't teach them. And every time I hear that last one, we've broken the myth the other two is like, yeah, I know people who are on drugs here don't just find. They're stably housed and they have food on the table. I know people with mental illness who are stably housed in a food on the table. That conversation about budgeting and life skills and all that, and I just go, that's interesting that you say that it's the school's responsibility to do that because I agree with you, the school should lean into people. But at the same time, the people that I know that are doing well financially have a stable job who are really motivated and moving forward. They had a helping hand from someone. They had a mentor, they had a coach, they had a family member, they had a friend, that there was someone who was behind them, the wind in their sail pushing them forward. You wanna think about our low income families who don't have, who have less of those types of people. That's where hope builders comes into place. - That's right. - That's where I see this love of viewers like, hey, we're gonna hold your hand and we're gonna show you how to get here, especially 18 to 28 years old. There's no 18 year old who is able to just walk out of their house at 18 and walk into and say, hey, I'm gonna get a job and I'm gonna make $27 an hour, which is what you need to make to live by yourself. And get in a house with no money, no credit history, and have a landlord say, yeah, we're gonna trust you, 18 year old, to be good in this one bedroom apartment and pay the rent and turn on the utilities and know how to get to work by themselves and do the school thing. So that love that your organization shows to shepherd people through this process is what helps people not need SEO, right? - That's our hope. - Yeah. - We're partnered with Bunny and trying to close you down. - I'm down for that. Closing us down in a positive way. Closing us down is the love that I think Ray would love. If he was able to step back and say, wow, you're telling me we don't need this anymore? That not as a miracle, that is God really leaning in to say, we are going to fix this. And if the love of our community was strong enough, and when I do say if it was, I'm not saying it is, 'cause it's not. If of all of our community was strong enough, we would care so deeply about the people who live next to us that we would not tolerate. Them not having food on their table or roof over their head. And if we can continue to build that love for our community, like your organization is doing, like Bunny is doing every day out in the community, telling our story and the many volunteers and staff on our team who care and love up before our neighbors and the people who come to us so deeply that they tell us while you really love us and send us notes, we would have a much more equitable world as it relates to hunger and homelessness. - Totally agree. - I just monologue there and I apologize. Yeah, we're gonna go into our closing here. So you both were prepped, we asked three questions and we're gonna do them one at a time. Bunny, we're gonna start with you, okay? So here are your three questions, where we go. And it's wrapped fire, just go at it. Who influences you? - My love for the volunteers is there. I love the volunteers. Ray was my mentor, watching these volunteers, living my age, they're coming in and helping and gladly helping. That's who I learn a lot from. - Okay. Favorite food from childhood? - Meatloaf. - Meatloaf, got to ask with, so who made the meatloaf? - My mother. - Made the meatloaf, okay. - Never knew what was in it. - That's fine, you're not supposed to. So, was the sauce on top, was it? - Catch up on the top and bacon on the top. - Catch up, okay, okay. This is really just me figuring out what my new recipe is gonna be. (laughing) - So I'll tell my wife back to the bacon. And then, who would you like to sit around the table with? If you were sitting around the table, having a conversation with someone like this, or something else, who would you like to sit around and table with? - I love sports, I don't know. I really admire a lot of the things that Magic Johnson has done. And so I might wanna sit around and talk with him about where that love came. Where his aspect came from helping people, like he'd been helping people, or over respect what he's done. - Okay, I know someone who knows him, I'll call and ask her if they can sit around the table with you. - Shawn, same thing, so who is or has influenced you? - The young adults I work with every day, they inspire me, and they inform everything that I do. So, those young people out there who dare to hope when they have been faced with so much hopelessness. - I bet you you inspired some older people when you were a young person in our organization too. I bet you some people would say the same thing. All right, next question, your favorite food from childhood? - My mom's barbecue cheeseburgers. There's nothing like a grilled cheeseburger. I have a summer birthday, so we would always have homemade hamburger cheeseburgers with lettuce and tomato and yum. - Yeah, okay, that's good, I could be bad. - I know, simple, or the other thing that popped into my mind was craft mac and cheese. (laughing) It's one of those things, I eat it now and I think, what, but as a child, I'm telling you. It's good, I know you do, and you are brightening people's childhoods. - Yeah, we are, yeah, but we also provide milk and butter so that they can actually make that mac and cheese that we get donated in rows of boxes, which is thank you, thank you for that, by the way. I really do appreciate it. And then, so if you were sitting around a table with someone, who would you learn to sit around a table with? - Two women came to mind, Dorothy Day, who's one of my heroes, and Michelle Obama. Dynamic, empowered, brave, bold women. - I don't know Dorothy, tell me a little bit about her. - So she, I almost think of her like, she's not a saint, but she was a woman who became Catholic as an adult, she grew up atheist. And in the kind of early 1900s, left everything she had to serve the poor, opened up homeless shelters, food pantries, and she was a radical. She did it just as a woman on her own. And she spoke the truth, spoke truth to power. - Yeah, all right. Man, I have so many people to meet. This is becoming daunting. Hey, thank you very much for both of you coming in and talking about the love that Ray provided and started and continues today to make our clients and our community a better place. All right, hey, thank you listeners, and hope you and your friends join us next time around the table as we continue to explore the intersection of food, people, and culture. Have a good day. (upbeat music) - Join us again as we continue to gather around the table is South County Outreach, where we take you on a journey deep into the hearts of our organization's mission to combat poverty and uplift our community and meet the neighbors all around you. Right here in Orange County, it's on the community radio station, no-see-talk radio streaming live from our studios here at the University of California, Irvine-Spiel, Applied Innovation Center. 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