165 | Podcasting & Advocacy for the Unhoused with Theo Henderson
Our guest today on the pod is Theo Henderson. Theo is the host and founder of the podcast, We The Unhoused. He has 7 years lived experience of being unhoused and uses his situation to help others find resources and make choices in their situations.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
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Theo Henderson Awarepreneurs Interview
SPEAKERS: Paul Zelizer, Theo Henderson
Paul Zelizer 00:02
Hi, this is Paul Zelizer, and welcome to another episode of The Awarepreneurs Podcast. This podcast is all about the intersection of three things, conscious business, social impact, and awareness practices. Each episode, I do a deep dive interview the thought leader in this intersection, someone who has market tested experience and is already transforming many lives. Before I introduce today's guests, and our topic today, I have one request. If you could go over to iTunes or whatever app you're listening the show and do a rating and subscribe, it helps tremendously. Today, I'm thrilled to introduce you to Theo Henderson. And our topic is podcasting and advocacy for the unhappy. He was the host and the founder of the podcast, We The Unhoused. He has seven years of lived experience being unhoused. And he uses his situation to help others find resources and make choices in their situations. Theo are welcome to the show.
Theo Henderson 01:01
Thank you, Paul for having me. Really excited to help our audience learn more about what you're up to. But before we do that, though, I am excited as well.
Paul Zelizer 01:11
Before we do that, we are called Awarepreneurs. And one of the ways we like to get to know somebody is to ask you about a wellness or an awareness practice that you personally use to help you bring your best self to this really important work. But it's not always so easy.
Theo Henderson 01:28
And what I do is I am a martial art instructor. So I practice I practice what I preach, if you will, I practice meditation practices, as well as do what we call them to Chinese martial arts, some forms in order for me to retain the necessary skills that I've accrued over some time.
Paul Zelizer 01:49
And I saw that when I when I saw the video, what you're up to is that there's actually some video and I'll put a link to that in the show notes. You can see the practicing. It's really really powerful. Practice this and thank you. So you probably most people probably like wouldn't when they were a boiler, you know, kid be like when I grew up, I want to be unhoused and start a podcast and learn how to advocate for the unhoused like, talk to us a little bit about how did life situation show up that you became unhoused? And where did this idea of finding out the stories and using podcasting to be an advocate for other people who are on house to show up on your radar?
Theo Henderson 02:36
Well, it is certainly a multi layered experience. Um, you're correct. I didn't one day look out the window says you know, it'd be so wonderful to be in house. Actually, life happened to me I am I finished my undergraduate and I was an educator. And during the years of 2008, I became ill during the Great Recession. And it became such that it was difficult to try to recover and she also tried to Joplin. That is an impossibility and the lack of family support and financial wherewithal landed me in several facets of being announced before ultimately I was on literally on the street, as well as the to the question. How did I started a podcast? I had very little to no knowledge about podcasting to be honest. I heard people mention it. And I was still from the School of watching interviews like Oprah Winfrey, everyone knows them. Or or phil donahue, I'm definitely dating myself, or what was the other one? Mike Douglas, the other gentleman.
Paul Zelizer 03:42
with the name escapes me but the long the longest short of it is that I did an interview, a podcast interview strangely by I believe her name was Molly Lambert. And it was remarked that I should do a podcast and I thought about it and I told him I said if we do a podcast, it would not be a very tokenized it will be a very specific to the unhoused community. They can forget resources and also education vehicle because I'm an educator at heart for other people to understand the pitfalls and the challenges that on house people face. To me too many times what I've noticed is that many people have many well meaning people have some of the harmful stereotypes about unhoused. They're criminals. There's something that they deserve to be out here they are substance usage addicted or mentally ill, and all of them are bank a composite of house listeners. However, the nuances are often overlooked. And it's used as a punitive measure instead of a holistic measure as a community to be educated on what things we can do together to make sure people don't fall into that, that trap or to be a support system. Instead of a punitive system.
Paul Zelizer 05:01
So you were an educator, you were working as a teacher and you had some health issues. And with 2008, on the last big economic crisis happened, and Andy and the bottom sort of fell out of your world and you wound up unhoused, then yes, somewhere along the way, you're like, yes, he knew of Oprah or Dr. Phil or whatever. But like, along the way, you wind up on a podcast, and you were currently homeless when you wound up on that podcast. Is that right?
Theo Henderson 05:31
I was actually, that's correct. I was unhoused. And I was mentioning, in fact, I lived the episode was about my experiences of being unhoused. And secondly, the the effect on police, I believe police harassment and Business Improvement districts and how they work together, along with the city to demonize and harass on house people because they're eyesore to the community, or where are they this the same, you know, thing that's happening all over the world right now about people that are vulnerable and poor?
