Dreaming Of Cooperstown

So, this podcast is about sharing inspiring stories of people doing meaningful work. The stories of people making a positive difference in the lives of others. And, if you are a regular listener or if you know me personally, you know that I believe that each of us has a story to share. A story that can help others. But you know what’s way more important than what I believe? It’s what you believe. Too many people are stuck and their best self is not showing up each day. Why? Often it’s because that best self is shrouded in ego, fears, limiting beliefs and other delusions. And that is why I am excited to introduce you to today’s guest, Erin Pheil. After a long battle with pain and depression Erin discovered the root cause behind what was holding her back. The self-sabotage that was preventing her from living to her full potential. So she founded The MindFix Group with a simple purpose: to share her journey and to deliver programs that alleviate the self-sabotage our own minds create that hold us back. Erin’s w

Today’s guest, Michelle Pagtakhan co-founded You Run This Town Foundation with Fred Noya. "You Run This Town Foundation is committed to developing the next generation of leaders by providing underserved youth with enrichment programs, work-study internships, scholarships and community partner engagement projects." Her passion is to empower youth and provide them with key skills to succeed in life. Michelle is a small business owner with a big heart and a big vision for serving others. Michelle is a great example of how businesses of all sizes can find meaningful ways to enrich others and strengthen the communities for which they are passionate. I’m happy to share her story with you today. Connect with Michelle and You Run This Town Foundation as follows: www.yrttf.org team@yrttf.org https://www.facebook.com/YRTTFLA/ @yrttfla

November is National Diabetes Awareness Month. I’ve decided to focus my attention on the positive things happening within the T1D community including important lessons I have learned. In this episode I discuss how the T1D community has taught me that my personal and professional growth is impacted by who I let on my “team”. scottrmorris.com

My guest today, Cathy Heying, founded The Lift Garage an affordable, non-profit auto repair service for people of limited means. It's an innovative idea that meets a pressing need. Working with people experiencing homelessness, Cathy repeatedly saw how devastating the prohibitive cost of commercial car repair could be. In a domino effect, people who couldn’t afford to get their cars fixed couldn’t get to work and so lost their jobs. Without jobs, they lacked the money to pay for housing and ended up in shelter or on the streets. It was also evident that many people who could not afford the cost of commercial car repair, felt that they equally could not afford to stop driving some very dangerous vehicles. Too often driving cars without brakes or living in their car without heat. Cathy went back to school to earn a degree in auto technology. In April 2013, with board members, donors, and volunteers to back her, The Lift Garage opened for one day a week with one repair bay and one volunteer mechanic.  Since open

My guest today, Kristyn Stillwell, is the Executive Director of H.O.P.E. Haven. Hope Haven seeks to move people from crisis to lifelong self-sufficiency. Their mission is to help the homeless find a path off the streets and to mentor them throughout their life journey to succeed and thrive as contributing members of their community. Hope Haven builds relationships with individuals on the streets as a means to inspire a sense of purpose that empowers them to achieve stability and change in their lives. They work with each client to create a personalized plan to get off the streets and overcome recurring issues that drive them to homelessness. Kristyn has been working with the homeless as a volunteer for over 20 years. The last 6 years she has been building outreach ministries around Northwest Houston. These ministries have grown to over 1000 volunteers a year and feed over 2000 meals a year. Her passion is to educate the community on homelessness and inspire others to want to “Be the Change” they wish to s

Do you have a senior friend or perhaps a parent or grandparent that you fear is feeling lonely or isolated? There are serious physiological and psychological components to loneliness and isolation. Studies have found that socially isolated elders are twice as likely to die prematurely, with a mortality rate comparable to smoking. Some studies even show that loneliness is nearly twice as dangerous as obesity. It can wreak havoc with your immune system and increase inflammation, leading to diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, and other serious health conditions. My guest today, Jaya Manjunath, is taking action to reduce senior isolation through Seniors with Skills, the charitable organization she was inspired to create. Seniors with Skills is on a mission to create a movement to end social isolation of seniors in the United States. Through their Cards and Knitting Program and their Computer Training Program Seniors with Skills volunteers are helping seniors’ lead impactful lives while improving their cognitiv

As you listen to today’s episode, there are children with life-threatening illnesses sitting alone, in a hospital bed, without a parent or loved one nearby to comfort them. Sadly, many of these parents cannot be fully present for their child at this critical time, often because they are single, working, or have other children to care for as well. Despite the tremendous efforts by nurses and staff at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, there are simply not enough hands to hold these children at a time when they need it most. Babies need human touch and to be held. Especially, as a means of comfort. My guest today, Ciera Granger, knows the importance of this human connection. Ciera and her husband, Dan, faced overwhelming difficulties when their second daughter, Shae, was born with multiple disabilities and life-threatening health issues. Ciera and Dan fought alongside Shae as she clung to life at Children’s Hospital LA for almost six months after she was born in 2006. Their experience caring for their now twelv

