Episode 392 Kapri Willis Service and Compassion for Veterans Transcript
This transcript is from episode 392 with guest Kapri Willis.
[00:00:00]
Scott DeLuzio: Hey everybody. Welcome back to Drive On. I’m your host, Scott DeLuzio. And today my guest is Capri Willis. Capri has dedicated her life to serving others. Her journey is one of selflessness, compassion, and unwavering dedication to her community, both in a role as a Navy Corpsman and as the CEO of Take Care of Our Vets, a nonprofit organization aimed at aiding homeless veterans and their families.
And we’ll get more into Take Care of Our Vets is all about. But first I want to welcome you to the show, Capri. I’m really glad to have you here.
Kapri Willis: I’m so happy to be here. Thank you so much for having me.
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah, you bet. Um, can you tell us a little bit about your time in the Navy? Um, you know, you, you, you served kind of a few different places, but, um, maybe take a little step back from there. What motivated you to get into the military and, and tell us a little bit about your time in service.
Kapri Willis: Absolutely. So, I started out, um, [00:01:00] I signed up in Corsicana, Texas. I was going to college out there in Navarro. Um, got into a little trouble as a teenager. Just got into a scuffle with a girl, lost my volleyball scholarship. Just was, just made the wrong decision in life. And mind you, I’ve never been in a fight my whole life.
Okay, so I got into this scuffle with this girl. I got, I lost my scholarship. I got kicked out. I came back, but I was on restriction. Like, they didn’t let me go to any football games. It was class to my dorm. Um, so, In transition, I ran across a recruiter and he told me about this great life being in the military because I didn’t choose.
I don’t know if I talked to a Navy one at the time, but I think maybe I talked to one. Clearly, I talked to somebody. What sold me was that I could play sports in the military and, um, and, you know, I get to travel, see all the things. [00:02:00] So I joined from there in 2005. Um, I came in undesignated, so I had no right, I had no job.
I was just a person in the military wearing a uniform. So for two years, I tried everything, you know, just went to different departments. Um, in the Navy, we have undesignated. So you can like go anywhere where any department needs help and see if that’s where you want to work. So we had, um, boats, um, I’m trying to keep it in length.
I mean, I’m pretty sure everybody that’s listening knows what this is, but we have, um, Undesignated people. So we had boat stuff. We had, um, medical, we had engineering, we had admin, and I tried. All of it. And I really just kind of took into the medical part. So I finally went to medical school, or corpsman school, sorry.
Went to corps school, um, came back, and loved [00:03:00] it. Loved it. It was very trying at times, but I did love being a corpsman while I was in, for sure.
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. So that background that you had, so you got to bounce around and try a bunch of different things. Um, you got to really experience all of what the Navy has to offer. Right. I
Kapri Willis: They don’t offer it anymore. I don’t know if they offer it for you to come undesignated anymore. Um, but it was a great opportunity to see if this is what, not if this is what you wanted to do, you still had to serve your time, but what you wanted to do. And I literally worked every, I was one of, I’m always been, I’ve always been one of those girls that’s like, um, I want to try it and tell, and I can say if I don’t like it.
So I tried literally every department. And there were a few, it was like, hell no, you can’t get me in here. So it was a good experience. I wish they still offered it, but I don’t think they offer it anymore.
Scott DeLuzio: that is pretty cool. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of. Uh, [00:04:00] that, and I was on the army side anyway, so I, I didn’t have much interaction with, with Navy while I was in, uh, but I, I don’t think I’ve ever heard of anyone who went in that way. So that’s, uh, kind of interesting to me to learn that that was an option, at least at one point, um, if not anymore.
But, um, so you landed on being a corpsman, um, and, um, What drew you to that? What was, what was kind of your, uh, the thing that said, yeah, this is for me.