Paul Zelizer 06:02
Yeah. So what was that? Like? Do like your unhoused? And I, first of all, I'm so sorry that our culture would let anybody including just any human being, but like, I'm not talking to anybody. I'm talking to Dr. Hendrix. I'm so sorry that that happened, and that we would fail you. And everybody else is on house. So just personal. Yeah, I'm sorry. And also, like, what was that like to be somebody who's sort of you fell through the fabric? You're not a hardened criminal? Do your teacher I, you know, again, we'll see this video, folks, if you're listening, or you'll see like, even on the street, you're like, looking for ways and helping kids and playing games on the playground? Like you're a good hearted guy do and I'm sorry, this happened? What was it like to suddenly be on a podcast and somebody asking you your opinion about these important issues and having an opportunity to share your story? What What was that like?
Theo Henderson 07:04
Well, I think that's what I believe what Oprah Winfrey used to say, it's an aha moment, I realized that maybe there was a way that if people were genuinely concerned and genuinely interested in learning about my experience, because like when people hear that I'm an educator, and because you know, people always ask, Well, you seem reasonably aware of your surroundings, you don't have seem to have mental nowadays, you don't have substance use problems. Why are you out here, and then course didn't it, sometimes it spirals into you just don't want to work or things like that. But I think there's some genuine, genuine, really curiosity about it, and they want to learn and they want to find a way that they want to help and what that was what that interview taught me. And I felt that when I spoke, I felt that that was something that was needed to maybe to expand upon, because of course, she has other topics on her show. He doesn't doesn't deal with house lessness. But I felt that I could Center, the unhoused community with our own particular topics, and we really focus on not just also individual experiences, the policies that make life for unhoused people very difficult. The ordinances that are out there, the police communication, how they communicate with the community, very negatively about on house people, or how the community negatively push city council or police to terrorize unhoused people, I wanted people to see how all of that is interwoven? And and what does it do for an end result for unhoused people, very many, many very kind hearted unhoused people out here. Unfortunately, our society how society sometimes fail to remember the humanity of people, and it's very easy to stigmatize people and then you can dehumanize them. Conversely, when you humanize and understand life happens to everybody. As a teacher, prior to them being in a house, we have students that will come in with no no fault of their own are living in their cars, or the family's cars or in a park or an alley and things like that. And we have to realize that these harmful stereotypes when we say about unhoused people, we're talking about their parents. If we say we we don't want them near our children, but there's a child that's family is in house, what are you saying their mom and dad are child monsters and things like that? So those are the things that people that track these things out, have no clue on the damage that they unintended or maybe intended or unintended damage that they can cause to an entire population.
Paul Zelizer 09:54
Yeah. So you were on this podcast and you're like, wow, this is kind of how For the opportunity to tell the story and have it go out there and you decide, I'm gonna start this podcast. When was this there? When did you start with the unhoused?
Theo Henderson 10:10
Well, it debuted in the latter part of the year, but it took me it was probably earlier part of the of the year, I have to say it probably was around last August when I really took it seriously to create some kind of format for unhoused people I went and started going to different places that I knew, I started people that I knew we've known each other we run a house we share food with, you know, different things like that. And I started talking to them about it. And most of them were very, very gracious about being interviewed, they would they were very careless. And finally someone listening to this, their experiences. Conversely, someone talking over them like a news reporter from NBC or streets of shame or some some thing that really used to objectify them instead of human eyes.
Paul Zelizer 11:06
So you're talking July, August of what year?
Theo Henderson 11:08
Or last year, last year.
Paul Zelizer 11:10
OK, about a year ago, we're recording this in September. So we're talking like 1314 months ago, you're like, Alright, there's an there's an opportunity for people who are on house to tell their stories and be treated as human and really, like, what what else was going through your mind say there's an opportunity here help our listeners understand what's going through Theo Henderson's mind as he launches We The Unhoused?