FOR SOME KIDS, BIRTHDAYS ARE OFTEN OVERLOOKED. Imagine that. No presents. No birthday cake. No candles to blow out. No well wishes. No celebration. That didn’t sit well with Jaime Lehman so she decided to take action. Jaime founded For Goodness Cakes, a non-profit organization that matches volunteers to make and hand-deliver birthday cakes to foster children and at-risk youth on their special day. The mission at For Goodness Cakes is to give individual youth at least one special moment that is about them. By providing a child a treat made especially for them, it gives them some much needed time to not feel the increasing pressure of their socioeconomic situation, but rather help nurture optimism and confidence at a critical age. I am sure you will find the story of Jamie’s mission to spread love, joy and frosting just as inspiring as I did. To connect with For Goodness Cakes visit www.forgoodnesscakes.org Follow Amanda at gothandglitterpastries, https://www.instagram.com/gothandglitterpastries/?igshid=

Change4Children’s was never a grand plan—just a simple idea that is growing bigger and more impactful by the day. It is the brainchild of three families, all of whom have had kids treated at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. When Jeff Kreshek’s son Eli was there for back surgery, Jeff spent four nights with him. He was always at the cafeteria getting a cup of coffee or something to eat. At the end of each day, he would throw his change in his overnight bag. “I have always been a bit of a hoarder of change and always donated it to some sort of charity,” says Jeff. “On the way home from our stay, it hit me—change for Children’s!” Jeff immediately contacted two other dads he knew, Ryan Stromsborg and Andrew Apfelberg, whose children had been helped through various illnesses and who all shared the desire to give back to the hospital. It was just mid-January of this year when the guys met and decided, “Let’s do it.” The campaign was launched in March with this simple idea: collect people’s spare change and donate i

In this episode of Dreaming of Cooperstown I share the greatest lesson I have learned thus far from my guests, the importance of grit. Listen to discover: What is grit? How grit and resilience differ. Why we need grit. Is grit available to everyone? Four keys to developing grit. The importance of our community and how it relates to grit. Grit begins with awareness and choice. More on Angela Duckworth and her book can be found at, https://angeladuckworth.com/

My guest today is Amberly Lago an expert in the field of resilience, transformation, and health and wellness. She’s the author of True Grit and Grace which tells her inspiring story of how she turned a tragedy into triumph. Amberly is a former professional dancer, athlete, and fitness trainer whose life was turned upside down in 2010 when she was hit by an SUV while riding her motorcycle. Her multiple injuries included nearly shattering her right leg and severing the femoral artery. Amberly’s doctors informed her she had about a 1% chance of saving her leg and amputation was something she needed to prepare for. Amberly chose instead to fight and endured 34 surgeries to save her leg. In the process, however, she was diagnosed with CRPS, Complex Regional Pain syndrome (or what is sometimes referred to as the suicide disease because the chronic pain is so intense). Not surprisingly, she spiraled into depression. Amberly tried anything and everything to deal with her pain and depression but nothing seemed to work

I never met Nick Fagnano but I’ll always remember the day, in 2015, when I met his father Jay. I was attending a pre-season meeting for the parents of Notre Dame High School’s baseball players. It was a baseball meeting like many I had attended before, until suddenly it wasn’t. After the usual announcements and requests for volunteers, Tom Dill, Notre Dame’s head coach, introduced Jay who, coach Dill informed us, had an announcement. Everyone in attendance grew quiet as Jay stepped to the front of the room. I think most if not everyone in the room that night were familiar with the story of Nick Fagnano, the former Notre Dame Student and baseball player, who the previous summer had tragically lost his life when a lightning storm struck Venice Beach. The lightning strike claimed 13 victims. Nick was the only fatality. Jay fought back tears as he told us of his plans for the upcoming baseball season. He would use his passion and background in food service to transform the Notre Dame Baseball Stadium concessio

Tom Bagamane is a social entrepreneur, philanthropist and educator with an impressive track record of successes in both the for-profit and nonprofit spaces. Tom founded the Giving Spirit in 1999. Twice each year the Giving Spirit delivers acute aide to our Los Angeles homeless population in the form of backpacks that contain essential items to survival. Since their founding over 15,000 volunteers have joined Tom and The Giving Spirit in their mission making it one of our nation’s largest all-volunteer organizations and together they have helped well over 50,000 souls. Tom and The Giving Spirit emphasize education and learning experiences as important pathways to making a meaningful impact. In 2016, he launched an educational platform grounded in understanding, acknowledgement and perspective – to provide insight around the process of confronting the community crisis that is homelessness in America. This is an opportunity to empower dialogue and learning for a long-term solution while continuing to provide ess

Every one of us has walked by someone who is experiencing homelessness at one time or another and looked away. Why? Because the problem of homelessness is so big and complicated. We don’t know what to do or how to help. So we keep walking. But the problem of homelessness in our communities isn’t going away. In fact, it’s getting worse. Ending homelessness won’t be easy. It will take all of us — as well as courage, passion, and a well-thought-out plan. The Rev. Andy Bales has a plan. Meet Rev. Andy Bales The Rev. Andy Bales still remembers the man who turned him into an advocate for the homeless more than 30 years ago. Bales, then a teacher at a Christian school in Des Moines, had just taught his students a lesson about Matthew 25:40: Whatever you do to the least fortunate, it’s as if you do it to God. At his part-time job minding a parking lot a few nights later, a stranger knocked on his window. The man had a dirty beard and was missing teeth. He asked for Bales’ sandwich. “Sorry, sir, I need my sandwich,” B

