Resiliency The Podcast

Welcome to a special episode of Resiliency the podcast. I am Jen Quater. I'm joined by my co host, doctor Kelly Culver. And today, we have something really special and really important to share. As many of you may have heard, my home state of North Carolina was hit by the category four hurricane Helene.

The storm came ashore on September twenty six of this year, and it carved a wide swath of devastation and destruction as it moved northward from Florida. It washed away homes. It destroyed roads, and it knocked out electricity and cell phone service for millions of people across six different states. But what you may not realize is that Helene is actually the deadliest hurricane to have hit the Mainland United States since Katrina back in 02/2005, and it has ravaged the Southeast United States. It's killed two hundred and twenty seven people as of just October tenth of this year, and more than half of them are from my home state of North Carolina in the Western part.

And there are many, many people, and it's really hard to believe as we live our lives every day, but there are many people who are still unaccounted for and can't be found. So today, as a platform of resilience and of community, we want to use this platform to get a really important message out to people, and we have found someone. You guys, I'm he's so special, and I'm so looking forward to introducing you to this man. He is the true definition of resilience. He's currently the president of the Carolina Steel Motorcycle Ministry in Statesville, North Carolina.

He has a social media following in and around the Asheville community that has allowed him to help to facilitate absolutely necessary and urgent communications and get much needed supplies to areas that still today cannot be accessed by roads. He has a depth of experience and and servitude and and as a first responder. And he knows how to get to authorities and get people connected to those that can help them the most. He is on the ground down in the Asheville region in his home of of Statesville, and that is because this is his home and it is his community. Please, I am honored to welcome mister Keith Bills.

Keith, welcome.

Thank you, Jenn.

Thank you for being here. We are honored to have you. We love the work that you're doing. We start every podcast this way. You know, we're gonna talk about something really tough, which is Helene and and this horrible devastation.

But we start with with with a a really important question, and I'm gonna throw it to doctor Kelly Culver to to to offer that to you as we kick this off.

We've heard in the introduction, you know, all of the statistics, the numbers, the details, and we know that this is a special episode because it's about Jen's home. But, you know, in the bigger thing and what you're doing, what does resiliency mean to you?

If you'd ask me, doctor Kelly, if you'd ask me what resilience means to me prior to this storm hitting Mhmm. My answer would have been totally different. It would have been, you know, wake up every day with a positive outlook and, you know, do what you can for yourself to be better today than you were yesterday. And I still wanna be that person. And, you know, now since we've had the storm and the aftermath, my whole definition of resilience has has has turned.

Now my definition of resilience is it's not what you have to offer, it's what can we offer. What can we give that person that feels like they're alone in this battle? I've been that person, with PTSD, depression, anxiety. I've been that person that that that, you know, wanted to end my own life. So, you know, I I put myself in the positions of people that today I had everything I needed.

I had shelter. I had clothing. I had food. I had comfort. And tomorrow, it's all gone, and I watched I watched it washed down a river or my loved ones.

They're they're missing an action and and it's not being reported. The resilience is when I go up to the mountains now, I've been doing a lot of work in Swannanoa, and I I've I've cried so many times when I sit back down in the vehicle and I think about what I just went through. Just watching people who have absolutely nothing, and they're standing in lines, and they're saying, I don't need that as much as my neighbor does.

Yeah.

And I'm like, you know, you really need these items to keep you warm or keep you fed, and you're refusing to take it because someone else needs it more than you. That is a true definition of resilient. You know, these guys are just standing in line waiting to unload trailers and trucks. They have nothing to go to, but they're standing there still willing to pitch in and help their community. And I'm like, that's resilience.

Ever since, you know, I was approached about doing the, the show today, I started really, you know, tracing the resilience. What's it take to be resilient? Mhmm. These these folks in the mountains, they're they're proving what resilience really is.

Keith, you are you you could not be speaking it more clearly. I mean, I I just feel North Carolina strong in what you're saying. And I want to ask you I I I wanna know more about kind of your reaction when it first hit, but I I'm I'm I'm I'm enamored with this this humanity in action, you know, this this connection and interconnectivity in action where people who have lost everything are really having a sense of of others. And so I wonder if you could share with us, and I know you have many, but is is there a story or two that you could share about this communal resilience and you seeing that in action?

Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. The day of the storm, you know, you gotta understand. Here, we're we're we're myself and my family, where we live, we're in a old farmhouse. We've got 23 beautiful oak trees in the yard.

And as I'm watching the forecast as this storm is approaching, I made the I made the the decision for my family. I'm like, look. We're going to a hotel. We're getting somewhere safe for tonight. I don't wanna treat Liam falling on us, falling on the house, the car.

You know? We just need somewhere safe. So that's what we've done. My daughter actually works in in Asheville as a as a travel nurse. So I made plans and and myself and my son-in-law, we went up and got her from work and made sure she made it home safely because the rain was already coming.

