[00:00:10] Ellington Brown: Welcome to SpeakUP! International with Rita Burke and Elton Brown! 

[00:00:16] Rita Burke: As you know, we traverse the globe to find individuals we consider to be community builders, and today is no exception. We have with us Kevin Francis, who is a lifelong community supporter and activist. After obtaining his social services worker diploma, he continued working with youth in custody detention in Canada and abroad.

[00:00:51] Rita Burke: Kevin has worked with municipal, provincial, and federal programs to support youth. [00:01:00] He is also the co-founder of a program called Diversified Youth Initiative. There's so much more that I would like to say about Kevin Francis, but as we say on SpeakUP! International, we prefer if our guests tell their own stories.

[00:01:17] Rita Burke: And so today, Kevin Francis, I welcome you to SpeakUP! International! 

[00:01:23] Kevin Francis: Thank you very much for having me today. It's a pleasure to join SpeakUP! International and to sit with both of you and Mr. Brown today. So thank you again for having us. 

[00:01:34] Ellington Brown: You are more than welcome. You are a community service oriented - individual.

[00:01:46] Ellington Brown: What moved you into that profession?

[00:01:52] Ellington Brown: Outside... Oh, oh, wait, wait. Outside of- Yep ... outside of the, outside of education. 

[00:01:56] Kevin Francis: Ah, okay. [00:02:00] So I, you know, I've been on the front lines from, I mean, I'm gonna say basically my whole life. Uh, as a child, uh, I was part of a community center in Brixton, so from that, I think that was the bug, um, that bit me at the time that this is what I wanted to do.

[00:02:20] Kevin Francis: I wanted to make sure that I could be not only a part of the community, but also support my community, because we didn't have a lot at the time. And so as a youngster, seeing that and getting to go to the center, seeing their executive director there, seeing how sitting into meetings, listening to the different programs they were going to be putting together for the youth in the area, you know, that was of interest to me, um, from a very, very young age.

[00:02:56] Kevin Francis: So I think before even the education piece, 'cause I was always a, a, [00:03:00] a young person who kind of knew what they wanted to do in life early, um, and so before even the education piece, I, I, I felt like this was my calling. Even though I was very young, I still felt that presence that this was my calling. Yes.

[00:03:24] Rita Burke: So Kevin, you are a community support lifelong person. What does that feel and look like? What exactly do you do? Go into some detail for us, please. 

[00:03:39] Kevin Francis: And so being a, a, a community supporter, I know a lot of people like to use the word community leader. I always look at the community as the leader. I'm just the supporter and the activist for them.

[00:03:53] Kevin Francis: You know? I'm, I'm gonna help amplify their voices. And, and so for me now in, [00:04:00] uh, in the stage I am of my life, I, I've always worked on the front line. I've always been in various communities. I am the person who will show up. I have no kind of fear that I'm like, "I'm not going over there because it's dangerous."

[00:04:19] Kevin Francis: You know? Um, I have n- I've never had an issue like that. So I like to be on the front line. I like to speak to people. I like to find out what things they want and what things they don't want and, and, and how the system is affecting them. Because what I find is there are always communities within communities, and we forget about them.

[00:04:42] Kevin Francis: And so when we talk about, oh, we're doing service for this community or that community, but you're not because you're not on the front line, so you haven't been there so you don't really understand that it's really more to it than just one [00:05:00] paintbrush to say this is the whole community. Because everybody is dealing with different things.

[00:05:06] Kevin Francis: There's different cultures, there's different religions in communities. There's, there's various differences that you won't see unless you're on the front line. So for me, um, I am the person who enjoys getting that information from the bottom and bringing it up instead of people seeing at the top and trickling it down.

[00:05:27] Kevin Francis: That doesn't work. That doesn't work at all 

[00:05:32] Ellington Brown: How do you deal with families who are d- m- they, they don't have money? They just flat out don't have money. Yes. So what, uh, heartbreaking experiences have you run into where maybe the kid doesn't have, uh, food to eat, malnu- Yes, yes ... you know, malnutrition? [00:06:00] Yes. How do you interact with the parents so that they keep their sense of pride, but yet and still you're aiding and assisting?

