You need your stick-to-itiveness.

Its a noun.

A propensity to follow through in a determined manner, dogged persistence born of obligation and stubbornness.

Inspirational words from famed environmental activist Erin Brockovich.

Let's talk about it with some special guests who know all about standing up and making a difference.

Hi, I'm Dana Haynes.

Thank you for joining us for this special edition of the At Issue podcast.

Erin Brockovich was in town recently.

She gave the keynote speech at the Give Like a Woman gala.

And today we have some of the organizations receiving support from that fundraiser to talk about Erin's message and the great work they do in our community.

First, we're going to start out with Geneva Johns.

She is the executive director of the Women Helping Women Fund.

This is an organization been around since 1992, raised millions of dollars for this community.

Tell us a little bit more.

Yeah.

So Women Helping Women Fund is a grant maker or in the community.

And so every year we raise hundreds of thousands of dollars just from individual donors.

And then we give it away to nonprofits in our community that serve women and children.

So this year we have 17 grantees.

So it's a great way to support nonprofits in our community who are doing that work.

And just provide some extra funding to help them do that work.

And additionally, we have a scholarship named after one of our founders.

And so that helps women balancing the cost of tuition and childcare.

Going to, local institutions of higher learning.

And then Women Helping Women Fund also produces a report every three years called Our State of Women and Children Report.

And it's a snapshot of how women and children in our community are doing.

And so it's a good way to track progress over time and see where we need to intervene, or maybe put more funding focus, so we can improve as a community.

You do great work, and I think I'm going to be saying that phrase a lot because all of you do great work.

On to Christie Pelz.

Christie is part of Partners with Family and Children, and your organization makes a difference when it comes to kids facing abuse and neglect.

Tell us a little bit more about your organization.

Yeah, absolutely.

Piggyback right on what you were sharing there.

So we're a not for profit agency focused on prevention of child abuse and neglect.

And I through that, we have our Children's Advocacy Center, which provides forensic interviewing and medical exams for children where they're suspected abuse or neglect.

And we also have our behavioral health services.

So, I'm the clinical director of our mental health program, and we also have an SUD program all focused on supporting families and family success.

All right.

Moving on, on our panel here, Kate Burke.

She is the executive director of River City Youth, creating community engagement and job training and education for local kids.

It sounds like you guys provide a lot of services.

Yeah, yeah.

So our organization is place based in west central Spokane.

And we provide youth enriching programs, through community engagement, job training and education.

We have three major programs that we run.

So our elementary school program is our bike bus.

So we ride kids to and from school, homes, elementary on their bikes.

We provide all the bikes, helmets and locks if kids don't have them.

And then the middle school program right now is our outdoor adventure program.

So this last weekend, we took middle school youth out on a fly fishing adventure in the Spokane River, getting them to experience outdoors away from their phone and, learning new things and being in the environment.

And then our bigger program is our, youth agriculture internship program.

And this program, we hire 14 to 18 year olds to work in our garden, our greenhouse, our beehive, and learn about agriculture, gardening and sustaining, the environment through food and other things.

And those, youth are typically from the north side of Spokane.

That's great.

Great work.

And Angela Fidler, she is the executive director of Spokane HOPE.

And that's a center for deaf and hard of hearing children.

Tell us about your services.

Yes.

So Spokane HOPE, which stands for Hearing Oral Program of Excellence.

We are a nonprofit and early intervention center for children who are deaf and of hearing from birth to age five.

So we serve children who access sound through hearing technologies such as cochlear implants and hearing aids.

And we teach them how to listen and talk through specialized listening and spoken language therapy.

We're the only center in this area that provides these types of services, and we prepare children to enter their mainstream kindergarten classrooms with little to no support.

Learning, talking, thriving alongside their hearing peers.

Awesome.

All of your organizations doing such great work in Spokane.

We're so lucky to have you.

We're going to turn this conversation back to Erin Brockovich for just a moment, continuing with, the conversation we had with her.