It was already here before the storm, and that's what people don't don't understand. You know, ahead of the storm, the mountains got 20 inches of rain. So that set them up for failure, and it was, like, in a twenty four hour period. So as our Friday started, 07:00 in the morning, we were getting 55 to 65 mile an hour crosswind and pouring rain, in Statesville. I'm on local fire department here, as well.

So we started answering fire call after fire call with trees down, damage, flooding. We answered 37 fire calls between eight in the morning and 03:00 in the afternoon, and that's just one side of our county. That's just West Ardo. You know, you still got South Ardo, North Ardo, the the Eastern part of Ardo County. Each department was running nonstop all day.

So that in itself is a resilient factor. We didn't stop. Our our members just kept showing up and kept cutting trees and getting them off the interstate so we could allow travel to go eastbound away from the mountains. So as as the time progressed, it got us through Saturday. We started getting reports from the mountains.

We had a hub initiated. A friend of mine named Matt, he started a hub at the local airport, so they started flying goods out to get immediate services to the mountains. By Monday, I I I told my wife, I said I need to do something. So I borrowed an 18 foot trailer. Me and my 17 year old son, we went to the airport, loaded out, and we take off.

I had another truck and trailer behind me, and all I was told was you need to go to Black Mountain. We don't have a resource there. We don't have a location. I need you in Black Mountain. I'm like, okay.

Yeah. You know, it's it's a dice game now. Where am I gonna go? You know, where where is where is the support set up? So I got the I got a huge impression to contact a, a friend of mine named Kim Minnick.

She's actually a dispatcher with our county, communications. She's from there. So I started pulling resources that day, and, Kim told me, you go to this Ingles, the shopping center. They're doing a supply chain there. Okay.

So I felt like everything that we did since that day has been inspired. It's been, it's been it's been spirit led. We took off with we made it to, Old Fort. Just we got to Old Fort, a highway patrolman come by. I hit my lights to get his attention and let him know, hey.

We got supplies. At that moment, that that trooper that normally gets a bad rap for speeding tickets and things like that, he said, when I get turned around, you follow me. Now I thought he's shut completely down going across Black Mountain because of mudslides at the top. He told me, so when I get turned around, I need you to follow me. I said, yes, sir.

So he spins around, and as he's coming back, he had 30 to 40 emergency vehicles behind him, and he slowed down and said, get behind us. So at that point in time, that's when the resilient factor come in, and that's one of the the stories started being made. We followed him. They gave us a a a an escorted ride across Black Mountain so we could get supplies dropped into Black Mountain. And once I got there and we pull a trailer up, and we we figure out where we need to position and things like that to offload, I go back and I pull the trailer down.

I pull the door down, and there's a lady standing there. And as soon as the door came open, she saw diapers and baby formula, and she hit her knees and was in tears. So I had to take a break. I had to walk away because I started tearing up because something I would take for granted, this lady was putting her livelihood on it. So, from that point, the stories have been coming in.

So many stories that that it's hard to to for me to sleep at night thinking about what I've been told about reality. We had an I had an uplifting story come to me. A friend of mine on Facebook, Matt Mobley, he calls me up one day, and he said, man, thank you for all the support you're getting us up here. You know, we're getting supplies. We're getting this, and, you know, we're getting people to come feed us.

And, you know, I just can't thank you enough. And as we're talking, he tells me a story about a a a local middle school and high school. You know, there was no way in, no way out at that point in time. Everything was kinda shut down. Tree damages, the roads were collapsed.

But these kids, you talk about Resilient. These middle school STEM students, high school STEM students constructed an antenna and was able to make contact with a helicopter. And from what I was told, the helicopter they made contact with was a United States National Guard helicopter, and they communicated that we're we have x amount of people here, and we need food. And they were able to get MREs brought in and landed around the school and and was able to feed, these people MREs until we could get more help and resources in there. If that doesn't scream resilience and thinking out of the box just to help your fellow man, I don't know what does.

I've got a friend, Travis Frizzell. I met him by contacts. I met a lady, Camille. She's doing emergency management things, and it's just been to connect the dots to to get to more dots. But she hit me up one day, and she said, Keith, you really get me a lot of supplies up here.

I really appreciate it. She said, I've got a guy in Swannanoa, and he needs a generator. I said, what okay. What what size? What what are we what are we looking at here?

She tells me he needs at least a 7,500 watt with a 50 amp breaker so he can run things to get water for his community. And, tells me he's he's cutting trees, and he's got all this equipment he's gotta take care of. And I said, give me ten minutes. I threw it on my social media, and within fifteen minutes, a local business owner hit me up. Friend of my name is Scott Tomlin.

