Episode 97 · Nezzie Wade · November 2, 2025
Nezzie Wade talks about a life shaped by teaching, gardening, and community work in Humboldt County. She shares how her background led her into housing advocacy, and how that work grew into practical efforts like AHA and mobile shower services for unhoused neighbors. The conversation stays grounded in the everyday realities of housing, dignity, and building community that actually works.
Watch the conversation
What this episode covers
- Nezzie’s years in Humboldt, including raising her son in Eureka and living in the same house for decades.
- Her path from teaching and higher education work into community organizing and housing advocacy.
- The founding of Affordable Homeless Housing Alternatives (AHA) and the thinking behind its work.
- Why she says Humboldt’s housing crisis is tied to a lack of housing options, especially at the lower end.
- Community-based approaches she believes matter more than one-size-fits-all institutional solutions.
- The mobile shower program and other practical support AHA has built for unhoused people.
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Transcript
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Scott Hammond: Ladies and gentlemen, friends and neighbors, and ships out at sea and other folks, I'd like you to meet my new friend, Nezzie Wade.
Scott Hammond: Hi, Nezzie.
Nezzie Wade: Hi.
Scott Hammond: How are you doing?
Nezzie Wade: I'm doing well.
Scott Hammond: Tell us who you are and what you do, and, uh, I like my new question that I come out of the gate. What- hey, Nezzie, what's your deal? What, what, what do you, what do you do in the community?
Nezzie Wade: Oh, well, I do a lot of things. I'm, uh, been a teacher here.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: I raised my son here. I have a home here. I've been a resident for 46 years.
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Nezzie Wade: Uh, and I, um, have lived in the same house for 46 years. Well, actually 47 years I'm a resident, 46 years I've lived in the
Nezzie Wade: same house.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: And I am a gardener.
Scott Hammond: Oh.
Nezzie Wade: Uh, I find that my association with the land is probably in my DNA. My dad was a farmer.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: His dad was a farmer.
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Nezzie Wade: And, uh-
Scott Hammond: In Bakersfield?
Nezzie Wade: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: We'll get, we'll get there in a minute.
Nezzie Wade: Okay.
Nezzie Wade: But, uh-
Scott Hammond: I'm jumping ahead.
Nezzie Wade: Okay. That's okay. Um, my- every day when I get up and do my thing, I, um,
Nezzie Wade: am on the board and currently president of the board for Re- uh,
Nezzie Wade: sorry. That came out of nowhere. I, I, I was on the board for Redwood Community Action Agency, but, and a founder, but I am-
Scott Hammond: Oh
Nezzie Wade: … on the board and a founder, a co-founder of Affordable Homeless Housing Alternatives, better known as AHHA.
Scott Hammond: AHHA. Oh, wait.
Scott Hammond: AHHA.
Nezzie Wade: AHHA.
Scott Hammond: AHHA.
Nezzie Wade: Because it's a good idea.
Scott Hammond: So you've, you founded this and you're on the board.
Nezzie Wade: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: T- what are you, what are you guys all about?
Nezzie Wade: Well, we came up with the, uh, idea that we should do something to address the lack of
Nezzie Wade: housing-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Nezzie Wade: … and the systemic social inequality we have that leaves a lot of people in Humboldt County, too many people-
Scott Hammond: Mm
Nezzie Wade: … without a roof and without the amenities of home. So we've been trying to work hard at creating a shelter crisis, which happened in our county in about 2018 and in the city of Eureka in 2016.
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Nezzie Wade: And from there, we felt we could use SB2 zones, which were identified as already principally permitted shelter-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Nezzie Wade: … zones. Then once we had a shelter crisis, all you need to declare that is that a significant number of people are without housing and cannot obtain
Nezzie Wade: it-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Nezzie Wade: … and their health and safety is threatened, so.
Scott Hammond: And so we get a heavy rain or an icy snow on the coast. That kind of shelter, emergency s- shelter?
Nezzie Wade: Well, it was intended to be emergency or other
Nezzie Wade: shelter for whatever. They were already principally permitted, already approved. It would've been possible, we thought, to move people there and help them begin to thrive by being stable and connecting them with the things that they needed. And we're focused really around community, the de-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Nezzie Wade: … the development of community.
Scott Hammond: Is that idea still on the table to use those shelters that have been permitted?
Nezzie Wade: No.
Scott Hammond: No.
Nezzie Wade: No, that's all changed.
Scott Hammond: It's shifted.
Nezzie Wade: They did, they did use those ideas though to put Betty's Village in place, which is a good thing.
Nezzie Wade: We-
Scott Hammond: Right
Nezzie Wade: … contributed to that.
Scott Hammond: That's down on the bay.
Nezzie Wade: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: So-
Nezzie Wade: Well, there's the, there's the Blue Angel Village-
Scott Hammond: Mm
Nezzie Wade: … and then there's the, um, Bayside Village.
Scott Hammond: Okay.
Nezzie Wade: And they're, they're very different i- i- um,
Nezzie Wade: operations.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. Take me back and tell me the Nezzie story. So you were raised in Bakersfield?
Nezzie Wade: Uh-huh.
Scott Hammond: Wow. Uh, the, uh, there's a… I, I know a lot about Bakersfield because my wife's from Porterville.
Nezzie Wade: Well, it's, it's, it's nice.
Scott Hammond: Where it's super warm in the summer.
Nezzie Wade: Yeah. It is very warm.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: Uh, we grew up, uh, in a neighborhood. In the '50s, that was classic '50s neighborhood-
Scott Hammond: Mm
Nezzie Wade: … with just a ton of kids.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: A lot of people having kids. We only had three in our family because my dad died when he was 27.
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Nezzie Wade: And my mom was 26 and it was-
Scott Hammond: Wait, your mom raised all you guys?
Nezzie Wade: Yep.
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Nezzie Wade: We, but, but it wasn't just my mom. It took a village. That's w- I, I was raised in community, and I, and my family also-
Scott Hammond: Wow
Nezzie Wade: … was community. My godparents had 12 children.
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Nezzie Wade: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: So a, a f- mutual friend said to remind me to ask you, what was the promise that your dad, your mom made to your dad before he died?
Nezzie Wade: Oh.
Scott Hammond: There was certain, certain, some promise.
Nezzie Wade: Okay. A little, back up a little bit. M- my mom came from a family of Mennonites for the most part.
Scott Hammond: Hmm.
Nezzie Wade: And they were really community-oriented people. Her mom was a very, um, community-oriented person, was very involved in helping members of the community-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Nezzie Wade: … for various reasons, and she lost her mom when she was 12.
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Nezzie Wade: Her mom… It's a terrible story. She was looking at fabric in a department store, and she was looking up and stepped into an open freight elevator.
Scott Hammond: Oh, no.
Nezzie Wade: Yeah. And she recovered. She had broken arms and things, but it was a blood
Nezzie Wade: clot that-
Scott Hammond: Hmm
Nezzie Wade: … about a month or two months later-
Scott Hammond: Wow
Nezzie Wade: … took her out. So-
Scott Hammond: That's a long fall.
Nezzie Wade: It was. And then, um, so she lost my dad-
Scott Hammond: Mm
Nezzie Wade: … and sh- his, her and her, well, her mom and then her dad, but her, my dad's parents became her parents, basically.
Scott Hammond: Oh.
Nezzie Wade: And with the help of my grandmother,
Nezzie Wade: she, uh, helped raise us. My grandmother, my dad's family was very large Irish Catholic family.
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Nezzie Wade: My grandmother had one boy and
Nezzie Wade: six girls.
Scott Hammond: A lot of girls.
Nezzie Wade: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Nezzie Wade: One of them became a nun, and the rest of them produced a whole lot of grandchildren.
Nezzie Wade: And-
Scott Hammond: Good Catholic thing to do.
Nezzie Wade: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: As they do.
Nezzie Wade: Yeah. But it was, uh, my, my mom and dad were living on a, uh, on a farm, a ranch that was producing,
Nezzie Wade: um, barley,
Nezzie Wade: alfalfa-
Scott Hammond: In Bakersfield?
Nezzie Wade: … cotton, yeah. And, um, when my dad died, he was in partnership with his dad. His dad, his dad died one month before he did.
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Nezzie Wade: And so they were in partnership.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: Um, it was a very strange thing. My mom and my grandmother became partners in farming-
Scott Hammond: Wow
Nezzie Wade: … neither one of whom was a farmer.
Nezzie Wade: But-
Scott Hammond: That's interesting.
Nezzie Wade: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: Huh.
Nezzie Wade: And, and they left the farm. We left the farm, and my grandmother got a house at 2617 Bank Street. We got a house at 2617 Fifth Street, three houses away from the Catholic school-
Scott Hammond: Wow
Nezzie Wade: … because my
Nezzie Wade: dad made my mother promise. She converted to Catholicism in order to marry him. She, three days shy of 17.
Scott Hammond: Ooh.
Nezzie Wade: She was very young, and he knew that she didn't have the background in Catholicism to raise us Catholic-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Nezzie Wade: … on her own, so she, he made her promise that she would send us to Catholic schools, and with my grandmother's help, she did.
