Bryan Braddock

Brian Braddock, thanks for, uh, hanging out, joining me, Coffee with Cool People.

Yeah, well, um, I feel like I'm the one having the coffee with the cool person.

I don't know about all that, man. I'm just trying to get by one day at a time.

Yeah, well, you're doing pretty well.

Well, I appreciate that. Um, so to kind of jump into it, first question is, uh, who is Brian Braddock?

Um, you know, you sent me that and Me and my wife are laughing. She says I'm still trying to figure that out. Aren't we all? You know, I don't know. I think life situations develop a lot of who you are, you know, what you strive to be. You know, part of me is just somebody trying to make up for the wrongs that he did, you know what I mean? And make his mama proud. Part of me is driven to, you know, to want to leave an impact, you know. And then there's part of me who just wants to lay low and hang out with the family, you know. So it's kind of like a juggling act, you know what I mean? Sure, absolutely. So trying to decide who I am, you know, really goes to my motivations. But to my core, I'm a Christian, I love the Lord, I love my community, I love my family, and I just, I wanna use the opportunities God's given me to leave something positive. I mean, that's kinda what drives me, but I don't know, Chip, I tell you, there's the people that, there's the Brian that people in the community see, you know, but then I guess our wives, you know, see us for who we really are. And, you know, she's honest with me. She's like, you know, a lot of what drives me is my insecurities and things like that. And so she sees the me behind the face.

And—

Absolutely. You know, super simple. You know, there's nothing complex. But just a normal guy trying to do some beyond normal stuff.

Well, you do a lot. So, you know, one of the things that you were starting to share with me kind of before we got started was that as a kid you went to 4 elementary schools. Mm-hmm. Are you from around here?

No, so I was born here, then we moved to Manning. My dad was in the grocery store business. So I went to, it was called Primary, I don't remember the name of the school, we just called it Primary. Primary in Manning and then moved back here, he worked for Piggly Wiggly. And so I went to Del-May and then I went to Carver and then I went to Greenwood. So not just—

You tested out all the Florence ones.

That's right, yeah. That's exactly right. Not just 4 elementary schools but in 4 totally different areas. Yeah.

So one of the things you said was going to 4 elementary schools, you had to— you got to figure it out pretty quick. What was that like?

Yeah, well, you're always the new guy. So a couple of things. One is, as I got older, you know, not when I was in first, second grade, but as I got older, the new guy gets shot at the ladies, you know what I mean? Because you're new. But you also have to get in at least one fight. You know, to kind of prove your salt with the guys. So, so there was always a fight and there was always a relationship, you know, but you just got to show yourself friendly to have friends. You guys, you can either be a recluse, you know, or you can go out and try to meet people. And so I think it really helped me in terms of making friends.

Sure. Yeah. Well, again, you learn to get along in the world real quick when you're in those situations. And I think that it has to be something that has helped you as you've grown into some of your different roles. So in addition to being a husband, a father. So you have 4 girls?

Yeah, 5. Our youngest passed away. Yeah. So we had Hannah, Haley, Hayden, Holly, and Hope. Woo! That's a mouthful.

That is a mouthful. And So I have 4 boys at home. What's it like with, in the mornings at your house?

Well, Sunday morning is probably the most hectic. You know, that's when we probably sin the most and need Jesus the most.

It's a good time.

It is, yeah. Because that is the one day when we all got to get ready and leave at the same time. Right. So that's kind of hectic, but You know, there's a line to the shower. Even though we have a couple different bathrooms, you know, you still with the water pressure and you know, if you're last in line it's gonna get a little bit cold. So you got that, you know, some scheduling there. I tell people that someone cries in my house every single day. When you live with 5 women, someone cries every day. And a lot of times it's me. I understand. I understand. And 4 of them are women, if you know what I mean. So there's things at play there in terms of their interactions, and sometimes I'm just ducking for cover, you know. Sometimes I'm trying to settle a fight, and sometimes I'm the instigator.