He runs a a lucrative little business here, a little garage, tow truck service. He hit me up. He said, I've got a brand new 10,000 watt generator. It's never been fired up. Come get it.

Now we're all the way down here in Statesville. He's in Swaddano, An Hour And A Half away. They've never met each other. It didn't come down to trust. It didn't come down to a bond.

It didn't come down to, a history between two individuals. This business owner didn't look at dollar signs and decimal points. He looked at this community needs help. My definition of community is simply this. My community is anywhere that could use my assistance.

I don't go anywhere I'm not wanted or needed, but if my assistance can be can be granted and I I can provide a service, that's my community. And, so that's the word I've kinda put out on my social media that if, you know, if you've got an ounce of integrity about yourself and compassion for your fellow man, these people need help. You know? Let's go up. Let's let's turn this tragedy into a testimony.

Keith, and what a what a testimony it is. I mean, I'm on honestly, I'm I'm I'm overwhelmed truly by by the amount of resilience I see in you personally and in this community and in the way that they are responding to this. It's it's tremendous. And and what really struck me is when you talked about just in the very beginning, taking those 37 calls, you know, in in in just half of the county. And what you said is we never stopped.

We kept chainsawing trees. We kept pulling people out of the muck. We went and got the supplies. We never stopped. Try.

I I wanna ask, what does that take? You know, you mentioned you also I heard my ear picked up spirit led. And so I I know there's inspiration behind this, but what is it what does it take during these times of absolute disaster to be the person that goes out and brings that chainsaw and gets in that truck and drives up. You know, what what is it inside oneself that you are seeing?

I know I know for me, it gets really hard. It gets really emotional. I know for the last three weeks, I've been putting in about twenty hours a day, with social media and answering questions. I don't wanna leave a comment unread. I want everyone that puts a post on my a comment on my post, or leaves a question, I want them to feel like their question wasn't on deaf ears.

I need to respond in some fashion to let that person know your efforts are being noticed. So, you know, you got different elements. You got physical you know, the the physical you know, the physicality of things. You got the the the mental, and then the emotional. You know, you gotta put a stop to the emotions.

And it's kinda hard to do, and people don't understand how you do that, but I know what's going on there. I know the thousands of deaths that's not being reported right now. I I've talked to people that's lost loved ones and lost everything they've had. They look to us to hold it together. That's not easy to do sometimes.

And all I can do, is the love and support of my family. That's a big one. If you don't have support from where you lay your head, it's hard to do anything. And my family, they they just turn me loose. They're like, look.

Just just tell us where we jumping in at. But I keep telling myself for years now, and I've told all my kids, one day I won't be here. And I would like to know that my kids or my grandkids or great grandkids, if they ever Google my name, they'll see that I tried.

They'll see that you did. There's a difference. They will see that you did. And one of the things that you're that you're that you're teaching our listeners right now, you're able to compartmentalize what you need to, when you need to, to keep moving through all of the things that you need to move through. And at some point in the future, you'll open the compartment and you'll deal with it.

But you're not dealing with it right now. And that's, I think, how sometimes we're able to keep moving on in spite of the disruption, the chaos, the tragedy, the trauma that we see in front of ourselves. We just put it in a compartment because there's something deep with within us and it comes out. Sometimes some of us don't even realize we have it, that we have that strength. I call it pants of steel.

You put them on, you know, Jen laughs because I say this, and you just go out and you you're leading by that example. And so what I'm what my ears are hearing, especially with your social media, you're giving people a voice

Right.

And you're hearing people's voices. And you're connecting the two. That's so powerful.

Yeah. Right now, just to give you a ballpark, you know, my social media, it kinda grew years ago. I'm not gonna say astronomical numbers. It went from 250, three hundred followers years ago, 02/1718. And I started doing Facebook lives, and I started talking about myself as far as what I've been diagnosed with.

A lot of people don't understand. I was diagnosed in 02/2004 with post traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and, panic attacks from a police chase that I had while I was on duty. Seven children lost their lives in a police chase. And, of course, you know, you got different perspectives. And I I I you know, the old the old adage with with law enforcement sucking up buttercup.

You know, you got a job to do. You couldn't show that you had a problem. So I went, not necessarily undiagnosed, but untreated for years because of the badge and the gun, and I gotta go do my job. And, when I got out law enforcement o nine, the folks that said, hey. I got your back.

I love you. They never they wouldn't return a phone call. They wouldn't wave going past me. So that made the PTSD, the depression, different issues in my life. It made it really, really worse.

So, you know, my life took a down downward spiral. And, you know, after five failed suicide attempts and things like that, you know, you kinda look at God and go, okay. I've tried, and I'm I've I really am bad about doing this. You know? I'm I can't even in my own my own journey.

Little did I know God had another journey for me. And, when I started doing my Facebook lives and and just telling people my testimony with honesty and and, you know, transparency, I was worried that people would have things to say. And then one day, I said, you know what? I don't care what people say. I'm gonna do what I do with full transparency and with just goodness.

