An Army of Normal Folks - Carly Rice: Food, Friendship, and Life Transformation (Pt 2)

Episode Date: June 4, 2024

Carly has experienced molestation, prostitution, sex trafficking, addiction, loss, homelessness on Skid Row, and almost every trauma that you could imagine. Her escape and recovery have fueled her radical empathy for the least among us, starting with welcoming the homeless gentleman who appeared in her garden one day. Today, Miss Carly's has fed thousands out of her own home, and most importantly their volunteers walk alongside the homeless, helping 200 people achieve full recoveries and life transformation.Support the show: https://www.normalfolks.us/premiumSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hey everybody, it's Bill Courtney with an army of normal folks, and we continue now with part two of our conversation with Carly Rice right after these brief messages from our generous sponsors. Last season, millions tuned into the Betrayal podcast to hear a shocking story of deception. I'm Andrea Gunning, and now we're sharing an all-new story of betrayal. Stacey thought she had the perfect husband. Doctor, father, family man. It was the perfect cover for Justin Rutherford to hide behind.

It led me into the house, and and I mean it was like a movie. He was sitting at our kitchen table. The cops were guarding him. Stacey learned how far her husband would go to save himself. I slept with a loaded gun next to my bed. He did not just say I wish he was dead. He actually gave details and explained different scenarios on how to kill bed. He did not just say, I wish he was dead. He actually gave details and explained different scenarios on how to kill him. He to me is scarier than Jeffrey Dahmer.

Listen to Betrayal on the iHeart radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The big take from Bloomberg News brings you what's shaping the world's economies with the smartest and best informed business reporters around the world. Western nations like the US and Europe. Mexico will likely have its first female president. And then you have China. And help you understand what's happening, what it means and why it matters. He'll get his yo-yos to Europe in time. But the longer this drags on, the more worried he's getting.

They knew that they needed to do this as fast as they possibly could to get a drug on the market as fast as they could. I'm David Dura. I'm Sarah Holder. I'm Solea Mosin. We cover the stories behind what's moving money in markets. Basically, everyone was expecting, if not a calamity, certainly a recession. But the problem is that that paperwork, as our reporting showed, is fake.

Someone who's covering the market, I'm often very worried about an imminent collapse. So I'm thinking about it quite often. Listen to the big take on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Solea Mosin, and I've covered economic policy for years and reported on how it impacts people across the United States. In 2016, I saw how voters were leaning towards Trump and how so many Americans felt misunderstood by Washington. So I started The Big Take DC. We dig into how money, politics, and power shape government and the consequences for voters.

It's an election year, so there's a lot of focus on the voters that TikTok is reaching. The initial reaction is like, oh, things are looking so resilient. I don't want to be too pessimistic, but I just don't see the political will down in Washington right now to change their tune. I think the American electorate has been signaling that it expects a rematch of the 2020 election. These are unprecedented times. With new episodes every Thursday, you can listen to The Big Take DC on the iHeart radio app, Apple podcasts, or whatever you get your podcasts.

How'd you get away from the sky? So one day I was cleaning the apartment and there was a flip phone in the couch cushion and I called the only number I can think of and it was an ex-boyfriend who was like a film student nerd. And I said, Neil, come to to this address do not call the police I'm gonna jump out the window and third story yeah I said I'll probably break my legs just drag me to the car but I'll be on heroin I won't feel it don't worry I'll make sure I shoot a really good thing in my arm before I jump. That was, you're on to, you're in the head. I'm kidding. No, that's exactly what I thought.

Like exactly what I thought. I said, just don't call the cops because the cops were in bed with the cartel guys, right? And um, no, not right. Really? Oh yeah. Absolutely. Not all of them, but I am. But they had protection there. Yeah. So that's why I never, you know, that's why my plan was to get citizens because there was another

time when I tried at a grocery store and do you know every single person duck and dove from me at that grocery store? I yelled rape. That was the second time I tried to get away. I yelled rape. It was like 10, 11, 12, and we're at a 24-hour grocery store. Everybody ran from me. Nobody came to help me. What did you look like? I'm trying to understand why people, was it that you were out of your mind high and probably look like hell and people just thought you were crazy? I had scabs all over my face. That's why. I don't think my teeth were falling out yet,

but I definitely had like cavities and stuff. Yeah. Yeah. Very much why I'm so protective of my people these days. So I got out, the guy actually, Neil, my ex-boyfriend, he actually ended up calling the police, which I was so mad at him for, but we got good police officers. So I'm packing my bag and Cesar is sitting on the couch and the cop is facing Cesar and they're treating it like a domestic violence situation. And I'm like, fine, whatever, as long as I can get out of here, I don't care what they think is going on here. And I packed this big giant ball of Black Tower heroin into my suitcase. And I put the suit, the cop carries my suitcase to a cop car,

puts it in the trunk and I'm like, okay, this is what we're doing. And he drives me to a domestic violence shelter in Los Angeles with my giant, it wasn't this big, but it was pretty big. It was about the size of softball to a domestic violence shelter where I felt happy and free. And I was so grateful to be at this domestic violence shelter. However, eventually the heroin ran out. I got kind of nervous and I flushed some of it because the people were at the domestic violence shelter were so nice and I didn't want them to get in any trouble.

So I ran out of drugs way faster than I should have. And I knew that I could find drugs if I just find the homeless people. So that's how I ended up in Skid Row. But again, the drugs were numbing the reality of the first 18, 19 years of your life. And so without them, you're forced to face the reality of your life. I was never without it. I was never without it. And you couldn't do it. So you leave the shelter and you end up literally on Skid Row. And when we say Skid Row, we don't mean that as a metaphor for places where homeless people,

we're talking about the Skid Row, the real Skid Row. And I was. And from what I understand, there's, on Skid Row, there's at any one time between 10 and 20,000 homeless people there? When I was there, there was 20,000. And 99% of them are all using drugs as well. Right out in the open. Right.

In one of the wealthiest cities in the world. L.A. Right? I mean isn't that where Skid Row is? I used to meet my drug dealer in the Diamond District. How ironic is that? Yeah. So I'm living in either a tent or a cardboard box

in Skid Row. You have a tattoo of a tent and a cardboard box on your forearm. Yeah. Does that remind you where you came from? It is, absolutely. You lived on a cardboard box? If I was lucky, sometimes not even that. Sometimes just literally curled up on the sidewalk and the sidewalk was so dirty that if you poured a bottle of water

on it, it would be like a clean spot. It was just filthy. Filthy. It was so filthy. It was black. The sidewalk was disgusting. Will people overdose and die? I mean, there had to have been bodies. You're correct. There were times that people would die and we would literally step over their body. There were times when ambulances would show up to Skid Row and they would lay a patient out on the sidewalk in a hospital gown and get back in their ambulance and drive away. What do you mean lay them? You mean drop them off? You're telling me an American hospital in Los Angeles would transport a discharged patient and literally just throw them out on skid row?

Saw it with my own eyes and not just once. How does that happen? Skid Row. Saw it with my own eyes, and not just once. How does that happen? Beyond me, all I know is that's what I saw. I believe I read something about there being lawsuits regarding that, and I believe it was LA County Hospital that did it, which would make sense because that was the closest hospital. But that is a real thing that happened. And these people dying in Skid Row, yes, lots of them died of overdoses. But I want to know what's really sad. A lot of them died of very treatable things like pneumonia infection.

Those are the two things I saw most people die of. Pneumonia infection or some sort of like, I can't remember what it's called, it's like a heart infection you get when your blood gets infected from dirty needles and stuff. Those were the kinds of things that people died of in Skid Row. Totally treatable things. So here you are in Skid Row at 19 years old living in filth. I'm prostituting and, oh man, prostituting in Skid Row is very, I prostituted everywhere I'd ever been since I was 16. I don't know how old I am, 18, 19, somewhere around there. I've been prostituting since I was 16 and it was like new ball game in Skid Row. One of the first few weeks that I was prostituting, I had a police officer put a gun to my head

and make me give him oral sex with the gun to my head the whole time. So certainly didn't feel- In a police car? Right next to his police car, right outside of it. He had the door open and I was being sheltered by the police car on my knees and he had a gun to my head. I just don't want to, I just, I think we just don't want to really believe this stuff happens

in our country. We want to think it's made up stuff from movies and TV shows. I'm determined to normalize the conversation because my story is not abnormal or unusual, it is just like the women that we serve. They have just as many stories. They have very similar, if not worse stories. There's nothing normal about it. But the conversation has to be normalized so that women feel free to speak up so that people can understand that women are victimized by people in positions of power right in front of our eyes and we don't know it. Women need safe places to run to. Why did nobody in that grocery store help me? Darrell Bock It reminds me of the story that from the

70s in New York City when a woman was getting raped in the street in New York City and was screaming rape and there were 50 neighbors who heard it and she ended up dead and not one of them called the police. The psychological event was if there were only one person that heard it, they would have called the police. Because there was 50, every one of them thought, I don't want to be involved and somebody else is going to do it. And the interesting part of that is, as a weird metaphor for an army of normal folks, if we all think somebody else is going to do that, who's somebody?

