Hey, humans. How's it going? Susan Ruth here. Thanks for listening to another episode of hey, human podcast. This is episode 4 and 10. And my guests are actor and activist William Baldwin and doc Robert Margaret, who has worked on issues of homelessness for more than 3 decades. We'll learn a lot more about Robert in an upcoming episode. Robert and Williams sat down with me and talked about how the 2 of them have spent the last year visiting homeless shelters and outreach programs.
They're part of a huge humanitarian campaign that includes the documentary Americans with no address that William, is the narrative 4. A feature film, no address, starring William and an ensemble cast. A book based on the film and an interactive study guide to accompany all of it and it is to educate and provide structure for approaches to engage and, quote, serve individuals who are experiencing homelessness un unquote. I've seen the documentary, and it is incredible. It stunning well done.
What really struck me in the film was that there are outreach programs, private groups churches, private citizens who are making a huge difference in the homelessness crisis in the fact that so many Americans have no address as stated in the film title in San Antonio, there is a program that was featured in the documentary that has been able to drop homelessness by 70 percent. It works. These programs work and yet, it seems our government is so busy fighting with itself.
That they're what's really standing in the way of tackling this issue, and it's not a left or right thing because both sides are have fo have problems with dealing with this crisis. It's mental health crisis. It's an addiction crisis. It's it's a lot of stuff, all wrapped up, But it's being dealt with and handled in a really beautiful lovely humane. And dare I say Christ like, I'm going to say it because I think that's fitting. In a way that really... And I don't mean that in a
religious sense, I should say. I mean not in an embodiment sense. That it's it's working. And so I... When this movie when the documentary, I should say, comes out and people can see it. Right now, it's doing the tour, and and they showed it up in Washington Dc and things like that. When it hits the air waves for public consumption, I highly recommended it. It's so so so good. The movie, no address won't be out till the end of the year, but the documentary should
come out sooner than that. So please, if you can. Definitely check that out, and I'll keep you updated when I know to let you know to go find it. Okay. General stuff. I myself. I'm on Patreon under Susan Ruth. It helps keep this show ad free. It helps with just the basic creative endeavors that I do. Lots of content Well, oh me rephrase that. It's not lots of content yet. I'm working up to it, but definitely content you won't get another places on my other social media.
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yeah. Rate review, subscribe to hey human podcast on itunes or wherever you get your podcast. Thank you for listening. Thank you for being a part of this community, and I appreciate you. So be well, be kind. Love, be compassion. Here we go. William Baldwin, and Doctor Robert Margaret, welcome to a human. Hello. Hello. Hello? Thanks for being here. Billy. We're gonna focus on you for most of this. Robert, you're
gonna be stats person I understand. Billie, how I like to start is I ask people where they're from and how their childhood shaped who they are now? I was born on Long Island in Mass Long Island. I live most of my life in New York. Went to school and Upstate New York, and I lived in New York City and the
suburbs. You know, when I met my wife and we had our children that I I got relocated for working raised my children in the Santa of Barbara commute to paramount, and I've been out in on the West Coast for since 2007, but spent the majority of my life, in in and around the city. You're living in the city or, you know, growing up in the suburbs and, yeah. My my life was very, very heavily influenced by... Primarily
by, you know, my... You know, my parents first, my siblings, my community, And also, I would say outside of that, my... I competed as an athlete as a wrestler, and I think Wrestling from fourth grade through high... Junior high, high school in college. Really sort of, help to shape and inform the way, I go about my luck pursuing just my philosophy on life, but more importantly than that, certainly my parents, my father was a public educator.
He was an activist He was a high school political science teacher, and he did everything at the school. He coached the football team, the rifle team, he ran the e club. He'd rather the youth Council so he'd rather winter wreck program the summer recreation program. He was a little coach for when my brother, Alex started to when Steven finished, and he was... Our Cub scout master who when Alex started
to when Steven finished. So he just was directly and indirectly helping influence in shape and inform the lives of a lot of the members of my community for, you know, 35 years. Like, a community father figure. Yeah. Yeah. He was a real pillar in our community He was a gonna pillar and someone who instilled the value in me, my siblings and many people in my community of giving back in, you know, through in the form of service. Has he is he passed away? He died when I was... I'm very young.