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Nezzie Wade: And I think it's probably the best thing that ever happened to me.
Scott Hammond: Wonderful.
Nezzie Wade: Really.
Scott Hammond: All, all the kids.
Nezzie Wade: Yeah. I mean, w- I, I just went, came from my 58th high school reunion. Some of these people I've known since I was, like, before school.
Scott Hammond: Oh, wow.
Nezzie Wade: Three or four years-
Scott Hammond: Still friends.
Nezzie Wade: Yeah. Right.
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Nezzie Wade: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Wow. So how many kids went to Catholic school?
Nezzie Wade: Oh, the, there were lots of Catholic schools.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: There were feeder schools that all went to one Catholic-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Nezzie Wade: … high school.
Scott Hammond: So this is K through 12?
Nezzie Wade: Mm, K through eight.
Scott Hammond: And then high school?
Nezzie Wade: And then high school, yeah.
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Nezzie Wade: And, uh-
Scott Hammond: So uniforms for sure back in the day.
Nezzie Wade: Oh, yeah. Uniforms-
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Nezzie Wade: … oxfords, sweaters, blazers.
Scott Hammond: Guess, guess who taught at a Catholic school?
Nezzie Wade: Did you?
Scott Hammond: Yeah, St. Mary's in Arcata.
Nezzie Wade: Guess who taught at a Catholic school?
Scott Hammond: No way.
Nezzie Wade: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: That's right, you're a teacher.
Nezzie Wade: Well, but I, I was laid off my job here at College of the Redwoods back in
Nezzie Wade: about, uh, '82, I think it was, when CR had to pay a million and a half dollars back to the state for carrying students on their
Nezzie Wade: rosters, uh, who never completed the course, so they had to pay ADA back.
Scott Hammond: Oh, wow. I think I remember that.
Nezzie Wade: They laid off about- … 60 part-time teachers, I think it was.
Scott Hammond: A bit of a scandal.
Nezzie Wade: Yeah. Well, I lost my job at that point.
Scott Hammond: What did you teach?
Nezzie Wade: I taught sociology.
Scott Hammond: Huh.
Nezzie Wade: And I've, and I've taught a lot. The c- community college back in the day was so wonderful.
Scott Hammond: I bet.
Nezzie Wade: We, I, we could teach a lot of things.
Nezzie Wade: In fact, I, um, partnered with several people to teach courses that if we could offer them to the community-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Nezzie Wade: … and get 25 people to enroll, we could teach them.
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Nezzie Wade: And so, uh, Zaretty Goosby and I taught a course called Community Process: The Dynamics of Change-
Scott Hammond: Wow
Nezzie Wade: … at dow- downtown at the campus, and there were lots of people who became, uh, board members, directors in different nonprofits in the area.
Scott Hammond: Wow. That came from that.
Nezzie Wade: Yeah. It was-
Scott Hammond: Zaretty's still in the area, right?
Nezzie Wade: Uh-huh.
Scott Hammond: Okay.
Nezzie Wade: Uh.
Scott Hammond: I've heard really good things.
Nezzie Wade: Yeah, he's a, he's a wonderful human.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. Is he retired too?
Nezzie Wade: Yeah. He is.
Scott Hammond: Likely, yeah.
Nezzie Wade: Yeah. He's a gardener also.
Scott Hammond: Another gardener.
Nezzie Wade: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: So it's like that therapy in the earth.
Nezzie Wade: It's true. The, the, I, I had injuries in the last several years that kept me from being able to do much-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Nezzie Wade: … even sit at a table or my computer.
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Nezzie Wade: But, um, this year I discovered, after purchasing a shovel from one of our unhoused neighbors-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Nezzie Wade: … who was trying to sell a shovel. It was, looked like a really good shovel, and I'm, said Forest Service kinda shovel.
Scott Hammond: Sold.
Nezzie Wade: So I bought it, and I took it home, and it was a really wonderful sharp shovel, and I stuck it in the dirt, and it was like hot knife in butter, and I thought- … "Wow, I can do this."
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Nezzie Wade: And with everything that's going on in the world today, the best therapy I could have had. I had a wonderful garden.
Scott Hammond: The earth.
Nezzie Wade: Lots of produce.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Nezzie Wade: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: A lot of therapies out there today.
Nezzie Wade: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: We do a lot of walking.
Nezzie Wade: That's good too.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. Jenny's a runner and a hiker and a walker, and we have nine kids, and my joke is I'm Mormon and she's Catholic. So, so we have a lot of kids. Uh, I told that joke in Texas. The kid who had a Mormon Catholic parent combo said, "Oh, dude, I'm so sorry." I go, "Just kidding, man. I'm just, just kidding with you." So you went to school b- did you do, uh, university there too or?
Nezzie Wade: No, I, I, uh, went to high school, and my dad being a veteran, he died as a result of having been in the
Nezzie Wade: service.
Scott Hammond: Oh, wow.
Nezzie Wade: And, um,
Nezzie Wade: my
Nezzie Wade: mom got, I think it was like $5 a month or $10 a month for each of us kids.
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Nezzie Wade: There were three of us.
Scott Hammond: Not crazy.
Nezzie Wade: And she put it in the bank.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Nezzie Wade: And, um, when I was going into high school, she, uh, I begged her, "Can I please have that money? Can I please have? I wanna use it on, I wanna take a trip around the United States."
Scott Hammond: Hmm.
Nezzie Wade: There was a coach at one of our high schools that took a trip every year called the USA Tour, 30 f- uh, 35 states-
Scott Hammond: Wow
Nezzie Wade: … in seven weeks, and-
Scott Hammond: Wow
Nezzie Wade: … took two busloads of kids, 98 kids that went.
Scott Hammond: Brave soul.
Nezzie Wade: It was wonderful. They, well, they had, we had parent chaperones, but when the bus
Nezzie Wade: left-
Scott Hammond: I bet that was a beautiful trip
Nezzie Wade: … it was amazing. It's the most-
Scott Hammond: Big
Nezzie Wade: … it's the single most impacting thing, other than my long-term education-
Scott Hammond: Hmm
Nezzie Wade: … that has shaped me as a human.
Scott Hammond: Seven weeks.
Nezzie Wade: Yeah, and you have to understand, this was before Civil Rights Act, before the Voting Rights Act, before a lot of the people's movements. It was just in the begin… This was in, um, '63, 1963.
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Nezzie Wade: And it was phenomenal in terms of its impact.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: And I saw things that really-
Scott Hammond: Hmm
Nezzie Wade: … uh, never have left me i- in terms of
Nezzie Wade: w- what the dynamics of interracial relationships and
Nezzie Wade: dynamics of-
Scott Hammond: We were
Nezzie Wade: … yeah, everything.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Nezzie Wade: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: So, and I assume you went through the South or part of the South?
Nezzie Wade: Yes. Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Nezzie Wade: We did, and it was, um, it was the s- year before or the year after Freedom Summer.
Scott Hammond: Uh-huh.
Nezzie Wade: So there was a lot of-
Scott Hammond: Right
Nezzie Wade: … um, stuff brewing.
Scott Hammond: This is way before Haight Ashbury in San Francisco too, right?
Nezzie Wade: Yeah, but I was up in the Bay Area when that all was happening too.
Scott Hammond: Really?
Nezzie Wade: Yeah, I was teaching.
Scott Hammond: Did you go hang out at the Haight and-
Nezzie Wade: I, I took my students-
Scott Hammond: … Golden Gate Park?
Nezzie Wade: No, I took my students on field trip, and we went to San Francisco, and we went to Haight Ashbury, and we also went to Telegraph Hill, and we went to all these different places. We hung out at the international airport so that they could see.
Scott Hammond: Sweet.
Nezzie Wade: They could see.
Scott Hammond: All these people coming in. Wow. Yeah, so you've seen, seen it all. So hey, if you're just joining us, Scott Hammond, 100% Humboldt podcast. I didn't say those words when I opened up. 100, 100% Humboldt podcast with your host Scott Hammond and my new best
Scott Hammond: friend…
Nezzie Wade: Nezzie Wade.
Scott Hammond: Nezzie Wade. And, uh, we're just talking about, uh, uh, her background. And, uh, so tell me more. So where did you end up at college?
Nezzie Wade: Um, I, I went, uh… I graduated from high school in Bakersfield.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: And, um, my teachers were remarkable, and they, um… I, I loved biology. I wanted to be a biology major. My biology teacher was also my philosophy teacher.
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Nezzie Wade: And
Nezzie Wade: her, her uncle was Teilhard de Chardin.
Scott Hammond: Hmm.
Nezzie Wade: And she was very much, um, uh, a purveyor of information about the makeup of the human.
Nezzie Wade: And so-
Scott Hammond: Remind us who that is, her uncle.
Nezzie Wade: Uh, he's a philosopher.
Scott Hammond: Uh-huh.
Nezzie Wade: French philosopher, but anyway.
Scott Hammond: Famous.
Nezzie Wade: To g- Yeah, famous.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Nezzie Wade: But to go, a lot about, um, how we are makeup, what, what, what, what makes us go.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: Sorry. Anyway, she, um, inspired me to be a biology
Nezzie Wade: major.