Welcome to episode #8 of the Dreaming of Cooperstown Podcast with my guest Eric Tozer. ERIC MADE HISTORY, BECOMING THE FIRST PERSON WITH TYPE 1 DIABETES (T1D) TO COMPLETE THE WORLD MARATHON CHALLENGE, RUNNING 7 MARATHONS ON 7 CONTINENTS IN 7 CONSECUTIVE DAYS. Eric Tozer is an endurance athlete and a diabetes ambassador who inspires the community through sports and utilizes his athletic accomplishments as a platform to be a role model in the diabetes community. Eric was diagnosed with T1D in 2006, while traveling in Europe. He had the classic symptoms of diabetes including constant thirst, increased appetite, frequent urination, blurred vision, lethargy and weight loss. Eric had always lived a very active and healthy lifestyle, so the sudden 20-pound weight loss made him aware that something was seriously wrong. Upon returning home, a visit to his doctor revealed the devastating and life changing news of his diagnosis. Eric’s life was quickly turned upside down: checking his blood sugar levels up to 10 times a

Welcome to episode 7 of the Dreaming of Cooperstown Podcast with my guest Jeff Idelson, President of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. A consummate fan of the game and its rich history, Jeff shares:  some of the important lessons he has gleaned from the induction speeches of some of baseball’s elite players His take on baseball’s status as our National pastime and how the game and American culture are inextricably linked and have grown up together, and how the Hall of Fame’s education initiatives use baseball as a platform to teach important lessons to our nation’s youth.  PRESERVING HISTORY. HONORING EXCELLENCE. CONNECTING GENERATIONS. The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is an independent, non-profit educational institution dedicated to fostering an appreciation of the historical development of baseball and its impact on our culture by collecting, preserving, exhibiting and interpreting its collections for a global audience as well as honoring those who have made outstanding contribu

Welcome to episode six of the Dreaming of Cooperstown Podcast where today I get to spend some time with Chris Dickerson. Chris is a major league baseball player who made his debut in 2008 with the Cincinnati Reds and has also played for the Brewers, the Yankees, the Orioles and the Indians. He has accomplished a lot on the diamond throughout his high school, college and major league career but he caught my attention for the impressive work he is doing to protect our planet. Chris is a man on a mission and there is a great deal we can learn from him. Learn how you can become part of Chris’ team to save the planet: http://www.playersfortheplanet.com  https://www.weareonevillage.org/ Connect on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/socalkid7

Welcome to episode 5 of the Dreaming of Cooperstown Podcast with my guest, Diane Alford, Executive Director of Miracle League. Today I am sharing the story of how a simple act of kindness started a movement that has been life-changing for over 200,000 children and their families. In 1998 a youth baseball coach, Eddie Bagwell, invited Michael, a 7-year old with a disability, to play baseball on his team. Michael in his wheelchair had attended every game and practice to cheer for his younger brother. That was the beginning of Miracle League which provides opportunities for children with disabilities to experience the joys, benefits, and lessons that come from playing our national pastime. Parents tell the stories of their children insisting on playing and describe how the thrill of playing, the cheers from the stands, and the friendships they develop make the Miracle League Field an oasis away from their everyday battles.  Presently there are over 300 Miracle League Organizations across the country including Pu

Welcome to episode # 4 and my interview with Jon Ahlquist, co-founder of the Sons of Baseball Foundation. For generations, most Saturday mornings have meant one thing in a young child’s life: baseball.  For on this day, children across the country throw on a baseball uniform, grab their mitt and bat, and travel to their community baseball field to play ball with their friends. During the week they practice, collect baseball cards, dream of one day playing in the majors, and eagerly anticipate their next game. Community based youth baseball programs epitomize Americana and provide a venue for our nation’s youth to grow strong physically, build character and learn social skills from coaches, community leaders and other positive role models, and form friendships that, in many cases, will last a lifetime. Sadly, not every child has the opportunity to experience this rite of passage.  But their absence from the lineup has nothing to do with desire, in fact, for many of these children, their love and passion for ba

Welcome to episode 3 of the Dreaming of Cooperstown Podcast and today’s guest Steve Pindar, Founder of Roberto’s Kids, a non-profit which collects baseball equipment and redistributes it to disadvantaged youth throughout the world. Steve and his wife, Lisa, were inspired by one of baseball’s greatest humanitarian’s, Roberto Clemente. Roberto Clemente was a native of Puerto Rico who became a baseball legend patrolling the outfield for the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1950s, 60s, and early 70s. Clemente was an extraordinary athlete who became the eleventh member of Major League Baseball’s exclusive 3,000 hit club. Clemente won two World Series championships, four National League batting titles, received the Most Valuable Player award, and earned twelve consecutive Gold Gloves on his way to the Hall of Fame. But, while Roberto Clemente achieved legendary baseball status on the field, to many his greatest legacy is his humanitarian work. By all accounts, Roberto Clemente was a compassionate man who loved people and