The BeHeard Movement Hosts Its First Pop-Up Care Village in Tulsa, Oklahoma
July 28, 2022
The BeHeard Movement brings essential care services to the streets of Tulsa, Oklahoma
Backstory
Evan J. Dougoud's experience with childhood family trauma and couch surfing as a young adult led him to dedicate his life to helping others. He first started as an outreach specialist for Youth Services of Tulsa, and then became a case worker for the Mental Health Association of Oklahoma. These experiences gave him the expertise to start his own organization and founded the BeHeard Movement in October 2020.
After coming across LavaMaeˣ on social media and learning about its Pop-Up Care Villages, Evan was inspired to host his own and joined the LavaMaeˣ 1:1 Mentorship program in July 2022 and hosted its first event in the same month.
How LavaMaeˣ Helped
Since joining the program, Evan and LavaMaeˣ consultant Sam Reardon hit the ground running. Sam walked Evan through our Pop-Up Care Village toolkit, sharing every resource and tool we have to develop a successful event. Sam walked through everything from program materials, signage, site logistics, safety protocols, and promoting team building.
One result of Sam’s consulting was the creation of “Truck Talks” where the BeHeard team sets time aside to discuss direct service debriefs, burnout and compassion fatigue, sharing vicarious trauma resources and practices, and best de-escalation tactics on a bi-weekly basis. They also created an internal “Be Whole, Be Unified” program where staff get together on a quarterly basis for team building and socializing.
The BeHeard team also participated in the virtual LavaMaeˣ Radical Hospitality event on its community platform where they learned about the pillars of making guests feel seen, how to build trust, and how to create a seamless guest-centric event experience.
Impact & Results
The Pop-Up Care Village was hosted in July 2022.
Guests served: 580
Partners activated: 67
Volunteers recruited: 55
Signature Story
“In my previous career, I was a security guard and met a lot of people who were experiencing homelessness over time. One of the gentlemen I met was a former police officer, he was suffering from alcoholism and depression. He told me that he was diagnosed with cancer and didn’t have long to live. It hurt my heart to hear his story and to see the challenges that he faced. One month later I got a new job and was no longer at that location. I drove by a couple of times to see if he was okay but didn’t see him for at least a year. I thought he passed away; but then at the BeHeard Pop-Up Care Village while I was DJing, I saw him walking up to get services and I greeted him with the biggest hug ever. I was so glad to know that he was okay and still in the community. I have to give a shout-out to BeHeard for giving me a reunion with a lot of people I encountered as a security guard.”
~ Quote from a thankful community partner
