Inspire to Rise, Inc.

Inspiring Community: An Inspire to Rise Podcast

Society EN ↓ 32 episodes

Welcome to Inspiring Community: An Inspire to Rise, Inc. Podcast where we create a community conversation and awareness about mental health, substance misuse, and overall community concerns and needs. We share inspiring stories of hope, compassion, connection, collaboration, healing, growth, and transformation that show the beauty of this thing we call life. Remember you are not defined by your worst moment. We hope to inspire you to be your best self for yourself, your family, and our community. The belief is: Stronger Families = a Stronger Community! Let's Be and Start the Change! Insp...

Author

Inspire to Rise, Inc.

Episodes

Episode 32: One More Safe Person 03.06.2026 29:41

Welcome to Episode 32 of Inspiring Community: An Inspire to Rise Podcast. Today's episode was led by our host, Drew Brandom! Please join us as he interviews our guests, Ellie Pumphrey and Erianna Kemp, Interns at Inspire to Rise. Ellie and Erianna are interns in the Inspired Youth Day Program; Ellie is also an employee of Inspire to Rise and serves as the Program Assistant for Prevention and...

Episode 31: I Do Need a Whistle 01.05.2026 42:10

Welcome to Episode 31 of Inspiring Community: An Inspire to Rise Podcast. Today's episode was led by our host, Drew Brandom! Please join us as he interviews our guests, Faith Gardner and Elias Seeraj, Youth Peers at Inspire to Rise. Faith and Elias are both Jacksonville natives who got involved with Inspire to Rise thanks to their parents. Faith's mother, Felecia Gardner, is the Intake,...

Episode 30: It's a Sisterhood 02.04.2026 27:15

Welcome to Episode 30 of Inspiring Community: An Inspire to Rise Podcast. Today's episode was led by our host, Drew Brandom! Please join us as he interviews our guests, Kenyatta McCloud, Founder of Taming My M.E.S.S. Foundation, Inc. and Shacobi Williams, a Mentor at Taming My M.E.S.S. Taming My M.E.S.S. is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting girls and women impacted by the justi...

Episode 29: Moving Forward Everyday 16.03.2026 53:19

Welcome to Episode 29 of Inspiring Community: An Inspire to Rise Podcast. Today's episode was led by our host, Drew Brandom! Please join us as he interviews our guest, Justino Arroyo-Morales, a Peer Community Advocate at Inspire to Rise. Mr. Justino was born and raised in New Jersey but moved to Florida just over two years ago to be more active in the Word of Prophecy Ministry and Calvary Cha...

Episode 28: Experience, Strength, and Hope 02.03.2026 31:21

Welcome to Episode 28 of Inspiring Community: An Inspire to Rise Podcast. Today's episode was led by our host, Drew Brandom! Please join us as he interviews our guest, Jessica Williams, the Peer Advocate Coordinator at Inspire to Rise. Ms. Jessica knows the importance of being met with understanding instead of judgement. With an early life shaped by addiction, mental health struggles, and tra...

Episode 27: The Love of Food - And I Love Food 15.02.2026 19:48

Welcome to Episode 27 of Inspiring Community: An Inspire to Rise Podcast. Today's episode was led by our host, Drew Brandom! Please join us as he interviews our guest, Tamika Wolfe-McKenzie, the President and CEO of Tamika’s School of Epicure in Jacksonville, Florida. After a brush with cancer 10 years ago, Ms. Tamika began to search for her purpose. After reflecting on a misadventure when sh...

Episode 26: We're Gonna Talk About It 31.01.2026 44:28

Welcome to Episode 26 of Inspiring Community: An Inspire to Rise Podcast. Today's episode was led by our host, Drew Brandom! Please join us as he interviews our guest, Sheryl Johnson, the Founder and CEO of Hearts 4 Minds. Ms. Sheryl and her husband founded Hearts 4 Minds in memory of their son, Alex. Hearts 4 Minds is leading the charge to break down the stigma of mental illness and alter ho...

Episode 25: Into the Marvelous Light 08.01.2026 38:53

Welcome to Episode 25 of Inspiring Community: An Inspire to Rise Podcast. Today's episode was led by our host, Drew Brandom! Please join us as he interviews our guest, Cheryl Crawford-Deas, the Founder and Executive Director of the Darnell Deas, Jr., Marvelous Light Foundation. Mrs. Crawford-Deas has a passion for bringing awareness to mental health and suicide prevention that stems from the...