Scott Hammond: Oh.
Nezzie Wade: And so I went off to college at the local community college-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Nezzie Wade: … to be a biology major.
Scott Hammond: Was that BCC?
Nezzie Wade: Bakersfield College.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: Yep, BC. And, um, I did that for two semesters, but my biology lab teacher was also a Marine Corps sergeant in the
Nezzie Wade: reserves.
Scott Hammond: Hmm.
Nezzie Wade: And, um, this was during Vietnam, and he offered us extra points on our quizzes on Fridays. Our labs were from 3:00 to 6:00 on Fridays, if you can imagine.
Scott Hammond: On a Friday.
Nezzie Wade: Oh.
Scott Hammond: Brutal.
Nezzie Wade: Yeah. But he was, he was gung ho Vietnam, and he would give extra points if we could tell the number of Viet Cong we killed that week, and-
Scott Hammond: Wow
Nezzie Wade: … it was awful.
Scott Hammond: Huh.
Nezzie Wade: It was awful. So I switched over and became a sociology major.
Scott Hammond: Of course. That'll change you.
Nezzie Wade: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: And so d- uh, d- where'd you go beyond BC?
Nezzie Wade: So I, um, left Bakersfield College, and I got married, and my husband was going to San Jose State, and I, we moved to San Jose. And, um, I didn't get accepted at San Jose State. I had to put in another year for a community college.
Scott Hammond: Oh.
Nezzie Wade: So I went to West Valley College. It was very fun because the college that I went to was the previous high school campus, and across the street was the previous… It was the previous elementary school campus. Across the street was the high school, and then it became the college.
Scott Hammond: Oh.
Nezzie Wade: So it was kids that in my classes had been in elementary school, went across the street to high school, and came back to be in college.
Scott Hammond: They returned. This all in San Jose?
Nezzie Wade: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Okay.
Nezzie Wade: Well, it's Campbell.
Scott Hammond: Campbell.
Nezzie Wade: A subsidiary of San Jose or-
Scott Hammond: Beautiful town
Nezzie Wade: … Yeah. It w-
Scott Hammond: Stayed there?
Nezzie Wade: Yeah. Yeah, I was in San Jose for 11 years. I got my degrees-
Scott Hammond: Wow
Nezzie Wade: … at San Jose State.
Scott Hammond: I got two hips in one day at Stanford.
Nezzie Wade: Wow.
Scott Hammond: Yeah, about 14 years ago.
Nezzie Wade: Wow. That was-
Scott Hammond: Thank you, Dr. Bellino.
Nezzie Wade: That was good work.
Scott Hammond: That's quite a day.
Nezzie Wade: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Nezzie Wade: Two, two in one day. Ouch.
Scott Hammond: I know. I got a two for one. I'm not sure I would do that again, like, in that order, but, uh-
Nezzie Wade: It's brave
Scott Hammond: … the number… Yeah, it was… Well, I had a great coach. Her name's Joni.
Scott Hammond: She, um, uh, she hung in there with me. But yeah, uh, pretty, pretty major surgery.
Nezzie Wade: Wow.
Scott Hammond: That's why they have heavy drugs like Oxycontin and Roxicodone and all the things, 'cause it's pretty incredible pain. But I could walk right away.
Nezzie Wade: Wow.
Scott Hammond: It, it was, it was, uh, life-changing.
Nezzie Wade: So that was what, s- how, 14 years ago?
Scott Hammond: Yeah, 2014. '13. End, summer of '13. Yeah, so I had a, kind of bad, like, hip dysplasia like a dog would
Scott Hammond: get.
Nezzie Wade: You didn't do a lot of stuff in 2013 then.
Scott Hammond: No, I changed careers. Became a good-
Nezzie Wade: You became a-
Scott Hammond: I became a good neighbor. They, they recruited me while I was recovering.
Nezzie Wade: There you go.
Scott Hammond: It must've been the drugs.
Nezzie Wade: To become a n- I worked for a State Farm insurance agent when I was in college.
Scott Hammond: Oh, how about that?
Nezzie Wade: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: In San Jose?
Nezzie Wade: Yeah, there was two, Jim Pfaff and, uh, Don Schwenk, and they, they, th- they would leave the office and just leave the office to myself and the other woman who worked there.
Scott Hammond: Good, and go golfing.
Nezzie Wade: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Whatever.
Nezzie Wade: Well, one went on vacation. One had a motorcycle. He would go off on vacations.
Scott Hammond: Oh, cool.
Nezzie Wade: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Hey, it's, it's a nice gig. Um, so tell me more about, uh, fast-forward. So you guys were married there, and then what brought you to Humboldt,
Scott Hammond: or what-
Nezzie Wade: Um, well-
Scott Hammond: … what transpired between there and Humboldt?
Nezzie Wade: I, I was married to my husband for '68
Nezzie Wade: to
Nezzie Wade: '74.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: And he, in '72,
Nezzie Wade: '73, uh, was identified by his company as the fair-haired son.
Scott Hammond: Oh.
Nezzie Wade: And so they wanted him to stick with them.
Scott Hammond: Hmm.
Nezzie Wade: And, um, he did. He went to Los Angeles for three months and worked with
Nezzie Wade: the-
Scott Hammond: Hmm
Nezzie Wade: … vice president of operations, and then he went to New York City and worked for the right-hand person, the national finance officer.
Nezzie Wade: And, um-
Scott Hammond: Sure he did. Yeah
Nezzie Wade: … he did, and he was very successful.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: And he, um,
Nezzie Wade: uh, we bought a house in Connecticut and moved to Connect- I had finished my master's degree and my credential and all of that at-
Scott Hammond: Wow
Nezzie Wade: … San Jose State. And so I was, had applied to Rutgers and Columbia and was
Nezzie Wade: gonna do the PhD thing. My dis- my thesis was a dissertation already.
Scott Hammond: Oh.
Nezzie Wade: So I was groomed to go to Columbia-
Scott Hammond: Wow
Nezzie Wade: … to be under the person who'd dominated the field for years, but that's another story.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: Anyway, he got sent back to California, so I didn't do that. But I had been offered a job before I went back there.
Scott Hammond: Hmm.
Nezzie Wade: We'd lived in Connecticut for five months, I think.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: And I called and said, "I'm coming back, can I get a job?" And they gave me three classes to teach, and I started teaching.
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Nezzie Wade: And he went to work for the national headquarters, or the headquarters in Menlo Park.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: And then we stayed together for about another year, and-
Scott Hammond: Hmm
Nezzie Wade: …
Nezzie Wade: we got divorced.
Scott Hammond: So you, you stayed for- You stayed at Cl- in, in Connecticut in that case?
Nezzie Wade: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Okay.
Nezzie Wade: No, I didn't.
Scott Hammond: Oh.
Nezzie Wade: I came back to the Bay Area-
Scott Hammond: Okay
Nezzie Wade: … and took a teaching job, and then I continued to teach. I took, I worked in the private sector-
Scott Hammond: Mm
Nezzie Wade: … for a company called Professional Resource Associates too-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Nezzie Wade: … working on affirmative action and seminars and that kind of stuff. And then I ended up, um, getting married again.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: And, uh, my husband didn't wanna leave the Bay Area, but I was
Nezzie Wade: really done with the population and the density and-
Scott Hammond: Mm
Nezzie Wade: … everything.
Scott Hammond: Even then.
Nezzie Wade: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Was getting busy.
Nezzie Wade: Well, we were in Campbell, but one night a policeman came around the corner. We lived real close to the city hall. Came around the corner, ran into the back of my car, and my bedroom window was about as far as from here to the end of the table.
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Nezzie Wade: And I said, "That's it. I gotta go."
Scott Hammond: Gotta go.
Nezzie Wade: I gotta go. And, and then my cousin's husband, who was a State Farm agent, invited him to come up and visit and go fishing on the Klamath River.
Scott Hammond: Oh.
Nezzie Wade: He was seining at the time. He, he left State Farm and went to Fish and Game.
Scott Hammond: Oh, cool.
Nezzie Wade: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: And went up to the-
Nezzie Wade: I know. Maybe he went and did Fish and Game first and then went to St- I don't remember. Anyways.
Scott Hammond: Came to Klamath.
Nezzie Wade: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Beautiful.
Nezzie Wade: And he came home and he said, "Oh, it's so beautiful. Let's move there."
Scott Hammond: Been to the Promised Land.
Nezzie Wade: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Nice.
Nezzie Wade: I just grabbed the calendar and he said, "Pick a day."
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Nezzie Wade: So.
Scott Hammond: That's how you got up here.
Nezzie Wade: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: What'd you do when you came here?
Nezzie Wade: Well, I, we backpacked in Hawaii for six weeks before we moved here. We put all of our stuff in storage, quit our jobs-
Scott Hammond: Oh, cool
Nezzie Wade: … and did that. But I had a endometrial attack when I was there, and I had to have surgery in Hilo.
Scott Hammond: Whoa.
Nezzie Wade: And so I wasn't able to do anything at first.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: But we moved to Arcata-
Scott Hammond: Mm
Nezzie Wade: … 'cause my cousin lived there and we lived down the street from them.