I I just wanna help someone and let them know they are not alone in their journey. We've I've I've I've, the best way to put it is when somebody walks up and says, hey. You don't know me, but five years ago, I wanted to end my my journey on this world. And I watched your video, and it helped me and inspired me. And now I've got off of, narcotics.

I've got away from drinking. I've become a better husband, better father. That really does something, and I'm not gonna say it. You know, it blows your head up and gives you this huge ego. With me, it's made me very humble.

It's made me very humble. It makes me accountable for things that I've said over the years on my videos, but, you know, it's truthful. So now going forward, you know, with the PTSD, diagnosis I have, like you said, compartmental, compartmentalized. I know that there's gonna be a time when all these stories come to fruition with me, and and I have to deal with those. That's why on my Facebook, if if if you look on my Facebook, there's a post that I put the other day.

This doesn't come down to politics. It doesn't come down to Republican or Democrat. It doesn't come down to how much taxes are gonna be raised next year. You know? The November is the voting season.

It don't come down to none of that. So I made a rule on my Facebook. If you're coming here for politics or negative, you need to go somewhere else. Because now it comes down to human effort going to human effort. One person, one goal, one purpose, and we're gonna get the job done.

We're digging in and, you know, we're gonna take the negative. We'll have a spin to it. I don't believe that anybody who's perished in this this this flood, I don't think their their name should should go down in vain. I think they all should be recognized. No deceased person should ever, you know, leave this world without being recognized.

So that's what we're doing now. Now our efforts are turning more to getting people placement. Last Saturday, I had a a camper donated. I took it up to Swannanoa, and I got a gentleman in a camper. This Saturday, I've got a 32 foot camper.

Excuse me. That's coming from South Carolina, two and a half hours away. Lady saw my post. She felt inspired. Now here's where it gets interesting.

She tells me the story of this camper, and she says, well, the camper actually belongs to my daughter and son-in-law. They have three autistic kids. They're not able to really use it. It's 32 foot camper. Really nice.

She said, I would like to see a family get in this. Okay. I said, I'll do my best, and I prayed over it. Prayed prayed hard on it that I would be led to the right family. Now there's mass quantities of people that don't have homes right now.

How am I gonna narrow it down to the right family? I said, well, I guess, god will tell me. I will be led to the answer. So I got many request, and I'd look and I'd talk and I'd I'd review their Facebook pages and find out where they at, what's going on. And then, the same friend, Kim Minnick, that works at communications, I put it out to her, and I said, do you know of any families that need a place?

And, she said, let me let me do some checking. Well, she sent me a name, and I contacted this person. It's a young family with, two children. The five year old is nonverbal autistic. So as I'm talking to the lady that's donating the camper, she said, well, here's the deal.

My daughter and son-in-law actually own the camper. We're purchasing it from them to donate. And I thought, man, that's that's unbelievable. I mean, that's humanitarian if I ever seen it. As I'm speaking to this lady, I'm actually from Easley, South Carolina.

You know, that's where I was born. But as I'm talking to this lady, she enlightens me that her father was originally from Pickens, which is Pickens County. It's all right there in the same seat as where I come from. And it just that just requalifies in my mind. This world is not as big as we think it is.

There's always a connection back to this place we call Earth and what we're doing here. And if we stay on the right journey, we'll get led down the right paths. And we'll just keep, you know, keep doing the good. That's all we can do.

Keith, I I love what you're saying and what you're really speaking to in this moment, and it's something that really, makes me feel very emotional is is the concept of home. You know? There the it's it's it's how you make your home. And it's interesting. I'm I'm reminded of an earlier episode of our of our podcast where we spoke with someone who was talking about the concept of home as it related to waste, and this was very different.

But she was talking about how, you know, in in society, we see our homes as these places we want to keep clean and we keep waste over here, and that creates a separation. And what she said is I would encourage you to redefine home. And I think that what you've done is you've redefined home. Your home, from what I hear, is all of these people from from where you were born to where you now live, and it's a network. I see it as, you know, what was the old back in the eighties that everyone heal the world and and held hands.

You know? But there there's a visual in that in that actual connection of people coming together, and that is where where real magic and real resilience comes from.

Absolutely. I

wanna ask and and this may be a tough one, but but I think it's so important because you've spoken to you know, look, I'm I'm a PR person. Okay? And so I can speak to the media, and all I can say is that the media is they like the next shiny thing. You know? And so so I watched how how they went ran from one, and then they went right to the Milton, and then they're on to the next because that's their job.

But the truth is that there are these stories that people have to understand in order to in order to know to help, in order to donate that camper, in order to help these people. Keith, you shared a story with us that was quite harrowing right before we began the recording. In in the effort of of making sure people understand it, I wonder if you'd be willing to share that story with us so that people know the reality of what is still happening in Western North Carolina.