He died when I was 19 and when I was college. That's awful. I'm sorry. And then my mother miraculously lived to be almost 93. Oh, wow. She my dad by 40 years. Yeah. Wow. Clearly, in your childhood, you mentioned activism political science, I think that definitely shapes a child to have that conversation going in the house? Yeah. And is that really where you got the show bug to be a a really an active member of society? Yeah. I always say I I was an activist that happened to become an actor or
not. The other way around. I wasn't an actor that happened to become an activist. Because I was an activist when I was 15 years old. I was involved with student government all the way from 6 or seventh grade all the way through graduating and at Binghamton University Was a political science major. You know, I fetch coffee on the hill for fetch coffee and dry cleaning on the hill for a little and I've been active on various political nonprofit and and charitable boards for
decades. My mother's breast cancer Foundation, rocked the vote the creative coalition, a help for the homeless... Lots of different organizations. I've been involved in, but that was something that was instilled to me, you know, dinner conversations sitting around the dinner table. I don't remember
every night. We we always said dinner around the tate table every night, but I don't always remember Pb and Walter Cro be on every night, but we were a family that that watched the news was aware of world affairs and current affairs and discussed it. I mean, I I literally remember discussing when I was, you know, 10 years old, what was going on with Nixon and Water gate around the dinner table of my father.
You feel like that's something that you've been instilled in your own kids as well as you move forward? I hope so, I think so I don't know Here's the deal. Like, it's in my Dna. I don't know if it's in their Dna, the way it's in my Dna. I sort of have a compartment life where I do things with my kids, and I don't really talk a lot about my show business career, and I don't... I do talk
about things that are important to me. But we live in a world where kids are being sort of repel and turned off by... Not... We... Look, my kids aren't the kids right now, that are watching what's happening and they're aware, but they're not, like, actively going to demonstrations. They have in the past actually. They've gone to climate change of events. They've gone to Black lives matter events. They've marched in Santa Barbara and big marches that they've had in in Santa Barbara,
so they're aware, and they've they've demonstrated. There's... I I wouldn't say they have been... Like, I was involved with student government in from seventh grade through twelfth Grade. They've never done that. I was a political science major. They were not political science major. They are aware, and they are compassionate if they care. So we'll see where
at leads another. What my oldest just graduated at Usc, my middle child is gonna be a senior at Sc usc, and my youngest child who is the the dod bird was, the val of her school, and she's currently not She's on her second gap year because she's working and doing great in New York, and she's playing guitar. And she's in studios and she's recording demos and stuff. So she's
very bright. I'm not sure if it's gonna wind up with her with, like a dual, theater and economics degree or if she's gonna go like her mother and go into show business and have a record deal and have 3 songs go to number 1. On the billboard charts when she's 19 or 20 years old, like her mother did and her grandmother. My her mother is my wife China Phillips and her grandmother is Michelle Phillips ups from the mama's Papa so she comes from a long line. But, I think that's what's in her Dna.
Yeah. I get that. But she was Val don't know any That it didn't go on to go to college. Right now she's 1. As far as the younger generation, I mean, they didn't have a requirement for Civic for my nieces and nephews. So I don't know if that's even a part of the curriculum anymore in high school, which is unfortunate because I think that it rob people of, in a way it rob them of their voice. If they don't know how everything works, how can they speak out against it? Yeah.
My father used that a class like that gold current affair then 1 of the assignments every week is that you had to read an article in the near times or or News, Long Island and clip it and write AA1 page report on it. There was various aspects of what, you know. What was the... What was the article about and what was your opinion on the article? And then you had to present it in class.
And my father just required that you didn't clip like the box score from the yankee Red sox game the night before and say, yeah. Yay. Hey. We won. You know, we we wanted it to defeat. But he left a broad swath, if you will, of, it didn't have to be politics, government history. It could be on a play, it could be on some sort of other cultural what he loved when they were... When they when they got it Even though it was a Snippets class. He loved
when they got it. Oh, my father take bus flows and kids to the theater every you. And that's why Wound up getting to steal a lot of theater because we could never afford that. I... We never had a car. We'd never went on a vacation. We'd never were on a plane. We'd never ate at restaurants, but I wanna getting a healthy dose of live musical theater because my father had cake with a bunch of chaperone,
kids to see. I saw S, the wiz, pip, I saw dozens of shows when I was, like, 09:10 years old because my father would take groups of kids and in exchange for taking... 2 buffalo the kids taking 50 or 60 kids. He would prom, like, 2 or 3 tickets and throw us on the bus with them, and I got to see a lot of musical theater when I was young, 08:10, 12 years old. That's so cool. Your dad would have loved Hamilton. Yeah. Yes. Yes. Yeah. Did your dad get you into wrestling too
or was that another... Somebody else in new life. That was my best friend's dad. K. My best friend's dad, if you can follow this. My best friend's dad. My dad was a teacher at Mass high school, my best friend's dad was a student there, what my father was his teacher. Not my best friend, my best friend's dad. He graduated in 57 then graduated from the Nyu and 61 went back to his, his old Alma, high school to become a teacher there and my father was a civic history,