Kapri Willis: decision making. It was, I’m a, I’m a person that serves. And, um, when I tried the admin side, it was too much paperwork and I wasn’t feeling the fulfillment of service there. Like, even though I was helping, it was more behind the scene. Whereas in the medical field, in the medical field, I’m actually touching you, talking to you, helping you, serving you, um, having an impression on your life.
And that was very big for me, being in the service. Cause it’s like, You’re in the [00:05:00] service to serve your country. And I was really big on serving my people, my fellow shipmates, right? So, um, when I got a dose of it, like, oh, I’m sick, doc, and all this, like, can you help me in the next day? Like, thank you. Like that rewarding feeling that I felt, I was like, oh yeah, sign me up for this.
I love this.
Scott DeLuzio: right.
Kapri Willis: so that’s what made me go, Corbin.
Scott DeLuzio: But it does make sense too, because just kind of joking, uh, thinking about, um, you know, when someone in finance does their job, right. Well, it’s sort of just expected that it’s done right. Like, that’s just what you do. You know, the, the pay payroll comes in and it’s correct. Okay. Well, you’re not going to go out of your way to go thank that person.
Um, it’s just supposed to
Kapri Willis: it, yeah, you just
Scott DeLuzio: When, when you, you do your job as a corpsman correctly, you’re making people feel better. You know, whether they’re sick or they’re injured or whatever, like they’re going to maybe come out and seek you out and, [00:06:00] and thank you for that. And so you’re going to get that.
And, and not, and I’m not trying to say that like you’re doing it just for the pat on the back and the accolades and all that kind of stuff, but, um, there’s that gratification that you get from, from helping someone and seeing the, the result of the work that you put in. And, and I’m not knocking on the finance people.
I realized the way I,
Kapri Willis: We love you guys.
Scott DeLuzio: it, you know, you know, the money doesn’t flow without you guys. So clearly that, that is an important job. So, um, so going through your, your career in, in the Navy, um, any deployments, uh, you know, overseas or anything like that,
Kapri Willis: Absolutely. So, um, I started off in San Diego, beautiful San Diego. I went on a, it’s called a med pack. So we were on a hospital ship. It was a US, USNS Mercy. There were two, we had USNS Mercy and then USNS Comfort. And I was on the Mercy. So we went [00:07:00] Guam, Djibouti, no, did we go to Djibouti? It was so long ago.
We went to Hawaii. We went to Philippines, um, which that was kind of like eye opening. We went to a couple of the other places and we served the world on our hospital ship and people flew in. They got, you know, surgery, all the, all the things. But at that time I was not a medic. I was a food service assistant. I told you, I tried everything.
Scott DeLuzio: did. Yeah. And I believe it.
Kapri Willis: but that’s my story in the niche of it. Yeah.
Scott DeLuzio: so those two ships that you, you just talked about, uh, were those the ships that they were using, like during COVID they, they had them like in New York or I think, or, you know, other places they, they had those, those ships kind of to help with the hospital overflow and all that kind of stuff.
Right. Yeah.
Kapri Willis: That was them. I want to say that we named them then, but, um, cause you know, the Navy will decomm and recomm a ship real quick, [00:08:00] so I don’t know if we’ll call it the same, but yes, those are, those are the same type of ships.
Scott DeLuzio: Okay. Yeah. Um, so getting out of the military after your time in the Navy was over, um, how was that transition for you?
Kapri Willis: Oh, I have to circle back real quick before I answer that question, cause that was actually a very pivotal moment when getting out of the military, but I did do the hospital ship. I did do, um, Um, a tour in Afghanistan and I did, and that’s what is going to lead me to that transition, a tour in Afghanistan and I also did a, uh, deployment that didn’t really have a name, but I also did a deployment on a DDG.
So I had three deployments under my belt, one boots on ground and two on ship. Um, so with that being said, the transition from such structure To civilian, what it took me about maybe a year and a half to kind of get into the [00:09:00] groove of being a civilian human versus a military human. Um, you lose all sense of I don’t have to wake up.