We need to make this personal and singular so we're the ones to step up. Exactly. And that's what I believe us as individuals have the power to change people's lives. So you're prostituting on skid row stepping over dead bodies. Yeah. Giving oral sex to cops who've got a gun to your head. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And they have this really nice trick who, I actually believe it or not, I have an apartment. It's like 19, 20 blocks away from Skid Row, but I can't be bothered

to get there because the drugs are here. See, in downtown Skid Row- You are kidding me. Oh, no, I'm dead serious. In downtown Skid Row, you can go to like, at that time when I was there, you go to the Diamond District and you can get a pack or a few packs. A pack is like, it's a corner of a plastic bag and it's filled up with little water balloons filled with heroin, right? Or you can get a pack of crack and you hold it in your mouth, like right here. And every time you sell it to someone, you spit it out and then you have to go back

and you have to give the cartel member, the drug dealers, the gang members, you have to give them a certain amount of money. I think it was like $70. You were a dollar short, man. You just weren't, you just didn't. So I could support them. And you kept the difference or they just gave you drugs?

They gave me drugs and I would sell them because I hated prostituting Prostituting and skid row was really really dangerous bad bad things happen bad things happen My friend was found in a dumpster with a broom sticking out of her And like really really bad things happen. I still did prostitute a lot down there But if I could get up early enough or if I could make it, not that I ever really went to sleep, if I could make it in time, because they only passed out so many packs, you had to be there like 430 in the morning and they would pass out all these packs for homeless people to sell. And then

they would come in and collect the money at the end of the day. This was all happening like right out in the open too, like in the Diamond District of downtown LA is where we would go get the drugs. And then they would come pick up the money from us at a different spot. But, um, so I'm selling these drugs, right? And there's this dude that always picks me up and his name's Ernie and he takes me to his house and he's, he's, he's in the 12 step world and he's sober and he's this really nice guy and he lets me take showers at his house and we have pizza and he doesn't even usually make me have sex with him so I'm like gosh this is amazing I get to take a shower and eat and whatnot and one night

I was at his house and he came out like a different person from the bathroom he had relapsed while I was there like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. And he's like strangling me and raping me. And at this time in my life, and I'm not saying that this is what women should do, but just to give you an idea of how I coped with things, I would lay still and I would say to myself, I don't know where this came from. It's just something my brain made up. Lay like fish lay like a fish lay like a fish lay like a fish And I just used to chant that to myself while they were doing whatever they were doing to me And I tried to like be accessible But then also not make it pleasurable to them because I found that if I fought back it was worse

Like it's almost like what they wanted me to And it made them madder and they hurt me worse. So I just kind of laid there and let stuff happen. He then put me in his car and he brought me back to my tent in Skid Row. And fast forward some period of time, I don't know, two days, two weeks, I'm not sure. And he's now buying drugs for me. I'm going to get these little packs of drugs and I have a couple packs in my tent.

And he has a prostitute go to the front of my tent and he asked me to sell her a couple of balloons. So I spin out the balloons and I give them to her, but you can only hold so much in your mouth. So I had these other packs sitting on my little cart. I had a, my coffee table was a cardboard box with duct tape on it. And he cut the tent and he took the drugs. And I was terrified. Because now you don't have the money to pay the cartel guy. Yeah. And like, I didn't have the time to make it prostituting. It's very treacherous

prostituting in Skid Row. A lot of the people would rip the girls off and just not even give you money at all So I had to tell the cartel guys like listen. I didn't do it Ernie took it he also raped me blah blah blah blah and The next day I was standing there and they told me hey watch out, you know we're gonna talk to Ernie about what happened. Because Ernie was walking down the street and coming up to the spot, the spot. And I thought they were going to rough him off a bit, you know, and, and, you know, tell him, hey, you need to go get our money and we want it now. That's not what happened. We'll be right back. Last season, millions tuned into the Betrayal podcast to hear a shocking story of deception.

I'm Andrea Gunning, and now we're sharing an all-new story of betrayal. Stacey thought she had the perfect husband. Doctor, father, family man. It was the perfect cover for Justin Rutherford to hide behind. They led me into the house and I mean, it was like a movie. He was sitting at our kitchen table. The cops were guarding him. Stacey learned how far her husband would go to save himself.

I slept with a loaded gun next to my bed. He did not just say I wish he was dead. He actually gave details and explained different scenarios on how to kill him. He to me is scarier than Jeffrey Dahmer. He, to me, is scarier than Jeffrey Dahmer. Listen to Betrayal on the iHeart radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Salaya Mohsin, and I've covered economic policy for years and reported on how it impacts people across the United States. In 2016, I saw how voters were leaning towards Trump and how so many Americans felt misunderstood by Washington.

So I started The Big Take DC. We dig into how money, politics, and power shaped government and the consequences for voters. — It's an election year, so there's a lot of focus on the voters that TikTok is reaching. — The initial reaction is like, oh, things are looking so resilient. year. So there's a lot of focus on the voters that TikTok is reaching. The initial reaction is like, oh, things are looking so resilient. I don't want to be too pessimistic, but I just don't see the political will down in Washington right now to change their tune. I think the American electorate has been signaling that it expects a rematch of

the 2020 election. These are unprecedented times. With new episodes every Thursday, you can listen to The Big Take DC on the iHeart radio app, Apple podcasts, or whatever you get your podcasts. The Big Take from Bloomberg News brings you what's shaping the world's economies with the smartest and best informed business reporters around the world. Western nations like the US and Europe. Mexico will likely have its first female president.

And then you have China. And help you understand what's happening, what it means, and why it matters. He'll get his yo-yos to Europe in time. But the longer this drags on, the more worried he's getting. They knew that they needed to do this as fast as they possibly could to get a drug on the market as fast as they could. I'm David Dura. I'm Sarah Holder.

I'm Saleh Emosen. We cover the stories behind what's moving money and markets. Basically everyone was expecting, if not a calamity, certainly a recession. But the problem is that that paperwork, as our reporting showed, is fake. Someone who's covering the market, I'm often very worried about an imminent collapse. I'm thinking about it quite often. Listen to the big take on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Two guys grabbed him by the arm and two guys started stabbing him.

And I heard it happening behind my back and by the time I turned around, I saw the last couple jabs of the knives and then Ernie running across the street and my eyes connected with his eyes right when he went down and the light went out of his eyes. And this was broad daylight. The court documents say it was evening, but it must have been summer evening. I don't remember what time of year it was because it was broad daylight. There was like 30 witnesses. There's at least 30 people there. I don't know how many official witnesses there were. But so one of my friends, Tomas, who was involved in the stabbing, who stabbed

him, he got hurt. He had a big cut on his forehead. He was a bald gangster guy with tattoos and stuff. He got kind of scalped a little bit in the knife fight. So I took him and a couple other people to my apartment to get them cleaned up because I'm like a nurturer. I'm a caretaker, you know? And we didn't report the crime, you know? Someone else already called the police. So I took these guys to my apartment and I'll never forget, we stopped on the way. Said like, we got to act normal. We got to act normal. And we got, we're in a stolen car, by the way. We stop at a liquor store and we get popsicles. So I have these guys who, and I'm telling them what to do because they're in some sort

of state of shock. I would have thought they would have been like so tough and bad, bad that they wouldn't have been fazed by this. But these two guys I was with were like traumatized. I said, we've got to act normal guys. We've got to act normal. I'm going to go buy some popsicles. So that way someone could say, well, she came in and she bought popsicles. Everything seemed fine.

And I gave these two gangster guys who had bloody hands and stuff popsicles, and they just stood there and the popsicles were just melting down their hands and they didn't eat them. I just will forever remember that moment. Anyways, I got them to my apartment, cleaned them up, and I don't remember what happened after that. But fast forward a couple days and I am arrested at the scene of the crime basically and I'm taken to an interrogation room and they want me to be a witness. They put me in witness assistance, which is different than witness protection. I'm in witness assistance, meaning these detectives take me to all my interviews and they escort me to court and to any court things and they give me envelopes of money to pay my rent and my incidental expenses. What do you think

I did with that money? Drugs. Spent it on drugs. Yeah. So I was re-arrested yet again at the scene of the crime by bike cops with a literal needle sticking out. Oh, I hit right the spot. I have like a nerve spot. That's exactly where it was. With a needle sticking out. Oh, I hit right this spot. I have like a nerve spot. That's exactly where it was. With a needle sticking out of my neck. I'll never forget. It went boing. Why were you having a needle sticking out of your neck in the middle of the diamond district? No, we're over in the skid row area. Whatever. I just picked up the drugs.

Are you saying you just shot it up and left it sitting there? I had someone else shooting me up because I used to shoot up in my arms. Those were spent. Then I shot up in my legs. Those were spent. When I had the opportunity, I would have other people shoot me up in my neck. I have a little scar from it. Lots of scars on my legs though and my arms, but mostly my legs because it was a sure fit.

