Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home

Episode 84 Mike McSwain - ”Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home”

Architect Mike McSwain sits down with Jeffrey Goodman, Director of Marketing and Development for the YMCA of Northwest Louisiana, to answer the following questions:
 
0:26 1. Mike, you are one of our community’s most beloved architects, having designed countless projects including the Sci-Port Discovery Center, Bossier Parish Community College, the Cyber Innovation Center and renovations to the Shreveport Regional Airport and Municipal Auditorium, to name but a very few.
 
Let’s start here today.
 
One of your projects was the creation of the East Bank District in Bossier. Talk to me about the genesis of this project, if you could, and lessons we can learn from its success that might reinvigorate and revitalize other areas of our community.
 
7:15 2. I have known you for a long time but until I started preparing for today’s discussion I had never heard the story about how you first decided to become an architect. Would you mind sharing some of that? I think you were in Texas Tech in Lubbock and I’ll let you take it from there.
 
8:35 3. Your wonderful sense of design is not only on display for us to appreciate all over Shreveport-Bossier but you have been the architect on projects all over the world, including designing condominiums in Indonesia and a luxury estate community in China.
 
You have done a significant amount of travel over the last 15-20 years. When you meet people during your travels and they ask you what it’s like in Shreveport-Bossier, what do you tell them?
 
10:06 4. Are there particular cities around the country that provide examples to you of what Shreveport-Bossier should aspire to in the future? If so, can you talk about a few of the cities and the characteristics of them you feel we should strive to emulate?
 
12:46 5. Compared to some other cities around the country, Shreveport-Bossier could be called conservative in its thinking or openness to new ideas or perspectives. Yet, you have seemed to always transcend that, delivering some of the most progressively designed projects our area has seen these last 30 or so years.
 
What advice or words of wisdom can you offer to our younger creative class – architects or any kind of creative - to make them feel like it is possible to find support for personal and perhaps progressive expression in the Shreveport-Bossier community?
 
16:08 6. As you look around at our community, what do you think is holding us back?
 
21:49 7. Lastly, what gives you hope that we might be headed in a good direction as a community?

Episode 83 Father Raney Johnson - ”Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home”

Father Raney Johnson, administrator at Cathedral of St John Berchmans and one of the chaplains at Loyola College Prep, sits down with Jeffrey Goodman, Director of Marketing and Development for the YMCA of Northwest Louisiana, to answer the following questions:
 
0:32 1. On 6/5/21, you were ordained the first native-born priest of the Diocese of Shreveport.
 
I read where you once said: “Being called ‘Father’ will take some getting used to. When I’m with another priest, and someone else says ‘Father,’ I assume they’re talking to him, not me. But then, it turns out they are talking to me.”
 
My first question today is, have you gotten used to being called Father yet?
 
2:33 2. You are the administrator at St John Berchmans and one of the chaplains at Loyola College Prep. Give me a snapshot if you could of what a typical week looks like for you at St Johns and Loyola? How are you working with the students, when are you saying mass for the St Johns congregation and for the Loyola student body, what days and times are you available for confession?
 
Just give me a sense if you could of what a typical week for Father Raney looks like.
 
6:55 3. What is the difference between a cathedral and a church?
 
9:58 4. Share, if you could, any advice or words of wisdom you have for people listening, who are contemplating pursuing the priesthood.
 
11:34 5. Many cities similar-sized to us have large universities and/or sports teams that bring the community together. We probably will never have either of those things in Shreveport-Bossier. What do you see that can help unify us more in the future as a community or help bring us together more than we are today?
 
13:26 6. As you look at our community, what are some of the things that concern you the most?
 
15:46 7. What gives you hope that we’re headed in the right direction?
 
20:26 8. How many individual Catholic churches do we have in Shreveport's Diocese?