[00:06:13] Kevin Francis: Uh, so I'm really glad you asked that question because it is more poverty now than people recognize. There are more hungry children than people recognize. There are very much a lot of proud families that will not tell you that they are struggling and that there is, um, hardships in regards to feeding their children.

[00:06:39] Kevin Francis: So as an organization, Diversified Youth Initiative, we know the struggle because we work so closely within these various communities. I'll give you one example is in Cambridge, Ontario, we have, of course, affordable housing like everybody else, but what we [00:07:00] found is that a lot of the children were not able to participate in sports without paying.

[00:07:06] Kevin Francis: And a lot of the neighborhood agencies were using the term, "Well, we subsidize programs for them." We can't subsidize anything for those that are suffering from poverty because they're only getting the basic food and shelter. You know, we have a welfare system here in Canada. And so you don't get money for entertainment or extracurricular activities and that.

[00:07:34] Kevin Francis: So subsidizing them is taking money either from their food or from their shelter. So as an organization, we decided we weren't going to do that. We were going to run basketball camps that are sports, nutrition, and life skills camps, and they were free. And you could come and bring your child or bring your children.

[00:07:56] Kevin Francis: And we had a certain number that we could only accept [00:08:00] because we only had a limited amount of funding that we could get. And so we brought these children in. I'm gonna say anywhere from the youngest I believe was eight at the time, a great young man. He's now, um, he's older. He's a teenager now. But he was our youngest at the time, and, um, him and my son.

[00:08:21] Kevin Francis: And so we brought these children all together. We rented gyms. We, we, um- We cooked for them because we recognized they were coming to the program and didn't have any food to eat in the morning. So we made sure we got some donations. We got fresh fruit from them from the, uh, shelter. Um, and then we were able to bring in a chef, the Spice Sisters, um, and she was able to make food for them.

[00:08:50] Kevin Francis: So I mean good food. I mean rice and peas, jerk chicken, salad, you know, and we had snacks as well. So the kids that were coming to our [00:09:00] program that was for four days were able to have a nutritious meal, get coached in basketball, listen to what we bring in guests like dieticians to come and speak to them about how to eat properly, what to eat, what to cut out of your food, what to get rid of in regards to energy drinks.

[00:09:17] Kevin Francis: We brought in personal trainers. We brought in track and field coaches. We brought in other fathers to speak to these kids, and that was our cure. And because we did that, you would be surprised out of all the community agencies that had money and money on reserve who turned their back on us and would not support the program because they did not do anything for free.

[00:09:47] Kevin Francis: And because of that, they didn't wanna promote the program in their areas. They didn't want to tell parents about the program in their areas, which we had to end up doing ourselves, which was fine, [00:10:00] but We could, we could have had more kids that would have benefited. 

[00:10:07] Ellington Brown: Who are the Spice Sisters? 

[00:10:08] Kevin Francis: And that was the unfortunate part.

[00:10:09] Ellington Brown: Who are the Spice Sisters? 

[00:10:11] Kevin Francis: Oh, the Spice Sisters Personal Chef Services is one of our partners, and they donated their time and, and energy and food to cook for these young kids that were m- malnutrition. And, uh, we, we're very thankful for them. They still work with us to this day, and they are an amazing personal chefs, um, in Toronto here as well.

[00:10:37] Kevin Francis: But they came to Cambridge as well to help us out. So we're very excited to have them. But, you know, it was... They, they planned out all the meals for the kids. They made sure that... We had, we had some Muslim kids in there, so they made sure that we had halal meats that we prepared for them so that the parents would be comfortable being able to send their [00:11:00] children as well.

[00:11:01] Kevin Francis: And so without their help, it w- we wouldn't have been able to feed so many of the kids we had. So that was, you know, amazing. We started that program in 2017, and we have some kids now that have gotten scholarships, um, to play basketball. We have one, one amazing kid that came through our program that is now in the NBA.

[00:11:22] Kevin Francis: And so it was really beneficial, I think, not only for us as a, as a group, as an organization, but for the parents and the families and who also participated. We had lots of parents that wanted to volunteer their time and come and help in any way, whether that was cleaning up or setting up or... And, and then they would ask for food.