social study teacher and football coach. His father was a ph teacher and the, the varsity wrestling coach there for decades and his dad got me involved in wrestling at a very early age when I was 708 years old. I understand you and Robert have a little rivalry between swimming and wrestling as far as Olympic sports. No. It's... It's pent and he's just jealous because he can't do 5 different sports. So... Put it this way? I walks around with a s shirt, you know, and does this thing you on a
mat. IIT Mar in this olympic battle the same way I would transform marvin in a wrestling match. Leave it Just ask him who ask him who's back in the Olympics and who's not in the Olympics. Okay? What's the answer that question, Barb? Ask him who got knocked out of the Olympics first and who stayed in. What a bunch of pools to knock out a sport that had been in the Olympics to 8 870 70 years before Christ. Okay? Take that to your your Trump supporting evangelical and tell that you threw a sport
out. That pre dates the man himself. See what they say to you. You're gonna get us you're gonna get us spanking for that. Wrestling. Now was that's really what was the big event in the Olympics. Yes. It was wrestling like, the 2 founding sports were, like, disc. We're, like, Ja and wrestling. Nearly a thousand years before Christ. Yeah. Well, h ancient been tap on. That was the actual where the end of the Olympics ended actually had wrestling as a subs support of
our sport. So So III said, Billy a picture on the wall. I have a thing from Greece that the the Grease Olympic team gave me and it it has the 5 ancient sports of... Then ancient pent. And there's wrestling, you know, 1 of the 5, just for others. And Can peed if you didn't have a million dollar pony. And his campaign flute and a pistol and an ascot. How did you added did that work back then? What was Well, what how did you compete in that sport back then?
His force says tally h. If I what's the yeah How did you billy get involved with the documentary Americans with no address and the film? No address. I imagine it immediately spoke to your activism side. Had explain how you got drawn into that. Well, it's just the the basic, you know, I got a call from my agent, I was offered the film very quick turnaround. And they needed me on a plane in, like, 3 days. And then when I got on the set, I sort of you know, ing negotiated my way into
deeper involvement in the project. The documentary, I don't think was originally intended to be honest, truthful accurate and authentic. They went to 20 cities at 18 states conducted several hundred interviews. They had thousands of hours of footage that's spun off the dock, which we now have called Americans would no address. They then asked me to do the voice over Ford which I in. I've seen it now 3 or to 4 times it looks great.
And we're just trying to raise awareness into, try to focus attention on this issue, but it happened through the normal the normal casting process that I think because I like the part, and I like this... III like the part. I like the script. I like the team. I had some problems with the script that I I sort of warned production about that we've addressed, no pun attendance hits that we thank God, we did there was and we we dealt with that. Yeah It was the normal casting process, and
then they they spun off the dock. I did the voice over. And, because of my path, where I study politics, and I I, have worked, you know, a very you know, fairly deeply totally they became a dad. I worked fairly deeply in politics that been involved with democratic party politics. I I told I served on various boards and say, I've attended every Rn in every Dnc and run like a shadow convention at the Rn dnc since 19 92. I retreat... I've attended the Dnc since 19 88 and both the Rn of the Dnc
since 92. I've always enjoyed is maybe not the exact word, but I've always enjoyed working, reaching over the aisle, working in a bipartisan Way. We've had significant done significant work with Dennis Has and or in hatch when it comes to funding for the national endowment for the arts and things
like that. So... But I... Again, I I have worked with Maria Cuomo organization help for the homeless, I've worked with Andrew when he was the housing secretary or Clinton, and I slept over homeless facilities in Dc, and I... Maybe Baltimore, Philly, New York couple times I slept over facilities with
Andrew. And and I've been engaged, but when When I relocated to California, in 2007 to do a a television show for Abc b, All of my political contacts were albany New york City in Washington and now I was living in Santa Barbara, and I had 3 young children, and I basically told everybody you know, I didn't say lose by a number, but I said don't call me. I'll call you. I said I wanna focus on parenting and and raising my children and supporting my family. Loan a whole, like, 15 years
went by. I really enjoyed that, but I'm anxious and interested and excited to get back in the game if the plot us line, and that's what I mean by that is if I can do it effectively if you can do it efficiently if I could have a real impact and it's it's... I'm not I'm not howling into the... The boyd know I'm not screaming into a hurricane, you know? Yeah. Yeah into the void. You know? I watched the documentary in cal n la and with all of you. And it's quite moving.
And the the beauty of this film to me of this documentary is that it doesn't feel gratuitous. Yeah. It felt like you all really... And and for the listeners, basically, they went to impairments they went to, various, shelters and community outreach programs and really really on the ground. And getting to know people talking to people who are un unharmed, and it was really beautifully done. Well, thank you. Yeah. The other thing that I think is really said in this documentary is this could
happen to anyone. And it's not that many steps in order to find yourself in that situation. And I think there's AAA fear and a distance that happens in the human psyche that says, oh, if I engage this or if I think about this or if I look at this, I'm looking at the potential of myself, and it really shuts people off. So I think that the fact that you all were really there and in it and talking to people is so wonderful. How did it shape you as you went through that process?
