From WXXI news.

This is connections.

I'm Evan Dawson.

Our connection this hour was made this morning in Los Angeles, where two leaders in the Trump administration called a news conference regarding the problem of homelessness in this country.

HUD Secretary Scott Turner and HHS Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr announced that the administration is changing how it funds programs that work with the homeless population.

Secretary Turner said that too many programs across the country are taking public dollars, while only making drug addiction and homelessness worse.

They chose LA for a reason.

HUD says L.A.

has received more federal homelessness funding than any other jurisdiction in the nation, only to see the problem double in the last decade.

In a statement, HUD said, quote, we are rooting out corruption and ensuring that those who need care are truly getting it.

The days of funding corrupt failure are over.

The Trump administration will not enable the homeless industrial complex.

End quote.

The changes to federal policy have ripples everywhere, including Rochester, and some will work in the field, argue that the administration is not simply cutting off dollars to organizations that are failing.

One local organization works on child homelessness and their executive director is not going to hesitate to discuss the impact of federal policy or the passion she has for helping the population of child of children who are homeless in our region.

The center for youth has expanded its mission, working with this population that has desperate need and their largest annual fundraiser.

Rochester Fashion Week is coming up here to discuss it is Elaine Spaull, executive director of the center for youth.

So nice to see you back.

Thank you.

Evan, starting on a somber note, but we're going to liven this up.

And, thank you, because, we are under attack and assault, and we're going to talk about that.

And, thank you so much.

Well, you know, thankfully we're not going to spend the whole hour on that because we've got a lot of a lot of good stuff.

And some of them include Julia Sibley, a personal stylist and the founder of storied.

Welcome to the program.

Thank you.

Across the table from Julia.

Let me welcome Marcel " el" McCullough, who is designer and owner of NoBlam!

Welcome to you.

Thank you.

And welcome to Angie Lamonica, vintage collector and stylist with Brown Girls two.

Thank you.

Nice to have all of you here.

So, so just briefly, Elaine, the story in LA is that the administration is, is saying, look, we're cutting funding for homelessness because a lot of it doesn't work.

And if it doesn't work, we're not doing it anymore.

And it's a waste of money.

And I think, Evan, what ironic time we have on Monday, August 17th.

Two major grants due to HHS.

Our HUD money is under review.

Again, I've made up a word I say that we continue to be in junked because we never know day to day which injunction will impact us.

So our funds come through the COC partners addressing homelessness, working very hard.

And then we have new, protocols, practices, policies that come out of HUD after we've all been told what our funding is.

So there's an uncertainty.

What is certain is that homelessness is rising, for sure.

16 to 21, the most, aggressively homeless population here in Rochester, in Monroe County and across the country.

And that the uncertainty means that some smaller organizations, those really struggling, not the center, thank goodness, can't get the grants done in time.

And we're hearing through the grapevine, you know, people like to tell me stuff that a blue state, no matter how good, no matter how hard, no matter what the legacy is for 3 or 4 decades we've been funded is under review.

So, you know, we have to be strong.

Listen, we have choices.

We can be braver, fiercer, more resilient, more persisting.

And that's what we're doing at the center.

Other people are going in the other direction closing shelters, not applying, just not playing along because it's too hard.

It's hard.

Some of the highest rates of homelessness are in the contiguous American South, and states like Mississippi that tend to be red politically.

You're saying that there's less targeting of of red states.

We're being told, you know, just a lot of people are saying, you know, do you want to spend you know, it's a 90 page, application.

And you we used to have, 60 days to respond.

Now we have less than three weeks.

So they're they're releasing them sooner, I mean, later, asking for them sooner.

Funding is up in September.

It's already August.

So by the end of September, early October, our grants could go away.

We're just submitting them now.

They used to come out in early June and they were, six weeks later.

Now they're back within two and a half, three weeks.

Small organizations can't get them done.

And then we are also being told that if you're a blue state, if you're in a sanctuary city, which, of course, we're proud to be and have been for a long, long, long time, this is not new that we are going to take care of our kids, and we're not going to ask them questions that don't matter about their background, who they are, where they were.

We're not asking them who they love.

We're not asking those questions.

But the government would like us to ask those questions.

And that's not what you do when someone presents on the street as homeless.

So we have choices what's happening here.

And you're going to hear about it in this room, is that people are saying, okay, that's happening.

We know that's happening.

What happens next, what happens next, and what happens next is what's happening with these people in this room.

And with fashion reimagined and with an enormous amount of personal, financial support coming from foundations and individuals at a time when most people think folks are going in the other direction, it's not true.

I don't see it.

Maybe I'm just lucky.

I think I'm blessed, but we are seeing an enormous amount of support coming for us.

This is not the same thing, but I'm going to invoke something that our audience will understand and know well.

When the federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting was cut, we had to try to do something in 2025 that, the, you know, we didn't we'd prefer not to have done, which is go to the audience again and say, look, we're $1.9 million down.

We're probably going to be $2 million down every year, which we currently are.

That's what that's the reality.

And if we don't raise everything, we have a raise in the past, plus 2 million, then you're cutting and it's tough.

Elaine, because if we pull it off, inevitably someone says, well, you never, never needed that federal funding in the first place.

And you are such a force of nature that you're probably going to figure out a way to fill in the gaps, and someone's going to tell you, well, you never needed the federal funding, but the I want you to describe what the actual worst case is here.

How much federal funding are we talking about?

What's the impact?

So it's a it's about 2 million total and federal funding right now there's two grants.

Those total about 600,000.

The ones that are due on the 17th.

We will not close a shelter.

Not on my watch.

I will stand in the street if I have to.

What happens though, and in terms and what's happening next around Fashion Week, is that we're also giving this community something they want and need and love and support.