So I understand. Well, in my house, it's just loud. Loud. My wife is a saint. She lives in Animal House, you know, and ours are from 15 to 23, and so they all now have a little bit of bass, some more than others, in their voice. And, uh, and they're usually cutting up with each other, so it gets super loud. So we don't usually cry. We're more likely to, to yell or, or fuss. Or bigger, but it is, yeah, it's a fun blessing.

It is fun. It's not quiet, you know. I grew up with 2 brothers, so there's 3 boys and there was 9 years that separated us. And so it was always, you know, loud and energetic. And it's the same with girls, you know, you say Animal House, I feel like I live in a sorority house. I mean, it's just, uh, but it keeps you active, it keeps you young for sure.

Well, and speaking of being active, I mean, you, you're, you're one of the more active people I know. You, you stay out, uh, in the community doing a lot of things. Where did your, I guess, passion for service come from? Because when I think about you, that's one of the things, both your community involvement but also at work. Tell me a little bit about work and kind of how you ended up They are.

So I think it came out of prior to my addiction, you know, we may get into that, people know my story. I was very self-serving, you know. I owned a business, I owned a landscaping business, I got into a real estate business. I really, you know, was all about, you know, me and wanting to have the success, you know what I mean? Wanting to achieve more, make more money, things like that. And then I went through my addiction, I lost everything, I got arrested, you know, pretty much my image was shot in terms of the community, in terms of real estate and things. Everybody knew my story. And so once Jesus really gave me a new life, that quote, "To whom much is given, much is required," It really became like a guiding principle in my life, you know. I just, I felt like, uh, in order to untarnish my name and in order to, like I was telling you before we started, make my mom proud, I really had to change my ways and put my focus on somebody else.

Sure. Um, well, for, for, because I don't necessarily, I, I'm like a lot of people, right? Do you really know Um, if you don't mind, can we talk about the addiction?

Oh sure, yeah, absolutely.

So I'm curious, uh, you know, again, and you may not know, folks who are listening may not know, I'll have 9 years sober in October. And so that's something, uh, you know, that we share, uh, is really important to me. And so I'm curious for you, kind of, I mean, where did it Where did it come from? I mean, if you know, like, how did it, how did it get started? And how did, you know, what kind of impact? Because you go from, you know, going full speed, building these businesses, things like that, from that to arrested. I'm sure had to be a just kind of a crazy trip, especially looking back on it. And I kind of feel like, and for a long time I didn't share anything about my sobriety for because from my standpoint, I didn't have— some of the places where they— I go, they call them kind of the "yets." You know, I didn't have a DUI yet. I didn't have a— I hadn't lost my job yet. But, you know, it's a— it's an interesting kind of process for people who haven't been through it. So what is— I mean, what was that like?

So my addiction started Really high school, college, you know, I used drugs, pretty much anything. I did cocaine in college, you know, I did mushrooms, acid. I was one of those that would try anything. I had a saying, I'll try anything twice. You know, people say, I'll do anything once. I was like, well, I wanna do it again just to make sure. Sure. You know, that I experienced it right. But it didn't, like you're saying with the yep's, you know, it might have cost me a job waiting tables, you know, it might have cost me a relationship. You know, but when you're in your late teens, early 20s, um, the cost of addiction just wasn't that big, you know what I mean? I mean, and then, um, but then I got married right out of college, and, uh, I drank every now and then, but I didn't, I didn't use drugs or anything. I— we moved, me and my wife moved to Greenville, so we kind of separated from those friends, and And then when we came back, we got involved in church, but I injured my back and started to take pain medication. And I realized that the pain medication, one, you couldn't tell. I didn't smell like weed. My eyes weren't bloodshot. I wasn't slurring my words. So it was a drug that really you could take and you could feel feel the impacts of it, but nobody was really none the wiser, you know what I mean? And it really helped with stress and frustration and, you know, this, that, and the other. Gave you some energy. And so it just really took. And then I had a landscaping business. I had a lot of young people that worked with me, and so I started taking Adderall. And so here I was, you know, taking prescription pain meds and Adderall. So basically I was speedballing, you know, heroin and coke kind of cocktail. And then what happens is the prescription starts to run out earlier in the month, you know, and then you can't get something, and then you start going to the street and get things on the street. And it just escalated from, you know, I was taking a couple pain pills and maybe an Adderall every few days to the next thing you know, I'm taking 10 to 15 Percocets a day. Just to function. And over a course of 5 years, it just got where I couldn't even get out of bed. Then I got arrested, you know, charged with possession. And then, you know, I'm in my 30s now and I own a business, and then it started having some serious impacts. And my wife— I came home one day and my luggage was on the porch. That was my wake-up call.

