Jason Dana Costa 0:00

Hi, welcome to Worth the Work with Jason Dana Costa. Today's guest is Abdul Rachman Muhammad, who is the founder of My People Clinical Services and the CEO of My People Community Service, who has over 20 years dedicating his life to strengthening families, supporting mental health, and building programs that create lasting impact in the greater Hartford, Connecticut community. And I just found out some of his work is doing things with foster care families, which is something very endearing and personal to my life. Abdul, welcome to the program. Jason, thanks for having me on. I really appreciate it. Thank you. We appreciate it. So here at Worth the Work, we try to connect your family of origin or the lessons you learned when you were younger and how that sort of translated into your leadership and your work, particularly translating how fathers connect with their families, I thought was just so amazing. So I'd love to know what did you learn growing up about taking care of your people and how has it shaped the leader you became?

Abdul-Rahmaan I. Muhammad 1:01

Well, the lessons I learned primarily were from my dad. My dad was a social worker. What's interesting, you started talking about fatherhood because he was a social worker like I am. Even though I tried to do a hundred other things, everything came back to social work. And I think that watching him in the community, watching him interact with different people, it just made me want to be kind of like him. And so I what I learned from him is just to be connected to people, to be compassionate, to care about the people, to love the people. And I think that by seeing him, it helped me inform the way that I do my work and how I became a leader over time.

Jason Dana Costa 1:40

So you founded My People Clinical Services in 2005. What happened at that point that made you think that this organization needed to come into existence?

Abdul-Rahmaan I. Muhammad 1:50

Yeah. I mean, I was young. I was kind of a little bit ambitious, a little crazy, but I really just wanted to be able to do my own thing. I told myself, I said, if I could just make enough money to live my life that I was currently at, I'd be very happy because I felt like sometimes, you know, you work in systems and you have to do everything a certain way. And I felt like the community needed us to be able to do things the way that they needed. And so I wanted to just take a risk and be able to really kind of like help my people, help our people in a way that I thought that they could benefit from that was different from just the box that we typically were in.

Jason Dana Costa 2:30

So tell my listeners, what does My People Clinical Services do? Because we've just said the name, but what's it doing to impact the community of Hartford?

Abdul-Rahmaan I. Muhammad 2:38

Yeah, My People Clinical Services does a variety of services. We do therapy, we provide support to young adults and helping them in their transition to adulthood and figuring out what they're going to do with their lives. We also have My People Community Services where we, you know, do supportive housing. We have our the Manhood Tree program, our Life at the High School program. All of our work is really to help people succeed, to help people to do better, to be help people to reach their goals. We want to remove the barriers that are in the way of them being able to be successful. And so that's what we primarily do, no matter the population. Primarily we work with young adults, men, women, but our goal is really to remove the barriers out the way so that they can be successful in their lives and have the life that they desire.

Jason Dana Costa 3:28

It sounds so near to an organization I used to work with called the U.S. Dream Academy, which was helping kids to break the cycle of intergenerational incarceration. And we had three pillars at the time, which was skill building, which was learn your math and your reading mentorship program. We were trying to connect, particularly minority men, to a program. So they had an excellent role model of what to live up to. But it also sounds we connect very similarly to what we call dream building, which was I like to call it the phrase, give them a fine reputation to live up to, that thing that they never thought they could do, that is in fact obtainable, that they could do. I love it. Oh yeah, we loved it. One of my favorite programs, we used to fly the kids from some of the at-risk neighborhoods, like say Watts LA, because people know that one, and fly them to some of the historical black colleges just so they could be steeped in a community that seemed familiar and went, well, if they can make it, you can make it. That kind of thinking. But I just I believe so strongly. I bet you we should have a kinship in that regard. And I want your mission. Your mission said, My people, your people, our people. So fantastic. Where did you come up with that philosophy personally?

Abdul-Rahmaan I. Muhammad 4:38

Because it just gave me goosebumps. To enable my people to help your people so our people will succeed. And so what we want to do is we start off with my people because everybody loves their people. And so that that's the foundation of it. I love my people. And so I want to see my people succeed. So the thought process was if we could get with my people, and then maybe you and I, Jason, can help your people. And then both my people and your people, we work together so that our people will succeed. You know, when I started my people, I was kind of like, I was very hopeful that maybe there'll be a time where we would all just be successful and things will be going in such a way that we wouldn't need all these services and all these systems in our way. But obviously, we've been around 20 some odd years now, and obviously there's still a lot of work to do. So our people succeeding is an ongoing process that we're still fighting for every day.

Jason Dana Costa 5:31

What a great philosophy. I just I firmly stand with you on it. What a fantastic thing. I'm gonna remember this well after this discussion today. Who believed in you early in your career that maybe you didn't see in yourself that sort of gave you the strength to do some of these things?

