- 1 year ago
RAOK: Belief Eclectic Learning
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00:00Let's do this.
00:02Hey, what's going on, everybody?
00:04My name is Jello.
00:05And I'm Joanna.
00:06In case you didn't know, yeah, we do a morning show on 105.1 The Bounce Detroit's throwback
00:11hip-hop and R&B.
00:13And this is part of our random acts of kindness.
00:17I know since the pandemic, we can't really get out there and be in the streets like we
00:21like to.
00:22But this is an opportunity for us to continue to try to be a part of the community and allow
00:28the community to connect with us and push things that are very important that people
00:34need to know about.
00:35And on the Zoom call right now, we got my girl, Maya.
00:38Now, Maya is with the belief, eclectic learning.
00:42Now, for some reason, I can't say eclectic.
00:44She has a hard time saying that.
00:46Okay.
00:46But it's belief, eclectic learning.
00:49And I don't want to destroy what they do and what they stand for.
00:53So I'm going to let my girl, Maya, dive into this thing.
00:56But I just want you to know the random acts of kindness brought to you by Community Financial.
00:59Maya's got her fly glasses on right now.
01:02So Maya, tell us a little bit about what you guys do and why it's so important.
01:06Well, thank you so much for actually just having us featured on your show.
01:13So Belief Eclectic Learning is the ABA arm for Open Door Living Association.
01:19And what we do is we provide applied behavior analysis services for those diagnosed with
01:27autism.
01:28Why is that important?
01:30Simply because children with autism have a difficult time with sometimes behaviors, social
01:38cues, and just learn in a different way.
01:41So our organization primarily focuses on helping them learn the skills that are necessary to
01:49navigate our world.
01:51Now, is this something that they would come to like an all, it's an all day learning, like
01:55a school setting?
01:56So it, we are actually in a school building, but we are actually a clinic.
02:02So once a child is diagnosed with autism, they're, depending on their level of severity, they would
02:11have services sometimes from 25 to 40 hours a week with a one-on-one clinician that is basically
02:19working with them to increase their skills.
02:24We have kind of a three-tier approach.
02:27So we look at the client themselves, we look at their family, and then we look at the community
02:33that they are a part of.
02:35So really picking up on those cultural differences and, you know, treating the whole child versus
02:44just the diagnoses per se.
02:47And how, approximately how many children do you have that come through there?
02:52So we service anywhere upwards to a hundred children.
02:57Oh my God.
02:58Oh my God.
02:59Right.
02:59So with the increase of the autism diagnosis, we've heard about that all over, the ratio
03:09of those that might be diagnosed is steadily on the rise.
03:16So agencies like myself are particularly focused on what are the skill deficits, what are the
03:25needs to help this individual navigate life in a more socially and appropriate way?
03:32Yeah.
03:33Well, Maya, let me talk to you about this because one of our coworkers here, his name is Ben Perez,
03:40and his, I believe he said his grandchild or grandson is there with you guys.
03:46And he was just basically talking about how the pandemic has caused you and your team
03:51and staff to struggle with, you know, providing the things that you need for these kids.
03:55I even hear a lot of the times you guys are going out, picking these kids up and bringing
04:00them to the facility.
04:01And things like gas, you know, are extremely important.
04:05So how has the pandemic, you know, really affected you and your team?
04:10And what can we do to help you guys either get donations, volunteers, so on and so forth?
04:17All right.
04:18Well, yes, we are not alone in navigating this new pandemic.
04:23However, it is magnified with when you have a child with special needs.
04:32So not only has the pandemic hit families very hard, the families that we serve, but in
04:42particular, children with autism that may have been used to going out, can't go out, they
04:50can't go to their places of norm, right?
04:54So because we service basically the inner city of Detroit and the metro area for the individuals
05:05that are impacted the greatest, what we have found is that our in-clinic services were impacted
05:14because people didn't have transportation, families lost jobs.