Wow. That is, and again, it's not, unfortunately, we both heard a bunch of them. You know, my kind of drug of choice was Maker's Mark. So I mean, I can certainly relate in terms of, never drank during the day. I mean, it was, you know, I had all the excuses, but it's one of those things when you decide, and I've had this issue with food. As we've talked about before, when it becomes a problem in your life that's impacting other things. But we've seen, you know, it's a pretty common story that you're just trying to kind of keep on keeping on, and next thing you know, you end up in a situation you didn't mean to be in. I mean, and I think that, again, it's one, your story, I think, is one that a lot of people can relate to because we, I mean, it's, Those prescriptions have become a problem for a lot of people.

It's very seductive. So, um, seductive. I can't even get the word out. But, um, the Bible says that sin has a season. You know, and so in the beginning, there is enjoyment, there is fun, and there is pleasure. But it soon becomes a trap, you know, and it becomes a snare. And the more you try to get out of it, it just— You know, just locks you in, you find yourself getting arrested. For me, I wasn't one of those yet, you know? I hadn't been arrested yet. I got arrested a few times and I saw that I was just one step from something pretty drastic happening.

Sure, and so your wife put your stuff on the door. That's dramatic. Yeah. Then what?

Then, um— So I went to NA and AA, and I heard a guy tell me about— well, I had Brett Butler, a good friend of mine. You know Brett?

Yeah, I do.

So I went into Brett's office. He was actually one of my business partners in real estate, and he was memorizing these scriptures, and I was like, hey, what are you doing? He goes, oh, it's a program called RU. You ought to check it out. Reformers Unanimous at Florence Baptist Temple. So I went the NAAA route and then things just got worse. He said, Brian, you really ought to go. So I went to this RU meeting on Friday night at Florence Baptist Temple and sat in my car for 2 hours and smoked a pack of cigarettes. Never walked in the door.

You didn't go in?

Yeah, didn't go in. So a couple days later he asked me how it was and everything. I said, oh, it was good. He asked me some questions that my answers let him know that I never walked in the door. So he went with me the next time. Mm-hmm. Sat right there beside me, and so I got introduced to the ministry and found out they had a long-term program in Rockford, Illinois, and for non-functioning addicts, which I was not functioning. And long story short, I made a couple calls, and 2 days after Thanksgiving in 2006, went to Rockford, Illinois, 1,000 miles away, and and I was up there for about 6 months. Wow. That was really the turning point.

And your wife stuck with you. Mm-hmm. She's some kind of lady.

She is. She's a rock star superhero.

Yeah, it's not easy on the addict. It's certainly not easy on the family. I've seen plenty of that. Yeah, not only in my life but in the lives of others, so I know what you mean. But after that, yeah, so were you— you had been in business prior to that, you weren't with House of Hope, right? So now, and again, I, I notice your arm. Um, yeah, I'm assuming that's your daughter. Yes. Um, was House of Hope already established when you came? It was, it was, it was already there. It's not something you, you started. How did you go from landscape business, going away to Rockford, coming back. I mean, how did you end up getting into public service? Because I've heard a couple of things I want to ask you about as far as things that you've done since then, but I'm curious how you kind of made that transition.