I don’t have to put on a uniform. I don’t have to do this. I don’t have to do that. Then you lose some kind of self worth a little bit. Because like you knew, like I’m serving my country, I’m putting on this uniform, I’m doing things that others couldn’t do. And you’re so proud, right? And then become a civilian and there’s no have to anymore.
And I took a year off. I didn’t work. I didn’t, you know, thankfully I saved all my coins. I didn’t work. I didn’t go to school. I just took a year off. I slept my life away. I just wanted something different than what I was doing for six years. And emotionally it had a toll on me because I had no sense of purpose.
I wasn’t doing anything. I wasn’t going to work. I wasn’t doing anything. So the transition was really, really rough for me. I almost went back in. [00:10:00] Um, it’s kind of that equivalent, like whenever, um, an inmate gets released, they try to do whatever they want to do they can to get back in because they’re so into this lifestyle.
Um, and it was, I was almost, almost on my way back in.
Scott DeLuzio: I like how you kind of relate the military experience to prison.
Kapri Willis: I still love you guys. I still love you, but it has the same kind of structure, you know, the same kind of,
Scott DeLuzio: Well, it does. And, and you’re not, I don’t think you’re alone in, in saying that because, um, You do get out and you realize nobody is there who’s going to come knock on your door and drag your ass out of bed to make sure you’re, you know, formation on time or you’re wearing the right uniform or that you’re, uh, you know, doing whatever, then nobody’s coming to, you know, Nobody’s going to grab you out.
If you want to stay in bed for a [00:11:00] year, clearly you could, right?
Kapri Willis: No, I literally did it.
Scott DeLuzio: I know exactly, that’s what I’m saying. And, and nobody’s coming to, to drag you out. If, if you don’t have that discipline yourself, um, you know, other people are. Busy with what they got going on in life. And they’re not going to drop everything to, you know, come and find you like they did in the military.
Kapri Willis: relate to you. They can’t even relate because they have no sense of that. They’re just like, oh yeah, I wake up with an alarm and I go to work every day. It’s not the same, you know.
Scott DeLuzio: If anything, you might’ve gotten a, Oh, it must be nice that you could do that. You know?
Kapri Willis: I still get it to this day. It irks my soul every time somebody says it. I’m just like, you don’t know what we had to go through for it to be nice, whatever that means. But yeah, I hate that saying when people are like, oh, you don’t, you don’t have to work full time. Must be nice.
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. Yeah. And that’s, I guess, you know, some people, they just don’t understand [00:12:00] like what, what you, what you went through, what you may still be going through. You know, it, it’s different. It just is different. It’s hard to. Put words around it, but, um, but you. Eventually you started, uh, Take Care of Our Vets, which we mentioned a little bit earlier.
Uh, tell us about the organization and what the mission is and the vision behind it and, and everything like that.
Kapri Willis: Yeah. So I think, so it’s not yet a nonprofit, but it’s a sector under my business. So it is a, it’s really fueled by my business. So we haven’t made it a nonprofit just yet because that takes a whole nother situation. So right now it’s under my business, which is Jeffrey Spencer. It’s a skincare brand. Um, What fueled me, uh, one year, you know, we didn’t spend Christmas with the family.
We just, uh, spent Christmas, um, feeding the [00:13:00] homeless, clothing the homeless, all of that. And it was astounding about, um, it was astounding how many veterans I came across during that time on Christmas. I was just like, we have so many resources. Why are you homeless? Or we have so many resources. Why aren’t you with a family?
Or it’s just, it was just crazy at how many veterans I came across that, that Christmas. So, um, my grandmother and I, we’re very, you know, we’re service based. So I talked to her and I was just like, Hey, I want to do something for, you know, the homeless community. I didn’t want to go into housing. I didn’t want to do.
Things that was out of my scope. Okay. I’m a, I’m a skincare, makeup, beauty brand. That is what my whole life is about in fashion. So I wanted to kind of marry the two. So I thought about what do veterans need while they’re on the streets, right? Or on the, if they’re transitioning or if they’re experiencing temporary homelessness, what do they need when they are [00:14:00] unhoused?