You have a big artery right there and it's really easy to shoot up right there. So the bite cops arrested me. I had two syringes I was about to do, one of heroin, one of coke, and they arrested me right after the coke one, which anybody out there who uses drugs and has done speed balls in two separate syringes knows that being arrested for murder right after shooting a bunch of cocaine in your veins without being able to do your heroin is like the worst thing that could ever happen. It was a nightmare.

So I was interrogated for hours and hours after that. And I was put in solitary confinement for somewhere around a year for the duration of the murder trial. And I forgot to tell you a whole big important part of my story. Right before that, my mom and I were homeless in Skid Row together. My mom lived in the porta potty, a handicapped porta potty. She was like the archetypal bag lady, if you could picture that. She literally had like a sea of grocery bags that were all tied up,

and grocery bag, grocery bag, grocery bag, grocery bag. And she would carry them, move them around with her and it would take several trips for her to move her bags. But she lived in this porta potty and that was my mom. And she was not a mom. I was like the mom and I took care of her. And one time when I was sitting in jail, I was watching TV and it said, man, has woman held hostage in public restroom. Because after OJ Simpson, stuff just goes

all over the news in California. And we're all watching this. It's Thanksgiving day and it's the only thing on TV and it's really annoying. And then like a couple of days later, this Catholic priest comes and gets me out of my cell with the CO and they're like, your mom's been killed. And later I found out that that was my cell with the CO, and they're like, your mom's been killed. And later I found out that that was my mom in the bathroom that whole time when I was watching that scene unfold. So at the time when my mom was killed, I just lost all like respect for myself,

and I started morphing into my mom. I started losing my teeth, my hair started to get dreadlocked, and I basically started to look and act like my mom. And that's when I got all entangled in this murder thing. So now fast forward, I've been arrested for contempt of court. I'm sitting in jail, awaiting for the trial. And for some reason, I call this district attorney. She was the attorney who prosecuted the man who murdered my mom.

And her name was Katie Albright. And I reached out to her for some stupid reason. I don't remember what it was. And she yelled at me. She was like, why are you throwing away your life? She was mad that I was in contempt of court and for refusing to testify. She said, you're throwing away your life. You could, your story could have saved, saved someone's life someday and look at you. You're just throwing away your life. You could, your story could have saved, saved someone's life someday and look at you, you're just throwing your life away. Because personally, for me sitting in that jail cell, I was completely planning on refusing to testify.

I was excited to go to prison for the rest of my life. Because to me, that was safer than what you'd lived in I Couldn't wait. I was excited Gosh, I had my prison wife waiting for me. Her name was mousey She was like six two or six three and she had these big old ears that stuck out and she was so sweet But she was also scary and I was gonna be protected because when you so sweet, but she was also scary. And I was gonna be protected because when you don't testify, when a gang is being come after by the district attorney

and you protect the gang, you're set up in prison. Like you don't gotta worry about nothing. You're gonna have drugs, you're gonna have your canteen, you're gonna have a protector. Like I was, I figured like I had my life figured out, you know, I felt like I had my life figured out. What does it say that figuring out life looks like living in prison the rest of your life, getting your drugs, having a little bit of canteen and being protected because that is

far better than the first 19 years of your existence on earth. And again, we are going deep into the story for our listeners to understand the Redemption's coming but you have to understand why Carly does what she does and it's because she knows that her story, while maybe unique to your ears as listeners, it's not unique to the plight of many people in our country today. I'm sitting in this jail cell and my sisters are starting to write me letters and the district attorney hung up on me and was like, you're throwing your life away. And she's last thing she said was your story could have helped someone someday. So I was laying in the cell and I'm thinking and I'm thinking and I decided to do the right

thing. I decided to get on the stand and tell the truth. The other part that made it harder was the, was the detectives wanted me to say more than the truth. They wanted me to lie on the stand. And it really just, you know, like everywhere it turned was corruption and lies. And I just, I didn't like being forced to lie, you know, under oath, on a witness stand. So I was just so content and happy to go to prison because it seemed like such a great solution. But my sisters, man, my sisters were writing me this letter and this district attorney said that. And I decided in like the very last minute to get on the stand. Another part of that is I met so many women there and I loved them and I wanted to stay with them. We bonded, you know, when you're in solitary confinement, you get to talk to them. When you have your hour out of the cell to shower,

I'd go up to their doors and talk to them. And I really cared about those women a lot. So that was one of the reasons I wanted to stay. But anyways, I talked myself into trying another time at normal life. So I got on the stand and I was released eventually. TN- Told the truth. JL- Yeah, I told the truth, which I didn't know what was going to happen. I didn't know if telling the truth was going to be enough because they wanted me to lie essentially. But I told the truth. They got their little bit of revenge on me. They actually rearrested me when I was leaving the courthouse. They rearrested me for some bogus crime that I

didn't commit and they put me back in jail for a while just because they were mad at me for not lying for them, which is whatever. I was so used to jail at that point. I didn't even care. And I just kept hearing that when you're in solitary confinement. So I get out of jail. I'm allowed to move to Illinois. Everything's wonderful. I'm on fire. Why do you choose Illinois? My sisters live in Illinois. So that's safe-ish. Yeah. You had to have a relative and a job, which is like crazy, who's going to hire you. But I did.

I got a relative and a job, someone who was willing to take you in and a prospect, which is like crazy. Who's going to hire you? But I did. I got a relative and a job, someone who was willing to take you in and a prospect, I guess a prospect for work. But I had both of those things. So I was allowed to move to Illinois, slipped and fell on the ice behind the restaurant, told the doctor I was an addict, I didn't want drugs. And he gave me a big bottle of Vicodin. And I was off and running. Both of my kids were born addicted to drugs. How about were you... you really were sober. It was.

You'd fought it off. Basically for the first time in my life. You'd gotten to Rockford, Illinois with your sister. Yes. Got a job and you literally were sober which means also now you're facing the demons of everything that's in your past. I'm having to feel. Yes. But you're getting through it.

Yeah. And then you slip and fall on the ice and the doctor gives you pain pills, which is… Even though I tell him I'm an addict and I don't want them, he said, well, you don't have to feel the prescription then. It's my job. But it was the grip. It pulled you right back immediately. Absolutely. Okay.

So then I had two kids born addicted to heroin, because now I'm a prostitutes in Rockford, had two kids born addicted to heroin, and I hated my life. My whole house was dirty clothes, cat pee, and dog poop, and I wanted to die. My family did an intervention on me. They gave me three days at this hotel in Rockford to figure out my life. Little did they know I'd been trying for six months to get into treatment.

So my plan was to kill myself in that room, because if I couldn't get into treatment in six months, I had a car, I had insurance, I had a phone, and I had people who would have helped me if I asked for help, right? If I couldn't get in with all those things, how am I going to get in in three days? So I was going to kill myself. But I wanted to get high before I killed myself. Were you really going to kill yourself?

Absolutely. Without a shadow of a doubt, I was going to kill myself because it was pointless. How was I going to get help in three days if I've been trying for six months? So I wanted to get high first. And I was calling people and I was like, bring me, I need this, I need that. I'm going to treatment. Bring me this. And this one girl brought me a plate of food and a journal.

Other people had brought me like DVDs. I told them that I wanted DVDs. There's no DVD player in a hotel room. So I was walking around State Street trying to sell DVDs so I can get high one more time at the car dealerships and stuff. But this one friend of a friend came and I can't remember. She brought me a plate of food and I think a journal or something. It wasn't what she brought me though. It's what she said. She said, what do we have to do? How can I help you? What do we have to do to get you into treatment? And the fact that she wanted to help me, knowing that I was a bad mom, that I had put my kids in danger, that my house was a disgusting mess, that everything that I put drugs on my body when I was pregnant, she still wanted

to help me. And I thought to myself, God, maybe I need to try one more time. So I was going to put off killing myself until just before checkout. So in the morning at like 9 a.m., the next morning, I called the treatment center, well, I called many treatment centers, but I called the treatment center, well, I called many treatment centers, but I called the treatment center and the woman on the other end of the phone said, for the love of God, if you would just stop calling. This is verbatim what she said. For the love of God, if you would just stop calling. Someone just left and if you get here

within two hours, you can have their bed, for Christ's sake. And she hung up on me. And contact my nurse, she had no authority to do that. She was just like the night desk woman. And I got there, I got that bed and that was 10 years ago, April 17th. And I haven't had to put a needle in my body since that day. And I haven't got high since that day because I realized some things about myself and I did a lot of self work and therapy but for me I had a realization when I was living in the projects in this little city where I went to treatment it was called Freeport and there's all these little kids just running around the

projects they didn't have no shoes on. And it seemed like nobody was really watching them. Some of the little girls didn't even have shirts on, you know. And I started taking care of them. So I had like this unofficial daycare, basically. So I put a little sign up outside of my apartment and said, Miss Carly's house is open today. And like the parents would just let their kids hang out

with me all day. And I didn't have no money, but I had a link card. So I would go when I would get stuff for us to do crafts and activities and make lemonade. And I just had a good old time. And let me tell you, at the end of those days, I could just lay my head down and go to sleep. I didn't have to relive all the shit that I'd done.

