Stuff That Matters - A New Hope Podcast

Kiara’s Corner is a real and relatable new series that will touch on various topics as it relates to mental health, wellness, and healing. Get deep with host, Kiara Grace, and embark on a journey to healing through the experiences life brings all of us. 

(00:01:36-00:16:13) Talks about his dad, our founder, Dr. George H. Orvin. His recollections of how New Hope began and the stories of the early chapters of the company. What made New Hope unique and a true trailblazer in our space when it first launched. (00:16:14-00:22:36) How Dr. Orvin influenced Jay as a leader. (00:24:33-00:33:29) How the vision that Dr. Orvin had when he started this organiza...

Kiara’s Corner is a real and relatable new series that will touch on various topics as it relates to mental health, wellness, and healing. Get deep with host, Kiara Grace, and embark on a journey to healing through the experiences life brings all of us. 

We were live at this past weekends annual NAMIWalks event at Cherry Park in Rock Hill. Our very own Mike O’Connor was on hand, as he spoke with various leaders and staff of New Hope, NAMI Piedmont Tri-County, in addition to other members of the community as well as friends and family who were there to walk and simply show their support. Everyone had the same goal in mind, to join together for ment...

Kiara’s Corner is a real and relatable new series that will touch on various topics as it relates to mental health, wellness, and healing. Get deep with host, Kiara Grace, and embark on a journey to healing through the experiences life brings all of us. 

Charles Bradley, a Child welfare leader and Annie E. Casey Foundation Children and Families Fellow with more than 20 years of collaborative management and keen business acumen in large, public child welfare organizations. He started his own consulting firm in August of 2023. He has demonstrated ability to manage complex tasks, competing priorities, develop collaborative working relationships with...

Daryl Rodgers is a Family Recovery Coach, Speaker, and Author. But his life was completely different 10 years ago. Darryl was a pilot, a loving father of two sons and a husband. His oldest son, Chase, was having some issues and exhibiting early signs of what became a rather long and difficult battle with addiction and substance abuse. It began in college, where Chase started getting into drugs, no...

Emma is an Author, Speaker, Podcast host, Founder and President of the Life Is Worth It Organization, and Mental Health Expert whose passion is in suicide prevention, total life wellness and overall health education. With lived experience as a suicide survivor and loss survivor, Emma advocates for youth mental health and education while specializing in collaborative efforts to develop, implement a...

Richard Sandoval is the Senior Director of Community Programs at Hope Incorporated. That doesn’t even come close to describing who he is and what he’s about. Richard grew up in a large family in Arizona and was subjected to a drug dealing father as a child. Upon graduating high school, he enlisted in the marine core and served to deployments which began shortly after the events of 9/11. When he le...

We talk to Saul Malek - Storyteller & promoter of mental health, resilience & hope, sharing lessons from his journey with gambling addiction through public speaking. Saul was, like many, a big sports fan. As a college student, he was on the radio calling games, followed teams, enjoyed watching and rooting for outcomes. However, when he was introduced to daily fantasy sports and gambling we...

We’re back! We had a nice conversation with Thompson Charles, the Founder & CEO of Envesti Solutions, located in Charlotte. Thompson has worked with kids with the same goal as New Hope, the ensure a better future for our youth. He has held several roles such as Director of Programming with Eckerd Kids, Program Manager and Learning and Development Specialist at Thompson Child & Family Focus...

We talked with Brandon Guffey, who is on the South Carolina House of Representatives. In his few short years as an elected official, Brandon has made significant changes to the state and his impact has been felt like few that have come before him, passing transformative bills at a rapid pace and putting into effect new policies and laws to combat some of the most delicate issues in this country su...

We were graced by the presence of a friend of New Hope, and now friend of the podcast, Kevin Hines. Kevin’s story is one that is well-documented. If you’re just hearing his name for the first time, Kevin was born to two biological parents who suffered from depression, alcoholism and drug addiction. He entered into the foster care system as a child and later became diagnosed with bipolar disorder a...