And we, you know, Um, as I was talking to my grandmother, we were like, they need blankets, they need toiletries, they need, for the women that were out there, which I was shocked to see, they need sanitary napkins. Um, just all the things to keep their sanitary selves up here so they don’t deteriorate, right?
So they don’t get dental, they don’t get, they do have medical, and they do have dental, but do they use them? Not really. So We wanted to aid in that health part, the health and beauty part while they’re, you know, experiencing homelessness. Um, so that’s how TCOB came. Um, so we put together kits and it’s not just veteran based because, you know, I’m not going to turn down a homeless person and say, Hey, you know, if you’re a vet, you can’t get anything.
But that’s, that’s where my heart is. So if there’s a vet, two people in line, one is a vet and one is. A civilian. Unfortunately, [00:15:00] I’m going to go to the, like, last. Um, but yeah, I just wanted to, you know, help them with health and beauty while they’re experiencing that. And that was the whole, the whole, uh, start of TCOV.
Yeah.
Scott DeLuzio: You know, one of the things that. I have heard of, I’ve never been homeless myself, but one of the things I’ve heard from people who either had been homeless or work with the homeless people is that similar to what you were talking about, like with prison or getting back into the military is that sometimes That becomes part of the identity that some of these people have where they, their, their chosen family, if you will, are the people who live with them on the streets and in, or in the homeless shelters or, you know, any of these places that they they’re at and when things start turning around for them and, you know, they’re, they’re in a place where they can maybe Get their own [00:16:00] place and, and, uh, move off the streets.
It’s almost like they kind of don’t want to, and it could be hard sometimes. Right.
Kapri Willis: So in the many conversations that I had, I’ve come up with a couple of reasons why people are, why my fellow veterans are homeless, right? They, their family kicked them out because they came back with mental issues. So then they have nowhere to go because of the actions that they were doing to their families with the family not understanding.
And most of these people were older, so they don’t know of their resources because when they were letting people out, And, um, back then we didn’t have this, like, deboarding and mental health clinics. We didn’t, they didn’t have those resources. So it’s mental health that’s one of them, right? Another one is they don’t want to follow anybody’s rules.
If you are not lieutenant, sergeant, you know, petty officer, captain, they [00:17:00] don’t want to be housed and follow a civilian’s rules. So they’re just like, no, keep me on the streets. That way I have full control of what I do. And then the ignorance of benefits. They’re just like, I didn’t even know that was accessible to me.
I didn’t know that was offered to me. And, unfortunately, a lot of people are not just going out to the streets like, Hey, are you a veteran? You have this available, this available, this available. Would you like for me to help you? So it’s so many different pockets when it comes to homeless veterans that they fall in, that there’s a gap.
And Unfortunately, I’m not the person to mold that gap, but I, but that we do have really good, um, resources out here in Dallas that are helping bridge the gap. Um, Housing Forward, formerly known as Dallas Homeless Alliance, they do very well with housing veterans and homeless people. So, last time they did a pick count, which is, um, I wrote that down, a point in time when they did it, let’s say in [00:18:00] January, there was 25 homeless veterans when they did it again in April, it was none.
So they’re definitely paving the way in housing our homeless veterans, but still they’re still 25 versus, you know, thousands that are out there.
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah, exactly. And there’s exactly thousands, uh, you know, across the country. And, um, you know, the, the reasons that they end up on the street are, are varied. Um, you know, it could be family issues or, or whatever, where they get kicked out of the house or, um, you know, but, you Not knowing about some of the resources that are available is a problem.
And how do you get that information to somebody who doesn’t even have the basics to take care of themselves, right? How do you distribute that information?