Theo Henderson 11:34
Well, you know, the first thing that went through my mind is like, first to get the content and the stories. Because this is such a new and novel thing. Once I first started with my friends, I was forever trying to set up the system, how to sustain it, because being unhoused poses different unique sets of challenges, of course, you know, you may be swept, or you may have to relocate, or do you have to worry about your own survival. Conversely, as well as meeting up with people that are unhoused and talking with them. And so that was the major the legwork of that was the the major difficulty. Conversely, like, for example, if I had sat at somewhere and called in people, it would have been a little bit more of a difficulty but going to place to place like, for example, I went to places where the unhoused community was just recently swept by the police and things and I wanted the audience to understand what exactly does that entail? So I wanted to use that as a teaching moment and what the feelings are behind. What does it feel like they have all of your medication thrown in the trash? or What does it feel like to lose your family heirlooms that you had no plan to stay here forever, but you want it to hold on to your mother's or father's ashes, and the police and the sanitation unceremonious, open the urn, and just dump in the trash and practice their earn, you know, these kind of things, you know, these dehumanizing, dehumanizing actions and then hearing off the record conversations with sanitation or police officers that just basically, it's just a horrible and you look at these people that are out here supposed to be serving and protecting, but this is only for a certain slice of people. So those are the things that it gave me a lot of anger initially and it gave me a lot of determination to let the world know what really is going on behind the curtain when people talk about when you see these pretty words by Mayor Garcetti. But what's the ugliness behind those statements? And when you see councilmembers like Michel Ferro yosa do who who continuously supports a person that villainize or terrorizes unhoused community members by attacking them with dogs and sticks and things like that. And then when we when is confronted, they deny it or they dismiss. And the pretty much the same thing is to someone that has been had an assault victim, they vilify them or villainize them to justify the evil actions that they do. You know, so I think when I went through all of that, I had a lot of material I had no idea I mean, so that's why it took me long which was took me a longer time to drop it because I had to sift through all of the material to just you know, and and, and also understand these things, these stories was so arresting and so heartbreaking. Sometimes I had to slowly spoon feed people to before I, you know, show the hope, you know, you know, pull the scab off the bandage off the scab, so, you know, you know, you know, and get people in a sense of despair and hopelessness. I wanted also to be where he is a call of action. There were things that they could do. They were eagerly looking at. I wanted the reasons why I go to Different protests. This is where I go to different places in City Hall. I wanted to be on the scene not only just talking about on house people's challenges, but also seeing as an unhappy member. I'm going I'm doing something to try to change the system. When I say always complain, why don't they do something? Well, we are doing stuff. We're trying to change the system. So that if anyone falls into house listeners that they don't go through what we went through.
Paul Zelizer 15:26
Yeah. And just to give our listeners contacts there, you mentioned some names and some places you're there in the Southern California LA area, right? Yes, yes.
Theo Henderson 15:37
Yes.
Paul Zelizer 15:38
So people are like, Who are those council people? Yeah. Well, we name these are the mayors and leadership in your neck of the woods. And yes, yes. Angeles area? Yeah, that's correct. So what are some of the special challenges? I mean, like, when I decide to do a podcast, like it's an interview, I like have a little, I live in a tiny home. So it's not a giant house, like literally, I live in 480 square feet. And I have a little neck nook in my little home that has a podcast studio, so to speak, setup, right? It's like I have a little box and I opened the box, I put out the mic. And behind me I have some acoustical sound panels. And you know, like, it's not complicated or fancy, but like, I can like, pull out my podcast, Mike and I have this set up. And it's like made for podcasting. Right, right. Right. I would imagine that when both your on house and your guests on house, there's some both logistical and technical things, you've had to learn to pay attention to like what talk to us what's it like to be an unhoused podcast host whose guests are also unhoused, that's got to bring up some complications, doesn't it?
Theo Henderson 16:49
And indeed, my podcast is very unique in the respect that I insisted on initially, because, you know, it's impossible to get unhoused people to come to a studio, when they're worried about that things being displaced, or they having to move on, you know, live from moment to moment existence. But as an unhoused person, I wanted it to be a very different emphasis, I wanted house people to listen to their, the unhoused experience from where they are. So if you hear police sirens behind it, or you hear a loud, noisy background, that's because that's where we are, that studio is right there, where the unhoused community is, and we and I wanted also us to look at we are guests in their home. And instead of a Converse, like we're going to other house people's home, we must observe the same niceties. And that we would do it within our house. And our unhoused neighbors deserve that same thing. So there's a lot of so I recorded a lot of my episodes on the phone, I have now a microphone, but there's times where I still do. But I still do the same thing. I don't take them to a studio, I don't have a studio, to be honest with you, I have but I I really prefer people to get the true honesty of where people are. If you hear, like I say mlms, or you hear outside background noise because they're living on the street. But that's what that's their reality. Not Imagine if you have to listen to eight hours a day of constant noises. And that would probably annoy or drive you crazy or dealing with these. As right now as unhoused people we deal with pollution more on a first hand basis, then conversely, people that can go into a building and get some kind of buffer from it. So when there are forest fires, we ingest the forest fire ash, when there is global warming we and we deal with the after effects of that when when there is because for Mexico listeners, we have a port here. So I have to explain a little bit of that. That means that we get all types of things from all over the world and the congestion and the small is a very contributing factor and many unhoused people are the first line of people that usually are ingesting that Converse before we deal with the inclement weather, or if it's very cold or very raining. We're the first word people to get rained on. And incidentally, we also have what we call NIMBYs and that is the acronym for not in my backyard. There are people that despise them. House people, they don't like seeing encampments. They live in very well heeled areas, very fluent areas. And people that usually are unhoused are usually evicted in some of the areas that they lived in or because they have access to resources that we don't think about like bathrooms or able to shower or keep some kind of semblance of him humanity and dignity and as much that the city doesn't want to give those kind of things because our society believes we are kotlin people when we give them a bathroom to go to the bathroom or we give them a place to make them feel better. about themselves, and hopefully help them get out of the situation. By giving them a shower. We have a very particular here, a very hostile idea about people that live on the streets. So we then create ordinances and put stones and spikes on the floor on the ground and make benches usable or take benches in 100 degree weather or take the shade for house people to get away. You know, just all kinds of just very horrific things. Unfortunately, Los Angeles does two against that house people, it's, which is a lot of grassroots has sprang up to do a lot of things like give ice water, because I have been educating many of the community, no one wants in 100, some degree weather, warm water, understand some people have some medical ideas about that. But at the moment, when you're burning up your organs or burning up, or you're taking medicine like I do, the cold water does kind of cool you off, like anyone else wants to be cooled off to instead of having a heat stroke. So those things are, I think those are the recipes that motivated me as well as just give you a small snapshot of what how to record without all of the accoutrements that other podcasters can use, but I can't use those. And other areas.