Episode 82 Andrew Crawford - ”Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home”

Entrepreneur and Multiple Local Business Owner Andrew Crawford, sits down with Jeffrey Goodman, Director of Marketing and Development for the YMCA of Northwest Louisiana, to answer the following questions:
 
0:26 1. Andrew, you are part of the Atkins-Crawford family, one of the most philanthropic and important families in the history of Shreveport. Can you talk some about your family’s history in the community and just some about how you were raised?
 
6:35 2. You are owner or part owner of 3 Rhino Coffees, Cuban Liquor, Jacquelyn’s Café and the Crawford Design Group. I’ve read or listened to numerous interviews with you and building community is a theme you come back to quite often. How do you explain your commitment to this community and your almost unmatched drive to give back to it and make it better?
 
10:35 3. Many cities similar-sized to us have large universities and/or sports teams that bring the community together. We probably will never have either of those things in Shreveport-Bossier. What do you see that can help unify us more in the future as a community or help bring us together more than we are today?
 
12:06 4. As you well know, one of our major issues is the fact that we export so much of our talent. In your opinion, how do we do a better job retaining our best and brightest?
 
13:28 5. You've been back since 2010. In the thirteen years since you've been back here, do you feel like things are better than when you arrived back home?
 
14:46 6. As you look around at our community, what are some of the things that concern you the most?
 
21:28 7. How do we produce more Andrew Crawfords?
 
24:45 8. What gives you hope that we’re headed in the right direction?
 
25:56 9. What conversations, if any at this point, are you having with your kids about their city, their community?

Episode 81 Lieutenant Bowman and Dr. Patterson - ”Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home”

Lieutenant Amy Bowman, Shreveport Police Department, and Doctor James Patterson, Ochsner LSU Health Shreveport, sit down with Jeffrey Goodman, Director of Marketing and Development for the YMCA of Northwest Louisiana, to answer the following questions:
 
0:27 1. Lieutenant Bowman, you are a Lieutenant in the Shreveport Police Department. Until recently, you were a Community Liaison Officer or CLO, as it is often known.
 
You once said, “Community policing isn't a unit. It's a concept…We have an opportunity to do so much in the community, and you see the positive as well as the negative. It's the best of the policing world."
 
Let’s start here today. Talk to me about community policing and why it is such an important aspect in a successful police department.
 
2:19 2. Dr. Patterson, you serve as the Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine at LSU Health Shreveport. I would like to direct my next couple of questions to you.
 
My first question is, what defines a crisis?
 
4:25 3. My next question is, what does Shreveport’s current crisis system look like?
 
7:04 4. This is going to help with public safety, correct?
 
8:04 5. I know we're still trying to figure this out because I've participated in some meetings. But is there anything you can tell the public about how potentially this would work? How is there a situation where maybe the police doesn't respond and someone that is more appropriate responds?
 
10:03 6. And people out there understand for the most part that we have a shortage of police officers, jails are overcrowded. What a lot of people don't know is that we don't have a lot of room in the emergency rooms either. Is that accurate?
 
11:31 7. I have read that nearly 50% of 911 calls received by Shreveport police are mental health related. How is the Shreveport police better addressing the growing mental health needs of our community?
 
12:30 8. Is the CIT training (Crisis Intervention Team) for law enforcement somewhat similar to the preparation, for instance, that we're trying to do for our teachers and school staff by training them in ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences)?
 
17:34 9. I believe that the Tommie McGlothen case helped lead to an increased focus on mental health. Can you talk about the case and what it showed the Shreveport Police Department it needed to do differently?
 
22:46 10. In speaking about mental health, former Police Chief Ben Raymond said, "So we're going to kind of work in conjunction with mental health experts so that we have better encounters with citizens, less violent encounters with citizens and overall just provide better service".
 
Take me through how you would respond to a call as an officer before this increased focus on mental health and how your approach might look different today?
 
26:54 11. Dr. Patterson, what are best practices for transforming our current behavioral health crisis care?
 
29:43 12. Lieutenant Bowman, what has changed and is more challenging today than it was when you first began working with the Shreveport Police Department?
 