05:19Asking a child that has autism to sit and do a Zoom virtual learning is just not a reality,
05:30right?
05:31Yes.
05:31It's not a reality.
05:33So what does that mean?
05:34Our in-person clinic had to change platforms.
05:39We had to buy vans.
05:41We had to provide transportation to pick up the child, bring them home to take that piece
05:49off.
05:49We've also had to change our learning system into electronic learning where we incorporated
05:57working with the school systems for those that were school-aged.
06:02We also had to follow the CDC guidelines with social distancing in the clinic.
06:08We've also had to do extreme cleaning more than we would do on a normal basis.
06:16We had to put in new procedures.
06:18So we really took all of our reserves, everything that we had, and put it back into the clinic
06:26to do this.
06:27So purchasing tube vans, purchasing electronic systems so families could see what their kids
06:34were doing at home and in clinic and incorporating, okay, how do we put tablets and everything in
06:43the kids' hands so that then if they have virtual learning that is required through the school
06:49system, that we can support that as well.
06:52That really took us over $150,000.
06:56Oh my God.
06:58Yeah.
06:58And we're still going, right?
07:01So my husband and I own the company.
07:04We just was like, okay, we're going to have to get off payroll right now so that we can
07:11fund this work because it's so important.
07:15Multiply that times that most of our families, a great percentage of our families are from non-English
07:24speaking countries.
07:25So in conjunction to that, they don't know how to navigate the mental health system.
07:33They really lack the understanding of what's happening with all of the political climate
07:40and everything that's going on.
07:41That brought in itself a whole nother dynamic.
07:45So we, as a clinic, decided we're going to wrap our arms around it.
07:50We're going to get out of there.
07:51We're going to do whatever is necessary to continue to provide these necessary services.
07:58Man, Maya, what you guys are doing is phenomenal.
08:03And so 501c3, that's nonprofit too, right?
08:07Absolutely.
08:08So a nonprofit organization putting every dollar that they have back into the company to help
08:13these kids navigate through what is probably one of the craziest times we'll ever experience
08:20in our lives.
08:21Absolutely.
08:22And you're still providing, you're driving, you're paying for vans to go pick up children.
08:26You're giving parents the tools and the opportunity to be able to view their kids electronically
08:31to make sure that they feel safe and they feel comfortable.
08:35You're doing everything in your power to do it.
08:37You and your husband both stopped taking a paycheck in order to sustain in this world.
08:43environment.
08:45I just, I take my hat off to you, man.
08:47I take my hat off to you.
08:49So how can we get you donations?
08:52I mean, gas cards, are you feeding these kids as well?
08:55So we have supplemental, you know, snacks and things like that.
09:01But it is not heard of that we might have to support a family who has lost their job in
09:08this time.
09:09So there is, there is so much to know about individuals that don't follow our atypical
09:18system.
09:19So when you hear the government talking about black and brown communities have been affected
09:28the most during this pandemic, then put that on top of a child that has sensory issues.
09:35cannot, it's only calmed down by riding in the car, can't go anywhere, can't see those familiar
09:44faces.
09:44So it's so important to just understand what the need is and to open up and think about
09:51other people being impacted that may not have the same barriers as we do.
09:57So our website is www.beliefeclecticlearning.com.
10:09And anybody having a difficult time with that, opendoorfamilies.com will be able to, our actual
10:20ABA clinic.
10:21So we are just doing everything.
10:24People can donate on the website in any way that they can.
10:29Everything is just appreciated.
10:33We are so grateful for this opportunity.
10:35And I think the biggest thing is we want people to understand, don't forget about individuals
10:41with autism, like, like include them in your paradigm.
10:46Think about how they might be suffering.
10:49It's hard enough because I have a 10 year old for these kids to go through what's going
10:53on through the pandemic, the political climate, like you said, but even more so for a child
10:59with special needs.
11:00Oh my goodness.