So, um, I graduated from the Reforma Genómica program in Rockford. I came home And I was doing some odd jobs. I'm 33 at the time. I got 3 children. I think Hannah, my oldest, might have been 7. We got baptized together when I got back. And I felt a calling to full-time ministry. And so I submitted myself to full-time ministry, and I was looking at going to CIU, going back to school to get my M.Div. or something like that. And I got a call from the facility that I'd gone to, Reformers Unanimous, and they were looking for a director. And so I went back up there. I went to Rockford and I ran the addictions program for about 5 years. And so after that, we were having our fifth— I mean, our fourth child, Holly. And my wife, you know, she likes flip-flops and family and sunshine. And Rockford, Illinois doesn't have any of that for about 6 months out of the year. And so we moved back, and I was here working at ESAB, working at Palmetto Moon, moonlighting, working two jobs, trying to support my family. You know, I had four felonies, so it was hard for me to get a job, you know, felonies from my addiction. And I got a call to go back up to Rockford to interview for their CFO position. And my wife had a dinner date with a good friend of mine who used to be my Sunday school teacher, a guy named Dean Lisenby's wife Terri, and Tracy told Terri she couldn't make dinner because we were going up to Rockford, and so Terri told Dean, and Dean said, "Why's Brian going back up to Rockford? We got a position at the House of Hope." And so it was because of that dinner date breaking up, and they had been looking for an executive director for about 6 months, and Every time I tell this part of the story, Chip, it gets me choked up, but Dean was my one phone call when I got arrested.

How about that?

Yeah, he was my Sunday school teacher. We were in Ed and Hatsie Young's class, but Dean was teaching, and so I called Dean to tell him that I was in jail and asked him to go tell Tracy and my mom where I was 'cause I was on the phone with my mom when I got arrested, so she didn't know what was going on. And it's just amazing how God kind of circled back and, you know, I called Dean at the worst time of my life and then he called me after God had worked in my life to give me an opportunity. And so I went and I interviewed for the CFO position. It went well. Came home, interviewed for the Executive Director of the House of Hope and got the position here about 9 years ago now.

How about that? So tell me a little bit about The House of Hope, what do you spend your day doing?

I spend about 80% of my time raising money. Okay. You know what I mean? I feel like my job is to cast a vision and raise the money for the vision, and then we have a staff of over 50 people who run and operate the organization. So I've been there about 9 years. House of Hope's been around for 30. And, you know, I had a business background, and so I think a lot of our recent success is I took a business approach to nonprofit, right? You know, just because you're in the nonprofit sector doesn't mean that you cannot make money, right? You know what I mean?

Absolutely.

Money is very important. So, um, so just applying those business principles, um, in, in the sector, we've We've had a lot of success, and we've grown to a capacity where we can serve more people and just keep looking for the next opportunity that God would have for us to be a blessing to folks in this area. We've gone from serving around 200-300 people a year to over 1,500 people a year, and gone from serving people in a short-term capacity to— we can Help someone from walking in the door to the emergency shelter to 2 years later walking out with a degree and a job and income and a place to live, you know, through our new tiny house program.

Well, and that's one of the things that, again, surprised me. You know, my son Christian worked for the organization for a while, kind of did some interning and spent some time there, and I think that one of the things, at least for— because you and I Chip and I have spent time together over at McGinnis, Courtney McGinnis.

Serving Thanksgiving dinner.

Yeah. And I think that one of the things that was interesting to me is all the different facets. So when I think about House of Hope, I don't think about 50 people and serving 1,500 people because I look at one of the spaces. You guys have multiple facilities. What are some of the other spaces? —So you've got the Courtney McGinnis.