Oh, yeah. Definitely. Definitely. You know, you you touched on the media. I'm I'm a I'm definitely a PR person when it comes to media.

I believe that the word can get out, if we get the word out in the proper way, that all truths need to come to light. And, I'm I'm a truth I'm a truth person. You know, if if the kettle's black, we call the kettle black and leave it alone. The truth behind all this is, the storm hit us on a Friday, And, and I don't wanna make us governmental, you know, push or or pull political, but it was three days minimum before we saw any kind of federal aid here, any kind of federal vehicles, anything. So people are already excited.

They were already annoyed, when the when FEMA started showing up and things like that. So when you try to put these fires out in order to keep help progressing and then, you know, something else gets thrown in the way. You know, these people really felt like they're being let down. Our volunteers, our state volunteers. I mean, I live right here by Interstate 40 An Hour away.

And every day, every day that goes by, I see fire trucks, police cars, rescue vehicles. I see truckloads of supplies going up 40 heading west to the mountains every day. It hasn't slowed down in that aspect. You know, I've heard story after story after story. I've talked to people on the ground that told me I got woke up, by this this this tremendous sound.

It was like thunder. And when I looked out, it was a mudslide. I didn't have time to get away from it. You know? I jumped out the house, and my house disappeared.

The story I shared just before we went live, or I went on the, on the podcast here. From what I understand, there were some linemen, walking walking a trail, walking through the woods, checking the, lines, what they were supposed to do. And supposedly, these linemen were told prior to. Now you may run across something out there that you don't wanna see. You know?

You know? We still are missing people. Supposedly, these linemen come up, and there's a, a gentleman that's about shoulder deep in the mud. And this mud, you gotta understand, this mud's about 15 foot deep in most places up there on the mudslides. I mean, it's thick Carolina dirt mud, and it's like concrete.

But supposedly, they were starting to to to recover and get him out of the mud, and he said, leave me here. I don't wanna I don't wanna be rescued. I wanna go. And they were telling him, look. You know?

We need to get you out. People's getting recovered, and and this guy kept repeating to him that, you know, look. My family's gone. I don't wanna be here. I just wanna go.

And, they tried to reassure him that, there was people being recovered every day, and that his family may have been recovered. And he said, not my family. I know they're gone. And he said, well, how do you know that for sure? And from what I understand The line men were told, they stopped tapping my leg three days ago.

They're underneath me. So, these are things that our our people's having to deal with. And I go up there with the the mindset of a debriefer, because that's my title. Technically, at the fire department, go in traumatic situations and try to add some comments to the, the the the chaotic, so to speak. But when you go up there and you start talking to these people, and they feel like they don't have any backing from the government now, they don't they don't wanna leave their land.

They don't wanna lose what they have, and they're they're they're they're scared. They're they are 100% in fear that if they walk away to get shelter somewhere else, the government's gonna come in and take what they own. So not only do you have the traumatic event, now you got the fear or intimidation that I'm gonna lose absolutely everything. You know, not only gonna lose my property, I'm gonna lose my land. I'm gonna lose what I've had for hundreds of years up here.

And, you know, it's a different it's a different, it's a different pace here now. And I've had to explain it to people because people are getting angry now. There's a lot of folks around here getting angry that we're still hearing about this. Oh, I get angry when I hear that because it's still a traumatic event that's ongoing and will be ongoing. And I've had to explain to people.

I'm like, look. Let me let me explain it the best way I can. I said, imagine getting cut. You get cut accidentally, whatever. You get cut.

You've got you've got a visible wound. Well, the first thing that people wanna do, they wanna apply first aid. So hurricane Helene was our was our cut. It was traumatic, and everybody's jumped on, and they're wanting to provide that first aid and and and take care of business and help. But what happens is after the first aid's been given, then you got a covered wound.

And after time, you know, people take the bandages off. Okay. Well, the wound is the wound is healing. It's good. Let's rip the Band Aid off, and let's move forward.

And that's what people are doing now. We have the we have the trauma. We have the first responders. And now people's like, okay. They got all the help they need now.

Now it's almost like, well, the Mount Mountains just got construction going on now. And that's not the case. That's not the case. We've got people that feel like I've donated a case of water. I've done my part now.

Be quiet with it, and let me go back to my normal life and go have fun. And and it's hard for me to do that. Like I said, I I drive an hour and a half to the mountains. I'm going there. When I get done with the podcast today, I'm actually going to my house, load up a ton of wood, and I'll be taking it to Spruce Pine.

We've got some elderly people up there that need wood. I've got it. It's been donated. You know, resources have just been amazing. But I've got the wood.