32:16 13. Lastly, Lieutenant Bowman, what is better today than it was when you first started?

Episode 80 Kayvion Lewis - ”Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home”

Young Adult Author Kayvion Lewis sits down with Jeffrey Goodman, Director of Marketing and Development for the YMCA of Northwest Louisiana, and Community Activist LeVette Fuller, to answer the following questions:
 
0:49 1. Kayvion, you are a massive, local success story. The US book rights for your book Thieves’ Gambit were acquired in a seven-figure deal and Lionsgate has acquired the movie rights with Steven Caple Jr, who directed Transformers: Rise of the Beasts and Creed II, attached to direct.
 
Let’s start here today.
 
What has it been like to grow up here in Shreveport?
 
2:15 2. Kayvion, if I am not mistaken, you are 24, a graduate of Caddo Magnet High, and worked at the North Shreveport Branch of Shreve Memorial Library for three years. What have public libraries meant to you? 3:47
 
3:47 3. Do you feel pressure to be a role model?
 
4:32 4. I have listened to numerous interviews with you and one thing that becomes quite clear is how driven you are. Can you talk about where that comes from? And, in general, just some about how you were raised?
 
6:23 5. Did you feel any pressure to maybe reconcile such a nebulous career? A very limited group of people get to actually do what they love, that's creative, and actually get paid to do it. Did you ever feel like there was any push back or resistance from your family about something they might see as impractical?
 
8:40 6. With all the people you’re meeting, all the new experiences, if you had to drop them into Shreveport, what would you feel like you had to answer for that isn’t ideal?
 
9:56 7. On the flip side of the previous question, what would you be most proud of?
 
10:32 8. We struggle here, exporting a lot of our best and brightest. What kind of advice do you have for leadership locally to retain more Kayvion Lewis(es)?
 
11:52 9. Something we have in common is both of our fathers were police officers. Is there anything in your upbringing, with your father, to make you keenly aware of your situational awareness?
 
13:50 10. Something we talk a lot about on this podcast is the self-esteem issue that we struggle with as Shreveporters, people just not feeling comfortable or feeling proud to be from here. I don't feel like you have that. If you don't suffer from that, why do think that is? What sort of advice or wisdom do you have for other people to embrace this as their home?
 
16:32 11. I was very impressed with the character development and the characters that are culturally well developed, in particular your Asian characters. How much of that is because of your travels? And is there anything else that led to that development?
 
18:15 12. Someone comes to visit you, never been here before, they want to shadow you on a normal Kayvion work day in Shreveport. Take me through what that looks like. I want to see it from the time you wake up to the time you go to bed.
 
And then they want to do the same, in a typical Kayvion fun day in Shreveport or just a recreational, non-working day. I want you to describe both of those for me from start to finish.

Episode 79 Angel Martin - ”Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home”

Angel Martin, Triathlete AND Director of Student Activities and Recreational Sports at LSU Shreveport, sits down with Jeffrey Goodman, Director of Marketing and Development for the YMCA of Northwest Louisiana, to answer the following questions:
 
0:25 1. Angel, you recently competed in one of the most prestigious and daunting races in the world, The Ironman World Championship held in Hawaii. For those of you unfamiliar with the race, all in one day it consists of the following:
 
A 2.4 mile swim followed by a 112 mile bike ride followed by a 26.2 mile run
 
You once said that your goal for this year’s race was to arrive healthy and finish happy.
 
Tell me about the race and did you accomplish your above goal?
 
8:15 2. Training for these kinds of races obviously takes incredible discipline and time. Give me an example of what a typical training week looked like for you as you prepared for October’s race.
 
11:34 3. Even though this podcast is through my work at the YMCA, you are actually the first elite athlete and super marathoner we have interviewed.
 
You weren’t always a super marathoner, you came from the world of track and field. Specifically, you were an accomplished pole vaulter for Northwestern State University Track and Field.
 
I’ve read where you said the following about the local fitness community:
 
“I found my people. My community of like-minded weekend warriors who shared a spirit for pushing our personal limits. Through triathlon I’ve made lifelong friends, many that I consider family.”
 