She became a household name for her tireless investigation of the poisoned water in the small town of Hinkley, California.

Now, most people are familiar with the movie based on the case starring Julia Roberts.

Julia won an Academy Award that year.

Brockovich is still an advocate for clean water, but she also uses her platform to spread positive messages of personal empowerment.

And she's got a great word to help inspire people.

Here's a segment from my interview with Erin.

I love that you say there's a word that your mom said to you, and you were young.

Stick-to-itiveness.

Stick-to-itiveness.

How do you use that word?

I'm a dyslexic, so very early on in my life, I was quickly put into a box, and I learned very quickly from a school teacher, from my mom on how I punched out of that.

And my mom, she came home one day.

I had another F I was feeling bad about myself and she said, oh, you know, Erin, when the going gets tough, the tough gets going.

So she said, you know what?

You need your stick-to-itiveness.

Like what the?

What?

Did you just make up a word?

That's what I thought.

She left the room and came back with Webster's dictionary.

She read me the definition, its a noun, a propensity to follow through in a determined manner, dogged persistence born of obligation and stubbornness.

And I was like, oh, ding ding ding.

I am stubborn as they come.

I am dogged, I mean, I can just turn my senses on and stay with it.

And we're not born with stick-to-itiveness.

You have to develop the habit of persevering even when you don't want to.

And it would be easier to give up.

Never give up.

Keep going.

All right.

Such a great message that she shared.

Let's talk about it a little bit.

I know really what she's saying is that you have to battle through adversity and never stop when you're trying to reach your goals.

I'm sure all of you have a bit of stick-to-itiveness, but if any of you can kind of talk about, you know, when you've had to use this and in what situation you've had to use this.

What inspires me and and makes me think of the connection to our clients, is that perseverance.

What we often say is our clients have experienced a lot of oppression, a lot of stigma, and a lot of judgment from the community, from family members, whatever it might be.

And yet they persevere.

Despite that oppression, the stigma, the judgment, and despite a lot of, different types of abuse, whether that be, you know, the trauma experienced in the home or perhaps institutional abuse, other systems that have let them down or they've slipped through the cracks.

And yet there's perseverance.

They show up to our agency.

They take the risk of making a connection with our organization.

I like to say, you know, our our clients oftentimes don't come with a lot of hope, but developing that relationship.

Our clients develop hope, and they have that stick-to-itiveness to give it another try when, when they've experienced so much oppression.

So.

Keep trying and keep trying.

Absolutely.

That's the definition of the word.

Absolutely.

Anybody else want to add to that?

Well, just going off of what she was saying, when I was listening to her speak, I was thinking of our youth that we work with in our agriculture internship program.

You know, a lot of the youth that we bring on board to work with as an intern, haven't had a lot of other opportunities.

They don't really have after school sports.

They're not really involved in clubs.

And joining our team, you get to see that stick-to-itiveness from the youth.

They show up every day.

They come prepared to work.

I can really tell that this is an opportunity that could shape the rest their life.

And they know it and they feel it, and they're putting their, effort into being there, being present and learning as much as they can.

And we've just seen a night and day difference from the kids that go through the program with us.

One of the areas where you can see those kids working in West Central, give us that street where that garden is, because that garden is it grows this time of year.

You just start seeing it like popped straight up.

Yeah.

We're at the West Central Abby, which is at 1832 West Dean Avenue.

And it's just starting to grow.

The bees are buzzing, and, we're just putting in pollinator plants, and it's going to be really beautiful this year.

If you have a chance, drive by there for sure.

Another moment with Erin that was really interesting and powerful was when she talked about having to reinvent herself.

Let's watch another clip from her interview and see what she means by that.

You said throughout your career you've been underestimated.

What do you say to that client of some of the organizations that Women Helping Women help that feels like, gosh, nobody sees me.

I know I could do this, but I just feel like nobody's seeing me.

No one's hearing me.

Like, again.

What are your words to someone who feels like, you know, they're underestimated?