[00:11:44] Kevin Francis: So we would just give them food as well. So it wasn't just the, the children being fed, it was the parents that started to get fed too. And so, uh, for us, we are going to now continue with that movement because of we, we do recognize [00:12:00] that subsidies don't work. And, you know, there are some people that can pay whatever they can afford, but we are very much about getting the funding to be able to make sure that there is no cost involved.

[00:12:18] Kevin Francis: And then therefore, there's no, uh, there's no discrimination because everybody's in there the same. And if there's a child that shows up that doesn't have the right shoes, we will go and buy shoes for them and bring them back. So That's how we combat it 

[00:12:35] Rita Burke: So Kevin Francis, you talk about your wraparound program in your bio.

[00:12:43] Rita Burke: What you just described to us, is that the wraparound program? 

[00:12:47] Kevin Francis: That's one of them. So we like to have continued wraparound services and supports for families and their youth, which basically means, say for instance, somebody needed assistance with a resume. [00:13:00] Normally, y- you have to go to the agency and you have to register with the agency, and then they get somebody to help you with your resume.

[00:13:10] Kevin Francis: That takes too long. When people are looking for work, they need that to be done quickly for them. And so one of our wraparound services is employment. So what we'll do is we'll just set them up online, as you guys are right now. We'll set them up online. They can email us their resume. We can get somebody to review it for them and fix it up with them and send them their resume back, and we can do that within a couple of days.

[00:13:38] Kevin Francis: We don't need you to take bus fare, get in a bus, bring your children, get to the place within a certain amount of hours, you're not open on the weekends, and then get their resume. We wanna be able to get the stress out. Financial literacy, same way. If they want assistance with financial literacy, we'll set that program up online for [00:14:00] them.

[00:14:00] Kevin Francis: We do also use spaces in some of the communities if we can get access to those spaces. So we like to come to you. We don't want you to come to us, right? And if you can't come to us, then we will see you virtually And if you can't do it virtually, then we will call you on the phone. So whatever it is, we're gonna make it easier for the clientele.

[00:14:24] Kevin Francis: So many of our programs and supports is based on the needs of the community. So if they say they need employment, they say they need financial literacy, they say they need mentoring, they say they need counseling, they say they need to speak to a dietician, we will basically set that up and, and customize it to fit what they need.

[00:14:45] Rita Burke: So what I'm hearing you say then is that everything that you offer is based on what the community wants. That's right. What the families want- 

[00:14:53] Kevin Francis: That's right ... 

[00:14:54] Rita Burke: or what they tell you that they need. 

[00:14:55] Kevin Francis: That's right. Because we can go in and say, "Hey, we just did [00:15:00] this last week in this other community. We're gonna provide that for you there."

[00:15:04] Kevin Francis: But again, communities within communities. You can't do that. You have to get the information from them so that we can customize it specifically for them. Yes, communities have similar issues happening, but some have more violence happening in their community, some have more addiction happening in their community, some have more poverty happening in their community.

[00:15:29] Kevin Francis: You won't know until you get the information from the people

[00:15:34] Kevin Francis: So, uh, yeah. So we, we continue to be able to make sure that that bottom-up information is the most important. And I, and I'm hoping, you know, as an organization, as we lead the way in getting the information from the ground floor and customizing it for the community, that many others will [00:16:00] follow. We're hoping that happens, but if it doesn't, just know that Diversified Youth Initiative does that.

[00:16:06] Kevin Francis: We are about that kind of life. We are about the customization. And that goes for schools, too, because we do work in schools, and every school's different. Every school has different issues. So we will customize what they want, but I need to s- make sure I speak to the youth first, or I speak to the parents first, and then I can say, "Well, we can do A, B, and C, if you'd like."

[00:16:30] Kevin Francis: Mm-hmm. So that is, that is w- where the wraparound services are created. It's created through what their needs are. Mm-hmm. 

[00:16:38] Ellington Brown: So one of the needs, just listening to you, is education. You... It appears that sports is the vehicle that you use in order to get the kids into [00:17:00] education by, through getting them, uh, by them working hard at school, getting- What do you call them?