For those out there listening talk to me about what the fitness community looks like that we have here and any advice you might have for plugging into it.
 
14:55 4. You have a full time, important career. You serve as the director of student activities and recreational sports at LSU Shreveport.
 
Talk to me a little about your role and some of the things the lay person may not know about the different student activities and recreational sports offered at LSUS.
 
18:26 5. I came across the following quote from you,
 
“I live life remembering my ‘why’. I have a ‘why’ that applies to my family, my career, and my training. Everyone’s ‘why’ is different, and there are 1000 reasons to say why not, but all we need is to focus on the one reason that keeps us going.”
 
For those out there who struggle finding their why, is there any advice or suggestions you might offer?

Episode 78 Ryan Williams - ”Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home”

Ryan Williams, Chief Executive Officer and Owner of Seedlinks Behavior Management, LLC, sits down with Jeffrey Goodman, Director of Marketing and Development for the YMCA of Northwest Louisiana, to answer the following questions:
 
0:29 1. Ryan, you were raised in the MLK community, graduated from Green Oaks and went on to receive your Bachelors and Masters from Grambling and Louisiana Tech.
 
You are the CEO of several companies and extremely active in our community. Let’s start here today. Talk to me about Seedlinks Behavior Management, your company, and some of the services you offer.
 
3:42 2. In speaking about mental health emergencies you once said,
 
“They don’t necessarily need a police officer, they need a doctor, they need a social worker, they need someone to ask NOT what’s wrong with you but how can I help you.”
 
Talk to me about some of the barriers that exist today in our community for dealing with mental health emergencies.
 
7:25 3. I’m going to pull another quote from you. You once said,
 
“If you don’t stop people who are cut from bleeding, they’ll bleed on people that didn’t cut them and I think that’s what we’re dealing with in our community”
 
Talk to me about the vicious cycle of stress as I have heard you call it.
 
10:05 4. I have also heard you use the phrase “complete city” before. Tell me what it means to be a complete city and what it will take if we ever want to become one.
 
14:52 5. Lastly, what gives you hope that this community is headed in the right direction?

Episode 77 Sophia Herron Sanders - ”Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home”

Sophia Herron Sanders, Director of Child Life & Community Engagement at the Gingerbread House, sits down with Jeffrey Goodman, Director of Marketing and Development for the YMCA of Northwest Louisiana, to answer the following questions:
 
0:34 1. Sophia, you are the director of child life & community engagement and a forensic interviewer at the Gingerbread House, one of our community’s oldest and most important nonprofit organizations.
 
Opened in 1998, the Gingerbread House Children’s Advocacy Center is focused on child abuse advocacy. You serve children 2 to 18 who have experienced any sort of abuse, sexual or physical, or been a witness to any sort of violent crime.
 
I read where one of your employees once said each case you see is very different but the trauma is real.
 
Since most of us are unaware of the process, take me through some of the initial steps of what a case may look like.
 
5:32 2. The Gingerbread House operates to lessen the trauma experienced by child abuse victims while criminal allegations are being investigated and to provide support for the child victim throughout the investigation, prosecution, and treatment phases of a case.
 
Sticking with maybe the same case that you outlined above, take me through some of what the next steps will look like after the child has first come to the Gingerbread House, received the forensic interview and the investigation of the case has begun.
 
9:08 3. You once said,
 
“An opportunity arose where I could put my talents as a child life specialist here at the Gingerbread House and help other children who had probably gone through something similar or an abusive situation, and I can make them feel as comfortable or as heard as I felt when I was 13.”
 
Would you mind sharing a little about your first interactions with the Gingerbread House?
 
15:10 4. Before the Gingerbread House, maybe convictions were around a 5% rate in these kinds of abuse cases. Now with the Gingerbread House's assistance, convictions are around the 95% rate.
 
Can you talk about this?
 