Paul Zelizer 21:32
Yeah, and getting ready for the show listening episodes. You're like, yo, you're on the street, and you hear cars or trucks going by and once on the ambulance and, or you'll like walk up to a group, I saw a video you walked up to group where there was just a sweep, a police kind of broke up an encampment, and you're interviewing people with your phone, and the phones being passed around between three or four guys. And they're really sad. And, you know, you hear the buzz of a group of humans who've just had a very traumatic experience. And you're there on the street with your phone interviewing now, man, it's a very live and raw experience. Yeah, having that conversation or another interview I another episode I heard you do, you were at kind of an organizing event. And there were some hundred people around and you pulled a few people off to get their experience. And in the background, you hear somebody speaking or a megaphone and you're interviewing and you can hear it. But it's very much like in the process in the moment of an important event where people are organizing to raise some of the issues that the unhoused are facing. And there's a an event of people coming together, you're like a on the street reporter with your phone, interviewing somebody while this event is going on, and you hear the event in the background. So that's, that's part of the flavor of what you're doing. Is that fair to say?
Theo Henderson 23:00
Yes, exactly. And it's designed deliberately, for that way, right in the moment where you can feel all of the senses and the nuances and things that go on. That was what I wanted to do.
Paul Zelizer 23:11
Nice. So give us an example of a couple of topics like if somebody was trying to get a sense, okay, I get the why of the podcast, but what would be like two or three topics that you've covered in the past two or three months to somebody trying to understand what you're doing and what kind of episode topics you're focusing on with We The Unhoused?
Theo Henderson 23:32
Well, the first thing I like to do is always start off, you know, softball and talk about the term when people for example, I had a conversation with a very good friend of mine who is homeless, but we have a conversation about homeless and unhoused. And he took exception to one of the interviews I had and I wanted to talk to him about the racial implications between being white house or homeless or and black house, and how that is a very, how it ties into some of the identity to that and why I use unhoused you know, many people, first thing you hear about people, they always saying homeless, and people use it as pejorative homeless, vagrant, these kind of things and I explained that it is okay for our community to want to have agency and change whatever they want to be on call if some people want to be called homeless, that's wonderful for them. But I do notice and I have to say, more people of color, particularly African Americans really start to like when I say I'm house because they get it, they understand where I'm going with it. And conversely, sometimes when I talk with others, it's not necessarily understand because we come from a life. I have a history of struggle in a lot of respects. So there's a lot of times the nuances is missed, and we sometimes can nitpick on the term like because for example, I noticed When we try to have these conversations with non people of color that are unhoused, or homeless, they miss that day, they focus in on all or some or they're so focused on these words, instead of getting the message behind why they're saying this, and not becoming defensive or offended by it. And it's very, very difficult, because there are some unhoused whites that are Trump supporters. And they are some that love the police until they and they always have a sense of dismay and shock, that when the police come and and uproot their whole belongings and throw their ways and slam them on the ground, or, or these kind of things when I interviewed him, and it's just in such a shock about these things, and I said, Well, you know, one of the things you must understand you may be a Trump supporter, you must be He must be can can be a lover, a police officers and such, but they don't look at you in the same way you're on house, you are in a dragon society that they are, they look gone as they're going to handle you or solve your problem by get rid of you. The next thing I would like I do, I usually like to do is, as I like to use a mixture of on the ground experience with unhoused people, but also a call to action, I believe, very seriously that even though unhoused people have have things happen to them, that we don't like be saying like we are victimized or we are victims, we don't do that we believe we can create effect change. And in every aspect, that's one of the reasons why I did community outreach with people in the neighborhood because people had so many horrible ideas about me, I became a neighborhood person that people will watch, let me watch their kids or tutor, I wanted to dismantle that idea. So it has to really feel like I was part of the community. And for example, like Apple Park is a very good example of people really pushing the community of I'm the house people, they do gardening, they try to get used to some of the community members that they have, they they try to make themselves in folded in the community to show and educate and get more allies to the cause as well. So when it's time for a direct action to take place, if a police officers tries to harass them or or sweep them, these are well meaning people that come to their aid because they could use their position, privilege, being house or financial things to cause problems for the city to maybe rethink about this because this is not going to be a situation that can be swept under the rug. Conversely, this is done a lot a lot of times. The third thing I like to do is always to remind like for example when I do my podcast is that you know I do it also as well. A way of supplementing the meager funds that I have, you know it the time I didn't have a lot of money. And I don't still but the fact is, this stuff takes work, you know any contributions help. Like my Patreon is a perfect example I have now over 500 people but they are donating like $3 or $5 which is nice. But I have to say there are other grass roots that within because they can say something and they can raise over 50 grand over a day or look at and I always point this out Kyle Rittenhouse. Here's a guy that goes and shoots a bunch of people. And he Oh, he raises over a million dollars or over over 100 grand and three days. He doesn't have a podcast, he's not bluffing the community. He's not trying to make the situations better. He's what they which they're saying, you know, that defend the world from leftists, you know, and leftists are people were trying to include everybody and treating each other humanely. So there is like, I can't help but look at the irony of this. And like we are scrambling to just basically have enough money or save money for rent or things like that. And you got this guy, he goes off and Mo's down people were walking around intimidating people running around with a with a assault rifle. And it gets over a million dollars. You know, that's that's, that's very bizarre. Really? Yes.
