Heavenly Hughes, My Tribe Rise: Helping Altadena Fire Victims

Deborah Kobylt LiveLeave a comment

Nearly 9500 homes, businesses, churches, and schools burned in the Altadena fires last year, and many in the community are facing foreclosure on their homes because there’s been little movement to recover funds to rebuild. Rents are sky high for most, and they simply can’t make ends meet. Developers are swooping in to make low ball offers to homeowners, and many are forced to settle because it’s their only choice. Residents aren’t getting much help from local, county, or state government, either, and it’s time everyone steps up.

Meet Heavenly Hughes, longtime Altadena resident and founder of My Tribe Rise, a grass roots organization that provides funding and resources for members of the community in need of housing, work, and a place to turn during this critical time. The residents of Altadena say they’re trying to remain hopeful, but time is running out. They’ve asked Gov. Gavin Newsom to step in to ensure homeowners don’t foreclose, because people still have to pay their mortgage even though there’s no home, and they’re paying rent at the same time. It’s too much. Heavenly is working every angle to get people the help they need, and it’s been a challenge. So we’re talking with her about it on our show, and I hope you’ll join our conversation and do what you can, too.

You can find my full interview with Heavenly on all video and audio platforms of #DeborahKobyltLIVE, and invite your friends, too. I’m your host, #DeborahZaraKobylt, and it’s my pleasure to welcome you here.

Randy Gardner, LETS TALK OLYMPICS & Go Figure: The Randy Gardner Story

Deborah Kobylt LiveLeave a comment

The Olympics are here, and one of my all-time favorite sports to watch is figure skating!!! So today, I welcome a skating legend to our show, Randy Gardner, who won the 1979 World Figure Skating Championships along with his skating partner, Tai Babilonia. Tai and Randy also won five U.S. Figure Skating Championships from 1976-1980 and qualified for the Winter Olympics in 1976 and 1980, but what happened just before their skate was truly crushing.

This year, the Olympics has some of the most brilliant skaters on the U.S. team, from quad-God Ilia Malinin to Amber Glenn, recognized for landing the rare triple axel, and teammates Alysa Liu and Isabeau Levito. We’ll ask Randy to break down what to look for and what we might expect. And of course there’s the other winter sports to look forward to as well, from skiing to bobsledding. I also want to know what it feels like to walk into the arena with the possibility of bringing home the Gold. It must be amazing.

We’ve had Randy on our show previously to discuss his incredible documentary, Go Figure, The Randy Gardner Story, which is a jaw-dropping string of events starting with his conception. Let’s just say at multiple times during the documentary, I had to stop and say, “did that just happen??” So we’ll talk about that, too. And I’d like to add, despite more than a few bumps in the road, or in his case, cracks in the ice, Randy has remained positive throughout.