Kapri Willis: So, you know, when they do come in, right, the, the VA is very adamant about providing, um, uh, [00:19:00] paper because a lot of, a lot of these things are digital now, like sign up on your phone, sign up on your computer or email us. And most of these times, most of the time, these people are not technological savvy. They do not have access to a computer or phone.
So it’s really fine. It’s right now. It’s if they, if they come into the VA, they’ll have all the paperwork they need, um, word of mouth. There are people outside passing around, um, pamphlets and you know, all of that, but it’s just not hitting the masses, unfortunately. And again, I said, that’s a hole that I hope somebody will one day fix.
Um, But to be honest, it’s really backdated. It’s finding, it’s finding the older generation of veterans because the new generation of veterans, which is myself and people who’ve gotten out between 20s and 30s, we were bombarded with all the resources on getting out so that we didn’t have these issues, right?
[00:20:00] Um, I don’t know how to fix it. I wish I could, but it’s, it’s really just, you know, Finding one hole, which is mental health, finding another hole, which is, you know, uh, resource ignorance, it’s, and then, and then bridging that, right? But we try. We definitely try.
Scott DeLuzio: I, I think to your point earlier, there were just not the resources available for some of the older veterans, you know, the Vietnam era. And, uh, you know, sometime around there, those resources that, that we know about now, uh, they They just didn’t exist. Um, and even if they did, whatever programs did exist back then, because there was some stuff, but not, not to the extent that we have now, um, you know, try remembering back decades ago to some briefing that you might’ve had that said, Hey, here’s a couple of things that are available to you.
You’re probably not going to remember. Right. And, and so I, I even remember myself going through [00:21:00] some of that, like, As I’m getting out, it felt like you’re drinking from a fire hose and trying to catch every last drop. It’s like, you can’t, it’s, it’s impossible, you know,
Kapri Willis: Information overload.
Scott DeLuzio: it is. Yeah. So, so even the, the younger veterans, unfortunately, even, even though they’re more probably technologically savvy and they have, uh, access to the information, um, it’s.
It’s just like, how do you remember all that stuff? Especially when you’re in a position where you’re not homeless and they say, Hey, we have these resources for homeless Veterans. You kind of immediately put that out of your mind because it’s like, well, I’m not homeless. I don’t need that. So I’m not going to remember it.
Kapri Willis: Right.
Scott DeLuzio: So to your point, having the paper resources at. The VAs or the people who are going around handing out these, these pamphlets or flyers or whatever, that to me is, is a great way to get that information out there to the people who need it [00:22:00] when they need it. Um, because you know, you and I talking right now and I say, Hey, here’s a resource for something that you don’t need.
You’re going to be like, okay, well, that’s good that that exists, but. Tomorrow you’re probably going to forget that I even mentioned it. So,
Kapri Willis: Yeah,
Scott DeLuzio: you know, so giving it to them when they need it, you know, in, in a format that they can consume it and use it. Uh, I think that’s a good way to go. Like you mentioned.
Kapri Willis: yeah, for sure, for sure.
Scott DeLuzio: So taking care, Take Care of Our Vets, um, you know, supporting the veterans with those kind of care items and, and the, the health and beauty type things. Um, what are some of the items and services that you do provide? Um, and, and in what ways are you, you know, either collecting donations or what ways are you trying to, uh, you know, collect these types of things?
Kapri Willis: So we are, um, no monetary, we only collect items, [00:23:00] um, all toiletries, deodorant, like I said, uh, sanitary napkins, blankets, we do take water, um, We do provide razors, but it’s really a touch, touch and go because I don’t want to provide somebody with a weapon, but at the same time, people do need to shave, um, you know, combs, brushes, anything that you use on a daily basis when it comes to your health and hygiene.
We need as well. Um, so let’s go say next week, but I can’t say that. So once a month we probably, uh, take about 25 kids and we pass them out. Um, we’re actually doing that for, this month. We’re actually doing that for this month next week. Um, so if, should someone have it on their heart to donate, you can email our email and I’ll give it to you later.