Paul Zelizer 29:27
So let's do this. I want to unpack a little bit more of this, you know, your Patreon and you're doing several things to this is growing into a social enterprise. I want to help people understand that before we do that, do we also our community support and I just want to say thank you to our community that supports this podcast. We have this fabulous group of several hundred people called the aware printers community. And what we do is for people with these kinds of initiatives who have an impact goal and are looking at how to do business and help people in a conscious way and make it work as an enterprise. We help people do everything from like, we can help you find somebody who can build you a website, or we learn how to use podcasting, we have a podcast success team, you have a LinkedIn pod where people who want to get better at using LinkedIn to grow these kind of ventures. So over 300, people who are learning to use the tools that are out there to have it be more impactful, and also get better at learning it being entrepreneurs, and turning this into a venture that can do both. So it's called the where printers community. And if you could use a little support in learning how to be more skillful at both of those things more impact in to be more successful as a social enterprise, I invite you to go check it out. You can learn more at the web printers community aware printers.com forward slash community, and thank you aware printers who sponsor this podcast. So do let's, let's unpack it a little bit here. So we've got to said if I'm a listener, I understand now why you're doing it and what some of the topics that you cover on your podcast and some of the adaptations you've had to make being an unhoused, podcaster, and advocate, you're starting to get into like somehow the you're growing this into a social enterprise. And, and I hear you know, it's not yet like a thriving venture. But like 500 patrons, that's awesome. Like, when did you launch Patreon? And what are some of the things you're hearing from people who are joining your Patreon?
Theo Henderson 31:40
Yes, it's a very pleasant surprise to me, I have to say when I first started out with William house, I've my patreon came later, later, obviously, but it's we didn't get that many listeners. But then I had people once they started to listen, when it became on some of the Spotify things they started asking, and I didn't know these big fundraising sources like GoFundMe or cash app, or what was the one that they open mode? That's and I kept like, What are they talking? What is this Venmo and patreon they keep talking about? Because I had no idea what the
Paul Zelizer 32:12
heck it was until people were coming to you. They'd be like, yeah, you should you should get on these platforms.
Theo Henderson 32:20
Yeah, exactly. You gotta remember, I'm not, you know, I don't know the date myself. But I had no idea what they were talking about. I says, Well, you know, I, I just give it to the guy. You know, he puts it on this, this platform. And I said, that's the end of it. I just do the interviews. And I don't know anything about Patreon. And then so I learned about it. And it was slow going. It was not an instantaneous thing. I think what tipped the scales in my for my bounce, in my balance is there was a cartoonist, and she's an excellent cartoonist, by the way, Katie Fishel that was listening to my podcast. And then as fate would have it, she reached out to me and asked, because she talked with him. And I said, Okay, you know, and she's explaining what her platform is. And, and she wanted to do a sort of sub series of cartoons, to, to put on our page. And I said, I think that's a great idea. I feel the podcast is only one thing you because some people like to hear the auditory experience, that I also have some that are visual I do. That's why I put my podcast on YouTube. And Tick tock, and then I have people that like, something that I had a couple of my listeners have had is once they've become awakened or enlightened into the, the, the challenges of being in house, they were trying to talk with their families. And and and I don't know, as like I know, everyone always has some family members that can be a bit stubborn or resistant to new information, or maybe bit old, old fashion or Fox listener and things like that. And so that caused some strain in their families. And when we did the comics, it was a way to take the onus off the family tension, and can see it from an outsider point of view, where they are not embarrassed or they could do some self reflection, like one of them came up to one of her niece and says I see what you mean now and seeing the comic and got got it from that way. And I think that's one of the other doors that I feel so that that's a very good way. And it also helps out with my Patreon, as that we try to do once a month, a series of stories, eventually creating a graphic novel, to expand upon other things, even some of the stories that I've talked about. We tried to make it a small snapshot to go into the intricacies a little bit more and how does that resolve it? And what can we, what can we learn out of it. And so, I have to say, doing this, this comic has been a very, very good, good thing for my patreon as well as me interviewing with other podcasters that helps. I have one of the podcasters last week interviewed me on and you know, that helps bring my story, the Daily Dot interviewed me, Los Angeles Times, CHANNEL SEVEN news, you know, different things that I tried to make sure that I'm in some facet, it doesn't have to be mainstream media, but it has to be media in a way that there's always someone somewhere that doesn't listen to mainstream media that could take the message and, and learn something and really be drawn into as well. So I have an eclectic amount of people.