Scott Hammond: Oh, wow.
Nezzie Wade: Yeah, it was fun. And then, uh, couple months later, we moved to Eureka in the house that I live in now.
Scott Hammond: Wow. So what year was, did you come to Arcata?
Nezzie Wade: '78.
Scott Hammond: So you-
Nezzie Wade: '77, '77 or '78.
Scott Hammond: You and I, yeah. I came in '78.
Nezzie Wade: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Feral hippie child from San Diego.
Nezzie Wade: Oh, wow.
Scott Hammond: Grad- recently graduated and ready to rock and roll and live on my own and that first year was not too pretty. In all the ways possible. Which is good. That's part of the journey. You gotta hit bottom and-
Nezzie Wade: Yeah
Scott Hammond: … before you look up and-
Nezzie Wade: Was that here?
Scott Hammond: Yeah, Arcata. Then went to Humboldt.
Nezzie Wade: I, I didn't go to Humboldt, but my da- my, my ex-husband did. I, we got divorced also, but he wanted to be… He, he wanted to go back to the city.
Scott Hammond: Hmm.
Nezzie Wade: He was a city person.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: And I really didn't wanna go back to the city, so.
Scott Hammond: And you loved it here.
Nezzie Wade: I did, and my, and my son was raised here.
Nezzie Wade: He's 46 now.
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Nezzie Wade: And, um, he'll probably never come back here either.
Nezzie Wade: He lives-
Scott Hammond: They, they often don't.
Nezzie Wade: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: We have, we have nine, and how many live here? Um, half are gone. And 11 grandkids. Uh, they, none of them live here, which is a bummer.
Scott Hammond: But,
Scott Hammond: uh-
Nezzie Wade: Wow
Scott Hammond: … imagine having to go to Amsterdam to see grandkids.
Nezzie Wade: Oh, wow.
Scott Hammond: Kinda cool and kinda far away.
Nezzie Wade: Yeah, it is.
Scott Hammond: So anyway, tell us more about AHA. W- tell me, tell me your work with the homeless and w- what, what do you do now? How long have you done this and-
Nezzie Wade: Uh, we… Well, we were, we've been advocating since the, uh, Occupy movement in 2011.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: We had already created an organization out of the peace marches called Communities for Peace.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: And the, and people who were involved with C- Communities for Peace were also involved with the, um, formation of,
Nezzie Wade: uh, AHA.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: There were three of us that were co-founders. And the Occupy movement hit in 2011, and with the occupation of the f- courthouse, there were a lot of people who were very unhappy about that and-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Nezzie Wade: … homelessness became the, the, the public face of Occupy everywhere. Because it was an inclusive community- … people had voice. They could find food. They could find comfort.
Scott Hammond: Mm.
Nezzie Wade: They could find companionship, and they could sleep. And so, um, that w- we started, Jim, a co-founder, Jim Paquin, he's now deceased also, but-
Scott Hammond: Mm
Nezzie Wade: … a wonderful human being. He was a Vietnam era vet.
Scott Hammond: Hmm.
Nezzie Wade: Anyway, w- we did these things called Celebrations of Determination on Fridays, and we brought coffee and soup and all kinds of things, and got to know people really well.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: And Deborah Carry from Southern Humboldt, who'd been working, uh, with homelessness and, and advocating for them and working on the streets helping people-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Nezzie Wade: … for a couple of decades-
Scott Hammond: Mm
Nezzie Wade: … was also a co-found- founder.
Scott Hammond: Mm.
Nezzie Wade: And we, um, started putting out packets of information to show the gap between what we have and, and what we don't
Nezzie Wade: have-
Scott Hammond: Mm
Nezzie Wade: … in terms of the number of people, and that there's nothing in… And it's still the same. There's nothing in the middle for folks.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: You either have the streets or low-income housing or a few other options, but in Humboldt, there really isn't much.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: And we have, you know, 1,194 people in the last point-in-time count that were identified as-
Scott Hammond: Wow
Nezzie Wade: … completely without housing.
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Nezzie Wade: Uh, or shelter.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: Completely without shelter. They're-
Scott Hammond: Is that high percentage-wise for our population?
Nezzie Wade: Yes, it is. We're one of the highest in the country.
Scott Hammond: In terms of ratios to, versus population.
Nezzie Wade: Per capita, yeah.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. Wow.
Nezzie Wade: Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Why do you think that is? What, what are some of the issues-
Nezzie Wade: Well-
Scott Hammond: … that cause, cause that-
Nezzie Wade: One-
Scott Hammond: The-
Nezzie Wade: … primarily is lack of housing-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Nezzie Wade: … and lack of options.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: Um, and we're rural, and we're outposted, and we have, um, a lot of people who… There's a lot of mythology around homelessness,
Nezzie Wade: but-
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Nezzie Wade: … a lot of the people who are homeless here originated here.
Scott Hammond: Hmm.
Nezzie Wade: They came from this area.
Scott Hammond: Interesting. I like outposted. That's a really interesting use of that word. We are, we're, we're an outpost.
Nezzie Wade: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: Lost Coast-
Nezzie Wade: Mm-hmm
Scott Hammond: … outpost. Hey, Hank Sims, what's up? Um.
Nezzie Wade: Oh.
Scott Hammond: Sayin', sayin' hi to Hank. He's not actually here. Um, no, the, uh… W- I have had a guest or two that has said, "I came as far as I could away from the East Coast or f- from
Scott Hammond: wherever-
Nezzie Wade: Right
Scott Hammond: … and I wound up as far west as I could be, and it was y- Humboldt County."
Nezzie Wade: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Hey, Humboldt County. It's right there. I always have to use my prop.
Nezzie Wade: I, well-
Scott Hammond: Have you ever been to Humboldt County? It's quite a place.
Nezzie Wade: I worked at the university for 26 years.
Scott Hammond: Really? What'd you do?
Nezzie Wade: I co- Well, I was hired there. W- After I was laid off my job, I moved away. I taught in a Catholic school for a year.
Scott Hammond: Oh, really?
Nezzie Wade: Seventh and eighth grade
Nezzie Wade: at St.-
Scott Hammond: Up here?
Nezzie Wade: … St. John's in Wasco, California.
Scott Hammond: Wasco?
Nezzie Wade: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: That's out in the Valley.
Nezzie Wade: And I taught religion-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Nezzie Wade: … and, um, uh, language arts. And the religion part of it for the seventh graders that year was community, and I- I'm all, I'm all on community. I love community. And I live far away from family, so this community, Humboldt community, has been my home. My, my home, my family, the people I, I have here, I love just like family. So anyway, uh, I was at HSU. I was hired to coordinate or to, to s- to establish and then run a university-wide learning center-
Scott Hammond: Hmm
Nezzie Wade: … which I did do, and I did-
Scott Hammond: What was it called?
Nezzie Wade: It was just called the Learning Center.
Scott Hammond: Okay. Now, part of YES, or…?
Nezzie Wade: It was under the umbrella of Student Support Services.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: Uh, EOP Student Support Services.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: I was a EOP Student Support Services staff person-
Scott Hammond: Hmm
Nezzie Wade: … and co- uh, coordinated the learning center, but also had an advisement caseload. And for a while I was the director of the Intensive Learning Experience
Nezzie Wade: Program-
Scott Hammond: Hmm
Nezzie Wade: … which was mandated by the state for students who were scoring in the lowest, lowest quartile of the English placement and the math-
Scott Hammond: Oh
Nezzie Wade: … entry-level math exam. And it was to identify the schools that were producing those students, mostly in the southern part of the
Nezzie Wade: state.
Scott Hammond: Okay.
Nezzie Wade: And so it was developing curriculum-
Scott Hammond: Hmm
Nezzie Wade: … uh, for students that needed to remediate. The state said, "We're not gonna penalize you for not getting what you needed from your schools."
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: They gave them two years to remediate.
Scott Hammond: Hmm.
Nezzie Wade: And in some cases that meant four semesters of English before they could go into
Nezzie Wade: English 100.
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Nezzie Wade: But, but they were, a lot of them, probably 50/50, um, non-native speakers of English.
Nezzie Wade: And so, uh, the, some of the curriculum that got developed was English 30 and
Nezzie Wade: English 31.
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Nezzie Wade: 30 being vocabulary development, that kind of stuff, along with pairing those students with students who are learning English as a s- to teaching English as a second language-
Scott Hammond: Oh, love it
Nezzie Wade: … so that the people that were learning how to teach-
Scott Hammond: Brilliant
Nezzie Wade: … could have s- students to teach with.
Scott Hammond: Stu- Wow.
Nezzie Wade: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Was that your idea?
Nezzie Wade: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Good job.
Nezzie Wade: Thank you.
Scott Hammond: Kind of a brilliant idea. So how many years at Humboldt?
Nezzie Wade: Uh, altogether, 26.
Scott Hammond: Wow. And y- and you really nailed something. The spirit of Humboldt is family. I think that's… Michael Kelemen, the CEO of St. Joe's, has been here a couple, three years. He goes, "It just feels like a… It's like home." There's that, that embrace, that, that love, that… It's an intangible. I don't wanna give it a bunch of words 'cause it's… would limit it. But yeah, there's something, something special.