[00:17:09] Ellington Brown: Scholarships Is that your only, is that your only way of getting them in through, through sports? And I'm not saying- Oh ... that's a bad or a good thing. 

[00:17:19] Kevin Francis: No, no, no. No. No, no. It's not the only way. It's one of the many ways. Uh, we also go through arts and music, culture. Um, it all depends on what the need is. We knew in Cambridge the need for a basketball program was massive, and so we implemented that at no cost.

[00:17:42] Kevin Francis: Um, we also have done a project out here for in the Little Jamaica area that was an arts and culture program. And so we had a lot of the, the kids, the young men, the young women who, uh, let's just say weren't looked at, [00:18:00] uh, in a good light. But they love music, and they wanted to make music, and they want to be a rap star or they want to be a singer.

[00:18:09] Kevin Francis: And so we set up a program called Bring the Beat Back, which is, um, a, a, a, a music and arts culture program. But what we also implement in that program is things that they will need. So life skills training, uh, financial literacy, employment. Because as an artist, you have to have something else happening before you make it.

[00:18:35] Kevin Francis: And so we brought in different people to assist them, different producers, different artists that were already touring. We brought in people for, to help them understand financial literacy so they could apply for grants to help them go into the studio and to create their music. So it isn't just sports geared.

[00:18:55] Kevin Francis: It's geared towards what the need is, and we'll bring them in [00:19:00] that way. Uh, we have another program that is a ski program called the Ski School Project where we take young men and women who have never skied before, and we bring them over to Blue Mountain, and we give them an opportunity to ski for free at no cost.

[00:19:18] Kevin Francis: Everything is covered again. The instruction is covered. Their gear is covered. We have their lunch covered. We have their breakfast covered. We have their snacks covered. And then we also have f- workshops for them. We bring in the recruiter from Blue Mountain. He tells them how to get jobs during the summer season, the fall season because this is a place that's open all year round most people don't know.

[00:19:41] Kevin Francis: And they were kind enough to give us that space. So it all depends on what the need is, and like, again, we create that. So there are some kids that they're not into sports, but they're into music. And there are kids that are into sports, but they're not really into the music that way, [00:20:00] right? And so we're gonna just adjust and move organically, and we're going to make it happen for them.

[00:20:09] Kevin Francis: So we don't wanna just be, uh, a sports camp- Mm ... organization. No, no, no, no. Mm-hmm. Because we're trying to build bigger. You're not, you're not all gonna make it in sports, but you're gonna use those family values that we teach you in order to be successful in whatever career that's going to be. Not only do you get the, the, the, the coaches, but you get Black professionals coming in that are in different areas to speak to you about- Mm their careers. 

[00:20:38] Ellington Brown: So what has been your proudest moment? When did you feel like, you know, a proud papa? 

[00:20:47] Kevin Francis: I think, you know, um, it's funny. I, I've never really sat back and looked because there's so many proud moments, uh, for me to see [00:21:00] children, young people become engaged. I think that's the proudest for me because there's so many detractors that are, "These kids don't wanna do this.

[00:21:13] Kevin Francis: They don't wanna do anything. These kids don't wanna do... They're lazy. They don't wanna..." And when I can get those kids engaged, that is my proud moment because it is like those kids are, have been empowered. Somebody has empowered them to speak up about the things they want out of life because I find people don't really ask young people questions anymore.

[00:21:43] Kevin Francis: "What do you want to do with your life? And then how do you plan to get there? And if you want any assistance, I can help you. Just let me know." Those conversations don't happen as much as they did [00:22:00] during my time, and so I wanna bring back that time and have the seniors giving back to the juniors. And then vice versa, the juniors always give back to the seniors if you just listen.

[00:22:15] Kevin Francis: All you have to do is listen, and you can learn so much from them. So I think that's my proudest moment is the engagement because the engagements leads to the empowerment. 

[00:22:28] Rita Burke: You know, you talked about ta- discussing or exploring or reflecting with the youth on what do you want to do with your life and how you plan to get there and which is critical for them to start moon gazing, to look at the North Star to find out- Yes

[00:22:49] Rita Burke: how they're gonna get that North Star. So talk to us about your most eye-opening experience. 