Well, 1 of the things what's so cool about Billy, literally, the first day before... Well, I guess it was... We were set to shoot on Monday. And when everybody came, not everybody, but but about half to cast came in on Saturday a couple days in advance. And we spent the first couple days just touring homeless en cabinets, and we were shooting in Sacramento And at that time, the largest longest en camp in America was was actually in Sacramento.
So we spent a lot of time there and in some other enhancements. And and and I always remember, Billy, the... And it's funny because Billy and I have literally gone against each other in sport. We've been at the same meetings. We that we've been, you know, over 40 years just in and out on different side, never on the same side. And Billy came over to me and said, if we're just doing this for a, sort of a 2 fruity drive by as, you know, picture that's un meaningful.
I don't wanna be involved. Yeah. Start off. But if if this is a serious effort, I'm all in. And then he goes. So what's buster? I mean, you know, and and and, literally, that's our first 30 minutes together. And in 2 hours later, Billy and I had sort of escaped our security team in the film, we've gone way to an end and come into this couple who invited us breakfast at, you know, 10:30 in the morning on a Saturday. And that was when Billie and I, and
ended... We started communicating through just Eye looks. That was when we realized this is... We had something different going on here, and we just... Even though we disagree in so many different other areas, we actually find a lot of common ground in most areas. And and that if you get wet rave sort of the fringe, that we could start working together and so little of that's happening in the country now.
And so, hopefully, you know, we can show, you know, here we are working together very bar apart in a lot of ways, but we're finding ways to agree. We're finding common ground. Well, there isn't really a political... It's a human problem. It's a it's a human issue. It's not a right or left or up or down. And I think that unfortunately, politics tries to make it 1 or the other and the human beings get lost in that fight because then it's stops being about them, and it's all about
the fight appear. We talked about this today at breakfast. On 1 side, there's a group who doesn't wanna fund this. You know, and some of the extremist, maybe within my side of the aisle. At times have said, we don't need to fund this. They just chose to be come homeless so why are we... But why are we gonna fund it? Well, in the reality is most of the time, nobody chose to become experiencing homelessness.
And if we don't spend money now, it's gonna be way more expensive later in in terms of Ems fire, police, hospitals, emergency rooms, loss of downtown. And then on on the other side of the aisle, Billy side of the aisle. He has some people to his extreme that do not wanna have treatment. Do not wanna have sort of accountability and programming. And and what I know with meta physical certainty after doing this a long time.
You don't get recovery hanging out on a bench or under a bench or on a beach or in a cold d sac. Likewise, you don't, get recovery in jail cell floor. You don't get... You don't get recovery by being arrested, but you don't get recovery just hanging out on a street either. And Billy and I've been now in multiple states and multiple cat. We saw 1AA week ago or so a couple weeks ago, I guess, up in Seattle of a person who was dying right in front of us. And everybody
was trying to get this guy treatment. And, you know, Billy, maybe you wanna share that story because that... That's... Anybody who saw that story would come to the conclusion that Our system now, our legal system in particular is totally completely broke. Yeah. I think, you know, what market is saying is that I I just will just a little bit of what He just said, you know, the the right is hesitant to pun. The left is hesitant to force it not enforce it, but to force
it. I believe it needs the funding, it'll be cheaper to address it, then it'll it'll be far more costly, if we don't spend the money. We need money primarily in mental health care. There was 500000 national beds in the 19 fifties. There's less than 20000 today. This is not an epidemic or a crisis of of homelessness it's a crisis of mental health. It's also less of of a crisis of a drug addiction, than people think
people think that's the choice. But that's, untreated mental health problems, people that have anxiety that have depression of bipolar that have schizophrenia, don't have health care. They're not seeing a psychologist or a psychiatrists not getting prescribed the proper medication. So they're self medic with street drugs, meth but alcohol, of course, a heroin and and primarily fentanyl now, and that's medic a mental health problem.
So part of... A big, big part of it is mental health and a big, big, part of the addiction problem is mental health. So we have to get the medical health care funds back in place.
And on my side, the 2 things that I think Marvin is Jesse, which I agree with is that this harm reduction policy where you're allowing people to give them pipes you're giving them needles and you're not require requiring them a path to recovery at path to sobriety, stability, independence, a job, you know, I I think there has to be strings attached. I think harm reduction or no harm policies are not working and need to be addressed,
number 1. And they're incredibly expensive. Yeah. They're not working. That's not the way I would wanna raise my child is to just say, just stay in your bedroom and keep getting high and tell me, you know, come out when you wanna eat and come out when you wanna have a conversation. Yeah. So, you know, I I think... I I don't know enough about it. So speaking from... This is the actor talking not the expert in the field, but I've learned a lot about it.