Paul Zelizer 35:53
Nice. So people who've listened to this podcast know I like to joke about my spiritual highlighter when a guest says something that I really want our audience to pay attention to. And you just said something there do two things. One is that you listen to your audience as you were like starting the podcast and highly recommend listeners go check it out. We they on house, we'll put it in the show notes, go listen to some episodes and see the kind of really deep dive human but also incredibly thoughtful journalism that's happening right, literally on the ground. And talking to on house people themselves and the perspectives and the analysis of what's happening. So you got that going do like you really brought care and attention to the storytelling in the journalism and getting the podcast and doing it regularly. And then you listen to your audience. People said, Hey, we want to do some you want to help you? Do we know you're on house we want you know, get on paypal get on Venmo Have you ever thought of Patreon? And you're like, Well, not really. But okay, I'll tell you. No, this isn't from my generation, I heard you say, but I'm gonna learn how to do it. And if there's Patreon going to get some traction. So number one, my spiritual highlighter, folks, listen to your audience, right? Do it regularly like Theo, if you did one episode a year, you probably wouldn't be where you are right now. How often do you publish again as a weekly
Theo Henderson 37:22
if I do weekly, and I do certain expos as well that intersect. So yes, I do weekly, on top of other stuff,
Paul Zelizer 37:32
special things on getting started in the podcast very early. Yeah. Now as you did that, your audience made a suggestion about how this could grow in a social enterprise. And in your DMZ said, All right, I'm going to learn about this Patreon thing and you turned it on. And now you have 500 subscribers. So that's one audience, do it regularly and listen to the audience that you start to build they'll teach you about if you're doing it with a genuine desire to be of service. This is certainly been true for aware printers as well, people come up with ideas of guests and topics and things we can do as a community. We just finished last night wonderful, community driven class with over 30 conscious business owners it was called inclusion in conscious business. And it was a three session class about how we can learn about doing more anti racist work and get better at being more inclusive both in our businesses and in this space of conscious business led by fabulous member of aware partners called Nikolay, who's the dei trainer that came directly out of the aware printers community Dan Holly, a member of ours who lives in London said we need to do a class like this. And a couple weeks later, boom, it was live and we help market it together is awesome, right? So that's an example in our community. Somebody said, We need that. And we found the right people to lead it found the structure for the three session learning class. And it all happened. So create the container do it regularly build the trust in your community will start to inform you is how you could grow it to the next level and you've done a fabulous job of that. The other thing I'm hearing that I wanted to circle is you start you're doing this the regularly you are now like as you got your podcast and your community growing and people started to hear about your story. You started going to other media channels likely aware printers, podcasts, like the newspaper interviews then that I saw you on I saw an interview you did I think it was for the la times I don't remember which media. But I saw that article and I'm like, hey, do you want to be on a podcast? And he said Yes, right. So you created a community, you have an infrastructure for it to grow in your Patreon and now you're starting to find other communities that would be excited to learn about what you're doing. And as a result, your Patreon is growing and you have over 500 people who are supporting so Tim's tips from what Theo's doing to our listeners who want to grow your social impact. Look what the man's doing here and pay attention. Great job.
Theo Henderson 40:22
Thank you.
Paul Zelizer 40:23
So talk to us. So now you're starting to do some other things. You've got this, you know, cartoon collaboration going, you're also starting to do some merchandise, you've got t shirts and other things going on. That's helping to spread the word like, like, what was it like for Theo, the guy who's a teacher who doesn't know anything about podcasting doesn't know anything about Patreon probably doesn't know that much about t shirts probably doesn't know much about cartooning, like any feedback or suggestions for listeners about like, how do you make decisions about collaborations like that? What what's contributing to working for you?