I'm a load it up, and I'm taking it up the mountain so these people can stay warm tonight. It's snowing there. So, you know, go back to scripture. You know, a couple things come to mind. One, we're commanded.

Feed my sheep. You know? And I tell people all the time, they're like, why do you keep doing these things? Why do you keep taking on these struggles of other people? And I said, you know what?

It's really easy. It's really easy. I was once the one that was lost. I didn't care about God. I didn't care about the birth of Jesus Christ.

I didn't care about none of that. I cared about ending my journey, and he showed me he was real in a very powerful way, I might add. So I was the one that was lost, and I tell people all the time I'm still looking for the one. No matter how many people I've I've tried to help or or actually confirmed help, I'm still looking for the one. You know, I was commanded, me personally, feed my sheep, and it's my responsibility.

If I've got it, they can have it. You know, and that's that's the big thing. And really, ironically yeah. I'll be I'll be honest with you guys. It's been very emotional for me because where I'm sitting at right now, it's just a little store that's down the road from my house.

I made it this far before I pulled over to let's do it just do it here. But, anyway, I was on my motorcycle, and that's when I really get in deep thought. I pulled in the same parking lot two days before the storm, and I felt impressed that I needed to do a Facebook Live video. And I didn't know what. I just felt impressed.

Something needed to be sent. Now the sun was shining. The wind wasn't blowing. Everything was great. I pulled over here, and I parked.

I got me something to drink, and I walked down. I said, alright. I'm supposed to do a, you know, this live video. What am I gonna talk on? I'm like, you know what?

I'll figure it out. So I hit the live button. And as I began talking, it came out that we as individuals around any state, we will take our finances. We will put them in investments and hope for a big return. We buy properties hoping to double our money on a house flip.

We buy, you know, a car hoping that it holds the value so we trade it in. We get our money back. So we do all these things within with the with the mindset that I'm making an investment. We go to our nice homes. We have nice clothing.

We got nice vehicles of which we own absolutely nothing. Even if I got the title, like, right here, this is the title to my Harley Davidson. I don't own it. Every year, I have to pay taxes and redo my license plate. If I don't, the state will seize my property at some point, auction it off for what I owed them for what I already own.

So at the end of the day, the only thing we own is two things. I own my time, and I own my love. Why wouldn't I make an investment of my time to get my largest return of love. It cost me nothing.

Keith, you've just nailed a fundamental truth of resilience and life and happiness, and I, boy, I'm glad I know you. I mean, really, you the stories you've told today are not only of your own survivorship, but the survivorship of of an of an entire region and an entire group of people. And what I hear in that is clarity that the whole is more important than the one.

Absolutely.

And and it's also clarity that, you know, like and this is something that's really hard to see when you are in your comfortable house and your car and all that, but that life is worth it even with nothing. And in fact, as we have heard today, there's a sweetness that enters. And I I mean, don't get me wrong. There's a bittersweetness here too. There is suffering and there is sadness, but there is a sweetness in the people who are giving.

And just as you say, when you give, it you when you give, you receive. That is karmatic. It is energetic. It is universal law. And so there there is a a real beauty, you know, that I see across this this, you know, and I I I really wanna ask because I feel very connected to what you're doing.

What what can be done? You know, I I sit here in California. Doctor Kelly Culver is up in Canada and often at 20 other countries across the world. What can we do? Where where can we send funds or supplies?

What what can others do right now to help the people of Western North Carolina?

Well, there's a there's a big push right now. A lot of people are still wanting to do supplies, and I've got several people that are are sending small things into my house. You know, just just smaller things, you know, small blankets and things like that. I'm taking those so I can we have a nailed down address. Once things all come in, I'll be taking loads up to the mountains dropping things off.

Right now, we got a big push going for campers. People that have old campers sitting around, they're not using them. You need it out of your yard. You know? Instead of banking a thousand dollars, you could put two or three or four people in this little camper that may not be much to you, but it's shelter.

It's warmth. It's somewhere they can say, this is where I live now. So we're doing a big push for donated campers. You know, people have asked, hey. Will you take a donation for for your efforts?

In the beginning, I was like, no. I don't want anything. I don't want nothing donated to me. I don't want no money. I don't want nothing.

But then I started looking after 15 full tanks of gas on a Chevrolet Tahoe. It hits the bank account pretty hard. So I told my wife, I said, you know, if people wanna give to to help with fueling the vehicle to get us up and down the mountains, that's absolutely great. I actually put it on my Facebook page. Hey.

If you'd like to give to throw money in a gas tank, I'll gladly accept it because we're gonna burn the roads up. You know, one trip up, one trip back, that's a full tank of gas pool and a camper. So, you know, that's gladly accepted. As far as supplies go, we need heaters. The little buddy heaters.