So it's it's a win win win.

And so at the very time and this year we're reimagining for the first time.

And Angela's going to talk about it.

We're putting our own young people on their runway.

We've never done that Giulia's putting all local amazing small businesses and local vendors on the runway.

So is a local guy who we love.

We're going to put our local people on the runway.

We'll talk about we have one look and Julie can talk about that is not local.

They're coming from Peru and they're connected to my daughter who passed away.

But before she did, she started a program in Peru with these young, young women, who are making organic sweaters for Eileen Fisher.

So we can we have choices.

We all have choices.

So what we're doing is giving this community more than they've ever had before in a way that really is not just charming and talented and fun, but really, really important.

Okay, last question on this subject.

And then we get into the designers here.

Your missions had to expand.

Yeah.

And I know that you are someone who knows a lot of the movers and shakers in our entire region, and you're also someone who lifts them up and praises them.

Yeah, but at the same time, the reality is, right now, who's working with homeless youth?

Well, there's a lot of people who are delivering, support services, but very few people are delivering beds, beds, beds, beds.

I talked to the mayor in the county about beds, beds.

But we have to have places for people to sleep right now.

Nobody else is supporting unaffiliated, unaccompanied young people in shelters.

Just the center for you.

So we're expanding our transitional living program.

We're expanding our as much as we can, our host home program.

Certainly the crisis nursery takes care of little ones when their parents are homeless.

I'm at a five month old the other day.

I wanted to take her with me.

There was a situation of near kidnaping, her mama lives in one of our shelters.

So we're taking care of this community in ways that we always have and will continue to do harder and harder.

But right at this moment, although we appreciate everybody's support, there is no one else, supporting unaccompanied young people over the age of 12.

And when HUD or RFK says that there is a homeless industrial complex scamming the public, do you agree with that?

You know, the salaries of our staff are too low.

They have overnights.

They're on the street now.

I mean, it's just ridiculous.

And it's it's honestly offensive.

I would like, you know, I would love to sit in a room with that guy, and I'd love him to come see me.

I would love for you to sit in the room.

I would, where you guys can do it right here.

Okay.

Right here.

Oh, my God, what if he's doing RFK?

What if he said yes, but we do it.

I know, I mean, it's in a heartbeat.

It's offensive to me.

It's offensive because I know these.

I know my staff.

I know what we do.

We're in a very thin margin, very thin margin, and the staff is not paid enough.

Some of our overnight staff make $18 an hour.

You can make more at a car wash.

So please, this is this is just nonsense.

It's ridiculous.

And it's offensive to anyone who's supporting young people facing, who are unhoused.

All right, so Fashion Week of Rochester started when we're in our 16th year.

And, you know, Lane likes to say for those who haven't connected the dots, it can seem jarring.

You're going the high world of fashion, supporting some of the highest need and most desperate people in the region.

But you make it work.

Yeah.

How do you explain?

Well, you know, there's something about offering this community an organic, authentic view of who we are, our best selves, and we should celebrate our best selves just as we're celebrating and working every day.

And I always tell everybody, if you meet some of my kids who are homeless, those closest to the problem are closest to the solution.

They'll tell you what we need to do, and that's always been true.

And people don't like to listen.

We listen.

Fashion week listens.

And that's really what's happening.

And, you know, a young person like Marcel, I'm moving towards that direction because he has to leave first.

But that we got plenty of time.

We're going to get we're going to play your time, but back.

But honestly, that's that's, it just it just has always worked.

It has always worked.

Well, the the dates this year are October 15th, 16, 17.

Right.

Three nights.

Right.

But the location, if you haven't been there in a few years, is maybe not where you've been in the past.

No, we've never been on a piece of dirt at 1237 East Main Street in front of the Federal Building.

If you go down Main Street past the hour, go to where they store busses.

There's a water tower with a woman's face, and we're going to build, glass tent.

Well, it's actually called a structural membrane, not a tent, because it's a different fire code.

And you know, I thank you for that.

I know, I know about codes.

I always want to city councilwoman.

So, yeah, it's a glass, structural membrane with I'm going to call it a tent, but.

Okay.

You can call it a tent.

But it's it's glass and it's big and it's beautiful.

When's it getting built?

It's going to be built the week before.

We're going to have practices.

We're going to go in and check it out.

It's, you know, it's really a remarkable opportunity.

Sean McCarthy and his team is joining us at a 50%.

Just don't tell anybody else that I should.

I should know, no, we're paying full price.

Never mind.

Oh, boy.

But, you know, everybody stepping up and as a stake who can't be with us today is is really the logistical producer she's over setting up for hootenanny is where she is right now.

That's happening this weekend.

But we're finding this just positive energy.

The Duttons own the property, and they're going to take down trees and make water, and it's going to be remarkable.

So, tickets are going to go on sale tonight?

Yes.

They're launching tonight.

We've never, never launched this this quickly.

This soon.

We want to do that.

My biggest fear.

And I told my husband last night, you know, he he doesn't want to chat with me after a certain hour.

I've noticed that over the last 55 years, maybe Meghan and I'm not going to go there.

But, I said, I think we're going to sell out and people are going to hate me.

He's like, when will you be happy with selling it?

I mean, you know, we're going to sell on.

And I'm worried that because there's fewer there's 650 seats, but it's all the VIP tables are about 85% sold already.

And so all we have are 224 seats.

They're going to go quickly.

That's your way of saying people better get moving.

Yeah I get it.

Yeah.

Check it out.

Fashion week rochester.org fashion week rochester.org and benefits.

The center for Youth and benefits.

The efforts that Elaine has been talking about.