That is a very powerful question.

And I'm kind of actually going through that again today.

After all these years.

There's been a couple of journeys where I lost my identity and refound it, and one of them was when the film happened, all the sudden, here came this box, these ideas, these expectations of who I am, the labels because of the way I dress or the education I did or didn't have that I lost myself.

This is applicable to every one of us because everyone is as we go through life, or we graduate high school or we graduate college, or we get married suddenly becomes this.

There's these ideas of who will be.

Expectations.

Expectations of what will do or limits are placed on us of what we can't do.

I don't need to prove myself to anybody.

The only person I need to answer to is me.

So stop waiting for someone else to identify that for you and do it for yourself.

You know who you are.

Trust her.

Get behind her.

Believe in her.

Even when everybody else wants to tell you that's not who you are.

Such a great reminder to all of us.

I mean, her message was very, very clear that even someone is accomplished, as Erin Brockovich can have those moments of losing herself, doubting herself, trying to figure out who she is again.

As women yourselves who focus on helping other people in the community, how can you relate to that?

Like there's some examples where you've either experienced that yourself or again, you work it through it with a client.

Yeah.

I'd like to talk about, you know, our families, you know, they have to reinvent and kind of reimagine what life will be like having a child who's deaf or hard of hearing and what their future might be, or what their communication goals should be.

And, you know, that can be a very overwhelming process.

And Erin Brockovich talks about being put in a box.

And these children, you know, with the right intervention, they don't need to be put in a box.

They can live life without limits.

These are the kids that go on to become the doctors, the nurses, the teachers, the musicians.

And they can live very normal, and productive lives.

So being put in a box is something, you know, that they don't have to be put in.

And these families can have hope because of that.

And I would assume a lot of you work with families either in transition or even youth in transition, trying to better their life in some way, and you probably talk to them about reinventing themselves.

I'm sure.

Absolutely.

You know, it is quite common.

Because of the experience of trauma and abuse, a lot of our families are a lot of the women that we work with really are working on reinventing themselves from either establishing, really, their own identity and their values and their goals in life.

Apart from their family of origin and apart from the trauma, and then, also for those that are in recovery, either from mental health and or substance abuse, it's changing your whole, your whole environment.

Oftentimes it could be changes in relationships with your family, with your friends, where you live.

So it really is a complete stick-to-itiveness and that perseverance and, believing in themselves.

As I was sharing about the hope piece, having hope and seeing something, for themselves as far as that goal and being able to achieve that for themselves.

As we've listened to how powerful Erin was, she was really powerful in person, too.

What did you guys take away?

I mean, we've touched on some very important issues that she talked about, but what did you take away from her as the keynote speaker?

Hearing it from your side, on the service side, is very interesting.

And then us on a funder side, I'm working more with the people who want to get involved and make a difference.

And so when I think about the stick-to-itiveness or, I think about, kind of reinventing yourself.

I think sometimes people don't know where to jump in or what to do or even where to start.

And so I liked her message, both of those messages because it was, I like the dogged pursuit and like the very stubborn pursuit of creating change.

And, we see that a lot with our donors in our community who want to jump in and, they latch on to an issue that they can help make a change in.

And then I think, along with the like, identity piece of, we always talk about how everyone can be a philanthropist.

You don't have to have a ton of money or a ton of influence.

It just takes a little bit of, you know, time, talent, treasure, all of those things.

And so I liked that she talked about that idea of kind of reinventing yourself or, you know, finding where you belong.

Because I think the world defines, you know, certain, I dont know, definitions of what people can be and what that looks like.

And she was talking about how you can make that for yourself.

And so I think about that as getting involved in your community and what that can look like and how you can, find your own label, I guess, for yourself.

That brings me right to the question I was going to ask.

And she did talk a lot about just doing something.

Everybody can't be everything to every organization, but you pick your passion and you're steadfast and you move forward with that and help in any way.

Do you guys have messaging around that?

Like, what would you want to tell to people who are sitting out there saying, I do have a little time.