Yeah, that's the emergency shelter, and that would be like 0 to 30 days, men, women, and children. And then we have our men's life recovery program. That's a 9 to 12 month more in-depth program, you know what I mean? We do Christian discipleship, but we're doing job training, financial training, you know, discipleship, trying to get them to a transitioning point, you know what I mean? Where they can leave with money in their pocket, and And now we have the tiny homes, which would be 0 to 2 years, and that's transitional also. Transitional housing for men, women, and children. You know, because it's one thing to work on some certain areas in your life and to be put in a home. You know, you're not homeless anymore. But to really rebuild your life, it takes time, you know, to get to a position where not only do you transition out, but you can be independent, live independently. Sure.

Well, it takes a lot of skills, not only to— it's kind of like I have a friend recently who's been in the hospital, and it's like, look, man, the goal is not to get out of the hospital. The goal is to stay out of the hospital. Right. You know, the goal isn't to get in a home, it's to stay in a home. And, you know, what I hear you say is that you guys do a lot of the skill building from 0 to 2 years, or from 0 to whenever, So that when folks transition out, it's a one-time, hopefully a one-time transition. And I think that's, you know, it's a really awesome ministry that the tiny homes— Now, how many do you guys have now? 24. 24 finished?

Well, we have 13 finished. The other 11 should be finished in the next 30, 45 days. That's awesome.

So how does somebody go about— I mean, I'm assuming you have a waiting list. I mean, I'm assuming—

Well, we're staggering our occupancy. We're doing like 4 people a month, you know, because we don't— one, you don't want to have 24 people that you're working through case management all at the same time, you know. The other thing is that the residents have as much of a profound impact on the people, you know, within the program as our staff do. And what I mean when I say that, when someone's been in our Men's Life Recovery program for 3 months, they can tell that new guy the changes that have happened in their life, and that new person is more likely to believe this person who's freshly out of their situation— For sure. —than someone like me who's 15 years removed from my opioid addiction. You know, so they're able to kind of move along with them. So we want people in our population, we want people who have been there 3 months, 6 months, 3 days, 6 days, because they find hope in seeing where that person who was just like them a few months ago is doing better. For sure. And so that's what we're looking to do. We've got people in the first 4 houses. We'll get people in the next 4. And do about 4 a month until we get full. Gotcha. And the other thing is too, when they're graduating, so we have a graduation. We have cap and gown and play Pomp and Circumstance and have friends and family and employers come in and a guest speaker. Now our guest speakers aren't like college. We have federal probation officers, you know, come in and speak. But it's good to have that, that success right in front of people. Sure.

Well, and I would imagine too, especially when you're talking about the tiny home community, anytime you're moving more people into a small community, uh, not only do they learn from each other, but they have a big impact. I mean, they're also neighbors. Yes, they have a big impact. And so I imagine you guys have to be really selective in how you work through that process because just like success builds on top of each other, you know, it could easily end up in a situation where it could go the other way. So I can see where you guys have to be super deliberate about that. It seems to me like I saw recently where one of the law offices sponsored— yeah, the Finkley Law Firm. Finkley Hendrick and Blake, you know, sponsored one of the tiny homes, and it seems like it's gotten a lot of support in the community. Tremendous. I think there's obviously a need for that.

We've, um, in terms of fundraising, it's probably been one of the easiest fundraising opportunities that we've had. You know, people, the community's really been invested. All 24 homes were sponsored by individuals in terms of the building and construction, and then we have probably about 10 homes that have been sponsored with the ongoing operations. It's a 3-year commitment, $200 a month. People sponsoring that, people sponsored furniture and different things, and the whole project is fully funded and paid for with no federal government money whatsoever. All local community organizations, individuals, and churches made this happen. That's awesome. Yeah.

Well, one of the things that I've heard, legend was, And I'm curious because I think maybe you even made a movie or something like that about it. Is that one of the ways that you decided— you're an unorthodox dude, I find it fascinating. One of the ways that you decided that you wanted to help better understand the population was you spent some time being homeless.