Theo Henderson 41:03
Well, it's interesting, you said that, because first, it was scary, because this is like, again, this is uncharted territory. You know, I, again, I'm embarrassed to say I never kept up with the new technological things, I had it, I have moments when my phone or my computer acts up. And I don't know what the heck's going on. So, so for, for me to be in that I had to give myself a lot of grace to have for learning curve. But also, as an educator, we always try to emphasize collaboration, in order for that unit, or that project to have much more strength and more legs. I learned very early on, I couldn't do everything. And I needed to be able to use different modalities and needed different places to get assistance and people to get assistance and to get my message out. That's the whole point. And in order for me to do that, I have to go and maybe, maybe a seemingly frightening areas, and just take the time, like with Patreon, Patreon has things where after a spirit of time, they offered, well, maybe you should start selling merchandise, which I never thought of. And then when I started wearing my T shirts, and people wanted to buy them, and then that's really that was pretty cool. You know? Maybe I got some here, you know, it's a little bit of trial and error is a little bit of fear. Because I you know, I mean, you know, I say, you know, you're stepping in uncharted territory, just like I stepped into doing this podcast, it was uncharted territory. I had no idea. It would be received the way it would be received. I just figured, you know, maybe I will get some people but you know, the level of people from all over. I've been interviewed on overseas, I've been people from Denmark, Scotland, you know, different places, not just in the States. Were in Palestine, somewhere, you know, the other places that had listened to my podcast, which surprises the hell out of me, because I never knew people were being from over there and listening to it as well.
Paul Zelizer 43:15
So do you have any intention that it would go beyond LA or when you first started? It was like, I'm just focused on Los Angeles.
Theo Henderson 43:22
Yeah, firstly, I just thought about Los Angeles, because I was trying to keep it simple. I was trying to keep it contained for people around LA to get a lot of buzz and people to get some help for them. Um, but then I started to get people like, again, someone contacted me from Denmark. And I'm like, what, what, what do people do Denmark, want to know about people in LA that's living on the streets, and he came down. And then there's someone from Scotland and they came, came down and interviewed me, which shocked me, you know, I mean, I just, you know, a couple of times, I was like, well, this, this is interesting. Um, so it taught me another very cool thing is that I received a comment from an in house person in New York, that listens to my podcast, and wants me to go down to New York and do something for them. Fair and their kin. So it opened my eyes and said, You know what, this is bigger than just be just doing this. And let's Los Angeles, I have to also, which is when I'm thinking about how to do we do in house and not just in Los Angeles and other places, and have their stories just as important as people here in Los Angeles, and listen to them and get their stories out there too. And how can I help them in that way too? Because eventually, maybe we don't house will be it and all the all of the countries, you know, you know, or major countries that are in major cities that gets I'm okay with that until the point where it's such a thing that when they see what he announced and no, this is this is a major media outlet that the unhoused know that they're going to get listened to Do or get this story out there?
Paul Zelizer 45:02
Nice. So the concept has grown as you got into the actual marketplace, you start sharing the stories, and you're getting some, you know, listeners and you're having an audience, people are saying, wow, this is really cool. And you should you know, we need this happening in New York, or we need it in Denmark or we need. So you're open to expanding your concept based on the feedback from people who are listening, saying, Yeah, actually what you're doing is really relevant to our community as well. Yes, that's awesome.
Theo Henderson 45:36
So which is surprising, I have to tell you, because I think again, like, I, I'm learning that, you know, unhoused, people always have to have certain challenges. We all have that. But it's like, also, it's gratifying to know that they, they feel empowered, that's what I wanted, I wanted people to feel like, they have a call of action, they didn't sink in their doldrums. They want this out there for them, so they can advocate for their own betterment too.
Paul Zelizer 46:04
Yeah. One of the things being of advocating right, and one of our topic today is podcasting and advocating for the unhoused. What would you say we have a lot of listeners do who are really passionate about helping marginalized community, all different kinds of marginalized communities. But that's one of the reasons somebody might listen to the aware printers. But how do I do this? And how do I make it work as an enterprise, and be really skillful, being inclusive, and helping people who are oftentimes left out of the equation, that's something our audience tends to be pretty passionate about. If we had somebody who was a little earlier on, maybe they haven't yet, you know, started that podcast or they started but it hasn't yet gotten to the point where the LA Times or like, you know, whoever all these folks that are getting involved, and they haven't either launched or haven't gotten lift yet, what would you say to somebody who's newer in the journey, about what you've learned about advocating and doing it in this kind of social enterprise way with an audience that historically has been really loved? Oh,
Theo Henderson 47:11
that's a very good question. I'm going to take a piece of what you said, I had no idea I was going to blow up. So please, this is gonna be all over though I did not I have to say that. But I have to say this I insisted on and I still insist on what we do in house, your standpoint, we do in house stands for it. every tribe is most intersections of people that in house, I interview, the transgendered community, I interviewed the queer community, I interview, the unhoused that are working on how I deal with the disabled community, invisible and visible disabilities, because that's a conversation that is sorely needed in the, in the communities at large, as well as the unhoused community, people that are living in their RVs. It's substance usage on people, individuals that they need their stories heard, because people are, make snap judgments about them. I had interviewed a gentleman that you would have known but he he has schizophrenia, and he's on medication, but he's unhoused. And the thing is what we could do to be as a community member, how can we be much more inclusive and more compassionate, instead of having an end in lethal consequence? But so one of the things that we do and how it stands for is that we, we can't get better, if not all of us is not better. And we would I believe that I believe, as a heterosexual man, as heterosexual black man, I believe that we in order for the walls to be torn down, we all must put in the work. And we always have, and we must reflect that in our advocacy. That's my advocacy, I believe that, you know, one day you may see learning how, what is it the disabled community wants people to understand about them? Because they're different nuances or the deaf community, or, you know, different unhoused there's so many facets of unhoused out here. It's just, it's unreal, you know, we can go forever on it. But I want everybody that sees that as my advocacy. No, they don't, I don't, I don't care what intersection you've on, as long as we meet at the same street, and we can interview and get your voice out there.