I would love to help the youth in the garden or help in some capacity, or help with your organization.

How do you tell people how to get involved?

How easy is it?

Is it just picking up the phone?

I you know, I can't speak for others, but it truly is just picking up the phone and knowing that any and all components are helpful.

You know, when we think of, like, a, you know, a help wanted sign or one, I mean, it really could be, you know, donation of items, donation of time, donation of cleaning things up.

I mean, not for profit also.

I mean, it's just, you know, if you want to come in and wipe down some doorknobs, all of those things are greatly appreciated.

And one of the things that was really remarkable to me that one of my clients shared years ago was, how different it was coming into our, our organization, how clean and bright and it smelled good.

And so we want to keep that experience.

We want our clients to have the best experience for the best services.

Something as simple as helping you clean.

Yeah, absolutely.

Very simple.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And we have a lot of opportunities.

From riding kids to school on your bike, to working in the garden or just helping out around the office and helping us do inventory of the things we need, or running around to pick up plants, things like that.

All of those things have been really impactful for our organization and really the youth get to prosper from it.

And, are the interns that I think have the most fun are the ones that ride to school with the kids.

I often say, I'm not sure, if we do the bike riding for the kids or the volunteers because they both-- Who has more fun?

Yeah, exactly.

And then, we we do have, adult mentors that come in once a week, in our agriculture program, and they tend to continue to come back season after season because it is such a joy to work with 10 to 25 youth at a time and get to see them grow and, invent themselves.

Right?

So we're at this pivotal spot in their lives where they're getting to explore these new things and try new things, and we get to be a part of that.

So conversation goes beyond the garden, I'm sure some of my adult mentors.

And what about for you, Angela?

My advice would be just find something you're passionate about and take the next step.

So, you know, I found my passion and use, you know, our family's journey with hearing loss.

I have two children who are deaf and hard of hearing and have bilateral cochlear implants, and they're now young, adults who are very successful verbal communicators and attending college and playing instruments and sports.

And, you know, I'm very thankful to be able to give back to our community and work in this field to support other families going through a similar journey.

That's awesome.

We do want to end I want to ask you, just out of curiosity, you had 1400 people at the gala last week.

Can you give us a little insight into how successful it was for Women Helping Women?

Yeah, we raised 160,000 from that, which was a phenomenal.

Yeah, we raised 160,000 from that, which was a phenomenal.

It's one of our higher years, and it's one of the highest years of attendance that we've had in quite a few years, especially post Covid.

And we just heard really wonderful things about Erin, and I think her message resonated very well.

She's very genuine person.

And so I think that hit home with a lot of people that, you know, someone I think you you think about like, oh, Erin Brockovich, she can't possibly be going through the same things I am, but she really spoke to that.

Stick-to-itiveness and that reinventing yourself and her just own personal stories that I think people saw themselves in.

So as a speaker, she was phenomenal.

And then, during the event to all of our attendees, got to meet all of our wonderful grantees, which was so great.

And I think kind of along with your last question, find what you're passionate about.

And then we offer that through this event that you could walk around to 17 grantees and figure out what you're passionate about and where you want to plug in a little bit more.

Because Erin's right, you can't be everything to everyone, but you can find your niche and contribute in the community in that way.

So it's fun to see all of those different parts of the event come together and serve our community in kind of a unique way.

So someone could start by coming to your event maybe next year and figuring that out.

All right.

I want to thank all of you today, and thank you for the wonderful work you guys do in Spokane to better this city.

I think sometimes it goes under the radar and people don't see it.

So we appreciate you taking time and filling us in on all the great services you guys provide.

Geneva Johns from the Women Helping Women Fund, Christie Pelz from Partners with Family and Children, Kate Burke from River City Youth and Angela Fidler from Spokane HOPE.

Thanks again to all of you.

I also want to let our listeners know that you can watch for more of my interview with Erin Brockovich at ksps.org and on our YouTube channel.

Thanks again for joining us.