Carla Cox

Act 1 · Cold open

Forty Nights Was Early

0:00-1:30

"I need to hear how this ends."

ASK If that couple's forty nights made you want to know what it usually takes, subscribe now, because that's what Carla and I are about to get into.

Act 2 · Before

Neighbors Down on Their Luck

1:30-9:00

"This is a real person. I know someone like this."

Your tie Carla and I know each other through our partnership at HPM, working to help the people who need healthcare the most, with quality insurance and the government programs that can help them.

1. 1★ MUST ASKCarla, a couple who'd been without a home for eight years got the keys to their own apartment after about forty nights on the Center's bus, and you told Spectrum News you never usually see success that early. Take me back to when you were studying sociology at UCF. What pulled you toward this work, and toward the Center?
2. 2Then you got to the Center's front door. What did the classroom tell you about homelessness that the front door proved right, or proved wrong?
3. 3Take me to your first week at the Center. What did you see walking in that you still remember?
4. 4The Center once wrote that you see the people who walk in as neighbors who are down on their luck and need some warmth. Where does that come from for you?
5. 5Your work runs on warmth, and you also went to Rollins for business school and talked about measuring outcomes instead of just handing out help. Help me understand how those two fit together.

IF THEY GO THERE

PLANT What's something about this work you've never said in an interview? (after her first week at the Center)

Act 3 · The climb

Not Enough Indoor Space

9:00-21:00

Tension. "How did they get through that?"

1. 6★ MUST ASKWhat's a hard day at the Center you still think about? You pick which one, and start wherever you want.
2. 7In the 2024 heat you told Spectrum News you don't have enough indoor space for everyone, all day, every day. What does a day like that look like from where you're standing?
3. 8Spectrum counted up to five hundred people a day back in 2024. What does a normal day look like now, and is it even possible to make one person feel seen in a crowd like that?
4. 9How can you tell when someone who walks in doesn't trust you yet? What do they do, or not do?
5. 10A lot of people show up wanting to help. Where have you seen help go wrong, and what did it look like?
6. 11If there's been a stretch where you thought about walking away from this work, what kept you in the seat?

IF THEY GO THERE

PLANT What happens to an agent who shows up once, makes a promise, and never comes back? (after she describes help going wrong)

Cue After that answer, count to three before you say anything.

Cue Recap what she actually said in Q6 and Q9.

ASK Carla told us where she's seen help go wrong. What's the first question you'd ask a nonprofit before you offered to help? Tell me in the comments.

ASK If you want to hear how that couple actually got their keys, subscribe now, because that's where we're going next.

Act 4 · The turn

Consistency in a Life With None

21:00-31:00

"Oh. That's what I've been doing wrong."

1. 12★ MUST ASKYou've said you don't have room for everyone, all day, every day. That couple still got their keys after about forty nights on the bus. What made the difference for them?
2. 13Back in 2021 you said offering consistency is really critical in a life that has no consistency. What does consistency actually look like on a normal Tuesday at the Center?
3. 14Eric Gray at the Center has said people stabilize fast with just a couple of good nights' sleep in a row. Why does the same bed, night after night, matter so much?
4. 15Think of one person who walked in not trusting anybody and later did. No names. Take me to the moment you saw it change. What did they say or do?
5. 16What do most people believe about the folks who walk through your door that you think is flat wrong?
6. 17Where does health coverage fit in for the people who come through your door? What do they run into?
7. 18If an agent called you tomorrow wanting to help the people who come through your door, what's the first thing you'd want them to do, and what should they never do?
8. 19Say that agent shows up. What should they ask your team before they ever bring up a plan?
9. 20How many times would they need to show up before the folks who come in start to know their face? Give me a real number.
10. 21You work with partners like the city and like us at HPM. What's the fastest way an outside partner loses your trust?
11. 22If you had to explain what consistency does to someone who's never done your work, what's it like?
12. 23Let me read back what I think I'm hearing, and you correct me. With people whose lives have had no consistency, trust comes from showing up the same way, again and again, so an agent should start with one partner like you and keep coming back on a set schedule. Is that right, or what would you change?

IF THEY GO THERE

PLANT Where was that couple a year before the bus, and where are they now? (right after her answer to 12)

Callback Brenda Powell spent four and a half years as a caseworker at a homeless shelter in DeLand, and she told us the trust built and built and built. That's the same thing Carla's describing.

ASK If what Carla just said about that couple hit you, hit like. (use it here only if this is the big answer)

Act 5 · The close

For the Agent Who Wants to Show Up

31:00-38:00

Respect, and a push to act.

1. 24★ MUST ASKBack in 2021, the Center shared your hope of ending chronic homelessness downtown over the next fifty years. What has staying in this work cost you, and what keeps you coming back?
2. 25Earlier we talked about a hard day you still think about. Where do you stand with this work today, and with that fifty-year hope?
3. 26Somebody's listening right now who wants to help the people who need coverage most and has no idea where to start. What do you want to say to them?
4. 27If the Carla who was studying sociology at UCF walked into the Center today, what would you tell her?
5. 28Here's what I'd tell an agent: by Friday, call one local nonprofit that serves people in need, ask what their people run into with health coverage, and book a day to come back. Give me the Carla Cox challenge. What would you change?
6. 29Who showed up for you when you needed it most, and did you ever get to tell them?
7. 30What question do you want to leave for our next guest?

IF THEY GO THERE

PLANT If you had to put everything we've talked about today in one sentence for an agent who wants to help but doesn't know where to start, what would it be? (after her answer to 27, before the challenge)

Book In my book I wrote, retention isn't a renewal problem. It's a presence problem. That's Field Entry 7.

Cue Every guest leaves a question for the next person in this chair. You're the first, so this one's from me.