Josh Hershberger has always felt a dual calling: to serve the church and to make a difference in public life. As an attorney, teaching pastor, and general counsel for the Indiana Family Institute, he has spent years at the Statehouse, and he has seen something rare open up in Indiana.

This week on We, Plural., Josh and Lisa talk about what it looks like to steward that moment. Josh shares how Lake County cut its foster care caseload by more than half through partnership between DCS and local churches, and how that model is now being carried into ten of Indiana's hardest-hit counties through roundtables and working groups.

They also dig into why charity has to do more than make us feel good. Josh talks about benefit cliffs that hold people back, a growing national push for "navigators" who help families find their way through more than a hundred federal programs, and a new effort to connect Indiana's faith-based recovery ministries so they stop working in silos.

In this episode:

• The "Joseph moment": what Genesis 50:20 has to say about church and government working together
• Why Indiana's governor named foster care, addiction, and mental health as the state's biggest challenges
• How Lake County cut its foster care cases by more than half through community collaboration
• "Leave your ego, bring your logo": roundtables in ten Indiana counties
• A Home for Every Child, and a federal official who says "we need your help"
• Benefit cliffs, dignity, and doing charity better
• Navigators, the Hope Hub, and the idea that poverty is a lack of connection
• Connecting Indiana's faith-based recovery ministries

Learn more about the Indiana Family Institute: https://hoosierfamily.org/

Help a vulnerable child now: https://www.careportal.org/

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Liz Stirn has spent 17 years in community mental health, starting as a school-based therapist bridging the gap between home and school, then moving into program development and leadership. Two years ago she took a leap of faith and launched her own consulting practice, Guided Vision, supporting school-based mental health in rural and urban communities. This week on We, Plural., she sits down with Lisa to make the case that mental health is community health.

Liz explains why a family without reliable food, housing, transportation, or child care can't simply "get help," and why a food pantry open only from 10 to 2 doesn't serve someone who works until 5. She and Lisa talk about why stigma persists even as we talk about mental health more than ever, what the pandemic and rising childhood trauma have meant for kids in school, and why more conversation only helps if it leads to real change shaped by the people who live in the community.

They also dig into what gives Liz hope: messy, honest conversations where people bring different expertise and lived experience to the table. She talks about the silos created when every nonprofit chases the same grant, what happens when good programs lose funding, and how the Kendrick Foundation and the Morgan County Mental Health Task Force are bringing more than 100 people together around community mental health. And she shares the idea that drives her work: data with a soul, because the numbers only matter alongside people's stories.

Learn more about Liz and Guided Vision: https://www.guidedvisionllc.com

More information about The Kendrick Foundation: https://kendrickfoundation.org/

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Mike David was 27, four years and five jobs out of college, when he took an assistant tournament director role at Indiana Golf. Within a year he was running it, and 36 years later he still is. This week on We, Plural., Lisa sits down with Mike to talk about how a former Ball State golfer who thought he was done with the game helped build Indiana Golf into a hub for the sport statewide, with five golf organizations working together under one roof.

Mike explains why that cooperation, which began when Indiana's amateur and professional golf groups joined forces in 1972, is so unusual, and why he thinks other states should take note. He also tells how Alice Dye's concern for First Tee Indianapolis led Indiana Golf to bring First Tee under its foundation 13 years ago. Today First Tee reaches about 125,000 Indiana kids a year through 19 communities, 85 golf courses, and 350 elementary and middle schools, using golf to teach honesty, patience, perseverance, and sportsmanship.

He and Lisa also talk about PGA HOPE, a program offering free lessons and play days to veterans, some of whom say it saved their lives. And they talk about why golf is more accessible in Indiana than most people think, how COVID brought a new wave of players to the game, and why golf is truly the sport of a lifetime.

Learn more about Indiana Golf and the impact they're making at indianagolf.org

Connect with We, Plural.
Website: weplural.com
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