Yeah, for a week in Augusta. Yeah, with a buddy of mine, no cash. What was that like? That was— it was very eye-opening because for the first time I knew what it felt like for people to look at you as a homeless person. You know, there's no way— there's no way to understand that until you put yourself in that position where you have, you know, a mother and daughter cross the street because they're fearful of you simply because they think that you're homeless. You know, nothing changed about me, you know, my economic status or anything, other than the fact of what I was wearing. I hadn't had a shower in a couple days and I'm sitting on the side of the street. But that judgment, you know what I mean, where people didn't want to look me in the eye, they wanted to dodge me, avoid me and stuff like that. You can't know how that feels until you put yourself in that situation.

So what was it like to actually do it? Because, you know, when It seems like it'd be scary.

It was scary, you know, you're sleeping outside, you don't know who you can trust. I mean, and not as a negative, but you know, you're not a friend of the police, you know what I mean? You're not a friend of the business owner, you're not a friend of the community. So everyone kind of looks at you different. You know what I mean? When you're homeless, you're more of a threat. Right. You know, to everybody. You're a threat to society and to the norms, you know? So you have to worry about— you gotta worry about everything. I mean, all of a sudden, I went from not worrying about where I was gonna sleep, what I was gonna eat, you know, where I was gonna use the restroom, what I was gonna drink. The things that we just take for granted to when I was homeless, I realized the second day, I've gotta worry about everything.

So how'd you figure it out?

Asking people, asking the homeless. Okay. The homeless were your guide to homelessness. They were the ones who told you where the food pantry was. They were the ones who told you where the church was that gave out bags of food on Tuesday at lunchtime. They're the ones who told us that you had to go get a shelter clearance pass from the sheriff's office before you could stay in a shelter. You know, they were the resource. That's wild. Hey, how you doing, man? Good to see you.

Good to see you.

Everything going well? Yes, sir.

I'm gonna see you sometime. Yeah, we need to follow up. My son talked to you in all fields.

He wants to just volunteer. Oh, good deal. Yes, sir.

I'll be looking for his call. Good to see you. Out recruiting volunteers? Yeah, that's right. That's fascinating though because it's a— the homeless population, it sounds like, is kind of their own community in terms of helping one another figure out how to get along because there is a system. For that, it sounds like. Oh yeah, obviously a bunch of, uh, you know, kind of processes or hoops or, or whatever. And I'm sure for obvious reasons, I mean, to protect people and, and things like that, I'm assuming is where the majority of it probably comes from. But, um, had to be an interesting system to kind of, kind of break into for somebody who, who hasn't spent a whole lot, and at least I guess in your case, you went about it intentionally. I mean, a lot of folks find themselves there in a completely different path.

Right, yeah, I mean, for me, it was a choice, and I always had an end date, you know? At the end of the week, I was— You know, so it was a tainted experience in that because I wasn't truly homeless, you know what I mean? I didn't have— I had the fear, I had the hunger, I had the— you know, no shower, those things, but I didn't have the hopelessness, you know. Sure. Because I had, you know, options at the end, but I did find that when you strip someone of their job title and the car they drive and the neighborhood they live in, just down to your core, it was a much purer community, the homeless community, you know, they basically what you know in your ability to help someone is the rank and file system, you know what I mean? You want to go see Joe because Joe's been homeless 2 years and Joe knows all the stuff. He knows all the stuff. And now people wonder why someone would want to, would choose to be homeless. Because there's people homeless on the street that are never going to come to the House of Hope. They're never going to change, and you wonder, how is that? Why is that? Well, they've got a place in this world amongst the homeless community. They have identity. They have value. They have purpose. You know, and so why would I leave all this to enter society where I have— where I'm the bottom? You know what I mean? Yeah, yeah, where I have no value. Sure, you know. Did you know that before? Had no idea.