[00:22:59] Kevin Francis: I think [00:23:00] for me, again, there's been, there's been many, but I think for me it was the ability to go and visit people in communities that are underserved and to see exactly how they're living, not just where they're living, but how they're living, how they're surviving.

[00:23:24] Kevin Francis: A lot of people come here to Canada for a better life for their children, and they don't want to be living in a high-violence situation, and they don't want to be judged about where they live. So being able to visit them, sit down at a table, have a cup of tea with them, talk to them about their journey and their dreams and their vision for their children is...

[00:23:57] Kevin Francis: was the most, I would say, [00:24:00] impactful. The eye-opening part would be the disconnect between our counselors and politicians and what's really happening in the community. Because if you watch closely, there'll be a lot of these little meetings. "Oh, we're having a community meeting, and we're having this, that," and...

[00:24:26] Kevin Francis: But they don't really get to speak to the community, the heart and soul of the community, because most of those people aren't coming out for photo ops. They don't want photo ops with these politicians or city councilors. And so you're not really getting all of the information, but yet you come back to say, "Well, we went over there, and this is what we're going to do for them, and we're gonna give them this," and, and then you leave.

[00:24:54] Kevin Francis: Little Jamaica is a prime example of that. That was, that was destroyed, [00:25:00] and some people would say it was destroyed purposely. And, you know, what we have happening over there now is vacancies like we've never seen before. So if you really were about that community and in the engagement, it wouldn't be suffering the way it is.

[00:25:20] Kevin Francis: And that's just one example, right? And I don't wanna call out names of any of these people. They know who they are. Like I always say, we're on the front lines, so you can... You wanna come and debate? Let's do it. Because we're there, but we never see you there. And so I think that was the, the... that popped out for me.

[00:25:40] Kevin Francis: Like, this almost seems like a game. It almost seems like a game, right? 'Cause the people continue to suffer, and nothing's changing. Out of all the community meetings all over the decades, nothing has changed. It's actually gotten worse.

[00:25:58] Ellington Brown: So what do you think [00:26:00] we can do to make it better? As a comm- as, as a community 

[00:26:06] Kevin Francis: I think as a community, and you know, I, I, I will speak on our community in general, we need to stop turning our backs and pretending everything is okay because we've made it, right? There's a lot of us that have been successful.

[00:26:21] Kevin Francis: Uh, I myself, I'm not coming from a trust fund family. I'm not coming from a family where, um, I was given anything. I'm self-made, and a lot of my other friends are, are, are, are self-made as well. And so I think our biggest problem as a people is we make it, and then we don't look back again. We're not looking back to say, "How can I...

[00:26:54] Kevin Francis: Now that I've made it, how can I support a program in this community for these kids?" [00:27:00] We would rather pretend that, "Oh, we're not from there. Oh, no, no, no. That's not us. No, no, no, no, no. We don't hang out in those, those, those places." No, we can't be like that anymore because when I was coming up, it was people that would always mentor me so that I didn't fall through the cracks.

[00:27:25] Kevin Francis: There was, there was, there was, there was a lot of people that were, let's just say, living a criminal life, but when they saw me, they would say to me, "Kevin, you're different than the rest of those youths over there. Don't ever let me catch you over there with them, or you're gonna have to deal with me." And we're talking about some of, some, some of the biggest crime lords that had seen that, "Nah, this kid has potential.

[00:27:57] Kevin Francis: He's gonna get out of here." And [00:28:00] so I wanna bring that back. As with Diversified Youth, that's what we're trying to do, bring in mentors to mentor. Don't turn your back because there are other communities that support each other. There are many of them that you look, and they make sure that their kids are going to go places.

[00:28:22] Kevin Francis: They make sure of that. They don't turn their back and screw face and try to hide. And, and it's... That's, that's what I think we need to do. We cannot depend on counselors and politicians, and we can't. Unless we create a voice, they're not going to do anything about it. We must create that voice, and in order to create that voice, we must unify.

[00:28:51] Kevin Francis: So that means if you have money, then you, then you work with the people that don't have money. And the people that don't have money, they work with the [00:29:00] people that have money so that we can build stuff- We can talk about investments. We can talk about real estate. We can talk about portfolios. We can give each other's children jobs.

