An Army of Normal Folks

Nearly 2/3 of American kids aren't reading proficiently by 4th grade. And if they don't catch up, - they're far more likely to drop out, struggle to find work, and cycle through a lifetime of limited options. Right now in the United States, 43 million adults can't read well enough to hold a basic job. This week, Bill sits down with Tony Kriz, co-founder of the Children's Literacy Project, who believes the solve for this crisis is normal folks like you. He wants you to give just one hour a week to sit with a struggling kid, read with them, and uplift them. In this episode you'll learn exactly why kids fall behind, what it takes to close the gap, and how normal folks like you can walk into a local school and make a real difference starting this week. ARMY ACTIONS Subscribe to the podcast and rate & review us! Signup to join the Army, visit NormalFolks.org Follow us on social media @ArmyofNormalFolks Join or start an ANF local service club at https://normalfolks.org/service-clubs/ Take The 10 Level Challenge, "the hero's journey for service" at 10LevelChallenge.org Support the show: https://www.normalfolks.us/#joinSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Paul Chapman spent years doing charitable work until he finally got frustrated by this: the people trying to help were often doing great work — but they were doing it in silos and too many families still weren’t flourishing.  So he built "HopeHub” to connect nonprofits, churches, law enforcement, child welfare, treatment providers, and others around the very same family, so that they could stop making families try to find help in 10 different places and start working together to empower them. What started as an effort to help 100 families has now reached more than 13,000 and in Sebastian County, Arkansas family reunification rates have gone from a statewide average of 43% to 70% for Hope Hub clients!  This innovative leader will teach you how changing the world can start with only 100 families — and why breaking down silos just might be one of the most powerful ways to change lives. ARMY ACTIONS Subscribe to the podcast and rate & review us! Signup to join the Army, visit NormalFolks.org Follow us on social media @ArmyofNormalFolks Join or start an ANF local service club at https://normalfolks.org/service-clubs/ Take The 10 Level Challenge, "the hero's journey for service" at 10LevelChallenge.orgSupport the show: https://www.normalfolks.us/#joinSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this Shop Talk, Bill and Alex dive into the odd history of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows - one of the largest organizations most Americans have never heard of. At their peak, they had over a million members and thousands of lodges across the country. They cared for widows and orphans, built hospitals, and more than 800 cemeteries. And then, slowly, they disappeared. If you've ever wondered why community feels harder to find than it used to - or why civic life seems to be quietly fading - this episode might be the most important conversation you hear this week. It's a history lesson that hits surprisingly close to home. ARMY ACTIONS Subscribe to the podcast and rate & review us! Signup to join the Army, visit NormalFolks.org Follow us on social media @ArmyofNormalFolks Join or start an ANF local service club at https://normalfolks.org/service-clubs/ Take The 10 Level Challenge, "the hero's journey for service" at 10LevelChallenge.org  Support the show: https://www.normalfolks.us/#joinSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

1 out of every 3 Americans carries medical debt. It's the #1 cause of bankruptcy in the country - and the single greatest predictor of whether you end up in it isn't your income or your insurance. It's whether or not you get sick. Allison Sesso is a normal person leading an abnormal (and awesome) nonprofit doing something about it. Undue Medical Debt has erased nearly $50 billion in medical debt for over 31 million people!  In this episode, she breaks down exactly what to do if you get a bill you can't afford, why you should never put medical debt on a credit card, how debt collectors acquire debt for pennies on the dollar, how they’ve flipped this very same model on its head to abolish debt, and how you can partner with them to erase a crazy amount of medical debt in your community. ARMY ACTIONS Subscribe to the podcast and rate & review us! Signup to join the Army, visit NormalFolks.org Follow us on social media @ArmyofNormalFolks Join or start an ANF local service club at https://normalfolks.org/service-clubs/ Take The 10 Level Challenge, "the hero's journey for service" at 10LevelChallenge.orgSupport the show: https://www.normalfolks.us/#joinSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Economic mobility has dropped 45% in recent decades. The American Dream - doing better than your parents did - is getting harder to reach. But Leigh Mansberg and Junior Achievement of Memphis and the Mid-South are doing something about it. In this conversation with Bill, Leigh breaks down how Junior Achievement uses experiential learning to unlock economic mobility for kids K-12 - and why giving a child hope might be the most important thing a community can do. This episode will change how you think about education, opportunity, and what it means to invest in the next generation. This episode is for everyone who wants to see the American Dream continue on through future generations. ARMY ACTIONS Subscribe to the podcast and rate & review us! Signup to join the Army, visit NormalFolks.org Follow us on social media @ArmyofNormalFolks Join or start an ANF local service club at https://normalfolks.org/service-clubs/ Take The 10 Level Challenge, "the hero's journey for service" at 10LevelChallenge.org  