19:21 5. There are 13 children’s advocacy centers throughout the state and of the 13 in the nine parish area that you serve, the Gingerbread House has the largest case load in Louisiana. I know the Gingerbread House is heavily involved in prevention education and training. Talk to me about some of the work you do in the area of prevention.
 
23:31 6. The Gingerbread House is also a critical resource for the families in our community. I read the following:
 
“When the families first come in for the interview, you can hear the pain in their voices, the hurt, they’re scared, they have no idea what to expect. We’re here to provide that support and that comfort to the families and let them know that everything will be okay.”
 
Can you talk to me about some of the family advocacy work at the Gingerbread House?

Episode 76 Martha Marak - ”Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home”

Martha Marak, Executive Director of the Food Bank of Northwest Louisiana, sits down with Jeffrey Goodman, Director of Marketing and Development for the YMCA of Northwest Louisiana, to answer the following questions:
 
0:32 1. Martha, you are the Executive Director of the Food Bank of Northwest Louisiana.
 
In a little while, we will get more into the details and specifics of your work at the Food Bank. But before we do, let’s start here today. For the more fortunate and/or moneyed people in our community, paint a picture of what food insecurity looks and feels like for many of our residents in Northwest Louisiana.
 
3:23 2. The Food Bank of Northwest Louisiana is the largest distributor of donated food for our 7 parish area and one of only five food banks in the state. You sort, warehouse and distribute food to over 150 non-profit organizations, shelters and churches in the seven-parish region of Caddo, Bossier, Bienville, Claiborne, DeSoto, Red River, and Webster.
 
Simply put, you oversee one of the most important nonprofit organizations in our community whose mission is to serve as the primary resource for fighting hunger in Northwest Louisiana.
 
What are the Food Bank’s greatest challenges today and for those in our community listening, how can they best help you achieve your mission?
 
13:03 03. I know from preparing for today’s discussion and taking in all the different information on your website that the Food Bank offers a number of different programs. Talk to me about 2-3 of your key programs, whether it’s the Backpack Program, the Summer Food Service Program, the Senior Program or other programs altogether.
 
26:33 4. As you look around our community, what are some of the things that concern you the most?
 
31:12 5. What gives you hope that we’re headed in the right direction as a community?

Episode 75 K.C. Kilpatrick Baird - ”Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home”

K.C. Kilpatrick Baird, Founder and Executive Director of Geaux 4 Kids and Project Geaux Bags, sits down with Jeffrey Goodman, Director of Marketing and Development for the YMCA of Northwest Louisiana, to answer the following questions:
 
0:32 1. KC, you are a true hero in this community and I find your story so inspiring and so moving.
 
Your nonprofit, Geaux 4 Kids, Inc, the one that you started, recently celebrated its 10 year anniversary. Let’s explain the work that you do and the genesis of how it got started. You once said,
 
“The reality is I always wanted to be a mama…One of my greatest fears was I wasn’t going to be able to have my own biological children and that fear came true. With that said, the dream of having children then expanded. It expanded to foster care.”
 
Tell me about Hallie-Stella and Jayden and how you first conceived of Geaux 4 Kids and Project Geaux Bags.
 
11:17 2. In 2020, Geaux 4 Kids, Inc., headquartered in Caddo Parish, officially went statewide, distributing Geaux Bags to all 64 parishes.
 
You once said the following in describing the thought behind Geaux Bags, “They (the children) have already been through the worst that life has to offer, honestly. While adults try to figure it out, we can at least give them those items, that dignity, that hope.”
 
Tell me about some of the contents of the bags.
 
16:07 3. Where are the contents for your bags housed, how are the bags put together and how are they distributed?
 
19:11 4. I know a lot of people who have interest in starting a nonprofit. Talk a little about biggest challenges to starting a nonprofit and any other words of wisdom you would like to share for people who are thinking about embarking on that path.
 
34:02 5. As you look around our community, what are some of the things that concern you the most?
 
37:06 6. What gives you hope that we’re headed in the right direction?