No matter what happens with the federal government, you're going to press on and do what you do.

We do.

So yeah, the people at this table are all involved in different ways, and I want to get their stories.

And I will start with a guy who is is on a little bit of a shorter time this hour.

Marcel McCullough.

He goes by "el" .

He's a designer and the owner of NoBlam!

What is NoBlam!?

NoBlam!

is Rochester's brand.

I like to tell that since I own Rochester, born and raised, we don't have a street.

We're a brand that can go across the world and scream Rochester!

Okay, yes.

And so what's the meaning?

What's the meaning of NoBlam!?

NoBlam!

was taken from a TV show and Nickelodeon show, so kaboom.

So, there's like, no glam, no bad nothing.

Who wants a mid style?

Nobody.

No.

Mid, by the way, is.

But the young people say, yeah, your style is not mid.

Your style is fire.

Yes, it's fire and there's going to be fire because okay, so Marcel is putting on looks with red heads called red hot.

He's red hot.

Yes.

I'm looking for some firefighters but okay.

NoBlam!

is going to feature is going to feature a feature red hot and Marcel is going to make that happen.

So tell me about Red hat.

That's that's a great lead in here to commemorate the year of the Fire Horse.

There will be I don't I'm not going to give much away just because I'm still I'm still sculpting.

I would say I'm an artist when it comes to clothing.

No, no.

Well, sure you there would be.

And there'll be pants.

Shoes.

Well, not shoes, maybe, hats.

Hoodies.

We are from the the place that hoodies were created.

And I have some shirts I screenprint during the day and for through the night too, but, there'll be some, there'll be some a lot of different pieces.

I so print, hold hands.

Whatever is needed to be done.

I'll make it happen.

Yeah.

What night are we talking about?

Thursday.

Thursday night.

Opening night?

Yes.

Thursday.

Thursday night.

It was near the end of his.

Near the end of Thursday.

People are going to be waiting in great anticipation.

Have you been to Fashion Week before?

This will be my first one.

You excited?

Yeah.

I haven't even attended either, so I apologize.

No, no, look, I mean, it's never too late.

I know it's going to get you hooked here.

Oh, how did you get hooked up with Allen and how did this happen?

So I do apparel for Scott Miller.

Salon.

And Scott and Helen Miller put my name in the pot, and somehow thankful to Fatima.

Oh, I was brought up.

I also do know Angela, shout out to my business partner Marv, who made the connection, but my name was put in the pot and I'm grateful to be a part of this.

It happened pretty quickly, so I'm still.

I'm still getting up to speed.

Yeah, but I'm ready.

You said.

Is he a he's so adorable because he's got this laugh.

That is just too much.

I wish we all could.

Well, can they can you hear it?

Oh, you get closer and closer.

It's you.

Yeah.

You exude positive energy.

I will say that about myself.

It's definitely true.

Here.

And and we want new.

We're reimagining.

We want new.

We want and his.

He has a city logo on his staff.

I mean, we don't.

It will send you a photo.

Well, how?

I need your size.

We need his size.

Other we can we listen.

We can put a red wig on even.

I got plenty of space on this.

It's a me too.

I just, I just the way you wear and a half.

You see, I have had everything.

You wouldn't design a hat for connections every day.

The cover it.

Yeah.

There will be a glare on the on the camera.

We know it's so.

Marcel, where did you grow up?

I grew up in Rochester.

But specifically expense report.

I'll be honest.

Okay.

Yeah.

Me shamed about.

Okay, I with.

But you know, I know I lived on the south side of the city.

My parents worked.

My dad worked at Delphi.

My mom worked at Kodak.

You know, it was a little rough in the Navy.

Okay, we slid out, but I'm grateful because my family, my family lived.

I had two aunts who lived two streets over, and we would visit.

It was like I never moved.

I was senior class president, and I think that has helped me through life.

Just the cool kids like me, because I did a rap for half of my speech.

But then I spent time on my lunches with special ed kids and like, they vote.

I know they voted for me and my parents raised me well.

You know, I've obviously I can't, I can't I if I do something wrong, I know I'm wrong is going to be a there's going to be an apology first before anything.

But I'm just excited.

So I think being a senior class president has helped you in life.

Oh, yeah.

Oh, yeah.

I was senior class president, and I dread reunions.

I didn't go to the first one.

I didn't I wasn't where I wanted to be.

You guys lined up to do this for decades.

Man, this never ends.

Although somebody listening is going to say, haven't you haven't been involved in 20 years yet?

You gotta learn how to delegate.

You got to learn how to delegate.

Now you're the positive energy.

And frankly, the story is awesome.

What do you want to do with with NoBlam!, with with your business going forward, with NoBlam!?

I want to be worldwide.

I just want to I want to keep spreading Rochester story to everybody.

This is a special place.

Beautiful place, beautiful people.

The light that is here just needs to shine brighter.

And that's really all I want.

I lived in, I went to college in Cleveland, lived there for five years, and I learned a lot from viewing the pride that they had for Cleveland.

I always love Rochester, and I remember being younger.

I have tattoos now, but I didn't have any until I was 30.

Yes.

I would it would be cool to see somebody with a Rochester tattoo on their chest or its lower abdomen.

And it's like, wait, you're from Rochester?

And it's like a stamp.

I know that's more, you know, a little a little edgy, but, I'm still yet to get mine.

But it's a thing where I saw that and I one of the first items I made with the Rochester sweatshirt, they have Rochester logos all over them, and more people have bought them from out of town than in town.

Oh that's interesting.

It's insane because I'm like, whoever designed that logo did a great job because it looks great.

Where do people find your work right now?

Right now?

NoBlam!.com.

NoBlam!.com.

Yes.

And when was that your first design?