Email our email and then I’ll give you an address and you can just send over whatever you have or whatever you want to. [00:24:00] Toothbrush, toothpaste, um, like I said, calm oil, beard oil, lotion, sunscreen, anything that will help. Protect people’s hygiene. Wipes. Diapers, actually, because, you know, some of the kids are on the streets as well.
All of those. Yeah. And when it comes to the blankets, they, we do request that they’re new because, you know, we’ve had bug situation in some of the donated blankets. So, only new blankets from here on out.
Scott DeLuzio: sure. Sure. Um, yeah. And you mentioned, you know, kids being on the street too. And that’s, it’s heartbreaking to see, uh, you know, kids being impacted by this type of thing as well. Um, but Yeah, I guess that just goes to prove that, like, no one’s immune to it, um, like, it can, it can be something that happens to just about anyone just because you’re, uh, you know, a newborn or, you know, a [00:25:00] toddler age, uh, kid does mean that You know, the decisions and impact of, you know, what happened to your parents isn’t going to impact you too.
And so that, that may end up, you know, putting you there in that situation. So, um, you know, we, we want to obviously get them off the street, but in the meantime, um, you know, making it as, Comfortable for them as possible so that
Kapri Willis: Yeah.
Scott DeLuzio: they have a sense of just feeling like being a human, I guess. Right. Is that kind of the, the,
Kapri Willis: Yeah. Some sense of normalcy. Because it’s not normal to be on the street, right? Even if you choose. Because there are men who choose to, men and women, who choose to be on the streets. So that’s fine. You know, I’m not going to say, I’m not going to argue with you. If that’s what you choose, I’m not going to argue with you.
But I do, I would love your experience in this, in these times to be as, you know, Healthy, as clean, [00:26:00] as freeing, as possible, and that’s why we created TCOB. Boss,
Scott DeLuzio: And for the people who are like, who chooses this, you know, kind of thing, like for the listeners, there, there are people who do choose it. And it was kind of like what I was saying before, how they. They sort of relate to the people who are there on the street, and they kind of just feel like that’s where they belong, that’s where they, and, you know, they get, um, uh, one other thing you, you mentioned is, is they, uh, it’s, nobody’s telling them what they need to do or where they need to be, or, you know, anything, it’s, it’s, They don’t have to live by anybody else’s rules.
They, they’re their own, you know, your own boss at that point. Right.
Kapri Willis: be. Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. And that’s what
Scott DeLuzio: have as much freedom as they want. I mean, that’s kind of a ultimate freedom. There’s nothing tying them down. Right.[00:27:00]
Kapri Willis: No, and that’s what they seek. They want full control over their lives. And if they use one of these resources, it’s going to come with some stipulations, rules, and regulations. And they’re like, well, I can live out here in the street and live my life as best as I want to. I control whatever I do, however I do, whenever I do.
When you go to a homeless shelter or a resource, you have to be in by eight, you have to shower, you have to brush your teeth, you have to eat at a certain time. They’re like, Oh no, I don’t want to have to do that. And it’s just like, we’re, you know, as, as a nation, we’re always talking about homeless people, like, you know, like there’s a negative connotation of, you know, about homelessness.
And I hate that sometimes because some of, most of it, I’m not, I can’t say percentage cause I don’t want to be that girl, but it has to do with mental, mental Issues. Not issues. I won’t even say issues, but mental capacities. Because you, I could, it could be me right [00:28:00] now. If I chose to live on the streets, cause I don’t want to have to deal with bills and family and car notes or anything like that.
If that was my life, I would choose it because I’m running from something that I just don’t want to deal with and nobody’s making me do it or not do it. So
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah, exactly. And it’s probably has a huge percentage. And again, I’m not going to put a number to it, but there’s probably a huge percentage of people who are on the streets dealing with some mental issues. Um, you know, whether, whether, um, I’m not going to get into what it could be, but, um, you know, whatever it is that they’re dealing with, um, they, they might just see it as this is a better solution.