They can be bought purchased at, I think, Home Depot, Lowe's, outdoor stores, things like that. We need the ones that take the little small propane tanks. Excuse me. You know, we got a supply of warmth for these people. You know, that's what we're really pushing for right now.

You know, anything warmth related and winterizing, you know, for these people, that's what we're going for. And, of course, you know, like I said, things have been shipped into my house. That way I know exactly okay. We've got x amount of this. Let me take it up.

And I I keep contacts with my folks up in the mountains and let them know what I've got coming in. Prayers. People say, you know, what's a prayer gonna get you? A lot coming from the right person.

I like it.

Like you said, you know, like you said, it's it you know? I tell people all the time when we do when we do these events, these motorcycle events, you know, people look at us. You know, you you see, you know, that I'm not going gray. You know, guys, please. I'm going chrome.

Cool. So Look

at me. Look at me. Yeah.

See you. No. I don't. We bankers don't get old and get gray. We just go chrome, just to to be an exactly.

So I tell people these things, and that's the response we get. You know? Normally, when I start my videos out, it's uplifting. It's it's enlightened. If you if you guys hadn't seen my Facebook page, my videos, it starts off with, hey, folks.

So it's now been labeled the hey, folks experience, because it when we started, it's hey, folks. And it's a big smile and a good mood. But I tell people all the time, you know, people's perceptions is what stops progress. And when they ask me, what do you mean by that? I'm like, if you are judging me based on what I ride, how I look, the clothing that I wear, then you're missing the mark.

You'll never hit the target. You'll never hit the bull's eye because most motorcycle groups, clubs are the most giving individuals you'll ever find in your life. Matter of fact, we have, the Outlaw Club here, the Statesville House. Great bunch of guys, but they get mislabeled because of the reputation and what people have to say about them and their perceptions. I have one of their members hit me today, and he said, Keith, love what you're doing.

We wanna be a part of this and let people know that the outlaws are doing their part. I got you a camper. Here's the address. It's a pop up. It's ready to go, and I've got a ton of clothes coming to you.

So it doesn't matter what walk of life you are. It doesn't matter your sex, your religion, what, what what race you are. It all comes to, you know, where you're at. I I've I've asked people before, you know, how big is this space we're in? You know, Jim, how big is the room that you're in?

How much space do you have, doctor Kelly? How much space do you have to understanding? And people look at me and go, what do you mean by that? And I I have to explain it to them. The only space of understanding of where you're at is 12 to 14 inches.

And I'm like, what do you mean? From the center of your brain to the center of your heart is about 12 to 14 inches. When you link the two together, you're unstoppable. Nothing can nothing can stop what you wanna do and what needs to be done.

When you link your brain and your heart, you're unstoppable. Keith, that is you you, sir, are unstoppable. And I and I wanna say I'm so amazed that I'm excited to watch more of the Hey Folks videos because what I love about I like I love what you bring is, you said, a big smile and and happiness. And I heard you in the beginning. Your your resilience is to face the day with laughter and positivity, and at the same time, really bring these these much needed supplies.

I I I I wanna just I I can't thank you enough. I also wanna say I wanna speak for just a quick moment to what you said about stereotypes because I think it's important. And you mentioned, you know, we motorcycle guys. You may think we're the we're we're we're this or that, but we actually are the tenderest little cookies in the box. Our our firm here in Orange County, we represent a a rescue mission that helps the homeless, and they needed diapers.

They had a diaper drive, and we we got television coverage of it all over all the bikers of California, they organized this huge diaper drive. They got more diapers than that rescue machine had ever seen.

Absolutely.

I love it. I I I think that there is something so beautiful in the message you shared with us today about the the purity of the human spirit. You know, it doesn't matter whether we're chrome or red or whatever we got going on. It really doesn't matter. And and, honestly, it doesn't matter what diagnosis we may face.

It doesn't matter that that that that the emotions that may be riddling us, which are, as as doctor Kelly mentioned, you're compartmentalizing and there will be times you'll face it. But all of those things that course through us at the end of the day, we are humans, and we are humans sharing this experience. And I just I'm I'm grateful to know that you are around. So I'll tell you right now before we turn I'm turning it over to doctor Kelly for rapid fire questions, but I wanna let our listeners know that if you are like me and you are sitting in your home and you would like to help, please look to the show notes. We are gonna be putting in all the links, all the information from Keith and and all of his ministry to make sure that all of the right supplies for winterizing and keeping people warm are reaching these people.

So I just wanna thank you again for what you're doing for the people of North Carolina and just say I I love where you sit. I my my daddy lives in Statesville right now, as you know. You know him well. Oh, yeah. Me and my husband when me and my husband go out and visit, we we often go to Asheville.

My heart is with those people. So I just I I'm so personally touched and and honored that you could bring your positivity, your resilience, and and your heart to to us today. Thank you, Keith.