I didn't have to relive all the stuff that was done to me. I could just go to sleep on the nights that I hung out with those kids. I was fulfilled and I was tired and I felt like I had done something good and I could just go to sleep. So I realized that if I could get outside of myself and do something for others that I could get through that day. So I spent a lot of time with those kids needless to say. And I dove into service work and the recovery world.

And I learned that being of service was saving my life. We'll be right back. Last season, millions tuned into the Betrayal podcast to hear a shocking story of deception. I'm Andrea Gunning, and now we're sharing an all new story of betrayal. Stacy thought she had the perfect husband. Doctor, father, family man.

It was the perfect cover for Justin Rutherford to hide behind. It led me into the house and I mean it was like a movie. He was sitting at our kitchen table. The cops were guarding him. Stacey learned how far her husband would go to save himself. I slept with a loaded gun next to my bed. You not just say, I wish he was dead. He actually gave details and explained different scenarios

on how to kill him. He, to me, is scarier than Jeffrey Dahmer. MUSIC Listen to Betrayal on the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. MUSIC I'm Solea Mohsin, and I've covered economic policy for years and reported on how it impacts

people across the United States. In 2016, I saw how voters were leaning towards Trump and how so many Americans felt misunderstood by Washington. So I started The Big Take DC. We dig into how money, politics, and power shaped government and the consequences for voters. It's an election year, so there's a lot of focus on the voters that TikTok is reaching. The initial reaction is like, oh, things are looking so resilient.

I don't want to be too pessimistic, but I just don't see the political will down in Washington right now to change their tune. I think the American electorate has been signaling that it expects a rematch of the 2020 election. These are unprecedented times. With new episodes every Thursday, you can listen to The Big Take DC on the iHeart radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Big Take from Bloomberg News brings you what's shaping the world's economies with the smartest and best informed business reporters around the world. Western nations like the U.S. and Europe.

Mexico will likely have its first female president. And then you have China. And help you understand what's happening, what it means, and why it matters. He'll get his yo-yos to Europe in time. But the longer this drags on, the more worried he's getting. They knew that they needed to do this as fast as they possibly could to get a drug on the market as fast as they could. I'm David Duret. I'm Sarah Holder.

I'm Saleh Emosin. We cover the stories behind what's moving money in markets. Basically everyone was expecting, if not a coamity, certainly a recession. But the problem is that that paperwork, as our reporting showed, is fake. As someone who's covering the market, I'm often very worried about an imminent collapse. I'm thinking about it quite often. Listen to the big take on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Okay. Three questions before we go to what you did that is now developed into Miss Carly's and who you're serving and how. Something you just said struck me, which is you talked about all the things that you did and the things that were done to you. I think that's real close to what you just said to me. Yeah. Where does forgiveness and grace work in all this for you? You know… For both yourself and for the neighbor who raped an eight-year-old, the grandmothers

and mothers who not only didn't protect you but candidly were complicit in those acts against you. For the Persian guy who traded you a disgusting cubicle for sex, for the Mexican guy who had you gang raped for the temerity of wanting your freedom. How is you not just filled with hate? I'm not at all. I know that about you because I can see it in your smile and what you do. Nobody wakes up. Where did you find that? That's a really good question and I don't know that I know the answer to it, but I know that these people, let's take a pimp for instance.

He doesn't wake up and traumatic events that happen to get a person to the stage in their life. I was selling people. I was a human trafficker. I was selling people to Mexico, to these guys in Mexico. Like, who does that, you know? Someone who's experienced a lot of trauma. And I think because of what I had been through, I was able to understand that these people

that were perpetrating even acts against me and others, they were sick themselves and they had been abused and had traumatic experience happen to them themselves. all of my life until very recently. What is very recently? About the last year or so. I've seen so many miracles happen in the work that we do that I can no longer believe that there's nothing out there. It just isn't possible. You cannot tell me that that many coincidences have happened within the walls of the building that I'm in. It just can't be. So I know that there is a higher power watching out for me and

guiding me. And I feel a sense of peace in that that I never had before. Am I a person of great strong faith that's going to get up in front of a church and inspire a room full of people with my knowledge of the Bible and whatnot? No. But I used to be an atheist and I'm not anymore. And I'm learning to explore where my faith is because I shouldn't be alive today, and I am. And I witness miracle after miracle after miracle. So I feel like a baby in my faith and I'm just starting to learn more about it. But I pray all the time. I pray that I will understand what I need to understand

and it's a very new and fresh thing for me. So I'm not real comfortable talking about it because... Darrell Bock Oh, now that's weird. You'll talk about gang rapes and cops holding guns to your head, but you're uncomfortable talking about... I think that is really ironic, but you're uncomfortable talking about…I think that is really ironic, but you're uncomfortable talking about… Karly There's people who identified as Christians and went to church and hurt me, you know. A huge one. Big. Big. Religion can often be, can often be, um, mishandled in a way that hurts others.

That is a human construct that can oftentimes destroy faith, actually. And so I get what you're saying. When I was in solitary confinement, there was no books. And I just had one little like ripped part of a Bible and I would read it and I just really identified with you know, a lot of the scriptures and just the idea of unconditional love because that was the only way I was going to be loved because I had done so many bad things, you know? The only way that anybody was going to love me because I had done so many bad things, you know? The only way that anybody was going to love me is if they could have the capacity for unconditional love.

So there were many things that led up to me deciding not to be an atheist anymore. Um, that happened somewhere around a year ago. And I just pray a lot now. ago. And I just pray a lot now. And I pray a lot in gratitude for the miracles that I see happening around me. And I pray for healing for the people that are hurting around me. And it happens. It happens all the time. My prayers get answered, so I just keep praying. So, let's talk about how those miracles started. I think it was you decided homeless people that live near you needed a sandwich. I think that's basically the way it began, isn't it? I'm crying, I'm sorry.

It's okay, cry your heart out, all you want. We deal with a lot of light stuff. Some episodes are about Santa Claus, Indiana, and it's happy and warm and fun to talk about. Some are with a guy named Big Al who has a magnanimous personality that could fill this whole building. Some are deep, troubling stories. Obviously, we try to always get to the redemption, which we're getting to here. But it's a very diverse storytelling that we do. And I got to tell you, I've sat here for the last 15 minutes fighting tears. I've got tears in my eyes right now and a little bit of a

lump in my throat. And that is rare in these things that we do. I'm really affected by your story. I'm glad because that means there's hope for the women out there who are still living in this backstory. And I think that's what's affecting me is not your story, just your story, but I can't quit thinking that, oh my gosh, right now, within 20 miles of here, this is probably happening to 10 different women. And it makes me want to throw up and it hurts me. And we just got to do better. Danielle Pletka People worry so much about the homeless people,

the homeless people, the homeless people. What about these people living in subdivided buildings, you know, with opportunistic landlords and, you know, there's so many people being taken advantage of and subjugated in poor areas. And they don't have anywhere to run to for help and they don't have people that they can trust. And I think that we should open ourselves if we are capable to be one of those safe people and identify ourselves as an advocate. Which is what you did with some sandwiches. So go to it. So I'm digging in my garden. I want to, I have a family, I'm sober now.

You're in Rockford, Illinois. Rockford, Illinois. You got it straight. You got a job. You have done the work that most can't. And honestly, that should be enough. You pulled yourself literally off Skid Row. Some days I wish it were. Yeah, I get it. That I do identify with. But you have, you've quote, made it literally off Skid Row. And that is not a proverbial statement. Literally off Skid Row, you're in Rockford, Illinois, you've got a life. You're clean, you're sober, you face so many of your demons, and you're digging

in your garden. I only know one person that was on Skid Row at the same time as me that made it off. So I'm saying, you're rare. You're in very thin air. So I'm digging in my garden and this homeless person just gets down in the garden beside me and starts digging. Are you serious? Yeah. And he's like, I want to help.

He picked the right person to do it next to. I mean, you get him. He's probably like, yeah. Are you serious? Yeah. And he's like, I want to help. He picked the right person to do it next to you. I mean, you get him. He's probably high as hell, isn't he? Yeah, he was. And at the time I was running this very successful, well, very successful, especially for how new it was photography business, but I felt like a fraud because I'm around all these people who are dressed all fancy and they're showing all their opulence and wealth off.