Nezzie Wade: It is.
Scott Hammond: So-
Nezzie Wade: It, it, it, it's, it's a context.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. So if I were to give, say, "Hey, listen, tell us what's your take on homelessness. Why, why do we have a higher
Scott Hammond: per capita?"
Scott Hammond: What's… Uh, uh, maybe it's well beyond this discussion, but how, how did, how did we get here? Where are we at? Where are we going? Um, what, what's it look like?
Nezzie Wade: Uh, it's a long story.
Scott Hammond: It's a… Yeah. We have another 20 minutes. I don't wanna spend it on that. We gotta do the quiz here pretty quick.
Nezzie Wade: There, there are a lot of people who have a lot of ideas and feelings and thoughts about this, I'm sure.
Scott Hammond: Oh, sure.
Nezzie Wade: Uh, but, um, we have a significant number of people that are unhoused on the West Coast, the whole West Coast, because our climate is a little
Nezzie Wade: bit less severe than other places.
Scott Hammond: Sure. Not Minnesota.
Nezzie Wade: No.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Nezzie Wade: That's a factor.
Scott Hammond: Hmm.
Nezzie Wade: But the, but the biggest factor is we just don't have housing. You know, Ca- California has goals every year. They set the number of-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Nezzie Wade: … housing units that have to be developed by every county and every ci- city has their-
Scott Hammond: We've probably failed miserably, right?
Nezzie Wade: We've only been able to not… I mean, in the whole state of California- … only meet, like, 15% of what our goals are, and we can't-
Scott Hammond: One five, 15?
Nezzie Wade: Yeah. We can't possibly keep up with-
Scott Hammond: Wow
Nezzie Wade: … what we need to do. And so we have not come up with alternatives that, because we've done a lot of single-family dwellings. We've done very… Now we're doing affordable housing projects. But if, uh, and the state's paying for a lot of those, but the affordable housing
Nezzie Wade: projects still leave that huge gap-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Nezzie Wade: … that people fall into where there's nothing f- for them. They can't, they can't use them because affordable housing is often subsidized.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: And people can't be in it unless they get a subsidy.
Scott Hammond: Right.
Nezzie Wade: And if the subsidy goes away, then they're threatened with losing their housing and often fall in and out of housing.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: E- for example, there's some housing projects that are going into the city of Eureka with link housing, and there's gr- great, great things. We need this housing.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: We need this housing.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: We need any kind of housing. But there's an minimum income level of $16,000 to be able to qualify to get in them, and the ceiling's at 54. So they're not for the population that we're trying to address-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Nezzie Wade: … having just a level of stability that allows them to thrive. And we've worked with people. We've held conversation. We've spent a lot of time face to face with folks, and, um, a lot of people that have been chronically homeless can't just go into housing and meet the regulations that are… they're required to meet in order to be in a safe place.
Scott Hammond: Right.
Nezzie Wade: So we've been working on creating alternatives of… We got this into the housing element.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: We had ordinances written about it, safe parking, safe sheltering, tiny house
Nezzie Wade: villages-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Nezzie Wade: … emergency housing villages. But they are still extremely difficult to do because th- th- the way that they're set up is an institutional model.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: The way that they will work is a very different way-
Scott Hammond: Hmm
Nezzie Wade: … which requires mutual aid, uh, collaboration, a lot of people working together, the community being part of it, people Participating
Scott Hammond: Government
Nezzie Wade: Who– Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Nezzie Wade: Well, peo- well, not government as we know it. Government's actually a little bit of a problem-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Nezzie Wade: … in trying to get these alternatives.
Scott Hammond: Sure
Nezzie Wade: Because they're about making policy, and that's what they do-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Nezzie Wade: … and that's why they're there.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: But we're talking about making community, and they're very different things.
Scott Hammond: Sure.
Nezzie Wade: So-
Scott Hammond: Good to– Yeah, I think that's a great statement.
Nezzie Wade: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Differentiation. They're very different.
Nezzie Wade: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Nezzie Wade: And, and it's hard for a policy maker to want to
Nezzie Wade: trust mutual aid volunteers.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: You know, things that you can't put on a bottom line.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: So. We, we made a proposal for– I made a proposal, for example, to the city of Arcata back in 2017 for a piece of property that's still available, um, that could very easily be a tiny house village-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Nezzie Wade: … a transition from camping to tiny houses.
Scott Hammond: In Arcata?
Nezzie Wade: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: Um, but when we made the proposal, you can see it. It's on Access Humboldt or it's on our website.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: Um, but it w- it was very good. But they wanted us to have a million dollars in hand before we started.
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Nezzie Wade: And that really doesn't take a million dollars. It takes a community.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: It takes a village. It takes the people that are going to be served-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Nezzie Wade: … participating and buying in and being part of all of that. And we had providers, 30 or so of them, who said they would support providing services to a village if we had it, and we had people in the audience that w- had pledged $30,000, $25,000-
Scott Hammond: Wow
Nezzie Wade: … that were waiting for the city to say yes, but the city didn't say yes.
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Nezzie Wade: So.
Scott Hammond: Surprising. A million bucks, that's a lot in the bank.
Nezzie Wade: It is.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Nezzie Wade: And you can do a lot with that.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Nezzie Wade: I mean, you can do– The more, the merrier.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: But
Nezzie Wade: people really want to participate in the solutions.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: And the people closest to the pain, those that are without housing and, and on, you know,
Nezzie Wade: hunger, uh, verge of hunger or, or food insecure-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Nezzie Wade: … know the solutions. And it doesn't have to be complicated. It really doesn't. But it is very complicated by regulation and by how the money flows and all of the things that make it very difficult to do. So speaking of how the money flows, I wanna make a plug for AHA.
Scott Hammond: Please do.
Nezzie Wade: Can I?
Scott Hammond: Right now.
Nezzie Wade: Okay.
Scott Hammond: Nesi's gonna plug AHA. And so, uh, uh, what I'm, what I know about this, it's way more than just showers, but you guys provide showers for homeless. I know that much.
Nezzie Wade: We do. Uh, w- well, that was one of the results of not being able to get the leadership to wanna use SB2 zones-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Nezzie Wade: … and work with us on doing those kinds of things. We couldn't really morally accept that people were left with no options and no amenities of home. So we– There was a grant that came through, uh, the county, through the Housing and Homeless Coalition, uh, for, uh, emergency h- homeless aid, and we wrote a grant for the shower, mobile
Nezzie Wade: showers.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: And I visited a lot of programs. I talked to a lot of people and got really the specs on what we could do to make it really successful.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: And, um, we wrote the grant, and the grant was accepted.
Scott Hammond: Hmm.
Nezzie Wade: And we didn't knew– We, we learned the hard way. Everybody learns the hard way 'cause they don't tell you these-
Scott Hammond: Right
Nezzie Wade: … fine details. But you have to put the money up front, and then you get reimbursed when you're working with a government agency. So we had to put a down payment down-
Scott Hammond: Mm
Nezzie Wade: … to show that in good faith we-
Scott Hammond: Mm
Nezzie Wade: … really wanted that. But it took a s- took me six months. Uh, we got, we got a lot of, did a lot of research and put it all on paper-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Nezzie Wade: … and talked to people. And it, and it took six months to build, uh, custom-make it to what we wanted.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: And we have a three-restroom shower trailer with one, uh, unit that's, uh, ADA accessible and compliant.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: So we have a wheelchair lift. We have a lot of people in our communities that have disabilities.
Scott Hammond: Sure.
Nezzie Wade: Anyway, um, we have a wheelchair lift, and it's a big restroom that has a seat and a handle shower and all that, and two other small restrooms, and it's in- pulled by a nine-passenger van that is loaded up, and we roll up,
Nezzie Wade: and we pull up, and we have a pop-up care center with information-
Scott Hammond: Set up
Nezzie Wade: … and referral-
Scott Hammond: Wow
Nezzie Wade: … hygiene products-
Scott Hammond: Wow
Nezzie Wade: … food prepared and non-perishables to go. We have clothing, all season, all weather, all gender-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Nezzie Wade: … um, and we have hot showers.
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Nezzie Wade: And I wanna tell you the statistics on that.
Scott Hammond: Please.
Nezzie Wade: I just did them today, so I would have them.
Scott Hammond: They're fresh.
Nezzie Wade: Since we started, we've done– We've had five years of operation.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: We were off for 10 months during COVID. I mean, what, in 2023, and for the first few, six weeks or so of COVID.
Nezzie Wade: So for the five years that we've been operating, and we've gone from Southern Humboldt. We don't go to Southern Humboldt anymore. It's too far. But we went from Southern Humboldt to U- Eureka to Arcata to McKinleyville.
Scott Hammond: Hmm.
Nezzie Wade: Now we just do Eureka, Arcata, McKinleyville. But we have provided support and
Nezzie Wade: services to 16,000 and a few
Nezzie Wade: more-
Scott Hammond: Wow
Nezzie Wade: … guests.
