We Don’t Have a Homeless Problem in America. We Have Thousands of Them.

Rich Schaus beat his own alcohol addiction, became a captain in the U.S. Army, got out — and then couldn't find a job. He was applying for 200 positions a week, including janitor at a small zoo. Then he applied to a women's shelter he'd misread the listing for, and the HR director told him they'd never hire a man. They hired him. He sat down to dinner with the residents and their kids in his first weeks, and that was that. Twenty-some years later he runs Gospel Rescue Mission in Muskogee, Oklahoma, and his central argument is this: America doesn't have a homeless problem. It has thousands of them, each with a different root cause, and we keep treating it like one. In this episode of the Command Your Brand Show, Jeremy Ryan Slate talks with Rich about what's actually underneath chronic homelessness, why drugs are usually a symptom rather than a cause, and the four-person model he's building in Muskogee. In this conversation: - Breaking his own addiction inside the Army — and the artillery crew that failed a drug test - Why a man who'd given up asked him to "define shower" - The straight-A student who used meth so he wouldn't get a B — and ended up on the street - How he got into this work entirely by accident - Why rebuilding someone's self-worth starts with getting curious, not with a program - Trauma as the real root cause — and the story people tell themselves afterward - The electrician whose greatest success arrived the same day as his greatest loss - The man who wanted the NFL, and the job that got him closer than he expected - "Supported by Four" — 150 homeless, 75 churches, and what happens if four people walk alongside one person until they own a home - Why food, money and material help are a temporary fix for a relationship problem If you've ever driven past someone and not known what would actually help, this is a useful 28 minutes. LEARN MORE / SUPPORT THE WORK: Gospel Rescue Mission: https://grmok.org If you or someone you know is struggling with addiction, thoughts of suicide, or housing instability, help is available. In the US, call or text 988 for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, or call 211 for local housing and social services. 👇 COMMENT BELOW: What's one thing your town does well for people without housing — or one thing it gets completely wrong? CHAPTERS: 00:00 Intro 01:04 His own addiction, and the family pattern 03:21 The artillery crew that failed a drug test 05:38 "Define shower for me" 06:20 The straight-A student who used meth to avoid a B 07:46 How he got into this work by accident 10:27 Why self-worth comes back through listening, not programs 12:59 "We don't have one homeless problem. We have thousands." 14:49 Trauma is the root cause — drugs are the symptom 15:59 The electrician, his father, and the Super Bowl 21:15 The man who wanted the NFL, and got close 23:41 Supported by Four: the model he's building 27:21 Where to find Rich and GRM