And, you know, we, we don’t see it a lot of times in, in society because we see it as a, uh, nuisance, uh, where, you know, someone’s sleeping on a [00:29:00] sidewalk and you got to walk around them or, or something, you know, like
Kapri Willis: yeah,
Scott DeLuzio: that seems like a nuisance to most people and, you know, that’s just the life that sometimes they’ve, they’ve chosen, you
Kapri Willis: absolutely. It’s an unsolvable problem, to be honest. Like, I go to all these council meetings and listen to all these different podcasts and non profit parties and it’s just like, well, we’re trying to cure or fix homelessness. I’m like, oh, let’s be realistic. Unless you just provide a space where this person has no rules, no regulations and, um, nothing, they’re just like, okay, it’s a, it’s a roof and that’s it.
You’re not, unfortunately, you’re not gonna solve homelessness. You’re going to help and aid, but you’re never going to solve it. Um, but It’s, I just try my best to make it as easy as possible or just livable as possible. [00:30:00] Yeah.
Scott DeLuzio: And there are people legitimately who don’t want to be on the streets. And, and those are the people like, you know, when you’re talking about solving homelessness, it’s like, those are the people you’re going to, you’re going to work to get off the streets, there’s some people. Who kind of want to be there.
So I don’t know what you’re really trying to accomplish by, by helping those people out. Um, you know, so, um, you know, in, in the solving, not in the, in the way that you’re doing, that’s not what I mean, but, um, you know, so anyways, it’s, It’s a complex problem. Uh, I think there’s, there’s a lot of reasons why people end up on the streets.
There’s a lot of reasons why they stay on the streets. Uh, and there’s a lot of things, uh, just at play there. And I think No matter what, they’re still human, and if we can just give them a little dose of humanity, and,
Kapri Willis: mean, we treat dogs better than we treat homeless people. [00:31:00] And it’s just, it’s just crazy. And I was going to say this earlier that just because you see a veteran on the streets does not automatically mean PTSD. It pisses me, it cooks my cookies every time I’m like, oh, they must have PTSD and their family kicked them out.
I’m like, that’s, it pisses me off. I’m like, oh my God, PTSD is not the only thing that a veteran can have. Let’s start there. And humans, civilians have PTSD, it’s just, God, it’s just, I want to fix the world and just be like, hey, just treat them as a human, not as anything more or less. But yeah, I think dogs be treated better than, uh, homeless people, period.
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah, I think, you know, in a lot of ways, that’s probably true. Um, you know, getting, yeah, you get a dog, they’re in a shelter, and someone comes around and says, Hey! We’re bringing you home. We’re going to, you know,
Kapri Willis: PETA is a very big advocate for, for, for, uh, pet, you [00:32:00] know, animals. Can we get the same for veterans? And to that, to that magnitude, right? The VA is there, right? We get it. But to that magnitude where people are like shunning you and banning you and black, you know, black, blackening you out like you don’t exist anymore because you did an animal harm.
We had this person serve. Anyway, I can, I’m like, feel
Scott DeLuzio: we could probably keep going on that one,
Kapri Willis: yeah.
Scott DeLuzio: we’ll, we’ll take a break on that. So, uh, I do want to, um, give you an opportunity to let people know, uh, you said there’s an email address or some way that they can, uh, get in touch to. You know, send in donations to, to help out these, these folks.
Kapri Willis: Yes, absolutely. So like, again, I told you that it’s a hub under Jeffrey Spencer, which is the name of the company. Um, so the email is hello at jeffreyspencer. com. Um, I’m pretty sure you’ll just add that like a,
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. I’ll, I’ll put that in the show notes so folks
Kapri Willis: don’t [00:33:00] want to spell it. I don’t want to have to spell it for him. But
Scott DeLuzio: problem.
Kapri Willis: at JeffreySpencer.
com and just send an email and say, Hey, we would like to, um, donate some items and then we will respond and send you a address on where you can send these items.