Over the last 2 years that have been involved with this film. And harm reduction is is not working, but also, I... And this is pretty radical for someone like me to say, But I don't think that I don't I'm not... I've done ships over people. And I'm not sure if the... If if it's a 51 50, I'm talking about, but we saw a guy overdo on the street, 22 year old kid his name at blessing, he would his foaming at the mouth. And we had fire department police department, several,
people from non nonprofit organizations. And they barely got him coherent enough for him to simply... Out of the words, I decline treatment. Like, I don't wanna be taken away on the stretcher by the fire department any
of the emergency. And the primary reason he was saying that, and I didn't realize it at the time the fire department of the Cops and marvin in the nonprofit were role telling me is because when they give him Na, he won't be high anymore and the way he'll heal when he's not high, is so terrifying to him That's why he was rejecting treatment. I don't think it should be a judge in a courtroom 3 weeks later making the decision. I think if you have a cop of fire
first responder, a paramedic a social worker. And any 2 of those people say, take them, then she should be put into a 72 hour locked in possibly. Again, as well and let this person make a decision on his future is future regarding all of it. Addiction, homelessness, all of it. A job, education and all of. Because it's all... If you if you agree to the treatment, you're on a path to recovery. You're you're on a path back
to independence. So I don't know if this should be a situation where you go in with lawyers and a judge the decides if I think if you have a social worker and a fire and a paramedic, and they say, because the the term when I've done a cons entrepreneurship is, if they are a threat of a harm to themselves or others or they are a harm to themselves or others, then you have the right you could take their rights away. Clearly this kid blessing was clearly not only a potential... He he
was harming himself. He was not a potential harm himself. He was harming himself and he was clearly a potential harm to others. I'm not doing it to cleaning up the sidewalks in front of the Nike store in front of Starbucks so they you know, the the patrons don't have to be bothered stepping over them when they come in and out of the door. I could care less about that. I care about the life and and to a health and well being of this person, and he was not in a position to make
that decision for himself. He was not. He was not a clear in my... Oh. I mean, I've seen people high on booze. I seen people high on on on cocaine. And I seen people high on heroin when I see people hire at oxy, fentanyl is a totally different ball wax. It's a totally to kick all of that together and multiply it by 10, and that's what you're dealing with. These people who are not in a position to know how to make a reasons
judgments on that. So I wouldn't mind putting it in the hands of people that are experts in the field more so than any judge a social worker on the streets, fire, a paramedic account. Instead, they left him there the cops walked by and said this is This is what we do. This is that we're this that we're dealing with. You know? It it was the most amazing thing how society showed up for blessing. I mean, if you think of it as sort of a societal
response. We had 4 firefighters, 3 of who were Ems trained, We had 2 county sheriff there. We had 3 different Seattle city agencies that had multiple people there. There was a non profit group that had 4 people there, plus she had billy and I every 1 of us thought this guy needs help now. Because he may not be alive as we take this. He may not be with us
anymore. He was that far gone. And he's the 1 person on that street corner who was the least had the least ability to make a coherent decision, but the way our laws are written that you basically are giving it to a judge 3 weeks later rather than the people on the spot. And and maybe and I get there were were bad things done in the past. But that doesn't mean you throw throughout the whole program. We had a situation where, again, 1 side of the aisle, didn't wanna a fundamental
health. And then the other extreme on the mental health. And then almost by the way it breaks in the same political groups we have here who are watching 1 of flu of K nest thought it was a documentary and moved into the institutional. And so you had this really strange and holy alliance. Those are the Reagan years. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Of people trying to un fund on 1 side in institutional on the other And you wonder... Well, why do we now have more people in jail than ever before?
Why do we have more people on the street than ever before? And when you take away treatment from the equation, and then you add something so powerful as fentanyl, it... I'm not surprised at all. What's happened at Downtown, Portland, Downtown, Seattle, that's, you know, San Francisco, and my book is almost the lost city. And I know others may differ, but and unless we make some radical changes, we're we're just gonna it's gonna be not getting those city better.