Abdul-Rahmaan I. Muhammad 5:47

Well, to be honest, I had a lot of supporters. A lot of people believed that I could do whatever I really wanted to. I mean, of course, my parents, but I think some of my employers, I would sit down and I would just be talking about all the stuff that I wanted to try to do. Even my friends, I think people just kind of like say, hey, go ahead and give it a shot. No one ever told me that I couldn't do it. And so I think that once I kind of locked in on social work, once I locked in on saying, I'm gonna start my people, I'm gonna do these things, the doors would open up. And I think that sometimes just positive energy, the energy I would bring to the table would continue people wanting to help me, allow me to do services, allow me to kind of come out and speak and do different things like that. And so I think just the community around me, my people, were really the driving force behind me being able to get started and build the company.

Jason Dana Costa 6:41

Was there a particular skill or something that you didn't realize that someone else saw in you, but you didn't necessarily see in yourself that when they said it to you, it was like, oh yeah, aha, I can do that.

Abdul-Rahmaan I. Muhammad 6:52

Yeah, I think the whole thing about just leadership in itself. I think initially the when you start a business, you don't necessarily think about managing other people and working and kind of like leading the way. So initially it was just gonna be me and a couple people, and it was that was it. But you know, my people, we went from me starting in February of 2005, and by the end of that year, we had over 100 staff. So we grew very quickly. Yeah. And so we went from this was the idea of what we're gonna do. And then by the end of the year, we were doing something totally different. We used to have a very large mentoring program and an in-home therapy program. And so now you go from it's just gonna be me doing the work to the staff was doing the work and learning that that ability of how do you lead, how do you manage, how do you inspire the staff to be able to do the work at a very high level and help our community succeed.

Jason Dana Costa 7:48

So, what's been the hardest season so far in building my people and sort of what's kept you committed when it might have been easier to walk away?

Abdul-Rahmaan I. Muhammad 7:54

Yeah. I think early on, anytime you start something and it grows so quickly, I think it was very that was a very difficult season. There were a lot of nights where I was like, it might just be easier to go get a job. I'm like, and I'll be honest, I think when COVID happened, a number of our programs were closed. The direction of the places that we do business with thought that this was a good time to cut a few things. And I think that being able to get through that time and still kind of be here was a big deal. So I think COVID was was probably the most difficult, where it was like really questioning. I had a few health issues around the same time. So it was like the business is not necessarily moving as well as it once was. I'm sick, I have kidney failure for the second time. And so there's all these things that are happening. And so you have to have a little reflection on whether or not you want to keep pushing. And I mean, fortunately, my wife, who also works here, she really stepped up, and other people on our team really helped us to get through that difficult time.

Jason Dana Costa 8:55

Wow, yeah, and that's not all that long ago. So probably six years ago. So give me a sense of scale too. You said you grew to 100 almost immediately, I'm gonna guess in 2006 or 2007. What's your scale these days?

Abdul-Rahmaan I. Muhammad 9:08

Yeah, we're still probably around, so it's different. When we had about 100 people, it was mostly part-time staff. So it was like we had a mentoring program, so mentor and in-home therapy. So maybe the average worker would probably work 10 hours a week. Now we probably have about 80 staff, and more the the majority of those staff are full-time because our supportive housing programs operate 24 hours a day. So we have staff that are working every hour of every day. And then we have our staff over here in the main office where we do the therapeutic services and different types of support. So we're around 80, not as big, but bigger in the sense of the amount of time. They have full-time jobs, they have insurance and all those good things at this time. Got it.

Jason Dana Costa 9:50

So you build both a clinical organization and a nonprofit. And I share that with you. I've been 30 years of working in nonprofits. And I know at least you're a clinician by trade, you've said so. I'm an accountant by training. So even though I've worked in behavioral health and youth intervention, my approach has always been about the financial realities of keeping these organizations working. But it's always a balance between mission and the financial realities. So, how have you learned to balance those two? And so, what are sort of those I'm gonna call North Stars that keep you making the tough decisions that work out for your organization?