Scott DeLuzio: Great. Yeah. And like you said, like new items, uh, not, not like, you know, the thing that you pulled out of box that’s being eaten by, You know,
Kapri Willis: In the basement.
Scott DeLuzio: you know, all this kind of stuff, you don’t want to send that type of thing over, you want to send something, uh, again, we’re trying to give these people a dose of humanity, you don’t want to send garbage, you
Kapri Willis: Yes. Yeah. You’re trying to clean out your house. No, no. If you could help it, we would love to have newer items.
Scott DeLuzio: Yes, exactly. So, um, well, before we wrap this show up, uh, a lot of times the topics that we talk about a little heavy. So I always like to try to end an episode with a little bit of humor. And I think, um, [00:34:00] you may enjoy this being a corpsman, uh, in your background. Uh, this, this, uh, segment that I like to do whenever I have a veteran on the show is called, Is It Service Connected?
And it’s kind of a, the America’s Funniest Home Videos type show where, uh, you know, we’ll watch a quick segment of service members doing something stupid and getting injured or getting in precarious situations and, uh, this particular video, uh, I haven’t watched it all the way through yet, but, um, this is, it’s just a few seconds.
I, I’m just looking at the kind of opening, uh, part of it right now. Um, it’s got a marine. In quite the situation, and I’m going to share this so you can see it, um, Marine is right now, uh, on the razor wire, like, straight up stuck to it, like, he’s a piece of Velcro, uh, you know, slapped on, [00:35:00] this looks painful, uh,
Kapri Willis: It looks horrible. It looks horrible.
Scott DeLuzio: and I’m, I’m just thinking, like, I, you’re probably going through this, like, with the corpsman’s, uh, Lens and like, how do you get this guy out of here?
Cause this is not, this is not the situation you’d want to be in, but let’s take a look. Yeah. He’s definitely stuck on this razor wire and they’re trying from like different angles, trying to get them out. And he is, he is in there.
Kapri Willis: Is it service connected? Absolutely.
Scott DeLuzio: Hell yeah, it is.
Kapri Willis: No. Yes, it’s, oh, no.
Scott DeLuzio: Oh
Kapri Willis: If you are in uniform, in anything, service connected.
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. Um, that one, definitely that guy, whatever happened there. Um, he looked like really stuck on there too. Like. That took several people and they had tools and stuff trying to get them up.
Kapri Willis: know what it is about barbed wire [00:36:00] or just, I forget, that’s called something else because of the shape of it. It’s meant to F you up. It is meant to murder whatever it is in it. Okay. So yeah, a lot of patience and some tools is all it’s gonna, a lot of patience. Oh
Scott DeLuzio: that is, that stuff is nasty and it is definitely meant to mess you up. Like, don’t,
Kapri Willis: my gosh.
Scott DeLuzio: don’t screw with it.
Kapri Willis: gosh. Oh
Scott DeLuzio: that you get, like, don’t mess with the wildlife. Don’t mess with the razor wire either.
Kapri Willis: my gosh. me out just a second ago.
Scott DeLuzio: I’m sure he’s, he turned out just fine after, after all that.
Kapri Willis: War wounds, you know.
Scott DeLuzio: yeah, it’ll probably give a few scars that, you know, make them look like Rambo or
Kapri Willis: identical scars all over the body, but he’ll be just fine.
Scott DeLuzio: Um, anyways, thank you again for taking the [00:37:00] time to come on and sharing what you do and, and for the continued service that you’re, you’re doing serving our veteran community, the homeless veteran community, uh, through Take Care of Our Vets. And, uh, for the listeners, again, if you’re interested in helping out, uh, the homeless veteran population, we’ll, uh, put that email address in the show notes so you can, uh, You can reach out and figure out where to send in those donations.
So thanks again.
Kapri Willis: Thank you so much for having me. Goodbye, everybody.