How long you been doing this?

2022, I think.

Yeah.

He's easier.

Yeah, yeah.

Okay.

Yeah.

A lot going on.

Yeah.

You happy doing it?

Very.

Because my inner child is happy.

I mean, you're obviously you're obviously an artist and you have a lot of pride in Rochester, but it's got to be hard.

It's gonna be a hard business.

It can be.

It can be.

There's with the fleas that go on.

Now, I'm one of the board members for the great New York State Flea at the public market coming up September 3rd.

So, Saturday, September 30th, the market.

Yes, yes.

With with those things going on, it makes it a little bit easier, but it still is tough because we got the World Wide Web, and with every single day there's something new.

But that feeling of pushing to do something new, it's just like, no, I just need new people to see this thing that I've already been doing because it's new to them.

It's not.

I don't have to read.

I don't have to change myself over and over and over and over again to try to hit an audience that is already there.

They just haven't seen the thing you've done.

So it's like taking that and remembering, I want to promote Rochester.

So I've taken the, Xerox logo, turned it into a and country sweet logo.

I have socks on right now that have Genesee Brew Co logo, but it's turned into nobelium.

So anything that I do is the push to bring people back to viewing Rochester instead of just myself.

I think you're going to have fun.

And Thursday, I mean, we're going to have an interactive, link, and on the tables and on the, on the screen so that someone can link right to Mark to.

So I got a I call my good sound and by, by that sweatshirt, those pants right then.

And it's a brand new thing we're adding.

It's really important we have to support our young vendors.

We have to support these young stylists.

And if you want to see Marcel stuff at Fashion Week again, it's it's late on the first night.

Opening night, Thursday, October 15th, it's fashion week, Rochester rock, Rochester fashion week rochester.org right.

For information there.

And it's Marcel's debut day.

Fashion first.

First time, first time.

But you care about like, how a door is locked.

Door.

I mean, I fell in love with him.

You know, it's easy.

Well, I fall in love easily, as you probably know, but this one.

Look at that guy.

I'm in system, so.

Yeah.

So I'm blushing.

If.

No, you can't tell.

I'm blushing.

Know so.

But you know, what's actually really kind of lovely about this is like so many people, when he says more people from out of town are buying with the logo than in town.

This is the town.

I have fun having lived here for 23 years now.

I'm from Cleveland originally, so, but where do you grow up?

People have both intense pride, but also a little bit of cynicism about it.

So you can have both.

You don't want outsiders criticizing you.

It's like, no, that's for us to do.

We can criticize where we grew up, but I don't want to hear it from Buffalo.

I don't want to hear it from Miami.

I don't want it.

So and this is someone who has incredible, obvious pride in Rochester, which is a city in a region that sort of needs it right now.

So don't you think I do?

I do, they stole buffalo, stole 716.

I'm not over it.

But I wanted to talk about just for a second because I obviously Angelina Jolie have a lot to say too.

But having Marcel, he was new.

I met him honestly, two weeks ago.

Yes.

He came to me through for Timur, who was actually in Las Vegas buying furs and leather for you to walk in.

Evan, on the series show.

But I'm just teasing.

It's I was doing.

It's not going to happen.

He's like two to is his agent won't let him.

But I think that this was a. And you're going to meet NazMeir and obviously Julia and Angela both.

It's an it's an amazing energy.

And right now we could be really sad, all of us, about what's happening with our kids, what's happening with our country, what's happening with this just uncertainty and this hate, a hate, hate.

You know, it's really hard to fight against a hate.

We can fight against all kinds of things.

It's really hard to fight against hate.

And that's what we're living with.

So you meet a guy like Marcel or Julia or Angela sitting with us.

And of course, you and your team, you feel.

You feel better.

It's like we're going to be okay.

We're going to be okay.

Well, if you want to check out Fashion Week rochester.org tickets are still available at benefits.

The center for Youth Sports, the executive director.

And before we, we we kick sell out of here.

Although he did great he's be welcome back here and we're going to bring NazMeir Lucas and let me let me talk to Julia in an angel a little bit here.

Now, Julia Sibley is a personal stylist and founder of storied.

What is storied by the storied is a personal styling consulting business.

So I help people kind of find their own personal story and bring that out and how we express ourselves through clothing.

How long you've been doing that?

About a year.

About a year.

Yeah.

So that's new.

Yeah.

Decade in advertising before that.

Warby Parker.

So you know, the definition of purpose brand should be Parker forever.

But what do you say again Warby Parker where are you Parker or Warby Parker okay.

It's a little more of an A okay.

It's okay.

All right okay.

So yeah that means to learn something new all the time here.

So you took the plunge a year ago?

Yeah.

How'd you get hooked up at Allen's Ball?

Oh, I've known Allen for since I moved back to Rochester, actually, yeah, a long time.

Probably 15, 15 years.

15 years beginning.

Yeah.

From the beginning.

Yeah.

I was living downtown, and I think you were a city council woman at the time.

Perhaps.

I think I was I don't know, I was, but Allen meets everyone.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I got it.

So Julia has been connected with this ball family through her creative energy and where she worked in.

Certainly, you know, Matthew was connected with Julie, did some shoots together.

She's a remarkable mother of three little girls, two, six and eight.

224 and 624.

Oh, you're.

She's two for information.

So I made them closer together, close to the courtyard.

And at camp.

Lots.

Of course, lots.

Lots of girls in their family.

What?

Julia's curating on Friday is really, really special.

And I want to give her a chance to talk about the whole sense of sustainability and heritage and all that.

So?

So it's the second night.

It's a second of Fashion Week Rochester.

It's Friday, October 16th.

Yes.

So what are you doing?

So it's always been family night, that fashion week.