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Nezzie Wade: And we've provided over 7,000 showers.
Scott Hammond: Wow. Those are individuals. 16.
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Nezzie Wade: Well, they're, they're people who come back to our-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Nezzie Wade: … program-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Nezzie Wade: … more than one time. But the showers are individual showers that have been-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Nezzie Wade: … given, for sure.
Scott Hammond: That's cool. God bless you.
Nezzie Wade: Yeah, it's a bi- it's a, it's a very busy, big program, and it, it's costly. So the plug for AHA is-
Scott Hammond: Please, plug away
Nezzie Wade: … we're just moving into our… And I know everybody's, everybody is looking for food. Everybody's looking for donations. Everybody's looking for money. But we are on the verge of being able to do some of these options now because the, the, the leadership has made it clear they're not gonna work with us. We have to do this on private property.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: So if anybody has private property they're willing to allow us to use, or they wanna donate to a nonprofit, or if they wanna lease-
Scott Hammond: Wow
Nezzie Wade: … long-term with the option to buy-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Nezzie Wade: … whatever, however that works, that's how we're going to have to go.
Scott Hammond: Somewhere close around the Bay.
Nezzie Wade: Somewhere, somewhere. It could be around the bay or it could be n- not so close, but it has to be something where people can get to transportation.
Scott Hammond: Gotcha.
Nezzie Wade: And, and, and, and we should have, you know, basic amenities of water and power. But the other plug is the end of October.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: That's tomorrow.
Scott Hammond: Tomorrow.
Nezzie Wade: We kick off, we kick off our end of year donor drive.
Scott Hammond: Oh.
Nezzie Wade: So we're asking everyone who can, if they're… be willing to
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Nezzie Wade: … support us in whatever manner you can.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: We, we put a lot of things out about what we need by way of donations, but we buy produce, we buy, you know, uh, clothing, underwear, fresh underwear.
Nezzie Wade: We get-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Nezzie Wade: … we got a grant for socks, but we do a lot of purchasing for the hygiene products, and we're trying to build capital,
Nezzie Wade: of course-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Nezzie Wade: … to put in a s- a fund where you have earmarked for building houses.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: So if anybody wants to help, if you have land, you know, we would-
Scott Hammond: The first ask is land.
Nezzie Wade: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: So we don't need 50 people, just a couple that would say, "Hey-
Scott Hammond: … I got 10 acres of Blue Lake that has access."
Nezzie Wade: I'm really, I'm, I- I'm really certain that if we were able to demonstrate how this would work with people-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Nezzie Wade: … that there would be many more of them. It's a mo- it's a model that could be, um, replicated, and we should do that because we have so many people, and we're going to have more.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: It looks like we're going to have more.
Scott Hammond: It's not going away. It's gonna get bigger.
Nezzie Wade: Yeah, I think so.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Nezzie Wade: If we look at what's happening now and the number of people that are falling off the edge, just with the increased cost for healthcare and with the inc- with the lack of food budget, and-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Nezzie Wade: … uh, there's just way more than people can deal with.
Scott Hammond: So there's actual homeless, and then there's teetering, those that are on
Scott Hammond: the cusp-
Nezzie Wade: Always
Scott Hammond: … that, that fall into the, the category.
Nezzie Wade: And it's once you fall into being homeless, it is really hard
Nezzie Wade: to get stable again. A- and that no matter how good an intention is, no matter how good people are, it's really, really difficult. And, um, there's a lot of, uh, disdain for people that are unhoused.
Scott Hammond: Mm.
Nezzie Wade: But… And, and for some people, they say, "Well, it's their fault," or they're, you know, they're, they're a druggie or whatever.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: And that's true. That's true for people that are in housing.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: But the people that are unhoused have a really difficult time having any time available to really focus on taking care of what they need to do.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: So… And they're not able to be in a place and be stable. They have to be moving about.
Scott Hammond: Right. Kind of nomadic almost.
Nezzie Wade: I know. And I know people get really angry because they're squatting on private
Nezzie Wade: property-
Scott Hammond: Mm
Nezzie Wade: … or they're where they're not supposed to be, but there is no other place.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: So let's start creating other places where people can actually thrive.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: And there's a lot of people in this community, a lot of organizations that want to support grassroots, bottom-up
Nezzie Wade: efforts-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Nezzie Wade: … including the people that are going to be residing there.
Scott Hammond: Speaking of, speaking of which, how do we get ahold of you to donate as of kickoff day tomorrow, Halloween?
Nezzie Wade: Okay. Um-
Scott Hammond: Uh, so, uh, website?
Nezzie Wade: Uh, yes, our website is, uh, www.ahha-humco.org.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: And the phone number of our office is 298-1466, and the number where you can always get someone is-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Nezzie Wade: … 707-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Nezzie Wade: … 267-4035.
Scott Hammond: You've answered correctly.
Nezzie Wade: Thank you.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. They, um… So we can help. We can donate money, time, food.
Nezzie Wade: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Um, hygiene products.
Nezzie Wade: I- if you have, uh-
Scott Hammond: So stuff, stuff is okay, the right stuff.
Nezzie Wade: Yeah. I mean, we can't take big bottles of, of shampoo and things like that because people can't carry big bottles of shampoo.
Scott Hammond: Right.
Nezzie Wade: We can use it in our showers, but we-
Scott Hammond: Probably have plenty, yeah.
Nezzie Wade: Yeah, we provide soap, shampoo, body wash, and two towels for each person who takes a shower, and we have a laundry service that takes care of the towels 'cause it's the most
Nezzie Wade: appropriate-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Nezzie Wade: … um, you know, sustainable and-
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Nezzie Wade: … healthy way to do that.
Scott Hammond: So I'd love to hear a couple stories about homelessness and maybe victories, heartbreakers. But before we do that, it's your turn where we give back to you, but you gotta earn this, Nezi.
Nezzie Wade: No.
Scott Hammond: So I'm not just gonna give this to you.
Nezzie Wade: Okay.
Scott Hammond: Um, this is a, uh, Tanzania 65% dark chocolate Dick Taylor bar manufactured locally here on the Bay in Eureka, California. So here comes the quiz. Are you ready? Hope you're prepared for this. Question number one. What's your, what was your best day?
Nezzie Wade: My best day?
Scott Hammond: Your best day ever.
Nezzie Wade: Oh, man.
Scott Hammond: Or one of them.
Nezzie Wade: Probably the day my son was born. Wasn't a, wasn't a healthy day. I mean, it was a good, it was a good day. I had my tailbone broken when he was born. He was breech.
Scott Hammond: Ouch.
Nezzie Wade: But it was a great, it was a great day for just… I, uh, the anticipation that I had-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Nezzie Wade: … waiting to meet that little person.
Scott Hammond: Cool.
Nezzie Wade: Yeah. And looking him in the eye, it was like-
Scott Hammond: Does he live up here?
Nezzie Wade: No. He's in Sacramento.
Scott Hammond: Oh, nice. Not too far.
Nezzie Wade: No.
Scott Hammond: Well, was he born here?
Nezzie Wade: He was. He was born at Redbud Memorial Hospital.
Scott Hammond: Yep. Oh, yes. We had our f- with Dr., um-
Nezzie Wade: Johansson
Scott Hammond: … Johansson. And who's the other guy?
Nezzie Wade: Anderson.
Scott Hammond: Anderson Johansson.
Nezzie Wade: They had to have both of them when he was born because they do it with two doctors when they're breech.
Scott Hammond: Right. And they did, they don't normally… Well, was he, was it C-section?
Nezzie Wade: No.
Scott Hammond: You just went for it.
Nezzie Wade: No, I did. That's why they broke my tailbone 'cause I, they said I had a J-shaped sacrum, and early on he mentioned it just in passing.
Scott Hammond: Uh-huh.
Nezzie Wade: But they were afraid his neck would get caught on my tailbone.
Scott Hammond: Oh, gotcha.
Nezzie Wade: So they just reached in and broke it.
Scott Hammond: They broke… Ooh. Yeah.
Nezzie Wade: I, yeah.
Scott Hammond: Those are two really great characters, though.
Nezzie Wade: I know.
Scott Hammond: They were great guys.
Nezzie Wade: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: They delivered our firstborn, Jacob. Okay. Good job. Question number two. What was the worst day? Do you have a worst day?
Nezzie Wade: Hmm. I have some pretty bad days, but they were sad days mostly because of the loss of really iconic people in my life, and probably for the world.
Nezzie Wade: The day, um- Martin Luther King died.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: The day John Kennedy died.
Scott Hammond: Mm.
Nezzie Wade: You know?
Nezzie Wade: Uh, it was a pretty sad day the day my mom died.
Scott Hammond: Yeah, th- you can remember where you were on those days.
Nezzie Wade: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Huh. Oh, yeah. Those are hard.
Scott Hammond: Ready?
Nezzie Wade: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Get my bell going. There it is. Number three, what's most fulfilling to you? What fills you up?
Nezzie Wade: Food.
Scott Hammond: Food. That's a good answer.
Nezzie Wade: I, I love food, and I love to, I love to cook, I love to grow food. I love the colors and the texture and,
Nezzie Wade: um… Yeah, I'm, I, I'm, I'm not a foodie exactly. I have a… But I have a, I'm a member of a food, food club.