It's gonna be now Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, New Orleans are gonna become just like those cities Yeah. The the thing that really struck me to is that it's not like there
aren't programs that do work. The San Antonio to district where 70 percent of the of the people that are were experiencing homelessness was eradicated and they got their life back together, and that you have shown in this documentary and by going from town to town that the public citizens who step up in the churches and the people that say no we can make a difference, and then they do make a
difference. I don't understand the disconnect, and that's maybe maybe I'm being po about how the government works, but it seems like if I'm in the government and I say, oh, here are these cities that they have programs running by private citizens and privately funded and non profits, that it works why am I not looking at that as the model for the whole country? Yeah. That should be replicated across the country. Should be federal state, local government it
should be profits. It should be faith based organizations, and it should be Corporate America, we
can go in and replicate this. A significant amount of homeless this takes place in counties where there's 800 a thousand 1200 people in the county that are homeless, And you could probably have strike teams go when they're and implement these programs and and and reduce that fair like, Marvin has done, you know, 70 80 percent in these in these areas where it's a little bit more manageable rather than going into a, Sacramento where it went from 2 or 3000 to 12 or 14000
over the last 5 years. You know, I think Covid was a major contributor to that. But, also, what's a big contributor to it is Correct me if I'm wrong, Marvin, But there's the reason there's a homeless problem in in California a big problem with homelessness in California is because California is California. It's an amazing,
amazing place. Okay? We also have Greyhound diplomacy where they give you 300 bucks of the Greyhound ticket cincinnati of your ritter Toledo and say you wanna wake up on the beach in venice tomorrow with 300 bucks in your pocket, and they way better services there in in La and it's staff Cisco that we do here they'll provide you with
way better services. So the reason there's showing homeless people in California is because the service in California because of our less leaning bleeding heart liberal tendencies is to... Is to look out and take care of these people when we provide maze services and that's part of why the people come. California is amazing. There's there's Greyhound diplomacy, and the services are better than, you know,
probably better than anywhere in the country. There's other states that have good services but California's are probably the best. Most comprehensive. And I'd add 1 thing there, California also has the lease to about accountability for an individual. They don't require treatment. They don't require you to go meet with the case manager. That that more than any other state, it's the most liberal, we give you all this stuff, and there's no strings. We give all this stuff. There's
no accountability. I would even call that liberal to call that, like, nonsensical. But something is not working or something was working and now the numbers have dropped pre. Like, let's look at it, And let's... Of course correct. Let's tack east. Let's try something different with stress. I need right now, what
you guys are doing in Arkansas. What you're doing in San Antonio, what you're doing in in Pine what the Cuomo have done in New York, which was easy to get consensus because they were specifically targeting veteran homelessness. So they were able to reduce veteran homelessness by 70, 80 percent over the course of
a 4 or 5 year period. If we can go into suburban areas where you have 6 800 a thousand homeless people in suburban communities outside of Chicago outside of Boston outside of Baltimore where reduce the numbers by forget 70 percent 80. If we could reduce the numbers by 30 or 40 percent, that's a great start. A great start. If you stop the growth in in the West Coast. If you just stop the growth, that would... Most people would go, wow, look at what we changed. And this problem has
gotten so bad. It is a direct threat to our country and many of our communities, and it's only gonna get worse. We're now doubling, street level homeless is now doubling every 5 to 6 years. And unless we all, you know, man
battle stations. And I mean everybody, faith based non nonprofit secular government, state local, 1 of our examples we use in our movie, which I just love is John Hopkins University, a secular university setting up a mental health behavioral health and substance use clinic inside a Christian rescue mission. And if they could pull that off and do so well. And why should the government should be saying, well, we don't like those type of programs
and we don't like it that way. It that may not be the only way and not everybody responds to to that. But if you're getting that good of success, why shouldn't it, we be encouraging much more of that rather than saying we can't do it and can't do it this way. We need everybody's help now not telling people you can't help. Yeah. Mark says, you know, a lot of people who were... I wouldn't say lacking and compassion maybe, but sort of des to this or thing people made this choice
in their life. We have 1300000.0 adults in 1500000.0 children in homeless. 1500000.0 children, none of them made the choice to be homeless. Of the 1300000.0, which the numbers are probably skewed lower than it it is in reality, especially coming out of Covid. But of the 1300000.0, how many of those mentally ill made that choice? How many children that aged out of foster care became almost made that choice? How many Ptsd veterans that were not taken care
of made that choice? How many people that are addicted to drugs that are self medic a health... A mental health crisis made that truth. Are there people that made the choice instead... Because, you know, you do go into these campus and they say, I don't want, I'd rather stay in the camp then go to a facility because, I... For whatever reason, I don't feel safe.
Because remember of the old days, they have a silly room a big open air room, and they had men and women staying together and the women had a child them and they didn't they they didn't feel safe for their child. They thought they might be attacked. They thought they might be raped. So people literally would choose to not get the... To not be put up in a facility.