Like Elaine said, we're in 16th year.

I've actually been involved in Fashion Week, you know, since 15 years ago, kind of either walking or somehow involved.

And Friday night, we're really being very intentional with what's on the runway.

It's all about sustainability.

It's all about families.

It's all about multi-generational fashion and kind of clothing built to last and wearing clothing that expresses ourselves through conscious choices and, all of those things.

So it's all like Atlanta, it's local businesses, it's local stores, it's local designers, it's handmade stuff.

It's secondhand stuff.

It's some vintage stuff.

It's, you know, anything that has meaning behind what we're wearing, it's a like, I think you asked at the beginning, you know, how do you connect center for Youth and Fashion?

You know, it's a it's a runway show.

Where are we connecting those dots?

And we all wear clothing, you know, we all love clothing.

We all love to express ourselves.

And we all have a have a story to tell.

And seeing that on the runway in so many different ways is, is very important.

And seeing our own community on the runway is very important.

So people walking on Friday as well as Thursday and Saturday are right from our community.

They're volunteer models.

They're the designers themselves.

They're the designer community.

So it's just, you know, people pulling in their people to wear their stuff and, and, you know, bring that to a really fun community event.

Elaine said.

It'll sell out really well.

It sells out every year.

It is very fun.

It's a big party.

It's always creative.

A celebration, community celebration.

And this year it's even more than that because it's supporting businesses that are putting in so much of themselves and to what they make and what they open and what they bring to our community.

And it's it's a great chance to to support that and get back.

How do you sort of see Rochester in relation to the Milans and, you know, sort of the biggest of the big in the Fashion Week world?

Yeah.

That's so this year's runway will actually compete with the level of what that looks like.

You know, the runway, it's a 360 runway.

People are going to walk all the way around.

We've got a pair, we've got the VIP tables.

The experience itself rivals that it is.

It is a fashion show.

I've been to New York fashion shows.

It's really cool.

And fashion week Rochester really is that cool?

It's even cooler because it's our own community and it's so approachable, and everyone there is there to support it.

And everyone who's working behind the scenes is there to support it.

And I mean, this is the first year I'm involved to this level and fashion week and I the community hearing her chime yeah, the community behind it is amazing.

And then you just get to meet like Marshall.

We just met and it's so fun.

It's like you get to meet these people who are passionate about Rochester.

They're passionate about the center for youth.

They're passionate about creative like creative community and bringing people together and supporting each other.

It's like this, you know, huge kind of community, under community, under community and all coming together.

And it's it's really cool.

Elaine has found a way to put a lot of people on the runway, a lot of kids, a lot of kids, a lot of obviously a lot of like, you know, well known Rochester, but but also a lot of probably a lot of people who never thought they'd be walking.

Oh, absolutely.

Yeah.

And what do you see when you see that happen?

Oh, it's so fun.

I mean people it's also people.

Yeah.

Forcing themselves to get out of their comfort zone.

You know, we we sometimes we there are people are still putting a little pressure on to, to kind of to get up there and to, to support, to do it for a cause.

It's actually a lot easier sometimes when to just do it for yourself and so you can that's the angle.

That's how you get people to do it.

So maybe we will get you on the run.

Haven't do it for the cause.

I get curves and leather.

I like.

Yeah.

But you know, you want to see how curious we're not you know, doing that.

We're not.

We're definitely not doing that.

So Julia's work, your curation is on Friday.

Friday, second night of fashion week.

It's, So fashion week, three nights, October 15th, 16, 17.

That's the Thursday through Saturday fashion week.

Rochester.org I am late for our only break.

We're going to kick Marshall out of here now.

Do you have fun?

Oh, I had a great time.

You want to come back sometime?

Yes, please.

Let's talk about the Cleveland Rochester connection.

Unless you would like to do that.

I was there for the oh 16 oh.

You were there at 16.

The best sports here in my life.

Okay.

I don't want to get derailed here.

I barzal I need to come over and see if I can.

I can see the red hot.

You know how we're going to go over, and we'll get a we'll get a pair of pants for Evan.

So.

Nice.

One of my heart.

But I will say this.

I do really appreciate your genuine pride in Rochester, because no matter what you say, it's perfect.

We all have problems.

But, positive energy is needed for any place that wants to rise.

So thank you so much.

Thanks for being here.

That's, Marcel McCullough, a designer and the owner of NoBlam!.

Noblam.com online.

If you want to learn more there we'll come right back and keep talking to the folks involved in Fashion Week Rochester 2026.

Coming up in our second Our Connection Summer sessions is taking a tour of the Finger Lakes this week with a new destination every day.

And this week we head on back to the northern part of Seneca Lake and Geneva.

A great restaurant and dining scene, but a rich history culturally, artistically, even indigenously.

And we're going to go to Geneva next hour.

Support for your public radio station comes from our members and from Mary Carey.

Yola center supporting residents to become active members of the community, from developing life skills to gaining independence.

Mary Carey, Yola Center Transforming Lives of People with disabilities more online at Mary Carey, ola.org.

This is connections.

I'm Evan Dawson.

Yesterday we were live on the road at Iberia and Iberia hosted AST.

We had a great conversation with with Angelica and the team there.

We talked to neighbors.

We had a great live audience.

A lot of local elected leaders were there.

And we're going to do a lot more on the road.

We were with the center for youth on the road earlier this summer, so it's a chance for us to keep putting the show in different spaces in community.

And one of the things Angelica talked about Elaine Spaull, before I talked to the other folks involved with Fashion Week here, kind of getting back to the challenge of of doing the work you're doing for the center.

She talked about how, how difficult it is literally every month.

She said, you know, we got to make payroll.