Support the show: https://www.normalfolks.us/#joinSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What if the most radical thing you could do was just show up? In this Shop Talk, Bill and Alex dive into Shane Claiborne's book The Irresistible Revolution - and the idea that changing the world has never required extraordinary people. Just ordinary ones who refuse to look away. They talk about what it really means to let your life answer the question, why the most important move you can make is toward broken places instead of away from them, and what it looks like when normal folks stop asking "why doesn't someone do something?" and start asking "what can I do?" This one isn't a call to be louder or more impressive. It's a reminder that the life you're already living might be exactly the one the world needs. ARMY ACTIONS Subscribe to the podcast and rate & review us! Signup to join the Army, visit NormalFolks.org Follow us on social media @ArmyofNormalFolks Join or start an ANF local service club at https://normalfolks.org/service-clubs/ Take The 10 Level Challenge, "the hero's journey for service" at 10LevelChallenge.org  Support the show: https://www.normalfolks.us/#joinSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Frank Schwartz is the CEO of F3 Nation, a 100,000-man volunteer led movement built around fitness, fellowship, and faith. Men at 5,000+ locations worldwide show up at 5:30am - no matter if it’s raining, snowing, or freezing - for free peer-led workouts. But the workout is just the entry point. What F3 is really doing is cultivating a brotherhood and teaching men how to lead, so they can take that home to their families and community. If you've ever felt like there has to be more than just going through the motions of life, then this episode is for you. And if there's a man in your life who needs to hear this, send it to him. Find an F3 workout near you at F3Nation.com. They’re free and open to all men. ARMY ACTIONS Subscribe to the podcast and rate & review us! Signup to join the Army, visit NormalFolks.org Follow us on social media @ArmyofNormalFolks Join or start an ANF local service club at https://normalfolks.org/service-clubs/ Take The 10 Level Challenge, "the hero's journey for service" at 10LevelChallenge.org  Support the show: https://www.normalfolks.us/#joinSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is the shorter "highlights" version of the episode. Coach Bill Courtney sits down with Chris Campbell, Executive Director of Oklahoma's 111 Project, to unpack how Oklahoma has cut the number of children in foster care nearly in half—from 11,500 to 6,000—and what communities across America can learn from their success. Rather than pointing fingers at government, Chris shares how churches, nonprofits, everyday citizens, and public agencies began working together to build practical pathways for people to help. From recruiting foster families to preventing children from entering foster care in the first place, this conversation is full of ideas that any community can adopt. Chris also shares the deeply personal moment that changed the course of his life: holding a two-day-old baby with nowhere to go. In this episode: Why America has a foster parent shortage—and the consequences for children. How Oklahoma dramatically reduced the number of kids in foster care. Why prevention is just as important as recruiting foster families. The story behind CarePortal and how a simple app is helping keep families together. Why supporting struggling families often matters more than removing children. The surprising role churches can play in solving one of America's biggest challenges. If An Army of Normal Folks each did what we can, this is one problem we really can solve. Check out the resources below! RESOURCES Learn more about 111 Project at 111Project.org | One Church, One Family, One Purpose Follow 111 Project on socials @111projectok Interested in fostering? Search for foster parent classes in your community and join them. No commitment required. Exploration is the first step.  Want to help prevent kids from unnecessarily entering foster care? Sign up for CarePortal at https://www.careportal.org/ ARMY ACTIONS Subscribe to the podcast and rate & review us! Signup to join the Army, visit NormalFolks.org Follow us on social media @ArmyofNormalFolks Join or start an ANF local service club at https://normalfolks.org/service-clubs/ Take The 10 Level Challenge, "the hero's journey for service" at 10LevelChallenge.orgSupport the show: https://www.normalfolks.us/#joinSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The number of Americans with no close friends has increased fivefold since 1990. But this isn't just a loneliness crisis. It's a community crisis. And the data suggests we may be further from fixing it than we think. In this Shop Talk, Bill dives into a striking report on the collapse of American friendship and reflects on what it reveals about the way we live today. Fewer close friends, shrinking social circles, and young men who are more likely to call their parents than a friend when life gets hard. The numbers are sobering, but the solution might be closer than you think. This one isn't just about what's broken. It's a reminder that community doesn't build itself. But, the good news is that we have the power to start building community today, right where we are. ARMY ACTIONS Subscribe to the podcast and rate & review us! Signup to join the Army, visit NormalFolks.org Follow us on social media @ArmyofNormalFolks Join or start an ANF local service club at https://normalfolks.org/service-clubs/ Take The 10 Level Challenge, "the hero's journey for service" at 10LevelChallenge.orgSupport the show: https://www.normalfolks.us/#joinSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.