Scott Hammond: Oh.
Nezzie Wade: Yeah. Cooking club we call it. Cooking club.
Scott Hammond: Do you guys, like, rotate dinners, and-
Nezzie Wade: Yep
Scott Hammond: … Oh, that's cool.
Nezzie Wade: We've been about, I don't know, it's been about, since 2011.
Scott Hammond: That's pretty cool.
Nezzie Wade: Yeah. Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Like monthly, or-
Nezzie Wade: Yep.
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Nezzie Wade: And one person hosts, and they, and they pick the menu, they buy the food, and then we get all the recipes and sit down and figure out how we're gonna do it. And then la- last time, last w- for, for, um, Bonnie McGregor's 82nd birthday, we made beef Wellington.
Scott Hammond: Yum.
Nezzie Wade: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Bet that was good.
Nezzie Wade: Oh, my goodness. Yeah, it took all day, but it was wonderful.
Scott Hammond: Why do I know her name?
Nezzie Wade: Uh, Bonnie has been around for a long time. She's been involved with, uh, a food bank. She worked on homelessness for many, many years. And she, um, has… Well, she, if you were at Church of the Joyful Healer, you might know her from there.
Scott Hammond: Hmm.
Nezzie Wade: Some years ago.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Nezzie Wade: Um, trying to think how you would know her.
Scott Hammond: Hmm. I know her name.
Nezzie Wade: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Nezzie Wade: Well, she worked on the, she worked on, on the, the, um, Multiple Assistant Center, along with Ina Harris and a bunch of other people-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm
Nezzie Wade: … for many years.
Scott Hammond: I know that name, too. Okay, question number three or four or five, or I don't know
Scott Hammond: what. Who are you, and what do you want?
Nezzie Wade: Ooh. I, I'm a community member, and I want community to work together to be able to-
Scott Hammond: Hmm
Nezzie Wade: … be inclusive and, and involve all of the residents-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Nezzie Wade: … in our community.
Scott Hammond: Nice. Good answer. Well, it turns out it's your lucky day, but you're not quite there. Last question. So you get a free day to do whatever you want to do. Money's not an object, but 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM. You've gotta do it over there, not in the corner, but in Humboldt County. Where, what do you do? Where do you go? What's your, what's your day plan?
Nezzie Wade: Ooh.
Scott Hammond: It's a you day.
Nezzie Wade: I'd like to go to the wilderness.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: I'd like to go to someplace sacred, like Dr. Rock, or-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Nezzie Wade: … someplace-
Scott Hammond: Where's that?
Nezzie Wade: I don't even know if it's Humboldt County. It's just a very special place. I went there with my son when he was five.
Scott Hammond: Hmm.
Nezzie Wade: And we climbed up to the top of this rock, and there were big wells, like grinding holes, and we laid in them.
Nezzie Wade: And-
Scott Hammond: Wow
Nezzie Wade: … you're, like, on the top of the world, getting all the energy.
Nezzie Wade: It's just-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. There is a Top of the World-
Nezzie Wade: It's a, it's a native sacred place. It's wonderful.
Scott Hammond: Okay. There's Top of the World, uh, rock over, um, way up
Scott Hammond: Fickle Hill.
Nezzie Wade: Uh-huh.
Scott Hammond: It looks east, but, uh, that may or may not be that. Okay, so your g- wilderness is a part of that day.
Scott Hammond: What else?
Nezzie Wade: Um, plants. I'm a, I'm-
Scott Hammond: Oh
Nezzie Wade: … I'm a native plant enthusiast.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: I w- worked with Nature Discovery Volunteers-
Scott Hammond: Hmm
Nezzie Wade: … for a number of years, and we did the, uh, original wildflower show for 26 years.
Scott Hammond: Oh, cool. We had Griff Griffith on the show. He's a native plant guy.
Nezzie Wade: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: Amongst other things, but yeah.
Nezzie Wade: I, I'd probably put, with my friend Steven, who's my partner, boyfriend. We've been boyfriend and girlfriend for 43 years.
Scott Hammond: That's sweet.
Nezzie Wade: It is sweet.
Scott Hammond: That sounds like it's legal now.
Nezzie Wade: We've never been mar- We've never lived together.
Scott Hammond: Oh.
Nezzie Wade: But we do a lot together. But we've probably put 50 to 70,000 miles on Forest Service roads.
Scott Hammond: Wow. So you guys go back, back country.
Nezzie Wade: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. Joni's been my girlfriend for 46 years.
Nezzie Wade: Hi.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. Hi, hon.
Nezzie Wade: Oh. Yeah, you're so convincing.
Scott Hammond: She's, she's-
Nezzie Wade: I'm certain you're there
Scott Hammond: … she's not there.
Scott Hammond: She's, she's, sh- well, she'll, she will be.
Scott Hammond: Anyway, um, so anything else? So wilderness and-
Nezzie Wade: Um
Scott Hammond: … native plant, some gardening.
Nezzie Wade: W- warmth, sun.
Scott Hammond: Okay.
Nezzie Wade: Uh-
Scott Hammond: So you're gonna go east a little ways, obviously.
Nezzie Wade: Yeah. But I, I really, I, I'm so grateful to be where I am. There, I can't think of anyplace else in the world that I would rather be, especially under the conditions that we're living with
Nezzie Wade: today.
Scott Hammond: Mm.
Nezzie Wade: And I feel really blessed to, to be a member of a caring
Nezzie Wade: community-
Scott Hammond: Mm
Nezzie Wade: … and, um, hope that I can carry that forward in a way that, um, honors how I feel about it.
Scott Hammond: Oh, I think you are already. Hey, guess what? Winner, winner, chicken dinner. You are the proud new owner of… Hmm, I'm trying to smell it. You can't. It's so wrapped so well, you can't smell it.
Nezzie Wade: Well, you know where-
Scott Hammond: That's for you
Nezzie Wade: … you know where this is going.
Scott Hammond: Where?
Nezzie Wade: This is going to my friend, because he, Steven is
Nezzie Wade: a chocolate guy.
Scott Hammond: Oh, Steven, your boyfriend.
Nezzie Wade: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: Really? He may share some with you.
Nezzie Wade: Maybe.
Scott Hammond: I know.
Nezzie Wade: If I'm lucky.
Scott Hammond: He's a chocolate dude.
Nezzie Wade: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Okay. Well, there, there you go. Um, love a story before we go about for us that don't touch homeless people in, in their lives, we're not part of their lives day to day,
Scott Hammond: um… A- actually, f- I don't know if I'm speaking for me, 'cause there's, I have homeless around my, my, um… Zach is my friend in the, in the, in the alley, and Zach keeps a good eye on stuff, and we're cool. But for those of us that don't have a lot of homeless exposure, how would you, what would you say to us in, in terms of, "Hey, here's the dealio"? And what would you say in terms of, um-
Scott Hammond: Sorry. When I go into a podcast, my entire family wants to call me and say hi. "Hi, Dad." Um, what would you say to us? And w- and then maybe a story or two of what… Maybe a beautiful story.
Nezzie Wade: Um, I think I've said this many times in, in public meetings.
Nezzie Wade: There is a lot of misunderstanding about who, who, who is homeless and, and-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Nezzie Wade: … and, and what that population is ma- th- it's people like people
Nezzie Wade: everywhere.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: But it's a brain trust that we don't honor and value or-
Scott Hammond: Mm
Nezzie Wade: … utilize.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: And, um, people are really smart. I've watched people create light out of nothing.
Scott Hammond: Mm.
Nezzie Wade: I have watched people be absolute top-notch medics take care of somebody who's
Nezzie Wade: seizuring-
Scott Hammond: Wow
Nezzie Wade: … because of epilepsy.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: I've watched people do amazing, amazing things.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: And I wish we could honor the good neighbors that they really know how to be-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Nezzie Wade: … because they are that for, for other unhoused folks. And when people go homeless, you always hear these stories-
Scott Hammond: Mm
Nezzie Wade: … about how they couldn't get any support from any of the programs because they weren't really considered homeless 'cause they hadn't been homeless long enough-
Scott Hammond: Mm
Nezzie Wade: … or they couldn't get any help.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: And the people help, who help them-
Scott Hammond: Mm
Nezzie Wade: … were the people who were already unhoused.
Nezzie Wade: Yeah.
Nezzie Wade: And so I, um, there's so many really good stories.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: Um, I, I can… T- when before they pushed people out of the Palco Marsh, I'm sure you remember that.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. Oh, yeah.
Nezzie Wade: Then, and that was by design. A lot of people were forced to go there as opposed to going to jail.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: You know, that was the option.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: And we had 400 people camped along the bay.
Scott Hammond: Sure.
Nezzie Wade: But I used to, I, I, I'm not far from there where I live. I walk up and down the Hikshari Trail a lot-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Nezzie Wade: … have since I lived here, and more and more and more. There were always people there, but more and more, many people.