Abdul-Rahmaan I. Muhammad 10:26

Well, you know, for us, we are always mission focused. It's one of the most important things. However, just because you're mission focused doesn't mean you got the money to go do the things you want to do. And so one of the things that we have consistently been doing is innovation. The things that we did 20 years ago, we don't even do those things right now. And so it's like what we've had to do over the years is say, where are the gaps in the system and what are the things that we want to do in those gaps? And so there are times where we had to make a very big shift very quickly in order for us to survive financially, because if we didn't make those changes, we would probably be out. Early on, a lot of the work we did was fee for service. And so it was basically a game of getting more work in so that we could bill for it. Over the years, developing a nonprofit, now it's more grant-based work. So it's like now we're trying to, so it's a totally different viewpoint on how you do something, but it's really just making sure that we stay true to our mission and don't just go do everything. There's grants coming out every single day, but you got to determine is that the type of work that we do and does it fit for the work that we decided we want to kind of focus on. So we've been very fortunate to have services and supports that we enjoy doing, that we feel like we make a positive impact, and we're able to balance out the funding. Not to say that every day is perfect. I'm sure there's a meeting I'm gonna have in later this week that we got to talk about the finances. But at the end of the day, we want to be able to make impactful work in our community.

Jason Dana Costa 12:01

As a former CFO and COOs, sometimes the CEO did not want to see me coming into their office two weeks after month end. Trust me. Trust me. I totally understand that. So another thing that I've experienced in the past, particularly with minority communities, is building trust. You know, that's a lot of darn good reason that these communities distrust institutions and service providers. What did you do to break down that barrier and keep it down? Because it's not something you take down once. You have to be cognizant of it all the time.

Abdul-Rahmaan I. Muhammad 12:38

Well, you know, I'm a believer in boots on the ground. So I might be the president, CEO, that might be the title, but I actively are am involved in programming all the time. For about 10 years, I used to have an ice cream truck. I would drive around the community and I would exchange ice cream for dreams. So a kid would come up to the ice cream truck, they'd say, I want to be a doctor, and I give them an ice cream sandwich. And so it was like for the numbers. So I'm every day I'd be out there with this suit on and I would be exchanging ice cream for dreams. Right now, in the Manhun Tree program, I work with probably on average about 50 men per week, just doing different groups, doing our men's health initiatives on the podcast. And so I think that one of the main things that have made us successful is that we really are your people. Like we're somebody that you believe in. We're like family, we're like people that you can trust. And so that's the big piece for us is that we're not just an organization. Sometimes you become a name and you don't and you don't necessarily get back to the people. We stay connected to the people in every level of what we do. And so I think by leading by example, that tell that lets the rest of the staff know that we just can't get bougie and forget about where we came from. We stay connected.

Jason Dana Costa 13:51

Stay connected to your community. Oh, and I love the fact that you were exchanging ice creams for dreams. I hope you put that on a little button. I think that is fantastic. And you just mentioned a minute ago the manhood dream, which I understand from looking at your website, ask men to examine their boyhood, their fatherhood, their brotherhood, their manhood, and get introspective, at least from what I can see. What inspired that work? And tell us a story about how that's been positively impacting someone that you can share. It seems so inspirational, Nia. I want my listeners to be inspired by what you're doing.

Abdul-Rahmaan I. Muhammad 14:23

Well, you know, I do a lot of work with fathers. I work with the Department of Children and Families with in their fatherhood initiative. And one of the things that I noticed is that sometimes the DCF workers and the DCF staff have an issue with men being men. Like, you know, to the a father might come in, he's a little upset. And some of the things are just male personality types or things that he does. And so it just made me start thinking a little bit deeper about manhood. So I said, instead of doing another fatherhood program, let me create a manhood program. And I really wanted to create a safe space for men to be able to have conversations, to be able to grow, to be able to be vulnerable. And so we created initially the manhood tree group was just a workshop. We would come in and we might talk about brotherhood for the day. And so over the time, it went from a workshop to a 10-week curriculum. The fatherhood analogs, once again, is a group where we ask men to write a story about being a father or being fathered. And so we just wanted to be able to have a space. Every month we do a brotherhood check-in. And we ask men to come in and we just want to know what's been going on over the last month. And so there's not very many spaces where a man can kind of like take off his cake and not necessarily have to be the provider or the breadwinner. He could just come in and say, yo, this is what's going on with me. The me that was a little boy at one point, the me that was a teenager at one point, the me that is a man right now. I just want to be able to talk about some of the things that's going on. And so that's what we try to create with the manhood tree.

Jason Dana Costa 15:59

And how long you've been running this crowd brown?

Abdul-Rahmaan I. Muhammad 16:01

The manhood tree is about six years old at this point. And like I said, what we started with to where we are now, it's definitely growing. I mean, one of the biggest things we're trying to do now is do in our mission, we talk about transformative experiences. And so we're trying to have more experiences for the men that allow for them to be able to have that safe space, first of all. And then also, like this week, later this week, we're doing an equine therapy workshop with the local. Yeah. So we'll be working with some horses, and the men will get a chance to kind of like express, see how the horses can like feel what they're feeling, what they're bringing into the room. And so it should be very exciting. And so we just want to help them to kind of be the best men that they can possibly be, because we know that impacts all the other areas of their life.