Episode 24: Until the Food Runs Out 03.11.2025 37:46

Welcome to Episode 24 of Inspiring Community: An Inspire to Rise Podcast. Today's episode was led by our host, Drew Brandom! Please join us as he interviews our guest, Dr. Rob Thomas, the CEO of Community Health Outreach, Jacksonville’s only free integrated medical/dental clinic for low-income/uninsured residents, and which also hosts the Lord’s Food Pantry and Baby Luv Center for infant care...

Episode 23: The Profit is People 24.10.2025 27:44

Welcome to Episode 23 of Inspiring Community: An Inspire to Rise Podcast. Today's episode was led by our host, Drew Brandom! Please join us as he interviews our guest, Jennifer Ryan, the CEO of Volunteers in Medicine, a non profit clinic that provides free healthcare for the working uninsured. Mrs. Ryan is a fifth generation North Floridian with a proven reputation in building and sustaini...

Episode 22: Connecting the Dots 15.09.2025 30:40

Welcome to Episode 22 of Inspiring Community: An Inspire to Rise Podcast. Today's episode was led by our host, Drew Brandom! Please join us as he interviews our guest, Marcus Hill, the RISE Nassau Program Coordinator. While Mr. Hill began as a Theology major with a goal of eventually becoming a pastor, he found his calling in psychology in his second year of his undergrad program. Now a licen...

Episode 21: That's What These Other Schools Are Missing 03.09.2025 9:20

Welcome to Episode 21 of Inspiring Community: An Inspire to Rise Podcast. Today's episode was led by our host, Drew Brandom! Please join us as he interviews our guest, Malik Johnson, a teacher for INSPIRED Youth. Mr. Johnson got his start running a basketball camp for youth in Washington D.C., where he fond his passion for working with youth. After graduating college, he began working with ch...

Episode 20: All the Schools Around the World 25.08.2025 27:18

Welcome to Episode 20 of Inspiring Community: An Inspire to Rise Podcast. Today's episode was led by our host, Drew Brandom! Please join us as he interviews our guests, Grace, Liam, and Saheim, three participants in the INSPIRED Youth program. Grace, Liam, and Saheim discuss their participation in the INSPIRED Youth program, which is an alternative to public school in Duval county for childr...

Episode 19: Mr. Fix-It 01.08.2025 56:43

Welcome to Episode 19 of Inspiring Community: An Inspire to Rise Podcast. Today’s episode was led by our host, Drew Brandom! Please join us as he interviews our guest, Michael Seeraj. Mr. Seeraj is the Chief Financial Officer at Inspire to Rise and has over 21 years of accounting experience in both the private and not-for-profit sectors. In 2017, he was presented with the Business Journal - Ultim...

Episode 18: We Are Human 15.07.2025 55:04

Welcome to Episode 18 of Inspiring Community: An Inspire to Rise Podcast, led by our Community Behavioral Health Director, Anna Santiago. Please join us as she interviews our guest, Nikki Runion. Professor Runion is an Instructor of Social Work at the University of North Florida, but before she became involved in academia, she spent years with children and families in the foster care system throug...

Episode 17: Life is Beautiful 01.07.2025 58:50

Welcome to Episode 17 of Inspiring Community: An Inspire to Rise Podcast led by our Prevention & Family Preservation Director, Robin Rossmanith. Please join us as he interviews our guest, Treevonia Robinson. Ms. Robinson began using cocaine at the age of 16 and continued to do so for the next 23 years. While she always quit using whenever she was pregnant, she went back to cocaine after she fi...

Episode 16: The Most Important Thing 15.06.2025 22:16

Welcome to Episode 16 of Inspiring Community: An Inspire to Rise Podcast. Today’s episode was led by our host, Drew Brandom! Please join us as he interviews our guest, Mrs. Enricka James. Mrs. James discusses her life, from being born and raised in Jacksonville, Florida, to moving to Atlanta to pursue modeling, moving to Las Vegas, moving to New Orleans, and raising three children (ages 6, 3, and...