Thank you. Thank you. I was just gonna add real quick, just to to wrap things up in its entirety. People put labels on people, and people adjust to a label that's been given. That's the the label that's been given to me.

I was diagnosed with spinal stenosis, and I have no little to no fluid on the right side of my spine going from my neck. So they placed me on disability, too young for surgery, just pain associated nerve damage, things like that. I've been, I've been told by numerous people. They don't know why I'm still walking unassisted. I do.

I absolutely know why. Job ain't done. Job ain't never gonna be done. We gotta keep moving forward. Thank you for having me on the show today.

It's been, it's been enlightening and fun. Can't say enough good things about it.

It. Well, you know what? I'm hearing about the Hey Folks experience. I'm hearing the three s's, security, safety, and stability. And that's what you're doing.

You're giving people security. You're providing them safety so you can help them bounce back to some kind of stability. And it's just wonderful work. So now are you ready?

Let's go.

Okay. So what's your favorite movie or TV show that makes you feel resilient?

Just watched it last night, The Terminal, Tom Hanks.

Alright. How about your favorite song that makes you feel resilient?

Jelly Roll. I am not okay.

Yes. Amazing.

Sorry. I've had a little happy dance here. Okay. What's the last thing that made you laugh?

My three year old granddaughter this afternoon.

Mhmm. Tell us. Tell us. Tell us.

She had to tell me about her day, but she had to include that she was a princess of our county and other counties and that, she would be the king at some point.

Oh, you got a sparkle princess. Oh, you got a sparkle princess.

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. We got our hands full.

Good luck, my friend.

Oh, absolutely.

Oh my goodness. I love it. Oh, so what's one question that you would like to leave for a future guest?

That's a good one. One question I would leave for a future guest. Have you done any good today? Oh, man.

Yeah.

I look. If I had a lighter, I would light it up and start just going back and forth with it. Killer question, Keith Bills. Killer question. Alright.

I've got one for you, and I think I might even know the answer, but I'm gonna ask it anyway. This is a past guest question for you. And I hope that this I hope this does for you what it's gonna do for me when you answer it because I know it's gonna be a positive. Is what you, Keith Bills, is what you are doing today truly feeding your soul?

Bubba. I've been fed more by the spirit than I could ever be fed by actual food or beverage.

Praise. Yes. I put my hand up, and I say thank you. Keith Bills, thank you. Thank you for what you're doing for Western for Western North Carolina.

Thank you for your dedication in the police force as a firefighter. Thank you for your service, and thank you for teaching us today a lot about resilience. I'm grateful to know you. Please tell our listeners where they can get the Hey Folks experience. How can they find you online and follow you?

Real simple, folks. If you're watching the podcast today, thank you for tuning in. These ladies are awesome. Jen, your husband, he is amazing guy. He needs a a great dinner tonight.

Look forward to seeing you guys later down the road. God, if you, if you like some things you heard today, just as general audience to the show, if you like what you heard today from from myself, you can look me up. It's real simple. My Facebook is Keith Bills, k e I t h. Last name, b I l l s.

Very simple as that. No subscription needed. It's a free page. You drop in, say hello. And if you need just somebody to say, I'm glad you're here, I'm that guy for you.

Look me up, and you'll I guarantee you, along the journey, you'll hear a, hey, folks, and it will uplift you and brighten your day. We try to keep things upbeat, positive, and truthful. Don is the one in control. He is in so much control that he gave us his only son, to show us the way and and and the why. He gave us the light.

Going to this Christmas season, guys, keep the spirit with you that somebody else may have less than you. You don't have a bad day. You determine the day you have.

Amen, Keith. Amen. You don't have a bad day. You determine the day you'll have. Keith Bills, I thank you.

Ladies and gentlemen, to all of our listeners, we thank you for joining us for this very special episode. We hope that you will look at the show notes, donate what you can, become involved in our resilience community. If you have enjoyed this episode and if resilience is important to you, we hope you will subscribe to us on YouTube, like us on any of the channels that you're listening. That support does help us. It helps us keep this community going and this conversation going.

You can find me online at Jenquader, j e n n q u a d e r, on all the social medias at Jenquader.com or at my company, thesmartagency.com. You can find our incredible, brilliant, wonderful cohost, doctor Kelly Culver. She is at doctor Kelly Culver on LinkedIn and Instagram. You can also find her at her company, theculvergroup.ca. That's .caforCanada.

And then finally, with a word, resilience is something that it it's not easy. It's really it takes so much work, and it takes so much dedication, and we need these hands held from North Carolina to California to Canada to wherever you may sit today. I wanna say that I send you our love, and that resiliency the podcast is the place for stories and strategies and inspiration on how to embrace change, overcome challenges, and redefine resilience in today's ever evolving world. We thank you for being here with with us. We wish you resiliency and love, and we look forward to seeing you again on our next episode.

Thank you.