You know, and you're taking their pictures and making money, good money. Yeah. And I made a lot of money. I had a great, my partner, Mr. Jacob is a vicious business man. And he's like, I was charging $50 a session. He said, what are you doing? Yeah, it's 500. Yeah. That's exactly what he said. And he had- I have a kid getting married. I know what photographer, it's a damn bracket is what photographers are. And I was adding, yeah. And I couldn't do it. I couldn't charge people that much. I did. But then I hated it. And then people were just so

ugly displaying all of their opulence and, you know, their Gucci. Like, why do you have to have an $8,000 purse just to hold it for 15 minutes? You know, like, it's crazy. I was very uncomfortable. It wasn't my scene. And I was going through that in my head, like, how do I get out of this business that I just work so hard to get into? And here comes this homeless person. And I'm like, you are my people. This high homeless dude starts digging next to me. Yeah, I'm like, come inside. Let's go get something to eat. He's like, but I'm filthy. I'm like, I don't care. I'm dirty too. Go wash up and I'll make you something to eat. And his name was Shane. And I love Shane so much. Shane and I would hang out a lot in

the garden. He just kept meeting me early in the morning because I would get up before my kids got up because it was cool, you know, and then it would get hotter and I don't want to be digging in the heat. So he just started timing it. I also smoked cigarettes at the time and that was his way to get his morning cigarette too. So he'd come and help me dig in the garden and he'd get his couple of cigarettes and then I would feed them and then we would part our ways. Well, it got to the point where I invited him over for dinner and he came and he ate with my family for dinner. And to him, it was like such a big thing. He was like, I'm going to go to Carpenter's place and I'm going to take a shower. I promise I'll be clean. Miss Carly,

he called me Miss Carly. He's the first person to call me that. He's so worried. He didn't want to be dirty like around my children because I had two children at the time. And he's like, I promise I'll be clean and I'll wipe my seat after I get up, but my pants will be clean. So don't worry. He's like all excited about coming to dinner. And I'm like, I'm not tripping dude. Like germs are germs, you know? And he comes to dinner and he comes to dinner again and he's like our friend now. And then his friends start knocking on the door and they're like, we're hungry and we were wondering

if maybe you had anything left over. So now I'm calling my friends who own restaurants and I'm getting bags of beans and that and some flour. That is hilarious. And I'm making, rolling out homemade hot pockets and stuff. And I'm just trying to figure out how to feed these people. And I'm getting a little bit behind on my personal chores. So Shane started like sweeping and mopping for me

because I'm making a big mess with these 50 pound bags of flour and stuff. So he's helping me clean, which is notable. Just remember that later. And we're just doing it. We're feeding all our friends, right? And one day, Shane... I got to ask something. Yeah. What are your neighbors thinking?

Oh, they're slipping tamales over the fence. Your neighbors are helping. Yeah. They're a Hispanic family and they're like, here's tonalys for your friends. And then the other neighbors on the other side was the building that we now own. So they didn't care either. There are some neighbors across the street that aren't super happy about it, but everybody else around right around us loves us in the immediate area. So, so, so, so the friends are coming and the friends are coming coming and I'm like, I'm having a little bit of trouble keeping up, right? And then this one homeless young woman who, bless her heart,

she ended up dying of infection, cancer. She had cancer, but she actually died of infection, was totally treatable once again. She brought me, this little old lady named Miss Rhonda, who I believe is actually from somewhere around here. talking about Memphis area. Yeah. So she's somewhere from Tennessee or something like that. But anyway, she's a sweet little lady from the South named Miss Rhonda. And Miss Rhonda was walking down 7th Street, which is a notorious street for homeless people and drug sales and human trafficking in Rockford. And Miss Rhonda says, I swear, swear by God, it was the only day I couldn't find a single homeless person in all the

7th Street. Because they were all at your house. I don't know where they were. Possibly. So this one homeless person brought Ms. Rhonda to me and Ms. Rhonda had all this food leftover from a funeral and she said, what are you doing here? Cause I was feeding these homeless people. I said, I'm feeding some people. She said, I want to feed people. And so I would cook half at my house and she would cook half at her house and we would feed like 50 homeless people. And it was just this totally organic thing, completely word of mouth, home cooked food. And it was 50 people and it was 75 people and it was 100 people and it was 200 people and it was 300 people. And right about the time we were feeding 350 people

a hot meal three times a week I caught two escaped prison inmates. These two prison inmates showed up at my house and escaped prison inmates and I recognized their picture only by chance because I do not watch the news. I've been through enough in my life. I just can't deal with the news. I don't watch the news, but I just happen to see it because my friend's cabin was in the area where they were escaped from. And their pictures imprinted in my mind because they were in prison for the same kinds of charges that my mother's rapist was in prison for. Wow. Rape, kidnapping, et cetera.

So these kidnap, rape, kidnap guys are at my door and it's, I don't know, early in the morning, six, seven, eight in the morning or something. Are you afraid for yourself or are you? I don't know. I've been through so much. These guys are like whatever. But I'm thinking, how do I get inside to call 911 without tipping them off? And how do I keep them here long enough for 911 to come, for the police to come? So another volunteer showed up at the same time.

And I said, I'm going to go outside and get coffee for these two guys because they were freezing. And he stayed and talked to them while I went inside and called 911 and made him coffee. So I came back out and I stalled them. Then the other volunteer went inside and I stalled the two guys until the police got there. And I think they took a long time because I don't think they believed me. And then when they finally realized that I was telling the truth, they had to get more cops, I guess. So this is like 10, 12, 15 minutes of stalling these escaped inmates, just small talking with them. I'm like, let me go get you a pair of sweats. Let

me go get you this. And I'm like, trying to figure out all these reasons to stall them. And eventually shwoom, other cops come in and they arrest them. and I got this award and stuff. So we got really, really popular. That is so ironic. Yeah. If you think about it. It is. That you're getting award from the police. I felt like Hunter S Thompson sitting in that thing full of police and detectives and stuff. I mean, mind you, I'm sober at the time, so it wasn't exactly like Hunter S Thompson. But I felt to myself like if these guys only knew, you know, like, but yeah, I went up on the stage and it was all like just cops and stuff. And they gave me an award and that helped the donations roll in and and then yeah the point is that was the media event that people are like this chick is feeding all these homeless people and doing good yeah and so now you have an organization yeah we had to start an

organization the city tried to shut us down and they failed because the community rose up and was like, oh hell no, you're not shutting this lady down. And there were so many people at City Hall when the city tried to shut us down that they had to put TVs in the lobbies. People made t-shirts, bumper stickers, and they were like save Ms. Carly's. The newspaper did an op-ed and everybody was just in our corner. We had tremendous support and we got a unanimous vote from city council to stay open. We've been feeding people ever since. When COVID hit, we had to change the hot meals, which really broke our heart because a big

part of what we did was we had volunteers who would just walk around and sit down with people and get to know them. And then we would find out like what was going on in their lives. And we would try to help them figure it out. We would show up at their doctor's appointments with them. We would, you know, just like fit the pieces together.

So it broke our heart that we weren't gonna have the hot together. So it broke our heart that we weren't going to have the hot meals. So then we went to sack lunches when COVID hit. And the sack lunches turned to 1,200 sack lunches a day at a time. That's insane. How many people are making these things? I mean, you're no longer doing this in your kitchen. Eight to 10 people, we started renting the kitchen next door to us. And we just pumped out the sandwiches like three days a week, we'd make a few thousand sandwiches. And we were able to feed as many as 1200 people in a day during COVID. But the hard thing during COVID was seeing people

cut off from resources. So the fact that people couldn't get into treatment really resonated with me. I forgot to tell you that one night Shane didn't show up for family dinner. And me and Mr. Jacob went to his tent and we saw footprints all over the ground and his hat was trampled on the ground. I should have taken a picture of it because his hat is on the wall at my house right next to his picture. And we knew that our friend was gone. And I felt he had overdosed.

Another homeless person found him in the prayer position and passed away. It just broke my heart that I didn't help him. I know I, who had a car, a computer, a house, connections in the community, why didn't I get him help? This was before we started doing that. He was the first person that passed away that we knew that was homeless and it just destroyed us. Me and Jacob sat there and cried. And ever since that day, we started helping getting people with treatment. We started driving people in our own car pre-COVID to Chicago and we would sit with them and we would not give up until they got a bed and treatment. Post COVID, same thing, but larger scale and we used Uber instead.

We now have gotten over a thousand people into treatment. And- Just stop. A thousand people. Over. Okay. I'm looking through my notes and I can't find their names and I'd love to give them credit for this. But do you know how we found out about you? Two Army or Normal Folks listeners,

Danica, I'm sorry if I'm mispronouncing your name, Danica Hay-Skatham and Pat Moran, that said they donate to your work. But they're just people who know about you. Do you know who these people are? I recognize their names for sure. Yeah. Yeah. They're the one they they're how we even know your story. I know. I knew you didn't know that. And I wanted to give it to you as a point of encouragement. You're not only affecting homeless people, you're illustrating to people who have not been what you've been through.

And you're inspiring them enough that they take their time to different people to email us about the work that you're doing in Rockford. You're helping a whole community. You're inspiring a whole community. That's my hope because these people are screwed. If not, already there's just the outs are stacked against them. So tell me today what it is. I know you do meal service three days a week and you serve as many as, God, I don't even know how many meals. It's an insane amount. What's the number? So, we no longer do the meal service three days a week. We do what we call community day three days a week. So, we have people come in. We do the sack lunches 24 hours a

day, seven days a week. You do that no matter what. So if a homeless person in Rockford wants food, it's there. Seven days a week. Hell or high water. We're talking Christmas. Thanksgiving. Never close.