Ep 15: Welcome Our Guest, Anna Santiago, Inspire to Rise, Inc. Community Behavioral Heath Director 01.06.2025 43:11

Welcome to Episode 15 of Inspiring Community: An Inspire to Rise Podcast. Today's episode was led by our guest host, Michael Seeraj! Please join us as he interviews our guest, Ms. Anna Santiago, Director of Community Behavioral Health at Inspire to Rise, Inc. Ms. Santiago discusses her career trajectory and how she moved from a Bachelor's in Criminal Justice to a Master's of Science...

Ep 14: Welcome Our Guest, Betsy Dobbins, Center for Children's Rights Founder & Executive Director 20.02.2025 46:59

Welcome to Episode 14 of Inspiring Community: An Inspire to Rise Podcast. Today's episode was led by our guest host, Community Behavioral Health Director Anna Santiago! Please join us as she interviews our next guest, Ms. Betsy Dobbins, Founder & Executive Director of the Center for Children's Rights, a restorative organization dedicated to advancing the well-being of youth. Ms. B...

Ep 13: Welcome Our Next Guests, the INSPIRED Youth! 30.10.2024 30:57

Welcome to Episode 13 of Inspiring Community: An Inspire to Rise Podcast led by our host Drew Brandom! Please join us as he interviews our guests, three youth from the INSPIRED Youth Program at Inspire to Rise, Inc.! The INSPIRED Youth Program is a Prevention & Recovery Program for youth at risk of opioid misuse or with substance misuse disorders and/or who are struggling with mental illness....

Ep 12: Welcome Our Guest, Ms. Cassandra Croft, Inspire to Rise, Inc. Peer Community Advocate 14.09.2024 55:47

Welcome to Episode 12 of Inspiring Community: An Inspire to Rise Podcast led by our host Drew Brandom! Please join us as he interviews our guest, Ms. Cassandra Croft, Peer Community Advocate at Inspire to Rise, Inc. Ms. Croft shares her personal life and recovery journey and discusses “her why” ---- why she is so passionate about what she does every day to make an impact on the youth, individuals...

Ep 11: Welcome Our Guest, Alyssa Cate, Inspire to Rise, Inc., INSPIRED Youth Program Manager 22.07.2024 30:43

Welcome to Episode 11 of Inspiring Community: An Inspire to Rise Podcast led by our host Drew Brandom! Please join us as he interviews our next guest, Ms. Alyssa Cate, INSPIRED Youth Program Manager at Inspire to Rise, Inc. Ms. Alyssa Cate has been with Inspire to Rise, Inc. for a year and has served as a Community Therapist and now as the INSPIRED Youth Program Manager. With a strong emphasis o...

Ep 10: Welcome Our Guest, Dr. Jean-Colt Belizaire, Inspire to Rise, Inc. Behavioral Health Administrator 26.05.2024 47:54

Welcome to Episode 10 of Inspiring Community: An Inspire to Rise Podcast led by our host Drew Brandom! Please join us as he interviews our next guest, Dr. Jean-Colt Belizaire, Community Behavioral Health Administrator at Inspire to Rise, Inc. Dr. JC Belizaire has over 16+ years of academic teaching, clinical practice, and consulting experience. Dr. Belizaire holds a Masters of Science in Mental...

Ep 9: Welcome Our Guest, Sandra Shin, Hope 4 Freedom Founder & President 06.04.2024 26:13

Welcome to Episode 9 of Inspiring Community: An Inspire to Rise Podcast led by our host Drew Brandom! Please join us as he interviews our next guest, Ms. Sandra Shin, Founder & President of Hope 4 Freedom. Ms. Sandra Shin is also the author of Who Am I After Human Trafficking? Ms. Sandra Shin shares her personal and powerful story of survival and shares her passion, dedication, and mission...

Ep 8: Welcome Our Guest, Dr. Selena Webster-Bass, Voices Institute, Founder & CEO 12.02.2024 55:37

Welcome to Episode 8 of Inspiring Community: An Inspire to Rise Podcast led by our host Drew Brandom! Please join us as he interviews our next guest, Dr. Selena Webster-Bass, Founder & CEO of the Voices Institute, Inc. Dr. Webster-Bass is also co-author of the children’s book Rainbows , a sickle cell disease awareness book dedicated to her son, Richard Anthony, who succumbed to the disease i...