[00:29:12] Kevin Francis: We can direct them into where they can work to make money, and then we can show them how to save money. But we have to do this. We cannot wait on anybody to come and save our children. We can't. It's not gonna happen. I can tell you that for 31 years in this field, nobody's coming to save us

[00:29:38] Rita Burke: I quite agree with you. Nobody's gonna come to save us. We have to save ourselves. And so my next question, Kevin Francis, is could you think of a time when you had to say enough? 

[00:29:53] Kevin Francis: Oh, yes. Really great question. You know- [00:30:00] Part of my life I worked in the region of Waterloo, Ontario Works. I worked for the City of Toronto, Ontario Works.

[00:30:11] Kevin Francis: And when the COVID-19 came into effect, people don't recognize how much that affected our community And it affected them so much that they were even more discriminated against. They're already suffering from poverty and lack of jobs and education, and now you wanna throw something else at them and tell them that they have to do something that they don't want to do and they don't want their children to do.

[00:30:42] Kevin Francis: And I will be, you know, quite blunt with you. W- when I was one of the people that was terminated, and I was terminated because I didn't want to... I didn't agree to giving you my medical information. See, [00:31:00] that was the biggest thing for me. Things are private between you and your doctor. They're not public.

[00:31:07] Kevin Francis: And this thing brought in the fact that you could come pry into somebody's medical background. And so I stood on that, and I know many in the community stood on that because I was there. As an organization, we, we turned down money because it w- had strings attached saying we had to convince our community to do something they didn't want to do.

[00:31:35] Kevin Francis: They needed our face to convince our community. And some of our organizations took that money and ran with it, but we really stood on our morals and values and said we weren't going to do that. So that was the enough. And, you know, years later, as you know, everything comes out. People had to call and beg for, [00:32:00] "Please take your job back," and all this stuff happened.

[00:32:03] Kevin Francis: But that was the enough part, because the sufferation was already at an all-time high in our community, and we weren't going to, uh, turn our backs. We were going to support those that were not willing to give up their medical information. So that would be the biggest one, I think. 

[00:32:28] Ellington Brown: Wow. I... You can, uh, understand, uh, your, your position.

[00:32:34] Ellington Brown: Uh, fra- quite frankly, I would be a little hesitant on giving my medical information to anyone. 

[00:32:41] Kevin Francis: Yes! 

[00:32:41] Ellington Brown: Unless it's a medical doctor. Well, then 

[00:32:43] Kevin Francis: yes. Yes. 

[00:32:44] Ellington Brown: You know, you go right ahead. But, uh, other than that, you know, my medical pos- position, stance is mine, and it's- Yes ... no one else's business.

[00:32:55] Ellington Brown: And I think we as Black people have to remember [00:33:00] that, that our business is our business, and we have to figure ways in order to- Take care of it. Sometimes it's difficult. Sometimes it's almost impossible. But there's, there's always a way, as my mom would always always say when she was alive, y- there's more than one way to skin a cat.

[00:33:22] Ellington Brown: And- ... and she believed in that 100%, just like I believe in communities like the one you're in, where you're actually helping these, these, uh, children, their parents. Have you ever been in a position where- The kid asked you for something and it broke your heart to have to say no 

[00:33:54] Kevin Francis: Oof!

[00:33:57] Kevin Francis: Yes. [00:34:00] And I'm gonna say it all came down to funding. And so when we were running our Skill Set basketball camp, sports nutrition and life skills, we had so many kids registering that we couldn't take all of them. And that, that, I lost sleep

[00:34:26] Kevin Francis: I love sleep Because these kids needed it. So I'm like, how are we going to fix this issue we have? We don't, we have certain amount of funding, yes, we can bring in a certain amount of kids. But there has to be another way to at least get the rest of them to get a taste of, of what this program is. And so I went back and I'm like, let's do half days for the kids that are on the wait list.[00:35:00] 

[00:35:00] Kevin Francis: Let's go back and book them in half days so that we can now spread it out some more. So that was how we got around that situation. Yes, we didn't get to bring them in for the full time, but at least we got them to come in and get a taste. They, they were a part of the program. They still got gear, they got shirts, they got shorts because we, we, we were able to give them that.