We've got people to pay.

We want to pay them more.

They deserve it.

They deserve sometimes, you know, struggling to just have enough cash flow because people don't understand all of the things that go into running an organization.

All of the regulatory requirements, which, you know, a lot of them have good reason.

Sometimes they're a little onerous.

But she said, just in general, she was talking to Sarah Clarke, a member of the New York State Assembly, who was asking her if you could wave a magic wand and change anything, you know, what would it be?

And and there's not a perfect answer, but she just want people to understand, you know, there's administrative overhead that people always sneer at people.

There's very tight rules about how much money goes to overhead, how much is on programs, etc.. And she said, right now for the organization serving the communities in some of for her, the second poor zip code in the state, you know, and they're they're doing their damnedest to make change.

What would you say people would be most surprised to understand are the hardest things that, you know, people maybe don't understand.

I think it's difficult for people to realize that inflation is hitting everything.

We do, from from heat to light to phones to gas for our vehicles, rents for our kids.

At the same time, all of our other funding is flat.

So you have this growing gap between and Angie's right.

The other thing is we always hope the state will have proper pay.

Federal government, if you get money, actually comes faster.

So the prompt pay sometimes we wait a very, very long time for our grants.

So that's really the gap is growing between the cost of just doing business food, gas, everything, everything's more expensive.

And our funding is flat.

So if you have 200,000 from a federal grant, that's what it is for five years.

And it doesn't take into account the growing, inflationary costs.

And I think that's the heart of our overhead is 12%.

It's the lowest in the county.

We don't we we put everything right back into program, and we should have a higher overhead than we do, but we try to keep it low, certainly under 15%, which again is unheard of.

It's really important to me to do that.

So talking to Elaine Spaull, the executive director of the center for youth and your servant, how many people right now we have about 40,000 young people from 0 to 23, most of them in schools, most of them in schools.

But as you said, the need in terms of youth homelessness, we talk about, the fact that the city of Rochester has around 2000 kids designated homeless, that that means something.

That's a range of meanings that could mean it could be doubling.

I could be sleeping with a friend, a kid, well, sleeping at a franchise, couch surfing in the park, a lot of different things, a lot of other things.

But we do know that there is is in a lot of our kids are homeless, are invisible.

You don't see them at 490 asking for for money that that's those are adults, I don't know, they probably live in suburb and they're wearing a North Face jacket.

That's my other situation.

I keep thinking about who are these people, but our kids are not.

They're not doing that, but they are lost and they're alone often.

And so when it comes to bed, how many beds do you have?

Oh, gosh.

So we have two beds.

We have 13 to you.

We probably on any given night have 100 beds, maybe more because we have scattered sites as well as our own facilities.

Plus we have an apartment building we run with 16 beds, maybe 18 beds, and then we have kids scattered throughout the county as city, all of our sites are in the city.

This is the magic.

One question.

How many beds would you have if you had no limit to what?

Well, if we could add 50 beds, I think that would be really lovely.

We wouldn't want to run them all, but we would love somebody else to step up and say, hey, well, we'll open a 12 bed transitional living house with you.

We'd love that.

Okay.

Do you have partners who are willing to do that?

Not yet.

Why do you think so?

I think it's hard.

I think we have partners are doing a really, really good work with families and with, moms and babies.

But not very many.

One that nobody who wants to do it for really young, unaccompanied, a 12 to 21 year olds.

Well, let's talk to the people to my left, Angela.

And there's Angela.

Monique is a vintage collector and a stylist with brown girls to first I'll get get that microphone real close to you so I can hear you.

Angela, tell us what brown girls two is.

Brown girls two is a vintage reselling shop that I own.

And where are you located?

I do not have a physical shop right now, but I am online at Brown Girls two on Instagram.

T o o t o o. Yes.

And, what is Brown Girls two mean?

So it goes back to representation.

Representation as a brown black woman is really important to me.

And growing up, thankfully, I was able to have a lot of representation, especially on TV, TV shows, music, fashion.

It's important to be able to see myself on a screen, to be able to know the possibilities, what my capabilities are.

And, when it came to the name, I wanted a reminder when I'm speaking to other people or even myself, of what my value and importance is in this society.

So brown girls two how long you been doing that?

Brown girls two I started in 2022.

Okay.

And how did you get hooked up with Elaine Spaull in fashion week?

Rochester.

Great friends who know your possibilities.

Before you consider them speaking your name in a room that you aren't aware of being smoke and spoken on.

Taylor, who is a great friend of mine most people know them from archivist books.

Connection to Elaine.

And that brought me into the group.

So, Evan, I want to just say something because Angela is so special to me because it's the first time I've trusted anybody to style and put our young women from the center on the runway.

And I want her to to be honored for that.

It's always a journey when we give you an a young women who have all kinds of stories themselves, it's going to be remarkable.

She's going to be on the Thursday night show.

And when to talk, if you wouldn't mind.

I want to lift her up and honor her for that, because I. We've never done it before.

I mean, in that neither one of mine two would talk to him in a second, but, we never put our young people on the runway before.

And a five, eight, five magazine is also featuring them.

It's a really big deal.

So, Angela, my love, tell these guys.

Get close to that.

Mike.

Tell these guys about that experience.

And is that okay?

Yeah.

So what's going on on Thursday?

What are you going to do at Fashion Week.

So Thursday night I am styling the girls for center for you.

Let me just say Thursday, October 15th.

Not that they're not to me.

No no no no, you got time.

You got lots of time.

I got work.

Yeah, yeah.

So go ahead.

Yes.

I am styling the girls for, their set, the center for Youth Girls.

And I'm actually first up on Thursday night, so no pressure leading.

Right on.

Oh, yeah.