That's changed now. We have we have facilities that a a men's car, a women's car, a family card, people that are that are working on sobriety, people that are are in the holding... In a holding pattern and hoping to graduate to get into detox. If you're talking about 1 point... Let's say rounded off to to 3000000 people, half of them are children, and the other half that are adults. 90 percent of them didn't make... Did not
make a choice. It's a huge mental health crisis that needs to be addressed and it's gonna be a lot cheaper to address it than if we don't address it you you look at what Barb talking about in in terms of quality of life, the impact on cost of living, real estate value, restoration, drug addiction crime. It's just is far more expensive to not give these people treatment than it is to give them the treating people say how gonna
fund it. It's cheaper to fund it the not fund, and we're paying the price right now. The stop for funding the meth type wave of accommodating, was something like a quarter million dollars. Was it a day? Am I... Was that correct? Yeah. From the documentary here. That was a a stat in San Francisco where they're spending a over a quarter million dollars a day to clean the streets up not treatment, not recovery. That's just how much they're paying to pick up what's going on.
It's crazy. That money should be going to treatment and recovery, not mitigating the damage being done. It's gonna be so cheaper to do this right. Than to spend money wasteful doing it long. Mh. And we have to do some investment to to get this. And in the long run, it will save money. Will save money if we make an investment, and it will save money if we, course correct our policies. I like the way Billy says that. You know, some of what we're doing is working.
We know how to do this right around the country. Clearly, that's the back half of the movie is to show places that have had huge reductions and sustained it, but they don't buy in crazy on either side to be honest, most of it is common sense, middle, you know, the way you would want to to work with your family members in many ways. That's why I was saying after I walked out of the... You know, I left
the movie. I was really moved by it as I said, everyone... I don't I don't know when it actually launches for the human out there consumption, but I know it's coming soon, but the first thing I thought of is every single person on the hill all the way up so the White House
needs to watch this film. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, 1 of my favorite parts of was that housing complex at Austin, Texas where they were on that 40 or 50 acres and they were to expand another 50 acres, and they had there's beautiful little cult sac in those mobile homes all facing each other. They said, Strategically, there's no backdoor, like, there's a little...
You gotta come up with which I don't know if that's an insurance like Thought hero a fire hazard or enough, but hopefully they have an escape rude in case they can't get out the front door? The Billy is putting his backdrop draft. Pat on here. It is 2 months of fire academy in Chicago here. Yeah. I love the facility there. They were all different. They didn't... They weren't all cookie
cutter. There were all different colors. There were all different people, and there was there were strings attached with accountability. You can't be put in there and do whatever the heck you want. There there's accountability in terms of conduct and behavior and that community looks absolutely pristine. I go to in homeless in canvas and I've been going to them with Marvin quite a bit. We left
blessing. What once she said I refused treatment and the fire department looked at each other and they said did you hear that and hear, yeah. And they go, okay, Sorry, guys. And they got on the rig and they drove away.
We then left, and we went to various other facilities and 1 place we went to was on twelfth in Jackson jackson in Seattle, we were in, like, a Ethanol gallery, and we were hanging at with probably 30 or 40 people from 7 chained to 75 when older guy was in a wheelchair with his leg amputated. And he couldn't even get across the street and was falling out of his wheelchair. People were doing the the classic, you know, fentanyl lean.
There just 1 very articulate, 22 years old, very handsome them very articulate, very intelligent guy who this this kidneys needs help because this is a kind of kid you could absolutely snatch and save and this you did go on to have like, a super, very, very successful and productive. Life and he could be a great outcome if we could just get him away from the fentanyl and proper treatments. And then we went to, this other place called the White
House. And 1... I couldn't believe about twelfth in Jackson in the White House was how absolutely end the the 7 mile stretch in Sacramento. I just could not believe. And I think that's again, a reflection of the mental health component of it, but I couldn't believe the filth and the hoarding that was going on. 1 guy was repairing bicycle. So I understood why he 50 or 60 bicycle tires outside of this thing that he built called the White
House. But mixed in with all the tires was literally trash and debris and like, he was collecting shopping cart of stuff and just dumping it in front of his own house, and, you know, it it just heartbreaking to see and just hopefully, people seeing this will will inspire and and motivate people to reach out and start to help them, you know. The hoarding reminds me of the people that went through to the great depression.
And for those of us with parents or grandparents of that age, that we see them with, you know, washing their paper plates and getting things that Filling their houses up with stuff because they went through a period of time when they had literally nothing, and I think that when the cities come through, and they clean up a homeless en camp en compartment, They're taking away literally, everything a person owns on the face of the earth. All of their. Yeah. Yeah.