11:01I mean, we're having a hard time going through this whole thing.
11:03Yeah.
11:03Yes.
11:04Right.
11:04And sometimes, you know, people, I don't think people really quite understand what it
11:09means to be autistic or to experience, you know, they haven't gone through what these
11:13kids are going through.
11:14They don't know what these kids are dealing with trying to operate in this, and especially
11:18in this world, but just in, in, in, in life in general, they don't know what these kids
11:22are going through.
11:23So what you guys are doing, I take my hat off to you.
11:26I appreciate you, Maya.
11:27Yes.
11:28If there's any, a time that we can come and get our hands dirty.
11:30I know once this pandemic is over, we would love to do that.
11:33Absolutely.
11:34If you are watching this video on Facebook, or you're watching this video, 105 on the
11:39bounce.com, I need you.
11:41And yes, I'm going to guilt trip you right now, because as a community, we got to come
11:44together.
11:46Belief, eclectic learning.com, belief, eclectic learning.com.
11:52And if that's too much for you, like eclectic is too much for me.
11:55There's open door families.com as well.
11:57Correct.
11:58Yes.
11:58And the last thing I want to really say is belief is an acronym.
12:04And I want everybody to know what that acronym means.
12:08Talk about it, Maya.
12:09Talk about it, Maya.
12:10Believe, enrich, live, instruct, and encourage future generations.
12:16Wow.
12:17So that is the premise that we hold ourselves to.
12:22There is a world out here that is just being impacted.
12:27And we, as a community, can do so much.
12:31Think about the kids that can't go to McDonald's right now.
12:34They can't go inside.
12:35Those play skates aren't available.
12:37Think about those kids that need to be in class eight hours on a computer.
12:43However, they don't have an attention span that lasts more than three to five seconds.
12:49Think about just sensory, noise.
12:53All of these things is how our kids are hurting right now.
12:56And their families are hurting if they have had to stay home because daycares are closed.
13:03Schools are closed, right?
13:05It's a reality.
13:07Now, Maya, did I also see another way that you can help contribute is through Amazon.
13:12When you purchase something, you could be the charity.
13:15We could pick you as a charity.
13:17Absolutely.
13:17So Open Door Living Association is connected with the SMILE Amazon organization.
13:25So, yes, we can receive funding through that.
13:29We also, like I said, you can go right onto our website through PayPal and so forth.
13:34You can donate.
13:36We have it where you can pick a group of families.
13:40We don't have the family's names, of course.
13:42But it always goes to support a particular child in their particular struggle.
13:50Maya, I love you.
13:53I know people throw that term around loosely, but I really do love you.
13:56And I appreciate what you and your husband are doing.
13:59And I hope that we can blow this thing up and get you guys the help that you need and the help that you deserve.
14:06You know what I mean?
14:06Just quite frankly.
14:07So, BeliefEclecticLearning.com.
14:12You got it.
14:13There you go.
14:15We'll put a link on our website as well.
14:17Yeah.
14:18Absolutely.
14:19Thank you guys so much.
14:21Thank you, Maya.
14:22Thanks for participating.
14:23It's our random acts of kindness presented to you by Community Financial.
14:30Remember, guys, BeliefEclecticLearning.com.
14:33If you can donate, it could be a gas card, anything that you can do.
14:38$5, $10, $100, $1,000, whatever you got.
14:43Let's do this, okay?
14:44Forget that Starbucks coffee for the week and donate and help your community out because it's your job.
14:50You're a part of this community.
14:51It is your job.
14:52And yes, Jell-O's guilt tripping you right here.
14:54Look at my eyes.
14:55It's your job.
14:57All right, Maya.
14:59Bye, guys.
15:00You take care.
15:01Bye.
15:01Bye.
15:01Bye.
15:01Bye.
15:02Bye.
15:02Bye.
15:02Bye.
15:02Bye.
15:02Bye.
15:02Bye.
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