[00:35:28] Kevin Francis: So they c- were leaving as part of the program. They could go back and say, "Hey, I went to Skill Set. Look, here's my, here's my shirt." So that's how we got around it. So what we learned from that is that we obv- obviously needed to get a lot more funding because we had so many more kids coming in. So moving forward, we're going to make sure that we have more funding established so that we can bring in [00:36:00] more kids on a full-time basis into the program.

[00:36:04] Kevin Francis: But that was a hard one. That was a really hard one because I think the expectation wasn't that we were going to get so many kids, but the word got around with the families so fast that, listen, there's food there, they talk about nutrition, they, they have coaches there, they have the gym. And we're, we're talking about a program that started from 8:00 in the morning.

[00:36:31] Kevin Francis: Most of these kids would be sleeping in, and they were up and ready to go at the door at 7:30 AM. Some of them were wor- waking up their parents themselves to say, "Get me over there." So that was, uh, a real eye-opening. And remember, like I said, the, the other community agencies weren't, weren't helping, so we had no idea that the word would get across.

[00:36:58] Kevin Francis: But I think that's what happened to [00:37:00] those community agencies, is they recognized that you cannot stop progress. The word will get out, and word of mouth in communities, within communities, is bigger than any gatekeeper. That's what they learned. They were gatekeeping and the gate got knocked down. So 

[00:37:28] Rita Burke: Word and mouth, there's no question that it has played a very important part in our history- 

[00:37:36] Kevin Francis: Yes

[00:37:36] Rita Burke: and continues to play an important part. So on SpeakUP! International, we're having this conversation with Kevin Francis, and our goal or goalpost or North Star usually on SpeakUP! International is to inspire, educate, and inform. And there's no question that Kevin's responses to our questions [00:38:00] are helping us to meet those goals.

[00:38:02] Rita Burke: And Kevin, here is a soft one for you. 

[00:38:05] Kevin Francis: Okay. 

[00:38:07] Rita Burke: What made you smile today? Tell us about something or some things that made you smile today. I know you're smiling right now. Tell us about something that made you smile. 

[00:38:18] Kevin Francis: Um, I'm gonna make this very simple

[00:38:28] Kevin Francis: This morning when I opened my eyes, gave thanks, that's what made me smile today. That's what started my day. Then I got the time to go and watch my 13-year-old son go and train, because he trains five days a week, and I got to watch him train for tennis today. So it's [00:39:00] been a bonus for me to be in a position where I can be home, and I can be with my child wherever my child is going.

[00:39:12] Kevin Francis: So that's the other part that made me smile, is because there's a lot of us as parents that really don't get the time with our children. Because, you know, you, you have to work. Some of us have two, three jobs we're going to, and, and I'm, I'm really happy that I, I have that kind of time, and that the reason I have that kind of time is because I was able to make moves to prepare myself to say by the time my son reaches 12 and 13, I'm gonna be home for him.

[00:39:54] Kevin Francis: I planned that. And so it's amazing [00:40:00] and gets me smiling all the time that I've watched it happen and I'm actually there now. So yeah, those, those two things. Those two things, 100%.

[00:40:16] Ellington Brown: This has been enjoyable, this, conversation. I am caught up in your passion, your, uh, determination, zeal. Especially heavy on that Z though. 'Cause you are really, 

[00:40:35] Kevin Francis: you are really- 

[00:40:35] Kevin Francis: Thank you ... 

[00:40:36] Ellington Brown: helping these people, um, get a better life or at least giving them rays of hope that, you know, it's, that they're gonna do better and everything is going to be all right.

[00:40:50] Ellington Brown: I, I really enjoy the fact of talking about how there's a disconnect between you, your [00:41:00] organization, many organizations, and the politicians. Um, I live in a small town and I can see it clearly. It's the good old boys. 

[00:41:13] Kevin Francis: Right. 