And I think about blessing. Also, it's it's such a tragedy to think of I think what what is that person's future? Like, maybe they... Have the cure for cancer. Maybe they're gonna write the most beautiful son that anyone's ever heard. Maybe they're going to you know, have a kid that figures out how to solve some other crisis, but we'll never know because we lose these people over and over and over again. And I think it does to create this how am I ever going to feel good about myself
again or have self worth. And maybe I don't deserve to have things or maybe, you know, if society keeps looking at me, like, I'm a piece of shit. How am I supposed to feel good about myself, and that all ties in as well. We have to start seeing people as just human being period end of story. And I think 1 of the saddest thing in most parts of the country today, not
everywhere. Not San Antonio or not pan, not the community First village that Billy was talking about up and off and, but in most parts of the country, the number way you exit homeless now is dying. That that's what our country has gotten to that you don't exit through recovery and treatment in American. Most part of America you die. The other crazy thing that's going on is the number 1 supplier of Mental health services America is occurring in jail and prisons. And we all know that doesn't work.
I'm not saying that's good treatment. I'm not saying it works well. But the fact that's the number 1 location of attempted behavioral and mental health rather than a real robust program that's good. When you think about those 2 factors, just facts. I mean, this is not a right wing left wing from Republican Democrat. This is just fact.
And how could you have a society that says, If if people were committed shooting themselves, literally with the gun on the street, if blessing had a gun on a street, something would have been done for that person. But instead shooting in an arm or, you know, smoking a straw, whatever. At with... You know, he may have eaten pills, you know, there 4 different ways you can take fentanyl now. So... And it it 3 dollars a
hit now. So I don't know how he personally was taking, but we would do it for other things. So why we're doing it now. It it's just mind boggling how we've gotten to this point. But the good news is there is a path to get this fixed. That's clear that there are ways to make a difference and to start rectify this problem it's been done. It's been proven. There are cities that have shown it to work that do it on their own. So what's your
next step? How are you going to get people in the political arena to pay attention and to step up. I'm on my way to a screening in Washington, Dc right now. Created to a bunch of staffers so that we can do exactly that raise awareness. This is how we're doing
it. We're rolling out the dock. We're we're we're we're platforming the release of the film, created And, hopefully, you know, we'll raise awareness and we'll get enough attention on this to try and implement what Marvin and others are doing in areas of the country words work thing and we'll do a couple pilot programs in areas where they're not employing similar philosophies and services, and, you know, 1 success story at a time. Mh. Well, I was at a screening,
and there was a gentleman there. Who was, you know, used to run the city council. He was a little bit. Older, probably in his early to mid eighties, and he was ahead of the city council. What was that gentleman's name in Seattle? Doctor Marvin that was the moderator for our panel in Oc seattle, up at discovery institute Bruce Chapman, and he was formerly on City Council. Yeah. Wonderful. Wonderful guy. And at the end of this, he was saying, I implore you.
To to call your congressional representatives and your political leaders or write them letters, and I cut them off and I was, no. We should take this 2 to them. We should get a bipartisan committee with a bunch of big, big heavy hit that care about this issue in the corporate sector in the celebrity sector in the nonprofit sector, and I've had great success. I literally sat down with Denny Has and Or Hatch Man. Other when I had... Not I'm not
saying we'll do this with it. We're talking about government funding of the Arts and Arts advocacy and person them at writes and you, I had, you know, Susan Ran and Tim Robbins, Julia Roberts with me, and I had other experts in the field. If you put together the right team, and you target the right people and positions of power on the right committees, you're gonna be able to... We'll be able to move this forward. We'll be able to be able to move the needle
deal for sure. Amanda that. I I really appreciate your time, both of you gentlemen. I don't know if you have a set date yet for the doc coming out or the film coming out. Is that been chosen for everyone to be able to see? The film's is targeting late September sometime. They haven't locked the film yet. They're still in post with music right now. They haven't locked it. They're color correcting and stuff. So it locks in early June and they're hoping to release it in late September the doc.
I'm not sure Margaret. What's going on there? Similar late summer, early fall. Okay. Great. And I'll put links on hay human podcast dot com. So Erwin everyone can keep track. There is a there's a documentary. There's the movie. There's a reference guide. Is that correct? And a book. Yes. Stand small communities that he got. Everyone who's listening. Youtube can make a difference. You can go volunteer. You can get educated on this because it does affect you. It affects all of
us. This is this is the community of of human life, and we need to you know, lift up so that we don't keep losing our blessings, you know? Thank you guys so much. Yeah.
The film is no address. The documentary is Americans with no address And yes, I suggest all of your listeners go on the Internet and look at the services that are being provided in their local communities and go to the saliva salvation Arm, go to the local mission and try to be a service, try to give some time, try to learn more and try to strategize with other members of your community to help eradicate. And if anybody wants for further information... No
address movie. You just type that in on any search engine that will come up and there are a lot of ways you can click on and get involved. And I'll put those links on hey human podcast. Thank you for listening everybody. Thank you. Thank you very much. Alright. Take care. Bye. Bye. Bye. Yeah Great review and subscribe to hey human podcast wherever you get your podcast. Thanks. Bye.