Okay. So you do that. Yeah. And then you have... My bed is five feet from the front door. So when people knock, I just get out of bed and I have a refrigerator right next to the front door and I get the cold part of the lunch out of the refrigerator. I get a bar of soap, I get whatever they need. It's all set up

right around the front door. That's what I was getting to is it's not now just food. It's clothing items, it's hygiene. It's literally meals at the door for the homeless along with the things that you remember you wish you had when you were on Skid Row. They used to charge like $20 for a blanket and it'd be like a dirty lice infected blanket. Like you'd have to buy it from another homeless person. But where are you going to get the 20 bucks? Go do drugs or prostitute yourself.

Yeah. So it's so important to me to give people blankets and those things that I... All right. So you got 24-7, lunch and a sack. You get... Very basic necessities. Right. Narcan.

Now that's interesting. Now you do that confidentially and without prejudice because you also understand what that feels like. But Narcan. You want to know how many people have given Narcan and CPR to? I do. Oh, Narcan and what? CPR. Yeah, I do want to know. Twenty seven people. Twenty seven people. Most of those were trafficked women who were dumped on our doorstep during COVID. Not breathing in blue.

Twenty seven people, one of them. That literally means you probably save 27 lives on your front doorstep. I definitely have saved 27 lives on my front doorstep. One woman, I gave her CPR five times and her name is Mary. Mary, I am so proud of you. Her name is Mary Boshirz. And she told me, Ms. Carly, I'm going to get sober and I'm going to get all my kids back. And she's done it. We helped her get, you know, off the streets and off drugs, but she didn't ask us for much. A lot of people are like, okay, I need this.

I need a bus pass. I need some groceries. I need, oh, Ms. Carly, you gotta pay my phone bill. She didn't ask us for like, near nothing, hardly. She did everything she said she was gonna do. She got all of her kids back She even got her pimp sober and he has a year clean now I mean we helped him but like they did this like she

She got her pimp sober, so he's no longer out there hurting other women. It's just amazing She's such a great success story He's no longer out there hurting other women. It's just amazing. She's such a great success story. We have another trafficked woman that we helped get sober. And her name is Danielle. And she told me, Miss Carly, I'm going to be an inspirational speaker. If she isn't now, she's a freaking inspirational speaker.

And I hooked her up with this doctor. And she goes to the University of Illinois and she teaches graduating doctors on how to recognize the signs of human trafficking in the ER or wherever they might find themselves in their profession because this is the thing. The women don't identify with the language. They don't know they're being, I didn't know I was being trafficked. I didn't know that I was trafficking homeless people when I took them down to San Diego. The language is a barrier and we got to get past those barriers and educate people and

have them understand that it's not acceptable to be treated this way. I'm sorry I got off on a tangent. Drug and alcohol treatment and which I have learned look, I gotta be completely candid here. Over the last year of doing an army of normal folks, what I have learned is a massive importance. An army of normal folks? What is that? That's what you're on. That is my dream.

Okay, well, that's the name of this podcast. I didn't even know that. That's my dream. That's to create an army of normal folks. Okay, well that's the name of the podcast you're on right now. That's hilarious. Listen to me for a second. What I've learned over the last year of doing this is you can get people in drug and alcohol treatment and they can get sober. But if you

don't have a way to get them a place to assimilate back into the world. If you just take them from drug around, from the return and say, okay, here's the world, they're going to relapse. And so you also handle that right? Transition. Hold on. Okay. I did not know that it was the name of your podcast.

I researched you, you know, just a little bit, but I did not know that was the name of this podcast. That is my dream is to create an army of advocates to help pull people out of these depths of despair and help them just get to appointments. Okay. appointments and okay so what our army of normal folks is is people like you who nobody know about who are just normal folks who've been through whatever they've been in the world that see areas of need in their community and fill it and if we have an army of normal folks across the world seeing areas in need in the world and filling it, we can change our society. Absolutely.

That's exactly what I believe. Well, that's what you are joining by being a member of the podcast. My dream is to have an army of advocates to change Rockford, and then I want that to spread with, oh, wow. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get so sidetracked. Let me answer your question.

Okay. So, absolutely. If you said- Hey, hey, nice job, Alex, on your prep. Nice job, buddy. Yeah, good. It was an email. Ha ha ha ha ha ha.

We'll be right back. Last season, Millions tuned into the Betrayal podcast to hear a shocking story of deception. I'm Andrea Gunning, and now we're sharing an all new story of betrayal. Stacey thought she had the perfect husband. Doctor, father, family man. It was the perfect cover for Justin Rutherford to hide behind. They led me into the house and I mean it was like a movie. He was sitting at our kitchen table. The cops were guarding him.

Stacey learned how far her husband would go to save himself. I slept with a loaded gun next to my bed. He did not just say, I wish he was dead. He actually gave details and explained different scenarios on how to kill him. He, to me, is scarier than Jeffrey Dahmer. Listen to Betrayal on the iHeart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The big take from Bloomberg News brings you what's shaping the world's economies with the smartest and best informed business reporters around the world.

Western nations like the US and Europe. Mexico will likely have its first female president. And then you have China. And help you understand what's happening, what it means, and why it matters. He'll get his yo-yos to Europe in time. But the longer this drags on, the more worried he's getting. They knew that they needed to do this as fast as they possibly could to get a drug on the market as fast as they could. I'm David Dura. I'm Sarah Holder. I'm Saleh Emosin.

We cover the stories behind what's moving money and markets. Basically everyone was expecting, if not a calamity, certainly a recession. But the problem is that that paperwork, as our reporting showed, is fake. To someone who's covering the market, I'm often very worried about an imminent collapse. I'm thinking about it quite often.

Listen to the big take on the iHeart Radio app, Apple very worried about an imminent collapse. I'm thinking about it quite often. Listen to The Big Take on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Solea Mosin, and I've covered economic policy for years and reported on how it impacts people across the United States. In 2016, I saw how voters were leaning towards Trump and how so many Americans felt misunderstood by Washington. So I started the Big Take DC. We dig into how money, politics, and power shaped government and the consequences for voters. It's an election year, so there's a lot of focus on the voters that TikTok is reaching. The initial reaction is like, oh, things are looking so resilient.

I don't want to be too pessimistic, but I just don't see the political will down in Washington right now to change their tune. I think the American electorate has been signaling that it expects a rematch of the 2020 election. These are unprecedented times. With new episodes every Thursday, you can listen to The Big Take DC on the iHeart radio app, Apple podcasts, or whatever you get your podcasts. We do 24-7 bags, we do Narcan, we do clothing and hygiene items, meals at the door, you sleep next to the door so everybody gets food, you do clothing and hygiene items, meals at the door, you sleep next to the door

so everybody gets food, you do drug alcohol treatment, you can get off the street, go to drug and alcohol rehabilitation, everything's hunky-dory, but then what? There has to be transition, there has to be an assimilation. So many people say, oh, they should just go to the homeless shelter. Okay, homeless shelters, grateful for them. So many people say, oh, they should just go to the homeless shelter. Okay. Homeless shelters. Grateful for them. Are they a place to be in early recovery?

Absolutely not. There's drugs everywhere. We are filled with drugs. Right. And I don't care what anybody says about how wonderful their homeless shelter is. Antics are sneaky and it's not their fault that the drugs are in there and anic is going to figure it out. So we have to give them a safe, sane and supportive living environment to learn how to live without drugs in and especially if there's someone who've been doing it for decades.

So we pay for them to go to any sober living they want to. And the reason that we let them make the choice and don't say, hey, we like this one, go to this one, is this is their first experience of autonomy, of being able to choose. They have the ability to make a decision for themselves. And autonomy is something homeless people believe they have, but when they truly get to experience it in a sober state, it's a whole different ballgame. Yeah, they know that they were everything but autonomous because they were controlled by drugs and the life that goes along with it.

It is the antithesis of autonomy, truly. So we're very big on them being able to, you know, we will suggest some places, but we pay for them to go to Sober Living and we get them a cell phone, just a cheap $30 cell phone, a little bit of groceries, laundry basket sheets, some cigarettes, everything that they need to succeed in their early days of sober living. But more importantly, we become their family, so to speak. Because so many of the people we serve, they don't have anybody. They burned all their bridges. They squandered all their resources. Nobody is willing to help them, at least not in our community, because we have this big little city problem wherein

there is resources, but once you've burnt your bridge, they're not going to help you again. You know? They've had enough. Yeah. Well, people have had enough. Yeah. Yeah.

Listen, before we throw rocks, I can understand that. Me too. Especially if they have anger problems. Well, and you know, you help, you help, you help, you know. It's exhausting sometimes. And so I get that. It is. But you're the one that's just never going to have enough.

There has to be somebody because the disease of addiction just doesn't make sense. Like why would somebody who desperately wants to get sober keep relapsing over and over and over? And they're not happy using, they're clearly not happy using, you know. Yeah, the life you described to us, who would be happy there? Who would choose that? And the answer is nobody would choose that. That is the insanity of the season of addiction.