Jason Dana Costa 16:49

Oh, I so agree with you. And creating that space for my own part, how I did it with, or at least I should say, how my father did it for me, because I have to give him the credit for doing so. My family used to work together and then play together. So we he's a carpenter. So I'm the son of a carpenter, just not the really important one. So we used to do a lot of work together to accomplish things. And then during that accomplishing the thing, whether it was raking the leaves or mowing the lawn or some other project, because my dad always had tons of projects, it was that bonding and that opportunity to have that facilitated conversation between two men. I had to learn it from my own son was he was such an active kid. I literally had to put a baseball glove in his hand and throw a ball at him to get him to be looking at me to start having those conversations 15, 20 minutes into it. There was sort of that activity-equaled communication. I was curious. Well, actually, I don't even have to be curious about this. I think your Aquine possibility really gives a a forum, let's say, to have that shared experience to facilitate those conversations. I just think it's fantastic.

Abdul-Rahmaan I. Muhammad 17:55

We have uh another initiative called Speak Life into a Father, Speak Life into a Son. And so my son and I, it's basically an activity where I ask two men to stand face to face and basically speak life into each other. And I had the opportunity on a few occasions to do it with my son. And I mean, obviously, it's a cry fest. My son and I are both crying, but it's very seldom do you get a chance to say that to your son, I'm proud of you, or to say to another man that I've been seeing you in the community and you're doing great things. And I just want to give you a pat on your back, and I want to let you know that you've been doing great things. And I want you to keep doing those things. And so a lot of times we might see something, but we never voice it. And I think there's some, there's a lot of power in when you actually speak what you've been feeling about somebody out loud. And so we have that initiative. We just did it. We were at a conference on fatherhood last week, and we had administrators from different the DCF, DSS, and they were speaking life into each other. And it's very powerful just to hear men say kind words to each other, uplifting and inspirational words to each other. And I think that it's it it it changes everything because it just lets people know that that other people are watching.

Jason Dana Costa 19:15

That's so powerful, Adul. So, so powerful, and very much needed in many communities across the spectrum for men. They really it's absent in some respects. I think we'd have a kinder world if we got more people doing what you're doing, really. You built this great organization. Forecast for me the future, Abdul. Where is my people clinical services or my people community services in five years? Tell me something that you're thinking about the future on.

Abdul-Rahmaan I. Muhammad 19:43

Well, I think that the future is gonna be based in us doing more community-based work. We're gonna we're we haven't been doing therapy as much. We're gonna bring back our therapeutic services specifically into the school system because we want to be able to catch the kids where there's no barrier where it's like I couldn't make it to the session. We're gonna go to the schools. I think that the manhood tree is gonna continue to expand. We have this initiative called C360, where we do assessments on young people and helping them to kind of like determine and decide their future. And so I think all of these different initiatives that we have will continue to expand and grow. And our work will go right now, we serve primarily the Greater Harper area. I think we'll go probably more statewide with many of the things that we do. And so check back in five years. It should be good, though. I'm very excited about where we're going and what we're doing.

Jason Dana Costa 20:39

Wow, man. You've truly built in an amazing organization that seems worth investing in, preserving and fighting for. What gets you up and excited every day for that fight?

Abdul-Rahmaan I. Muhammad 20:50

Well, I've had a kidney failure twice. I had open heart surgery. Every day I open my eyes and I feel it's not just opening my eyes that I'm alive, but I still feel inspired by the idea that our people can succeed. I still feel excited about my place and my role in helping them do that. And so every day when I get up, revving up to be able to make something happen. I'm looking forward to being able to interact with people, to shake a hand, to be able to give eye contact, to be able to say one word to someone that might change their day or their week. And so I think that as long as I have this excitement and joy in my heart, I'm gonna be ready to go. And I want to see what we can do over here, my people, to make life better for an individual or a family that's in need.

Jason Dana Costa 21:37

That's so powerful. Abdul, I'm so thankful for you for joining. Worth the work with Jason Dana Costa today. Just remind everybody, this is Abdul Rockman Mohammed, who is the founder of My People Clinical Services and My People Community Services out of Hartford, Connecticut. Check him out online.

Abdul-Rahmaan I. Muhammad 21:52

Check out their podcast, the Manhood Tree Podcast, every Tuesday at six o'clock. We're actually on a hiatus. We're getting ready for our 100th show. So we'll have our 100th show soon.

Jason Dana Costa 22:03

Excellent. Well, maybe I can be a guest on your podcast. I would love that. Yeah. Thank you so much for joining us today. Have a great rest of your week.