Yeah, I would, I would have not, um, I've never even considered it that way, so that's an interesting lesson to learn. I would have never— I can certainly see that where all of a sudden you have a self-worth, right, that you maybe—

you went from worthless, right, Well, yeah.

I mean, a homeless guy. And again, for those of us who've never experienced it, I would never choose to go that path. I mean, you know. But I can certainly see how if you ended up there and had kind of built this, again, whether it's hope, self-esteem, you kind of figure it out and get to a certain place, the idea of— Again, our idea from the outside of that community is, "Well, why would you ever want to stay?" But it's fascinating that really more important than having a home, than having the certainty of shelter, is that they have the certainty of purpose and identity and things that again, I wouldn't have thought of it that way, but they give up by choosing to come, we'll say back into quote normal. Right.

Society. And a lot of them, Chip, this is what got me, is there was a few who had really mastered it who thought that, that people in society were the fools, you know what I mean? That you, you're a slave, you know, to your job and your car and your house and your status and your clothes and all that. They felt like they were liberated and free. They could do once they learn how to live and, and eat and survive, they could go anywhere, right, and, and do it. Yeah, you know, because they knew the rules, you know, of that. And so they, they would never step back into what we deem normal society.

Well, and, and frankly, they're not 100% wrong. Again, that's not necessarily— but I work with people every day that At the end of the day, what we all want is flexibility and freedom and kind of some agency over our own life. And again, the difference is that I want all of that and some of the material stuff. I mean, I— if I'm being honest, but it's again, at the end of the day, man, everybody's life's different. And if you can find a place of— I mean, at the end of the day, I think all of us just want contentment. And it's again fascinating if it's not something you've ever thought of, but I mean, it certainly sounds like some of them have, some folks have found it there, and again, identity and purpose and all those things that really at the end of the day I think are why a lot of us do some of the other things that we go and do. Right. You know, but I'm curious, so you've done a lot of these things, but then at some point, you talk about making your mama proud, One of the things that you did that amazed me was you decided that you wanted to go back, get your record expunged, and really kind of clean all that up. Why? There are a lot— I mean, because by this point you had a good job. I mean, you know, why go back and clean that up?

So The way that happened is we started homeless court in Florence, and Judge Debbie Jackson helped put that together. And what that was, was a court where if you got charged with vagrancy or shoplifting or some misdemeanor crime because you were homeless, you know, you would not have done it had you not been homeless, then if you go through a program, they would expunge your record. And so the attorney, George Cothran, who helped Judge Debbie Jackson do that. He had set them up in other areas. We had our first homeless court, and, you know, we were walking out and I said, man, George, I wish that would have been around in my heyday. And he said, what are you talking about? Because he knew me as the executive director of the House of Hope. And I said, well, I got 4 felonies. And he said, um, well, you know, Brian, I want to help you, you know, get that pardon. I'll help you pro bono, you know, and see if we can get it pardoned. And, um, So that was a question that I had to answer for the Pardon, Parole, and Probation Board is why. What are you going to do with it? And for me, it came down to giving hope to people in my situation because every day I would sit across the table from somebody who said, you know, Brian, I got felonies, I can't get a job here, I can't do this, I can't do that. And it became such a barrier. And I would say, well, listen, I got 4 felonies and I'm, I'm working in this capacity, you know, but they, they still didn't sense of, you know, that they had these issues in their life that they would never get over, that, that they would always have a black mark against them. And so for me to, to get that pardon was more an encouragement to the people that I serve and work with, and, and it did give me the ability to serve in a different capacity in the community in terms of, you know, city council and things like that.

Yeah, well, and I was going to say, and so you, you've taken it a step —step further. You're an overachiever, right? Your mama ought to be proud in terms of not only then did you do that and continue to serve in your capacity with that, then you decided you're gonna take it a step further and actually run for public office. If I thought that choosing to be homeless for a week was crazy, choosing to run for public office might be the craziest thing.