Paul Zelizer 49:23
Nice. So when you look ahead to what might be coming down the road for We The Unhoused, I mean, what a great first 14 months. First of all, let me just say that, that may seem like you know, from somebody who hears a lot of these stories, I just want to say congratulations and 14 months to go from concept to you know, podcasts that winding up in the LA Times and 500 patrons and partnerships with, you know, a cartoonist and just like some of the people that you've been able to engage with In the conversation, just congratulations on what you've built just yeah, just deep out you.
50:06
Thank you.
Paul Zelizer 50:08
When when you look ahead and think, you know, these are incredibly poignant times for everybody, but particularly like you're saying the unhoused are on the front line, like we're in the middle of this pandemic, and you're supposed to stay at home. Well, how do you do that? If you're unhoused, duh, right, like, but most people wouldn't think about that, like, you're literally on the front lines of so much of the challenges and the Oh, boy, the ways we've not been tending to everyone and putting human needs first, right, you're, you're literally on the front line, so that in so many ways, what's in your heart and on your mind, moving ahead with me, the unhoused, and all the things that you're wanting to do going forward from here?
Theo Henderson 50:54
Well, again, I course, keep continuing to have get the stories of the unhoused out, as well as open up as many modalities or many mediums for it to be reached. If someone doesn't listen to my podcast, but they see a comment that may prompt them to do that, as well as create, which is I'm in the works trying to do is I'm trying to do a nonprofit called, we help the on house. And not only because as you can see, I like the work we do in house. So I just say, okay, we help the house, they add a little play on words to again, have a sense of advocacy in motion, I have the education component. Okay, here's something that people that want to help. This is something that I need your help with, we could do, let's say for example, we have another heat wave, and unhoused people need water, I will need maybe donations to us to create a distribution site or find a distribution site or refrigeration spot where we can put the water hand and get called. And we can create a system that we can get the water out there to the announced community out of these inclement times, okay, we have inclement weather where there's been rainstorms that's been and unhoused people things I've been soaked, we have a distribution, place where we have tents out there, or what the tents get taken away or, or close to a place where we can get them to store this stuff. We can put it there so that it doesn't become flooded out or misused. And we can use the unhoused community as well as gatekeepers or people involved in their own advocacy and their own agency to who knows they could create a new an idea that they thought of and they could go out and create their own thing to help more unhoused people, the more we keep the flower of ingenuity and innovation bloomed and watered and nurtured then we could do a lot of things that could change the paradigm or the landscape about hospice.
Paul Zelizer 52:56
Nice, Theo I could hang out and talk to dad loved me. But I wouldn't do that to you. And I won't do that to our listeners, if there was something you were hoping we were going to cover on your work and what's happening with the unhoused right now, or something you want to leave our listeners with, as we say goodbye On this episode, and we point them in the direction of all the great links to find out more about your work, what would that be?
Theo Henderson 53:21
Um, right now I'm covering a couple of things we and California Los Angeles, they had a thing called Project room key they were putting on house people in hotels during the pandemic, but now they've grown them out. And grassroot organizations have ran and I tried to give him a few more days because somebody had house are very disabled, elderly or having a and they have these things called special enforcement zone where they just go and harass in house and throw their things out. And I went out and which is coming up soon as I interviewed some of the people that have been in the hold these hotels and explains their challenges that they have. And I asked you guys to look in and and listen in and see what how maybe Mexico or other areas don't make the same mistakes as Los Angeles.
Paul Zelizer 54:18
Theo, thank you so much for being on the show. And again, thanks for the good work that you're doing.
Theo Henderson 54:22
Thank you for having me.
Paul Zelizer 54:24
So I’ll put a link to the podcast, to the Patreon, to the YouTube channel, etc. Go follow these guys on social media go listen to the podcast is such a great example of advocacy inaction on the ground literally, some of the more poignant conversation of our time, can't recommend it enough. For now, I just want to say thank you so much for listening. We now have two episodes a week and we love listener suggestions. If you've got a topic or a guest that you think would be really helpful for us to cover, go to the website and click on our contact page and tell us your suggestion is for now, I just want to say thank you so much for listening. Please take really good care of these points in time. And thank you for all the positive impact that you're working toward.