We're joined by Shameka Smith, the Program Coordinator for Second Round Boxing, which is part of Haven House Services in Raleigh. Second Round is one of 10 unique services that is offered to more than 1,200 youth, boys and girls, each year. (00:01:58-00:14:06) – What Second Round Boxing is. (00:14:07-00:18:57) – When she started to notice just how impactful second round boxing was for the yout...

On today’s episode we’re joined by Fonda Bryant – Motivational Speaker, Mental Health Advocate, and suicide survivor. Having overcome a long past filled with depression, she turned around her life completely almost 10 years ago to the day. She’s now a QPR Suicide Prevention Instructor, Mental Health First Aid Instructor for Youth, and a NC Certified Peer Support, training thousands of people globa...

WE'RE BACK! We begin 2024 with Erica Reid, the Senior Director of Program Implementation at Friends of the Children. (00:01:41-00:36:59) Friends of the Children, her background, collaborating with the families, how families receive the service that is offered. The interview process, finding the mentors or actual "friends of the children" and what qualities are identified when looking...

Jenn Drummond was living a rather successful and normal life as a business owner and mom. Until a horrific car accident in 2018 changed everything. It should have ended her life, but it instead gave her a new perspective and new ambition on life, as she turned that near fatal experience into perhaps the biggest turning point. She set out to change who she was and how she lived her life. With the h...

Niki Miller is the Assistant Director for Shield. She’s an advocate for the vulnerable in the fight against human trafficking. Niki was a little nervous at first making her podcast debut, but she was highly insightful and passionate about the work she does. 00:01:36-00:13:22 What Shield is, how she got started working in this space. Design For Joy, an organization employing women that were once vi...

On this episode, we take you into the life of a parent whose child has dealt with mental health and someone who has navigated the system. The perspective comes from Nina Nalle-Robinson, the mother of former New Hope resident and ultimate success story, Kiara Grace-Nalle. Kiara has donated plenty of her time giving back to New Hope, having spoken to staff and current residents twice, she was our fo...

Well if you’ve been missing us, we’re back after a couple weeks off with the strong and powerful message of Danya Perry. Danya is currently the Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for Wake County in Raleigh. He has had the pleasure of serving as an education and community advocate for the last 20 years. We talk about how he got into working with kids in the community, spearheading statewid...

Dan Nash is the founder of Human Trafficking Training Center. After serving 27 years in law enforcement working patrol, narcotics, violent crime and anti-human trafficking, Dan had a revelation that completely changed his outlook on the epidemic that is still a major issue in the US and worldwide to this day. We talk about his background, some of the misconceptions he became aware of, the stats an...

Keith Howard is the CEO at Circle of Care. He’s a speaker and advocate for leadership development, innovation and work culture. Keith discusses his background, Circle of Care and the service they provide in Oklahoma. We talk about the transition he made into becoming a CEO and leader, the child welfare and foster care system, of which he holds very near and dear. He opens up about he and his wife’...

On today’s episode of Stuff that Matters, we give some love to a fellow Rock Hill, S.C. member. Kati Durkee, the Marketing and Outreach Coordinator at NAMI Piedmont Tri-County joins us on the show. For those that don’t know, NAMI is the National Alliance on Mental Illness. It’s an organization of families, friends and individuals whose lives have been affected by mental illness. Together, they adv...

We speak with Gordy Pyper, a leader in the Child Welfare space. Gordy is a longtime friend and former coworker of Stuff that Matter’s own, Mike O’Connor. The two go way back to their time working together with the Eckerd Wilderness program. Gordy discusses his history and professional journey, his experiences with the wilderness program and that space as whole (00:01:43-00:32:14). We discuss some...

On this episode of stuff that matters, we’re joined by Keith Cartwright. He’s the Adverse Childhood Experiences Coordinator with the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services. He also works part-time as the Alcohol and Drug Education Coordinator at Randolph-Macon College. He has his own blog, rkcwrites.com, where you can follow his experiences and his story. It’s a story...