Yeah, I should have had that perspective.

I didn't have that perspective. Again, why and what was that like?

Well, it was another thing where I had been given a gift. Now what are you going to do with it? I already had a job, you know, I already had a career. So now outside of being able to own a firearm, which I immediately did, you know what I mean? Sure. What are you going to do with this? Because I really felt like the Lord gave it to me. It wasn't I had pursued it, or I had begun to pursue it earlier, and it just financially, it just didn't work out or whatnot. But then for this attorney to come up and say he was going to do it for me, I really felt like it was given to me. Sure.

So how do you like being on city council?

It's a learning experience. It's definitely got— you get some phone calls that you would rather not get and have to make some votes that that go against what some of your friends would want you to do. But in the end, I feel like you have the most potential impact on your local community in local public office. And so to be able to be, you know, used in that capacity, I think it's a huge blessing. It's an honor, it's a responsibility, and it's a blessing.

Sure. What's harder? Being homeless or being a city council person?

Being a city council person. No rules, different rules. Yeah, well, you know, when you're homeless, everything is a lot more direct. You know what I mean? Need food, you know. Go here. Go here, right. In political office, there's a lot that has to be ciphered through and sorted out. You know, everything's a negotiation. You know, even though you might, you and other council members may want to go to the same place, they may want to pick up some other things along the way, you know what I mean? So you'll get there if you're able to work with them. Maybe your grocery list is a little bit different. Right, yeah, but it—

Getting to the same picnic.

Right, but it may cost you a little bit later on and there might be some things added to the basket that you didn't intend. Sure. But all in all, I think everyone— I know that on our council and with our mayor and our city office, everybody wants the same things. Everybody wants our community to be better and a better place to live and work and raise a family. We just have different ideas of what that looks like. I mean, you just got to figure out, you know, how to compromise to something that you can both settle and agree on.

Yeah, that you can live with. You know, it's kind of like any kind of negotiation. If everybody leaves a little bit unhappy, you probably— it probably worked out right. Well, it's hard to argue with the results over the last decade or two of just the way that things have continued to develop on all fronts. I feel like for Florence. So Brian, kind of in closing, as you know, I gave you two questions. Sure, yes sir. If you had to, you know, with all these experiences, If you had to pick a fictional character, now it can be a cartoon character, it can be somebody out of a book, superhero. If you had to pick one character that you feel like best represents Brian Braddock, who'd it be and why?

So I wish that I could say Captain Britain because Captain Britain's name is Brian Braddock. Yeah, that's his— Okay. By, you know, like Peter Parker and Spider-Man, Captain Britain. Is Brian Braddock, but I'm more relate to animated, I would say Kung Fu Panda. Okay. You know, non-animated, Nacho Libre. All right. You know, I like the— Why Kung Fu Panda? Well, because both of them, I feel like my superhero power is being underestimated. Nice. Both characters, you know, you see them for what they are. You know, they're a little overweight, Not highly skilled, you know what I mean, but they do the best with what they have, and they end up making some good things happen in the process. Wow. What's next? Well, for the House of Hope, hopefully a long-term addictions facility. We are pursuing something that I'm very excited about. I hope the Lord works out. There's a property here in town that would be ideal for that. But, you know, my board and my staff would probably like me to cool my jets and let's get this Hope Village. But, you know, I feel like that's a huge issue, you know. And you got the Opioid Recovery Act money that's coming to the state, $308 million from a lawsuit. And that's a great need. Politically speaking, you know, whatever door the Lord opens in terms of that. You know, I don't have a— people ask me, what's your plan? I don't really have a plan. You know, I ended up— I ran for mayor and ended up on city council, and we'll see. But what's next is just striving for the next thing.

Amen. One day at a time.

One day at a time. That's exactly right. Thank you, Brian. Hey, thank you. Enjoyed it.