Nezzie Wade: And so I got to know people and talk-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Nezzie Wade: … to people, and that's really what motivated me to continue to be an advocate for these places because I went through their camps-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Nezzie Wade: … and I saw there was the medic, there was the person who was the cook.
Scott Hammond: Mm.
Nezzie Wade: There was the metallurgist who could fix carts and bicycles
Nezzie Wade: and-
Scott Hammond: The mom, the dad, the uncle.
Nezzie Wade: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Nezzie Wade: And the people who did the shopping and-
Scott Hammond: Security.
Nezzie Wade: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: And there was just e- and they know how to-
Scott Hammond: Mm
Nezzie Wade: … take care. They know how to do things.
Scott Hammond: Beautiful.
Nezzie Wade: And I wish that we would create spaces-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Nezzie Wade: … where people could thrive in the way that they would love to
Nezzie Wade: be able to.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. So do we need to fear homeless people or those that are houseless?
Nezzie Wade: I don't.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: And I, and I know a lot of people who don't. Some people do because they don't know what that is.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: But some people need to be feared.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: You know, some people are-
Scott Hammond: There's exceptions, yeah.
Nezzie Wade: Yeah, for sure.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Nezzie Wade: And, and people who are desperate do desperate things-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Nezzie Wade: … and you can't really… No, but you can, you can begin by being, um, open and talking to people and being friendly and giving a good vibe rather than a-
Scott Hammond: Right
Nezzie Wade: … you know.
Scott Hammond: Something else.
Nezzie Wade: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. Betty Chins goes, "I…" I go, "You just like roll in there." She goes, "Yeah, I've never b- I don't fear anybody." I just like, I go… She goes, "They- no one ever gets after me." I go, "Wow, you're amazing." Um, our pastor friends, Bethany and Jason Shea-
Nezzie Wade: Mm-hmm
Scott Hammond: … at Catalyst, uh, he's on the board of Arcata House.
Nezzie Wade: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: Which, uh, I don't know their vis- their mission as much as I want to, but I know that they help homeless as well in Arcata.
Nezzie Wade: They do.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Nezzie Wade: They have quite a, quite a bit of, um, programming.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: And I don't know. Uh, they're– I know that they've lost some funding recently.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Nezzie Wade: A lot of programs have.
Scott Hammond: Sure.
Nezzie Wade: There's greater demand. We are all pretty much a community-driven… I, uh, AHA is a community-driven initiative.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: We don't get the big grants. We don't get a lot of that kind of stuff. But the ones that do get the big grants that have been federal grants-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Nezzie Wade: … have had some impact from that. And I know because they're asking the community for the same things we ask the community for.
Scott Hammond: Exactly, yeah.
Nezzie Wade: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: So demographically, a lot of women and children?
Nezzie Wade: Um,
Nezzie Wade: yes, but not as many as single men.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: You know? Uh, there, there are more youth all the time, and there are, um, people that are aged up in the population. We have a– I got a call today, and I get them every day, from a woman who's, uh, never been homeless before. She has children. She has a partner.
Scott Hammond: Mm.
Nezzie Wade: Um, they've– she's called so many people. She's tried to get help, and-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Nezzie Wade: … um, she can't get into some place to be safe.
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Nezzie Wade: And it's really, really hard because
Nezzie Wade: there's no, there's no damage there quite yet.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: But you can't, you know… And, and the longer people are left to erode and be in panic and all of that-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Nezzie Wade: … their unraveling-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Nezzie Wade: … gets harder.
Scott Hammond: And harder, yeah.
Nezzie Wade: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: I would guess.
Nezzie Wade: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Well, cool. I mean, not cool, but thank you for sharing.
Nezzie Wade: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: That's hard stuff.
Scott Hammond: Um, how about you? What do… Before we do one more shout-out,
Scott Hammond: uh, what about your legacy? What would you like to be remembered for? Either at the eulogy or the celebration of life-
Scott Hammond: … or something etched in your, uh, your giant
Scott Hammond: tombstone.
Nezzie Wade: I know what I will be remembered for.
Scott Hammond: Please.
Nezzie Wade: Well, I have a lot of calamities.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: I've had a lot of injuries in my life, and I've had a, you know… I, I'm not really a klutz, but a lot of things happen to me. And I know that a lot of people re- will remember those things because I've been-
Scott Hammond: I have a friend just like that
Nezzie Wade: … waylaid. But my family always anticipates that's gonna happen. I keep saying, "Don't think that. You gotta think differently.
Nezzie Wade: Don't-"
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Nezzie Wade: You know?
Scott Hammond: I'll be fine.
Nezzie Wade: Yeah. Don't, don't, don't shape me in that manner. Think of me as, you know… So I want people to remember me as a healthy-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Nezzie Wade: … happy, humorous-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Nezzie Wade: Vigorous-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Nezzie Wade: …
Nezzie Wade: fun-
Scott Hammond: Nice
Nezzie Wade: … person.
Scott Hammond: Those are good ones. I like those. Me too. I wanna do a me too. One more shout-out for AHA. So, uh, we can find you on the line, we can find you social media. Are you Facebook or anything?
Nezzie Wade: Yes, we are on Facebook. We have Instagram.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: Uh, we're gonna be having a housing forum in November that's really d- d- designed for people-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Nezzie Wade: … who are wanting to do an innovative project-
Scott Hammond: Where will that be?
Nezzie Wade: … with us. It'll be at the Labor Temple.
Nezzie Wade: And-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Nezzie Wade: … and we're trying to really encourage people, if they want to come and they want to do alternatives-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Nezzie Wade: … they wanna learn how we can collaborate and maybe figure out how to do funding and land and all of that together so that we can do
Nezzie Wade: this.
Scott Hammond: There's a temple here in Eureka. Is that the E Street?
Nezzie Wade: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Okay.
Nezzie Wade: 840 E Street. Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Nezzie Wade: And, and we'll, we'll be putting, um, out material about that. But if-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Nezzie Wade: … anybody's really interested, they can call us, and we can-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Nezzie Wade: … talk to them more about it.
Scott Hammond: So s-
Nezzie Wade: The number again is-
Scott Hammond: Social media, phone number
Nezzie Wade: … 707-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Nezzie Wade: … 707-267-4035. Social media, on Facebook, we're Affordable Homeless Housing Alternatives. Um, and Instagram, it's AHA.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Nezzie Wade: A-H-H-A, which is our acronym.
Scott Hammond: Right. And that's… And the AHA email is aha… Or the website is aha-humco?
Nezzie Wade: Yeah, good.
Scott Hammond: .org?
Nezzie Wade: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Look at me go. I can re-mem-
Nezzie Wade: I know
Scott Hammond: … I can remember things.
Nezzie Wade: That's good. It's… Well, it's different from our, from our email address. Our email address is .humco@gmail, and our web
Nezzie Wade: address-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Nezzie Wade: … is aha-humco.
Scott Hammond: So I bet, I bet one could Google all of this and easily find you guys.
Nezzie Wade: Yeah, probably.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. And donate, write a check.
Nezzie Wade: Absolutely.
Scott Hammond: Come out and help.
Nezzie Wade: Yeah. And our, our PO box, our PO box-
Scott Hammond: Please
Nezzie Wade: … is AHA at 3794, PO Box 3794, Eureka 95502.
Scott Hammond: 02. Thir- 3794.
Scott Hammond: Say no more.
Nezzie Wade: And even though we're kicking off our end-of-year donor drive, we need to be on a donor drive all year. So if it doesn't… If it's not the-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Nezzie Wade: … end of the year-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Nezzie Wade: … please still consider-
Scott Hammond: I think, I think you got-
Nezzie Wade: … giving.
Scott Hammond: I think Nick and I are gonna be donors here really soon.
Nezzie Wade: Oh, good. Wonderful.
Scott Hammond: Joni's gonna… Absolutely. So, hey, thanks for being here.
Nezzie Wade: Thank you.
Scott Hammond: Thanks for sharing.
Nezzie Wade: Thanks for all your questions. I, I feel like I left off half of the a-
Nezzie Wade: answers.
Scott Hammond: That's okay.
Nezzie Wade: There's a lot there.
Scott Hammond: That's, uh… There's a lot, there's a lot more to talk about. Enjoy that Dick Taylor, uh, with your boyfriend.
Nezzie Wade: Thank you.
Scott Hammond: Steve?
Nezzie Wade: Steve.
Scott Hammond: Hi, Steve. Uh, Scott Hammond with 100% Humboldt, uh, saying thanks for listening. And, uh, like us, love us, uh, hold us close. Donate to us if you want. It's all there. And, uh, catch us on, uh, um, wow, all the platforms, YouTube. Um, your… This'll drop Sunday night, so I'll send it right over to you.
Nezzie Wade: Oh, okay.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. And then, um, of course, all the social media platforms
Scott Hammond: and, uh, the podcast platforms. And send us a comment, like us. And if you do, we put you in a drawing for one of these bad boys
Scott Hammond: right here.
Nezzie Wade: Ah-ha-ho.
Scott Hammond: You too could do a Fluid to Soul from Dick Taylor. All right. Thanks for joining us, 100% Humboldt, Scott Hammond. Thanks, Nezzie.
Nezzie Wade: Thank you.