Nobody would choose the life that these people are living, the people that we're serving. So, you not only provide them the clothing and the food without prejudice while they're using, when they want to get sober, you get them drug and alcohol treatment and when they get out of that, you give them a way to transition. Dr. told me the name of was because my whole dream is to grow this huge army of advocates that will just walk people through these challenges and love them unconditionally in the meantime. Because I believe that you don't need a degree to change someone's life. I believe that if you just have the desire to affect someone's life

and the empathy and compassion that it takes to understand their circumstances even better if you have some personal experience that you share. My dream is to create this big database, basically this network of advocates and I'll know about each of the advocates and I can link them up to the people who need service and make sure they get through because there's lots of great services that

exist, right? But here's the thing, people don't believe they deserve the help. I lived in Skid Row, the Mecca of missions. I lay my head up against the very place that could have helped me. Why didn't I walk in the door? Because it felt like a cathedral of cleanness and perfection, and I felt infected and dirty and used and disgusting and repulsive. I would walk through there and I would sit across the desk from this lady who had a house and a bank and a bank account and a car and her little water bottle with things hanging off of it.

I didn't have none of those things. My teeth were falling out and I just had sex with some guy and I had fluids dripping down my legs and stuff and I just walked right back out because I felt so separate from this shiny, gleaming building and this neat little woman who has her whole life figured out. I could not, didn't feel worthy. And you're saying the people you serve feel that way. Feel the same way. They do not feel worthy. They may go and begin the process, but then their disease tells them, you don't deserve this. You

don't fit in. That lady's judging you. She's not going to help you. All these things go through your head and you self-sabotage the situation and the service that could be helping you. And it's just so nonsensical. And then people look down on them, oh, there's all these places that could help them and they are not taking the help. They don't want the help. It's not that they don't want the help. They don't feel they deserve the help. So our big thing is loving them unconditionally until they can love themselves. For everyone listening to this, if you're not fully inspired by the need for just compassion and the social impact, if that isn't enough, there is a pragmatic side to the work that

Carly and people like her do, which is this. These people who are living in this world, each one of them that gets sober and finds a home, gets a job, and become productive members of society. Think about the financial, tax, social, corporate, and municipal impact for every single one of the people that we get off the street and flip them to becoming taxpaying productive members of society. So even if you're not affected as deeply by just the social impact of this, there's a pragmatic impact of the work you do that makes our world better.

Absolutely. That's what I'm trying to sell always to like the local government because they are absolutely a drain on society, you know, and if we can get them contributing. Which, this is not, don't take the, but you were. Absolutely. I was on social security my whole life. All I ever bought was it was drugs or the occasional room at the Hotel Cecil in downtown Los Angeles, you know, which was just a big den of drugs and gang stuff. And yeah, that's

all I did was spend my money on drugs. Social Security, disability. So look what sobriety has done. Right? And so for every single person you can serve, think of the pragmatic impact on society if you don't even care about the social impact. It is a two-pronged thing. Speaking of pragmatic and social impact, there's one more thing you haven't mentioned that you earlier said we'll get back to about, I think it was the guy sweeping your porch. Tell us about that because that is one I've never heard, which I think is awesome. Nicole Jardim So the cool- Dr. Justin Marchegiani What you have organized with the homeless. Nicole Jardim The cool thing about our organization is it is run by the homeless people. So, you know,

obviously we have a board and we do all that stuff, but the actual- Dr. Justin Marchegiani Yeah, that legal stuff that you have to do if you're going to take people's money. Nicole Jardim And we didn't do enough of it and we're trying to catch up. And learning. Oh my goodness. That's okay. It's the way it is. It's a mess, but we're getting through it. The people that run the building, that run the day to day operations are by and large the people that we serve. And we call them our volunteers and they clean, they sweep, they hang clothes,

they serve their peers, they collect the donations. They come to us kind of slunched over, and half-hearted about things. And by the end of the day, a volunteer and they're standing up straight, they're looking you in the eye and they're talking about plans for the future. You mean they've been given dignity. Yes. Yeah. And the fact that we treat them as equals really hits home for them because they do not get treated that way at other places. When they, and I'm not saying other places are doing it wrong, we're just doing it different. When you go to another place as a person receiving services, you're hit automatically with a whole packet of rules. When you come to us, we're like, what are you good at?

Okay, we're going to stick you here and we just throw you in, like get to work, you know? And if they don't want to be there, they don't have to. And we have cigarettes that they can roll, they got food, they can heat up. We have people who bring in food for them. And they're just such a big family and they're so happy to be of service and grateful just like I was. I want to provide that opportunity to people because there's this idea that homeless people are lazy.

And I don't find that to be true at all. Of course, there's exceptions to everything. And there are people who just want to feed off the system and those people exist. But they are few and far between. I think in five years, I've met two or three people like that. These are some of the most hardest working people I've ever met in my life. They're just addicts and they're traumatized often, mostly the addiction and the trauma go hand in hand. And they're not allowed to be anywhere. They're chased off of everywhere they go. Well, and most of that trauma and addiction started way before they even were adults,

right? I mean, that is universally, nothing's universally true, but that is by and large the same story over your story over and over and over again. So honestly, by helping the homeless, we're actually helping people who, for the most part, started down the road of this trauma long before they were able to make decisions even for themselves. And we have to put that human face on these people. I can't think of an exception to that of anyone that I serve. There's one guy that I sent to treatment recently that comes from a good family and doesn't have trauma, but we help anybody who comes. I wouldn't put him in the category of most of the people we serve.

We'll never turn anyone down. Anyone that asks for help, we're going to give it to them no matter their station in life, no matter their situation. It's 100% unconditional. I think by and large, the common thread of the people that we serve is trauma and not just a little bit of trauma, like major trauma. And mental illness of course would be next and the drug addiction. That's what they all have in common. And we do not just serve… So you're talking about literally the most disadvantaged, disenfranchised among us. Yes. And I think...

And if we could change the old saying, we're only as strong as our weakest link. So if the football team or our business or society is only as strong as our weakest link, and these are the most disenfranchised people among us. And we can serve and make them stronger. Then doesn't our societal chain become stronger as a whole? Exactly. And the flip side of that is if we don't do something and we don't intervene, then aren't we just as guilty of creating the monster?

Is what I feel like. I feel like we have a duty to to open doors and enable people to make positive changes. There is nothing worse than wanting to get better and do better and not being able to because then you get the efforts and that is when people do things. They say the hell with it, I'm done. Why don't I just throw in the towel and do it? That is a dangerous person and we as a society create those people. I believe when we shut the door on their face, you know, we have to make sure that we are providing a way out. We'll be right back.

Last season, millions tuned into the Betrayal podcast to hear a shocking story of deception. I'm Andrea Gunning, and now we're sharing an all-new story of betrayal. Stacey thought she had the perfect husband. Doctor, father, family man. It was the perfect cover for Justin Rutherford to hide behind. It led me into the house, and and I mean it was like a movie. He was sitting at our kitchen table. The cops were guarding him.

Stacey learned how far her husband would go to save himself. I slept with a loaded gun next to my bed. You not just say I wish he was dead, you actually gave details and explained different scenarios on how to kill him. He to me is scarier than Jeffrey Dahmer. Listen to Betrayal on the iHeart radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Solea Mohsin and I've covered economic policy for years and reported on how it impacts people across the United States.

In 2016, I saw how voters were leaning towards Trump and how so many Americans felt misunderstood by Washington. So I started The Big Take DC. We dig into how money, politics and power shape government and the consequences for voters. It's an election year, so there's a lot of focus on the voters that TikTok is reaching. The initial reaction is like, oh, things are looking so resilient. I don't want to be too pessimistic, but I just don't see the political will down in Washington right now to change their tune. I think the American electorate has been signaling that it expects a rematch of the 2020 election.

These are unprecedented times. With new episodes every Thursday, you can listen to The Big Take DC on the iHeart radio app, Apple podcasts, or whatever you get your podcasts. The big take from Bloomberg News brings you what's shaping the world's economies with the smartest and best informed business reporters around the world. Western nations like the US and Europe. Mexico will likely have its first female president. And then you have China.

And help you understand what's happening, what it means, and why it matters. He'll get his yo-yos to Europe in time, but the longer this drags on, the more worried he's getting. They knew that they needed to do this as fast as they possibly could to get a drug on the market, as fast as they could. I'm David Dura. I'm Sarah Holder. I'm Saleh Amosin. We cover the stories behind what's moving money in markets.

Basically everyone was expecting, if not a calamity, certainly a recession. But the problem is that that paperwork, as our reporting showed, is fake. Someone who's covering the market, I'm often very worried about an imminent collapse. I'm thinking about it quite often. Listen to The Big Take on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I get a lot of flack for being willing to send pimps to treatment and get them off the streets, right? But what I say to those people are, I can get a woman off the street. It's

very difficult to get women out of human trafficking because there's always a means to an end. There are so many people who wish for them to stay in the position they are. Plus, she always knows she can go get her drug, right? She could go stand on the street for 10 minutes and make $40 and get her drug. But if I can get rid of a pimp, I'm getting rid of the source. So even if I'm not going to help him if he comes to my door and asks for help. First of all, he's a human being and Jesus would have.