Have you been to Fashion Week before?

I have not, this will be my first.

I had a set and a fashion week exhibition a few years ago, but that was a on a smaller scale held at the public market.

So this would be my first time in the actual show.

Okay.

Really excited.

And you know, you said no pressure, but Elaine's going to make sure you're comfortable and you're good to go there.

Of course she's awesome.

What do you most excited about?

Styling the girls and and making sure that they feel beautiful and enjoy the night.

The night's about them.

We're raising money for them.

It's such a privilege to be able to style the girls that, you know, we're raising money for.

And we all want to feel beautiful.

We all want to feel valued and celebrated.

And whenever I can play a part in that, especially with younger women, brown black women or just women in general, sign me up.

So I am so excited to to play a part in Thursday night's show.

If you want to check out more on Brown Girls to Where Are You online?

Brown girls two on Instagram.

Oh yes, Brown Girls two on Instagram is where you will find Andrew Lemon.

How did you get into vintage collecting?

Well, it started as a personal hobby.

I I'm as most women, I enjoy shopping.

I love that dopamine hit.

But outside of that, I realized, like I really do enjoy coordinating outfits.

I enjoy finding unique pieces, one of ones patterns, colors, things like that, and, creating stories behind them.

I think it's also cool to own pieces that already have stories and then create your own stories with them.

And so it's a joy of mine.

I my closet began to become a bit stuffed of things that I realized I wasn't wearing, and so I wanted to utilize.

You know, I love I love shopping, and I love seeing other people and things that, you know, aren't necessarily affordable on a wider scale when shopping at regular stores and things and to show the possibilities of thrifting and that it's really style is about individuality.

It's not about a price tag, it's not about a label.

It's about how you feel dressing your emotions, dressing your own story.

And you can do that in other ways outside of what is presented to us on TV.

And so being able to thrift pieces and share those with other people, really made a difference for me outside of just shopping for my own personal gain.

Define vintage.

For me.

What does it mean to you?

I guess it's different for everyone if we're talking vintage.

For myself, I'm a 90s child, so things above the early 2000 for me.

Just because I was a teenager during those times.

It's not necessarily vintage, to me yet, but, 70s, 80s, 60s vintage dresses, corsets, hats, but not 90s, 90s, oh, 90s for sure.

90s is actually my personal favorite genre when it comes to styling.

If we're talking about what I own the most of, it's definitely 90s pieces, old college pieces especially.

I love like, the athleisure style.

So I own a lot of jerseys, a lot of sweat.

Everything was huge in the 90s.

Like, I look back, I was in high school in the 90s.

I'm like, what were we doing?

Well, it's great though, especially as a woman, because I feel like now you know, style changes a lot.

But the idea of sexy or attractive or hot, it comes from the ideas of less clothing per se.

And I don't feel like that's necessary.

It's not necessary.

You feel sexy in whatever it is that you feel most confident in.

And I love hoodies.

I love big clothes, which is hilarious considering what I do.

Shop and sell to other people is so different from my personal style, but it's just a reminder that style has no limits.

It's just it's whatever you want it to be.

Well, I mean, I love it.

I just think it's just so creative, making me feel comfortable kind of thing, which is hard to do.

Yeah, well, I'm also a mental health counselor, so there seems really, really important.

Day job.

Well, day job, night job.

You.

She's an overnight counselor at a very important 13 years.

Not at the center, but working with adults or with challenges.

So that's her.

That's her date night job.

So Brown Girls two on Instagram.

If you want to learn more about what Angela Nelson is doing and maybe see some of the fits that Angela's here.

Oh, absolutely.

So awesome.

So Thursday night leading off, that's where you get to see Angela's work there.

Yeah.

At Fashion Week of Rochester.

Great stuff.

What are we gonna see?

NazMeir Lucas is going to be on Thursday night.

Also, he's also on the Thursday night.

He's a youth leader, clothing designer.

Hey, welcome to you.

Great to see you here.

Thank you Sabina.

So I'm going to tell you you got to grab that microphone and stick it right in your face there soon because we want to hear you.

So when did you meet Ellen's ball?

How did this all come together for you?

I would say being involved with the center for youth.

Mr.

Eli Cotton, he actually.

And, introduced me to Mr.

Lee.

Okay.

And you want to tell a little bit of that backstory to Elaine?

Yeah.

So, as you know, we've known you for a very long time, haven't we, buddy?

Yeah.

I mean, talk a little bit about that.

Yeah.

Your own family involved.

Tell me about that.

Yeah.

So my mom, she actually was involved with the center for youth.

When I was a small child, you know, and she says she received a lot of, help just being, you know, going into adulthood and having me at the same time from the center for youth.

So, you know, it's just she's just always put in my ear to, you know, go check out what they got going on, you know, stuff like that.

And I actually did.

I went down there and then, you know, from there we just it's just been an experience, a great experience for me.

How did you become a clothing designer?

Okay.

During quarantine, I would say 2020, I would just I've always been a, connoisseur of nice things, you know what I'm saying?

Like nice clothing, whether it be just stuff, like just stuff.

So I like nice stuff.

But, at the time, I wasn't able to afford it.

You know, so grown up with single household mom.

Oh, you know, no father and stuff like that.

So I was just like, why not make my own stuff, you know?

So that's just during quarantine, I was bored in the house.

Like, let me try to put some on the shirt.

And that's how it came up.

And did you have people around you saying like, hey, you can do this?

Yeah.

It's actually, I dropped my first piece, my birthday of 2020, October 26th.

So and then, you know, I took coasters to school or not, that my friends were, and it was kind of like promotional pieces all right.

And then they would tell me, like, yo, you should you should keep going, like, this is you might have something here.