[00:41:14] Ellington Brown: It's like five or six of them, and they always huddle off in a corner together and, you know, they wanna tell you that they're talking about what's going on in the community, when really they're just figuring out ways so they can keep their position and nobody else can get in to ruin their, their, their party.

[00:41:35] Ellington Brown: So it is very important for communities to find ways to work together, to come out of those silos, because that's what's holding us back, I think. You know? Yes. You have five org- organizations, they're all doing the same thing, and it takes us five years to get there. If we join together, [00:42:00] what took, what may take five years would maybe take two years- Yeah

[00:42:06] Ellington Brown: to complete. Yeah. But you are right. It, it is important that we do work together as a community, as, and working with other communities as, uh, as well. Rita, is there anything you want to add to this?

[00:42:24] Rita Burke: Most certainly. I still have a question for Kevin. Uh, and Kev- Hey ... that question- Okay, make 

[00:42:30] c: the question short, please 

[00:42:31] Rita Burke: Kevin, that question is: what's the best piece of advice you've ever been given? 

[00:42:38] Kevin Francis: Ah. Yes. So there's been, there's been a few, but I'll, I'll stick with this one, and that is to make sure That you understand that it's about the journey.

[00:42:59] Kevin Francis: It's [00:43:00] not about the destination And that you must always live in the moment And I think when you're working and you've got so many different parts moving, and you're trying to build communities back up to the place you know that they want to be, you have to always make sure that you are in the moment.

[00:43:35] Kevin Francis: Because you can't think about where are they gonna be next year. We're thinking about now. At this particular time, where are we? What are we doing to make things better? Not what are we gonna do next year. Right now, this moment. When I leave this person, what have [00:44:00] I left them with that they can hold onto?

[00:44:04] Kevin Francis: And so for me, you know, we all work hard as a people. We're trying to get somewhere, but we forget to enjoy that, that part of it where we're going through that journey. I planted some flowers, and I'm looking at them now, and they've bloomed, and they're looking amazing. And I remember where they started.

[00:44:30] Kevin Francis: And I remember in that moment saying to those flowers, "You guys are gonna grow up and gonna be the most beautiful flowers in the garden." I remember that. And each day, I'm enjoying the journey of watching them get to where they need to get to. So I think we as a people forget about the moments, because there's so much happening for us.

[00:44:57] Kevin Francis: But we've been blessed to have this moment, [00:45:00] you know? We've been blessed to have it and to cherish it and to hold onto it and then to, to, to do our best we can with that moment. And yes, some moments are tougher than others. But what is that tough moment going to do for me? 'Cause it's going to do something for me.

[00:45:19] Kevin Francis: It's gonna make me or it's gonna break me. So, um, the journey and en- enjoying the moment 100%. That's, that's, that's my best advice. I love that! 

[00:45:33] Ellington Brown: Well, I hope that your journey is w- one filled with tons of, uh, miracles, uh, financial support would be, would, uh, be nice. And- 

[00:45:47] Kevin Francis: Yes ... 

[00:45:48] Ellington Brown: When you reach your next chapter in, your life Come back to us.

[00:45:57] Ellington Brown: Tell us what you're doing 

[00:45:58] Kevin Francis: 100%, [00:46:00] 100%. 

[00:46:00] Kevin Francis: 100%. You guys are family now 

[00:46:03] Ellington Brown: Right, right back at you. 

[00:46:04] Kevin Francis: Yes, yes. 

[00:46:05] Ellington Brown: So, uh, thank you very much and, um, we'll see you soon. 

[00:46:12] Kevin Francis: Thank you very much, and you will. That is for sure. 

[00:46:15] Rita Burke: Thank you, Kevin Francis, for joining us on SpeakUP! International. It's been an enriching and empowering experience.

[00:46:25] Rita Burke: I thank you. 

[00:46:27] Kevin Francis: Thank you. Thank you both very much. 

[00:46:32] Ellington Brown: Thank you for tuning in to SpeakUP! International. If you wish to contact our guest, Mr. Kevin Francis, please be prepared to submit your name, your email address, and the reason why you wish to contact KevinFrancis@linkedin.com. Mr. Francis has other social media accounts you can use to connect to him that will be listed in the description [00:47:00] section on Spotify and other social media platforms.

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