And second of all, if I can get rid of a pimp, then those six girls have a much better chance of getting out of the situation that they're in. You know, like don't, don't. So people get upset that I'm willing to help both the victim and the quote unquote abuser. But what happened to the abuser to get him to that point to begin with? I was going to say more than likely abuser was once a victim. Absolutely. I've heard no exceptions to that.

The other thing you just said that I really want our audience to hear is that we can't equate in your personal story. The people that abuse you that were adults are in a class of their own. People that weren't engaged in the abuse, but knew it and didn't act, that inaction in and of itself is evil. And I think we all need to remember that as we see needs surrounding us and have the ability to act and don't. Yes. I believe we as individuals absolutely have the power to change people's lives and we are afraid or just too numb or caught up in our own stuff or in our phone or whatever to realize that, you know, the smallest gesture

could change somebody's entire trajectory. You mean like letting a homeless guy dig in your garden and giving them a sandwich one day? Yes. But I'm not saying you have to change your whole life to change someone else's life. As a homeless person, there was this concept that I called the turning away. When you would walk around, people would turn away from you. I would ask people to not turn away, to smile and humanize that situation.

Okay. What do you say to the guy sitting out the convenience store that's asking me for change? Now, I'm not a turn away person. I will. I wouldn't imagine so. No, I'm just not a fear guy. Yeah, yeah. A lot of people turn away because they're just afraid. I mean, let's give people credit for that. A woman walking out of a convenience store driving a decent car and a nice set of clothes and a big young kind of burly dude that's filthy walks up and says, hey, give me a dollar. You run to your car because you're afraid.

That's true. I mean, so I get that, okay? That's understandable. Yeah, it is. So, but the question is, the moral dilemma, do I give the guy a dollar knowing he's probably not going to go get a sandwich and he's going to go get drugs or alcohol? Or do I say, I'm sorry, man, I can't give you the dollar, when I could certainly afford to give the guy the dollar. The moral dilemma for me is, it's not about the dollar. It's about what he's going to do with the dollar and then am I enabling him to further

the misery he's in? Yeah. What do you do? What do you say to that? I, so I'm kind of a hypocrite because I give them the dollar so that I can have a conversation with them. I want to hold their attention long enough so I could tell them what I can offer them about treatment and whatnot.

You're different. So I would- Not everybody's got- I don't think that everybody should because some of these pen handlers make three, four, $500 a day and it's supplying their habit. I would say instead, look that person in the eye and say, I'm not going to give you any money, but I care about you and I hope that your situation gets better.

And you know, here's my pastor's number or here's my therapist's number or here is somebody that can help you. I pray you get you know the help that you need. Here's Ms. Carly's number if you're in Rockford. Or whatever you say that it is something kind and that you make eye contact and you don't just turn away because that turning away hurts just as bad if not worse than some of the things that Just the just you're It's the dismissive it's expensive and you become Alienated and you start getting the efforts and that's when crime doesn't seem like such a bad idea

And and and like this is further just in franchise, man Carly, tell us how many people you're serving annually right now. After how many years? I don't know the... When did he first kneel down in your garden? It was five years ago. Five years later. Right now we're feeding three to 500 people a day and we're closer to the 500 as the weather

gets nicer. But I would say right now four to 500 people a day, every single day, seven days a week. And you've saved 27 lives on your front porch. How many people have been sent through the whole program of getting off drugs in the transition and are now clean, sober, and working in the last five years that you've worked for them. Nicole It's hard to say that number because a lot of people reintegrate with their family, you know, and we lose touch with them.

I would say a few hundred, probably somewhere around two, three hundred. I would say, you know, that's, that is on the generous end because the statistics are just daunting, you know. I would say probably around two hundred. That's phenomenal. Yeah. That's forty a year. We have people check in with us every day, every day. And like at least once a week, someone out of the blue that I haven't talked to forever. I really need to get to work.

Where'd you get your degree in social work? I don't have a degree at all. Oh, you don't? Really? Where'd you get your training? Where'd you get your certificate to do this work, Garly? I have no certificate. I have life experience. No, what you do is you saw an ear and even filled it, and you didn't wait for somebody to give you a degree or certificate or permission to go help. You saw an ear and even filled it.

You don't need a degree to change someone's life. You don't need a degree to be a decent person and just treat somebody with love and dignity and respect. Carly Rice, an abused, traumatized former resident of the Skid Row. The Skid Row. Whose best prospect at life was literally going to prison. Only 10, 12 years ago, who got herself together, moved to Rockford, Illinois, 90 miles or so north of Chicago, and five years ago, because a homeless guy knelt down to her in her garden and she had the temerity and the

kindness to just feed him, is now serving hundreds, thousands and has started an organization that has already served 200-ish people from that life all the way to productive citizens. What a story. Do you pinch yourself? Jadeyne McClendon Every time someone comes back and checks in and says, I'm still doing good, Ms. Carly, I'm still doing good every single time. Yeah, because I thought I was going to be dead. It's a miracle that I'm even alive and I feel so blessed. We have faced so many challenges in this work, so many challenges and we continue to face more.

And people always ask me, Carly, it's so hard and you never get to sleep and all these people are always coming for you. Why do you keep doing it? Because it's worth it. Because these are human beings and the success stories, they keep me going. And furthermore, it keeps me sober. This is not an entirely selfless endeavor here. Every night when I'm handing lunches to these people, some of them looking like walking skeletons, I'm reminded of where I come from and where

I never want to be again. And it gives me great joy and some semblance of serenity to be an instrument of God's will or whoever's in charge here to give them hope because they certainly don't have any. And if I could give them a sack lunch and a little bit of love and a little bit of hope, we can build on that. I have often said, and every guest echoes it, which is what you just said, the payoff pitch to all of this is you always get 50 times more out of it than you put into it. Carly, if somebody wants to support you, somebody wants to contact you, somebody wants to hear more about your story, somebody wants to financially give to the organization, or somebody is inspired

and thinks, you know, maybe I could do that in that community. How do they find you? MsCarlies.org is our website. Spell that. M-I-S-S-C-A-R-L-Y-S.org and there's no apostrophe. Our number one need is always food. I mean, we are feeding three to 500 people a day. We have an Amazon wishlist on our website, but you can order from anywhere, Walmart or wherever, and have it sent directly to our address, which is on the website.

And then our second most biggest need would be money to pay for people to go to Sober Living, because we actually, we Uber people to treatment, Uber people to Sober Living, pay to Sober Living, because we actually, we Uber people to treatment, Uber people to Sober Living, pay their Sober Living rent, buy all of their incidental needs, and it really adds up. It adds up to about $3,000 per person to get them through their first 30 to 90 days of recovery. And we're working on a model to sponsor individuals

through that, which I'm excited about. And if somebody's inspired to do this in their own neighborhood, they can reach you through that and you'll respond to them? Absolutely. I imagine with that big smile, you would love to tell anybody the story anyone wants to listen. Yes. Carly Rice, you are an inspiration.

Thank you for joining me in Memphis. Thank you for telling me this incredible story. And most of all, thanks for the incredible inspiring work you do for people who need it. You're blessed to do it. Thank you for having me. And thank you for joining us this week. If Carly Rice or another guest has inspired you in general, or better yet to take action by donating to Miss Carly's

by volunteering there or somewhere else, launching a Miss Carly's in your own community or something else entirely, please let me know. I'd love to hear about it. You can write me anytime at Bill at NormalFolks.us and I promise I will respond. And if you enjoyed the episode, please share it with friends and on social subscribe to the podcast rate and review it. Even become a premium member at normalfolks.us. All these things that will help us grow an army of normalfolks.

The more listeners, the more impact. I'm Bill Courtney. I'll see you next week. Last season, millions tuned into the Betrayal podcast to hear a shocking story of deception. I'm Andrea Gunning, and now we're sharing an all-new story of betrayal. Justin Rutherford. Doctor, father, family man. It was the perfect cover to hide behind. Detective Weaver said, I'm sure you know why we're here. I was like, what in the world is going on?

Listen to Betrayal on the iHeart radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. on and help you understand what's happening, what it means, and why it matters every afternoon. I'm Sarah Holder. I'm Saleh Amosin. And I'm David Gura. Listen to the big take on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I never thought I'd take my three young kids to Sicily to solve a century-old mystery, but that's what I'm doing in my new podcast,

The Sicilian Inheritance. Join us as we travel thousands of miles on the beautiful and crazy island of Sicily as I trace my roots back through a mystery for the ages and untangle clues within my family's origin story, which is morphed like a game of telephone through the generations. Was our family matriarch killed in a land deal gone wrong? Or was it by the Sicilian mafia? A lover's quarrel? Or was she, as my father believed, a witch? Listen to The Sicilian Inheritance on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get

your podcasts.