So ever since then, I just been making clothes.

First of all, I mean, congratulations on the success.

Thank you.

Thank.

And you're going to be out there again Thursday night.

Thursday night.

So Thursday nights is sort of the night when we just, celebrate our community.

It we call it the edgy night.

It's going to start out with drink and dancers.

It's going to end with 25 Latin x men and Bad Bunny.

It's crazy.

Thursday night is the night now.

Both nights are amazing.

It's amazing.

Saturday night we're going to start with an original Garth Fagan dance, so it's all good.

I wish we had another hour, but, NazMeir and Angela and and and certainly Marcel.

Some of our new.

Or.

They're not emerging.

They're proven designers.

But we want to give them a chance.

And, you know, Friday's a family show, and Thursday's kind of a glam, you know, more sophisticated.

We want to really have a ball on Thursday night, and these guys are going to make it happen.

NazMeir didn't bring a jet.

He has a jet, a leather jacket that we all want.

Actually.

Bring it.

I'm running it.

Where is it, honey?

It's in my home.

Okay.

So you got.

It's in your bag right there.

Yeah.

Right there.

Okay, okay.

Take your headphones off.

Go.

Yeah.

The YouTube audience wants to see this.

We want to see it because I said and Asmr bring your bring.

Go ahead and.

Yeah.

Okay.

He thought he brought pieces out.

Bring it out.

Right I mean adorable again Evan, I want you to know next year we're going to we're going to make a little runway right here.

Right here?

Yeah.

The studio capsule collection.

Yeah.

Jump up on the table.

So?

So look at this.

And he's so he's he's putting cool things, together.

Well, you have to lift it up, I think.

Sweetie pie, I want you to look right there.

So there you go.

Okay.

Thank.

Off for the camera.

You shut up.

So look at that.

He's got he's got blinded by color.

So minded by color.

Blinded by color.

Okay.

Eyes around it.

Oh, there's I okay.

Those are how you see the eyes.

Yeah, I see the.

Yeah.

Okay.

The lashes.

You might might look at this and be like, oh, just random colors in it.

But each color symbolizes something like very special.

So now what you gotta do is sit back so we can get back on your bike.

Your 6.5 minutes left.

I want the full show.

You ready for the show?

I mean, he's you know, I got my stuff in my bag.

I mean, he's the best.

So can you reach down and get.

There's a is there a jacket in there?

I'm so busy I can't stand myself.

Okay.

But I know I am, but, you know, like, okay, so this is a very cool jacket.

And again, I'm his agent.

As you can see, he's putting things together.

He's making it work.

And and, you know, let me just say a word about Nesmith, who started as he just came to connect and is risen up in a very short time to be a youth leader.

That jacket.

And so is so it's denim it you start with that.

Yeah.

So why don't you tell us about this one here.

So that one that was the jacket that started it all.

Really.

This is my first runway.

My, I did my first show with this jacket.

We just didn't see anything.

Oh, come on, everybody, I know you've got to hear that.

Got it.

There you go.

There you go, there you go.

We have this.

And it basically just symbolizes like being being that God.

Like being a human being.

The guy who actually created this thing, you know what I'm saying?

Like, and being being someone who can who can wear it, you know, like I want people who put that on to realize that they are the main character, if that makes sense.

For I'm saying this is the main character.

Jack.

Yeah, that's the main character, man.

Yeah.

This is not, Oh man, what's the background character?

What's that called?

Like a non-player, like an NPC.

Listen, I want to know this.

And this is the main character Evan is, so he got cooler.

Kevin got it.

Took me a minute.

I think he's done his research.

Okay.

Yeah, yeah.

So, listen, we only got cooler, so we're just getting a little taste here and we're down to our last minute.

So Thursday night, fashion week, October 15th.

Are you excited?

I'm excited.

I'm very.

So how many pieces you got there?

Going in there going into the so messy lane.

So me to have six.

But I have a little bit more than that.

I just want to say get some more.

Everybody's got more in their pocket.

So we'll see how it goes.

The Thursday now share is going to be seven hours.

Like no it's not.

It's going to be a very long show.

But we have some local, even some staff at the center who want to wear his things.

And I have a couple of young women, Julie and I are sort of stalking that young woman that we see at Winter Swan.

Yes.

Oh, I should where are you?

I should work, yeah, she answered me.

So I'm in Asia.

We're stalking.

We go up to people like, hey, have you ever modeled, like what?

And then they say, sure.

So, But is again, when people want to say, I'm going to cry, like negative things about our kids.

Think about that.

Think about Marcel.

Will you do that for me?

I mean, think about these guys.

Think about Angela, think about Julia.

Think about the young people who are going to have, a fairer, more equitable life because of Fashion Week and because of of all of these people in this room right now.

And, because of you, Evan.

God bless you.

You know.

Well, I could be Kate for anything, but but I will say, if you're interested.

Tickets are on sale tonight.

Tonight for fashion week, I should make Rochester.

Rochester.org is the website you're going to see.

Nest there.

Good luck to you, by the way.

Thank you, thank you.

I don't know that you need any luck, Sam, present Sam with Angela.

Same with Marcel.

Really?

Yeah.

Awesome stuff from them.

Great meeting all of you.

Thank you.

Julia, thank you for telling your story and all the work you're doing for Fashion Week.

Good luck to you.

Thank you.

I know it's going to be busy.

And Elaine Spaull, thank you.

You're welcome back.

Great to see you.

Good to see you.

Keep us apprized of what's going on too, with the feds.

Well, I know there's a lot.

I'll let you know.

You know, we should come back.

Maybe.

And I'll come back to the connections next hour.

We'll get you another, okay?

We'll get another day.

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